I have a good feeling about these picks despite their unlucky number. Who would have thought that Peter, Bjorn and John’s new LP Seaside Rock would be an instrumental? Not I. But then again they’re from Sweden, so I guess that makes it ok.

I was also inspired by today’s David Byrne & Brian Eno release to post “Glass, Concrete and Stone,” the highlight of the In Good Company soundtrack that makes me shutter with fear of corporate America. And yes, I finally gave into all the Okkervil River hype - although I’m not completely sold on the whole album, “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe” isn’t all bad. Check it out and judge for yourself.

MP3s:

The cat references are getting better every week. This mix features some great new music from the Fleet Foxes and Plants and Animals, as well as my favorite song off of the Rushmore soundtrack (The Who).

I also have a special treat for those readers who fancy themselves lyricists - I’ve been working on Hula Hands for a while but am frustrated by the lack of vocals. Feel free to download, sample and lay down a vocal track. I’ll feature it in a post if you send me back your version.

MP3s:

I’ve been holding off on posting anything about this, but I buckled. Scarlett Johansson released her debut vanity album last week. The album is a collection of Tom Waits covers with one original thrown in.

Can’t she just be happy being hot and a pretty good actress? Did she really need to go out and piss all over my favorite musician’s back catalog? Apparently, she thought she did. She somehow dragged two of my other favorite musicians down with her - the album is produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, and features David Bowie (?!?), as well as members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration.

Sitek’s production work was a large part of what made TotR’s Return to Cookie Mountain one of the best albums of this decade, but it sounds out of place and overdone in this setting. Scarlett’s husky voice is swathed in reverb and buried in the mix — probably to be more forgiving to her sub-par voice.

Below is a video for “Falling Down” and an MP3 of her slaughtering one of my favorite songs from Tom’s weird phase (ok, his weirder phase) — a song I want played at my funeral.

Video:

Scarlett Johansson - Falling Down [f. David Bowie]

MP3s: