Taken By Trees - "Too Young". Peter Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" is still a song that makes me dance every time I hear it; and because of the joy "Young Folks" engenders, I can't now hear Victoria Bergsman's voice without some part of me unfolding. "Too Young" is far away from PB&J, and not even in line with the sleepy pop of Bergsman's former band, The Concretes. She sings sadly, haltingly, with just the barest of drum snaps. Organ and hum suggests just the earliest, silvering dawn light. And it's a song about growing up, a song where the unsteeled try to steel themselves, a longing for your parents as you once had them. Its second half is recounted entirely without words: stumbling piano, chattering shaker, sensing bones in arms and hope bred deep. It's a compelling mirror to Arcade Fire's coming-of-age anthems: none of their desperation and all of their want.

[buy: US/UK]

Damian Weber - "Rickshaw". I can't quite make out what Damian Weber is saying. His lyrics are like nuts I find in a bowl and put in my mouth without looking at, without knowing what they are, and I feel their brown taste on my tongue, curves and corners, and when I chew & swallow I smell fall leaves burning. He whistles like a man on the road but plays guitar like a man who's stopped travelling. Folk music that's sugar taffy, a giant trout, a single cloud in a cornflower sky.

[MySpace (thanks Tawrin)]

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If anyone hasn't heard, McSweeney's is in troubling financial straits and everything they sell is on sale. You could buy me pretty much anything they sell, or if you're buying for youself, perhaps you have not yet read my interview with Will Sheff? For all the reasons there are to criticise Dave Eggers' publishing empire, I think that what they do is amazing, amazing, and strongly encourage you to help them out.