Okkervil River released their latest album, Black Sheep Boy, this past spring. It's got a gut-wrenching, American rock backbone, and in general fits in well with other Jagjaguwar artists like Black Mountain and Wilderness. They've got a ton of free mp3s over here.

Okkervil River / "For Real"
Okkervil River / "A Favor"

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Another good Voxtrot song that Mulley pointed out to me:

Voxtrot / "Missing Pieces"

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A while ago I linked to Channel 101's "Kicked in the Nuts," and in the last week Stereogum has twice linked to another good series of shorts, "Yacht Rock."

Basically, "Yacht Rock" tells the complex story of smooth rock in the '80s, as seen through the era's most influential artists: Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Hall & Oates, Steely Dan (I know Kev will like that one), and Toto. It's not funny-haha so much as funny-what the fuck is this? Strangely addictive...check it out.

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It'd be irresponsibe of me not to link a story about a navigation system with Mr. T's voice.