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I emerged from the depths of Winter Break to find myself more than slightly obsessed with the Legend of Zelda. Now, there’s been an ongoing love affair between the game series and myself for the last twelve years, so this is nothing all too new. In my fanatical scouring of the web for an awesome rock version of the series’ famous theme song, I stumbled across this gem.

This is a group called “I Fight Dragons,” a Chicago-based rock band that has found a way to incorporate two of my favorite things in life: music and video games. They’re hot off of their first full album release, but you won’t find this on any album. Enjoy I Fight Dragons revisit the start of Zelda in their impromptu bit, “I Fight Ganon.”

The Weakerthans - Confessions Of A Futon-Revolutionist

I’m only beginning to delve into The Weakerthans’ discography, but hearing this gem off of Fallow really cemented the fact that everyday I like this band a bit more. “Confessions of A Futon-Revolutionist” is a really cute, if not slightly self-deprecating, song that talks about cats, drinking, and the impending class war.

Song of the Day

Coolio - Gangsta’s Paradise

Gangsta’s Paradise; 1995

Any song that evokes a Weird Al knockoff is worth noting its epochal importance. That’s pretty much all I can write, dealing with a credit crisis. 

Hooking Up - Heavy

Hooking Up is a low-fi garage rock band from Richmond, VA that play fuzzy, drunken jams. I stumbled onto these guys on the Topshelf Records board last year and was hooked on their first EP. They released a new EP on Monday, so do yourself a favor and download it for free at their bandcamp.

Waxahatchee - grass stain.

The singer/songwriter paradigm is almost always a crap shoot no one wants to fall into. Many try to lay out their emotions over a single acoustic guitar, and nearly everyone fails. Waxhatchee (P.S. Eliot’s Katie Crutchfield) manages to sidestep every “singer / songwriter” pitfall on her debut LP American Weekend. Instead of a sappy, self-pitying mess, Crutchfeild lays out her flaws as if music was her penance. It’s never self-aggrandizing or blaming. “Grass Stain” is such an beautiful bummer, and it was the track that introduced me to Waxahatchee. American Weekend will be out in January on Don Giovanni Records.

Feist: How Come You Never Go There (Beck Remix)

It pretty awesome!!

Class Actress - Love Me Like You Used To

Rapprocher (2011)

With an 80’s synth-pop sound, Class Actress elicits a time when pop music could be loved by the same people who also loved the underground scene. This is the type of music that gets stuck in your head and doesn’t leave. “Love Me Like You Used To” is simple with dense keyboard and the catchiest hook since the plague(I even created a dance for it). Try to listen to this song and not love it. I dare you.