Short and Sweet today. Because it has Matthew Sweet! HAHA! (it's not very sweet)
Matthew Sweet, "Smog Moon"
Sweet, during his peak period, was a reliably great power pop songwriter. But there were times when he'd kind of tip over into a cheesier territory, and this song is a prime example of that particular beast. You don't want to evoke Billy Joel's cornier moments, in general.
Kid Koala, "Pinballer"
This is one of the tunes from Kid Koala's soundtrack to the video game Floor Kids, because he hasn't tackled enough media yet. I wish I could say something about the game, but while I bought it, I haven't tried it yet. I only have so much time, people!
The Skoidats, "We Will Never Stop"
Is...is that a threat, Skoidats?
Converge, "Tender Abuse"
Converge were pioneers in a genre that, honestly, I don't totally love: metalcore. It's the energy and pace of hardcore punk blended with the riffs of metal, and unfortunately, it's sometimes kind of meatheaded and blunt. I like hardcore, and I like a lot of metal, but merging them together kind of loses the charm of both. Charm? Whatever. Anyway, despite the limitation of having trailblazed a genre I'm not wild about, Converge were pretty good.
P.D.Q. Bach, "Classical Rap - Introduction"
OK, look, not all of these are going to be winners. Let's end this here and try again tomorrow.
(NB: my shuffle only pulled up the "Introduction", the first 1:25 of the linked track. I'll leave it up to you if you want to listen to the whole thing or not.)