They Might Be Giants, "Last Wave"
They Might Be Giants released their 20th studio album, I Like Fun, this year, and it's a solid entry into their discography. While not their best, it's still a very good record, and I'm always happy for more music from them. They. Whatever.
Guided By Voices, "Cigarette Tricks"
Remember, Alien Lanes is the album where most people agreed that Guided by Voices seemed to be getting their shit together (graded on a curve, of course).
Rahzel, "Night Riders"
Rahzel is the human beatbox who first gained attention from his work with the Roots. He released his own solo record, Make the Music 2000, and it's pretty surprising. While you might think that it would be entirely a gimmick record given that it was made to feature a, you know, human beatbox, it turns out to be a lot of fun. Lots of good guest appearances, some nice work from Rahzel both as a rapper as well as with his signature talent, and just solid execution all around. It's not an all-time great or anything, but it's certainly better than I thought it would be.
Less Than Jake, "Hopelessly Devoted To You"
I think we've talked about Greased before, but briefly: yes, it's covers of songs from Grease, and no, it's not really worth discussing further than that.
Treepeople, "Anything's Impossible"
Something that the Treepeople did some of that Built to Spill mostly didn't was to bust out punk songs like this one. It's sometimes nice to hear a band just pin their ears back and go for it. They don't all have to be seven minute guitar noodles.