What? Avant-pop duo Fiery Furnaces have forged a career of pushing their unique sonic sternly forward -- from the multi-suite opuses of Blueberry Boat to the spoken-word psych of Rehearsing My Choir and glam-tinged glow of Widow City.

What? The occasionally off-kilter underground project the Music Tapes is the brainchild of Julian Koster, most notably of seminal indie rockers Neutral Milk Hotel. Koster's third Tapes LP, Music Tapes For Clouds and Tornadoes, out now on Merge, guides listeners on a magical mystery tour of sorts.

What? It was all Discmans, FM radio, and the tail-end of the flannel era when Toadies frontman Vaden Todd Lewis offered to take us "behind the boathouse" to show his "dark secret" on the band's 1994 crossover hit "Possum Kingdom."

What? Matthew Sweet is known for writing immaculate power-pop. He is also known for having his hit song, early ‘90s stonecold classic "Girlfriend," on Rock Band II. For which he is more renowned largely depends (sadly) on age.

What? If you've ever taken any sort of dreamy downer drug -- recommended Benedryl dosage included -- we can safely assume you're familiar with the warm-blood-surge, numbed-spine, ocular zoom-out beauty that can softly sweep through your veins.

What? Bitingly satiric, laugh out loud funny, ironic, and bitterly poignant, Randy Newman returned last week (Aug. 5) in typical form, releasing his first album of original material in nine years, the widely acclaimed Harps and Angels.