And that's how you make a music video.

Okay, I'm officially homesick.

Dessa - Dixon's Girl.

That is, homesick for a town that was never meant to be a permanent home. My wife and I caught a P.O.S/Dessa show while in Vermont last week, and it reminded me what I love about the Twin Cities scene: so much trying. P.O.S, Dessa, and Plain Ole Bill put everything they had into this show, even though the room was half-empty on a Friday night. Not to get all Garrison Keillor on us, but I think there's something to that "midwestern work ethic" talk - that's how I always feel after seeing the Doomtree crew in action, anyway. I don't understand how any of them have the time or energy to make such high-quality music.

When we got home, we watched the video for P.O.S's song "Purexed" - the one where he's wandering around South Minneapolis before a show, hanging out with his friends and putting up flyers in the snow. I realized that I won't get to experience a scene like that again. Boston has a scene, and one that I have admittedly barely looked into, but in Minneapolis, you hear about bands whether you want to or not. It's in the air, it's everywhere you go, and it's just how it works. Not everyone is as successful as P.O.S, of course, but watching him walk in and out of Muddy Waters, Fifth Element, and other uptown landmarks, makes you feel like you can be.

Your move, Boston.

There's rain in the forecast here in Boston, which doesn't make me want to play the usual TGIF song. (It's Phil Collins' "That's All", if you must know.)

Holly Miranda - Waves.

This one fits the bill just fine. It's atmospheric without being too dreamy, and the production - by TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek - is grounded enough to let the song levitate a bit. The Magician's Private Library is a good listen for a day like today, or any time you need a record to remove you from the here and now. The album's title comes from what her uncle said the first time heard Dark Side Of The Moon - really - but it applies very well to this album, which sounds like a bag of tricks without an intended audience.

The Magician's Private Library is out now on XL.

Percussion!

Electric President - Safe and Sound.

When it comes down to it, that's what I enjoy most about the work of Electric President. It's all so tangible, with acoustic guitars and drums like gears, all of it grinding away to keep the whole enterprise in motion.

Electric President hails from Florida, and they've put out two other LPs on Morr Music. This is their first record on Connecticut-based Fake Four Inc. The Violent Blue is a good album, full of what we've come to expect from Electric President and member Ben Cooper's solo project, Radical Face. You can pick up The Violent Blue from the Fake Four store.

We here at Music For Robots are pretty big fans of Titus Andronicus, if only for the crazy amount of enthusiasm with which they attack everything.

Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union.

Their new record The Monitor has a Civil War theme, but it's rooted in everyday life - which is a funny comparison, but one that makes perfect sense in context. "A More Perfect Union" is the first track from this album, and it's a great introduction. This album is as epic as they come, but it somehow feels intimate, too. I don't know how they pulled that off, but I'm glad they did. I've always liked this band's balance of energy and pop sense, and that balance is intact here too.

The Monitor features members of the Hold Steady and Wye Oak, and it was mastered by Greg Calbi - who, the band's press release notes, is the only person to have worked on both Fucked Up's Common Life and Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell II. The album is due out next Tuesday on XL. It's highly recommended.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Anxiety.

The funniest thing about the Eddy Current Suppression Ring is that they spent six hours and two hundred dollars to record their new album, and spent 800 dollars and just as much time flying their name on a banner behind an airplane for their album cover. It never occurred to them that they could just photoshop it in. And that tells us everything we need to know about Brendan and the rest of the guys.

Without a doubt one of my favorite bands, I couldn't be more excited about this new record, Rush to Relax. It's as good as you were hoping it would be, picking up right where Primary Colours left off. They overtly state everything we're thinking with simplicity and rage. They're desperately concerned with being able to hold a conversation, with not lying to you.

Just listen to it. If you like this, go grab Primary Colours and then wait until March 16th to grab the new one when it comes out. So highly recommended.

I don't know why I'm writing about Minneapolis so much these days. I think a lot of Twin Cities music has just come my way, for some reason.

Dosh - Subtractions.

When I lived in Minneapolis, I never fully looked into Mr. Martin Dosh and his amazing drumming, sampling, and looping abilities. I knew he was around, working with Andrew Bird and playing the Triple Rock, but I never listened as closely as I should have. Time to remedy that.

"Subtractions" is from Dosh's new record Tommy. (I can't be the only one hoping this was a concept cover album of a Who rock opera, can I?) It's out April 13 on Anticon. Having listened more closely to his most recent records Wolves and Wishes and Triple Rock, I'm pretty excited about the direction he's moving in. This track's pulsing rhythms and piecemeal vocals remind me of Steve Reich's particular brand of organized chaos. But as rock music.

You can read more about Tommy over at the Anticon site.

Album drops digitally on the 6th, and physically in May. It's definitely worth the wait.

Efterklang - Modern Drift.

"Modern Drift" is the first song from Efterklang's new record Magic Chairs, out today in Europe and tomorrow in the US. As opening statements go, it's a good one - the piano starts quietly, then more piano, then those thumping drums, then it all breaks open. This track makes the record sound like a gradual incline, which it is. The album is an increasingly ornate piece of pop music that uses its bells and whistles wisely and sparingly.

Efterklang hails from Copenhagen, and Magic Chairs is their third full-length. There's a lot to be said for records that have a consistent sound, but I also like records that crest and fall, quicken and slow. I like this record a lot, and I hope it gives the band a lot of attention stateside.

To pre-order Magic Chairs, head over to 4AD, where you can also check out the band's tour dates. Go to MySpace to hear the whole record.

I first heard singer Maggie Morrison in the late, lamented Minneapolis band Digitata. (Well, they maybe broke up? This July interview with Digitata drummer Drew Christopher makes it unclear. But it's funny.) Morrison's new band Lookbook keeps some of Digitata's essential elements: bloops, bleeps, synthdrama.

Lookbook - Yesterday's Company.

This track comes from Lookbook's first full-length, Wild At Heart. It's a good record, and as much as I love Digitata, it's interesting to hear Morrison front a band more interested in keeping things on steady ground. (Digitata simply isn't designed for that, in my opinion, which is one reason I love them so much.) Wild At Heart comes after the band's well-received I Fear You My Darkness EP last year, and it bodes well for the future. I hope Digitata sticks around, but in the meantime, Morrison's new project has my attention.

You can get Lookbook's Wild At Heart as a pay-what-you-want download from Listening Party Records (where you can also pre-order the fancy vinyl version).

One For The Team - Every Little Thing.

I've been a fan of One For The Team for a while now, and it's been really interesting watching them change over the years. Their sound has deepened and darkened, and on Ghosts, their third full-length, an instrument that sounds like a Mates of States distorted electric piano adds some murkiness to the mix. It all still pops, of course, underneath Ian Anderson's lighter-than-air vocals, and it all clicks along as if no one can stop it.

This band is from Minneapolis, and even though I moved from that scene about seven months ago, it's been rewarding to follow bands like One For The Team as they get bigger and bigger. This is a significant step forward for them, after the career-high Build A Garden EP last April. I highly recommend Ghosts, which comes out in March.

S. Piliso & His Super Seven - Kuya Hanjwa.

Look, I'm not the guy to sort out all the political, social, sociopolitical, and other implications of the indie fascination with South African, and specifically Sowetan, music. There's a lot to say about it, especially when it comes to the long American history of appropriation, and there are no easy answers. I will say this: I love that first Vampire Weekend record, but I think the band's characterization of their music as "Upper West Side Soweto" was pretty obnoxious. And when I saw Tune-Yards in Boston last fall, their bassist was wearing a faded Ladysmith Black Mambazo t-shirt, and I rolled my eyes. I'm all for giving credit where it's due, but the use of a culture as a notch on an Indie Cred scorecard makes me a little nauseous.

But anyway, Soweto. I got this Next Stop Soweto compilation in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and I'm crazy about it. The songs just roll so easily out of the speakers, with such momentum and confidence, that you give yourself over to them completely. The tracks on this compilation are "jive" tracks from the sixties and seventies, prior to the Soweto uprising of 1976. This is the first installment in a three-volume series from Strut, and I'm already looking forward to parts 2 and 3, which will feature South African soul, funk, and R&B.

You can pre-order Next Stop Soweto here. Highly recommended.

Bobby Charles - I Must Be in a Good Place Now.

And so we lose another one.

We're gonna miss him like crazy.

Laura Gibson & Ethan Rose - Younger.

Like many songs I post on here, this is a song for the in-between times. It's not triumphant. It's not a celebration of success. It's not a shoulder to cry on or a call to move on. It's not about the boys being back in town or the girls having a night out. It's not about love or hope or rock 'n roll.

It's about breathing, in and out, as we move along in our day. It's about deciding to make another cup of coffee because it's raining, or deciding to eschew socks today because the cold floors feel nice. It's about the slow steady growth of the plants outside, the almost effervescent rain outside constantly threatening to melt into fog and stop. It's about the heartbreaking warmth of your ordinary life.

And how about that muted horn?

Their delicate melodies fill the room despite their thin beginnings. Ethan Rose takes his usual scrapings, his jingles, and adds a thin layer of Laura Gibson on top with just enough direction and change to give the song a little purpose without taking away from his traditional minimalism. She's his perfect foi.

And that muted horn. And that woodpecker.

Their debut album, Bridge Carols, comes out on February 9th and you can preorder it from our friends at Holoscene.