With it being the week before the July 4th holiday, I admit it’s a little hard to trudge through and get stuff done. But in all the reading I have to do for work as well as writing, one of the best companions are a few great tunes.

So here’s a mix of some great tunes for your Tuesday. Some are new, some are older, some are funny and some are just sweet.

Enjoy.

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Brooke Waggoner-Live For The Sounds
Her new album is called Heal For The Honey. Her voice flows perfectly with her indie rock presence and the seasonings of instrumentation sprinkled throughout the track. She’s giving away her album and you can pick it up for yourself by going to her website.

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Kina Grannis-White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes Cover)
In gearing up for our annual cover series, I’ve been listening to a ton of cover songs from all over the place. There are some great resources for others who enjoy cover songs as much as I do. For me, a great cover is one that takes the original brilliance of the song and reinterprets it in either a new style or with a new voice. To me, tribute songs are kind of a waste. A tribute song is a cover that is done in the exact same style, tempo, and voice (or feeling) of the original. The only difference between a tribute song and the original is the artist performing. Rarely are there differences in sound. For my time and energy, I won’t waste either on a song that is exactly the same as the original. If you want to hear some great covers, check out Cover Lay Down, Cover Me, and do a search for Cover on HypeM. You won’t be disappointed. Our cover series kicks off on July 9th.

Speaking of covers, this one has been in my head for over a week. Iron & Wine is brilliant, and it also features Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season (from the film Once). Check this out and experience it for yourself.

Iron And Wine covers George Michael

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Weird Al Yankovic- Your Horoscope For Today
This tune comes from Weird Al’s Running With Scissors release from several years ago. I recently got a copy of it and the whole thing is awesome. I haven’t yet picked up his newest album Alpocalyspe, but I look forward to acquiring that soon. For this song, he is not only making fun of the horoscope itself, but mostly people’s obsession with having to know what is going to happen to them before the event takes place. Laugh along as the listening experience continues.