Elvis Costello and Mumford & Sons came together for One’s Protest Songs to cover Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost of Tom Joad (which, according to One, Springsteen named after the main character from John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, and which “he hoped the song would personify or represent the voices of the hopeless, disenfranchised, and invisible as the book was said to do in the 1930″).  Check it out below, and the medley segment at end.  After, watch a video explaining One, which was co-founded by some dude named Bono.  Let’s hear it for the downtrodden!  Gospel, right there.  The Mumford banjo-dude in denim cut-offs, fay vest and trucker hat is a little much to have to pan over, but hey nonetheless:  gospel.

As we’ve written before, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is a fantastically talented Detroit band led by Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein.  And they have been earning hearts all along the way.  Check out their blatant commercial-crossover track If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dance Floor) (according to the band, originally entitled Too Fat For Love).  The difference between this song and other (more-crass) crossover attempts is that, as we’ve seen repeatedly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. have talent and musicality for days.  Check out the songwriting, vocals, the bass, the drums, the….yes, dancing!  Oh my.  At times it reminds of Flaming Lips, but these gents can actually sing.  The song is from their EP Patterns, which was released on Record Store Day.

After, check out the band’s web-exclusive performance on Conan of new song War Zone off their impending new album.  Sounds a bit like Vampire Weekend, but we haven’t heard VW hit those vocal notes before and particularly live.  Sweet stuff.

Below War Zone, check out the studio version of If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On the Dancefloor) with its George Harrison-infused acoustic intro. Great stuff.  And after, check out the band-endorsed DatA remix of the song.

If you like what you hear and have flexibility, the band will be performing for FREE this Friday at 1:oopm for Warner Bros. in LA.  Info can be found HERE.  If you have more modest flexibility, the show will also be shown on YouTube.

Check out below an extensive, insightful interview of the all-time great Joni Mitchell at her Los Angeles house by CBC Studio Q host Jian Ghomeshi. Phenomenally well done.

London-based Eno/Coldplay/King Creosote-collaborator Jon Hopkins has been turning ears and heads across the Pond with his entrancing electronic sounds. To get a feel, check out his official video below for the mesmerizing track Open Eye Signal from his new album Immunity released last week.  The video’s skating visuals start in Coachella Valley and from there skateboards all around the California environs.  Reminds me of some kids I once knew.

Jon Hopkins ‘Open Eye Signal’ from Aoife McArdle on Vimeo.

We continue to petition that Wilco’s Woody-lyriced song California Stars should be the Official State Song, and required to be sung in all California grade schools. While we continue to gather petition signatures, check out below (via A.V. Club) a great collaboration by Wilco and Calexico members on the song earlier this month below at the Nelsonville Music Festival. Beauty.

Here on the southern Central Coast of Cali in June, we are under the standard seasonal attack of Fogzilla (yes, many blame Japan).  But today we awoke to blue skies and radiance, and the people gave thanks and danced merrily in the streets.  We knew not whom or what to thank for the weather-fix until we watched Coke Weed’s official video for new song Sunseekers, off of their impending third album Back to Soft.  Bar Harbor, Maine’s Coke Weed (hey, it’s better than the inexplicably burgeoning F#@k band-entitling) has been garnering attention following their selection by The Walkmen as tour openers.  The surf-nostalgic Sunseekers video features vintage surf footage harkening back to simpler, less-crowded longboard days somewhere (anyone?). Check out the Walkmen-endorsed song/video below.  Thanks Coke Weed!

Following the video you can download the song from the band’s Soundcloud.

National treasures The National are mid-tour in support of their superb new album Trouble Will Find Me.  Amongst the manifold dates, Lefort-at-Large will cover their hat-trick of shows in August at Outside Lands, the Greek Theater and Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  The band showed up (appropriately in D.C.) for an unplugged Tiny Desk Concert that’s just been released by NPR.  Check it out and download the audio below.

Setlist:

• “This Is The Last Time”
• “I Need My Girl”
• “Pink Rabbits”
• “Sea Of Love”

In honor of the tenth-anniversary of his label Arts & Letters, Broken Social Scene’s leader Kevin Drew and his folks put together the Field Trip Festival which was held yesterday in Toronto. Following up on their performance on Fallon on Thursday, Broken Social Scene and Feist both appeared at Field Trip.  From Field Trip, watch Broken Social Scene perfectly perform their spectacular Lover’s Spit.  It’s a love-fest with horns and Kevin Drew killin’ on vocals. After, check out the ever-checkable Feist performing her song Anti-Pioneer. Oh how the girl can sing… and play guitar! Oh to have been there. Chapeaux!

Summery LA-band Cayucas is playing Muddy Waters tonight courtesy of Club Mercy.  Check out some vignettes of the band and get down to Muddy Waters tonight to kick off summer properly and with the right band.  Watch them on NPR at Palm Springs performing High School Lover unplugged and then their recent session for KCRW. And cme on down to the little Muddy.