Better than the original: All I Want by Joni Mitchell (cover by Josh Turner and Kami Maltz) - I am not a huge Joni Mitchell fan, but this cover got stuck in my head. Kami Maltz has such a great voice. She floats effortlessly in and out of falsetto, while Josh Turner fills out the song with a guitar accompaniment that I didn’t know the song needed. It’s a joy watching them play because they seem to be having so much fun together. I’ve watched it at least 5 or 6 times and have gotten to appreciate the interesting chord progressions and even Joni’s overly earnest lyrics.

I wanted to share this song because it has a really unique vocal melody and great lyrics that I couldn't get out of my head. Stripped down it's a folk song, but add on a backup band with a pedal steel guitar and you have some great alt-country -- whatever that means. Incidentally, the drummer is Spencer Tweedy, son of alt-country legend Jeff Tweedy. (Sorry for the lame "alt-country classic" clickbait attempt, but I wanted to get this song stuck in your head like it was stuck in mind. )

This song is about having someone you love to make music with, citing Emmylou and Graham, and Johnny and June in the chorus. It's led by two sisters from Sweden with beautiful harmonies and is a kind of country music that you can love, even if you don't like country music.

This is the title track from their 1995 album. I put it on recently and realized it's easy to forget just how great this album is, in part because it was followed up by OK Computer, Kid A, etc. I'm not savvy enough to know what you should pick out, but I do know it still sounds current over 25 years later and I would love to hear your thoughts about it.

As for the lyrics, The Bends is a pretty obvious metaphor, but otherwise I don't think the song is too profound.

Every Radiohead pick in your requests should be your next Radiohead pick. But since that’s impossible, you might as well go for another from the basement track. Reckoner is not as baffling as Weird Fishes, but just creative in its own way, beautiful, and a joy to listen to.

Gojira is a monster of a band from France. The vocals are okay, with thoughtful lyrics (when you can understand them), but the it's got some great guitar playing on the fretboard. The real star, however, is Mario Duplantier. He's a straight up athlete on the drums, and arguably the best metal drummer in the world

The opening track of OK Computer. It’s very different than Weird Fishes - much more “conventional,” but no less original. AND it’s got a great guitar solo.