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The Donkeys' lazy, country-tinged Americana sound is a perfect match for the band's San Diego home. The group's second album, Living on the Other Side, is a simple and soothing summer set — music for driving with the top down, sunbathing in the sand and napping in a hammock.

The debut, self-titled album from Oklahoma City-based band The Uglysuit is refreshingly bright and cheery, replete with huge spirit-raising piano and guitar anthems. With a blend of spacey dream pop and a few alt-country flavors (lead singer Israel Hindman's voice mimicks Jeff Tweedy one minute, Conor Oberst the next), the group's sound draws comparisons to the Flaming Lips and the Shins, but the grandiosity of the music is that of space rock proportions.

At first listen, it's hard to tell if Great Plains, the third album from Chicago-based band Head of Femur, is wildly ambitious in its eccentric, incredibly catchy sound, or is simply a good, old-fashioned pop and rock record. The songs sound new and energetic while taking enough cues from the past to sound like a tribute album. The result is a record that is recognizable, but fresh and surprisingly accessible, despite offering plenty of surprises.

Twenty-five years after its first album, the New Jersey band is still selling out Madison Square Garden and putting out chart-topping singles. But these days, its sound is a little more country, and it's recording in Nashville. That may be because pop and rock songs have left behind the working-class, everyday guy, while country music sings straight to him.

Californian garage rock revivalists the Shys titled their second full length record You'll Never Understand This Band the Way That I Do, and from the way it sounds, you can't help but wonder if the band in question is the White Stripes. Between the album's heavy, blues-inspired guitars, minimalist drumming, and lead singer Kyle Krone's distinctive howl, the record could easily be packaged in red and white. But while Detroit's duo can at times err on the side of experimentalism, the Shys have taken the crunchy guitars and heavy, fuzz-filled solos, and added more traditionally poppy group choruses and catchy melodies to come out with gritty rock that is immediately accessible.

Despite the breakup of singers Cesar Alvarez and Sammy Tunis, the pair practically radiates chemistry in The Lisps' fun sing-along "Ann Marie," while drummer Eric Farber and bassist Jeremy Hoevenaar match their energy beat for beat.

Coming off like a more youthful Broken Social Scene, the Welsh band Los Campesinos! plays bratty indie-pop, with an emphasis on pop. Hold on Now, Youngster... is big on punky energy and never lets up.

Backed by just an electric guitar, folk-punk legend Billy Bragg took the stage at The Current's showcase, on the corner of 7th and Red River in Austin, Texas, for SXSW.

Hugh Masekela devoted the prime of his life to the struggle of his lifetime –- ending apartheid in South Africa. Short in stature but great in presence, Masekela has that spark that continues to engage us. Masekela's band performs a concert at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival.