Australia’s own Electro House Duo “Bag Raiders” produced this gem of a music video featuring a chimpanzee, a beautiful protagonist and rowdy parties. It’s hard not to smile while watching this video and Bag Raiders deliver a fun, poppy, summer sound.

Named by NPR as one of the “best bands in 2011” and one of the “top bands to look out for in 2012” by MTV, Alabama Shakes is quickly climbing their way to the top of the music scene. Their debut album Boys & Girls is anything but a disappointment. To put it in so many words, the band has some serious soul.

When I was a kid the most recording equipment I had was a Yak Bak…remember those? As I reached high school age I dabbled in music production, but this is ridiculous!

It’s a beautiful thing, the animal kingdom. Particularly the human and dog relationship. Humans simply want dogs to do human things. We’re like, “Hey, man’s very best friend, you need to know how to do this.” So, instincts kick-in and we teach them. Humans have taught dogs to play the piano, put on shoes, water ski, speak English, roll over, shake hands, make sandwiches… you get the idea. Point and case, the “beer me” dog from the YouTube video dog doing beer me.

Overly ambitious, or this fall’s mega-blockbuster? We won’t find out until October 26, but if this 6-minute trailer is any indication, Cloud Atlas will be magnificent.

I’m a huge fan of alternative rock music, and here is my latest favorite by Imagine Dragons.

Meet MysteryGuitarMan. His latest video, Stop-Motion Excel, has opened people’s eyes to the magic of spreadsheets by creating a one minute stop-motion video using non other than Microsoft Excel. Apparently, Microsoft Excel can not only be used for data analysis, but also for video production as well. What a great and ingenious way of thinking.

2011 marked a monumental infant year for Alberta-based duo Purity Ring. The pair effortlessly gathered accolades, including a spot on Sterogum’s Top 10 New Acts of 2011 list, a #38 listing on Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of 2011 (that put them ahead of Adele, Bon Iver, Drake, Rihanna, Washed Out and others) , and shimmering coverage from The Guardian. The catch, they did all this without releasing an album.

The line up of Diplo’s collaboration project, Major Lazer, has suffered some shakeups recently. But, in the two years since its inception, one thing’s stayed constant: surprise. The group’s latest release, “Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do” is no exception.

I’m digging the newest Ting Tings album. One song that stands out is, “Hit Me Down Sonny.” But it’s not just the music that makes this album a keeper, it’s the art contest that was part of the process.