Listen to these songs

Here are some music recommendations for your weekend.

"Goodnite" by Melody Gardot: A dreamy jazz ballad from Gardot, whose voice is smooth like glass.

"Long Lost Brother" by Over the Rhine: A primo track from OTR's magnum opus. "I wanna do better, I wanna try harder / I wanna believe down to the letter / Jesus and Mary, can you carry us / Across this ocean into the arms of forgiveness."

"Light Up Ya Lighter" by Michael Franti: Rough, blistering reggae critique of the war and more importantly, the culture of war. I'm not really into anti-war songs, but this one happens to move me. Plus it has an awesome hook.

"O Heart Bereaved and Lonely" by Sandra McCracken: This is a haunting acoustic reworking of an old Fanny Crosby hymn. "O cling to thy Redeemer, / Thy Savior, Brother, Friend / Believe and trust His promise, / To keep you till the end." Such a comforting song.

And finally, two Phish songs. People often ask me where to start with Phish, so here are two recommendations. "Down With Disease" is a great example of a fairly short, concise song that still showcases a lot of the band's sound. And "You Enjoy Myself" is maybe my favorite example of the more stereotypical Phish song: long, heavily composed, time changes, goofy lyrics. It's pretty boss.