Two:

Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit are The Very Best

This album/mixtape/whathaveyou is awesome! I freely admit that I lack the vocabulary to say much more than "it's awesome," so there you go. Mwamyaya is Malawian (I don't know if this is actually a word; whatever, he's from Malawi), and he and Radioclit mix traditional Africana with electro, soul & R&B, indie and Michael Jackson. On the album you'll hear familiar strains of M.I.A., Vampire Weekend and Santogold, and each song is more colorful and dynamic than the last. I hope these guys get huge.

Mwamway and Radioclit are letting folks preview and download the album for free over here, so you really have no excuse. Go, grab it, and listen. It will make you happy.

Snow Patrol, A Hundred Million Suns

I feel vaguely like I should be embarrassed for liking Snow Patrol as much as I do. They're "soft rock," I heard 'Chasing Cars' a million times on the radio last summer, and they make the kind of mellow, emotional music that's easy to sneer at. But they write songs that tap into the most delicious strains of longing and melodrama, almost always without crossing that line into saccharine. (And when they do cross the line, I never mind because it's still so satisfying.)

Their latest album feels like a fairy tale that must come to terms with a realistic--and accordingly, unhappy--ending. Gary Lightbody's shaky voice always implies foreboding, and the songs switch constantly from urgent anxiety to bittersweet acceptance. It's very pretty music, lovely even, but its loveliness doesn't mean it lacks substance or weight. Buy it here.