Unoriginal Soundtracks #111: Life Is Strange, episode four

Every other Friday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

As Life is Strange nears its climax, episode four inspires a podcast of music about masculinity, parties, and young women getting too close to dangerous people.

Music Wrap-Up Special: The Best Music of 2010

The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. Having trouble keeping up with all the new music? Need some music suggestions? Then the Music Wrap-Up is for you. And please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.

The Music Wrap-Up forces me to keep up with new music every month so that I can share it with you. Without it I'd probably miss a lot of great albums. Some of the music I listen to a handful of times, pick out the songs I like the most, write them up in that month's Wrap-Up, and then never return to the CD again. Not because I disliked them, just because they didn't stick with me for some reason.

Other releases though, those stick with me all year long and well into the future. There's no doubt that if I'm still listening to it at the end of the year, it was one of my favorite albums of the year. So I've collected all that I hold most dear in this special edition of the Music Wrap-Up. While I never put anything in the other Wrap-Ups that I don't recommend, I extra recommend all of these releases. Seriously, buy these.