This excellent solo record by My Morning Jacket guitarist Carl Broemel is a rare thing: a woodsy little indie-folk record that refuses to brood. On All Birds Say, Broemel spreads cheer with every pluck of his acoustic guitar, singing short, endearingly sweet songs about love, nature, drinking wine and other worthy topics. Broemel writes hooks that sneak up on you through simple singsong melodies. His lyrics sound like hippie beatitudes: "Everybody's on the way/Whether or not they know it. . . . /There is space in the garden." Even his come-ons are beatific. "Let's go home and be friends," he chirps in "Heaven Knows." And then he bursts into a whistling solo.

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.