Every Tuesday Single Minded highlights new tracks hitting stores (or the Web) this week. On Fridays, come back for rarities, remixes, mash-ups and more.

The Hold Steady, “Stay Positive” [Live]
Circuitous lyrics? Oblique references to drug use? A winning combination of nostalgia and anxiety? Can it be anything other than a new Hold Steady song?

Various Artists, A Whole Bunch of Mixtapes [Mixtapes]
A bounty for Friday: a whole bunch of mixtapes, rarities, promo tracks and remixes from legends (and semi-legends) like Kool G Rap, Jeru the Damaja, MF Grimm and J Dilla.

Stephin Merritt, “This Little Ukelele,” “The Nun’s Lament” [Live]
In this NPR performance, Merritt makes a convincing case for the ukelele as the saddest of all instruments. Sorry, tuba!

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, “Falling Slowly,” “If You Want Me,” “Once” [Live Videos]
The antidote to end-of-week exhaustion: three stirring performances from these newly minted Oscar winners.

The Mountain Goats, A Whole Slew of Covers [Covers]
More impressive than John Darnielle’s finesse with his own songs is finesse handling other people’s. We strongly urge you to download his take on “The Sign.”

[Photo: Getty]