Saturday five.

Sorry I’ve been somewhat absent from here – spring training is among my worst times of the year for getting time for non-work writing.

I don’t know if this will become a regular blog feature, but I’ve been saving up a bunch of random links and recommendations and finally had an hour (thanks to an early wakeup call from the child today) to sit and work them up: five mostly-new alternative songs I’ve got in heavy rotation on the iPod and five links to articles/posts I enjoyed.

Civil Twilight – “Fire Escape.” (amazon/iTunes) After Of Monsters and Men’s “Little Talks,” this is my favorite new song of the year – I hear a little early U2 in the song, especially the vocals, but the slightly offbeat guitar riff is the part that drew me back after the first listen.

Bombay Bicycle Club – “Shuffle.” (amazon/iTunes) Second choice for second-favorite new song. That off-kilter piano sample and the spacey production of the vocals both reminded me of Beta Band, but this song is much bouncier than any Beta Band track I’ve heard.

School of Seven Bells – “The Night.” (amazon/iTunes) Sleigh Bells gets all the love right now – I thought the industrial thing was kind of played out twenty years ago – but I prefer these Bells, or at least this song, an ethereal electronic track that sounded like an updated Flock of Seagulls with a female vocalist lamenting a broken heart.

Lonely Forest – “Turn Off This Song and Go Outside.” (amazon/iTunes) Immediate reaction was negative – it’s just too emo for me – but then I found myself singing it the next day and caved in and bought it. Think of a slowed-down Jimmy Eat World that still just wants you to know they’re singing their hearts out. The chorus is still gimmicky, though. Originally released in 2010 on an EP.

Grouplove – “Tongue Tied.” (amazon/iTunes) Prediction: I’m going to hate this song in about six weeks. I’d call this LCD Soundsystem meets Erasure as sung by your obnoxious friends who sound like they’re never going to grow up.

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And a few links:
Penny Arcade interview with Days of Wonder’s CEO, talking about how the iPad Ticket to Ride app boosted sales of the physical game. Recommended by reader Patrick T.

Jonah Lehrer on how anyone can be creative, from his just-released book Imagine: How Creativity Works.

NY Times article on hyperpolyglots, including how they use the Internet to find and help each other learn more and learn faster. The main subject is extremely impressive, but I’m not sure from the article whether he’s getting to fluency or just learning basic conversation.

Otters who look like Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as Hedgehogs who look like Martin Freeman.

Will Leitch’s piece on Bryce Harper, in which he points out that baseball needs some stars with personality, which Harper has in spades – and I agree. The “bad makeup” tag on him was always nonsense, and besides, it ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.