The lovely folks at mundane sounds had a good idea in March. They put up a compilation called Yellow Orange Pink Blue Baby!, a collection of what they call "baby bands," unsigned or unknown groups that they think you should know about. In most cases, I totally agree. I could go through the 13-song comp. song by song, but that would probably be just as tiresome for you to read as it would be for me to compose, so why don't I just hit some of the highlights and a copy of the, um, lowlights.

The Carolines' "Lonely Last Summer" is a great way to start an album. It's light, poppy and engaging, the kind of song that makes you look forward to hearing the rest of the collection. "Belle" by The Nevvers is a decent little song at a little over two and a half minutes, but it's a little hard to wrap your head around the first time I think. There are a lot of tempo changes, and I for one found the singer's voice a little grating at times, but oddly enough it seems to depend on the day...

Austin's Friends of Lizzy have already put out a pretty successful EP, but the song on this collection, "Negative Space," is a relatively new one. It's your basic indie ballad, not challenging but not too passe either. Another Texas band who were include are The Zest of Yore!, and their song "Already Lost" is a very strange song. The band is perfect for inclusion on a mix, but I don't think I could stand the singer's high-pitched whining for an entire album. The mundane sounds people seemed to really like The Cocker Spaniels and their song "Until My Heart Heals," but frankly, I can't hit the skip button fast enough. It's too fast for no reason, and the lead singer's nasal voice really just grates my nerves. When did everyone start thinking singing through one's nose was cool? Deminutive "Gold Medal" by Colin Clary is very cute, and like the editor's description states, it is "a fun little number that will put a smile on your face." I think that about covers it.

Ok, being selfish, I've saved the best for last. Of the 13 songs on Yellow Orange Pink Blue Baby!, the real standouts are "Add a Wrap" by Cannonball Jane and "Pleasure" by Weak. I have put both of these songs on mixes for my friends, and everyone raves about them. Cannonball Jane is unsigned at the moment, and I truly hope that doesn't last long. "Add a Wrap" is just a fantastic song. The description of her music is "electro-indiepopklash," but I'll be honest, I don't know what that means. What I do know is that the low tempo techno beat coupled with Sharon Hagopian's smooth vocals make this one of my favorite songs right now. Weak's "Pleasure" is just hot. Seriously, if you're not at least slightly turned on by the end of this softly throbbing song, you might need some sort of enhancement product. Singer Antony Widoff's voice has this deeply sensual, almost breathless quality that is almost hypnotic. I must have more!

Oh, um, where was I? Ok, but really, you know you don't even have to take my word for any of this since all of the songs on the compilation are out there ready and waiting for you to download them for free. So go out there, spank this little Baby for yourself and see how much joy discovering new music can be!