Journey. No, not that Journey.

This year's Grammy for best original soundtrack went to, of all thing, a video game. It's called Journey and definitely sounds like a different kind of game. I heard an interview with the composer, Austin Wintory, who explained the game has no violence, no battles, no gunfights, no winners or losers--it's actually loosely based on the writings of the philosopher Joseph Campbell. It's a game of discovery. It sounds like a game I could see encouraging my kids to play. And while I haven't heard the entire soundtrack, what I have heard I was very impressed with. Give it a listen and judge for yourself.

Speck-tacular

Speck Mountain is a Brooklyn-based group that makes dreamy, space rock. The group is made up of Karl Briedrick on guitars, Marie-Claire Balabanian on vocals and bass, and multi-instrumentalist Kate Walsh. The group came together in 2005 and have released 3 albums. Their sound is quiet, slow paced and features lush, pretty vocals.

Terre Firma

New York-based Terre Thaemlitz started out as a DJ while he was studying rt at Cooper Union. He's worked with the likes of Bill Laswell and the Golden Palominos. His music is experimental ambient and incorporates house, funk, jazz, and a number of other genres. There's nothing quite like it so it's hard to compare it to anything. Thaemlitz has a large body of music out there and there are plenty of youtube videos to explore as well.