Check It. 'Stroked' [The Monday Download].

Warning: this post will probably make you feel very old.

The Strokes' Is This It is now officially a decade old. TEN years. !!! It's been ten years since you first heard those oh so familiar and now oh so classic first chords of "Last Nite," ten years since Julian Casablancas oh so distinct mumble-drawl caught your ears, ten years since you couldn't get this New York, too cool for school, leather jacket- and skinny jean-wearing dudes out of your brain. A lot has been said about the garage rock revival that The Strokes helped to revolutionize those years ago, and a lot more has been said about what has happened to them since.

But neither here nor there, it's time to reminisce. Or maybe even better -- pay tribute. Stereogum's put together another one of their cover compilations, this time honoring none other than Is This It. And as usual, they've got some pretty great names and bands contributing, from Real Estate to The Morning Benders to Peter Bjorn and John to Owen Pallett. Everyone's got their own feelings about cover songs, but either way, they do serve their purpose: making you rethink the original in a new and fresh way. And the notes the musicians gave on The Strokes and their songs are pretty interesting as well.

Worth your time and listen -- at least until you're ready to spin the original again. Listen and download here.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. A cute cover of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's "Home" [The Monday Download].

I still remember the first time I saw Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros perform their song "Home," and how mesmerized I was by the passion and emotion the group put into it. The song has since become extremely popular, showing up on TV and the radio, inspiring many to try and put their own twist on the song -- but I still felt nothing could truly compare to that performance I saw back in 2009.

Until now. Out of nowhere, this adorable girl and her young dad have stolen the song for themselves and made it new and beautiful again. See for yourself (and try not to die from the cuteness):

The emotion! The passion! Could this little girl really understand what all the love and beauty that this song is all about? It seems so, amazingly. Try and not have a good day now that you've witnessed that.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Aloe Blacc's "Femme Fatale" [The Monday Download].

You've probably heard the inescapably catchy "I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blacc, but the L.A. based artist has also made a classy cover of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" that's definitely worth listening to. And hey, the video has L.A. all over it -- can you recognize all the spots? The city has almost never been sexier.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Nouvelle Vague.

The week after the 8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile, I started having trouble sleeping. I live in Santiago, which wasn't nearly as affected as other regions of this skinny country, but certain noises would just set me off, and I'd stay up until 4-5 a.m. missing the days when I'd just drop off at night.

That's when I reintroduced myself to Nouvelle Vague. Their soft, romantic bossa nova covers of 80s punk songs were exactly what my haggard, nervous spirit needed.

Just wrapping up the U.S. leg of their 2010 tour, the French Nouvelle Vague does extraordinary covers -- and I generally hate covers, but these are great.

Despite the dreamy, soft quality of their music, it's anything but boring. Sometimes drawing from the dark and dissonant like Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Bauhaus and sometimes softening up old pop ballads like Blondie's "Heart of Glass," the dreaminess is exactly what those who are, well, dreamless kind of need.

Lamentably, I just missed their Los Angeles stop at the Henry Fonda (because I'm in South America), but their vintage-style videos are readily available on YouTube. Below two of the four appear on the Brittish BalconyTV singing Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen."

-- Lauren Williams