Every weekday, NPR Music's self-explanatorily titled series Song of the Day chooses a new piece of music and gives users a chance to play the track, link to the artist's Web sites and read an essay about what makes each one special. That adds up to a lot of songs.

So, to condense the week in songs down to an even more digestible bite, host Guy Raz sat down with Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson to review his most recent selections.

With five tracks to choose from — including selections by indie-pop singer John Vanderslice ("Too Much Time"), jazz vocalist Kurt Elling (covering the standard "Lush Life"), roots-rock band The Dead Satellites (the protest song "Shook Down") and power-pop group The Starlight Mints ("Paralyzed") — Thompson chose as his favorite "Home," a song by the 10-piece L.A. band Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.

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