You might assume that as editor of Paste, my kids have grown up on a steady diet of Flaming Lips and Death Cab For Cutie. But somewhere along the way, my cultural influence over them was overwhelmed by the folks at Disney. Roly Poly Olie eventually gave way to Hannah Montana, Zack & Cody and the horrendous Wizards of Waverly Place. High School Musical begat Camp Rock and Demi Lovato. Someone told them that they could find Radio Disney on the AM dial, and I'd have to endure Selena Gomez and Jesse McCartney through waves of static.

There are few possessions I love in this world more than my seafoam green Vespa scooter. At a wicked 49cc, it putters around Decatur, Ga., at a mind-warping 38 mph. Whenever I want to head to the Square to visit my favorite pub, The Brick Store, or my favorite gastro-pub, Leon's Full Service, I know I can pull into one of six scooter-only parking spaces (mine's the one pictured in front, above). It's our second car, and I took my four-year-old to pre-school on it this morning. So I'm all in favor of The Vespa Experiment—an all-Vespa tour by Jason Reeves, Brendan James and Amber Rubarth.

While the Red-Shirts are out on the streets of Bangkok, clashing with riot police and clammering for elections, the people of Chiang Mai are storming the streets armed with water pistols, buckets and trashcans filled with ice water. It's Songkran, the Thai New Year, and along every road, Thai children and adults are hoping to share their blessing with a hose or water cannon. But the real action is in the northern city of Chiang Mai, specifically down at the ancient moat that used help protect residents from raiding Burmese. That's where we headed.

If you, like me, can't get enough of the spiritual children of Nick Drake (Iron & Wine, Bon Iver, Sun Kil Moon, Alexi Murdoch, etc.), Portland, Oregon's Loch Lomand is your new favorite band. Singer/songwriter Ritchie Young started the band as a solo project in 2003, and for subsequent recordings and shows, the group has ranged from one to 10 members. The song I've had on repeat isn't new—"A Field Report" off its third album Paper These Walls from 2007. But it also appears on the EP Trumpets For Paper Children, which the band is now offering for free (or donation) at the Hush Records Shop.

When people walk into the Paste office—assuming there's not a band playing in the Paste studio—they're often surprised by how quiet it is. Our space is wide open, so our staff is usually on headphones, since everyone needs to listen to different music. But often you come across a song you just have to play for the everyone around you. And sometimes, you just have to crank that song up, over and over again through the course of a week—no matter how many times Rachael gives you that look. Rather than keep interrupting my co-workers, I thought I'd start sharing those songs with you. I'll start with "No Wedding Cake" by Fol Chen, a quartet from Highland Park, Calif.

Last year, we published our first-ever international issue. We've always tried to look beyond our shores for great music and film, but recently we've stepped that up a notch, attending music festivals in Norway, Germany and most recently Canada, where I had the privilege to attend M For Montreal (or M Pour Montreal for you Francophones).

The last two days have been busy in the Paste Studio. Yesterday, Switchfoot's Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins brought their new band Fiction Family in to play a few songs, including a cover of Radiohead's "Idioteque" around a single mic.

Ain't no party like a kids' book release party. On Sunday, Jan. 25, Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Ga., was packed for the release party of Paste's An Indie Rock Alphabet Book. Oskar Blues provided the Dale's Pale Ale and local band Judi Chicago brought the rock. After a reading of Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Punk Farm, my daughters Jordan and Emma Jackson read their Indie Rock ABCs. It's even funnier when a kid reads, "Stone Temple Pilot turned into tools / But after all this time, Pearl Jam still rules." Co-authors Kate Kiefer and Rachael Maddux and illustrator owen the owen were on hand to sign copies of the book, while co-author Caren Kelleher was off expanding her brain at Harvard.

It's eerily quiet here at the Paste office with most everybody taking a vacation day today. And I just said my goodbyes to Palmer Houchins, who as of Friday will be our first full-time Paste employee living in New York (Williamsburg, to be exact—hipsters, be nice to him). So I thought I'd just give you a round-up of cultural tidbits that our web team is too busy merry-making to otherwise tell you about...

Years ago, high-school Josh was obsessed with music from Athens and Atlanta—R.E.M., Guadalcanal Diary, Drivin' & Cryin', the Indigo Girls. One of cassettes (hey, I said years ago) I listened to more than any other was a 1988 album called Rough Night in Jericho by Dreams So Real. It was a perfect gateway for classic-rock-loving junior-high-school Josh to start listening to college radio with gruff, earnest vocals over chime-y guitars.