Shaking Through Vol2 Ep8: Family Band from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

The awesomely talented eMusic Selects alum Family Band took a trip to Philly a few weeks ago, teaming up with Grizzly Bear‘s Dan Rosen to arrange and record a new song live in the studio. The resulting song, like all things Family Band, is both gorgeous and unsettling, but my favorite part of the above video is watching the band push and pull and fight a little and try to work out a song while the clock is ticking. It’s a great, up-close look at the writing and recording process. After you’ve watched it, go here to download the finished product and watch another outtake.

Here are 10 of our favorite videos from this week, including recent clips from the Coathangers and Battles, and an early look at Justice‘s long-awaited second album. Check back every Friday for eMusic’s complete rundown of what you need to be watching right now…

As we head into the holiday weekend and kids across the country get ready to head back to school, eMusic thought we’d hold a crash course of our own — one that covers the entire spectrum of rock music, from riot grrrls to heavy metal heathens, from punk legends to icons who don’t need an introduction (Cash! Springsteen! Dylan! Oh my!).

Check out the hefty YouTube playlist above for a quick look at what you’re in for, with the rest of our Discover: School of Rock sale available here through Wednesday, September 14.

Now that our YouTube channel is up and running, eMusic is now the place for everything from exclusive interviews to carefully curated playlists that make sense out of the Web’s pixelated trash heap. As part of the latter, we’ll be bringing you a breakdown of our favorite videos every Friday, starting with Washed Out gone yacht rock, a new Florence + the Machine tune that reveals how sky-is-the-limit her next record may be, and 7 other videos worth viewing.

Check ‘em all out in the handy player above.

I have not been paying enough attention to this band.

Alaskan band’s Atlantic Records debut after a formidable indie career finds them trying to imagine what it would be like if Butch Walker produced T. Rex. Or if every Spacehog song sounded like “In the Meantime.” For $6.99, if you have a soft spot for the fine line where glam gave way to hard rock, you need this.

Tyler, the Creator. Pusha T. And a trunk-throttling Neptunes beat. Do you need any other details? Grab “Trouble On My Mind” here.

EAR PWR – “National Parks” from SAL on Vimeo.

About a month ago, we got the newest record from EAR PWR, a great, laid-back psych duo with a fondness for spiralling analog synths and soft, cooing vocals. I was instantly hooked — there’s something not unlike Kate Bush in their dreamy, expansive music, otherworldliness that is captured in this NSFW video. Imagine A Midsummer Night’s Dream soundtracked by Vangelis, and you’re getting close.

The only thing better than a metal band is a metal band with a sense of humor. Enter Mastodon and a gaggle of pissed-off puppets.

Backstory: Since their inception, the group has gradually drawn out the artier inclinations that were always at the center of their storming songs. Though not everyone agrees with me, I thought 2009′s Crack the Skye was a high-water mark, a representation of what the band could do when they were firing on all cylinders. Like a lot of people, I’m hotly anticipating The Hunter, the follow-up to Skye the group are now writing and recording (and apparently blessing with song titles like — I’m not kidding — “The Octopus Has No Friends”).

To satisfy any impatience, the group has contributed an outtake from Crack the Skye, called “Deathbound,” to the recently-revived Adult Swim Singles Club. You can watch the Muppetastic video for the song above. You will never watch Fraggle Rock the same way again.

While a new Tinariwen record is reason enough to rejoice, the band’s Anti- debut (Tassili, due out August 30th) rounds out their hypnotist hooks with session work from members of Wilco (Nels Cline), TV on the Radio (Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone), and Dirty Dozen Brass Band (their entire horn section). Check out the album’s first single above.

If you’re anything like us, you like reality television programs that are structured around some kind of competition — and even moreso when the competition in question is musical. Enter Platinum Hit, the new Bravo show hosted by American Idol expat Kara DioGuardi and four-time Alaskan yodeling champion Jewel. Jewel! Dreams last so long, man.

But we at eMusic have an even bigger vested interest in Platinum Hit, and his name is Johnny Marnell. Johnny is a Software Engineer at eMusic by day, but a songwriter by night (and, I guess, by weekends? And afternoons? It’s kind of a strange expression) and he is also one of the contestants on Platinum Hit, which has made for a number of surreal moments around the office, usually in which I try to determine if it’s weird to ask what Donna Summer is like in real life, or how he managed to not beat the shit out of Nick “Darth Maul” Nittoli who, in the grand tradition of reality show contestants, is Not There to Make Friends. Johnny rightly described himself last week as being “underrated in the competition so far,” an assessment with which we wholeheartedly agree.

That will all hopefully change TONIGHT at 10pm EST on Bravo with what we’re told is a Marnell-centric episode (in which he apparently makes out with someone which — !!!). Watch and root along with us. And hiss every time Nick comes on screen. Because seriously, fuck that guy.