Ah, YouTube. I remember the days when I'd discover new music on the radio, or on MTV (or VH1, actually). And in the early '00s, I would watch music videos on Yahoo! Music (or Launch). That turned into MySpace, and then, suddenly YouTube transitioned from an archive to a producer of original content.

I first heard Jess Penner on YouTube, in the background of a completely unrelated beauty video. She's got that somewhat quirky indie pop singer-songwriter thing going on that I tired of a couple years ago, but I think enough time has passed since the oversaturation of the female singer-songwriter market that I can listen to and enjoy this kind of music again.

Jess Penner is based in Los Angeles, but was raised on a banana farm in Kauai, Hawaii. She released her first album, titled "Love, Love, Love" in 2009, and her music's been featured in a host of commercials (including a "Days Inn" commercial), so you may be more familiar with her work than you think! Overall, her music covers many moods: sunny melodies and energetic vocals perfect for a warm spring's day, and forlorn vocals and lugubrious beats for lonely nights.

Here are some of my favorite songs:



Photo: Jess Penner's Facebook page