The New Pornographers - "Moves" Video

Donald Glover from Community appears as a reporter, for some reason. Damn, that's a lot of coke. I never thought of using it as a pizza topping.

The New Pornographers "Together" Streaming on NPR

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You can stream Together, the new record from The New Pornographers, on NPR right now.

Even if you were 'bored' by their last record Challengers (a fair reaction, though certain songs - Myriad Harbour, All the Old Showstoppers - are undeniable), you'll wanna check out this set.  There's a lot more energy driving this record forward.  Definitely digging it.

last.fm - Top 5 Artists

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Last.fm is an awesome service that keeps track of the music you play.  It does other stuff too I guess...like you can listen to radio stations based on the music you like to listen to.  But outside of Pandora, I have no interest in investing in other radio stations, really.

But it keeps track of what you play!  And gives you all your music stats, makes recommendations on what you might like.
 
My top 30 artists on last.fm as of 4/21/2010...

01. of Montreal - 3,846 plays
What can I say?  I love me some of Montreal.  It's not even close.  They were my definitive favorite band for several years.  I listen to a lot of other artists now, but they're still one of my faves.

Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and Satanic Panic in the Attic are amazing albums, some of the best to come out in the past decade.  Skeletal Lamping and The Sunlandic Twins are fantastic as well.  They have multiple albums pre-Satanic that are of a different style...I've heard it described as twee.  It's interesting stuff, but for the most part, I dig Satanic and beyond.

New album later this year!  Dying with anticipation.

02. Deerhunter - 1,899 plays
Deerhunter have risen in the ranks!  Microcastle reeled me in, and I am totally hooked.  I think Bradford Cox is one of the most compelling songwriters we have out there, and dude's got a beautiful voice.  I've heard their music described as "ambient punk", and that's a pretty good descriptor.  Their music creates an atmosphere - certain tracks on Cryptograms, Microcastle and Weird Era Cont. are purely noise - but noise that comes together and sets the scene.  Then in the midst of the scene are rockin' tunes like "Cryptograms", "Nothing Ever Happened" and "Operation".

03. The New Pornographers - 1,678 plays
The new New Pornographers record Together has just leaked.  Go find it.  Only listened to it once so far, but it sounded pretty rad.  I love certain parts of Challengers ("All the Old Showstoppers", "Myriad Harbour"), but I'll concede it's their weakest album.  This is better.

The New Pornos are power pop personified.

04. Arcade Fire - 1,672 plays
I got totally obsessed with this band when Neon Bible came out.  Then I got a little burned out and put 'em down for a while.  Really excited for their third album though.  And Funeral really is incredible, holy shit.

05. Spoon - 1,215 plays
Spoon are motherfucking dependable.  Some people have twisted this quality and suggested that Spoon are boring.  In a way, I get it.  But in a lot of other ways, I totally don't get it, because Spoon are awesome.

I didn't love Transference as immediately as Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga or Gimme Fiction, but it's growing on me.  When you cover all their albums, they've built up a rock solid body of tunes.  Can't wait to catch them live again.

The New Pornographers - Together

 

Get excited!  The New Pornographers have announced that their new album Together wiill be released on May 4th.  I dig the album art, which appears to have figurines either dancing or floating atop an iceberg.  Definitely like it better than the cover art for Challengers. 

There's no tracklisting available as of yet, but frontman A.C. Newman had this to say on his Twitter:

"New Pornographers' 'Together' album out May 4th. Guessing that some kind of MP3 will be released soon? Google it if you don't believe me."

I would be fucking thrilled if a New Pornos single was released in the next few days.

RS Most Underrated Album of the Decade Part 3

RS Most Underrated Album of the Decade

So here's the full list:

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
U2 - How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

I've covered Hail to the Thief (it's a great album, but nothing Radiohead have ever released can really be considered underrated) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (weak album from a majorly overrated band).

My Chemical Romance...nope.  I've listened to that album, it's not some hidden gem.

Dixie Chicks...I'll have to sit this one out.  Not a country fan.  If you say that particular Dixie Chicks album is overrated, I'll take your word for it.

There's actually one I agree with!  My friend Jamie certainly does not share this opinion, but I'd say Show Your Bones by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is underrated.

It's still the weakest of their 3 albums, but it's damn good.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a fantastic debut in Fever to Tell, with that raw punk garage energy.  And "Maps", which is one helluva song.  2009's It's Blitz! is their foray into some more dancey material, and I love it.  Show Your Bones falls somewhere in between, and it's more of a straightforward rock record, with some acoustic guitar thrown in there.

I recognized "Maps" as an awesome song years ago, but I only really became a big fan of the YYYs in the past year or so.  Since then I've been listening to 'em plenty, and I have to say that all 3 of their albums are essential, including Show Your Bones.  Gold Lion, Way Out, Phenomena, and Cheated Hearts are all fantastic tunes.

My best guess as to why Show Your Bones has been underrated...Fever to Tell was just a tough act to follow.

Here are some of my nominations of underrated albums from this decade:

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Beck - Guero
Deerhunter - Microcastle
The New Pornographers - Challengers
of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Weezer - Maladroit
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer