last.fm Artists 11-15

11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 542 plays
It kinda quietly crept on me how much I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  I loved "Maps" when it first came out, but didn't go any further than that.  Didn't even listen to Fever to Tell.  Seems strange now that I wouldn't have, considering.

But anyway, fast forward to It's Blitz! coming out, and the band has added some electro pop to their sound.  And electro pop is like my crack these days.  So I listened to It's Blitz!, loved it, listened to their previous two albums and loved them as well.  Now the YYY's are a staple.

Karen O seems like the ultimate frontwoman.  I have not had the pleasure of seeing this band live yet, but I hope to correct that very soon.

My favorite song of theirs is probably "Down Boy", off the Is Is EP.

12. MGMT - 529 plays
MGMT have risen the ranks!  Definitely the most recent addition to this upper territory of my last.fm chart.  This is in no small part to me loving their sophomore record Congratulations, only officially dropping this week.  Oracular Spectacular has the killer singles, and I do hope they make more songs like that again at some point.  But I love their new direction, it's a glorious album.  Do not understand the early wave of hate/disappointment.  I hope that over time it is vindicated, but who knows.

13. LCD Soundsystem - 499 plays
Just shy of 5k, LCD!  That will change by tonight.  This Is Happening is soooo fucking good.  James Murphy is a genius, and this is dance rock of the highest caliber.  That is all.

14.  TV on the Radio - 491 plays
Return to Cookie Mountain is one of the albums that got me into all this art-rock and electro-pop crap in the first place.  I was so impressed.  Dear Science is prolly even better, and came around during one of the best times in my life to date.  It'll hold a special place in my heart forever.

15. The White Stripes - 488 plays
The oldest band in the Top 15, in terms of when I started listening to them.  Jack White is the man.  His output across three bands (and counting?) in the past decade is legendary. 

"The Hardest Button to Button", "Seven Nation Army", "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground", "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine" and "Conquest" are some faves.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Skeletons

Yeah Yeah Yeahs just released a video for the latest single off of It's Blitz!, "Skeletons"

Christoph's Top 10 Albums of 2009

10) The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
I love the bass sound on this album.  Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was my last experience with the Lips - for some reason I never got around to listening to At War With the Mystics.  Anyway, where Yoshimi was sunny and poppy, Embryonic is dark and heavy and intense.  Both are awesome flip sides of the same coin.  Album closer "Watching the Planets" is the standout track for me.

"Oh, oh, oh, finding the answer.  Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.  Finding that there ain't no answer to find."

09) Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
Sunset Rubdown is supposedly the side project of Spencer Krug from Wolf Parade, but this being Sunset Rubdown's 4th album compared to Wolf Parade's 2, you could be fooled into thinking this was Spencer's main gig.  Anyway, while previous albums Shut Up, I Am Dreaming and Random Spirit Lover are really good, I think Dragonslayer is their best set yet.  It's got more of a live sound than its predecessors, and the strong female backing vocals really compliment Spencer's yelp quite nicely.  Album opener "Silver Moons" grabs me from the start.

"I believe in growing old with grace.  I believe she only loved my face.  I believe I acted like a child, making faces at acquired tastes.  And now silver moons belong to you..."

08) Passion Pit - Manners
I love Passion Pit.  I first starting getting into this Massachusetts band a few months before this album came out.  Their first release was an EP called Chunk of Change.  It featured an incredible song called "Sleepyhead", with chipmunk vocals and an awesome beat.  That track is included here on their debut album Manners as well, for good reason, but there are new tracks that match that song's gloriousness.  "Make Light", "Little Secrets", "The Reeling", and "Moth's Wings" are all spectacular.  Passion Pit have a bubbly electro pop sound with strong falsetto vocals from singer Michael Angelakos.  This is happy music, it puts a smile on my face.  A very impressive debut, and I can't wait to hear what they come up with next.

"Let this be our little secret.  No one needs to know we're feeling...higher and higher and higher, higher and higher and higher."

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