top ten so far, unranked:

Times New Viking - Rip It Off
Boris - Smile
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Thurston Moore - Sensitive/Lethal
Mudhoney - The Lucky Ones
Free Kitten - Inherit
Albert Hammond, Jr. - ¿Cómo Te Llama?
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
The Magnetic Fields - Distortion

7/24/2008 9:57:18 PM

You know, maybe I should give Times New Viking another chance.

I could never really get into them or Los Campesinos

7/25/2008 12:15:41 AM

oh, and also

Ben Folds -- Way To Normal
hxxp://rapidshare.com/files/129980203/Ben_Folds_WayToNormal.rar.html

I haven't downloaded this to check it yet, so if it's fake, my apologies. I have no reason to believe it isn't the real deal, however.

7/25/2008 12:19:33 AM

^ it's fake

http://catatemysofa.blogspot.com/2008/07/fen-bolds.html

7/25/2008 12:30:50 AM

"Lisa" off of Albert Hammond Jr.'s new album has made its way to the top of my top played of the week.

and the new Okkervil River is around there too.

7/25/2008 2:17:40 AM

I've been enjoying Tokyo Police Club. It's definitely not the best, but its got some fun tracks. I'll be giving Black Kids a thorough listening today on my way to Raleigh

7/25/2008 8:35:35 AM

Rivers Cuomo very briefly posted this on his Myspace long enough for it to be grabbed: http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/4233/avd754hqp6.jpg

Alone II:

Paper Face*
Thrown It All Away
Don't Worry Baby
The Purification of Water*
I'll Think About You
Walt Disney
Come to My Pod (Songs from the Black Hole)*
Oh Jonas (Songs from the Black Hole)
Please Remember (Songs from the Black Hole)
The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World*
I Want to Take You Home Tonight
I Was Scared
Bad Girl
My Day Is Coming
I Don't Wanna Let You Go
Softies

* = Already online in some (usually shitty) shape or form

[Edited on July 25, 2008 at 9:04 AM. Reason : .]

7/25/2008 8:58:26 AM

"purification of water" ftw.. even though that song is emo as shit

7/25/2008 9:00:46 AM

no particular order but these have probably been my favorites:

The Mars Volta - Bedlam in Goliath
Opeth - Watershed
Protest the Hero - Fortress
Meshuggah - ObZen
Sigur Ros -- Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Arsis - We are the Nightmare

its weird that I have so much metal on there considering the small % it takes up in my general rotation these days, but then again it was just a busy year for some of the cream of the crop metal groups.

7/25/2008 9:43:12 AM

Quote :

"^ it's fake http://catatemysofa.blogspot.com/2008/07/fen-bolds.html"

Thanks!

I saw it posted and grabbed it b/c my hopes were so high, haha. I'll delete it and continue the wait.

7/25/2008 1:57:38 PM

Quote :

"Rivers Cuomo very briefly posted this on his Myspace long enough for it to be grabbed: http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/4233/avd754hqp6.jpg Alone II: Paper Face* Thrown It All Away Don't Worry Baby The Purification of Water* I'll Think About You Walt Disney Come to My Pod (Songs from the Black Hole)* Oh Jonas (Songs from the Black Hole) Please Remember (Songs from the Black Hole) The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World* I Want to Take You Home Tonight I Was Scared Bad Girl My Day Is Coming I Don't Wanna Let You Go Softies * = Already online in some (usually shitty) shape or form"

* Walt Disney

and i'm pretty sure that list has been posted somewhere before.

7/26/2008 1:24:41 PM

It hasn't...

7/26/2008 1:30:13 PM

it's partially fake, but everything on the album is ben folds. so if you like ben folds, it's still worth getting. the fake songs are still pretty funny, and i'm pretty sure at least 3 of them are real.

7/27/2008 11:07:06 AM

Quote :

"The Magnetic Fields - Distortion"

i was unfamiliar until reading that. this is absolutely fantastic.

7/27/2008 12:35:21 PM

picked up "one day as a lion" this morning

i'll give it another whirl, but on the surface it came off as kinda repetitive...which is a shame...sometimes it seems like it just needs to be a little fuller and it would be rocking my socks off

[Edited on July 27, 2008 at 1:28 PM. Reason : +]

7/27/2008 1:25:31 PM

It's surprising to me that no one mentioning the Okkervil River album has said anything about the song "On Tour with Zykos." That's probably my favorite track on it...

7/27/2008 8:29:26 PM

Also, links to these albums would be great:

4.Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
5.Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

7/27/2008 8:30:29 PM

Cloud Cult -- feel good ghosts...
hxxp://rapidshare.com/files/105825266/CldClt-FlGdGhstsV0.rar

Cut Copy -- In Ghost Colours
hxxp://rapidshare.com/files/105825266/CldClt-FlGdGhstsV0.rar

7/27/2008 9:09:34 PM

Beck's Gamma Ray is my favorite surf song of the year

[Edited on July 27, 2008 at 10:05 PM. Reason : grrr]

7/27/2008 10:02:08 PM

^ LOL -- I'm just glad that after about 10 re-writes, he finally settled on a version to put on a record.

Has anyone listened to the King Khan and The Shrines record?

7/27/2008 10:13:24 PM

aha i've been meaning to

7/27/2008 10:15:19 PM

^^Yes. It's got a few tracks I like on it. I guess all/most of it is rehashed covers, but they do a decent job of covering them I guess...

My favorite track is probably Destroyer, but the band also kinda sounds like some gig a frat house would book. I'd prolly give it around 5-6/10.

7/27/2008 10:54:55 PM

yeah, it's a fun record. nothing that will change your life. whatever the song is that's all about fat girls is great

7/27/2008 11:42:57 PM

Quote :

"It's surprising to me that no one mentioning the Okkervil River album has said anything about the song "On Tour with Zykos." That's probably my favorite track on it..."

Definitely one of the highlights of the album for me. Lost Coastlines, Pop Lie, and On Tour With Zykos are my favorites I think. Not as good from start to finish as The Stage Names IMO, but that is my favorite album of theirs and was even my favorite album of last year.

7/29/2008 4:26:26 PM

I have listened to that song prolly 29032093409 times.

Any opinion on the new Mars Volta?

7/29/2008 7:38:19 PM

jstpack - the links you gave to me above both go to the cloud cult album. still looking for the other one...

7/30/2008 12:26:08 PM

^^ assuming that you are referring to The Bedlam in Goliath, I personally absolutely LOVE it. Aggressive with some really good grooves. New drummer is solid, which I expected since I already liked him just as a drummer before. Totally blows Amputechture out of the water thats for sure. Its my favorite album of the year but I know others disagree. I would also have to say its my second favorite TMV album.

Its a pretty focused album compared to Amputechture as well in my opinion. Now obviously you have to understand that "pretty focused" for TMV is still pretty expansive and chaotic at times to someone not familiar with their sound. But considering you asked about them, you probably know what you're getting into. But honestly it is a lot more cohesive than Amp and even Frances the Mute probably.

One thing I really like about them is that each album really has its own distinct sound. You can immediately pick up on what album a certain song is from based on its musical stylings. I also like that they refuse to do what most of their critics ask of them. Even the harshest reviews on Bedlam admit both their technical and songwriting prowess, a lot of them just want something more consolidated into shorter songs etc. But personally, I am glad that they don't care to change just to appease.

[Edited on July 30, 2008 at 12:50 PM. Reason : ]

7/30/2008 12:31:23 PM

i keep going back to the electric president sleep well album

only mostly b/c i'm trying to figure out if "it's like a heartbeat only, it isn't" is just some lost her space holiday track

7/30/2008 10:26:40 PM

Has the Bowery Boy Blue album been discussed/linked yet? It's really good, one of the better Neil Young and Crazy Horse cover albums.

7/30/2008 10:42:08 PM

Calexico- Carried To Dust
hxxp://rapidshare.com/files/133846728/C-CTD.rar

Parts and Labor -- Receivers
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=Y6EBPQY6

Michael Franti & Spearhead - All Rebel Rockers
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=0WQ154U1

Scrumples -- I'll get you that Cut Copy

[Edited on July 31, 2008 at 8:19 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2008 8:14:28 PM

^pm??

7/31/2008 8:15:35 PM

gimme a minute, man....

Cut Copy -- In Ghost Colours
http://rapidshare.com/files/113764856/musiteka-coloresfantasmales.rar

if it asks for a password, PM me again. I'll get back to you on the other request in a bit

7/31/2008 8:22:43 PM

cool. thank you.

7/31/2008 8:26:32 PM

Was hoping to see the Brian Wilson album leak this week, but Calexico should hold me over until it does.

Thanks

7/31/2008 8:44:54 PM

i'm diggin the new Walkmen, havent liked anything theyve done since Bows + Arrows

7/31/2008 9:43:43 PM

I was into that for a while, but all their shit sounds the same to me...

7/31/2008 9:44:42 PM

anyone have anything for One Day As A Lion?

7/31/2008 11:29:25 PM

I've seen the Walkmen twice, once at langerado, once opening for spoon. They seem pretty cool, never really listened to any of their stuff though. The guy's voice reminds me of Dylan at times

7/31/2008 11:39:41 PM

One Day As A Lion -- s/t EP
hxxp://www.zshare.net/download/15668895a6880b69/

8/1/2008 12:02:01 AM

may be a tough find but if anyone has a link to

Paleface - A Different Story

I would appreciate it. Its an 08 album but i haven't been able to find a torrent or anything

8/1/2008 7:53:01 AM

not that it sounds different from anything they've been doing recently, but i'm digging that new Of Montreal single
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/142703-premiere-of-montreal-id-engager-mp3-stream

8/1/2008 9:54:02 PM

Bon Iver is on nationally syndicated Weekend America right now.

Cool-o.

8/2/2008 2:32:25 PM

Quote :

"The guy's voice reminds me of Dylan at times"

yeah my brother made that same observation when he saw him (without having heard him before) at lincoln a couple years back. i think it has to do with him bending into the notes often times.

[Edited on August 2, 2008 at 2:45 PM. Reason : and the vaguely nasal tone of his voice. really dig their new album by the way]

8/2/2008 2:45:05 PM

more rod stewart than bob dylan

8/2/2008 2:49:45 PM

dylan
dylan
dylan
dylan
dylan

8/2/2008 3:10:38 PM

Quote :

"Bon Iver is on nationally syndicated Weekend America right now. Cool-o."

ehhhhhhhhhh

8/2/2008 3:14:24 PM

well, yeah

but local folks on national media ftw

8/2/2008 3:39:45 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc8tPTVBRSc&NR=1

8/3/2008 1:19:33 PM

^^he's not exactly local these days

(nor was he for very long before)

8/3/2008 3:11:55 PM

He gave Schoolkids a shout out on Pitchfork a while back

8/3/2008 3:17:55 PM