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Some music:

• The Explosion – God Bless the SOS (site)
• The Farewell Bikeride – Duet (site, archive.org)
• Homage To Catalonia – Bad Jokes Deadly Told (Site)

Snow Patrol (AMG) was in town a few weeks ago and recorded a Morning Becomes Eclectic session that I caught the other day. Their new album, Final Straw is amazingly catchy, with addictively crunchy chords; an interesting cross of indie electronic/britpop with a strong (pleasantly nostalgic) indie/altrock sound.

Here’s a song that sounds sorta like a Notwist/Sebadoh cross:

• Snow Patrol – Gleaming Auction [3.8MiB MP3]

Ahh, lets give this new server a little workout:

• Bombay Gangstarr – Don’t Stop Til You Get To Bollywood (info)

I’ll be able to get some stats soon on how much traffic BoingBoing really gets.

It’s been a while, so I thought I’d post up some of the more interesting music I’ve been listening to lately.

• Notwist – One With The Freak [3.4MB M4A] (site)
• Mighty Rime – Broke Baroque [2.8MB M4A] – (site)
• Q and Not U – Soft Pyramids [3.8MB M4A] (site)
• Xiu Xiu – Crank Heart [4.6MB MP3] (xiu xiu)

Recently I’ve been indulging my emo-pop-rock tendencies with The Jealous Sound (AMG, Epitonic).

• The Jealous Sound – Troublesome [1.6MiB 64Kbps MP3]

Addictively catchy if you’re into this sort of thing. They’ll be playing at the Troubadour on Feb 11. (Feb 5: Midtown, Feb 8: Nada Surf, Feb 11: The Jealous Sound, Feb 12: Mates of State)

Upcoming Shows:

• 1/14, Troubadour, The Lawrence Arms (The First Eviction Notice)
• 1/16, Troubadour, The Decemberists (Billy Liar)
• 1/17, Troubadour, Mark Kozelek (of Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon – Gentle Moon)
• 1/21 (Derby), 1/22 (Spaceland), 1/23 (The Echo), Battles (members of Helmet, Tomahawk, and Don Caballero – June Is Finally Here)

In Feb: Midtown, The Jealous Sound, Mates of State, Notwist, SAGE Francis/Joe Beats (Non-Prophets); In Mar: Ninja Tunes (Amon Tobin, Kid Koala, etc), In Apr: Squarepusher

I was just reading the Pitchfork Top 50, and it definitely had me thinking back to some of the music I really enjoyed this year (not all mope).

• Exploding Hearts – Sleeping Aides And Razorblades [3.6MiB] – poprocks at its best; RIP
• Manitoba – Crayon [3.7MiB] – IDM, now w/ 100% less pretension, 200% more warmth
• Explosions in the Sky – Your Hand in Mine [12.0 MiB] – missed ‘em live, hopefully they’ll be back
• Non-Prophets – Damage [7.0MiB] – rhymes that just won’t quit
• Prefuse 73 – The Color of Tempo [4.6MiB] – hard to decide whether the original or the outtakes are better
• Benny Benassi – Don’t Touch Too Much [6.0MiB] – remember the power tools video? the rest of the album is as good
• Basement Jaxx – Lucky Star (Jaxx Klub Remix) [64kbps MP3, 1.5MiB] – still kicks ass, still looking for a HQ version

Other fav albums this year: M83, Broken Social Scene, Weakerthans, Decemberists…

Albums I forgot came out this year but shouldn’t have considering how much I listened to them: Rilo Kiley – Execution of All Things, Cursive – The Ugly Organ, Four Tet – Rounds, The Postal Service (of course)

Yesterday, my Saddle Creek and CDBaby orders both arrived, so I’m swimming in new albums (also, reminded me to drop by EasyNews). It’s been a while since I’ve inflicted the web with my taste in music, and tis the season, right? (no 12yr old lawsuits funded by these albums, 100% RIAA free)

• Menomena – Cough Coughing [4.1MiB MP3] (Official Site, Buy/Listen @ CDBaby, (Pitchfork rave) – these guys are amazingly fun glitch/hip/indie-pop
• Park Avenue – Lachrymose Obsequious Vehement Elated [5.6MiB MP3] – lo-fi indie pop
• The Good Life – The Beaten Path [4.5MiB MP3] – ok, I’ve had this for a while, but thought I’d post it anyway, since it’s *so* good