The 11 Best Songs By Regina Spektor

Sigur Ros loses out this week.  Their new album (Valtari) was the album I was most excited to hear this summer season and turns it might be the biggest let down of the year.  On their last album, the Icelanders took a giant step forward, crafting some of the best work of their career.  Everyone thought this was a sure sign that they were headed for Radiohead-like Godness.  And when I say everyone...I mean me.  This new album is anything but bold...it's anything but daring...it's so safe...it's pathetic.  Basically, the band has made an hour long lullaby that even Explosions in the Sky would find tame.  What's worse is I bought the album on CD, spending almost $12 after tax.  Had I opted to buy it on line...I could have spent only $4.99 and downloaded 2 bonus tracks.  That's just ass.  I spent almost twice as much money for a nice package (it was weak) for a great new album (it is not) and I get rewarded by getting the version of the album with two less tracks.  I'm not even sure what I understand the record company is trying to pull with this one.

That said...I don't suggest the new Sigur Ros.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Regina Spektor:

1. On the Radio (Begin To Hope)
2. Laughing With (FAR)
3. Fidelity  (Begin To Hope)
4. Eet (FAR)
5. The Calculation (FAR)
6. Braille (11:11)
7. Hotel Song  (Begin To Hope)
8. Blue Lips (FAR)
9. Better  (Begin To Hope)
10. Us (Soviet Kitsch)
11. Folding Chairs (FAR)

Buy Regina Spektor's new album, What We Saw From The Cheap Seats...now!!

The 11 Most Anticipated Summer Albums of 2012

As we move into a new year, one of the strangest pieces of news has been revealed.  Album sales in 2011 actually went up for the first time in almost a decade.  Granted it was mostly due to Adele's incredibly popular album...that still proves that the album as a musical format is still very viable.  And while all the news articles still like to pronounce the death of rock and how pop has taken over...there were still more rock albums in the Billboard 200 than any other genre.  This year, there were 47 rock albums on the list.  Second place went to country with 39 albums.  Pop comes up third with 35 albums.  (I still think Bruno Mars is really rock...but I put him in pop).  Hip-hop/rap is fourth with 26.  What's also interesting to note...rock music is comprised of a lot of different bands while the pop albums were all made by the same handful of artists (Bieber, Swift, Adele, Gaga, Kesha, Selena Gomez).  Good for those artists but you take them out of the equation...and pop doesn't have much going on.

Let's see what 2012 brings....

Here are the 11 most anticipate albums of summer 2012:

1.  Soundgarden - TBA (Sept)
2.  MGMT - MGMT (Sept.)
3.  Animal Collective - TBA (Sept)
4.  Grizzly Bear - TBA (August)
5.  Mumford and Sons - TBA (August)
6.  How To Destroy Angels - TBA (July)
7.  Sigur Ros - TBA (July)
8.  The Offspring - Apocalyptic Guides and Inferno Themes about Nothing (July)
9.  Public Enemy - Most of My Heros Don't Appear on Stamps/Evil Empire of Everything (August)
10.  Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats (July)
11.  Skrillex - Voltage (July)

The 11 Best Albums of 2009: 12-22 (Part 4)

I've noticed that my excitement for new releases is much lower than it used to be. When a new Pearl Jam album came out...I lined up at midnight at Tower Records just to be the first to buy it. I still go buy albums the day they come out...but it's usually a Tuesday ritual rather than a special treat. But this year...there were a few albums that got my juices going. The 4 unreleased Beck albums were quite nice since they were unavailable in a store. But these were given away for free. So, as cool as they were...anyone could get them. But there was another unreleased album that I got fanatic over. That would be the Sparklehorse/DangerMouse album...why? Because it was never available anywhere. Not to download. Not to buy. Getting a copy wasn't just exciting...it was like a treasure hunt. For those few days while I tracked down each song, I was excited over a new release since...as I had been when waiting in line at midnight.

New month means new $5 albums. Check out the store for the new Lady Gaga, 50 Cent, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Alec Ounsworth, Major Lazer, new Green Day, Wale, Dodos, My Morning Jacket, and a buttload of Christmas albums.

Here is the 11 Best Albums of 2009: 12-22 (Part 4):

12. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
13. Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day (Straight Into A Storm)
14. The Black Crowes - Before The Frost...Until the Freeze
15. The Dead Weather - Horehound
16. White Rabbits - It's Frightening
17. Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
18. Regina Spektor - FAR
19. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul (Revenge)
20. Pearl Jam - Backspacer
21. Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
22. Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine (Little Sad Eyes)

The 11 Best Songs By Regina Spektor

Am I the only one who doesn't think Regina Spektor is the best thing to happen to music in the past 20 years? Isn't she just a brunette version of Tori Amos? Don't get me wrong...I like Regina. And her new album is hands down one of the best of the year. And I like Tori...I don't think I owe more B-Sides of a single artists more than I own from Tori's epic catalogue. Maybe we've all been so deluded by American Idol slice of mediocrity that we've forgotten what true talent sounds like. Or maybe...Tori's lost that edge she had...and we're just ready for a replacement. Which is kinda sad since Tori's still putting out solid stuff...the problem is that it's all starting to sound the same. Or...maybe we all just prefer the Emperor's New Clothes.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Regina Spektor:

1. Fidelity (Begin To Hope)

2. On The Radio (Begin To Hope)

3. Better (Begin To Hope)

4. Braille (11:11)

5. Us (Soviet Kitsch)

6. Rejazz (11:11)

7. Hotel Song (Begin To Hope)

8. Somedays (Soviet Kitsch)

9. Dusseldorf (Begin To Hope Bonus Version)

10. 2.99 Cent Blues (11:11)

11. Baobabs (Begin To Hope Bonus Version)

Buy the new Regina Spektor album, FAR, now!