Consumeroo

When artists like R.E.M. and U2 give critical acclaim to their peers and it’s Elbow they are praising, you know you’re in for something special. This has been something true of Elbow since the second I heard them back in 2004. They’ve proven to not only be one of the best finds for me in the past 8 years but best finds in my entire life.

The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow completely back on their game and Guy Garvey is in his best form. I really, really missed these guys. 2005’s Leaders Of The Free World just didn’t jump like Elbow’s previous two.

I chose this song because I think it illustrates how beautiful Elbow is. They have such a deep, dramatic and masterful sense to their music that I just don’t hear from very many bands. This song just scratches the surface of this album and of all my recommendations this year, I think The Seldom Seen Kid is at the very top.

Business guy 1: “Hey what phone is that?”

Business guy 2: “It’s da Thunder! In yer face!”

Via Todd.

You know what makes Trent different than everyone else? He gets how to market and treat his fans with respect. The Slip was released last week as a free (yes, 100% free) download where he said the following:

as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com.

What can I say but thanks Trent. Thanks for understanding the Internet, and thanks for making such awesome music. Even better, not only does he provide your standard MP3 versions but he also included lossless FLAC, M4A and WAV formats for download. This guy is so awesome, I can’t even put it into words.

Discipline is probably the most radio friendly song on the disc but it’s an awesome track. Give her a listen and should you feel compelled, grab the rest of the disc from theslip.nin.com.

Chicka-chicka-chicka-chicka-chicka-chickadoooooooooo the spring chicken!

That about sums up what this song is all about. brakesbrakesbrakes is an interesting cross between country and punk (punkry?) and have been getting some pretty steady play in iTunes. I found this album on eMusic’s most overlooked albums of 2007 and have been pretty impressed by it. I get some of the same vibes from say, Arctic Monkeys or Teenage Fanclub. Overall, a great album from start to finish.

It should be noted that I did choose (what is probably) the goofiest track on The Beatific Visions to share but if you are willing enough, give the rest of their disc a spin.

I have to admit, when I watched the season 1 teaser on HBO before Flight of the Conchords even premiered, I wasn’t very excited. Having just finished the second episode however, my opinion has changed. This show is hilarious, and the music is freakin’ awesome.

This song, Robots, is from the pilot and had me laughing within moments. Maybe the magic of this music will be lost on those of you haven’t seen the series, but I had to share this.

Buy this track from our iTunes iMix.

Bullets was a song that caught me right from the beginning. It seems to me I saw it on Last.fm originally, although I am not 100% sure that was where. Bullets was also the song responsible for getting me to purchase both of Tunng’s albums. I am not convinced I could classify these guys with a single off-the-shelf genre but I suppose if there was a place that folk and electronic music were to meet, Tunng might fit somewhere there.

Good Arrows is Tunng’s third album and in my opinion worth the $9.99 on iTunes. I do enjoy it over their second album Comments of the Inner Chorus, so if you were to buy based on my recommendation, start there. One point to note is that Good Arrows is not available DRM-free while Tunng’s Comments of the Inner Chorus is. Gotta love iTunes sometimes.

Buy this track from our iTunes iMix.