Guided by Voices, Belle and Sebastian, Sonic Youth, and more are coming together to celebrate Matador’s 21st birthday.  I can’t express how excited I am for this event, and as long as the tickets aren’t absurdly pricey, I’ll definitely be making the trip to Sin City.  You can find more info here.

I’m listening to the album as I type, so consider this a stream of consciousness review of sorts.  I’ve always been a fan of theirs, ever since I first got into the Elephant 6 scene courtesy of my older brother, and this album doesn’t disappoint.  While the album definitely leans a bit more to the electronic side, I really enjoy how they’ve worked in more vocoders and highly stylized sounds into this latest album without loosing that quintessential indie-pop sound.  This album is definitely a bit more danceable, and I’m digging it as rainy day work music.

You can listen to the entire album below. Be sure to check out the thoroughly catchy single, “Dance Floor”. you can buy the album here.

Another South by Southwest Music Festival has come and gone, and it didn’t disappoint. I discovered some great new bands, met up with old friends, gorged on BBQ, stress-tested my liver, and punished my ears, but it was (as always) worth it in the end. Some of my favorite shows were: Frightened Rabbit, Metric, The Walkmen, ARMS, Broken Social Scene, Pepper Rabbit, Yacht, Matt Pond PA, Miike Snow, and others. Also, the festival was marked by the tragic passing of Alex Chilton, the force behind the legendary band Big Star. I also attended the tribute show, which featured the remaining members of the band, Mike Mills of REM, Sondre Lerche, M. Ward, John Doe of X, and many more.

Check out these videos for some of the highlights of the trip.  It was another amazing time in Austin, and I’m already looking forward to next year.  I should be fully recovered from this year’s by then…

Well, I may be a bit late in doing a “year in review” post, but I figure better late than never.

Here are my top songs from the best albums of 2009 (in no particular order):

Check out this fantastic video of Beirut performing live in Paris. I’ve been lucky enough to see them live before, but never in a setting like this. All the songs are fantastic, but “My Night With a Prostitute in Marseille” is something special.  Also, thanks to Chris Messina for the tip!