I didn't count MGMT's new album... I listened to it a few times, but I can't get into it.

High Violet by The National (May 11, 2010)

Infinite Arms by Band of Horses - (May 18, 2010)

Together by New Pornographers (May 4, 2010)

Heaven Is Whenever by The Hold Steady (Audio CD - May 4, 2010)

Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene (Audio CD - May 4, 2010)

Brothers by Black Keys (Audio CD - May 18, 2010)

This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem (Audio CD - May 18, 2010)

So Runs the World Away by Josh Ritter (Audio CD - May 4, 2010)

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I knew he had an achilles' heel... Usher? Outkast.. what is he? 12 years old?

All of these music listening tracking services are pretty cool. I'm a Last.FM user, personally, though I don't really utilize the social networking aspects of it. Much like Twitter, it's a thing that really only would be useful if all of your friends were already using it. Since I mostly work in front of my computer all day, I listen to a lot of stuff, and I listen toa lot of new music. Ben Killen and I have come up with the perfect music sales model for us. Let us listen to something 3 times, all the way through. Full quality. But then if we want to listen to it beyond that, you have to buy it... let's say 50 cents a track (or less). I listen to a bunch of stuff out of curiosity, but often only a couple of times. There just haven't been that many albums that have capture my attention in the last few years. The Arcade Fire's releases have done that. Spoon has done that. I really like the new Death Cab for Cutie a lot too.

So there's this cool service called LastGraph that will import your listening data from Last.FM and do this cool visualization of the data. You can see how your listening trends have shifted throughout the year. It's really cool if you're like me and you listen to a lot of stuff. The image above is my listening for May. The end of it reflects me going to camp.

Want to see my listening poster for the entire year? Click here.

Getting airplay so far this month:

Aimee Mann - @#%&*! Smilers
I've been a huge fan of Aimee Mann for a long time.. She'll be at the Alabama Theater in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 4. Anyone interested in going? Check out Thirty-One Today and Freeway.

Fleet Foxes - S/T
For fans of My Morning Jacket. This is a really solid debut.

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Speaking of MMJ, their new album is really great too.. Doesn't sound anything like a My Morning Jacket album though. The reverb drenched vocals are gone. They're doing a lot of genre experimentation. But it's another great release. If you're a fan of their classic sound, see Fleet Foxes above.

Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity
I've been a fan of the Old 97's since college... they remind me a bit of the Connells. Great band, should've received more recognition than they have. Their last album was 2004's Drag It Up, which I think I listened to about 3 times (see my music sales model above :-) ). It just wasn't that good. This is a return to form.

No Rob Bell notes this week.. there was no new message posted. :-(

Camp
Planning for Senior High 1 this year has been a little more stressful at times. We've had a lot more trouble finding counselors this year. And we've had a lot of folks who have backed out on us. Our camp has been growing in numbers, but I'm afraid that we're going to have to cap our numbers at slightly under last year's because we only have 8 small group leaders. (We're looking....contact me if you're available). And a miscommunication has cost us the Moseley family for music, so now we've lost that too. In addition to programs, I'm going to have to dust off my guitar and lead the music. I haven't played guitar in probably a year. Having counselors who are at least 5 years older than the campers is a good thing, but it makes things more difficult. I know that we had gotten in the habit of having college kids as counselors in the last 10 years, but some of that is because it's getting harder and harder to find adults. Churches in the conference won't let their employees come to camp unless it counts as vacation. Still, it's going to be a good camp, just a tough one.
Music
So I found a pre-release version of the new Death Cab for Cutie album online a few weeks back. There are people who can't stand them, but I've always been a big fan of theirs. I couldn't wait to hear it. But after listening to it a few times, I was really let down. It sounded awful. Sounded like they phoned it in. I listened to it twice, and deleted it

So then, last week it was officially released and I read a blog post that referred to Death Cab's Narrow Stairs coming out... the real one. I checked iTunes and sure enough, it was for the most part, not what I had downloaded. Bought it right away, and so far, I love it. Their best album in several years.

I'm also really enjoying Phantom Planet's new album, Raise the Dead.

I decided to check out R.E.M.'s new album, Accelerate after seeing a couple of favorable reviews. Now you have to understand: it would be an understatement to say that I was a MAJOR R.E.M. fan in junior high and high school. R.E.M. was the most important band ever as far as my friends and I were concerned. They were even bigger than U2. They were the first concert I ever went to... Spring of 1989 in Birmingham with the Indigo Girls as the opening act. I honestly believe that their album artwork played a big role in my becoming a designer. But I grew less and less interested with each of their releases after 1987's Document, with the exception of New Adventures in Hi-Fi, the last album to feature the original lineup. Unlike U2, which continued to grow and produce great music, R.E.M. stagnated. I bought UP, listened to it a handful of times, and then tuned out, believing that they should have quit.

So I got a copy of Accelerate today, and I like it. Feels a lot like New Adventures part 2. Not going to end up being my favorite album of the year, but it's a strong release. It's back to the basics R.E.M.

And then there's the new B-52's album Funplex. They haven't released an album since 1992's weak Good Stuff, and even with that album, one of the members sat it out. But now they're all back together, with an album that is pretty good. Oddball, suggestive lyrics? Check. Post-punk new wave groove? Check? It really is the B-52's. An album of material that was worth getting the band back together. It's a fun release.

Like I mentioned in my last post, this new Counting Crows album is worth checking out as well. And the Presidents of the United States of America have a new album that's a good listen too. They are still writing songs about bugs and stuff, but they're fun. The hold 3 string guitar thing is less dominant, but it's a good sound.

They're still airing those Live at South by Southwest specials on DirecTV's 101 channel. I actually discovered several acts I liked from it. The Ting Tings, Sons and Daughters, Tift Merritt.

Dr. Vaillant compared 136 men who were alcoholics with men who were not. Those who grew up in families where alcohol was forbidden at the table, but was consumed away from the home, apart from food, were seven times more likely to be alcoholics that those who came from families where wine was served with meals but drunkenness was not tolerated.

Jamie and I haven't really discussed whether or not we'll allow Anna to do this. I guess we will. We do model moderate drinking of wine for her all the time though.

Speaking of binges, I've been on a new music binge again lately. I haven't blogged about what I'm listening to in a long time. There's been a lot that I like, but there haven't been any just amazing, add this to my Top 10 of All-Time albums out lately. I guess you can't expect those all the time.

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
I haven't listened to the Counting Crows in quite a while. What had been released on the radio over the last few years kind of bored me. I heard some decent stuff about their new album and decided to check it out. It's a solid release. Some of the fire is back. I just got it a couple of days ago, but I'd recommend it if you ever were a fan of the band. I was lucky enough to catch the band before they made it. I saw them opening for Cracker a couple of times back in college. Before their first album, the classic August and Everything After came out. I remember hearing them with only a couple of hundred folks and being right up in the front, captivated by their songs on the first listen. I knew they were going to be big some day.

The Dexateens - Lost and Found
Bart recommended this band out of Tuscaloosa. Their latest album was posted for free on their website. It's not bad at all. It's kind of alt.country in the vein of the Old 97's and the Jayhawks.

Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams
If you're a fan of his work in the New Pornographers, you ought to check out his Dan Bejar's Destroyer. I only really discovered Destroyer with the last album, but if you're into the eccentric indie singer-songwriter (and often indie pop) kind of stuff. It's worth a listen.

Black Mountain - In the Future
For fans of Wolfmother and 70's AOR.

"U23D is possibly the best entertainment experience I've ever witnessed." - Alx Klive, WorldTV, January 10, 2008
"Beautifully shot in crystal-clear high-definition, it's genuinely easy to forget you are watching a concert on screen rather than being there in person." - Rebecca Armstrong, The Independent, January 9, 2008
"9.5/10" - Alex Billington, First Showing, January 9, 2008
"U2's new 3D concert film has been given a unanimous thumbs-up by American critics, who claim it will appeal to both music fans and lovers of all things high-tech." - Richie Taylor, Independent.ie, January 8, 2008
"U23D is the first movie I've seen where the 3D perspectives become an organic part of the experience." - Bryant Frazer, Studio Daily, January 7, 2008
"The documentary serves up prime U2 in a startlingly rendered, state-of-the-art arena that truly raises the bar for headache-free 3-D technology." - Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter, January 6, 2008
"Breathtaking when performance, technology and cinematography click at the same moment." - Phil Gallo, Variety, January 6, 2008

And I read this review on aintitcool.

Opens in select cities on Wednesday. Apparently February 22 is when it premieres nationwide. Sounds amazing.. I can't wait to see it.

Most Disappointing:
• Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
I saw this on a couple of best of lists. Maybe I just didn't give it enough time, but my musical attention span is pretty short these days with the amount of listens something gets before I decide to pass on it is down to 1 or 2.
• Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
I think this one was just too slow for me. I also saw it on some best of the year lists. May have to dig it out again.
• Crowded House - Time on Earth
You'd think the reformation of one of the 80's best bands would be cause for celebration. It was a decent album, but not nearly as good as Neil Finn's solo albums. It's not bad. It's just not great.

Honorable Mention:
• The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
I discovered this one early in 2007, but it actually came out in 2006. If you don't have it, go buy it now. It's one of those classic albums that will stand the test of time. So on a technicality, this one is not in my Top 5 for 2007.

The Best Songs of 2007:

Apple iPhone
95% - will go to 96% when they finally release Leopard and then add support for syncing notes and to-dos. (Both are built into OSX Mail in Leopard). The other 4% is from Apple killing 3rd party apps. Apple is certainly not behaving like the underdog us fanboys have come to love lately.

DirecTV HDR20-700
80% - Having been a long-time Tivo user, I hated to leave the platform, but I was tired of antenna problems when trying to record local programs in HD, so I needed to upgrade to the MPEG-4 capable receiver. While it's not nearly as horrible as some of the reviews I had read, it's not as nice as Tivo. There's no 30-second skip, just a 30-second "slip" where it just fast forwards for 30 seconds. It only takes about 2-3 seconds, but it's not as nice as the skip feature. Plus, it's not nearly as easy to swap back and forth between 2 football games. Extra points off for DirecTV's over compressed HD video.

Apple's New Keyboards
98% - I love this thing. It preferred typing on my laptop to typing on the Apple Keyboard until now. The new keyboard is even better than typing on a laptop. I'm indifferent on the new media control keys, since I do most of that with triggers in Quicksilver, but after getting one off of a new iMac from school, I went out and bought one for home. 2% deducted for not having a full-sized bluetooth version. The bluetooth version lacks a numeric keypad and the home, page up and down buttons. I would love it if they would integrate a trackpad into it instead too.

The New Pornographers - Challengers
This one is on my short list for my favorite album of 2007. Somewhere in that list is also The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army. I'm already working on my Best of 2007 Sampler. Other recommended releases: Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.
Halo 3
100% - I'm still in the middle of it, but so far this really feels like the thrilling conclusion to the trilogy. The level design is really nice so far. Whereas previous versions felt like you were taking part in several skirmishes, this one feels like you're in all-out battles. The only drawback is not having a bunch of my college buddies with it, like with Halo 2. We had some fun playing that online.

Alabama Crimson Tide
68% - While I didn't get caught up in the irrational exuberance a few weeks ago, I did feel like we would be a competitive team in our bigger games this year. Now, I'm not so sure. There are some problems with this team. DJ Hall seems to be taking some plays off, especially when the ball isn't coming his way. He's not selling the play. We're still having some problems with our O-line. Our defense is a little better than I expected, but I don't think the offense has any heart right now. Our record for the year will probably be about where we all thought there were going to be 6 months ago.