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Calexico - 11/13/08 - Washington, DC

By Joey Burns at 2:00 PM on November 25, 2008

We wake up to a cold grey morning outside XM radio studios. Everyone in the band and crew works on auto pilot to load in, set up and sound check for the Loft session. ... read more

PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 25: Top 10 most Bright Eyes-y "T" blogs

By Rachael Maddux at 1:16 PM on November 25, 2008

Upon perusing the list of "T"-named blogs participating in NaBloPoMo today, I was struck by the number of titles that, purposefully or not, seemed ripped right from the back of a Bright Eyes album cover. Indeed, in Conor Oberst's ten years as Bright Eyes, he mined the depths of the longwinded (Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, "When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass") to the ordinary and domestic ("Bowl of Oranges," "A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace") to the eerily named protagonists ("Tereza and Tomas," "Laura... read more

Generic Hipper-Than-Thou Album Review

By Andy Whitman at 1:00 PM on November 25, 2008

This is from a review that appeared a while back on a music site that shall remain nameless:Under the up-with-people-and-feelings sermon Tom Greenwood and whoever comprised Jackie-O Motherfucker that week gnash on electric guitars and set Slinkys down staircases. The whole thing feels like that episode from "Funkadelic: The Sitcom" where Eddie Hazel hung out with Swamp Thing against his parents' wishes.This is an album review. Anybody know what the album sounds like? I surely don't. If I found that in a book, I'd throw it across a room. But it's on my laptop, and laptops cost a lot of... read more

Staff Picks - Kevin Keller (multimedia producer)

By Kevin Keller at 11:57 AM on November 25, 2008

Picking a “best of” list reminds me of all of the philosophical barbs one runs into when judging music. Instead of expounding upon what makes up my definition of a "top album," I’ll keep things simple.... read more

Pelican - Chicago, IL - Subterranean - 11/19/08

By Rory O'Connor at 11:18 AM on November 25, 2008

Photos taken at Subterranean by Rory O'Connor... read more

Trailer Stash: Harry Potter, Star Trek, Up, Che, The Wrestler, more

By Jeremy Medina at 10:00 AM on November 25, 2008

And now, a look at a few of the latest movie trailers to hit the web:... read more

PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 24: Spawn of She She faces the facts

By Rachael Maddux at 3:20 PM on November 24, 2008

Over the weekend, I offered up the seven best things about my new favorite song and my own picks for top ten albums of the year, pushing me two days closer to my goal. Then, this morning, our website suffered an apparent teeth-gnashing overload and pooped its pants. Uh-oh! I spent the downtime attempting to read each and every single "S"-named blog on November's NaBloPoMo blogroll. I got a few dozen in and then gave up, mostly out of boredom-induced exhaustion (somehow, blogs that begin with "S" seem to far more consistently embody the conundrum of tedious, icky reality than... read more

10 Best Canadian Musical Acts of All Time

By Josh Jackson at 12:20 AM on November 24, 2008

I spent most of last week in Montreal, and I’ll soon be blogging about Schwartz’s, poutine, graffiti, an amazing beer bar and, most importantly, the M for Montreal festival. But before looking at the next great artists coming out of Canada, I’d like to give a run down of my Top 10 Canadian musical acts of all time (including bands made up primarily of Canadians). For a country of only 33 million people, our Northern neighbors have had an enormous impact on popular music. Even the list of great Canadian musicians who didn’t make my Top 10 (Barenaked Ladies, Feist,... read more

Staff Picks - Nate Douglas (music sales director)

By Nate Douglas at 9:00 PM on November 23, 2008

Yay! Best of 2008 Lists! Ok, so I found out Hail Mega Boys was released in '07, but I'm leaving it on the list anyway.1. Annuals - Such Fun (Red Ink)2. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) (Earthology / Rebel Group)3. J. Roddy Walston & The Business - Hail Mega Boys (Morphius)4. M83 - Saturdays = Youth (Mute)5. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West)6. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound (Side One Dummy)7. Slow Runner - SHIV! 8. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale (Chocolate Industries)9. Spiritualized - Songs in A &... read more

Staff Picks - Mark DiCristina (production coordinator)

By Mark DiCristina at 8:50 PM on November 23, 2008

I like to believe that there's a certain objectivity to my list. Maybe you don't agree, but that's just because you don't know what you're talking about. 1. Deerhunter - Microcastle2. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago4. Spiritualized - Songs in A & E5. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III6. Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea7. M83 - Saturdays=Youth8. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes9. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In the Light10. Subtle - ExitingARM... read more

Staff Picks - Jason Killingsworth (deputy editor)

By Jason Killingsworth at 6:22 PM on November 23, 2008

It's always a bit uncomfortable posting your personal year-end list. Trying to resolve the tension between the records you liked most and the ones you really, really wanted to like (or want people to believe you liked). Regardless, here are ten records I thoroughly enjoyed this year and will inevitably try to add to my list next year until someone reminds me they came out in 2008. Never fails.... read more

Staff Picks - Austin L. Ray (web editor)

By Austin L. Ray at 5:13 PM on November 23, 2008

Each year, I open a fresh Word document and initiate, once more, a war with myself. This year was no exception. Titled "An Assortment of 2008 Musical Things in a Semi-Particular Order," my list, which includes albums you may have seen previously featured here and here, is absolutely and totally subject to change until Dec. 31. That being said, take a gander at its current iteration:... read more

Staff Picks - Nick Marino (managing editor)

By Nick Marino at 4:43 PM on November 23, 2008

1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (Beggars/XL/4AD)2. Santogold and Diplo - Top Ranking (Mad Decent)3. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (Illegal Art)4. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner)5. She & Him - Volume One (Merge)6. Sigur Ros - med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL)7. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark (Astralwerks)8. Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy (MCA Nashville)9. Foals - Antidotes (Sub Pop)10. Lykke Li - Youth Novels (LL/Warner Bros.)... read more

Staff Picks - Rachael Maddux (assistant editor)

By Rachael Maddux at 2:43 PM on November 23, 2008

Here's the list of my top albums of 2008, which I begrudgingly cobbled together after being told, no, I was not allowed to vote for last year's Everybodyfields album in all ten spots. Don't believe anyone who tells you music journalists have it easy! Life is hard.... read more

Staff Picks - Steve LaBate (associate editor)

By Steve LaBate at 11:55 AM on November 23, 2008

Best Albums 20081. She & Him - Vol. 1 (Merge)2. Gentleman Jesse and His Men - Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men (Douchemaster)3. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins (JagJaguwar)4. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (ATO)5. The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (Vice) 6. Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City)7. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)8. Sun Kil Moon - April (Caldo Verde)9. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static (Brushfire)10. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave (Gravitation)Best Singles 20081. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds2. "I Work Hard" - Yung Ralph3. "Candy Jail" -... read more

Staff Picks - Josh Jackson (editor-in-chief)

By Josh Jackson at 10:34 AM on November 23, 2008

We've just released our collective Top 50 at Paste, and there's been the usual response both on our site and others' about what you think we missed, what we got wrong and what the list really should have looked like. Since this was a collaborative effort with votes from staff and some of our regular critics, everyone would have made this list a little differently, including me. Here's my personal top 10 (i.e. the actual 10 best albums this year).1. Bon Iver—For Emma, Forever AgoSome albums stampede their way into your brain, others creep in during the middle of the... read more

Five Criminally Slept On Albums from 2008

By Austin L. Ray at 7:00 AM on November 23, 2008

I know what you're saying: It's not even December yet! But in the spirit of year-end goodness... read more

Seven Best Things About Beyonce's “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”

By Rachael Maddux at 7:00 AM on November 22, 2008

Once a year or so, a super-mainstream pop song manages to defy all logic, completely endear itself to me and lodge its overblown, Auto-Tuned self squarely in my cerebral cortex. I'm usually a few months late to the game (I somehow managed to not hear Rihanna's 2007 smash earworm “Umbrella” all the way through until sometime this year) but when I fall, I fall hard. I seem to be right on time with my latest fixation, though: Beyonce's “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” just came out last month, and my first exposure to it was when she appeared on Saturday... read more

PaMaDoCoBloNaBloPoMoMo 2008, Day 21: Rounding up the Rachels

By Rachael Maddux at 5:10 PM on November 21, 2008

Speeding through the Q's yesterday was fun, so I'm doing it today with the "R"-named blogs-- specifically, taking a look at how bloggers who share my name (kinda) are getting through NaBloPoMo. I could have also narrowed it down to blogs with titles beginning with "Random" or "Ramblings," but that wouldn't have actually narrowed it down much because apparently half of the blogs in the world involve either one or both of those words (frankly, I'm shocked that there are only three on this list named "Random Ramblings"). Also, I would have probably become quite mean, as I have a feeling most of those... read more