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There's nothing like starting a new job and sitting down to find this at your desk. My last two work computers were a 400 Mhz Pentium II and a three year old Sony Vaio laptop, so my fancy pants new computer was pretty much the nicest surprise ever. Now all I have to do is get used to this janky Apple keyboard and Apple's poor anti-aliasing of type. Overall though I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever.
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The new Mates of State is as great as you think it will be
Is there anyone cuter than the Mates of State? That's how pretty much every review or article about the Mates begins, but gosh it's true. Anywho, they've switched labels from the cuddleishly adolescent cute Polyvinyl to the more old people walking in the park cute Barsuk. Their new record Bring it Back comes out in March, and is super super super good. Like they have moved beyond the mere cute factor and are making strong pop records (not that they weren't before or anything).
MP3 Mates of State - Think Long
Technorati Tags: music mp3 mates+of+stateNew Band of Horses
One of the more pleasant surprises over the holidays was finding a leaked version of the Band of Horses record that is coming out in March. The songs that I thought were great when I heard them as demos are still great, and the songs that I thought were just ok are also great. The biggest improvement was "The Great Salt Lake" which makes me almost glad to live next to the big smelly lady. In fact, I haven't been able to listen to it for a couple of days now.
MP3 Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake
Technorati Tags: music mp3 band+of+horses20 for 2005 (#7-1): The usual suspects
I've been struggling to get the last several records of my top 20 list up, because we are getting into the territory where there aren't really any surprises. You just knew Sufjan would be #1, just like on every other site. I don't mean to slight any of these albums because they were all really pretty amazing, and 2005 was one of the best years for new music I've heard in a while. So here you go:
- Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Like I said, no suprise there. - My Morning Jacket - Z
- Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
Devendra keeps getting better and better with each record - Akron/Family & The Angels of Light - Split
- Mt. Eerie - No Flashlight
This is probably higher than anyone else has placed it, but this is a remarkable record that I think will not really be understood for a long time - M. Ward - Transistor Radio
I felt like I'd been listening to this record for years the very first time I heard it. - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary