EAR FARM checks in with the Elbo.ws top 10

Tell you what, it's been a long, LONG, time since EAR FARM has checked in with the Elbo.ws top 10 'hot' artists. We used to enjoy doing so every now and then to get a better idea of what the rest of the music blog world is talking about. But then the top artists weren't changing often enough to make a weekly visit to the Elbo.ws Top 10 a worthwhile effort. And THEN we got lazy.

But hey, checking in with the Elbo.ws top 10 gives EAR FARM a chance to feature artists that everyone else is talking about who might not exactly be our "thing". Doesn't mean they can't be your thing though, right? Hey, maybe as a result of adventures like these we'll together find much joy and entertainment and a few new bands we used to laugh at but now love. Let's face it, sometimes this can be fun. Yeah?

Well fire up those colortinis; this joint 'bout to blow up. Click through for the goods.

Elbo.ws top 10 'hot' artists - 29 February 2008 @ 9:18am EST

Beach House - EAR FARM's Band of the Week is getting lots of attention, and for good reason - their new album Devotion is at least as good as everyone is saying. Hey, did you catch that interview Mike did with them? I'm just saying... better 'n what I've seen elsewhere. Biased? Yep. Calmer 'n you are.

Listen: "Heart of Chambers" (via EF)

Hot Chip - Though this track kind of sounds like a recording of a drunken late night "twee" lounge act, I like it. Which, I suppose, means I must "kind of" like Hot Chip. That's news to me.

Listen: "Made In The Dark" (via Ryan's Smashing Life)

Foals - From GoEnglish.com: "A dime a dozen - cheap and easy to get... if a thing is very common and easy to get, we say it is a dime a dozen." Example: music that arouses no interest or curiosity in the listener, such as Foals, has been a dime a dozen for as long as I can remember. Their songs touch listeners in such a fleeting manner that I challenge you to listen to the song below and remember it 10 seconds later. Do people spend money on this stuff?

Listen: "Balloons" (via Largehearted Boy)

Bon Iver - Do you know what I used to think about Bon Iver? Well, it's embarrassing, but I'll tell you. Bon Iver made me think of James Taylor and Dave Matthews and the music listening public's obvious desire to have an artist that's "delicate" but "interesting" yet thoroughly undemanding to listen to and call "great". As each generation ages and their taste erodes, their collective listening palate becomes extremely predictable. This is how Jack Johnson suddenly became a multi-festival headliner. ANYway, my point in all of this is that I was wrong about Bon Iver. There's much quiet power in his music, it reminds me of home in a way... and what a voice. I'll admit when I'm wrong: Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago is pretty great.

Listen: "Skinny Love" (via Jagjaguwar)

Daft Punk - Amazing live show or not, do people actually listen to Daft Punk often? Like, is this someone's "go to" music? I can't imagine. I mean, as foot-tapping music, I enjoy what they do and all, but I think that's because I hear Daft Punk sparingly. Does anybody else feel hornswoggled by this band?

Listen: "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (via Kickin' the Peanuts!)

LCD Soundsystem - I'll give James Murphy credit: ripping off more-or-less all the Kosmische Musik there ever was, plus the Beatles, AND Prince, all within the one song "Big Ideas" is a fairly guaranteed way to attract listeners. It is not, however, ANY kind of "big idea"; no, in fact, it's rather simple-minded and completely bored me the first time around when it was called Beck.

Listen: "Big Ideas" (via Pop Tarts Suck Toasted)

Vampire Weekend - In regards to their debut album, I couldn't agree more with Nitsuh Abebe's Pitchfork review: "Bring any baggage you want to this record, and it still returns nothing but warm, airy, low-gimmick pop, peppy, clever, and yes, unpretentious--four guys who listened to some Afro-pop records, picked up a few nice ideas, and then set about making one of the most refreshing and replayable indie records in recent years."

Listen: "A-punk" (via Instrumental Analysis)

The Diggs - :) that's what this song posted below makes me do. Why? 'Cos it sounds like high school. Like The Breeders meets Ned's Atomic Dustbin meets teenage naivete. Glorious.

Listen: "Careen" (via Sugarspun Records)

Feist - What else to say about Feist? Interesting fact: her father, Harold Feist, is an abstract expressionist painter.

Listen: "I Feel It All (Britt from Spoon Remix)" (via i guess i'm floating)

Radiohead - All Points West? Gross. Since Radiohead is so "innovative" with how they approach the world of music, how about they get interesting with their live shows too... eh? I'm thinking that they should do a year-long residency in NYC wherein they play each of their albums in their entirety at increasingly larger venues: Pablo Honey @ Mercury Lounge, The Bends @ Bowery Ballroom, OK Computer @ Carnegie Hall, Kid A/Amnesiac @ the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, Hail to the Thief @ Radio City Music Hall, and then In Rainbows @ Madison Square Garden. At the very least this would mean they'd have an entire year of concerts that people could take public transportation to, right?

Listen: "Up On The Ladder" (via EF)