Top 10 Most Viewed Reviews

In honor of sticking with it for a year, here are our Top 10 Most Viewed Reviews. It's a diverse list. Don't get this confused with our favorite albums. Only four here made it on that list. Maybe we should only post reviews of songs in iPod commercials. We'd be WAY more popular.

1. Chairlift - "Bruises"
   
   
2. The Dandy Warhols - Earth To The Dandy Warhols
   
   
3. The Islands - Arm's Way
   
   
4. Katy Perry - One of the Boys
   
   
5. David Sides - Collection Volume 1
   
   
6. Wolf Parade - Mount Zoomer
   
   
7. Hold Steady - Stay Positive
   
   
8. Portishead - Third
   
   
9. Titus Andronicus - Airing of Grievances
   
   
10. Tonya Watts - Handcuff My Soul
    

Human Highway - Moody Motorcycle (2008)

Chalk another one up for the mellow and melodic. Nick Thorburn, of Islands, The Unicorns, and a handful of other bands, teams up with another dude (Jim Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s grandson, according to people who know about these sorts of things) to put together pleasant harmonies over mostly soft, strummy guitar and sedated percussion. The Islandy, “All Day” comes across as an ode to lazy days spent soaking up rays on a chaise, while “Duties Of A Lighthouse Keeper” and “Get Lost” make me want to lounge around inside. The duo picks it up a bit with the pop tracks, “The Sound” and “Moody Motorcycle,” but never get too crazy. This is a nice sleepy album to supplement a cup of coffee and a nice big law book. Trust me.

Islands - Arm's Way (2008)

Someone described Vampire Weekend to me as a way for ”cool kids” to listen to Paul Simon, without actually having to listen to Paul Simon. Wait a second, is Paul Simon not cool? Stop it. Also to that I say have you heard the first Islands album, Return to the Sea? Paul Simon-influenced Carribean music was their forte. On the second Islands album, Arm’s Way, the band has fleshed out their sound dramatically. It’s a theatrical pop orchestra of an album – this one definitely was not recorded in anyone’s bedroom. It opens with “The Arm”, where the band revisits one of their favorite themes: Death, this time in a “badass car crash”. The members of Islands recently started wearing all black instead of all white. A little cliche, maybe, but it fits the lyrics better. Presentation is important to me. Arm’s Way is clearly influenced by and references a frenzy of artists. They break it down like P. Simon yet again at the end of “J’aime Vous Voire Quitter” (take that Vampire Weekend!). But one of my favorite moments on the album is at the end of “In the Rushes”, when they unexpectedly transition into a cover of The Whos “A Quick One While He’s Away”, changing the lyrics to “you are forgotten” instead of “you are forgiven”. I don’t know which is better, to forgive or forget, but these kind of unexpected moments are making me love this album more with each listen. And who knows, they might even have a hit with “Creeper”. If you can’t move to this song, I don’t know how to help you.

Faves: “The Arm”, “Creeper”, “In the Rushes” and “I Feel Evil Creeping In”