We're pretty fond of Coldplay's last LP, Mylo Xyloto despite the "unchill bro" perceptions of admitting such a preference. Let's face it folks, they write-a the good pop musics! The video for "Charlie Brown" is a pretty standard "band performing with other random action happening" video, with bonus points for anyone who recognizes that the club the band is performing in looks suspiciously like the one visited by Javier Bardem in Biutiful, the scene with which Chris Martin discovered the riff that he later sampled for "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall."

Eleanor Friedberger, 50% of the brother/sister duo Fiery Furnaces, has a distinct weirdness about her. Her straight-faced demeanor about everything makes me think that if she turned out to be a witchcraft practicing, pickpocketing felon, I wouldn't be too surprised. That's what she admits to in her newest video "Heaven," from (last summer's)Last Summer.
Watch as she rolls dice, tosses back whiskey, macks a dude out of his wallet, and gets touched by the hand of death. All set to a uplifting headbopper! The funny, mildly satanic video undercuts "Heaven," proving that a good music video can add a lot to an already great song.

The Magnetic Fields have a knack for writing funny, quick-witted songs that are also deeply embedded with sincerity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the band's newest single. Frontman Stephen Merritt pines over the female alterego as he sings in his signiture flat hum, "I'd sign away my trust fund/I'd even sell the Jag/if I could spend my misspent youth with Andrew in drag."

Although OK Go's antics have ranged in complexity from Rube Goldberg to puppy choreography, the band is continually reinventing the wheel when it comes to inventive music videos. For their next project, they've teamed up with [NOTABLE CAR COMPANY REDACTED TO ANNOY THEIR MARKETING DEPARTMENT AND THE MILLIONS THEY SPENT] to rock yet another musical stunt. Get a sense of what they've been up to in the preview and be on the lookout for the full video set to air on Super Bowl Sunday.

Beach Fossils' sound on their new single, "Shallow," shows improvement and progression from the young band's earlier work. The rhythm section, which really drives the song, is reminiscent of Real Estate's newest, Days. The Melodic bass and a drumbeat that is spare and precise marks growing musical maturity.

French indie rock outfit The Two played their first NY city show (after recently performing at Sundance in Colorado) at the beautiful Joe's Pub. The man (David Jarre)/woman (Ara Starck) duo have been gaining plenty of hype in their native France and their eyes set on increasing their visibility to American audiences. If this show was any indication, they've got the talent to make that happen.

Deerhunter is always expanding their sound to include new styles, concepts and collaborations, and this expansion continues on their latest song, "Curve." This instrumental track is released as part of a forthcoming benefit compilation "to support Japan and its ongoing efforts to heal post-tsunami." "Curve" is a departure from the typically guitar driven music of Deerhunter. The ambient rhythm is calm without being boring, punctuated by Eno-derived bell and feedback noises. Just when the song becomes hypnotic, a slow and swelling beat comes in to bring the song to an abrupt stop.

Rising techno-ambient act Nicolas Jaar released a new music video to add to the library of videos giving Baeble nightmares. With creepier clowns than It, disfigured mutants, and fractured nonlinear narrative, the track "Materials" is a trip into dream-like terror.

Politics and popular music have been mixing since before the Vietnam war, and it seems that The Decemberists are one of the latest musicians to make a political statement. As the NY Times has reported, one of the nation's most prominent advocacy groups for breast cancer awareness, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, has pulled its financial support for the branch of Planned Parenthood that provides breast cancer screenings for low-income women, total donations that have reached $700,000 annually in the past. As the most visible abortion provider in the nation, Planned Parenthood had been a controversial thorn in the side of Komen and Komen believed that continued association with the group would cost them valuable donors.

Hey, M.I.A. thanks for coming, sit down. Grab some coffee, there are donuts there for you too. Now focus, this is an intervention. You need some tough love, we do this because we care. It's time to rolling Js on the sides of moving cars. You're a mom now. I know that those Saudi princes down the street are nice, and their Ford Taurus looks like it can go pretty fast, but you can't have it both ways, M.I.A. You can either be part of Fast and Furious 6: Arab Spring, or you can stop hammering the point home of being a bad girl, and maybe spend a friday night ghostriding a tonka truck with your child. Damn.

It's Friday, so here's a guy covering the Jurassic Park theme music on a melodica. We also suspect it might actually be a dinosaur playing the blow-organ. Enjoy!

The Lana Del Rey hype cycle continues, despite the critical panning. Ms. Del Rey visited Letterman, and much to our surprise, didn't inspire the same disgust as previous performances. Perhaps she's learning?

Madonna will be performing at this year's Super Bowl, along with several special guests. Two of whom are presumably only attending to provide the support on this track, "Give Me All Your Luvin'", our first taste of Madonna's forthcoming MDNA album. The video was directed by Megaforce, and takes Madonna's football gig very seriously, hinting at some of the sports-themed choreography we may see on Sunday. This is as nice as we can possibly put it.

By now you've probably heard of Tim Tebow, the quarterback/savior who somehow fumbled his way into leading the Denver Broncos to a playoff berth despite being statistically terrible. But if not, here, let John Legend educate you on the subject with "Extra-ordinary Tebow."

The Groundhog saw its shadow, but we're not worried about the cold ruining our selection of tuneage. When we say "mixtape," this time we really mean it-- a quixotic collection of songs from all ends of the new musical spectrum. Think of it as the Party Mix of tune collections, some crunchy, some cheesy, and all delicious.

When we're younger, it is easy to find Pink Floyd's most accessible and straight-forward tracks as the most enjoyable. "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" may be one of Floyd's most dark and sinister tracks but the chorus of children singing and its catchy lyrics means it's the one Pink Floyd track everyone knows, and before grunge or emo came around, "Comfortably Numb" was the perfect teenage angst anthem. Yet, the older you get, the more fun you can have exploring the psychedelic and ambient side of Pink Floyd where washed out waves of noise flow to create an almost hypnotic soundscape. Singer Lia Ices covered Pink Floyd staple "Wish You Were Here" and with her haunting voice and pitch-perfect ear for the trance-inducing nature of Floyd's most experimental music, Lia Ices provides a deliciously modern take on a classic tune.

Click here if you're not laughing yet.

Meet Glassnote's latest roster pick, Daughter, made up of singer Elena Tonra and guitarist Igor Haefeli. The British Folk duo doesn't hide anything in their music, with each song made up of sparse ingredients and intimate lyrics. Tonra's naked voice sits closely to your ear and Haefeli's echoing fingerpicking on guitar is reminiscent of Bon Iver's quieter moments.

There is an inherent difference between incorporating retro sounds into modern music and simply aping the styles of the past. When Cults channeled the girl groups of Motown's heyday, they transformed it into modern electronic pop and breezy almost psychedelic rock. Chairlift has more in common with Duran Duran than Radiohead or Animal Collective (the Collective in turn draws a lot of their sound from trying to capture the harmonious experimentation of Pet Sounds) but they craft a sonic ambience and experimental nature to their re-imagining of the New Romantics. Buzz band Alabama Shakes are obviously huge fans of 50s/60s guitar rock outfits like Jerry Lee Lewis or Janis Joplin but rather than taking that sound and seeing how it can fit within the contours of modern indie rock, they simply wind up feeling like an artifact from the classic rock era with nothing new to bring to the table.

Over the last year, Julia Holter has quietly been gathering attention with her ghostly, slow-moving electronica. Last year's critically acclaimed Tragedy, which is based on the Greek tragedy "Hippolytus," was almost entirely created by Holter and expressed her talent of culling a unique sound without being given very many production resources.

Before this album dropped, we ran a story about the music video for lead single "Friends of Friends" starring Arrested Development star Alia Shawkat. "Friends of Friends" has been getting plenty of spins since it came out, and expectations for this quietly hyped group have been very high. Unlike the train wreck that was Lana Del Rey's debut Born to Die, Hospitality's debut is arguably one of the most fun debut records since the Cults' debut from last June.

It is a favorite pastime of more "serious" music critics to turn their noses up in cynical dissatisfaction at "pop" music. If music can be enjoyed by everyone, can it really be worth listening to? Despite what the Pitchforks of the world might want you to believe, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Think back to the unbridled wonder and joy you got when hearing "God Only Knows" growing up. It's arguably the most beautifully composed love song and pop song of all time, but it's universally known melodies and lyrics belie an inherent complexity to Brian William's songcraft as a true genius at his prime. Australian electronic pop artist Gotye is more George Michael than Brian Williams, but make no mistake, his newest LP, Making Mirrors is one of the most fun and intelligent pop records in years.

I'mma let you finish (that meme will never die) but Kanye West remains one of the biggest perpetual hype machines of all time. We've heard the megalomaniacal excess and debauchery of Watch the Throne, and we're still waiting for something in hip-hop to come close to topping the trail-blazing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The 30 minute short film, Runaway, was one of the most bizarre, post-modern, and brilliant things Kanye's ever done, and it seems like Yeezy is up to his old tricks again with a new short film to be shot in the Middle East.

Belgian born (but Australian bred) Wouter de Backer, better known by his stage name Gotye, is shaping up to be one of the biggest things to come out of Australia since Heath Ledger and Savage Garden (but infinitely better than the 90's pop schtick of Darren Hayes). Gotye's last album, Making Mirrors, is a massive hit in his native Australia and has already went triple platinum. Us Yanks are finally getting a chance to hear what all of this international fuss has been about as Gotye made his North American television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live performing his smash hit "Somebody That I Used to Know" as well as another fantastic track off of Making Mirrors, "Eyes Wide Open." Making Mirrors is an exceptional album and if these performances are any indication, Gotye is just as passionate and intense live as he is in the studio and there is simply a charisma and joie de vivre to this Aussie that seems to foretell an act who could be selling out American arenas before we know it.

New York indie rockers Cults are a hot property right now. They've made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show as well as the fact that their debut full-length, the self titled Cults, was loved by virtually everyone. Leonard Cohen is dropping a new album soon, aptly titled Old Ideas, and as part of a series by indie artists, several groups are covering their favorite Leonard Cohen tracks. Cults decided to tackle 1988's "Everybody Knows." While remaining respectful to the original material, Cults certainly put their own spin on the track that could easily be a hit in its own right. When are these talented youngsters going to start work on their second album? We all know everybody wants it.

Folk act, Bowerbirds are releasing a new album 3/6, the pastorally titled The Clearing, and if the newly released song "In The Yard" is any indication, this pastoral feel will extend to the whole CD. Combining some of the twee-folk sensibilities that we've heard recently from First Aid Kit, "In the Yard" also incorporates some more ambitious sonic elements and an intriguing electric guitar section toward the end of the song. Here are some folksters that aren't afraid to shed that "unplugged" stereotype.

The "Him" half of She & Him and contributor to indie folk super group Monsters of Folk, M. Ward is releasing a new solo album, A Wasteland Companion, on 4/10. There's a new music video for a track from the upcoming album, "The First Time I Ran Away," and it manages to be both inexplicably disturbing and beautiful at the same time. It's a truly inspired video and while the song itself may seem like fairly conventional alt-folk, this video is something else. The fact that it's made with fairly crude animation speaks wonders about the generally unsettling quality of the material.

While we are desperately biting our tongues to not include sarcastic and biting references to a certain old Chappelle's Show sketch involving a parody of "Ignition", we have to give it up to R. Kelly. His new track, "Share My Love," off his upcoming twelfth (that's right, twelfth) studio album, Write Me Back, is the hottest thing R. Kelly has produced in years. It's got that old school Al Green/Marvin Gaye R&B with a catchy up-tempo beat and an absurd number of strings and horns.

Carson is back, but of late he's been sending out camera crews to local shows instead of hosting his own. Who cares! Last night he aired some footage of 80s leaning British rockers The Horrors at the El Rey Theater in L.A. Watch them play "I Can See Through You" and "Endless Blue" off their delightfully washed-out LP Skying.

Cloud Nothings' recently released LP Attack on Memory has been highly acclaimed receiving Best New Music designations from Pitchfork as well as receiving our first five star review of the year. Fader magazine shot an open bar session with Cloud Nothings performing a toned down version of Attack on Memory track "Cut You." It's a simpler and more basic version of the track but Cloud Nothings have been so good lately that it still works.

Post-hardcore act Cursive are gearing up for the release of their latest album, I Am Gemini, which is due out on 2/27. The track below, "Wowowow," is off the new CD. For fans of this heavier sound, it should certainly please the band's fanbase. Post-hardcore has been on the decline ever since The Dismemberment Plan broke up (but they did just get back together. Here's to hoping for a follow-up to Emergency & I and Change!), but this new track from Cursive shows there's still some life in this not quite in vogue genre.

Electronic pop artist Jamie XX from Young Turks Records dropped a new track, "Touch Me," on an Australian radio show. The stream below is for the entire mid-day show but if you're wanting to just hear Jamie xx's new song, fast forward to the 49 minute mark.

Piano rock giants The Fray are dropping their long-awaited third full-length 2/12 on Epic Records. Baeble is going to be releasing some exclusive work we've done with the group chronicling "A Day in the Life of the Fray." We also had the chance to interview lead singer Isaac Slade who graciously answered our questions on everything from the pitfalls of working in the mainstream music industry to the self-doubt that plagued him while working on his first two albums to the frustrations of often being singled out as a "Christian" artist. Laid back and easy going, Slade showed that the sincerity and genuineness that shines through in the Fray's music crosses over into his real-world persona as well.

Only Elizabeth Grant could encompass exactly what her stage name implies. Drawing her forename from equally blonde and voluptuous 1940s actress Lana Turner and combining it with the name of a 1981 Ford Model Car, Lana Del Rey has created a sound that matches her nom-de-chanson perfectly-- her smash single "Video Games," that was digitally released back in October, melds sultry vocals with electronic ambiance to create a tone that is at once sweeping and bleak. Yet, Born To Die cannot flourish from one good single. And with fourteen disconcerted efforts to reach "Video Games" stature, Born To Die is a fifteen track failure.

You might think that Cali-bred Princeton released their newest single "Florida," in lieu of today's Republican presidential candidate election in the state with which the song is titled. You'd know that you were wrong after listening to the song.

In an interview with NPR, Nada Surf's singer Matthew Caws summed up the mission statement the band have tried to put to work for them over the years. "It's never too late for teenage dreams." Perhaps that's how this band of 40-somethings have navigated a road that's lead from initial alt stardom to indie obscurity and back again. Perhaps that's why they have seven albums...the latest which is titled The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy. "When I Was Young" is the band's current single and brings with it a nostalgic visual nod to the teenage philosophy that informs the band.

In the immortal words of Keanu Reeves, "Whoa...". In one of those real-life moments where I'm still not entirely sure I'm not just dreaming, The Late Show with David Letterman has provided the hysterical (and oddly surreal) music moment of the week (which somehow manages to top Bjork's appearance on The Colbert Report). The number one girl band in South Korea, Girl's Generation, performed their hit (in Korea) "The Boys," alongside a stunned Regis Philbin in a ref's costume and a completely nonplussed Bill Murray in a football jersey. The song sounds like your typical JPop track (KPop now I guess) except in English.

A little over two weeks ago, Dinosaur Feathers were the unfortunate victims of a theft. Most of their equipment was stolen from their van in Brooklyn.

As we reported late last week, D'Angelo appears to be readying himself to take back the crown as king of babymaking music. The 90s R&B icon is reportedly almost finished with his long awaited third album, James River, and he's currently on his "European D Tour." Unless you have the super powers to see into the future, or to be European, you'll have to wait to hear his new material.

Just when Colbert Report fans thought it was going to be tough for Stephen to top the a cappella performance of "Lean on Me" with Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Brian Eno (Roxy Music), and Stephen Colbert himself, eccentric Icelander Bjork made an appearance on the show. Performing "Cosmogony" from her last album, Biophilia, Bjork still has that same ethereal and almost unworldly quality to her voice that has made her such an enigma for the last 15 years. We also got a simply hilarious interview where Stephen question Bjork about elves, licking her apps, and posing the "why art?" query. Bjork gets bonus points for wearing perhaps her most ridiculous outfit since the swan dress for the Oscars.

One-Woman Energy-Machine K.Flay has just dropped her new EP Eyes Shut this week. You can find the free download here.

Any David Lynch and Ingmar Bergman fans in the room can attest that form should follow function. If you're going to tell a fractured and non-linear story, the film's style should be just as fractured and nebulous. Canadian indie rockers, The Luyas, have heeded this advice for the new music video for their song "Moodslayer". An artsy combination of noise rock and modern indie sensibilities (with an intro that pleasantly recalls the breakdown of Radiohead's "The National Anthem") is blended with an avant-garde video full of archetypal images of childhood and random, hectic flashes of images.

The first thought I had when I descended into the venue was "this band sounds really into it." I was a little skeptical when I went to see We Are The Ocean on Sunday night at Webster Hall-- 'Emo' isn't a genre I have much experience listening to, and I usually discredit bands that have fancy, coordinating Bieberhair.

South African, Zef Music 'Freeks' Die Antwoord released a video for their newest, carefully constructed and totally artistically viable single, seriously, we're not joking at all, they are the next Beatles*. The song is titled "I Fink U Freeky," and I fink they're right, if they're talking about themselves, that is. The song is off their third album Ten$ion.

Orlando based dream-pop quintet Saskatchewan is currently working on their full length debut release, with a few digitally released singles available for listening. Their most recent undertaking is a remix they did of The Weeknd's "The Morning."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. made their late night debut on Conan with their emotionally perceptive "Simple Girl," off of their newest album It's A Corporate World. They reworked the single nicely for a notoriously unruly talk-show-circut stage. Dale Jr. Jr. is backed by a solid rhythm section and a classy live string quartet. Joshua Epstein also makes thrifty use of a land line telephone for backing harmonies. Conan comes in at the end, rightly impressed.