Jason Segel: Actor, Love-Song Writer Extraordinaire

Yes, this has been out for a while, but it's just as funny on the 10th viewing as it was on the first. Jason Segel, he of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Freaks & Geeks, I Love You Man, and How I Met Your Mother fame, joined The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglov... the Once duet) on stage at a show in Los Angeles last week. Most of the posts have made a big deal about him giving out his phone number, but come on! That's just some incredible songwriting! Tell me you wouldn't jump in bed with him after that, and I'll call you a liar...

Lists - Top Albums of the Decade

We got into We Listen For You because they have one of the best ideas in all of music blogdom: March Music Madness! Seriously, I haven't had more fun following a voted-on competition since the 2000 presidential election... and although the results may not represent what I want, it's definitely a popular vote. No complaints here. They released their Top 50 Albums of the Decade today, and made a bold (but 100% defensible) choice of The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots as their #1. I can't believe I haven't seen this at the top (or even near the top) of many other lists; it's definitely one of the most interesting and genre-breaking albums of the 2000s. Check out the whole list here, because we're only giving you the top 20.

WLFY's Top 20 Albums of the 2000s
20. Elliott Smith - Figure 8
19. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
18. The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
17. The National - Boxer
16. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
15. Animal Collective - Feels
14. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
13. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
12. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - s/t
11. Daft Punk - Discovery
10. The Strokes - Is This It
09. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
08. LCD Soundsystem - s/t
07. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
06. The White Stripes - Elephant
05. The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
04. Arcade Fire - Funeral
03. Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
02. Radiohead - Kid A
01. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

Neutral Milk Hotel: "Two-Headed Boy" (Video)

Very coincidentally, video from a 1998 show at NYC's Knitting Factor of Jeff Mangum playing "Two-Headed Boy." Musically... so simple. Check out that emotion though! Merge Records has reissued the Neutral Milk Hotel albums on vinyl this month, and this is apparently footage they found while prepping the rissues. Kind of awesome.

AOTW: Neutral Milk Hotel: "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea"

Jeff Mangum. "Jeff Mangum." Jeff Mangum. The man is more like an idea at this point than an actual human being... a Keyser Soze-like figure that haunts dreams and then vanishes. His band, Neutral Milk Hotel, released just two albums in the 1990s, yet is widely considered one of the most influential acts of that time. He helped start an incredibly prolific recording company (Elephant 6) in Athens, GA that's spawned a number of critically acclaimed bands like Of Montreal, Elf Power, and Apples In Stereo. But Mangum remains "in hiding," content with ending his legacy on In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. Such perspective.

Without hyperbole, I would say that I've listened to this album no less than 40 times. Each listen necessitates completeness: if you aren't willing to experience the whole album, it's just not worth it. Yes, there are some songs ("King Of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1," "Two Headed Boy") that stand incredibly well on their own, but this is an album in the truest sense of the word. Loosely based on The Diaries of Anne Frank, Mangum composed an incredibly dark, twisted, sad, and sexually repressed album that flies from idea to idea, yet manages to stay within a specific construct. The album tells a story... yes, one that a psychiatrist could have a field day with (paraphilias, somatizations, and schizoid personality, oh my!), but it's a compelling nonetheless. Songwriting is rarely this personal, and it's almost impossible to avoid getting swept up in the narrative.

I haven't met too many people who are on the fence about In The Aeroplane. More divisive than expected, people either love or hate Mangum's emotive, runaway vocals. The instrumentation either sounds too antiquated or offers a compelling layer to the sound. The songwriting is either intentionally vague or refreshingly deep. To you, this album might be a waste of time. To me, it's one of the greatest albums released in the past 20 years. Regardless, it deserves a genuine listen.

Califone - "Funeral Singers" Video

The Earl (Atlanta) has had a number of canceled shows recently, and none was more disappointing than Califone. Roots and Crowns was one of my favorite albums of the past few years, and All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is equally as good. The video for "Funeral Singers" was just released, and if nothing else, it provides some visual stimulation for an otherwise fantastic song.

Lists - Top Albums of the Decade

I'm not sure how fast we'll be able to keep up with these lists, but we sure as hell are gonna try. Because you, the pop-culture consumer with discriminating tastes, deserve to know what your peers think about these things. You also deserve to bitch and moan about who is/is not on these lists. I'm not going to lie... this may be my favorite Albums of the Decade line-up so far (although the rap albums seem forced). But there's oh-so-much time left! Check out the full Top 50.

The Onion A.V. Club Top 20 Albums of the Decade
20. Daft Punk - Discovery
19. The Strokes - Is This It
18. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
17. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
16. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
15. Spoon - Kill The Moonlight
14. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
13. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
12. M.I.A. - Kala
11. The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
10. The National - Alligator
09. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
08. Arcade Fire - The Funeral
07. Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
06. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
05. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
04. Outkast - Stankonia
03. Radiohead - Kid A
02. Kanye West - The College Dropout
01. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

zOMG!!!!! VAMPIRES!!! MOONS!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!

While it has absolutely nothing to do with either music (unless you count this) or television, Round 1 of Vampires v. Werevolves is on. Midnight. Tonight. To the face! So here's the question... who ya got!?!













Vs.