Come on. Admit it. Who isn’t into blood spatter, head-shaving and eyeball vaginas? I can dig Marilyn. Song sounds fine, but I’d leave the Shakespeare out of it.

Exactly what I was thinking. Now that is hilarious. ;)

That’s a fair assessment. Of course you’re more-or-less arguing about “taste”. I think you’re right to say there’s some joking around going on here. I think that’s why he opens the album with the most Illinois-styled track. It’s a gag, with Stevens saying, “Okay, hooked ‘em. Now let’s drop the real shit I’ve been working on.” And then we get all that space-aged, Disney-fied, St. Vincent-like effusiveness. It’s just natural progression that Stevens would want to move away from his first record. Despite all the clanks, feedback, volcanic gurgles, synths, auto-tune, and Age of Aquarius craziness, his newest record is still incredibly melodic and moving. I kinda think this album is trying to do something similar to Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” — balancing melody and noise.

Absolutely sick. I’m not even a Kanye fan. Can’t sing, raps are kinda weak … But that video is inspired. Dig the “Eyes Wide Shut” off-key piano chords falling into “toast for the douchebags” … That video is a slice of wickedness.

I loved “Illinois”, but wouldn’t consider myself a big Sufjan fan. But this album is pretty fantastic, in ways so different than “Illinois”. I think, from now on, I’ll be anticipating his next records.

Whatever you do, don’t underplay the album art.

Thought this was pretty badass.

@300 baud: I hated them too when they first came out. But for me it was songs like “Creep” that just pissed me off. I’d hear someone playing it and literally cringe, like fingers down a chalkboard. (I still hate that song.) So, when “Kid A” came out, it took a day for a friend of mine to actually convince me to listen to them again. Anyway — the rest is history for me. I thought “Kid A” was one of the greatest things I’d ever heard. (BTW — Tom Yorke is looking a bit like Michael McKean in “This Is Spinal Tap.” Sweet.)

So, what’s better: Twin Shadow’s song, the mustache, the Bowie-like vocals, the hairdo, or the clever porno casting-couch parody? It’s all sweet. @ Jerry: I wrote this back in Feb. after hearing his demos, “Hints of David Bowie. Maybe it’s the doubled-up harmonic vocal tracks. Or maybe it’s the strange lyrical sense of a phrase like, “Follow the boy with the yellow balloon.” That’s something Bowie would write.

Well, I’d go in on that case of beer — but since you grabbed the favorite — I think it’s gonna have to be Pabst Blue Ribbon. Seriously — you’re right. I think the xx will wrap this one up. However I do like the Laura Marling, Foals, Wild Beasts and I Am Kloot records.

Can’t say I’ve ever listened to a lot of Sun Kil Moon. But I love what I’ve heard of this upcoming release. It has a pretty simplicity. Shades of Neil Young/Nick Drake. “Australian Winter” has a dark, subtle guitar line and rich, ominous verses: “From your honest eyes I stole / And I’ve forsaken you / And I amount to nothing / Still up these rivers we’ll roll / Far away along, fishing for forever.” (Or something like that.) Nice.

I dig NIN, some Weezer, and Prince. But truth be told … I haven’t bought a Prince album since “Rainbow Children” — never bought a Weezer album — but I have bought a couple of NIN albums and really like How to Destroy and Angel. I do agree with Jonah though — Prince may play some bunk music — like this lame “Hot Summer” track — but he has earned a position as a pop marvel. Prince has three masterpiece albums: “Sign o’ the Times”, “1999″ and “Purple Rain” — and a boatload of great singles. Plus, I saw a Prince show where he dry-humped on top of a 10-foot speaker. What’s better than that?

@Billy. Amen. I like Stereogum — but even they sometimes take a bit long to find these fantastic bands. I felt like you when I saw this post … “It’s ’bout time.”