I’ve been lazy with the blogging as of late. It’s more fulfilling to post stuff like that on Buzzgrinder because people actually comment on it. So I’ll just link you to my top 10 list there and give you (who is “you” anyway?) 11 through 20 with no descriptions:

20. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
19. Eluvium – Copia
18. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
17. Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
16. The Snake The Cross The Crown – Cotton Teeth
15. Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
14. M.I.A. – Kala
13. Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
12. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
11. Daft Punk – Alive 2007

I just got way too excited for Coachella this weekend when they posted the set time schedule.

Somehow they managed to keep conflicts to a minimum, as far as my own preferences go, anyway. There are a couple bands I might have to skip out early on to catch something else, but the only major conflict for me is Saturday evening. Kings Of Leon, The Decemberists, !!! and Andrew Bird all playing at the same time. I don’t even know where to start with that one. I’ve seen Andrew Bird, so I may have to sacrifice there, but even then, he puts on an amazing show.

Here’s how I plan to break it down:

Friday

• Nickel Creek
• Of Montreal
• Circa Survive
• Rufus Wainwright
• The Jesus And Mary Chain
• Peeping Tom
• Interpol
• Sonic Youth
• Bjork

Saturday

• Regina Spektor
• The New Pornographers
• Kings Of Leon vs. The Decemberists vs. !!! vs. Andrew Bird
• The Arcade Fire
• Girl Talk
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Black Keys

Sunday

• Mika
• Anathallo
• Grizzly Bear
• Explosions In The Sky
• The Roots
• Willie Nelson
• Amos Lee
• Ratatat
• Damien Rice
• Rage Against The Machine

Meanwhile, I’m packing up my sunscreen and shorts (two things I don’t use that often; yeah, I’m a nerd) and expecting to have a very fun weekend. I’ll be lucky if I don’t come back deaf, malnourished, underslept and looking like Pigpen.

I wish I could say I wasn’t so busy right now. There are a lot of things I’d like to write here about (the DRM-free EMI deal being just one of them). But instead I spend all my spare time working on other projects. Hopefully that won’t be for too much longer.

But for now, here’s my March Monthly Playlist. It should be pretty clear what albums I was in love with this month.

1. Belle and Sebastian - “This is Just a Modern Rock Song” (Push Barman To Open Old Wounds)
2. Sondre Lerche - “The Tape” (Phantom Punch)
3. The Arcade Fire - “Keep The Car Running” (Neon Bible)
4. The Arcade Fire - “Intervention” (Neon Bible)
5. Daniel Lanois - “Sonho Dourado” (Friday Night Lights Soundtrack)
6. Air - “Photograph” (Pocket Symphony)
7. The Arcade Fire - “My Body Is A Cage” (Neon Bible)
8. Life In Your Way - “Reach The End” (Waking Giants)
9. The Arcade Fire - “Windowsill” (Neon Bible)
10. Sherwood - “Song In My Head” (A Different Light)
11. Wilco - “Misunderstood” (Kicking Television: Live In Chicago)
12. A Tribe Called Quest - “Jazz (We’ve Got)” (The Low End Theory)
13. Sherwood - “For The Longest Time” (A Different Light)
14. Port Royal - “Zobione Pt. 2″ (Flares)
15. Laura - “Fugitive” (Mapping Your Dreams)
16. Laura - “Ariadne” (Mapping Your Dreams)
17. Jesu - “Tired Of Me” (Jesu)
18. Mogwai - “Kids Will Be Skeletons” (Happy Songs For Happy People)
19. Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - “Television, The Drug Of The Nation” (Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury)
20. Sherwood - “Home” (A Different Light)
21. Andrew Bird - “Armchairs” (Armchair Apocrypha)
22. REM - “Sweetness Follows” (Automatic For The People)
23. REM - “Man On The Moon” (Automatic For The People)
24. Tom Waits - “Jesus Gonna Be Here” (Bone Machine)
25. Tom Waits - “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” (Bone Machine)
26. Mims - “This Is Why I’m Hot (Blackout Remix)” (Music Is My Savior)
27. AFI - “Love Like Winter” (Decemberunderground)
28. Modest Mouse - “Dashboard” (We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank)
29. The Weepies - “Gotta Have You” (Say I Am You)

These days I don’t really take the time to talk about an album unless it’s captured me in a big way. There are so many new releases every week that it can be hard to stay afloat and really give each the time they deserve to be absorbed well.

Neon Bible had a bit of an advantage because of a preexisting love of their last album, Funeral, combined with plenty of publicity. From playing two of their new songs (Intervention and Keep The Car Running) on Saturday Night Live right before the release to Idolator’s persistent hype, the Arcade Fire crew was hard to ignore.

That said, I can’t help but plug Neon Bible for myself, because saying it lives up to the hype hardly does the album justice. From start to finish, Win Butler and company get innovative with instruments and sound effects, channeling equal parts David Bowie, Talking Heads, Neutral Milk Hotel and Springsteen, but still making it their own by throwing in more fresh and unique sound than you could shake a stick at (does that even make sense?).

As Pitchfork noted, the lyrics aren’t anything hot, but I’m not much of a lyrics guy in the first place, so that’s fine with me. The ‘Fork put it well: “Butler’s words, however, have always carried less meaning than the way he sings them and the sound in which his band envelops them.”

I highly recommend this album to, well… anyone. Those with less broad tastes may find it a bit hard to digest at first, but those records are often the ones that stick with us the longest. I know I won’t be getting tired of it any time soon.