1. Rooftops – A Forest Of Polarity
The debut album from Bellingham based Math Rock band Rooftops came out of left field. It’s style and complexity were enough to make fans of the genre happy and yet accessible enough for most anyone to enjoy the music.

2. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
After crafting possibly the most solid pop album of the decade, the Lady reissued, repackaged and renamed the album with an additional eight tracks that were not some throw away b-sides but another round of singles.

3. Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
The solo debut of the Black Keys guitarist showed that Auerbach can step away from his songwriting companion and hold his own. Although very reminiscent of a would be Keys album, there are some fun surprises and solid songwriting.

4. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
The boys from Glasgow got over their sophomore slump in 2009. With a fist full of poppy singles, some new recording techniques and help from vintage synths the album they brought forth a solid effort in their junior release.

5. NASA – The Spirit Of Apollo
It’s hard to go wrong when you bring together two great producers like Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon, but when you add in artists like MIA, David Byrne, RZA, Tom Waits and George Clinton, it would take some effort to mess it up.

Top 5 Tracks Of 2009:

1: Supernova – Mr Hudson
2: Night By Night – Chromeo
3: Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
4: Run This Town – Jay Z feat. Kanye West & Rihanna
5: I Want Some More – Dan Auerbach

Rooftops – Not only is their new album selling very well, a new teaser video is available for your viewing pleasure.

They will be featured on the New Album Spotlight page in the January edition of Electronic Musician so look for that when it comes out. You can also now request tracks from their new album “A Forest Of Polarity” on Pacific Northwest Radio Stations KUGS Bellingham and KEXP / 107.7 The End KNDD / Hollow Earth Radio / KCPR Seattle. You can stream songs from the album on the Rooftops Myspace Page, Last.fm or Lala and download the album on Itunes, Amazon or buy a copy from the Clickpop Records Store.

Pan Pan – Coming off her performance opening for The Books, Sarah and company have officially released the album “New Arms” digitally on Emusic, Itunes and Amazon (Follow The Links To Download The Album) And continues to get praise from local publications. Look for a studio full length sometime in 2010 as well as their apperiance in the 2010 EMP Sound Off! in Seattle on Feb. 20th! Check out the Pan Pan Myspace and don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook!

The Mission Orange – The duo gained some nice praise from Don Project of SunBreak for their show at The Rogue Hero last month, saying that that while “Sporting a huge sound for a duo” they “wove wonderful melodies around powerful rhythms.” And although younger  “they bring a swagger and a complexity to the stage that rivals their legally adult compatriots.” This show also got them the December Rock And Roll Moment of The Month in What’s Up! Magazine. They are working on finishing their new full length album that will probably see the light of day in Early Spring 2010. Check out the Mission Orange Myspace and become a fan on Facebook.

You can find samples of the music as well as links to buy digital and physical copies of the album below:

Stream Five Tracks Via Rooftops Myspace

AFoP through Clickpop Records (Physical)

AFoP on Itunes (Digital)

AFoP on Amazon (Digital)

Rooftops Official Website

Enjoy This Live Video As Well.

This made me start to question reality: Is GaGa a secret agent of the Illuminati, set to take over the world with her blend of cutting edge pop music, fashion and outlandish personal style? Is the New World Order going to take us over with dance? Will we all be decked out in Alexander McQueen gear? When these additional questions were asked I got a surprising vote of confidence for the Illuminati and the NWO.

Please debate the questions above.

Material has been provided for your study-
Photo: Alexander McQueen 12-inch Heels
Video: Lady GaGa – “Bad Romance”

Five brand new songs from “A Forest Of Polarity” are now streaming on the bands Myspace page that you can find at: www.myspace.com/rftps

The album is available for pre-order now on Clickpoprecords.com, and will be available in local stores, on itunes, amazon.com on the 17th. You can also pick up copies from the band directly at the following release shows next weekend:

November 20th 2009
w/ The Mission Orange & Pan Pan
The Rogue Hero
1313 N State St. Bellingham, WA
9:30pm/$5/21+

November 22nd 2009
In-Store Peformance
Everyday Music
115 E Magnolia St. Bellingham, WA
7:00pm/FREE/ALL AGES

Please check out the following links for more information:
Rooftops-
www.myspace.com/rftps
www.rooftopsmusic.net

Clickpop Records-
www.clickpoprecords.com

The Mission Orange-
www.myspace.com/themissionorange

Pan Pan-
www.myspace.com/thepanpan

Pan Pan is Sarah Jerns, the 21 year old Multi-Instrumentalist from Bellingham, WA. Above are a couple of videos supplied to us, the masses by the good people at the You Are We Are blog. The videos are from an October 23rd performance at WWU’s Underground Coffeehouse. You can click over to You Are We Are at the link below to see footage of the whole show as well as “10 Questions with Sarah Jerns.”

youareweare.com

If you’re in the Bellingham area you can catch Pan Pan next weekend:

Friday Nov. 20th 2009
@ The Rogue Hero
w/ The Mission Orange and Rooftops (CD RELEASE!)
10pm- $5

Saturday Nov. 21st 2009
@ WWU PAC Mainstage
w/ The Books
7:30pm – $7 for WWU Students / $10 General Admission

For More Pan Pan goodness:

www.myspace.com/thepanpan

Michael Jackson’s This Is It: Review

Last night I was able to catch an Advance Screening of the new Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It. The film chronicles the dress rehearsals and sound checks of what was to be Jackson’s come back, as well as his final curtain call. Running almost completed performances of hits like Billie Jean, They Don’t Really Care About Us, Beat It and Man In The Mirror, Jackson and his crew of producers, directors, dancers and musicians brought together what could possibly have been one of the best and most successful career comebacks of all time.

Jackson was in his element, his singing was dead on and all of his vocals were done live with no backing tracks which prove that he possesed a level of professionalism and pure ability that is almost unheard of today in the Pop world. At some points he did look a little rusty as far as dance moves are concerned, but taking into account the fact that the man was 50 years old at the time and hadn’t performed live in almost 10 years makes sense. But all of the skepticism about his dancing abilities were put to rest during his dance sequence for Billie Jean.

The Thriller portion of the film saw the addition of new footage in the style of the original music video filmed in 3D  for use on the digital backdrop during the concerts. This was also done for other songs including a scene with Jackson and Humphrey Bogart for Smooth Criminal and a digital army for They Don’t Really Care About Us among others, but most elaborately for Thriller. The new visual  technology that was used made for some great looking effects and surreal backdrops.

Aside from the music, the film showed some rare behind the scenes footage of just how a production of that magnitude comes together. Along side the show (and film) director Kenny Ortega, Jackson crafted a great work and was hands on in every aspect of the concert from musical direction and filming to set and costume design. His work with the musicians and his vast and complete knowledge of his entire catalog was striking and showed that he was not just a talented performer but also an amazing songwriter and arranger.

The only problem that I have with this film is that I will never get to see the finished product live and in person. This Is It is a great look at the interworkings and passions of a man who still had it, could still do what everyone remembered him and would no doubt have been back on top of the Pop world, the tragedy being that he would never able to bring it to his fans in person.

Mixtape Download

Somebody Cares Myspace

www.futureoftheleft.com
www.myspace.com/futureoftheleft

Sol is an up and coming MC from Seattle, WA. Today is the drop date for his new digital release, the “Dear Friends” EP which you can download for free at the link below. Check this stuff out:

www.solsays.com