Listen to Silversun Pickups' New Album & Metric's New Single

Silversun Pickups are streaming their forthcoming album "Neck of the Woods"(out May 8th) in full on MTV (see below), while Metric is releasing tidbits of its June 12th release, "Synthetica," out in drips and drabs. You can stream their new song "Youth without Youth" (with lyrics) below.

Silversun Pickups have some tour dates scheduled, but so far all the U.S. dates are on the west coast.

Get More: Silversun Pickups, MTV Shows

(If the stream doesn't work, listen at MTV's website here.)

As for Metric, Emily Haines and the guys fortunately have scheduled some summer dates across the U.S. and, happily for me, that includes New York (though the venue, Radio City Music Hall, is a puzzling choice for a rock band that will probably have fans standing up the entire show).

What's more, Metric's website has a bonus: "Instant Gratification! Every Concert Ticket Purchased for Metric's US Fall Tour Comes With Music: You'll get the digital download of first single 'Youth Without Youth' immediately, followed by the full SYNTHETICA album download on June 12."

See the Metric tour dates here, and visit Metric's website for details on the various special collections and other options for buying "Synthetica." Metric's tour begins at the Sasquatch festival in Washington state on May 26th, and comes to New York on Sunday, Sept. 23rd. Presale is now open to many shows to members of the Metric fan community (free registration).
 
Metric "Youth without Youth" official video with lyrics:

The Year's Best Tunes? Here's a Whole Bunch of "Best Music of 2009" Lists...

The end of the year is a time to reflect on the best (and sometimes worst) music of the past year. And in the case of 2009, it's also the end of a decade (or not, as some would argue), so there are a lot of lists tallying up the best of the '00s, or aughts, or whatever the hell this decade is to be called.

Here's a sampling of some best-of lists of the year and the decade, from music business sources and the general-interest press.

* L.A.'s KCRW considers the top 10 live performances that took place on its flagship program, Morning Becomes Eclectic.

* Also, KCRW's music librarian, Eric J. Lawrence, offers a preview of music forthcoming in 2010.

* At another one of my favorite radio stations, New York's WFUV, the DJs and staff weigh in on their favorite songs and albums of the year.

* MTV, which now seems more of a reality TV network than a music channel, surveys the best music (and artists, and films, etc.) from 2009 (which they have dubbed "The Year of Gaga")

* NPR Music, which produces a number of fine music podcasts, live concerts, and more, offers several lists detailing different staff members' favorite music of the year.

* The Dallas Observer reviews the year in Latin music.

* Time magazine's top 10 albums of 2009.

* Entertainment Weekly's 10 best albums of the decade

* Amazon.com lists 88 "Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed." Looking through the first page of the listing, I can honestly say I've heard of only one or two of these albums/artists. Will have to check them out.

* Rolling Stone gives its picks for the best albums and songs of the Aughts... I mean, 2000s ... you know, the still-unnamed first decade of the 21st century.

* NME magazine offers its 50 top tracks of the year.

* And Idolator lists the top-selling songs and albums of the year at iTunes, along with its editors' picks.

Onward to 2010...

MTVmusic.com Brings Back Music Videos Old and New

Once upon a time, MTV actually used to show music videos (not surprising, since MTV stands for "music television.") Of course, the network has over the years gotten away from music to put all kinds of lame reality shows on the air, and it became hard to find music television on MTV.

That's where MTVmusic.com comes in: it's a Web site that has plenty of your favorite (and not so favorite) classic and current music videos where you can view them on demand, whenever you want.

The "most viewed" columns has both old and new offerings" "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits shows up first, followed by Britney Spears's new "Womanizer." There's also "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads and the classic Guns N' Roses tune "Welcome to the Jungle."

And if after all the rickrolling on the Internet you still yearn for more Rick Astley, you can view the original video for "Never Gonna Give You Up."