I haven’t done one of these in a while, but just wanted to share what I’ve been listening to lately.

As you may recall, I didn’t enjoy the new Madonna album as much as I’d hoped. A couple tracks on the album were all right, but overall I think it was a bit of a mess. And apparently the buying public thought so too, since it only sold about 500k albums. That’s pretty disappointing for someone LiveNation paid $120 mil.

Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Narrow Stairs. They always seemed to me kind of a mix of REM and Pet Shop Boys, and I’ve really loved their music. Unfortunately, they don’t sound quite as great live, but the album is pretty terrific. There’s a little bit of electro, a little psychedelia, and lots of great indie rock going on.

Estelle’s Shine album is pretty awesome too, if you like R&B with a euro twist. I particularly love her remix of George Michael’s “Faith” in the song “No Substitute Love”. I think it was unnecessary to have all the US-centric hip hop stars, Kanye West, Will.i.am, etc…as she can really stand on her own.

Also listening to Nine Inch Nails – The Slip. It was fucking awesome of Trent to give us all a free album, especially one of such high quality. It reminds me a lot of earlier NiN albums like Pretty Hate Machine and, of course, my favorite, The Downward Spiral.

The new Hot Chip – Made in the Dark record sounds very promising. Of course, I really enjoy electropop of all flavors, and this one is definitely worth a listen.

I’m still thoroughly enjoying Vampire Weekend’s self-titled album. They may be an Ivy-League band, but they sound terrific. Kind of an early-Police sound, with loads of reggae-tinged hooks.