Album Stream

Need to dial up something new on your headphones to get you through Monday? I know I've had a hankering for some new music, and today we're in luck: New albums from The Cure and Snow Patrol are streaming online now.

Snow Patrol's new album, A Hundred Million Suns, is streaming on the band's MySpace page. (If it doesn't start for you right away, click the album cover on the left-hand side of the music player, or select the album title from the dropdown menu.) The album comes out tomorrow, Oct. 28, in the U.S., and you can get a bonus track for pre-ordering from iTunes. So far, it sounds like more of the lush, layered, sweeping music I've come to expect from this band, and I hope Grey's Anatomy has some suitably emotional scenes planned so these songs can be the soundtrack.

Meanwhile, The Cure's 13th studio album, 4:13 Dream, has made a MySpace appearance of its own. (It comes up under "featured playlist" on the music player and will hit stores tomorrow.) It's hard to believe this band has now been releasing albums for almost 30 years! This is the first studio album in four years, and we've already heard a handful of tracks from it, but I can't wait to give the whole thing a listen and see how it comes together.

Have you been looking forward to either of these albums?

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If you've been dying to know what Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward's musical collaboration, She & Him, sounds like, wait no longer: Merge Records is streaming their debut album, titled Volume One, right now!

The album doesn't come out till Tuesday, but why wait? I heard most of the songs from the album at their Noise Pop show, and it's great to revisit the recorded versions. So far, I think the more uptempo songs are my favorites — "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here," "I Was Made for You," and especially "Sweet Darlin'." Those songs seem to show off Deschanel's voice and the project's overall sound the best, though a few of the ballads ("Change is Hard," "You Really Got a Hold On Me") are growing on me too.

What's your verdict? Take a listen and let me know!

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Female indie rockers have found different ways to grow up and earn a more mainstream following, with mixed results. Cat Power overcame her stage fright, Tori Amos toned down the adolescent melodrama, and Liz Phair for some reason decided to turn herself into Avril Lavigne.

While the last move is puzzling, PJ Harvey now joins Tori and Chan as another underground rock girl who gets more graceful with age. On Harvey's new album, White Chalk, which hits stores today, the singer ditches her squawks, screams, and seething guitars in favor of elegant wails and eerie piano ballads. I was definitely a fan of PJ's hard-edged punk output like Rid of Me, but I'm having no problem adjusting to this new, more mature vibe. AOL Music is streaming the entire album online, so give it a listen and let me know what you think.

There may not be another piece of album art this year as appropriate as the cover of Proof of Youth, the sophomore album from The Go! Team that comes out today. Honestly, the collage looks almost exactly like how the music sounds — it's all cartoonish, yet slightly aggressive fun, like a bunch of smiling, happy people slam-dancing at a very colorful party. Curious? You can listen to the entire album online at Spinner.com.

From the moment the Go! Team's sassy frontwoman, Ninja, shouts "Girls are you with us?," I wished I could invite her to every party I'll ever throw. In fact, the Brighton, England, band uses just about every instrument in its festive arsenal — including brass, chants, and all manner of mysterious percussion — to challenge you not to dance. Can you resist? Listen and tell me what you think.

Yes, the new Rilo Kiley album comes out on Tuesday, so I could just wait until then to listen to it. But why should I spend my weekend in Jenny Lewis deprivation if I can stream Under the Blacklight right now? (It is, after all, one of my most-anticipated releases for August.) Thanks to Stereogum, I just discovered that you can now listen to the whole album on the band's MySpace page.

Of course, I was already loving "Silver Lining", and after just a few listens, I'm pretty giddy about the rest of the album too. It's incredibly energetic and eclectic, especially compared with past Rilo Kiley releases. I recommend the soulful '70s vibe of "Breakin' Up," as well as the title track. The only complaint I have so far is the lack of a good, moody ballad, but I need a few more listens to really make a judgment.

One of my true pleasures this summer has been watching "Flight of the Conchords" on HBO each Sunday night. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie never fail to crack me up playing versions of themselves in a struggling folk parody duo — New Zealand's fourth most popular folk parody duo, in fact — as they navigate New York life and try to shake off their one persistent, stalker-ish fan.

Their songs, which satirize everything from French pop to soul to power ballads, are a highlight of the show, and now a bunch of them have been collected on the band's EP, The Distant Future, which hit stores this week. The album is currently streaming over at AOL's Listening Party, and it's got some of the greatest hits from the show, including "I'm Not Crying" ("it's just raining/on my face"), as well as three live tracks, one of which is "Robots," a personal favorite.

I was worried the songs wouldn't be as funny without Bret and Jemaine's facial expressions and awkward dances, but luckily for all of us, they hold up just fine. If you'd rather watch an awkward dance, though, you can check out the guys' take on a cutesy French pop song from the most recent episode of the TV show if you read more

Wow, writing that headline made me feel like a broken record! As for Is Is, however, there is nothing broken about this record. As of today you can hear this latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs album in its 5-song entirety on AOL's full CD listening party. Having heard the album several times over, I strongly suggest you do so.

There's nothing drastically different about this YYY's album that we haven't heard before from them, but I'm more than fine with that. Karen O lends her strong vocals once again, and as always, delves into the dramatic. You may have heard "Down Boy" here on Buzz a few weeks ago, and that's one of the best tunes on the album, full of sultry darkness. Yet my favorite track is "Kiss Kiss" (again with the repetition!) with its pulsing energy. Check it out and tell me which one's your favorite.

If you liked "Pioneer to the Falls," the new Interpol track I posted last week, then you'll be pleased to know that the band is now streaming its new album on MTV.com, so you can listen to the whole thing before it hits stores on July 10.

Called Our Love to Admire, this is Interpol's third full-length album, and I, for one, am welcoming it with open arms. I am a huge fan of the band's other brooding volumes, including 2004's Antics and the even-better debut album, Turn On the Bright Lights, from 2002. But my Interpol collection could definitely use a touch-up. Listen to Our Love to Admire and tell me what you think.

The Smashing Pumpkins comeback album, Zeitgeist, hits stores on July 10, but it doesn't seem as hotly anticipated as Billy Corgan would like it to be. So it may not help that AOL's Spinner blog has posted the full album stream a week early; and why not, since Zeitgeist tracks have been leaking on the 'Net for weeks?

I've only given the album a very quick spin today, and it is oddly comforting to hear Corgan belting it out again. But with its straight-ahead drumming, sprinkles of synths, and lots and lots of searing guitar riffs, Zeitgeist is giving me some bad '90s flashbacks. Occasionally, however, those elements come together quite capably, such as on the first single, "Tarantula," which well balances the metal with the melodrama. The accompanying music video, which premiered today on Spinner, is also very cool to watch. Tell me what you think about the album and the video, which you can watch when you read more

Ryan Adams is one of those love-him-or-hate-him artists, and I tend to go both ways, depending on what the insanely prolific singer-songwriter is doing at any particular moment. I find some of his rock-oriented albums annoying, but I dug a lot of the songs on the country-leaning Jacksonville City Nights.

Tomorrow, Adams releases his eighth solo album, Easy Tiger, which you can now stream in its entirety online. At times, Easy Tiger sounds almost like easy listening, but the collection also contains some more traditional rock and alt-country offerings, like the bell-laden electric anthem "Halloween Head."

I'm particularly fond of this pretty ballad "Two," which — naturally — is the second song on Easy Tiger. Listen to the album and tell me what you think about Adams and his latest incarnation. To listen to "Two," read more