There’s something about those dreamy musicians with those cute little accents. Ever since the Beatles invaded the American scene, we’ve been craving the latest foreign musical phenomenon. Do you ever wonder why Justin Bieber’s so popular? ‘Cause he’s small and cuddly? No! It’s because he’s Canadian! Somehow, those foreigners know exactly what we want to hear and they always deliver. Could it be that their music is just better? Or is it those tantalizing accents?! I’ll take accents for $500, Alex! So ladies, we’ve collected our Top 10 favorite foreign accents — I mean bands,  and we’re serving up their accents up hot with their greatest and latest hits.

Strange Talk: This up-and-coming Australian band is just making its way to America now and we couldn’t be more excited. Not only is their music insanely catchy, but they also have an amazing contest going on right now. Seriously. Check it out now.

Mr. Hudson: This British bleach-blonde has collaborated with musical genius (self-proclaimed) Kanye West to release R&B/ pop hits like “Supernova” & “White Lies” and is preparing to release a new album (via G.O.O.D. Music, ‘Ye’s production company) later this month. Kanye’s production skills + Mr. Hudson’s smooth sound will be sure to make a killer musical combo.

ColdPlay: This British band has been delivering hits for over a decade now, and they continue to swoon us with their songs about teardrops, the color yellow, and violet hills.

U2: This chart-topping quadruplet somehow always knows what we want to hear. They’ve been around since the 70s, but still continue to remain totally relevant and musically inclined. The British band has become a world icon and continues to make songs for everyone to love. With or Without you is an old fave of mine! (And is it me or was Bono hot back in the day?)

Muse: The lead singer of Muse always sounds like he’s trying to seduce us, even if he is singing about an Uprising! It must be the British accent!

The Doves: This song is from 500 Days of Summer, which is easily one of the best love stories, which makes this easily a must-love song! Of course, the accents make that so much easier.

Sum 41: Figured I’d throw an old Canadian fave into the mix, just because we love this song!

[ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO-mSLxih-c]

Radiohead: Is this not the coolest remix, ever? We love the idea of an English group singing on a caribbean beat!

Mumford & Sons: First Little Lion Man, now this! These London boys really know what we want to hear, and they deliver.

Noah and The Whale: Gaining popularity first in the UK with their original 2008 debut album Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down,  Noah and the Whale is picking up speed in the American music scene. This song is already a hit, giving momentum to their already booming popularity in the U.S.

Everything you need to look your best.

Is Fergie as Fergalicious as a brunette?

Watch out Denise Richards, rumor has it, that the show’s cursed.

What did Barbie teach you?

You could be Hef’s next Girl Next Door, literally.

Feud Alert: Miley Cyrus vs. Radio head! Which team are you on?

No cash? Check out these deals of the day.

Cher or Britney, who wore it best?

Watch out for these online dating red flags.

President Obama is getting closer (literally) to the White House!

Amy Winehouse: circus act?

Green technology is coming…if the government will help.

Remember those kids who sang “You Can Vote However You Like“? They are headed to the Inauguration!

Dear Will Ferrell: you can’t say that on TV.

Britney Spears to star in next Sex and the City movie? Kill us now.

Sofia Coppola for Louis Vuitton is simply beautiful (not that we can afford it).

American Idol hits Kansas City. Hilarity ensues.

PETA says: help protect the sea kittens.

Jay-Z and Radiohead? What?

Top albums lists are like as*holes: everyone’s got one. Um…that might, coincidentally, be because they are also like opinions. I’ve got my own set of favorite everythings..and that includes albums.

Below are my own top ten albums from 2008. Are there other great albums from the past year? Why certainly, diligent fan. But I’ve been asked to adjust my ears and pen my opinion, so here it is – in no particular order – because…well…that would be way too difficult.

Portishead, “Third”

It’s not an easy album, per se, but this legendarily trippy band stepped their own game up a notch for this album. It’s sorta airy and celestial, which is to be expected from the English group. Not only is it good, but it’s their first release in ten years, so my gratitude puts it on my top 10.

Sigur Ros, “Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust”

If you haven’t gotten hip to Sigur Ros yet, I’d suggest you put your listening ears on and give this Icelandic music a fair shot. The band’s release this year is simply beautiful. It’s peaceful, emotional, and interesting. A pure work of art with substance.

Kanye West, “808s & Heartbreak”

Kanye West is the kinda dude I want to hate; don’t you want to hate him, too? But he makes it really hard to be a hater. His music is good and the fact that he’ll tell you, and everyone else in the world, that…well…it doesn’t really negate the fact that it’s good. His release this year is predictably catchy with predictably clever lyrics. This is album is good, but between you and me, I hope his next one sucks so we can all finally tell him he’s wrong about himself.

Portugal. The Man, “Censored Colors”

This still relatively underground (but gaining momentum!) band really did something out of the ordinary here with their most recent release. The Alaskan-turned-Portlanders have always been gifted-undoubtedly. But there is something especially Beatles-esque about this album. It’s jammy, but melodic. Success!

Elbow, “The Seldom Seen Kid”

I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for beautiful music that isn’t the least bit scene-centric, even if it does creepily remind me of Seal. I really think Elbow have got something going on and I love this album.

Colour Revolt, “Plunder, Beg, and Curse”

These Mississippi kids sure do know how to put together some sensually soulful spiritually sound songs, but they do it especially better than ever before on their fantastic release this year. Filled with passionate vocals, blues-driven riffs, and just the right amount of twang, you’re missing out if you don’t check out this album.

Radiohead, “In Rainbows”

Ok, ok, I know. It was released online in late 2007, but I’m putting this on the list because OFFICIALLY, it was not released til 2008…at least not in America. I feel as though I hardly even need to explain why a Radiohead album would make a cut for top album of the year. In fact, I won’t. Just listen to it if you haven’t heard it.

Ratatat, “LP3″

Experimental music is certainly not everyone’s thing. If you, however, have an open mind and an even remote interest in all that is musically envelope-pushing, then you know upon hearing just about any Ratatat album that they have mastered this art form. Their mastery was not left behind on this most recent release, to say the least.

Ladytron, “Velocifero”

I think it’s pretty hard not to like Ladytron to begin with. Their electronic beats are absolutely mesmerizing and just about anyone can find a well-suited place in their life for the kind of music these UK kids make. As musicians should, they stepped it all up a notch on this release.

Nine Inch Nails, “The Slip”

I’ve always thought Nine Inch Nails are relatively flawless and I’m not about to leave them out of any top albums list I make. The Slip is no exception to their astonishingly talent-filled album release history. They just keep getting better and better.

[Photo from: pinkworld.co.uk]

The holiday countdowns have begun! Most of you are already at home enjoying your first week of winter break (and the rest of you are suffering through that last annoying final). Either way, ’tis the season for holiday gatherings, and I can’t think of anything that goes better with mistletoe, ugly sweaters and egg nog than some holiday tunes.

Some are old, some are new, and some are new versions of the old favorites (Radiohead doing ‘Winter Wonderland’? Hell yes!), but all will put you in a great mood no matter what holiday you celebrate!

Host your own pre-game pre-holiday party here.

“The Dark Knight” is upon us! WHO ELSE IS FREAKING OUT?!

Keeping up with the Kardashians…in jail

Sarah and Jimmy split–the Matt Damon video is just awkward now

It’s not the happy ending most girls grow up dreaming about…

“Hey, um, Papa Hulk…were your girlfriend and I separated at birth?”

I don’t know if Hitch would have prescribed an “open relationship”

The new power jobs are in–”socialite” ain’t one of ‘em, Paris!

Off-topic, but I think Jeff Goldblum is really sexy

Radiohead’s new music video is awesome. ‘Nough said.

18-year-old waitress hooks up with a Rolling Stone–and it’s not even Mick or Keith!

[Photo courtesy of Mollygood.com]

Recently, Keith Murray, from We Are Scientists [if you don't know this band you should sincerely check them out], chatted with me for a bit while waiting in a long European buffet line about his band’s emerging presence and much more.

E: You’re in the middle of a really big tour right now. Do you think that touring plays a bigger role these days in being a band than when you started the band?

K: Um, I mean, I think perhaps, proportionally, no. I don’t think anything’s really changed about touring for us and I’m not sure that the fruits of the touring labor are necessarily more substantive. It does seem like the selling of records has become definitionally less…of a factor in measuring how well you’re doing. I feel like touring is probably about as important as it ever was and the space that…the big gaping chasm that’s been left by diminishing album sales has sorta filtered itself into other things. Like, I feel like, weirdly, licensing now is playing a much bigger role than it used to. And online presence, in general, is sorta replacing sales. I feel like touring is a rock that is not changing.

E: Speaking of online presences, I’m interested in knowing what you think about Myspace since it started getting big in the middle of your career with We Are Scientists.

K: I feel like…and I’m sure there are examples that can contradict what I’m about to say…but in my experience, Myspace seems…..sort of like the free release thing that Radiohead did with In Rainbows…it works really well once people know what they’re looking for. But I’ve never experienced a situation where I was trolling around Myspace and discovered a band. That seems like a reach for me.

I know there are bands like Arctic Myspace who don’t personally hold Myspace in any way responsible for their success, but for some reason, the press usually do attribute it to it. Myspace…makes things like email lists seem ridiculously archaic. So it is a fantastic tool to have. I’m not sure what the level of discovery is that it facilitates, though.

E: I feel like another important part of online presence is being able to step out and try new things. I noticed you guys have an advice column on your site. What prompted you to do that?

K: You know, one funny facet about our band is that Chris and I have been friends since we were in college together. Which was a long time before we formed the band. And we were always sorta co-conspirators in a lot of different projects that we were convinced were gonna take off to be our cash count and it just turned out that We Are Scientists actually did work out.

There was a period when we wanted to write screenplays, a period when we wanted to publish a magazine, and stuff like that. I think now that We Are Scientists are making people pay some attention in a way they may not have before…it just seemed like it would be a betrayal of that part of ourselves that wanted to do something like…crappy websites with weird fiction/humor pieces…as we were saying…a web presence is important. I feel like most band websites don’t warrant more than the occasional research and I think we would have felt like were wasting the opportunity had we not at least tried to force-feed things that we like on our website.

E. As far as having band member changes…did you ever feel like you were losing momentum because of that?

K: The most recent…when our drummer left….his presence was sort of the crippling thing. We were all wanting to do different things. The minute he decided that he wanted to do something else, we got really energized again to follow the vision we had that he wasn’t necessarily sharing. So for us, it was great…having more fun. It’s just working out a little better now than it was before. If it had been a sudden shock, that might have been a different story. But this was something we had been talking about for a while and it really made sense. So, in this case, it was definitely not a negative for us.

E: Do you guys have any bands you’re listening to and supporting right now that are smaller and not getting a lot of press?

K: We’ve sorta been big components of Oxford Collapse for a while now. They’re a Brooklyn band and we’ve done a few tours with them. They’re fantastic. I’ve also really been into a woman called Lady Hawke from London.

E: What’s next for the band?

K: European festivals…we’re going through this summer. I think hopefully we’re going to try to do a tour of the states in September and then we’re doing a tour with R.E.M. in October. That’s sort of all that is mapped out.

Tatum O’Neal pulls both the “Don’t you know who I am?” AND “I’m just researching a role” card

The Jezebels Liveblog the rather underwhelming MTV Movie Awards

Away Message Breakup

Any internet hackers out there want to grant my biggest wish and take this site down?

National Masturbation Month may have ended, but when has that ever stopped you before?

Radiohead may be right, but Prince is crazy. Plus he’s Prince. …Just give up now, RH.

All M. Night Shyamalan wants is for Hollywood to F*ck off. I just want M. Night to make a movie that doesn’t suck.

Read Nabokov on your lunch hour. Impress everyone

Shaken, not stirred.

Cameron and Diddy? Whatever.

That bitch wore my famous Nini Ricci expensive dress! I hope she dies.

Does this mean anything to you?:“Post punk/indie/English geek/Rock”

Maybe?

Well, let it mean this to you now: the Young Knives.

Young Knives are an English band stirring up a bit of a buzz these days. With a name erroneously taken from a book and a bassist who goes by The House of Lords, they’re quirky and simultaneously artistic. The members of Young Knives all have a long history of dancing in front of mirrors and competing for the spotlight, but singer Henry Dartnall maintains that they all show off in their own ways.

“Well, I’m the loudest, ‘look at me!’, one…” Henry says, going on to explain that his bassist and brother, Thomas (The House Of Lords guy), can put on a quiet and shy act all while he’s well aware of the fact that all eyes are on him.

They may have just been too busy being showman to notice the phrase “Young KNAVES” in an old Scottish book one day when they were looking to compile a list of new band names. Their old name had already been taken and they all saw “Young Knives” instead of the actual phrase and eventually ended up choosing it to be their permanent band name. But what does a band name really matter anyway when you look at amazing, strangely-named bands like Radiohead? This was the argument Henry made to me and, ultimately, I agree with him. What matters with a band is their sound–not their name.

I asked the talkative singer to tell me more about his own influences. Dodging the topic as most musicians like to do, he explained to me that he is more interested in a band’s courage than their scene, genre, or even their reputation. He makes the very valid point that it’s better to like a band who’s willing to try something new and different and perhaps even risky than a band who just sounds like everything else that’s out and doesn’t brave any musical territory on their own.

And yet again, I agree.

But so many people DO start listening to bands because of their ‘scene’ or their ‘buzz’. Take, for example, most UK bands. We all know it…there are flocks of people everywhere who WILL go check out a band simply cause they’re an English Indie Rock band. Henry agreed with me that this happens, but his rebuttal was,

“People are stupid.”

Well, thank god Young Knives aren’t. Not only are they not stupid, but they may be encroaching upon SURREAL with their next video and current live show.

Check them out HERE.

Although I always hit my local festies (including Hookahville and any festival @ Nelson’s Ledges – check them out if you’re in the area!), after my amazing, mind-bending experience at Bonnaroo two years ago, I feel that it’s time to expand my horizons and venture out of state (and of my mind) another time.

But, while scouring the internet for my next super-hippie-indie-rock-y adventure, I realized that what I really needed was one list. A list that compared not only locations and dates, but also prices of the various festivals spreading good vibes and sweet music throughout the summer. So, I’m going to create it. Here is the first installment of my semi-comprehensive list of the major (and minor) music festivals still to come this summer: the Midwest.

So bust out the flowy skirts, a nice pair of Birkenstocks and some moonshine and hit the road. And act fast, cause most ticket prices increase the longer you wait to buy them.

Midwest Festies:

Name: Summer Camp

Date: May 23-25

Location: Chillicothe, IL

Ticket Price: Currently $155, $170 at gate

Who’s gonna be there? moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Flaming Lips, O.A.R., The Roots, Blind Melon, The New Pornographers and more

Website: www.summercampfestival.com

Name: Wakarusa

Date: June 5-8

Location: Lawrence, KS

Ticket Price: 4-Day passes currently at Level 4 (“Procrastinator”) for $159 while supplies last

Who’s gonna be there? The Flaming Lips, Emmylou Harris, Ben Folds, Sound Tribe Sector 9, CAKE, Built to Spill, Tea Leaf Green, Blackalicious and more

Website: www.wakarusa.com

Name: Bonnaroo

Date: June 12-15

Location: Manchester, TN

Ticket Price: On Sale Now. Priced at three levels. First level starts at $209.50. After that level is sold out, prices increase to $229.50 and then again to $244.50.

Headliners: Pearl Jam, Metallica, Jack Johnson

Other popular acts include: Kanye West, Death Cab for Cutie, Against Me!, M.I.A., Tegan & Sara and many, many more

Website: www.bonnaroo.com

Name: All Good Music Festival

Date: July 11-13

Location: Preston County (Marvin’s Mountaintop Masontown), WV

Ticket Price: Weekend pass now $139.00

Headliners: Phil Lesh, Widespread Panic

Other popular acts include: Michael Franti & Spearhead, Keller Williams, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival, Gov’t Mule and more

Website: www.allgoodfestival.com

Name: Rothbury Festival

Date: July 11-13

Location: Rothburg, MI

Ticket Price: Weekend ticket $244.75

Headliners: Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic

Other popular acts include: John Mayer, 311, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse, Colbie Callat, Atmosphere, The Dresden Dolls

Website: www.rothburyfestival.com

Name: 10,000 Lakes Festival

Date: July 23-26

Location: Detroit Lakes, MN

Ticket Price: $130.00 for music and camping. Ticket prices increase on May 15

Headliners: Phil Lesh & Friends, The Flaming Lips, Michael Franti

Other popular acts include: Leftover Salmon, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Slightly Stoopid, Dark Star Orchestra

Website: http://www.10klf.com

Name: Lollapalooza

Date: August 1-3

Location: Chicago, IL

Ticket Price: Advance day pass currently $190, will go up to $205 when Advance sells out

Headliners: Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West

Other popular acts include: Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, G. Love, The Raconteurs, Bloc Party, Brand New, Girl Talk

Website: www.lollapalooza.com

Did I forget your fave festival? Post a link the comments to share with your fellow CC readers. Rock On.