Stephenie Meyer
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and the rest of the "Twilight" franchise cast spent their summers working on other projects and getting their photos snapped by every paparazzo in the universe before heading back to Vancouver to film "Eclipse." Sliding just a bit further under the radar, "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer drifted through the sunny season listening to indie rock and sneaking into a movie theater to catch the trailer for the latest adaptation of her vampire saga.

In an update on her Web site, Meyer wrote, "Admittedly, I went to see the 'New Moon' trailer on the big screen (yes, I'm a total dork. Who cares? It was worth it)."

She ended up staying for the main attraction, the Vanessa Hudgens-starring "Bandslam," loving the soundtrack and how the story "turned upside down some of those lame female-interaction stereotypes."

	Stephenie Meyer's Favorite Bands

Though Meyer didn't say whether she got any writing done over the last couple months, she's been listening to a ton of music. Her fave albums? Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, Silversun Pickups' Swoon, the White Rabbits' It's Frightening, the Dead Weather's Horehound, Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, the Weakerthans' Reunion Tour, Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid and Meese's Broadcast.

"I really should have known about Meese a while ago, but thanks to a mislabeled CD mix, I didn't realize Meese was responsible for one of my favorite songs until I went to their concert," she wrote. "And then I was glad that I already loved them, because the guys in Meese are possibly the nicest people in the world."

She caught Meese live in a concert along with the Fray and Jack's Mannequin. The 35-year-old author also checked out Blue October, whose frontman, Justin Furstenfeld, accompanied Meyer for a song-and-story tour last year to promote the release of "Breaking Dawn," the final book in the franchise.

Meyer wrapped up her Web site post with a shout-out to her "Twilight" fans, and the hope that she'll meet them in the fall.

"I'm looking forward to seeing some of you in November for a little movie release that I'm excited about," she wrote, referring, of course, to "New Moon." "Too many months to go!"

• Stephenie Meyer's Favorite New Music

• Animal Collective
• Silversun Pickups
• Grizzly Bear
• The Dead Weather

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O performs at Lollapalooza 2009 on Saturday night
Photo: Rich Sancho/ MTV News

CHICAGO — First came the rain on Friday, then the heat on Saturday. But Lollapalooza breeds a hearty stock, so with slip 'n slides, togas and giant Chinese peasant hats in tow, out came the 70,000-plus for another day of music that was capped by fill-in headliners the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and doomy metal icons Tool.

Taking the place of the Beastie Boys, who had to drop out several weeks ago due to MC Adam Yauch's bout with cancer of the salivary gland, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought their always-colorful A-game, led, as usual, by fashion-forward singer Karen O, who took the stage in a kaleidoscopic, towering bird costume. Down on the south end, things couldn't have looked and sounded any more different, as Tool singer Maynard James Keenan stripped down to a pair of black workout shorts and moaned the lyrics to his band's turgid D&D metal as giant H.R. Giger-like images of giant bugs and morphing aliens were projected on the big screens.

Saturday dawned hot and steamy, with a chance of furnace blasts, as Friday's buckets of rain turned some parts of Grant Park into a fetid field of chocolate-colored slop that smelled like the elephant house at the zoo. English trio Band of Skulls had the honors of kicking off day two with a raucous set of dirty blues that included the stomper, "Death by Diamonds and Pearls." Also working early was nasal folkie Ezra Furman and his band, the Harpoons, who charmed with the quirky plea for personal space, "I Wanna Be Ignored," a sentiment lost on some of the golden-knee-high-gladiator-sandal-feather-mask-and-giant-sombrero-wearing masses.

It was hard to ignore the big crowd for the relatively unknown Thenewno2. The band is led by Dhani Harrison, who told us a bit later that his dad, late Beatle George Harrison, forbade him to attend Lollapalooza as a youth, and said he could go when he performed at it. Well, Harrison finally arrived, and his five piece band played a mind-expanding set of raga rock that swooped and swayed in psychedelic washes, mixing shoegazer noise with more contemporary glitch rock, and, of course, Harrison's eerily familiar voice.

The debut album by Miike Snow — which features the Swedish production duo known as Bloodshy & Avant (Britney Spears, Madonna) and American singer Andrew Wyatt — is full of catchy falsetto synth pop. But onstage, with the group wearing totally weather-inappropriate black satin jackets and black jeans, songs like "Silvia" and "Plastic Jungle" came off like throbbing techno rock brain teasers, ebbing and flowing with a hypnotic thrum.

Stomping around the stage like a petulant little girl, Norwegian rocker Ida Maria regaled the crowd with her many songs about drinking and its less appetizing aftermath ("Morning Light," "Louie"), bounding around in a shiny gold dress with what appeared to be a lengthy poem scrawled on one of her forearms. Minneapolis hip-hop crew Atmosphere drew a huge crowd on the south stage midday, with thousands of hands pumping in the air for "Puppets," and lots of knowing nods when lead rapper Slug threw in a lyrical reference to the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" in honor of the missing legendary crew.

In their Lollapalooza debut, England's Arctic Monkeys thrashed out of the gate with the trippy "This House Is a Circus" and pub-fueled bounce of "Fluorescent Adolescent," letting up a bit as they moved through a few too-slow songs before hitting their clattering stride again on the breakthrough hit, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor."

	Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santigold, More At Lollapalooza 2009

Seemingly recovered from previous vocal problems, Santigold looked regal in an animal-print jumper and bejeweled crown as she reworked "You'll Find a Way," "Shove It" and "Say Aha," with dub and mashed-up live beats in front of an audience packed with girls wearing animal feathers in their hair and glittery golden eye shadow.

They were also decked out for Sweden's answer to Lady Gaga, Lykke Li, whose entire body pulsed like a pint-size percussion instrument. Moving in frenzied blur as if possessed by the rhythm, Li smashed a tambourine, struck a crash cymbal and honked on a kazoo during "Dance, Dance, Dance," and thrummed on her chest during the slinky "Little Bit."

The thrum was mind-zapping when sonic amoeba Animal Collective abandoned the more poppy song structures of their most recent album, Merriweather Post Pavilion and moved a blissed-out crowd with a set of loose, trancy falsetto incantations, trippy visuals and dense, throbbing bass and synthesized clicks. Singer Avey Tare often looked as if he himself was lost himself in the sonic brainwash.

The day also featured the melodic hardcore rantings of Chicago's own Rise Against, the hippie friendly jamming of Gomez, Coheed and Cambria's ear-shredding prog metal arias and some rocking blues from Ben Harper and the Relentless7.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs didn't shy away from the unenviable task of filling in for the Beastie Boys. Guitarist Nick Zinner tossed in a few bars of the B Boys' "So Watcha Want" at the end of the grinding, Led Zeppelin-like dirge "Phenomena." Dressed, as usual, in a colorful ensemble, singer Karen O danced like an indie disco queen during "Gold Lion" and the spiky "Honeybear," ably working the big stage with her larger-than-life persona and eliciting some knowing nods from likely newbies with the burbling intro to the band's recent hit, "Zero."

A quick 9 p.m. stroll past Perry's dance area, where, as was the case all day, thousands were jumping and twirling to the sounds of party music emerging from what looked like a giant flashing spaceship, yielded an earful of some seriously tweaked dancehall reggae moving into hardcore hippie techno. On the other main stage, though, there were no such glow-stick-twirling vibes, as Tool helped close out the night with a grinding, visual overload set of prog/industrial metal that brought out the faithful, many proudly wearing their weathered black Tool shirts.

"Stinkfist" got the majority of the dirty and exhausted crowd to wake up, and "Forty Six & 2" built slowly to an anthemic chorus that had the masses raising their voices along with Mohawked Keenan's unmistakable growl. Guitarist Adam Jones' work shredded faces, and appropriately enough, the video playing behind the band was a digital face being destroyed, just one of the band's signature disturbing visuals, which ranged from babies being born inside brains to quite a bit more things piercing eyeballs than would seem totally necessary.

They swayed and jumped, predictably going ballistic by the time "Schism" came on, with drummer Danny Carey tearing up his kit on the bridge to the final build. Ending with the bleak, ominous "Vicarious," Tool left without an encore, which seemed fine for the spent masses shuffling off into the humid night air.

• The Lollapalooza 2009 Experience

• Vampire Weekend, Jane's Addiction, More At Lollapalooza 2009

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Tool
• Animal Collective
• Santigold

MTV News Picks For Best Albums of the Year (So Far)
Photo: MTV News

The actual midway point of 2009 occurred on July 2, one week after the death of arguably the greatest entertainer of our generation. It was a pretty somber way to cap off the first 182.5 days of the year and, obviously, pretty much everyone's attention was turned to eulogizing the King of Pop (myself included ... twice over).

One piece I had intended on writing was my annual mid-year "Best Of" list, taking a look at my favorite albums released so far. And, well, here it is. There's lots of ground to cover, and I used a lot of words to do it (more than 2,000?! Jeez ... ), so let's get right to it. Here are my picks — some honorable mentions and a straightforward Top 10 — for the Best Albums of 2009 (So Far).

Honorable Mentions

Bat for Lashes, Two Suns
Multiple-personality music from schoolteacher-turned-songsmith Natasha Khan, Suns envisions pop music much in the same way M83's Saturdays=Youth did: through a John Hughes-ian filter. An album filled with gauzy vintage synths and odes to teenage love, as told by Khan and her alter ego Pearl, it's bravely backward-looking and weirdly prescient at the same time. If only all pop could be this good.

Dan Auerbach, Keep It Hid
Black Keys' main man goes solo, makes the best (or at least most somber, rousing, dusty, creaky, pretty, dank, horny, focused, swampy, sweaty, spooky, funky) Black Keys album yet. "I Want More" is a herky-jerky haunted-house ride, "When the Night Comes" is a plaintive, plucky ballad, and "Goin' Home" sounds like a Beatles B-side. There's a lot here, and it's all good.

The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
The Pacific Northwest's reigning poets laureate ditch the diction and make a batsh-- prog-rock album (OK, it's still plenty wordy — the title track is broken into three sections, with handles like "The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone"). They unveiled it with a big, booming show at South By Southwest, and frontman Colin McCoy unveiled some burly sideburns for the occasion. Not surprisingly, this one runs a bit long, but there are hooks for days. Bookworms shouldn't be able to rock this hard, but the Decemberists do.

The Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
Grating, overly cutesy choir exercise, or daring, artfully arranged vocal experiment? To be honest, I can't really seem to decide, though given that this album has received near-universal acclaim, it seems to be the latter, which is why I keep giving it second (and third, and fourth) listens. There's something here; I'm just not sure I've got the patience to find it.

Ida Maria, Fortress Round My Heart, and the Dead Weather, Horehound
Both are currently stuck in the six-disc changer of my friend Monty's car, so I will grade them both as incompletes for the time being. But Ida rocks and rambles like the female Craig Finn, and the Weather recalls the rattling, ethereal darkness of the Jesus and Mary Chain, so, you know, based on what I've heard, both are plenty good.

Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown
The album that drew the unenviable task of following the decade's biggest rock spectacle, Breakdown might not be a better album than Green Day's revelatory American Idiot, but it's certainly a more accomplished one. A difficult album about a difficult topic (because, really, how do you encompass this upside-down decade?), it's proven divisive among GD fans and rock critics alike, though, according to my pal Christopher Weingarten, this is the best album of the year. And really, who am I to disagree?

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Swoony, gossamer-thin nu-gaze (get it?!?) from a bunch of Brooklyn kids too young to remember My Bloody Valentine or Sarah Records. Somehow, nothing gets lost in translation. Pure, unadulterated joy — whirringly, blurringly so.

Silversun Pickups, Swoon
The year's most unlikely rock-radio success story, the Pickups proved they weren't just flashes in the pan thanks to "Panic Switch," a very angsty track on their very angsty album. Frontman Brian Aubert told us the song is about a nervous breakdown, which is fitting, because it probably gave a few program directors shakes when they realized they had to fit the track next to Shinedown's latest. It's just one song, but at this point, we'll take all the small victories we can get.

UGK, UGK 4 Life
The real King of the South (his highness Bun B) leads a funeral procession for his partner (the late Pimp C) and a victory lap for the beloved Underground Kingz. In keeping with tradition, the beats are smooth like a wood-grain grip, the production is plush like velour seat-covers, and B emits vocal sparks like a dragging muffler. It's hardly a somber affair — more like a joyous celebration, which is probably why Bun included the ode to hirsute ladies. You know, for old time's sake.

The Top 10

10. Mos Def, The Ecstatic
Fun, funky and free — not to mention rambling, shambling and downright terrifying at points. And partially sung in Spanish. Mos Def is pretty much everything at this point (actor, rapper, poet, rocker, dodgy interview subject), and this album perfectly captures his free-wheeling, wide-ranging personae. It leaps through time (and time signatures), genres and generations with glee, gets political and doomy at points, is biting and smart and also a genuine thrill to listen to. Throw in cameos by Slick Rick (as a soldier in Iraq on "Auditorium") and Mos' Black Star partner Talib Kweli (on the J Dilla-produced "History"), and you've got the album his fans have been waiting for since 1999's milestone Black on Both Sides. Welcome back to earth, Ford Prefect.

9. Lily Allen, It's Not Me, It's You
Super-smart pop from a woman who makes no bones about being anything but, It's Not Me details the breakups, makeups, booze-ups and punch-ups of Allen's recent years, only, thanks to her growing strength as a songwriter, it's never alienating or off-putting. Lily's a very normal girl, unsatisfied by her lover (the great "Not Fair"), let down by life ("The Fear," "22") and just looking for a little tenderness ("Chinese") or forgiveness ("Back to the Start"). She's also brave enough to admit that she feels all those things, which puts her head-and-shoulders above everyone else in her field. She's the perfectly (im)perfect pop star, which is just what we need in these imperfect times.

8. Amadou & Mariam, Welcome to Mali
A married musical couple from Mali who just so happen to both be blind? Sounds like a music journo's wet dream (and it probably is). Still, on A&M's Welcome to Mali, the duo make breathtakingly beautiful, undeniably inspired music, blending rock guitars with Syrian violins, Egyptian flutes and Dogon percussion — to name just a few. Sometimes little more than Mariam's achingly pretty voice, others a whirling, rousing boogie powered by Amadou's ax, it's music for all seasons and all people. Released overseas last year, it saw the light of the day here in the States back in March, and I'm thankful to have gotten the chance to hear it. You should too.

7. Wilco, Wilco (The Album)
Am I a 30-something white dude who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn? Pssht, no. I'm a 30-something white dude who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (there's a difference), and yet I still like the strummy, somber, decidedly NPR-ified version of Wilco. Jeff Tweedy and company appear to be aging gracefully here — except on the unwieldy "Bull Black Nova," of course, which seems to be about murdering someone in a car — and, in the process, they've created the summertime anthem for anyone who owns a battered Volvo wagon and spends their Saturdays playing kickball in McCarren Park. But don't hold that against them.

6. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
Beautiful, aural indie-rock from the gentlest band in Brooklyn (or the world, for that matter), Veckatimest — named after a small island in Massachusetts, just in case you were wondering — is full of carefully strummed guitars, hushed drums and, most notably, otherwordly harmonies, the musical equivalent of a million New England summer sunsets. A stunning, gorgeous album, featuring songs like "Cheerleader" and "Two Weeks," which are among the finest you'll hear this year. It leaked super early, but that didn't matter: Grizz fans are loyal, so when the album improbably bowed inside the Billboard top 10 (#8!), Grizzly Bear acted like any muted, genuinely nice indie band would — they Twittered a "thank you" note to their fans. Sometimes nice guys do finish first ... or eighth.

5. Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted
Yes, seriously. The finest pop album you'll hear this year, full of perfectly crafted, big-budget tunes, All I Ever Wanted is sort of like some high-powered musical F-14, with Clarkson as the pilot. Some might say that the album is her peace offering to Clive Davis (after the whole My December debacle), but I like to see it as her finally realizing her full potential as a pop megastar. We get big, bold tunes like "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "I Do Not Hook Up" mingling with weepers like "If No One Will Listen" and "Cry" (duh). She is empowered yet vulnerable, everything you could ask for in a star of her caliber ... pop perfection, delivered by the best voice in the business. Kelly is back. It's almost like she never went away.

4. Dinosaur Jr, Farm
In 2005, alt-rock elders Dino Jr surprised pretty much everyone by setting aside their differences and reuniting for a European tour. In 2007, they surprised pretty much everyone by recording a new album that was actually pretty awesome. And now they're back with Farm, an album that's even awesomer than their last one. So, I guess the question is: At what point do we stop being surprised? Held up by a couple of epic, solo-laden tracks ("Plans" and "Said the People"), Farm is shiftless, stoner rock that sounds exactly like the dudes playing it look, if that makes any sense. But don't let the glasses, paunches and poor posture fool you — as evidenced by the songs here, these dudes can kick your ass ... once they get up off the couch, that is.

3. Dan Deacon, Bromst
Massive-yet-molecular, full of never-ending builds that head heavenward and deep burrowing lows that strike limestone, Deacon has always made electronic music unlike anyone else ... and on Bromst, he's gone orchestral. Sure, this is still very much music crafted on laptops, but he's added a multitude of instruments to the madness here, which gives songs extra sonic wallop, and moves the album into the space of really, truly great art. This is communal stuff, hands-on and hippified, the kind of music that ascribes to a higher quality. It's also maddening, beautiful, ear-splitting and pin-drop quiet ... a cacophonous spazzer one second, churchly hushed the next. It's carefully crafted and composed chaos, with Deacon holding the conductor's baton. One bone to pick, however: If he really is our Mozart, perhaps he should stop wearing cutoffs.

2. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Retro pop hyper-focused on a futuristic re-imagination of post-modernism and neo-classicism as proletarian touchstones? That you can dance to? Why, of course they're French — but don't let the book-speak fool you. Phoenix are, at their very bourgeois heart, a pure pop band, and on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they've crafted the year's most unabashed ode to the power of pop music. It's an album of undeniable melodies, joyous choruses and razor-sharp hooks — one that you wish would go on for eons (but sadly, is over in just 10 too-short tracks). Sure, conceptually they may be aiming for the stars, but with songs like "Lisztomania," "1901" and "Rome," they're also gunning for your heart, your hips and your lips. History can be awesome sometimes.

1. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
The blogs were right. Proclaimed to be "The Album of the Year" all the way back in January, and it's turned out to be about the only thing I can remember that has actually lived up to the hype ... if not exceeded it. A massive, hugely important record, one that represents one of this decade's most impressive groups operating at the absolute peak of their powers, MPP is the one people are gonna remember for a long, long time. Immaculately produced (Those highs! Those lows!) and full of bizarre, undeniable art-pop ("My Girls," "Lion in a Coma," "Summertime Clothes"), it shows what's possible if you stick to your guns and never, ever sacrifice your ideals. Amazing, breathtaking, undeniable — this time the hype machine got it right: The year really was over in January.

If there's something I've missed — or if you've got a list of your own — you can let me know in the comments below ... or e-mail me at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• MTV News RAW: Lily Allen

• Lily Allen
• Mos Def
• Kelly Clarkson
• Grizzly Bear
• Animal Collective

Taylor Swift
Photo: Candice Lawler

Taylor Swift is making this look too easy. The singer will make it an even eight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 next week, when her Fearless album once again holds its iron grip on the #1 spot on sales of close to 62,600, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

That tally will bring the sales to date for the singer's second album to a hair under 2.4 million. And while the rest of the top 10 was virtually unchanged from the week before (and the week before that, and the week before that), a trio of unusual suspects almost managed to sneak in, thanks to the continuing January sales doldrums.

Lauded indie violinist/singer/songwriter Andrew Bird's Noble Beast debuts in the #12 slot on sales of 25,700. And three weeks after the vinyl version was an instant sell-out, didgeridoo-loving trio Animal Collective will hit #13 with their critic-magnet Merriweather Post Pavilion album, which sold of 24,700 in its first week out in CD format. A few slots behind, at #16, Bon Iver moved 22,600 copies of the Blood Bank EP. Fleet Foxes also continue their unlikely march up the charts with their eight-month-old self-titled debut — helped no doubt by an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" — bumping up 10 spots to #36 on sales of 13,500 for their highest chart position and third-best sales week to date. The news was not quite as sunny for perpetually gloomy falsetto drama king/queen Antony Hegarty, whose latest Antony & the Johnsons album, Crying Light, debuted at #65 with 7,800 in sales.

But back to the top 10: Beyoncé's I Am ... Sasha Fierce will hold steady at #2 (50,900), as will Nickelback's Dark Horse at #3 (45,000). Fashionista Kanye West clicks up a spot to #4 with 808s & Heartbreak (39,200). The "Twilight" soundtrack settles in at #5 (33,100), followed by Keyshia Cole's Different Me (31,300) and Britney Spears' Circus (30,800), which is circling in on 1.3 million total copies sold.

The top 10 is rounded out by Jamie Foxx's Intuition at #8 (30,300), the "Notorious" soundtrack (29,000) and the only new entry, Mariah Carey's Ballads collection (28,700).

Jam rockers Umphrey's McGee boogie in at #62 with their latest, Mantis (8,100). Meanwhile, the missile-like descent of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy continues unabated, as the once eagerly awaited album will plunge nearly 25 spots to #75 on sales of 7,200 for a two-month total of just over half a million copies.

With a Super Bowl appearance and a full-court media blitz, Bruce Springsteen has a chance to shake up the chart next week with the debut of his latest E Street-assisted effort, Working on a Dream. Finally!

• MTV News RAW: Taylor Swift

• Taylor Swift
• Antony and the Johnsons
• Fleet Foxes
• Animal Collective

Animal Collective
Photo: Motor Mouth Media

Conventional wisdom holds that there are still 351 days left in 2009 and that, really, anything can happen. Fortunately, conventional wisdom does not exist in the blogosphere, which is why I am happy to report that after just 14 days, 2009 is a wrap. Finished. Over. Dunzo.

Music-wise, at least.

This is because, on January 6, Animal Collective released Merriweather Post Pavilion, 55 minutes of ambling psychedelia and rumbling low end that was universally proclaimed to be "the best album of 2009" by just about every blog on the planet (OK, probably only about half of them).

It's the kind of hyperbole that I usually find hilarious — I mean, the year was only six days old at this point. But combined with the glowing 9.6 rating Pitchfork hung on the album (the highest rating the site has bestowed on a new album since the 9.7 it threw at the Arcade Fire's Funeral back in 2004) and the weeks of Web-Sheriff-fueled drama that led up to the album's release, I have to admit that it sort of worked on me. If Merriweather Post Pavilion was really the best album of 2009, one worthy of ridiculous statements and mania and legal threats, well, then I most certainly had to hear it.

Nay, I had to experience it.

So, last Tuesday, I grabbed a digital copy of the album (MPP was released both digitally and on vinyl that day, but the CD is due next Tuesday) and decided that I was going to listen to it — and nothing but it — for a week straight. And for seven days (or 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes), Merriweather Post Pavilion was my soundtrack. On the subway, at the gym, in the shower, sitting at my desk, laying on my couch, driving in my car — my ears and brain were filled with the burbling soundscapes of possibly the greatest band of our time, a group Wikipedia awesomely sums up as "a critically acclaimed New York City/ Washington, D.C/ Lisbon based music collective of avant-garde musicians from Baltimore, Maryland."

And, come to think of it, that's probably the most dead-on description of Animal Collective I've ever read. Anyway, what follows are some notes from my week with Merriweather Post Pavilion. Does it live up to the hype? Did I have the best week of 2009? Read on to find out.

Tuesday, January 6, 10:15 p.m.: I finish downloading Merriweather Post Pavilion at my apartment and attempt to play it on my speakers. Almost immediately, I am overcome by a wave of flowery sonic flatulence that rattles the floorboards and causes my wife to sprint in from the other room and shout, "What is that?!?" before telling me to turn it down. This is how the album starts. My neighbors are not pleased.

Wednesday, January 7, 8:55 a.m.: As the spindly guitars (banjos?) of "Flowers" exhale into the icy synths of "My Girls" (which subsequently builds to a raving chorus complete with electro bleeps, shouted "Owwwwws!," handclaps and downright gnarly bass), I begin to imagine that I am not stuffed between some dude with a mustache and a 300-pound woman on the L-Train but, rather, shirtless, bathed in Technicolor sweat, dancing on a beach, my body entwined with other Technicolor youth, forming a great, unending chain. The moon is low, the stars bright. Campfires dot the horizon. This is by far the best rush-hour commute of 2009.

Wednesday, 10:45 a.m.: I have a discussion with my co-worker, Christopher "CJ" Smith, who tells me I need to listen to MPP on a reaaaallly great set of speakers, because it's "dance music" for the next decade and that the bass is so intense that "hip-hop kids will be driving around in low-riders blasting it from their trunks." I smile and nod. He is very young.

Thursday, January 8, 12:58 p.m.: My officemate, Garth, describes "Lion in a Coma" as "being sort of Grateful Dead-y" and says that he would "definitely smoke drugs while listening to this," despite the fact that he's "not really a pot guy." Hopefully, Garth's mom is not reading this.

Thursday, 7:07 p.m.: I am not running on a treadmill; I am sprinting through a psychedelic forest, being chased by a saber-fanged creature who looks like the Gmork from "The Neverending Story." On a related note, the opening moments of "Lion in a Coma" — breathy pants, electronic frippery, didgeridoo (?) — are terrifyingly great. This is by far the best treadmill session of 2009.

Friday, January 9, 4:45 p.m.: I am attempting to think of ways to describe the bass on songs like "Also Frightened," "Summertime Clothes" and "Lion" — which are, I'm assuming, the handiwork of AC "sound manipulator" Geologist (a.k.a. Brian Weitz). So far, I have come up with the following: "like granite blocks tumbling down the stairs," "like something from Bjõrk's Homogenic album, only flattened with a mallet," "like what those spiky blocks with the angry faces in the 'Super Mario' games sound like when they womp the ground."

Saturday, January 10, 11:45 a.m.: My wife informs me that she loves the sentiments contained within "My Girls," which seems to be about co-vocalist Avey Tare's desire to ditch the trappings of, uh, celebrity and move his wife and daughters to an adobe hut. Unless, of course, the song is about something sleazy, that is. I tell her that I don't think it is. This is by far the best discussion my wife and I have had about other girls in 2009.

Sunday, January 11, 2:43 a.m.: I am unable to sleep, as my eyeballs are bouncing around in my skull like the syncopated computer bleats and sampled animal yelps in the middle section of album-closer "Brother Sport" (which sort of goes like "Wooo! Doo Doo Doo! Woo! Doo Doo! Woo!"). This is either because Merriweather Post Pavilion is boring its way into my subconscious or because I drank five cups of coffee and smoked roughly 57 cigarettes during the Steelers/Chargers game.

Monday, January 12, 1:15 p.m.: At work, I am reminded that once, when my wife and I were sitting in an airport bar in Reykjavik, Iceland, we met a guy who claimed to be Avey Tare's dentist. He said he had known Tare since he was a kid and that he was "really nice." We had no reason not to believe him.

Tuesday, January 13, 5:39 p.m.: The goofy sorta-samba and echoed vocals and bleep boops of "Brother Sport" come to an end, and with them, my Animal Collective experiment. I am not sure how I feel about this. However, I'm certain my wife, my neighbors and my officemate are unspeakably thrilled.

So, after a week spent with the album, what do I think? To be honest, I'm not really sure, though I know I like it. A lot.

To be fair, I've never really been the hugest AC fan in the world — I appreciate 2005's Feels album and was sort of mystified by '07's Strawberry Jam — but having said that, it doesn't stop me from realizing that MPP is far and away the best thing they've ever done. I've read people describe it as the group's "pop" album, an assessment that, at first, struck me as kind of funny, but after repeated listens, one that I sort of agree with. There are genuine, sun-dappled moments of pure pop on the record (the choruses of "Summertime Clothes" and "Lion in a Coma," to name a pair), and I really can't say enough about the production, which captures both the rumbling lows and the spiky highs with a clarity that belies its (assumed) non-budget.

But is Merriweather Post Pavilion the best record of the year? Maybe. There's still a long way to go in '09, but in terms of sonic wallop and sheer experimentalism, I don't think it's going to be beat. If you view the album as the culmination of Animal Collective's decade-plus career, then it's an even greater achievement — one born out of pushing envelopes and redefining the boundaries of sound. It all led to this moment. And, if you consider yourself a connoisseur of music, that's exactly what Merriweather Post Pavilion is: A moment ... one you will probably remember for a long time.

My moment just happened to last for an entire week.

Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Bigger Than The Sound -- Now On Video!

• Animal Collective

Menomena

Now that the Austin dust has settled, it's time to gain some perspective on last weekend's South By Southwest madness. Thousands of signed and unsigned bands descended on the Texas city like a swarm of locusts (locusts with demos). Ultimately, there were only a handful of bands truly worth recognizing. While Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse and the Stooges may have garnered the most press -- here are some of the bands that may have regrettably slipped through the cracks.

Who: Yeasayer

Where are they from? Brooklyn, New York

Is there a record out? No, not yet. But its debut will be released via Baltimore, Maryland's Monitor Records this coming summer. In the meantime, you can hear a couple of demos on their MySpace page.

Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? At times, the foursome projected a wholly distinct vibe like a manic Peter Gabriel -era Genesis channeled through Animal Collective but the band also manipulates their collective vocals (yes, they all sing) producing a sweet, harmonious cacophony.

The great moment: Performing the whole time under a green hoodie, front man Chris Keating walked intermittently into the audience frantically slapping his tambourine in the air.

Who: Ra Ra Riot

Where are they from? Syracuse, New York

Is there a record out? The band doesn't have a label yet, so there's only a self-released EP (which, incidentally, doesn't do justice to the live show). But based on the buzz of its SXSW performances this will all change very, very soon. What, you can't hear the labels bidding in the background?

Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? The six college aged kids create an enormous, hefty sound complete with a cello and violin, not unlike the Arcade Fire or the Olivia Tremor. And singer Wesley Miles croons earnestly but still not emotive enough that it's emo. Ra Ra Riot has enormous potential and considering the band is only a year old, the actualization is inevitable.

The great moment: Guitarist Milo Bonnacci and bassist Mathieu Santos rested their respective foreheads on one another's shoulders while riffing on their instruments.

Who: Jamie T

Where are they from? London, England

Is there a record out? Jamie's debut Panic Prevention is available in Europe on Virgin Records and at this current time, he has no American label.

Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? The cockney cockiness of the Arctic Monkeys meets the disjointed, slurred flow of the Streets meets the middle-finger attitude of the Clash meets the pop sensibility of Lily Allen meets the carelessness of the Fall. Basically, a lot of meetings.

The great moment: When an audience member noted, "This guy is completely wasted." And it was probably true.

Who: Menomena

Where are they from? Portland, Oregon

Is there a record out? The debut I Am the Fun Blame Monster (an anagram for The First Menomena Album) was released on indie label filmGUERRO and features an 80-page flipbook. This year's critically acclaimed Friend And Foe was released on Barsuk in January and it's inarguably one of the year's strongest records.

Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? The unpretentious side of art-rock. There hasn't been a threesome as competent at playing their respective instruments since Rush. Justin Harris, Danny Seim, and Brent Knopf craft oddly timed, intricate pop songs that are heartbreakingly fragile.

The great moment: When drummer Seim flailed on his kit like the octopus prodigy of Keith Moon.

Who: The Black Lips

Where are they from? Atlanta, Georgia

Is there a record out? There are three indie releases out already but the forthcoming Los Vallentes del Mundo Nuevo, a live album recorded in Tijuana, is their first for Vice Records.

Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? Dirty, dirty rock and roll. The Nuggets -influenced retro-ruckus of the Lips is no revelation but these four rarely sober characters bring the party wherever they go.

The great moment: Considering the band performed thirteen times over the span of four days, there was no definitive great moment. Let's just say that all those live sets culminate into one massive great moment.

Who: The Twilight Sad

Where are they from? Glasgow, Scotland

Is there a record out? Fat Cat Records is currently offering two EPs but the full-length Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters will be out in just a few weeks.

Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? Orchestral rock with a honed passion. The guitar, bass, and drums project an aural fullness while singer James Graham's heartfelt, moving vocals soar above it all. Like Snow Patrol with bite, or Mogwai with sensitivity training.

The great moment: When Graham looked down pensively at the floor holding on to the microphone stand with extreme intensity while his band set off power-chord fireworks.

Who: Datarock

Where are they from? Norway

Is there a record out? Yes, but Datarock Datarock is only available on import and via iTunes, although, Nettwerk will release it this coming spring in the US.
Website? Click Here

What do they sound like? Based on the unabashed silliness of the Datarock uniform--a red hoodie, red sweatpants, and mirrored visors--this band is refreshingly brazen about having fun. Their songs reference the dance rock of Franz Ferdinand, the angular zaniness of Devo and the geeky white boy funk of Hot Chip. There wasn't a still person in the room.

The great moment: When front man Fredrik Saroea riled the crowd up into a frantic clap-along.

Watch videos from this year's artists.

VH1 Blog: Complete SXSW Coverage.

• Amy Winehouse
• The Stooges
• Peter Gabriel
• Animal Collective
• Arcade Fire

Death Cab for Cutie
Photo: Appio

Though we won't know the winner of the inaugural New Pantheon award until next month, the list of nominated albums just got a whole lot, uh, shorter.

Organizers for the New Pantheon — a replacement for the on-hiatus Shortlist Music Prize, given to the year's most outstanding under-the-radar album (see "Linkin Park's Bennington, Shinoda Help Do The Honors For Shortlist's Successor") — gave MTV News an exclusive first look at the 10 albums that'll compete for the hardware.

Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine, M.I.A.'s Arular, Sufjan Stevens' Illinois, Antony and the Johnsons' I Am a Bird Now, Death Cab for Cutie's Plans, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, the Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak, Animal Collective's Feels, the Arcade Fire's Funeral and the Decemberists' Picaresque are the 10 finalists for the inaugural New Pantheon award, which will be handed out February 6 in Los Angeles.

That list was culled from an initial slate of more than 90 albums, submitted by the New Pantheon's panel of celebrity judges, which include Beck, ?uestlove of the Roots, country musician Keith Urban and actor Adam Brody ("The O.C.").

Back in November, Tom Sarig — one of the founders of the Shortlist Prize and the man behind the New Pantheon — stated that his goal was to honor "left of center" albums that the mainstream might have missed, and for the most part, it looks like he's succeeded. Only Apple's Machine and Death Cab's Plans could be considered "hit" albums. Antony and the Johnsons' Bird did take home the Mercury Prize — given to the most outstanding British or Irish act — in September.

To be eligible for the award, an album must not have been certified as gold (500,000 copies shipped) by the RIAA in the period of July 1, 2004, to October 30, 2005.

• Death Cab For Cutie
• M.I.A.
• Fiona Apple
• Bloc Party
• Kings Of Leon

Woodie Awards 2009 Nominees

• 3Oh!3
• Alicia Keys
• Amanda Blank
• Animal Collective
• Anjulie

Vampire Weekend, Jane's Addiction, More At Lollapalooza 2009

• Depeche Mode
• Perry Farrell
• Kings Of Leon
• The Knux
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Many More At Bonnaroo 2009

• Nine Inch Nails
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Erykah Badu
• Snoop Dogg
• MGMT