Happy good afternoon, everyone! It’s Tuesday yet again, and heavens to murgatroyd is it gloomy outside! Well, luckily, we have a another installment of What We’re Listening To (the last of 2008!) to kick those clouds right in the balls. As many of you already know, this is our weekly rundown of the music we here at TNG are strutting down the street to. On the menu today, we’ve got: ABBA, Rilo Kiley, The Cranberries, Billy Joel, Metronomy, Marissa Nadler, Bob Dylan, Diana Krall, MGMT and Elvis Costello. It all awaits you below the fold…

ABBA—The Visitors

ABBA’s final album is seen as a strange and depressing departure from their previous music, so its songs aren’t generally as well-known. Still, if you had just broken up with your husband/wife and were in a band with another recently torpedoed marriage, why wouldn’t you be singing elegiac love songs (“When All is Said and Done”) or elegiac odes to childhood (“Slipping Through My Fingers”) or odes to flat-out romantic misery (“One of Us”)? But ABBA’s beautiful, glossy sheen is still all over the place, even on claustrophobic cuts like “The Visitors.” If you buy this, which you absolutely should, get the remastered edition with bonus tracks so you can revel in even more songs about broken relationships (“Should I Laugh or Cry?”) and romantic ambivalence (the vocoder-enhanced “Under Attack”). Fun! – Philip

Rilo Kiley—”Xmas Cake”

The holiday season represents so many things – family, food, fun – but also for many grad students like me (the worst people in the world) it can be a fairly stressful time of year. To capture this dynamic, I like to turn to hilariously depressing holiday songs like Rilo Kiley’s “Xmas Cake.” It encapsulates both Christmas and twenty-something post-financial crisis angst themes quite well. – Jolly

The Cranberries—Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

I picked out my first Cranberries album the same way I now pick out wine: the cover label. My 7th grade self was intrigued with Dolores O’Riordan’s hair cut and, more importantly, her Dr. Martens boots on the cover of No Need To Argue. Perhaps O’Riordan was my root? I used to lie on my floor, staring at the ceiling, listening to her warbly voice & Yeatsian lyrics while plotting & navigating my way through youth. The dreamy, lilting, icy melodies still take me out of my own head. – Maggie

Billy Joel—Piano Man

I discovered Billy Joel in college, and I was in love. My first album, Piano Man, has some of my favorites. And when we’re all in the mood for a melody, Mr. Joel’s got us feelin’ alright. Perhaps I find Billy Joel’s music so endearing because I was coming out at about the same time I discovered his music. I found great solace in getting away from the stress of that period (and my fundamentalist roommates) by escaping beyond The Nylon Curtain and drifting away to those old favorites like “Captain Jack” and “You’re My Home.” – Matt

Metronomy—Nights Out

Deliciously synthetic with heavenly vocals that makes you want to shake your b-hole! No, I’m not describing myself, though many folks have said that I make their b-holes vibrate. It’s the second album by British electronic trio Metronomy, released in September in the U.K. So far, Metronomy is record label-homeless in the States. Wah! But thank god for music blog sites that have posted the bands standout tracks. And check out their videos on YouTube, which are pure eye-candy. – Summer Camp

Marissa Nadler—Songs III: Bird On the Water

Marissa Nadler sings gothic murder ballads in a dreamy, beautiful soprano. Against discreetly modernized folk rock, she sings songs about doomed lovers, ghostly maidens and Byronic heros. This, her third album, shows her experimenting with instruments like the theremin and adding a rhythm section to the autumnal compositions. At her best, she recalls such enchantresses as the early Stevie Nicks or the late Sandy Denny. Nadler’s version of ‘freak folk’ is perfect for when the weather gets colder and you can hear the Headless Horseman clip-clopping outside your window. – Craig

Bob Dylan—The Times They Are A-Changin’

No one does folk-rebellion like Bob Dylan. His voice and simple compositions make you think he’s recording right on a sidewalk, speaking to the people. When I was younger I used to wish Bob Dylan was my 2nd father. Having a father who loves Bob just as much as I do is just as great. “Ballad of Hollis Brown” is my favorite on the album. – Allison

Diana Krall—The Girl in the Other Room

I love all of Krall’s stuff, but this album – which marks a departure from her normal jazz standards covers – is special. She cowrote most of the songs with her husband, Elvis Costello. Krall generally doesn’t let her personal self get in the way of her craft, but this album is like a backstage pass; she opens up and makes herself vulnerable to the listener. Plus, there’s something about a slow, brushed hi-hat in that reminds me of falling snow, making this perfect for December walks through the city. – Corey

MGMT—”Time To Pretend”

So… last weekend, my homeslice Jules hosted a kick-ass, little “Slovenian Nights” themed holiday party for a small coterie of our nearest and dearest. Now the thing about us is we’re both a little theatrical and a little insane, so (obviously) we decided it would be entertaining to spend the evening playing a little game of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. So every once in a while, Bob and Linda Marie would interrupt a perfectly lovely conversation with a boozy, passive-aggressive argument over our sexless marriage, our last counseling session, our child who was “sent to boarding school,” etc., etc. Anyway, it was kind of hilarious and all in good fun, but strangely enough, acting out this nightmarish future kind of reminded me of this song – really, really fun, but way too depressing if you take it to heart. I mean growing up sucks at times, but it’s not that bad. Most importantly, however, this song fucking rocks. Play it really loud. – Rocky

Elvis Costello & The Imposters—The Delivery Man

This album of magnetic tracks bristles with force. It was a great introduction to Elvis, who I never really listened to until a former office mate burned this CD for me back in 2004. It has a nice undertone of southern rock. – Ben

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