Editor's note: (We don't have an editor. So make that "author's note.") This response began as a comment to Adam's previous post, but then it got kind of long, so I decided to make it its own separate thing. So sorry, Adam, for depriving you of a comment.

That lala.com site is amazing. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'll be using it a lot from now on.

I, too, have seen Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion album all over the place. I haven't had much of a desire to check it out, though, only because I've been to the actual Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland and it's really not all that great. And yes, I base all of my interest in a CD solely on its title and whether or not I've visited there (if applicable). (This also explains my reluctance to listen to Raditude. [On a side note: Leave it to Rock Band to get me to listen to a couple of Raditude tracks. I actually bought "(If You’re Wondering...)" because it has a kick-ass bass-line. The lyrics sound pretty blah, but you’re right -- Cuomo can still write a catchy tune. The "Let It All Hang Out" song, however, didn't fare quite as well.])

However, I'm going to attempt a slight defense for Phoenix. I do agree that it's not going to change the face of indie-dance-pop forever-and-ever, but it is pretty good. When it comes to listening to new music, I feel like a crotchety old man. I blame it on the radio station, when I had to listen to and review way too many CDs. Very few of them were in the good-to-great camp. Everything else just sort of blended together in an average-to-below-average stew of stuff I'd heard before. So, no, I did not have an earth-shattering experience listening to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. But you know, I did like it. (Even with its relatively stupid-sounding album name.) They take a formula that's been around for a while and do it surprisingly well.

I also started listening to the XX (xx?) album. Sounds good, so far. It was on the track "Islands," though, that I realized that the guy's voice totally sounds like Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords.

Thanks to lala.com, I will also look into two other artists: Blue Roses and A Camp. Those come from the BBC's year's-best list. Judging from their MySpace songs, they both sound catchy and fun and innocuous enough.

Finally, I also had trouble thinking of CDs I really, really, really liked from last year. Another reason I didn't make a Top 10 list. Don't think I would've made it past 5.

So that was the would-be comment. See, way too long. I just have two more things from the news today I want to mention.

1. The world's tallest tower opens in Dubai. Apparently it is 828 meters (2, 716 feet) high. That's crazy. Look at the comparison-graph thing to see how other landmarks measure up. (Ugh, sorry about the pun. Couldn't help it, though.) Here's a quote from the article: "Declaring that 'tall buildings are back,' the [architect] company predicts that the groundbreaking techniques it used to push the Burj Khalifa to new heights should enable the construction of even taller towers in the future." Wait, what? We're going to create even taller buildings? Really? Is this thought kind of unsettling to anyone else? And speaking of unsettling news...

2. Someone hung an effigy of President Obama in... guess where... none other than Plains, Georgia! Stay classy, Georgia.