The buzzy, skuzzy, poppy Dum Dum Girls' upcoming cassette-only compilation includes a cover of the revered D.C. indie-pop group Black Tambourine's "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge." Which is good!

D.C. alt-country band These United States recorded a session with Daytrotter.

Neil Patrick Harris, accessory to Smurfs.

Gangstarr rapper Guru is out of his induced coma. He's "doing well," reports the Guardian.

Listen to the Very Best's version of the xx's remix/cover of Florence and the Machine's "You've Got the Love." Yah.

All Our Noise has video from final Pash show:

*The 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival line-up was announced yesterday over a painstakingly long unveiling process. Some of the artists for the four-day Tennessee-based festival include: Kings of Leon (the first band to go from a tent stage to a headliner), Dave Matthews Band, Phoenix, Jay-Z, Norah Jones, The xx, Stevie Wonder, Zac Brown Band, LCD Soundsystem, Jeff Beck, Weezer, She & Him, The Flaming Lips, Ingrid Michaelson, Kid Cudi, and D.C. native Wale.

*Lil Wayne's planned trip to jail for attempted gun possession yesterday was postponed because of dental surgery. I'm thinking the diamond-encrusted grills may have had something to do with it. He is now set to head to prison March 2.

*Country superstar Dolly Parton said she is considering having White Stripes' frontman Jack White produce her next album. It wouldn't be White's first foray into the old country music scene; he's worked with legends like Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson before.

*It's confirmed that Tom Cruise will star in and produce the fourth installment of the Mission: Impossible series. J.J. Abrams won't be directing again, but will likely stay on board as a producer with Cruise. (Also seeing its fourth movie installment? Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove — yes, there was more than one — is getting ready for release in March. The newest film stars Bindi Irwin, Beau Bridges, and, naturally, a giant killer whale.)

*Ellen DeGeneres made her debut as a judge on American Idol last night. I am torn as to whether this is the best or worst thing she's ever done for her career. (I'm leaning towards the latter.)

*Former I Love New York 2 reality show contestant Jamal Rashead Trulove was convicted of murder. Guess it wasn't "trulove" after all.

*Tonight in City Lights: authors Joanna Smith Rakoff and Dylan Landis read from their respective debut novels, A Fortunate Age and Normal People Don't Live Like This at the Arts Club of Washington.

Still, humans like their analogies. In honor of the Phillips Collection's new exhibition, "Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction," we've reimagined a few O'Keeffe canvases as stunning iTunes visualizations. Audacious choices, illustrations included, below the jump. (The Phillips Collection is closed due to the snowstorm tomorrow, when the show was scheduled to open. As of right now, the museum will be open Sunday.)

"Sky Above Clouds III/Above the Clouds III" (1963)

The Tune: The Shins, "New Slang"—because the hint of pastel and sense of idiosyncratic delicacy evoke James Mercer's weird, wounded, but still grinning songsmithery.

***

"Jack in the Pulpit No. IV" (1930)

The Tune: Mahavishnu Orchestra, "Eternity's Last Breath"—because painting and song share the same deep-hued, hot-to-the-touch mysticism. Stare at it long enough, and O'Keeffe's flame simmers like the most mind-expanding John McLaughlin solo.

***

"Series I—No. 3" (1918)

The Tune: Raffi, "Baby Beluga"—because it's both nautical and whimsical. Bonus: The jets of pale yellow and ostentatious pink are convincing approximations of what the song's ridiculous horn solo sounds like.

***

"Grey, Blue & Black—Pink Circle" (1929)

The Tune: The xx, "Crystalised"—the subdued, spiky canvas matches the oddball ghostscapes of Britain's slowest, coolest post-punkers. Like the xx, O'Keeffe's painting is all about gentle prods amid an atmospheric haze.

***

"Abstraction White Rose" (1927)

The Tune: Edvard Grieg, "Piano Concerto in A Op. 16, I. Allegro molto moderato"—because the concerto's first movement shares this canvas' sense of stormy dilation. And of Norwegianness.

***

"Black Place III" (1944)

The Tune: Jethro Tull, "Cross-Eyed Mary"—because the painting, like the song, is concerned with a moral rupture; and because the album art Jon Anderson rejected for Aqualung looked pretty similar to this fella.

After reading my critique of Pitchfork’s P2K: The Decade in Music list in City Paper's Music in Review issue, a friend commented that “sometimes I don't know what's more cliché: reading Pitchfork or complaining about Pitchfork.” Reductionist arguments like that are easy swipes, but they speak to the incessant griping, legitimate or not, to which Pitchfork’s every move is constantly subjected. If you feel that nitpicking Pitchfork’s interminable lists is just as futile as creating them, reading after the jump might not be such a hot idea.

In a year that saw the shuttering of numerous print publications, one of the Web’s biggest woes was Maura Johnson’s departure from Idolator, the once-mighty music blog that, in her absence, has gone straight to US Weekly-like hell. The site, once balancing thoughtful coverage of all things indie with equally thoughtful American Idol rundowns, has given into its weaker impulses and become a breathy, exhalation of celeb news, with lolcat critiques of Lady Gaga’s outfits and Chris Brown’s Twitter trends. I’ve decided to pay humble tribute to Johnson by examining Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2009 using her old rundown format—the Good, the Bad, and the Whaaa?—a feature that now seems like a distant memory buried beneath countless pages dedicated to Rihanna’s latest haircut.

The Good: In a year when most lists culled from familiar major players, Pitchfork allows for some genuine surprises, including deserving nods to worthwhile mainstays like Jim O’Rourke and Dinosaur Jr. and understated favorites like Bill Callahan and Fuck Buttons while not throwing this year’s worthy newcomers under the bus (Japandroids, Neon Indian, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart). It thankfully also acknowledged that Cymbals Eat Guitars, just barely coming in at No. 43, needed some time to ripen.

The Bad: Outside of the tensionless reveal of its No. 1 pick (hey, did you know Animal Collective put out an album this year?), this year’s ranking was more consistent with the site’s obvious preferences than in the past. Depending upon your perspective. that's either comforting or maddening. Out of the 40-plus Best New Music designations given, only six of these albums failed to chart (YACHT, Isis, Volcano Choir, Camera Obscura, Wavves, and Sunset Rubdown). In other news, Future of the Left received a lowly honorable mention that reinforced, even in the wake of the collective ball-dropping of its former outfit McLusky, that the band is destined for relegation to the indie-rock fringes. The list also continues the trend of semiapologizing with the site's love for Passion Pit (“Passion Pit's debut album can seem to come on like a big, friendly dog slobbering you with kisses: one part "Eww, too much!" and two parts "Aww, I can't resist!"), as though the band were a socially awkward sibling it feels compelled to invite to parties. And considering Phoenix’s ubiquitous Pitchfork presence, its squeaking into the Top 10 at No. 8 rings false.

The Whaaa?: Pitchfork’s Top 10 is rarely surprising, but this year’s had a few unexpected notes. Bat for Lashes turned out to be a sleeper favorite while the biggest surprise came with the unabashed appreciation for the xx, who took the No.3 spot. Who knew the band’s song(s) were so beloved? I smell a pug-induced slice of snark when its follow-up album tanks.

And if this list does nothing else, let it be a lesson to all lo-fi wunderkinds who are thinking of taking some drugs and breaking down at a big European festival—if you embarrass the Web site’s good name, your name will quickly turn to mud.

Former Black and White Jacksons guitarist Tim George formed Dizzy Spells with Kelela Mizanekristos, and the group's songs can be ethereal and deeply felt or playful and jagged. The band describes itself as "Rock/Americana/Neo-Soul," which is pretty apt, but it ignores the woozy trip-hop sound that's all over "Laser Light." You can stream that song and others at Dizzy Spells' MySpace page. The District-based group, now a four-piece, performs tonight at 9 p.m. at the Velvet Lounge. Tickets are $8.

More soulful, minimalistic indie bands after the jump: gothy bawlers, Brits lip-syncing to R&B, and a poorly timed Michael Jackson cover!

Zola Jesus (2006-present): Twenty-year-old Wisconsin native Nika Roza Danilova has a large voice and some really scuzzy-sounding synths—not a bad set of circumstances, since she can wail like Aretha Franklin and mope like Michael Gira, whose band Swans took gothy '80s post-punk and made it arty and iconoclastic. Which perhaps explains how Danilova hooked up with another purveyor of emotive, rough-around-the edges spookiness—Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart—for her newest project, Former Ghosts.

The xx (2005–present): This restrained London four-piece, whose music is very hushed and extremely slow, is one of 2009's buzzier acts—at least partially because of its blog-pleasing covers of Aaliyah's "Hot Like Fire" and Kyla's "Do You Mind?" So it's a comforting thought that a band responsible for such thoughtful, self-serious music clearly spent its teenage years bawling along to American R&B in front of a bedroom mirror. The xx performs at DC9 on Nov. 15.

Discovery (2005–present): This dreamy, genre-hopping side project featuring members of Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend isn't quite appropriative, but it's clearly a plate for the semiguilty musical tastes—and apparent affinity for high hat—they're willing to only partially absorb into their day bands. The duo's debut album dropped 12 days after Michael Jackson died, so its cover of "I Want You Back" felt pretty poorly timed—but still well-meaning, and certainly audacious.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums (2006–present): This Swedish husband-and-wife duo makes erratic songs with nothing but percussion instruments and steamy vocals, yet it comes away with a sound that's full-bodied, exciting, and utterly singular.