I don't believe in the new year anymore!

But I do believe in Top 10 lists, and to quote one of my favorite discoveries of the year.... it's business time.


To be honest, I am pretty disappointed with the selection of good albums this year. Maybe it's just because last year was so incredible; not only were there several albums that I have listened to enough for them to become part of the very fiber of my being (Hissing Fauna, The Stage Names and Night Falls Over Kortedala to name a few), I also listened for the first time to several artists that I now consider among my favorite. This is not to say there weren't albums that I enjoyed this year, there were many. However, when I was deciding on this list, it was only difficult to pick which albums made it because of my apathy to even most of the albums I like. To put it a different way, there aren't any albums this year that I feel vastly improved the quality of my life. I know that discussing what albums came out in the last 365 days as opposed to the 365 before that is largely irrelevant, and I am happy that there are albums that I am that attached to. But I feel compelled to complain about it anyway. What else are blogs for?

Though this year may not have been great for albums, it was AMAZING for concerts. In the last few months I've been able to attend some of my favorite concerts of my life, and more importantly got to see Kevin Barnes ride a white horse in only tiny gold shorts. That experience alone easily makes up for any deficiency in good new music. Seeing Okkervil River live was also an unforgettable experience, and has sparked an obsession that now rivals my devotion to The Decemberists or The Mountain Goats.

One more note... there seems to be a lot of confusion about Bon Iver and whether to count his record as a 2007 or 08 release... lets just say that if For Emma was released this year, it would be number one, no contest. But I'll leave it off my list.

In other news, some of these albums are really great, and they are all 100% worth checking out

1. Fleet Foxes - s/t and Sun Giant EP (Also wins the award for "album I most wish was preformed in one of my school's a capella groups")



2. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In The Light


3. Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow and Blue ("I Need A Life" wins the "Hardest Song to Get Out of My Head Award")


4. Vampire Weekend - s/t (I know it's super overplayed and everywhere but I still love it.)


5. Shearwater - Rook ("Best Band I Discovered This Year")


6. The Dodos - Visiter ("Best Album with the Worst Cover Art")


7. Plant and Animals - Parc Avenue


8. Why? - Alopecia ("Other Best Band I Discovered This Year")


9. Dr. Dog - Fate


10. Ane Brun - Changing of the Seasons (why are all Swedish people so awesome?)


The last few on the list could be totally interchangeable with Department of Eagles, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Okkervil River's The Stand Ins and several others (my newest obsession being a few songs by MGMT, yeah I know I'm super late on this).

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more news from the Super Awesome Squad soon!