Music: The Year in Review

The Top Ten:
1. Graham Coxon - Happiness in Magazines
A Brit Pop masterpiece. Graham sounds more like Blur on this album than Blur has in a decade. Pure pop pleasure from start to finish.

2. Mirah - C'mon Miracle
This is an album that I would never have never checked out without file sharing. Quiet, creepy songs that are both personal and political. Portland's Mirah is kind of like Cat Power minus the preciousness. Easily, the Best album from K Records since Boot Party.

3. Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Shake the Streets
This was supposed to be the album celebrate Bush's defeat with, but its still a fantastic collection of Jam-esque political pop songs of the catchiest kind.

4. Camera Obscura - Underachievers Please Try Harder
Mellow Scottish twee pop at its finest.

5. Robyn Hitchcock - Spooked
Another great album by favorite artist of all time. This acoustic album contains at least 3 all time classics "Television", "If You Know Time", and "Full Moon of My Soul".

6. Guided By Voices - Half Smiles of the Decomposed
The final album by the world's last great rock band. Not as immediately catchy as their last three albums but fantastic in its own way. "Window of My World" is a gorgeous song.

7. Harry and the Potters - Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock
I've raved about these guys before in the blog but this album is really special. This is essentially Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix turned into a rock opera/song cycle. "The Human Hosepipe" is one of the angstiest songs in years.

8. Morrissey - You Are the Quarry
With a 7 year wait between albums, I haven't anticipated an album this much since XTC's Apple Venus. Luckily, the Mozzer did not disappoint. This is easily his best album since Vauxhall and I if not Your Arsenal.

9. The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
John Darnielle was my big discovery this year. I still haven't figure out what is about his music (it's sure not his voice!) that I like but I know I dig it.

10. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
These guys really turned me off at first but the more I listened the more I liked it, until I couldn't stop listening to it over and over.

Honorable Mentions:
Destroyer - Your Blues
The Guild League - Inner North
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
A.C. Newman -The Slow Wonder
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Wilco - A Ghost is Born
Brian Wilson - Smile

Also Great:
Air- Talkie Walkie
Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo and Books EPs
Bjork - Medulla
Jon Brion - I Heart Huckabees Soundtrack
Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken
Lloyd Cole - Music in a Foreign Language
Elvis Costello and the Impostors - The Delivery Man
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
The Lashes - The Stupid Stupid EP
Magnetic Fields - i
The Minus 5 - In Rock (Reissue)
The Minus 5 - At the Organ EP
Andy Partridge - Fuzzy Warbles Vol. 5 & 6
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins (Reissue)
Grant Lee Phillips - Virginia Creeper
Puffy AmiYumi - Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi: Music From the Series
Of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic
Sgt. Major - Rich, Creamery Butter
Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill
Smoosh - She Like Electric
Jill Sobule - Underdog Victorious
Visqueen - Sunset on Dateland
Kanye West - The College Dropout
Paul Weller - Studio 150

Good Solid Albums:
Badly Drawn Boy - One Plus One is One
The Bees - Free The Bees
Frank Black - Frank Black Francis
Jon Brion - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Soundtrack
David Byrne - Grown Backwards
Johnny Cash - My Mother's Hymn Book
Danger Mouse - The Grey Album
The Decemberists - The Tain
Elf Power - Walking with the Beggar Boys
The Fastbacks - Truth, Corosion, and Sour Biscuits
Finn Brothers - Everyone Is Here
Keane - Hopes and Fears
Le Tigre - This Island
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
The Old 97s - Drag It Up
Pedro The Lion - Achilles' Heel
Robert Pollard - Fiction Man
Preston School of Industry – Monsoon
RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke
The Sadies - Favourite Colours
Snow Patrol - Final Straw
They Might Be Giants - Indestructible Object EP
They Might Be Giants - The Spine
Various - Read: Interpreting Bjork
Tom Waits - Real Gone

Disappointing or Just Plain Sucked:
The Beta Band - Heroes to Zeroes
Interpol - Antics
Lambchop - No, You C'mon
N*E*R*D - Fly or Die
The Thrills - Let's Bottle Bohemia
U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Various - This One's For the Fellows
Brian Wilson - Gettin' In Over My Head

Abomination:
Glenn Tilbrook - Transatlantic Ping-Pong