Mid-Year Bests

Firewater - The Golden Hour

The first one I thought was truly tops so far.

The Raconteurs

The Whigs
Death Cab
Los Campesinos!
Fleet Foxes
My Morning Jacket

Raveonettes
Helio Sequence

Originally posted by Tom Servo:
Raveonettes
Helio Sequence

definitely agree about the helio sequence

My list is pretty long right now… and I've included Bon Iver even though it was originally released in 2007.

*Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
Chris Mills, Living in the Aftermath
Dead Confederate, Dead Confederate EP
Earlimart, Hymn and Her
Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
Grand Archives, The Grand Archives
The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
The Jet Age, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?
Julie Ocean, Long Gone and Nearly There
Lightspeed Champion, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge
Mystery Jets, Twenty One
Shearwater, Rook
The Whigs, Mission Control

Six months in, and no "great" albums so far. A host of "good" ones though.

In no order,

Liam Finn
Drive By Truckers
Nada Surf
Thao Nguyen
Devotchka
REM
Death Cab for Cutie
Fleet Foxes
Dr. Dog
Joan as Policewoman
Santogold

Ill agree with that 100%

Originally posted by mr. pretentious:

Originally posted by earlx:
The reissue of Nick Lowe's "Jesus of Cool" rules but I don't know if reissues count.

If it did, it would be the record of the year for me. Can't stop listening to it.

agreed on the helio sequence.

and since i don't have any indie cred here anyways, and no one has said it yet, here goes: i'm adding the "chinese democracy" leak to my list. it's what an accessible, modern-day hard rock album is supposed to sound like, IMO. i'm as surprised as the next guy, but it's a damn solid album. the guitar work and guitar tones are very impressive.

I'll probably come up with another top 5 as soon as I post this because I didn't sift through everything I have and am just going based on memory but in no particular order:

Matmos - Supreme Balloon
Carla Bozulich's Evangelista - Hello Voyager
Jack Rose - Dr. Ragtime and Pals
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
Magnetic Fields - Distortion

I'm loving the new Long Blondes album.
Hercules & Love Affair
El Perro del Mar
E. Badu
My Morning Jacket
Portishead
Nada Surf

Quickly Climbing up my list:

James Blackshaw - Litany of Echoes
Dominique Leone - S/T
That Fursaxa album whose title I'm too lazy to look up.
Oh and that Eden Express album.

Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" is pretty amazing … i've slept on a lot of non-ATL southern hip-hop for a long time, but i've really come around to weezy, he's fucking hilarious

So this Lindstrom album is excellent so far. First track is a 30-minute space disco epic that just flies by.

the mae shi
evangelista
thao
delta spirit
lykke li
plants and animals
tilly and the wall
health (remix album)
dr. dog
fleet foxes