We had fun last year highlighting our favorite releases of the year, so we thought that we’d do it again this year. Well, fun like a stick in the eye, but we decided to do it anyway. The reality of the situation is that it’s so difficult to pick one release over another. Some folks out there—principally every music magazine in existence—are releasing their top releases of the decade. That just seems like an exercise in cruelty for us, so we’re going to keep it to the past year. In no particular order, here’s how it breaks down:
Ryan’s List
- American Steel – Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts
- Matt + Kim – Grand
- Teenage Bottlerocket – It Came From The Shadows
- Fake Problems – It’s Great to Be Alive
- Dear Landlord – Dream Homes
Ira’s List
- The Bouncing Souls – Ghosts on the Boardwalk
- The Dead Weather – Horehound
- Franz Ferdinand – Tonight:
- Six Finger Satellite – A Good Year for Hardness
- These Arms Are Snakes – Tail Swallower and Dove
Aaron’s List
- The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
- Doves – Kingdom of Rust
- Handsome Furs – Face Control
- Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
- Tegan & Sara – Sainthood
Chris’s List
- St. Vincent – Actor
- The Dead Weather – Horehound
- Mos Def – The Ecstatic
- Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
- Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring