speed of dark

For my top 10 albums, I'm judging the albums as a whole, not just by a couple of songs that might be my favorites. I'm considering not just how good the artist was, in my humble opinion, but how well the album worked as a unit. That is where In Rainbows failed in my judgment, although musically I liked all of my top three albums nearly equally. In Rainbows seemed like a crazy quilt of songs not having much connection to each other and rather patched together, while both The Shepherd's Dog and Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? each have a solid focus in which the songs work together to build a single work.

Two albums on my list, Land of Talk’s Applause Cheer Boo Hiss and Division Day’s Beatrap Island don’t appear on other people’s lists partly because the self-released versions were on many best-of lists last year. I missed picking up on those, so I’m able to go with the official releases that occurred this year.

The Battle of Land and Sea’s official full-length debut album will not be released until January 15, but it has truly been such a favorite of mine this year that I’m listing the self-released EP version and encouraging you to go with the new release, which I was lucky enough to get hold of a couple of months ago.


1. The Shepherd’s Dog - Iron and Wine
Resurrection Fern
At first I thought "Boy With a Coin" was the only noteworthy song on this album, but one day I put on headphones and listened to it while working in the yard. I was blown away by the beauty of the music, how the songs fit together so well thematically, and the hyper-fusion of jazz, blues, folk, and rock. With this album Sam Beam has taken giant leaps away from the old plunka-plunka guitar strumming that made everything sound like "Jesus the Mexican Boy."

2. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? - Of Montreal
Gronlandic Edit
In stark contrast to the Las Vegas-style costumes, glitter make-up, and light-hearted melodies, Kevin Barnes' lyrics lay bare his darkest secrets and deepest fears. Every song builds tension and pathos. A monster of an album.
(Full review, Concert)

3. In Rainbows - Radiohead
It isn't really fair of me to let a few lines here stand for the full review it deserves. I adore Radiohead, but I'm enjoying the album more as I allow them to get down from the pedestal I put them on and just be a rock band. Nonetheless, I expected more of the songs to be as different from the live versions as "Reckoner" is, and I wished for songs I hadn't heard before and better sound quality from the downloaded version. Still better than most.

4. Beartrap Island - Division Day
Hand To the Sound
No dogs to be found anywhere on this album. Division Day can do everything excellently from incredibly fast rockers to gorgeous slow numbers like this one. (Full review in which I butcher Rohner's lyrics because I didn't have a lyric sheet at the time, Concert 1, Concert 2)

5. The Battle of Land and Sea (self-released EP) - The Battle of Land and Sea
Saltwater Queen
This entire album is a shimmering beauty, as fragile as a reflection in a pool. Sort of like Mazzy Star, Cowboy Junkies, or the Bowerbirds in an echo-chamber but more beautiful. (Review)

6. Applause Cheer Boo Hiss - Land of Talk
Lizzie Powell packs every song on the CD with big, punchy guitar and a wisp of heartache. My one disappointment is that the recording quality should have been better. (Review, concert)

7. The Cake Sale - Various Artists.
I totally agree that putting a compilation album on a year-end best albums list is strange, however I feel this one deserves the commendation for its unusually unified composition. Although Nina Persson's "Black-Winged Bird" is definitely the star, the entire album works beautifully. (Full review)

8. Flying Cup Club - Beirut
Zach Condon shows that last year's Gulag Orkestar was no fluke by delivering a second fully-realized interpretation of another nearly-ignored musical genre. (Concert)

9. Cancer and Delirium - J. Tillman
How Much Mystery
Somehow not quite as enveloping as last year's Minor Works but still achingly beautiful. (Full review, Concert)

10. Kismet - Jesca Hoop
Out the Back Door
My husband described Hoop well when he said, "She does everything at right angles to everyone else." She is truly a remarkable and unique new talent.
(Full review)

And if there were a number 11, it would be:

11. Untrue - Burial
This surprises me too, but there it is. (Full review)

Honorable Mention
Each of these has an exceptional number of excellent tracks:

Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor
Palomar - All Things, Forests
Maritime - Heresy and the Hotel Choir
Boy In Static – Violet
Roddy Woomble: My Secret Is My Silence
Idlewild: Make Another World
Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate
Winterpills - The Light Divides


Albums I wish I'd listened to earlier and more:
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Elliott Smith: New Moon
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Baby 81


Albums I tried and could not get into...

not because they were horrible, but because they didn't hold my interest. Some I tried harder and more times than others.

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
LCD Sound System - Sound of Silver
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
A Band of Bees - Octopus
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity