this is dudical.

Instead of force-fitting a list to some arbitrary number, here are the albums released this year that I could not live without. There are 17 of them. A few great records that basically all tied for #18: Grinderman, Killing Joke, Hot Panda, No Age, Sleigh Bells, Wavves, Sufjan Stevens, Belle & Sebastian, LCD Soundsystem, Warpaint and Health’s Remix album.

	#17 Arcade Fire The Suburbs It’s no Neon BIble or Funeral, but it’s still Arcade Fire. The title track and ‘Sprawl II‘ are as good as anything the band has written.
	#16 Spoon Transference Transference seems lacking upon first listen, but the tight rhythms and jams are hidden in plain sight (sound?).
	#15 Maserati Pyramid Of The Sun Psychedelic post-rock electro made for double rainbows and booze on summer afternoons.
	#14 The National High Violet By far The National’s best record to date. ‘Anyone’s Ghost’ is one of the most breathtaking songs of the year.
	#13 The Tallest Man On Earth The Wild Hunt Tallest Man’s second full-length is a haunting Dylanesque folkscape with enough originality—and modernity—to break free of Dylan’s shadow.
	#12 Women Public Strain One of the best debuts in years. They had a meltdown on tour, canceled the remaining dates and (supposedly) broke up, but…brothers gotta hug.
	#11 Yeasayer Odd Blood A brilliant 21st-century update of the late-70s/early-80s Talking Heads period.
	#10 Beach House Teen Dream Beach House’s third album is…gorgeous, hypnotizing, dreamy, stunning, incredible.
	#9 Adam Green Minor Love Minor Love shows a tender, stringless, hornless side of Green; stripped down and (almost) emotional.
	#8 Liars Sisterworld One of Liars most potent records; Sisterworld mashes and stomps art+insanity into a fireball of indie hooks.
	#7 Perfume Genius Learning The jawdropping debut from Mike Hadreas confronts pedophilia, abuse and homosexuality and is somehow both hopeless and full of hope.
	#6 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Before Today Less schizophrenic than previous albums, but still an outstanding Encyclopedic collection of music history, and this one comes loaded with hooks and funky 70s-esque basslines!
	#5 Blonde Redhead Penny Sparkle Patience is a virtue on Penny Sparkle. The shoegaze is gone, but a timeless netherworld of ice cold electro-pop remains.
	#4 Les Savy Fav Root For Ruin Tim Harrington over the past few years is as close as an artist can get to “He’s On Fire!” from NBA Jam.
	#3 Caribou Swim A post-everything wintry dance party from the arctic mind of Dan Snaith.
	#2 Deerhunter Halcyon Digest Few bands are as consistently brilliant as Deerhunter right now, and the blissful pop on Halcyon Digest displays Bradford and co. at the top of [his] their game.
	#1 Crystal Castles Crystal Castles They may be dicks, but music doesn’t lie, and every song Crystal Castles has created could have come straight from heaven.

• Leave a comment... (1)