2009 Music Journals

[Josh]

Yeah, okay. So technically there are still 30 days left in 2008. And I, for one, have yet to post my official "best of 2008" list. But hey, I'm already getting promos of 2009 releases in the mail, and I know others here are probably starting to hear some of next year's music as well, so we may as well start this thing now, even if it gets sparse use over the next few weeks.

Anyway: The usual drill. Create a post to record the music you hear in 2009. A running top ten list, links to reviews, whatever else, but please save discussion and commentary for separate threads about particular bands or albums.

[murlough23]

Top 20:
1. Vienna Teng - Inland Territory A
2. Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome A
3. Mew - No More Stories... A-
4. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King A-
5. David Crowder Band - Church Music A-
6. Muse - The Resistance A-
7. Falling Up - Fangs! B+
8. Doves - Kingdom of Rust B+
9. A. C. Newman - Get Guilty B+
10. Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth B+
11. Deas Vail - Birds and Cages B+
12. Sleeping at Last - Storyboards B+
13. Green Day  - 21st Century Breakdown B+
14. Meg & Dia - Here, Here, and Here B
15. Mute Math - Armistice B
16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! B
17. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion B
18. Thrice - Beggars B
19. Sufjan Stevens - The BQE B
20. fun. - Aim and Ignite B

Honorable Mention:
21. Joe Henry - Blood from Stars B
22. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane B
23. U2 - No Line on the Horizon B
24. Steven Curtis Chapman - Beauty Will Rise B
25. As Tall as Lions - You Can't Take It with You B
26. Metric - Fantasies B
27. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest B-
28. The Paper Raincoat - The Paper Raincoat B
29. Katie Herzig - Live In Studio: Acoustic Trio B
30. Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down B-

The Rest:
Fiction Family - Fiction Family B-
mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright B-
Wilco - Wilco (The Album) B-
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast B-
Pearl Jam - Backspacer B-
Matisyahu - Light B-
Delirious? - My Soul Sings B-
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone C+
Out of the Grey - Voyage: Journey of Prayer C+
Anchor & Braille - Felt C+
The Elms - The Great American Midrange C+
Rob Thomas - Cradlesong C+
Tal & Acacia - Wake Me C+
Sara Watkins - Sara Watkins C
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings C

Dishonorable Mention:
16. The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away C-
15. Leeland - Love Is on the Move C-
14. Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes C-
13. Various Artists - Glory Revealed II C-
12. Various Artists - CompassionArt: Creating Freedom from Poverty C-
11. Phil Stacey - Into the Light C-
10. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic D+
9. He Is Legend - It Hates You D+
8. Third Day - Live Revelations D+
7. Pillar - Confessions D
6. John Mayer - Battle Studies D
5. The Lonely Island - Incredibad D
4. Revive - Chorus of the Saints D-
3. John Waller - While I'm Waiting D
2. Creed - Full Circle F+
1. Skillet - Awake F+

Compilations/EPs/Singles/Re-releases:
Mae - (m)orning EP A
Future of Forestry - Travel II EP A-
Pearl Jam - Ten (Legacy Edition) A-
Future of Forestry - Travel EP B+
Mae - (a)fternoon EP B
House of Heroes - Meets the Beatles EP B
Iron & Wine - Around the Well B-
House of Heroes - The Acoustic End EP B-
Mute Math - Spotlight EP C+
Weird Al Yankovic - Internet Leaks C
Incubus - Monuments & Melodies C-
Andrew Bird - Useless Creatures EP D+

Digesting:
Chynna & Vaughan - One Reason
Flyleaf - Memento Mori
Norah Jones - The Fall
Karen O and the Kids - Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Kutless - It Is Well
Lost Ocean - Could This Be Love?
Matt Maher - Alive Again
Newsboys - In the Hands of God
Osso - Run Rabbit Run
John Reuben - Sex, Drugs and Self-Control

Already Released, Need to Hear It:
Eisley - Fire Kite EP
Plumb - Beautiful History
Sara Groves - Fireflies & Songs
Sherwood - Qu
Vertical Horizon - Burning the Days

Looking Back:
2008 Music Journal
2007 Music Journal
2006 Music Journal
2005 Music Journal
2004 Music Journal
2003 Music Journal
1991-2002 Music Journals

(Last Update: 3/9/10)

[Brenden]

Top 15:

1. fun. - Aim & Ignite - A
2. Vienna Teng - Inland Territory - A
3. The Tall Pines - Campfire Songs - A-
4. Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome - A-
5. mewithoutyou - It's All Crazy, It's All False, It's All A Dream, It's Alright - A-
6. Chase Pagan - Bells & Whistles - B+
7. A.C. Newman - Get Guilty - B+
8. Jars Of Clay - The Long Fall Back To Earth - B+
9. Fiction Family - Fiction Family - B
10. The Alternate Routes - A Sucker's Dream - B
11. The Decemberists - Hazards Of Love - B
12. The Gourds - Haymaker - B
13. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You - B
14. Galactus Jack - Reality Bytes - B
15. U2 - No Line On The Horizon - B-

Other Albums Worth A Listen:


Bleu - A Watched Pot - B-
Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes - B-
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown - B-
Bogs Visionary Orchestra - Mean Old World - C+
The Lonely Island - Incredibad - C+

Meh:
Thousand Foot Krutch - Welcome To The Masquerade - C
Chris Clayton - All These Things And More - C
Brandon Scott Smith - C-
FM Static - Dear Diary - C-
Bruce Springsteen - Workin' On A Dream - C-
The Fray - The Fray - D
Mr. Del - Thrilla - D
Sleeping Giants - Sons Of Thunder - D-
Julian Drive - My Coming Day - D-
PureNRG - The Real thing - F
The Lads - Secrets Of The Universe - F

EPs and such:

Downhere - How Many Kings - B+
The Colour Academy - Through Telescopes - B+
The Hold Steady - A Positive Rage - B
Starflyer 59 - Ghosts Of The Past - B-
Jason Eaton - Nothing Back EP - D

Digesting

Dignan - also forget this title

[ajyouthguy]

Liked It:
1. Flyleaf--Memento Mori
2. Needtobreathe--The Outsiders
3. Sleeping at Last--Storyboards
4. Shane and Shane--Everything is Different
5. David Crowder Band--Church Music
6. MewithoutYou--It's All Crazy...
7. Project 86--Picket Fence Cartel
8. The Avett Brothers--I and Love and You
9. Thrice--Beggars
10. Paper Route--Absence
11. U2--No Line On the Horizon
12. Jars of Clay--The Long Fall Back to Earth
13. Switchfoot--Hello Hurricane
14. Seabird--Rocks into Rivers
15. Relient K--Forget and Not Slow Down
16.  Derek Webb--Stockholm Syndrome
17. Steven Curtis Chapman--Beauty Will Rise
18.Owl City--Ocean Eyes
19.Joel Hanson--What if It Is
20. Kendall Payne--Wounds to Scars
21. Skillet--Awake
22. Deas Vail--Birds and Cages
23. Manic Drive--Blue
24. Ashley Cleveland--God Don't Never Change
25. Mute Math--Armistice

Special Albums (EP's, live, Christmas, etc.) that I liked:
Future of Forestry Travel I and II EP
The Letter Black--Breaking the Silence
Chris Tomlin--Glory in the Highest (Christmas)
Downhere--How Many Kings (Christmas)
Abandon Kansas--We're All Going Somewhere (EP)

Decent listens, but not listworthy:
Phil Wickham--Heaven and Earth
Everyday Sunday--Best Night of Our Lives
Fee--Hope Rising
Bethany Dillon--Stop and Listen
Daughtry--Leave This Town
Mat Kearney--City of Black and White
Fiction Family
Hawk Nelson--Live Life Loud
All Star United--The Good Album
Stryper--Murder By Pride
Decyfer Down--Crash





Not For Me:
Adam Lambert--For Your Entertainment
Kris Allen--Kris Allen
Jade Harrell--Class Reject
Jonny Diaz--More Beautiful You
Brit Nicole--The Lost Get Found
KJ-52--Five-Two Television
Phil Stacey--Into the Light
Pillar--Confessions
Stellar Kart--Everything is Different
B. Reith--Now is Not Forever

Biggest Disappointments (artists with new albums I wanted to like a LOT more than I wound up liking):
Kris Allen
Fiction Family
Mute Math

[plvarona]

Updated 2/21/2010

(* denotes albums I have heard in their entirety but do not own.)
Top 10 (so far)
1. Derek Webb: Stockholm Syndrome (A)
2. mewithoutYou: It's All Crazy!  It's All False!  It's All a Dream!  It's Alright (A)
3. Deas Vail: Birds and Cages (A)
4. Switchfoot: Hello Hurricane (A-)
5. David Crowder Band: Church Music (A-)
6. Doves: Kingdom of Rust (A-)
7. Sleeping at Last: Storyboards (A-)
8. Relient K: Forget and Not Slow Down (A-)
9. Seabird: Rocks Into Rivers (A-)
10. Paper Route: Absence (A-)

Honorable Mention:
11. NEEDTOBREATHE: The Outsiders (B+)
12. Jars of Clay: The Long Fall Back to Earth (B+)
13. fun.: Aim & Ignite (B+)
14. Thrice: Beggars (B+)
15. U2: No Line On The Horizon (B+)
16. Mute Math: Armistice (B+)
17. We Shot The Moon: A Silver Lining (B+)
18. The Fold: Dear Future, Come Get Me (B+)
19. Falling Up: Fangs! (B+)
20. Fiction Family: self-titled (B+)
21. John Reuben: Sex, Drugs and Self-Control (B+)
22. Joy Williams: Songs From This and That (B )
23. The Elms: The Great American Midrange (B )
24. Sara Groves: Fireflies and Songs (B )
25. Steven Curtis Chapman: Beauty Will Rise (B )
26. Vedera: Stages (B )
27. Anchor & Braille: Felt (B )
28. All Star United: The Good Album (*) (B )(Full stream on the "News" section of their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/allstarunited)

Mild Recommendations:
Mat Kearney: City of Black and White (B-)
Molly Jenson: Maybe Tomorrow (*) (C+)

Nah:
Phillip LaRue: Let The Road Pave Itself (*) (C )
Bethany Dillon: Stop & Listen (*) (C )
Skillet: Awake (*) (D)

EPs, Greatest Hits, Live Albums, etc.
Mae: (M)orning EP (A-)
Future of Forestry: Travel II EP (A-)
Future of Forestry: Travel EP (A-)
delirous?: My Soul Sings (B+)
The Civil Wars: Live at Eddie's Attic (B )
Iron & Wine: Around The Well (B )
Marc Scibilia: From Brooklyn to Maine EP (B )
Sarah Reeves: Sweet Sweet Sound EP (*) (C-)

Currently Digesting:
(On to 2010)

Current Releases I Plan to Check Out:
Eisley: Fire Kites EP
Mae: (A)fternoon EP

Current Releases That Somewhat Intrigue Me:
Abandon: Searchlights
Everyday Sunday: Best Night of Our Lives
Plumb: Beautiful History
Sufjan Stevens: The BQE

Current Releases I Will Check Out - if I'm feeling particularly masochistic:
FM Static: Dear Diary
RED: Innocence & Instinct
Stellar Kart: Everything is Different
Stellar Kart: Life is Good - The Best of

[bloop]

Best of 2009
Buy It!
Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective (10.0)
It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright, MeWithoutYou (10.0)
Embryonic, The Flaming Lips (9.5)
Blood From Stars, Joe Henry (9.5)
Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors (9.5)
Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear (9.5)
Hospice, The Antlers (9.0)
Dark Night of the Soul, Dangermouse and Sparklehorse (9.0)
The Glass Bead Game, James Blackshaw (9.0)
The Crying Light, Antony and the Johnsons (9.0)
Together Through Life, Bob Dylan (9.0)
Know Better Learn Faster, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down (9.0)
XX, The XX (9.0)
The Ecstatic, Mos Def (9.0)
I'm Going Away, Fiery Furnaces (9.0)
Inland Territory, Vienna Teng (9.0)
Kingdom of Rust, Doves (9.0)
Noble Beast w/ Useless Creatures, Andrew Bird (9.0)
Two Suns, Bat for Lashes (8.5)
The Eternal, Sonic Youth (8.5)
No More Stories (etc. etc.), Mew (8.5)
Warm Heart of Africa, The Very Best (8.5)
Blue Record, Baroness (8.5)
Actor, St. Vincent (8.5)
It's Blitz!, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (8.5)
Welcome to Mali, Amadou & Mariam (8.5)
Wait for Me, Moby (8.5)
Bromst, Dan Deacon (8.5)
The Hazards of Love, The Decemberists (8.5)
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix (8.5)
Dark Days/Light Years, Super Furry Animals (8.5)
Journal for Plague Lovers, Manic Street Preachers (8.5)
Crack the Skye, Mastodon (8.5)
The Life of the World to Come, The Mountain Goats (8.5)
Wilco (The Album), Wilco (8.5)
Storyboards, Sleeping at Last (8.5)
Beware, Bonnie "Prince" Billy (8.5)
My Maudlin Career, Camera Obscura (8.0)
Wavering Radiant, ISIS (8.0)
The Resistance, Muse (8.0)
Humbug, Arctic Monkeys (8.0)
Abundance, PPP (8.0)
Farm, Dinosaur jr. (8.0)
Hold Time, M. Ward (8.0)
Tarot Sport, Fuck Buttons (8.0)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (8.0)
The Spirit of Apollo, N.A.S.A. (8.0)
Aim & Ignite, fun. (8.0)
Troubadour, K'Naan (8.0)
Speech Therapy, Speech Debelle (8.0)
Church Music, David Crowder Band (8.0)
Keep it Hid, Dan Auerbach (8.0)
Middle Cyclone, Neko Case (8.0)
Fall Be Kind EP, Animal Collective (8.0)


Try It
Dragonslayer, Sunset Rubdown (7.5)
Fireflies & Songs, Sara Groves (7.5)
When the Devil's Loose, A.A. Bondy (7.5)
Stockholm Syndrome, Derek Webb (7.5)
Sometimes, I Wish I Was an Eagle, Bill Callahan (7.5)
Beauty Will Rise, Steven Curtis Chapman (7.5)
Timber Timbre, Timber Timbre (7.5)
Get Guilty, AC Newman (7.5)
Swoon, Silversun Pickups (7.5)
The Long Fall Back to Earth, Jars of Clay (7.5)
It's Not Me, It's You, Lily Allen (7.5)
Hello Hurricane, Switchfoot (7.5)
Armistice, MuteMath (7.0)
No Line on the Horizon, U2 (7.0)
Little Hells, Marissa Nadler (7.0)
The BQE, Sufjan Stevens (7.0)
Technicolor Health, Harlem Shakes (7.0)
Big Whiskey and The GrooGrux King Dave Matthews Band (7.0)
Post-Nothing, Japandroids (7.0)
Backspacer, Pearl Jam (7.0)
Charlemagne's Big Thaw, Colossal Yes (7.0)
The Phenomenal Handclap Band, The Phenomenal Handclap Band (7.0)
Fiction Family, Fiction Family (7.0)
Fangs!, Falling Up (7.0)
Cest Com Com Complique, Faust (7.0)
Play On, Carrie Underwood (7.0)
Davy, Coconut Records (7.0)
Years of Refusal, Morrissey (6.5)
21st Century Breakdown, Green Day (6.5)
Got Nuffin, sthingy (6.5)
Begone Dull Care, Junior Boys (6.5)
Coming Back to You, Melinda Doolittle (6.5)
Fantasies, Metric (6.5)
The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z (6.5)
I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle (6.5)
For Your Entertainment, Adam Lambert (6.5)
Fork in the Road, Neil Young (6.5)
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (6.5)
Wavvves, Wavves (6.5)
Black Gives Way to Blue, Alice in Chains (6.5)
Rules, The Whitest Boy Alive (6.5)
A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi, Fox Bat Strategy (6.5)

Be Warned
Raditude, Weezer (6.0)
All I Ever Wanted, Kelly Clarkson (6.0)
Lines, Vines & Trying Times, The Jonas Brothers (6.0)
Just Like You, Allison Iraheta (6.0)
MPLSoUND, Prince (5.5)
Lotusflow3r, Prince (5.5)
All the Plans, Starsailor (5.5)
Glasvegas, Glasvegas (5.0)
Working on a Dream, Bruce Springsteen (5.0)
Kris Allen, Kris Allen (5.0)
Tinted Windows, Tinted Windows (4.5)
An Imaginary Country, Tim Hecker (4.5)
Murder By Pride, Stryper (4.0)
Scream, Chris Cornell (4.0)


Don't Even Bother
The Fray, The Fray (3.0)
Awake, Skillet (3.0)
My Coming Day, Julian Drive (2.5)
The E.N.D., The Black Eyed Peas (2.5)
Elixir, Bria Valente (2.0)


Hey, You Cheated! (Live albums, cover albums, compilations and such)
The Bright Mississippi, Allen Toussaint (9.0)
Live From Nowhere, Vol. 4, Over the Rhine (8.5)
The Velvet Underground & Nico, Beck (8.0)
To Willie, Phosphorescent (7.5)
A Positive Rage, The Hold Steady (7.5)
Voltaic, Bjork (7.0)
Tribute to, Yim Yames (7.0)
Purplish Rain, Various Artists (Spin Compilation) (7.0)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Dub Band, Easy Star All-Stars (6.5)
Dark Side of the Moon, The Flaming Lips (6.5)

Digesting
Eat Us, Black Moth Super Rainbow
Yours Truly, The Commuter, Jason Lytle
Art Brut vs. Satan, Art Brut
Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode
The Bachelor, Patrick Wolf
Songs of Shame, Woods
Cause I Sez So, New York Dolls
A Real Diamond in the Rough, Buckethead
My Oracle Lives Uptown, William Orbit
Red, Datarock
Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP, Deerhunter
Yesterday and Today, The Field
Beacons of Ancestorship, Tortoise
Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Tori Amos
Primary Colours, The Horrors
Monoliths & Dimensions, Sunn O)))
Rose City, Viva Voce
Part the Second, Maudlin of the Well
Ambivalence Avenue, Bibio
Love, Flipper
I Was a King, I Was a King
See Mystery Lights, Yacht
Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know, múm
Live at the Music Hall in Williamsburg, Beirut
God Help the Girl, God Help the Girl
Wild at Heart, Noisettes
Far, Regina Spektor
Black Meteoric Star, Black Meteoric Star
Lungs, Florence and the Machine
Milky Ways, Joakim
Northern Stomp, Lo Fidelity All Stars
Guns Don't Kill People . . . Lazers Do, Major Lazer
Killingsworth, The Minus 5
Ciao!, Tiga
BLACKsummers'night, Maxwell
Between My Head and the Sky, Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
Party Rock, LMFAO
Wind's Poem, Mount Eerie
Horehounds, The Dead Weather
LP, Discovery
Time to Die, The Dodos
Watch Me Fall, Jay Reatard
The First Days of Spring, Noah and the Whale
Picket Fence Cartel, Project 86
UUVVWWZ, UUVVWWZ
Legends of Benin, Various Artists
In Shallow Seas We Sail, Emery
Leave This Town, Daughtry
Up from Below, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
jj n° 2, jj
Memoirs at the End of the World, The Postmarks
Clean Hands Go Foul, Khanate
Haunted Horse: Songs of Love, Defiance, and Delusion, Neon Horse
Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast, Cornershop
Light, Matisyahu
No One's First, and You're Next, Modest Mouse
Everything Goes Wrong, Vivian Girls
1372 Overton Park, Lucero
Born Like This, DOOM
The Outsiders, Needtobreathe
Forget the Night Ahead, The Twilight Sad
Born Again Revisited, Times New Viking
The Visitor, Jim O'Rourke
Two Dancers, Wild Beasts
The Incident, Porcupine Tree
All My Friends are Funeral Singers, Califone
Vapours, Islands
La Musica Teatrale, Kormorany
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II, Raekwon
Unmap, Volcano Choir
Forget the Night Ahead, The Twilight Sad
Seek Magic, Memory Tapes
Forget and Not Slow Down, Relient K
Six, The Black Heart Procession
This Is Us, Backstreet Boys
Curse Your Branches, David Bazan
Logos, Atlas Sound
Birds and Cages, Deas Vail
World Painted Blood, Slayer
Axe to Fall, Converge
Real Estate, Real Estate
Promenade, Grand Hallway
Florine, Julianna Barwick
Amanita Muscaria, Lights on the Highway
Too Soon for Flowers, The Dry Spells

DON'T EVEN BOTHER:
0.0: Not one redeeming characteristic (F)
0.5-1.5: Painful (F)
2.0-2.5: Terrible (F)
3.0-3.5: Poor  (F)
4.0-4.5: Nearing average (D)

BE WARNED:
5.0: Average  (C-)
5.5: Slightly above average (C )
6.0: Pretty Good; serious flaws (C+)

TRY IT:
6.5: Solid; detracting problems (B-)
7.0: Good; well above average (B )
7.5: Impressive; few major reservations (B+)

BUY IT:
8.0: Excellent; repeated listens suggested (A-)
8.5: Exceptional; repeated listens demanded (A)
9.0-9.5: Great; Very few, if any, notable flaws (A+)
10.0: Essential; Among the best of all time (A++)

[Ian]

Rated

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion - 9.7
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic - 9.6
Mew - No More Stories - 9.5
mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright - 9.5
Johann Johansson - And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees - 9.4
Kormorany - La Musica Teatrale - 9.4
The Antlers - Hospice - 9.4
Mastodon - Crack the Skye - 9.2
Mouse on the Keys - Anxious Object - 9.2
Hecq - Steeltongued - 9.2
Arve Henriksen - Cartography - 9.2
James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game - 9.1
fun. - Aim & Ignite - 9.1
The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love - 9.1
Ametsub - The Nothings of the North - 9.1
Maudlin of the Well - Part the Second - 9.1
The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca - 9.1
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimist - 9.1
Fever Ray - Fever Ray - 9.1
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast - 9.0
Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders - 9.0
OOIOO - ARMONICO HEWA - 8.9
Antony & the Johnsons - The Crying Light - 8.9
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - 8.8
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs - 8.8
The Dream - Love vs Money - 8.8
Joe Henry - Blood from the Stars - 8.8
Black Cock - Robot Child with a God Complex - 8.8
Tyondai Braxton - Central Market - 8.8
A Sunny Day In Glasglo - Ashes Grammar - 8.8
IAMX - Kingdom of the Welcome Addiction - 8.8
Exivious - Exivious - 8.8
Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix - 8.8
Karl Sanders - Saurian Exorcisms - 8.8
Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free - 8.7
The Field - Yesterday and Today - 8.7
The Protomen - The Father of Death - 8.7
The Life and Times - Tragic Boogie - 8.7
Mos Def - The Ecstatic - 8.6
Nels Cline - Coward - 8.6
The Horrors - Primary Colours - 8.6
M. Ward - Hold Time - 8.5
Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi - 8.5
Rain Machine - Rain Machine - 8.5
Dredg - The Pariah, The Pharoah, The Delusion - 8.5
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs - 8.4
Sir Richard Bishop - The Freak of Araby - 8.4
The Postmarks - Memoirs at the End of Time - 8.4
Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk - 8.4
St. Vincent - Actor - 8.4
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind - 8.4
The Elms - The Great American Midrange - 8.4
Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers - 8.4
The XX - XX - 8.4
Kiss Kiss - The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left - 8.4
Paper Route - Absence - 8.4
Balmorhea - All Is Wild, All Is Silent - 8.4
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - 8.3
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! - 8.3
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future - 8.3
Club of the Sons - Young Quanta - 8.3
Elizabeth and the Catapult - Taller Children - 8.3
Ozric Tentacles - The Yumyum Tree - 8.3
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another - 8.3
Joker's Daughter - The Last Laugh - 8.2
Yagya - Rigning - 8.2
P.O.S. - Never Better - 8.2
Air - Love 2
Bibio - Ambulence Avenue - 8.2
Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist - 8.2
The Most Serene Republic - ...And the Ever Expanding Universe - 8.2
Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Old Money - 8.2
Zu - Carboniferous - 8.2
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love - 8.2
K'naan - Troubadour - 8.2
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone - 8.2
Muse - The Resistance - 8.2
Do Make Say Think - Other Truths - 8.2
Ohbijou - Beacons - 8.1
The Mars Volta - Octahedron - 8.1
Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring - 8.1
Regina Spektor - Far - 8.1
Starfucker - Jupiter - 8.1
Sholi - Sholi - 8.1
Propagandhi - Supporting Caste - 8.1
Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles - 8.1
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You - 8.1
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns - 8.1
Porcupine Tree - The Incident - 8.1
Radio Moscow - Brain Cycles - 8.1
A.C. Newman - Get Guilty - 8.1
Röyksopp - Junior - 8.0
Mute Math - Armistice - 8.0
Metric - Fantasies - 8.0
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers - 8.0
Dan Black - Un - 8.0
Gossip - Music for Men - 8.0
Eels - Hombre Lobo - 8.0
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Out of Noise - 8.0
Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock -8.0
Burial & Four Tet - Moth/Wolf Cub - 8.0
Mountains - Choral - 8.0
Vienna Teng - Inland Territory - 8.0
PPP - Abundance - 8.0
Passion Pit - Manners - 8.0
N.A.S.A. - Spirit of Apollo - 7.9
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions - 7.9
Fanfarlo - Reservoirs - 7.9
Céu - Vagarosa - 7.9
Asobi Seksu - Hush - 7.9
Atom™ - Liedgut - 7.9
The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy - 7.9
Florence & The Machine - Lungs - 7.9
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls - 7.9
Wilco - Wilco (The Album) - 7.9
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us - 7.9
Telepathe - Dance Mother - 7.9
The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead - 7.8
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem - 7.8
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen - 7.8
Why? - Eskimo Snow - 7.8
Finale - A Pipe Dream and a Promise - 7.8
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms - 7.8
Doves - Kingdom of Rust - 7.8
Luck-One & Dekk - Beautiful Music - 7.8
Sin Fang Bous - Clangour - 7.8
Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Mega Ritual - 7.8
Scott Matthews - Elsewhere - 7.8
Ben Folds - Presents University A Cappella - 7.8
Wet Hair - Dream - 7.8
Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective - 7.8
Peter Bjorn & John - Living Thing - 7.7
Volcano Choir - Unmap - 7.7
Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns - 7.7
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer - 7.6
Arbouretum - Song of the Pearl - 7.6
Apples In Stereo - #1 Hits Explosion - 7.5
Oren Lavie - The Opposite Side of the Sea - 7.5
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career - 7.4
Pleq - The Metamorphosis - 7.4
Wavves - Wavvves - 7.4
A Hawk and a Hacksaw - Delivrance - 7.4
John Frusciante - The Empyrean - 7.4
Mokira - Persona - 7.3
Swan Lake - Enemy Mine - 7.3
Micachu and the Shapes - Jewelry - 7.2
Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand - 7.2
Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor - 7.2
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul - 7.2
Ganglians - Monster Head Room - 7.2
Circulatory System - Signal Morning - 7.2
Eleni Mandell - Artificial Fire - 7.2
El Goodo - Coyote - 7.2
The Paper Chase - Someday This Could All Be Yours - 7.1
Drake - So Far Gone - 7.1
Æthenor - Faking Gold and Money - 7.1
City Center - City Center - 7.1
Young Galaxy - Invisible Republic - 7.0
Bell Orchestre - As Seen Through Windows - 7.0
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Outer South - 6.9
Moderat - Moderat - 6.9
Dan Deacon - Bromst - 6.9
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm - 6.9
Snakeosaurus Rex - Rhino - 6.9
U2 - No Line on the Horizon - 6.9
UUVVWWZ - UUVVWWZ - 6.9
Allá - Digs - 6.9
Thee Oh Sees - Help - 6.9
Yukihiro Yakahashi - Page by Page - 6.9
Fiction Family - Fiction Family - 6.9
The Dodos - Time to Die - 6.8
Dananananaykroid - Hey Everyone! - 6.8
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown - 6.8
Le Loup - Family - 6.8
Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing - 6.8
Viva Voce - Rose City - 6.8
Wye Oak - The Knot - 6.8
The Audition - The Audition - 6.8
Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian - 6.8
White Rabbits - It's Frightening - 6.7
Vetiver - Tight Knit - 6.8
The Cool Kids - Gone Fishing - 6.5
Dälek - Gutter Tactics - 6.5
Yacht - See Mystery Lights - 6.4
Japandroids - Post-Nothing - 6.2
Owen - New Leaves - 6.2
Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine - 6.2
Great Eskimo Hoax - Of Many Victories - 6.1
The Wooden Birds - Magnolia - 6.0
The Forms - Icarus - 6.0
Fabio Orsi/Valerio Cosi - Thoughts Melt in the Air - 5.9
Crystal Antlers - Tentacles - 5.9
Ya Boy - Kush - 5.9
Andrew Bird - Useless Creatures - 5.8
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - 5.7
Om - God is Good - 5.7
Caspian - Tertia - 5.6
Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day - 5.6
Electrik Red - How to be A Lady - 5.5
Codes In The Clouds - Paper Canyon - 5.5
Newsboys - In the Hands of God - 5.4
Wixel - Winter - 5.2
Blu - Her Favorite Colo(u)r - 5.0
BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa - Man From Deep River - 4.9
Tim Hecker - Imaginary Country - 4.8
Flipper - Love - 4.6
Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream - 4.1
Loren Connors & Jim O'Rourke - Two Nice Catholic Boys - 3.1
Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Despair - 1.9

Compilations/EPs

Brasstronaut - Old World Lies EP - 9.0
Iron & Wine - Norfolk - 9.0
White Hinterland - Luniculaire EP - 9.0
Shugo Tokumaru - Rum Hee - 8.5
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Mutations EP - 8.5
Washed Out - Life of Leisure EP - 8.0
Einstellung - Sleep Easy Mr. Parker - 8.0
Mew - No More Stories EP - 8.0
CocoRosie - Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food EP - 8.0
Beirut / Realpeople - Holland - 7.5
Adore - Emotion EP - 7.5
Beirut - March of the Zapotec - 7.0
Death Cab for Cutie - The Open Door EP - 7.0
The New Heaven and The New Earth – All Saints Day EP - 6.5
S p o o n - Got Nuffin EP - 6.5
Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse EP - 6.5
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP - 6.0
Mute Math - Spotlight EP - 5.5

Standout Tracks
Songs I'll be considering for my best of 2009 playlist.  Limit 1 per artist.

Animal Collective - "My Girls"
Andrew Bird - "Anonanimal"
Franz Ferdinand - "No You Girls"
Fever Ray - "Coconut"
Antony & the Johnsons - "Dust and Water"
Lily Allen - "Back to the Start"
Bat for Lashes - "Siren Song"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Dull Life"
Akron/Family - "River"
Camera Obscura - "French Navy"
The Dream - "Rockin That Shit"
Phoenix - "1901"
Metric - "Sick Muse"
Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
The Antlers - "Two"
Giuseppe Ielasi - "08"
The Decemberists - "The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned)"
Mastodon - "Oblivion"
IAMX - "An I for an I"
St Vincent - "Marrow"
mewithoutYou - "King Beetle of the Coconut Escape"
Paper Route - "Dance On Our Graves"
Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"
Dirty Projectors - "Usefull Chamber"
Dredg - "Ireland"
Hecq - "I Will Survive"
The Dirty Projectors - "Useful Chamber"
CocoRosie - "Milkman"
Club of the Sons - "Streetwork"
James Blackshaw - "Cross"
Black Cock - "A Fast One"
Ametsub - "Snowy Lava"
Eels - "Tremendous Dynamite"
Bibio - "Ambivalence Avenue"
Vienna Teng - "Antebellum"
Flourence and the Machine - "Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)"
Noah and the Whale - "The First Day of Spring"
Mew - "Silas and His Magic Car"
Mute Math - "Clipping"
Yo La Tengo - "Here to Fall"
Fun. - "Barlights"
The Big Pink - "Dominos"

Digesting

Jon Hassell - Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street
Faust - C'est Com...Com...Complique
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Condo Fucks - Fuckbook
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
Iron & Wine - Around the Well
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
Diamond Watch Wrist - Ice Capped At Both Ends
Buddy And Julie Miller - Written In Chalk
Steve Earle - Townes
Son Volt - American Central Dust
Miko Miko - We Be Xuxa
Pomegranates - Everybody, Come Outside!
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Gray Young - Firmament
Hacride - Lazarus
Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light
Apostle Of Hustle - Eats Darkness
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter
Tombs - Winter Hours
The Thermals - Now We Can See
Faunts - Feel. Love. Thinking. Of.
The Legends - Over and Over
Buckethead - A Real Diamond in the Rough
Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
William Orbit - My Oracle Lives Uptown
Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
Clues - Clues
Woods - Songs of Shame
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Malajube - Labyrinthes
Gliss - Devotion Implosion
The Hunches - Exit Dreams
A Setting Sun & Shigeto - Table for Two
Emeralds - What Happened?
Predator Vision/Sun Araw - Split
Vibes - You God It
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo - Hiekkarantaa
Driphouse - Sewer Mist
Kasabian - West Ryder Lunatic Asylum
J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid
Cloudc - Cloudc
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
William Elliott Whitmore - Animals in the Dark
Bonny "Prince" Billy - Beware
Group Doueh - Treeg Salaam
Jonas Brothers - Lines, Vines and Trying Times
Evan Parker & John Wiese - C-Section
Discovery - LP
Nadja - Numbness
Pete Yorn - Back & Forth
Venetian Snares - Filth
Pony Pony Run Run - You Need Pony Pony Run Run
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
Múm - Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know
Street Sweeper Social Club - Street Sweeper Social Club
Shogun Kunitoki - Vinonaamakasio
Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Minus 5 - Killingsworth
The Gentle Lurch - The Beat of the Heart Is the Beat of the Boss
The Builders and the Butchers - Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well
Nero's Day in Disneyland - From Rotting Fantasylands
Said The Whale - Howe Sounds
The Tumbled Sea - Melody/Summer
The Dead Weather - Horehound
Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
La Roux - La Roux
Imogen Heap - Ellipse
Kronos Quartet - Floodplain
Holiday Shores - Columbus'd The Whim
Matisyahu - Light
Polvo - In Prism
Reverie Sound Revue - Reverie Sound Revue
Girls - Album
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Your Heart Breaks – Love Is A Long Dark Road (Love Is All You Need)
Mission of Burma - The Sound The Speed The Light
Other Lives - Other Lives
Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam band with Tim and Sam - Summer Solstice
Islands - Vapors
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
I AWAKE - The Core
William Basinski - 92982
Clubroot - Clubroot
Emeralds - Emeralds
Roy Montgomery - The Allegory of Hearing
Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
The Gentleman Losers - Dustland
Jonny Foreigner - Grace And The Bigger Picture
Tegan and Sera - Sainthood

Anticipating

Lupe Fiasco - Lasers
Kanye West - Good Ass Job
Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
Club of the Sons - Psychic Dream Twin
Drake - Thank Me Later
Jaga Jazzist
Stars
Justice
Brasstronaut

2010...

Switchfoot - Vice Verses
Menomena
The National
Arcade Fire
S p o o n
Broken Social Scene
Radiohead
Joanna Newsom
Tom Waits
LCD Soundsystem
Panda Bear

[dgp11776]

Top 30
1.  mewithoutYou – It’s all Crazy! It’s all False! It’s all a Dream! It’s Alright  10.00
2.  Steven Curtis Chapman - Beauty Will Rise  9.75
3.  Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane  9.75
4.  David Crowder Band - Church Music  9.75
5.  Emery - ...In Shallow Seas We Sail  9.50
6.  Paper Route - Absence  9.50
7.  Joy Williams - Songs From This and That Double EP  9.50
8.  Sherwood - Qu  9.50
9.  Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down  9.25
10.  Joe Henry - Blood From Stars  9.25
11.  Cas Metah - Guest Room  9.25
12.  Sleeping At Last - Storyboards  9.25
13.  We Shot the Moon - A Silver Lining  9.00
14.  Project 86 - Picket Fence Cartel  9.00
15.  Needtobreathe - The Outsiders  9.00
16.  Deepspace 5 - 5print Mixtape  9.00
17.  Surrogate - Popular Mechanics  9.00
18.  Deas Vail - Birds & Cages  8.75
19.  Anchor & Braille - Felt  8.75
20.  The Glorious Unseen - The Hope That Lies In You  8.75
21.  Paramore - Brand New Eyes  8.50
22.  Owl City - Ocean Eyes  8.50
23.  Mute Math - Armistice  8.50
24.  Jars of Clay – The Long Fall Back To Earth  8.50
25.  Jonathan Jones - We Were Young  8.50
26.  Michael Buble - Crazy Love  8.50
27.  Fiction Family – Fiction Family  8.50  
28.  A.C. Newman – Get Guilty  8.50
29.  Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi  8.50
30.  Dear Reader - Replace Why With Funny  8.50

Also Recommended
Athlete - Black Swan  8.50
Shirock – Everything Burns  8.50
Kristene Mueller - Those Who Dream  8.50
Various Artists – CompassionArt: Creating Freedom From Poverty CD/DVD  8.50
Braille & Symbolyc – Cloud Nineteen  8.50
Griffin House - 42 and a Half Minutes With Griffin House  8.50
U2 – No Line On the Horizon  8.50
Phil Wickham - Heaven and Earth  8.25
Kutless - It Is Well  8.25
A Fine Frenzy - Bomb In a Birdcage  8.25
Manic Drive - Blue  8.25
The Elms - The Great American Midrange  8.25
Madeleine Peyroux – Bare Bones  8.25
Branford Marsalis Quartet - Metamorphosen  8.25
Between the Trees - Spain  8.25
There For Tomorrow - A Little Faster  8.25
Davy Jones' Locker - Schizophrenia, The Dance Machine  8.00
Falling Up – Fangs  8.00
All Star United - The Good Album  8.00
He Is Legend - It Hates You  8.00
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - III  8.00
As Cities Burn – Hell or High Water  8.00
Christy Nockels - Life Light Up  8.00
The Fold - Dear Future, Come Get Me  7.75
Daughtry - Leave This Town  7.75
Superdrag - Industry Giants  7.75
Wynton Marsalis - He and She  7.75
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone  7.50
Meg & Dia - Here, Here, and Here  7.50
Jason Gray - Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue  7.50
Hundred Year Storm - The Future Belongs To the Brave  7.50
Melody Gardot - My One and Only Thrill  7.50
Thrice - Beggars  7.25
Aaron Shust - Take Over  7.25
Molly Jenson - Maybe Tomorrow  7.25
Everfound - Colorful Alibis & Scandalous Smiles  7.00
Leeland - Love Is On the Move  7.00
Matt Redman - We Shall Not Be Shaken  7.00
Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome  7.00
Kristian Stanfill - Attention  6.75
Avalon - Reborn  6.50
The Working Title - Bone Island  6.50
Neon Horse - Haunted Horse: Songs of Love and Defiance  6.25
Vota – Vota  6.25
Red - Innocence & Instinct  6.25
Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted  6.25
Thousand Foot Krutch - Welcome to the Masquerade  6.25

Not Recommended
Phillips, Craig & Dean - Fearless  6.00
Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life  6.00
Newsboys – In the Hands of God  6.00
Cathy Crescendo – The Bright Branching  6.00
Melinda Doolittle – Coming Back To You  6.00
Dreampilots - Comedown  6.00
Bethany Dillon - Stop & Listen  5.75
CookBook - I Love the 80's  5.50
Harry Connick, Jr. - Your Songs  5.25
Lanae Hale - Back & Forth  5.25
Brandon Bee - This Is the Revolution  5.25
Renee Olstead – Skylark  5.00
Mat Kearney – City of Black and White  5.00
Exit the Ordinary - Exit the Ordinary  4.50
Britt Nicole - The Lost Get Found  4.25
Decyfer Down - Crash  4.25
John Waller - While I'm Waiting  4.25
Travis Cottrell - Jesus Saves: Live  4.00
The Fray – The Fray  4.00
Revive - Chorus of the Saints  4.00
Skillet - Awake  4.00
Diana Krall – Quiet Nights  3.00
And Then There Were None – Who Speaks For Planet Earth?  3.00

Live Albums, EP’s, Greatest Hits, DVD's, Cover Albums
Joy Williams – One of Those Days EP  9.50
Delirious? - My Soul Sings DVD/CD  9.50
Run the Red Light - Run the Red Light EP  9.25
Rootbeer - Pink Limousine EP  9.25
Future of Forestry - Travel II  9.25
The Ember Days - The Ember Days EP  9.25
Gaither Vocal Band – Reunion DVD's  9.25
Mae - (m)orning EP  9.00
Starflyer 59 - Ghosts of the Past  9.00
The Almost - Monster EP  8.75
Gaither Vocal Band - Reunited  8.50
Cas Metah and MotionPlus - SomeBuddies EP  8.25
Future of Forestry – Travel  8.00
Abandon Kansas - We're All Going Somewhere EP  8.00
High Flight Society - Par Avion EP  8.00
House of Heroes - Meets the Beatles EP  8.00
Katie Herzig - Live In Studio: Acoustic Trio  8.00
Eisley - Fire Kites EP  8.00
The Civil Wars - Live at Eddie's Attic  8.00
Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft  7.75
MxPx – On the Cover II  7.50
Quietdrive - Close Your Eyes EP  7.50
Jets Under Fire - EP2  7.25
Abandon - Abandon II EP  7.25
Mark Mathis - Secret In This Town EP  7.00
The Honey Trees - Wake the Earth EP  7.00
Shine Bright Baby - The Heart and Its Hope EP  6.50
Kristian Stanfill – Attention EP  6.50
Jets Under Fire - EP1  6.25
Colour Academy – Through Telescopes EP  6.25
Change - The Stimulus Plan EP  6.25
Family Force 5 - Dance or Die With a Vengeance  6.00
Manchild - Insider Delayed Delivery Volume 1  6.00
The Canvas Waiting - A Season's Change  6.00
Matt Moore - No Place To Hide EP  5.75
Copeland - The Grey Man EP  5.50
The Letter Black - Breaking the Silence EP  5.00
Josh Wilson - Life Is Not a Snapshot  5.00

Digesting
The Almost - Monster, Monster
David Archuleta - Christmas From the Heart
Ascend the Hill - Ascend the Hill
Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas
B.Reith - Now Is Not Forever
downhere - How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas
Family Force 5 - Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant
Flyleaf - Memonto Mori
Joy Electric - Favorites At Play
Brian Lee & His Orchestra - Let Yourself Be Happy
Mae - (a)fternoon EP
The Rocket Summer - You Gotta Believe EP
Chris Tomlin - Glory In the Highest

Want to Hear – Released
Attack Cat - When the Moon Was Big EP
Casting Crowns - Until the Whole World Hears
Club of the Sons - Young Quanta
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound - Every Light That Shines At Christmas
House of Heroes - House of Heroes Presents the Christmas Classics EP
Vedera - Stages

Want to Hear – Future Releases
Newsong - Give Yourself Away (11/24)
PaperTongues - untitled (2009)
The Reign of Kindo - untitled EP (November)
John Reuben - Sex, Drugs, and Self Control (12/22)
Seabird - Rocks Into Rivers (12/15)

Last Update:  11/11/09 (Graded Deas Vail, Owl City, Quietdrive, Switchfoot)  

Grading Scale
9.00 - 10.00 (A- to A+)
7.50 - 8.75 (B- to B+)
6.25 - 7.25 (C to C+)
5.25 - 6.00 (C- to C)
4.00 - 5.00 (D- to D+)
0.00 - 3.75 (F)

[NinjaRob17]

Top 10
1. mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright (A)
2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (A)
3. fun. - Aim and Ignite (A)
4. David Crowder Band - Church Music (A-)
5. Mastodon - Crack The Skye (A-)  
6. He Is Legend - It Hates You (A-)
7. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (A-)
8. Mew - No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away (A-)
9. maudlin of the Well - Part The Second (A-)
10. Falling Up - Fangs! (B+)

I Liked It
Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another (B+)
Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome (B+)
Mos Def - The Ecstatic (B+)
Converge - Axe To Fall (B+)
As Cities Burn - Hell Or High Water (B+)
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic (B+)
The Marked Men - Ghosts (B+)
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (B+)
The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love (B+)
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (B+)
Fever Ray - Fever Ray (B+)
Sufjan Stevens - The BQE (B+)
The Dead Weather - Horehound (B+)
Mute Math - Armistice (B+)
Ghinzu - Mirror Mirror (B+)
Emery - ...In Shallow Seas We Sail (B+)
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (B+)

I Was OK With It
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic (B)
Imogen Heap - Ellipse (B)
Project 86 - Picket Fence Cartel (B)
Super Mash Bros. - All About The Scrilions (B)
The Protomen - Act II: The Father Of Death (B)
JJ - JJ N° 2 (B)
Deas Vail - Birds & Cages (B)
The Chariot - Wars And Rumors Of Wars (B)
Silversun Pickups - Swoon (B)
Thrice - Beggars (B)
The Mountain Goats - The Life Of The World To Come (B)
Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster - III (B)
Atlas Sound - Logos (B)
Showbread - The Fear Of God (B)
Needtobreathe - The Outsiders (B)
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King (B)
Neon Horse - Haunted Horse: Songs of Love, Defiance and Delusion (B)
Madness - The Liberty Of Norton Folgate (B)
Röyksopp - Junior (B)
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (B)
Tegan and Sara - Sainthood (B)
Sleeping At Last - Storyboards (B)
Relient K - Forget And Not Slow Down (B)
The XX - XX (B)
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug (B)
OOIOO - ARMONICO HEWA (B)
Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane (B)
Regina Spektor - Far (B)
Jars Of Clay - The Long Fall Back To Earth (B)
Muse - The Resistance (B)
The Mars Volta - Octahedron (B)
Paramore - Brand New Eyes (B)
Anchor & Braille - Felt (B)
All Star United - The Good Album (B)
Billy Talent - III (B)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (B)
Hundred Year Storm - The Future Belongs To The Brave (B)
Davy Jones' Locker - Schizophrenia, The Dance Machine (B)
Bang Camaro - Bang Camaro II (B)
Fiction Family - Fiction Family (B)
The Elms - The Great American Midrange (B)
Sunn O))) - Monoliths And Dimensions (B)
August Burns Red - Constellations (B)
Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights (B)
Korpiklaani - Karkelo (B)
Owl City - Ocean Eyes (B-)
Milkman - Circle Of Fifths (B-)
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (B-)
A Plea For Purging - Depravity (B-)
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg (B-)
Pretty Lights - Passing By Behind Your Eyes (B-)
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings (B-)
U2 - No Line On The Horizon (B-)
Matisyahu - Light (B-)
Valley Of Walls - Super Smashup Bros (B-)
Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes (B-)
The Devil Wears Prada - With Roots Above And Branches Below (B-)
Thousand Foot Krutch - Welcome To The Masquerade (C+)
Dethklok - The Dethalbum II (C+)
Random - Mega Ran 9 (C+)
Torpeedoh - Buckwild (C+)
A Billion Ernies - Dumpster Generation (C+)

I Did Not Like It
Red - Innocence & Instinct (C)
For Today - Portraits (C)
E-603 - Torn Up (C)
Broadcast & the Focus Group - Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (C-)
Newsboys - In The Hands Of God (C-)
Easter Egg - Jackin' For Beats (D)
Skillet - Awake (D-)

EPs, Live Albums, Cover Albums, etc.
Mae - (m)orning E.P. (A-)
Starflyer 59 - Ghosts Of The Past (A-)
Deepspace 5 - 5print Mixtape (B+)
Future Of Forestry - Travel II (B+)
The Violet Burning - Sting Like Bees And Sing (B+)
Rootbeer - Pink Limousine E.P. (B+)
Stavesacre - Against The Silence E.P. (B)
Washed Out - High Times (B)
MxPx - On The Cover II (B)
Franz Ferdinand - Blood (B)
Future Of Forestry - Travel (B)
Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft (B-)
Family Force 5 - Dance Or Die With A Vengeance (B-)
Reel Big Fish - Fame, Fortune and Fornication (C+)
Andrew Bird - Useless Creatures (D)

Digesting
The Almost - Monster Monster
Lil' Wayne - No Ceilings
Joy Electric - Favorites At Play
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
The Hood Internet - The Mixtape Volume Four
Brand New - Daisy
Weezer - Raditude
Swimfail - Vermin
Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
Mae - (a)fternoon E.P.
Flyleaf - Memento Mori
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
No Age - Losing Feeling E.P.
Nirvana - Live At Reading
Immanu El - Moen
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind E.P.
Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
Team Teamwork - The Ocarina Of Rhyme
Grand Hallway - Promenade
BarlowGirl - Love & War
Sidewalk Prophets - These Simple Truths
Washed Out - Life of Leisure
John Reuben - Sex, Drugs and Self-Control
Club of the Sons - Young Quanta
Oh, Sleeper - Son Of the Morning
Micachu - Jewellery
Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles
Andrew Jackson Jihad - Can't Maintain
The Antlers - Hospice
Rooftop Access - Reals and Dreamity
Shapes Like Dinosaurs - Cretaceous Calculus EP
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs - World Is Yours
Phil Wickham - Heaven & Earth
Fee - Hope Rising
Phillips, Craig & Dean - Fearless
MercyMe - 10
Sara Groves - Fireflies and Songs
Decyfer Down - Crash
So Long Forgotten - Things We Can See & Things We Cannot

[danny316]

Not that it matters with how little time I've spent following music recently, but here's mine (out of guilt for missing so much, started trying to actually hear things in September):

Musts:
1. Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome

Quite good
2. Works Progress Administration
3. David Bazan Curse Your Branches
4. The Dead Weather - Horehound *

meh
Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth *
U2 - No Line On the Horizon *
Regina Spektor Far*

Digesting:
Fiction Family - Fiction Family
Rocco DeLuca - Mercy
Vienna Teng - Inland Territory
Green Day  - 21st Century Breakdown
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Joe Henry
The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

Already Released, Need to Hear It:
Sara Watkins - Sara Watkins
Mute Math - Armistice
Iron & Wine - Around the Well
Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane

Anticipating:
Sleeping at Last (August)
Barenaked Ladies
Fleet Foxes
John Reuben
Sixpence None the Richer
Blindside
* = not bought
Updated: December 27th, 2009, but not synchronized with my little text file where I brainstormed by year for best of the decade.

[TheWanderer]

I'm not doing a journal this year for many reasons but I wanted to comment that I find it curious that Josh is the only one in this thread to give the U2 album a grade in the A range. Everyone else has it from a B+ to C-.  Interesting.

[murlough23]

I'm not doing a journal this year for many reasons but I wanted to comment that I find it curious that Josh is the only one in this thread to give the U2 album a grade in the A range. Everyone else has it from a B+ to C-.  Interesting.

B+ is pretty close to an A. I don't see a reason to single Josh out as the oddball there; I think people's reactions to it have been widely divergent in general. In general you're probably more likely to be tolerant of the weird/awkward parts of the album if you've been a U2 fan for a long time and are used to their quirks.

[Josh]

Yeah; I could send you to 10 or 12 different reviews that have the album in the A-range, and even a few that have it well below the B/C-range. It's nothing if not a provocative work.

[bloop]

Bill Bailey on U2

Sorry, I just had to.   

[murlough23]

Bill Bailey on U2

Sorry, I just had to.   

Indeed. A lot of Edge's riffs from U2's popular chimey songs are ridiculously easy to play if you have the right effects pedal or whatever equipment is needed for the delay. But screw it, I still think it sounds cool. Just 'cause something's easy to play doesn't mean it's bad art.

And I think Edge has shown enough versatility elsewhere to prove he's not a one-trick pony.

[bloop]

You're kind of preaching to the choir there.  Bailey seems to like to rip on a lot of things that I think he actually has some respect for.

[ajyouthguy]

I'm not doing a journal this year for many reasons but I wanted to comment that I find it curious that Josh is the only one in this thread to give the U2 album a grade in the A range. Everyone else has it from a B+ to C-.  Interesting.

if I was one to actually give a grade, i would probably go A-

[TheWanderer]

B+ is pretty close to an A. I don't see a reason to single Josh out as the oddball there; I think people's reactions to it have been widely divergent in general. In general you're probably more likely to be tolerant of the weird/awkward parts of the album if you've been a U2 fan for a long time and are used to their quirks.

I was just using him as the example because his grade stood out amongst others. That's all. Not saying it's an oddity. It's just interesting to see the various opinions.  I'm as interested in why Josh gave it a 10.0 (which I've already read through) as I am to why Ian gave it a grade in the 6-7 range.  Basically, I was thinking outloud.

[Ian]

^because it is uneventful and boring, but the songs range from decent - good, rarely above that.

[murlough23]

^because it is uneventful and boring to me, but I feel that the songs range from decent - good, rarely above that.

Fixed.

[TheWanderer]

^because it is uneventful and boring, but the songs range from decent - good, rarely above that.

Hey, now you know how I feel about Fever Ray!

[bloop]

Eh, I prefer the authoritative voice, even when I disagree with it.

[murlough23]

Eh, I prefer the authoritative voice, even when I disagree with it.

Even then, there's a different between what factually is bad music (or good music) and what is widely regarded (or critically regarded) as such. it's good to be aware of how something is regarded by others, but that does not dictate that I must regard it that way myself.

[Ian]

Hey, now you know how I feel about Fever Ray!

no, fever ray is excellent and is incomparable to the sludge that is No Line


Heh, just kidding.

[TheWanderer]

1.5/10 for The Fray!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


AWESOME.

[Ian]

I should probably listen to The Fray simply in an effort to not have more 9's than <5's.

[Ian]

Hey Josh, where'd your list go?

[bloop]

Either he's tired of what is really a pretty reductionist activity, or a feud I thought would be in the past is still looming. 

Either way, I'm sad.  I appreciate his recommendations.

[TheWanderer]

Either he's tired of what is really a pretty reductionist activity,

that's what happened with me.

[murlough23]

Either he's tired of what is really a pretty reductionist activity, or a feud I thought would be in the past is still looming.

I'm over it. Not sure what his deal is.

Either way, I'm sad.  I appreciate his recommendations.

I do too, and I've made this known several times. But apparently all it takes is one minor gripe, and suddenly that blows up into "I don't appreciate anything you do or say or like and I wish you'd just go away."

[RedcoatJones]

I'm bummed... I like looking at everyone's lists and getting a feel for what everyone thinks with one thread (instead of going through all the different album threads).

And I have no inside knowledge, but the list disappearance could also be due to his professional writing responsibilities. Pubs typically want exclusive content (even the ones which are free to read), and they may not want another copy of that list out there before his official article is written.

[murlough23]

And I have no inside knowledge, but the list disappearance could also be due to his professional writing responsibilities. Pubs typically want exclusive content (even the ones which are free to read), and they may not want another copy of that list out there before his official article is written.

That'd be a bummer. Saving your "official" reviews for a site you are contracted to write for makes sense, but not even being able to share your opinion in more of an informal, off-the-cuff sort of manner elsewhere? That's ridiculous. Plus I feel like he'd have at least said something to us about it if that were the case.

He posted a link to his Derek Webb review, so Josh is still active here in some sense. If he's taken content away from The Phorum because he's been mandated to by someone else, then I think that someone else has taken a vital element away from this Phorum, as Josh was one of its founding members. If he's taken content away because of an issue with one of us (probably me), then I hope he knows we want him back and I can at least say for myself that I harbor no ill will.

[Ian]

For my part, I take all intrnet scuffles I get into VERY personally.  If someone didn't agree with one of my ratings, my list would be gone.

[murlough23]

For my part, I take all intrnet scuffles I get into VERY personally.  If someone didn't agree with one of my ratings, my list would be gone.

I can't see how Mew warrants anything higher than a 9.3. 

[TheWanderer]

For my part, I take all intrnet scuffles I get into VERY personally.  If someone didn't agree with one of my ratings, my list would be gone.

Your list sucks.   

[murlough23]

Your list sucks.   

Dogpile!!!

[bloop]

I think I just have the advantage of being very self-assured. 

Disagree with me?  So.

[murlough23]

I think I just have the advantage of being very self-assured. 

Disagree with me?  So.

There are times when I admire/envy your ability to just let that sort of stuff roll off.

[dgp11776]

I think I just have the advantage of being very self-assured. 

Disagree with me?  So.

Same here.

[RedcoatJones]

Well, as much as I listen to music online, I have picked up (or streamed or dl'ed) only a handful of full albums this year. My thoughts:

Top 10:
1. Mew - No More Stories: 8
2. Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome: 8
3. A.C. Newman - Get Guilty: 7
4. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown: 7
5. Falling Up - Fangs: 7
6. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the GooGrux King: 7
7.
8.
9.
10.

Compilations/EPs/Singles/Re-releases:
Mae - (M)orning: 9
Future of Forestry - Travel: 7

Digesting:
Vienna Teng - Inland Territory