This Year's Favorites...

(in this order, sorta...)

1. Asobi Seksu >> Citrus
2. Neko Case >> Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
3. Band of Horses >> Everything All The Time
4. Mogwai >> Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
5. Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins >> Rabbit Fur Coat
6. Joanna Newsom >> Ys
7. Camera Obscura >> Let's Get Out of This Country
8. The Radio Dept >> Pet Grief
9. The Decemberists >> The Crane Wife
10. Cat Power >> The Greatest
    
11. Sparklehorse >> Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
12. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan >> Ballad of the Broken Seas
13. Tom Waits >> Orphans
    

I didn't really get much new music this year, or at least it didn't feel like I did...but this is what I liked. Fairly predictable, if you know me, but there it is. I'm sure there's tons of stuff that I should be listening to, as well, so I'm open to any recommendations.

I have to say, after a so-so (to put it politely) debut a couple years ago, the Asobi Seksu album came out of nowhere and absolutely floored me. I mean, I was expecting nothing but greatness from Neko Case, but the way AS took me by surprise is the reason I placed it at number one.

Band of Horses took me by surprise, as well. I had read that they were a couple guys who used to be in Carissa's Wierd (sic), whom I really love. So I picked up the BoH album, not really knowing what to expect, and ended up with a wonderful album. I got to see them live, and they sounded fucking great.

I keep using the word, surprise, but it applies to the Jenny Lewis album as well. I'm not a huge Rilo Kiley fan, but I do enjoy their work. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins caught me off guard with its...simplicity, I guess is the right word. The album is really charming and only gets better with repeated listens.

The Zidane album, to me, is a big improvement over Mr. Beast. I love the quiet beauty within. It's very subtle and understated. Don't get me wrong, I love the noise and fuzz as much as anyone else, but I love the opposite end of the spectrum as well.

**EDIT** I just realized I forgot to throw in Tom Waits' Orphans, even though I haven't listened to all of it. It's three discs long, but c'mon, it's Tom Waits. He's the man, okay?