In no order, except #1

1. Thom Yorke — The Eraser
This album dropped like a bombshell from the ether. When the summer started, there was no Radiohead album on the way, nothing to look forward to from the quintet but bootlegs of live shows and skepticism of what, when and how the album would be composed. Well, still no word on the album, but Yorke supplied The Eraser to hold us over. This album was the product of piecemeal songwriting and ideas dreamt up on tour buses and hotel rooms. The X factor is producer Nigel Godrich, who brought the project together and once again proved why he is the best producer in the world. Eraser is a dark, brooding album
about paranoia, existence, and of course, the government. All of this is done in the glow of laptop electronica, and constructed around the surprisingly confident voice of Yorke.

Peter Bjorn & John — Writer’s Block
From those first few whistles that breathe in “Young Folks,” I was
hooked. It truly was love at first listen, and for this connoisseur,
that is unusual. I know that if I listen to this album early in the
day, it will indelibly still be rattling around my head when it hits the pillow that night. This is pop music the way it is supposed to be
done. There’s no flashy percussion, no studio wizardry, just tightly
wound songs that rely just upon what they are, and that is hooks so strong and appealing it’s impossible not to take the bait.

Band of Horses — Everything All the Time
On the best debut of the year, if these guys were horses, they would be Clydesdales. Not the beer toting ones, though. Big, badass Clydesdales with guitars and the wherewithal to do things that dozens of bands have been doing before them, but do them so damn well that they have become the starting point for comparison.

Vetiver — To Find Me Gone
This is the type of album you can plan a lazy afternoon around. Andy Cabic and fellows expand greatly on their debut here and create an album chock-full of minimal acoustic jaunts and boot stomping singalongs. Cabic is such a great decision maker, and he understands that leaving a few bars open once in a while is a good thing.

Gnarls Barkley — St. Elsewhere
Why is Danger Mouse looking like the biggest genius in music all of the sudden? He might just be. He never did really get his due from the pre-“Crazy” period, but he deservedly does now. This album is about the pitfalls of life, all the things that can make you go crazy, that is. Then, of course, there is Cee-Lo, the reverend father painstakingly preaching the wildly fresh beats.

Cold War Kids — Robbers and Cowards
After listening to this album dozens of times, I still feel like I’ve
only scratched the surface of introspective understanding. The dense and cryptic lyrics would have been enough to love, but then the Kids bust out the riffs and stomps. This album’s like a southern gothic cathedral: it’s scope nearly overwhelming, it’s creepy and brooding with symbols of penitance. The Cold War Kids are the best “blog band” out there.

Annuals — Be He Me
“I only feel like I’m living when I feel like I’m dying,” lead singer
Adam Baker announces in the debut from the Carolina band Annuals. If flying by-the-seat living is what Baker prescribes to, his music definitely follows that lifestyle. Annuals rely on swirling effects, pace and mood-changing anthems mixed in with endearing , heartfelt ballads. You never know what this album is going to throw at you, keeping you on your toes in anticipation of the next cog that will be strategically tossed into the mix.

Neko Case — Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
This album certainly was a grower. It was one of those things I
listened to, put away for a few months, then brought back out
and nearly beat my own ass for not loving it before. There is of
course her voice, which is unflinching and conjured from God knows where, and the songs are sharp, witty, and spiritual.

Guther — Sundet
The art of guitar power pop has been officially perfected by these
Morr Music Swedes. Sundet is nothing all too flashy, but it will
kill you with kindness. It is crisp, clean, smooth, and almost too
sweet for its own good. It does move faster than molasses, though, and the swooning choruses sung by the almost melancholic Julia Guther are sublime.

Midlake — The Trials of Van Occupanther
For the past couple months, I’ve seriously contemplated changing my name to Roscoe and building a time machine. Trials sure is an unconventional concept album, but that’s why it’s so interesting. No one could have predicted the drastic change in sound from their debut, which is also a classic, but this album makes me think they could cut a gospel album and it would still kick ass.