Well alright guys and gals (I'm the ultimate musical layman and I suck @ descriptions so bear with me):
10.) Pinetop Seven - Beneath Confederate Lake
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...though actually it's mostly B-Sides and unreleased material from 2005 (when the epic The Night's Bloom was released.) There are a few new songs though. Pinetop Seven blends the sounds of both American Folk and Country. They are also from Chicago, and many influences from other local artists are pretty evident here. Chi-Town rulessss
Listen to: The Western Ash, Hurry Home Dark Cloud, Beneath Confederate Lake
09.) The Blow - Paper Television
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Fun, catchy, glitchy pop album. Short and sweet as well clocking in at about half an hour. I prefer The Blow over The Microphones, but I'm not really much of a Microphones fan. Few boring tracks, but some really great ones as well. Good album.
Listen to: Parenthesis, Babay, Fists Up
08.) Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
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My favorite member of the NP in his latest solo release. Really fun and charming album. Bejar has a really weird-ish but great voice.
Listen to: European Oils, Your Blood, Priests Kness
07.) Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
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Not as good as Sonic Nurse imo, but still a great effort by the Youth. One of
the shortest and most accessible SY albums as well.
Listen to: Incinerate, Jams Run Free, Lights Out
06.) Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
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Dunno whether to label this as "alt-country" or just standard country music without all of the mainstream CMT cheesiness. Whatever it is, it's good.
Neko Case has a fiery voice and Fox Confessor is really soulful.
Listen to: Star Witness, John Saw that Number, Margaret vs Pauline
05.) Magnolia Electric Co. - Fading Trails
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Same dreary, somber stylings of Jason Molina, but also one of his most accessible albums yet as well. "Magnolia Electric Co." by Songs Ohia was my favorite Molina project so far, but this comes pretty close.
Listen to: Don't Fade on Me, Montgomery, Lonesome Valley
04.) Fern Knight - Music for Witches and Alchemists
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The latest group to emerge from Philly's "Psychadelphia" movement, but unlike the rest of them, they're actually quite good and distinguishable. Recommending this if you're into Bunyan, etc..
Listen to: Lintworme Pt 1, The Dirty South, W. memphis
03.) Girl Talk - Night Ripper
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I had limited experience with mashup art prior to Girl Talk, but I loved this and I would say Night Ripper is a good way to intro yourself to the genre. Great selection of music mixed so well with one another. With Night Ripper, you don't get just a whole bunch of songs made by other people getting mashed up with one another, but unique individual tracks created by Greg Gillis in the process (ballin').
Listen to: Smash Your Head, Warm It Up, Double It Up
02.) My Latest Novel - Wolves
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Loving this. Very original and powerful album. Great blend of folk and post-rock sounds and I love the tribal chants scattered throughout. I think there is only one track I can say definitely sucks, but otherwise a masterpiece.
Listen to: Learning Lego, When We Were Wolves, The Reputation of Ross Francis
01.) Joanna Newsom - Ys (Ees)
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Yeah, so I bought into the hype machine. So what? It's a lovely album. Despite the extremely lengthy tracks, Joanna doesn't let up once and fails to bore you. Every individual song is it's own fairy tale. It feel's like you're carried off to a different place when listening to Ys. Just beautiful.
Listen to: Emily, Sawdust & Diamonds, Cosmia
Honorable Mentions: Pavement - Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition, Espers - II, Islands - Return to the Sea, Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of this Country, The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes.
Quite serious about those last two. Fun, catchy albums.
