These are three great albums that have all received critical acclaim across multiple sites, so I grouped them together and won't say much. I didn't love any of them, but enjoyed all of them, and who knows which ones will grow on me in the future. I would like to give special notes to The Dirty Projectors' beautiful "Two Doves" and the amazing power behind the chorus of The Antlers' "Sylvia." The latter of which will make a great music cue to whichever filmmaker gets to it first. Check them out for sure.
9. Time To Die by The Dodos
Man, was this album a disappointment. If you want to hear The Dodos at their best, listen to their last album, Visiter. My favorites off that one, especially "The Season," are filled with these amazing screams and ringing tribal drums that, not unlike "Sylvia," make me want to rip off my shirt, pick up a blunt object, and run into battle. Time To Die, while a completely solid album (I listened to it at least three times straight through when I first got it), lacks any of that energy, and doesn't really replace with anything but solid songwriting. According to my iTunes, I've listened to it just at the requisite ten times so far, and I couldn't tell you one song that really jumped out at me. Still very much worth listening to, and perhaps even it hasn't been given enough of a chance. The songs may very well still find their way into my heart.
8. Music For Men by Gossip
Just a really fun album from a really fun band. For reasons you can read about anywhere, their sound has evolved in a great way since their earlier, more purely punk albums. Music For Men has one of those sounds that people tend to make up hybrid names for, but I'll just call it Dance, because that's what it makes me want to do. It also doesn't hurt that Beth Ditto is amazing, and amazingly hot. No, I'm not being ironic. Yes, I do have a huge crush on her. In fact, that's a lot of the reason I first started listening to their music. Too bad she's a lesbian!
7. Bright Works and Baton EP by Cast Spells
Article comments
1 - Sterfish
You hit on a lot of the reasons why I also name my favorite albums of any given year as opposed to "the best albums of any given year." I have nothing against "best of" lists but for me, it doesn't feel quite right for me to call something the best when there's a lot of music I might like that I'll never get to listen to.