Ok, I’m slightly biased on this choice simply because the Fleet Foxes show at the Greek in September was one of the best concerts I’ve seen. As usual there’s some beautiful harmonies throughout this record. Robin Pecknold’s lyrics draw on aging which is odd considering how young he is but he manages to pull it off.

Top Tracks: Lorelai, Grown Ocean, Battery Kinzie

2) Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Long awaited sophomore album from Wisconsin’s own Justin Vernon. After a delve into 80′s white soul with the band Gayngs, I was pleased to hear a return to the low-fi vocalizations that he does so well. The album works all the way through – very difficult to pick to three favorites.

Top Tracks: Wash., Holocene, Towers

3) TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

I feel like this album fell of some lists because it came relatively early in the year. Another solid effort from a dynamic band. Similar to all previous albums, there’s some true gems and some duds.

Top Tracks: Keep Your Heart, Will Do, Killer Crane

4) Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

This one crept up on me long after I first gave it a listen. ‘Love Like a River’ and the intro to ‘Just a song’ are worth the price of the whole album.

Top Tracks: Love Like a River, Honey Bunny, Just a Song

5) Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean

I heard from more than one friend that this album was over polished and strayed too far from the Iron & Wine low-fi simplicity, and I agree that ‘Tree By The River’ from the Daytrotter Session is better than the studio version. That being said, this album is not to be missed.

Top Tracks: Tree By The River, Half Moon, Glad Man Singing

6) The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

Another one that took a while for me to come around on. I always figured War on Drugs was fronted by Kurt Vile and was surprised to learn that, while he was an original member, he split from the group in 2008. Can’t help but pick out the Dylan drawl in the vocals but I feel it’s about time it came back around.

Top Tracks: Come to the City, Best Night, It’s Your Destiny

7) Youth Lagoon – The Year of the Hibernation

Dream pop that fits a specific mood. Not a bad song on the disc but not a ton of variety either.

Top Tracks: Afternoon, Montana, July

8) Atlas Sound – Parallax

Not quite as dynamic or consistent as Logos but there are some powerful songs on this album.

Top Tracks: Te Amo, Mona Lisa, Quark Part 2

9) Eddie Vedder – Ukulele Songs

I’m a sucker for the ukulele. It doesn’t hurt that Eddie Vedder has a voice that’s compelling enough to work with such a simple instrument. The album begins to fall apart at the end – sorry, ‘Tonight You Belong to Me’ was great in The Jerk but kinda lame here – and the original material can’t help but be derivative of the songs from Into the Wild but still worth picking up.

Top Tracks: Goodbye, Sleeping By Myself, Once in a While

10) Beirut – The Rip Tide

A good start but come on, this clocked in at 33 minutes. That being said, most of what’s here is prime.

Top Tracks: East Harlem, Payne’s Bay, Vagabond

Honorable Mentions:

Wilco – The Whole Love
Cults – Cults
Liam Finn – FOMO

The National came through SF at the beginning of December and I snapped this pic from the balcony of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. I was surprised by the enormity of the place, which apparently holds over 7,000 people. Sadly, The National just aren’t suited for playing arenas. Each year they move on to bigger and bigger places and the concerts become less and less interesting. I still remember seeing them at Spaceland in the summer of 2005 and yet this show I’ll probably forget by years end.

The Walkmen busted out a slew of new stuff which, naturally, I really liked and so I was tooling around the net looking for info as to when the new album will drop and I came across this video of them covering a fantastic Deerhunter song. Check it.

I’m excited to announce that I have a new typeface called ‘Ten Till’ available for purchase at MyFonts.com. I toiled away for the past two weeks producing it and prepping it for release. You’ll also note it’s a web friendly font because I’ve used it here in the titles for my blog. Let’s hope it sells well.

Newly signed to Sub Pop, Papercuts came through Chicago in support of their latest album Fading Parade. The set was brief (under an hour) but well suited for the intimate environs of Schubas. I first saw Papercuts back in the Spring of 2009 when they opened for fellow San Franciscans Vetiver. Their sound, and the voice of front man Jason Quever, could best be described as a both atmospheric and mellow.

I used to think Bob Dylan was going for a kinda Vincent Price look but after seeing Qaddafi on ABC News I couldn’t help but draw the comparison…

The Economist’s podcast helps me keep track of the economic shitstorm we’ve found ourselves in and Pardon The Interruption keeps me current on all the overpaid mongoloids in the sporting world, but the Ricky Gervais has a brilliant podcast I’ve come across. He and Steven Merchant basically pick the brain of their half-witted friend Karl Pilkington.

Any attempt to summarize the content of the show would be an exercise in futility because half the fun is Karl’s heavy Manchester accent and Ricky’s high squealing laughter. Instead I’ll give you a free 40 minute episode called A Day in the Life of Karl Pilkington. Just hearing expressions like “cunting idiot”, “knocking about” or “having a go” make the program worthwhile. The iTunes store has a ton more if you find it as funny as I do.

A Day in the Life of Karl Pilkington – 18mb mp3 [right click to download]

Ricky Gervais Podcasts in the iTunes store ››

Back before the days of shit ass material like “My Cherie Amour” and “Love Light in Flight” Stevie Wonder was simply the sickest dude in town.