I thought that since it is now July, it would be nice to see what everybody's Top 25 (or so) lists of the year so far look like.

Here's mine:

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
3. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
4. St. Vincent - Actor
5. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
6. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
7. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
8. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
9. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
10. Dan Deacon - Bromst
11. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
12. The Horrors - Primary Colours
13. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
14. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
15. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
17. Handsome Furs - Face Control
18. Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellery
19. Balmorhea - All Is Wild, All Is Silent
20. Isis - Wavering Radiant
21. Ganglians - Monster Head Room
22. Passion Pit - Manners
23. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
24. Various artists - Dark Was the Night
25. Mos Def - The Ecstatic


My most anticipated:

The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead
Bowerbirds - Upper Air
Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth
Wye Oak - The Knot
Volcano Choir (Bon Iver) - Unmap
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Sally Shapiro - My Guilty Pleasure
Mew - No More Stories...
The Postmarks - Memoirs at the End of the World
HEALTH - Get Color
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
The Dodos - Time to Die
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1
The Roots - How I Got Over

Looking back, here's the 20 most notable releases that I picked up. In no particular order, as many of them are still being digested.

Amadou & Mariam - Welcome To Mali
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Madeleine Peyroux - Bare Bones
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Leonard Cohen - Live in London
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Vienna Teng - Inland Territory
Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted to Sin
St Vincent - Actor
Jill Sobule - California Years
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Fanfarlo - Reservoir
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Regina Spektor - Far
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Jenny Owen Youngs - Transmitter Failer
PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

There are rarely 25 albums in a year that I love, let alone half the year. That being said, here's what I've been loving so far...

Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
DevilDriver - Pray for Villains
Zombi - Spirit Animal
Gojira - The Way of All Flesh

Don't feel like doing 25, but as of now the 10 best releases of the year are. . .

#1. St. Vincent - Actor

#2. The Thermals - Now We Can See

#3. Akron//Family - Set 'Em Wild Set 'Em Free

#4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

#5. Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

#6. William Elliott Whitmore - Animals In The Dark

#7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

#8. Sin Fang Bous - Clangour

#9. Iron & Wine - Around the Well

#10. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Somehow I missed that Isis had a new album out. Looks like the reviews of it are pretty great across the board. Guess I have to check it out ASAP.

Haven't heard enough that's impressed me to do more than a top five:

Crippled Black Phoenix, Resurrectionists/Night Raider
Major Lazer, Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do
Mono, Hymn to the Immortal Wind
St. Kilda, [self-titled EP]
SunnO))), Monoliths & Dimensions

There are a few others I really like at the moment, but are too new to rank.

I'll do my 10 as well....way too much to type!

1.) Placebo - Battle for the Sun
2.) Blacklist - Midnight of the Century
3.) Freeland - Cope
4.) Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
5.) Metric - Fantasies
6.) The King Blues - Save the World, Get the Girl
7.) The Anomalies - Free Soup Social
8.) White Lies - To Lose my Life
9.) IAMX - Kingdom of Welcome Addiction
10.) The Birthday Massacre - Show and Tell

Honorable Mention everybody who likes The Streets should check out:

Trip - Shortcuts

Good, but not great (mild disappointments):

1.) The Sounds - Crossing the Rubicon
2.) Street Sweeper Social Club - s/t
3.) The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
4.) Filthy Dukes - Nonsense in the Dark
5.) The Crystal Method - Divided by Night
6.) VNV Nation - Of Faith, Power and Glory

Just Plain Sucked:

Marilyn Manson - High End of the Low
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe

damn, got carried away again!

How about my top 3?

1. Wilco (the album)
2. God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl
3. The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

I find it very hard to believe that there are already 25 worthwhile albums this year. How about a top one?

Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

Will check out some of Sessa's and Tscott's selections, though.

1. The Gossip - Music For Men
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
3. White Denim - Fits
4. Sonic Youth - The Eternal

Halfway through the year, and so far, I've been fairly disappointed with this year's offerings. Some artist and albums I thought for sure would likely make my yearly Top 20, just might not this time around. While there have been a lot of good albums, there hasn't seemed to be a lot of great ones. But, these are the ones that look like they will, in no particular order....

Metric - Fantasies
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
...if you like either one of these first two albums, and haven't heard the other, than you should check it out. They are kind of like companion pieces to me.
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
Superdrag - Industry Giants
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Cheap Trick - The Latest
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

...ones I'm still on the fence about...

VAST - Me And You
Rhett Miller - Rhett Miller
Pete Yorn - Back & Fourth
The Damnwells - One Last Century
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Mastodon - Crack the Skye

...and one I still need to digest....

Wilco - (the album)

All I got (so far) . . .

Wilco (The Album)
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Rhett Miller - Rhett Miller
Cheap Trick - The Latest
Gomez - A New Tide
Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted