The Monitor – Titus Andronicus (album of the year)
Odd Blood – Yeasayer (has its moments but runs out of steam fast)
How I Got Over – The Roots (is to Parliament what Jimmy Fallon is to Johnny Carson)
Crystal Castles – Crystals (electronic duo: never heard em)
Congratulations – MGMT (brave flop)
Love King – The Dream (you’re kidding right? Spin’s problem is they stuck with an 8 start review and can’t backtrack six months later)
MAYA – M.I.A. (Good, yeah. Very good? Not so fast)
Love And Its Opposite – Tracey Thorn (I enjoyed this when it came out and forgot about it. Good call)
New AmErykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh – Erykah Badu (as albums go, it makes a good single)
Cosmograma – Flying Lotus (works best in the background)
Contra – Vampire Weekend (superb sophomore)
Thank Me, Later – Drake (you’re funning me, right? do you guys get paid for this?)
Treats – Sleigh Bells (I preferred em last year when nobody had heard of em. Eltist? Sure)
Gorilla Manor – Local Natives (dont know em)
Teen House – Beach House (and you thought Best Coast were the most boring band on earth)
Transference – Spoon (perenial second raters)
High Violet -The Nationals – (One-repeat, ONE good song)
The Archarnold – Janelle Monae – (exists to make Badu’s artistic decline less visible)
American Slang – Gaslight Anthem (the worst good group on the planet. I mean there are bad bad bands like Daughtry and Nickelback that nobody really takes seriously, then there are bad good bands like these suckers
This Is Happenning – LCD Soundsystem (second best album of the year)
Comment: three of these albums definitely make my top 20, maybe 4…