20) Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Sometimes I just like stuff because it doesn't like anything else I've ever heard. This album falls solidly into that category. Imagine an old-school crooner with a slight Swedish accent who sings songs about cutting a tip of his finger off while slicing an avocado or pretending to be his lesbian friend's boyfriend to appease her Catholic father. I can appreciate anyone who writes amusing songs that don't cross over into novelty, and many of these songs pull that off.19) Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark
OK, when Sarah Borges writes her songs, a 30-something molecular biologist/dad is probably not the target audience she has in mind, which makes my enjoyment of this album that much more amazing. She's a local girl (local for me being Boston) and her songs are largely country-ish in nature. Why do I like twangy songs called "False Eyelashes" and "Belle of the Bar"? I can't really say...I just know I listened to this album a lot and it just got better with time. If you're looking to bust out of an indie-rock rut, I highly recommend this album.
18) Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
Pitchfork trashed this album: reason #205 why I don't particularly like Pitchfork reviews. A lot of critics lamented "more of the same" from the F of W, but I really don't think that's a bad thing, especially when the songs are as ridiculously catchy as these. And the surprise ending of "Someone to Love" is almost worth the price of admission right there.
17) Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living With the Living
Ted Leo manages to be politically relevant without being preachy and without losing entertainment value--no easy task. This is definitely a band I appreciate more for having seen live last year, and this album manages to maintain some of that live energy. You can just imagine Mr. Leo whacking his microphone into his forehead until he draws blood...but, but you know, in a good way.
16) Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta
Already reviewed this one here.
15) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
I don't have much to say about this one, other than it's a consistently good album by a consistently good band. I'm glad they're getting more notice without having to clean themselves up much. Their music is kind of like that grungy old T-shirt that you kept wearing until it actually became retro enough to be cool.14) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Probably my second favorite Wilco album after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and definitely an improvement after the challenging A Ghost Is Born.
13) Feist - The Reminder
Wow, I'm realizing that I have a lot of Canadians on this list. Feist is one of 5. Go Canada! It was nice to see an album of originals since her first album, though good, was a lot of covers. I understand that at least one of these songs has turned up on an over-played commercial, but at least her stuff's getting out there. I'm all about artists I like actually getting heard.
12) Don Brownrigg - Wander Songs
What? Who? Yes. I randomly ordered this CD off the internets (probably the only way you'll find it) months ago. The description mentioned something along the lines of "If you like M. Ward then..." It's an apt comparison, but this Newfie (yep, another one of the Canadians) has his own style. He's not quite the guitar virtuoso that Ward is, but the song writing and his voice are solid. Probably the only purely folk album I have on this whole list, and I'm not talking about "freak-folk", whatever the hell that means.
11) Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
This album's place at number 11 is not random, because I had a hard time deciding whether or not to put it in the top 10. I'm still on the fence. It's not quite as good as The Mysterious Production of Eggs, but since I can honestly say that's one of my favorite albums, it would be tough act to follow. Also, some of the tracks are on the Fingerlings 3 album, and I like those versions a little better than the versions on AA. Those quibbles aside, Andrew Bird is still amazing. I hope he keeps making albums for a long, long time.
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