10. White Williams
Smoke
Think Dan Deacon after he has taken his ADHD meds and pulled on off the gravity bong. Hazy vibes and chill new wave vocals drift along with icy indifference backed by understated snyths. We would dance if we could get off the couch.






9. Dan Deacon
Spiderman of the Rings
My favorite live act of the year unleashes a kaleidoscopic album infused with high fructose corn syrup, Saturday morning cartoons, all things neon, unabashed glee, bent circuitry, and one trippy green skull. He takes this amalgamation, fills a syringe with it, ramps up the BPMs, and injects it directly into Woody Woodpecker's neck. Hang on and spaz out.

Tell me that wasn't the funnest shit you've heard all year, or any year?


8. Copy
Hair Guitar
The digitized, grainy tones sound like a guitar plugged into a colecovision amplifier. The blippy, buzzing notes riff off the steady, mid tempo beats to conspire in the perfect Friday night primer; sublime dance tracks for the pixelated among us.
The Bone Thugs remix CD packaged along with Hair Guitar only double the awesomeness. The fact that Copy personally emailed me the Bone remix after I complained about not receiving it with my Emusic download, exponentially increases the awesomeness. The awesome, one might say.

7. Lil Wayne
Da Drought 3
Still the only rapper to literally invoke an LOL from me, Weezy tears up this 2 disc mix tape. With his loose flow and ridiculous wordplay, Wayne is nearly singlehandedly responsible for keeping rap in my musical rotation. He bests the original version of every song he tackles, and with that, cements his claim of being the best rapper alive.

(not much of a video, but one epic track)


6. St. Vincent
Marry Me
Something so distinctly American and timeless about Miss Annie Clark's pure, clean voice. Superbly crafted, albeit unconventional, songs are wrapped in winterly instrumentation and topped off with dark, sharp lyrics. The next Liz Phair.






5. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew
Spirit If. . .
The gentle intimacy of Kevin Drew's vocals set to the crowded, meandering instrumentation of Broken Social Scene's jam session pop gems make for a rich, rewarding listen.






4. Justice
†
Who knew electronica dance music could be so damn.....metal?









3. Sunset Rubdown
Random Spirit Lover
One of the most polarizing musical auteurs (film term, I know, smart ass) in indie-rock today, Spencer Krug returns with an album full of jangling xylophones and shimmering keys. The result is an album just as weird, affecting, and fantastic as Shut Up I'm Dreaming.






2. Arcade Fire
Neon Bible
Hard to live up to the expectations, but I think they did. Truly the voice of our CCTV monitored, terrorized, war-weary generation.






1. Of Montreal
Hissing Fauna, are You The Destroyer?
I couldn't stop listening to this sprawling concept album. Twelve flawless tracks dripping with heartache, soaked in melodrama, and saturated in eye shadow; glam-psych-pop, anyone?