1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (9.6)
2. Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind EP (8.9)
3. The Appleseed Cast – Sagarmatha (no review)
4. Dan Deacon – Bromst (8.5)
5. Deerhoof – Offend Maggie (7.6)
6. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (9.2)
7. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic (9.0)
8. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms (8.6)
9. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (8.5)
10. St. Vincent – Actor (8.5)
11. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer (8.3)
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz! (8.1)

Basically, this is the list of albums I listened to most this past year. I highly recommend them! I’m sure there are great albums I’ve missed, though. So any recommendations are much appreciated!

(Note: I also like to see what Pitchfork said about the albums I’ve liked, so their scores (out of 10) are in parentheses. And, no, I wasn’t that into the albums by Girls or Grizzly Bear this year, despite Pitchfork’s acclaim.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTCpumkw4Kk

I think Pitchfork is wise in giving it a 9.0.

http://www.waste.uk.com/Store/waste-radiohead-twisted+words.html

The song doesn’t strike me as super awesome or anything after a listen or two, but it’s certainly very cool that the band is still releasing things themselves for free on the web.

Here they are playing their song “1901″ on SNL from their recent album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

(Sorry for the commercials on Hulu, but otherwise Hulu is pretty cool.)

And here’s them playing “Lisztomania”:

“What gives, what helps the intuiton?”—indeed.

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. The Appleseed Cast – Sagarmatha
3. Dan Deacon – Bromst
4. Deerhoof – Offend Maggie
5. Deerhunter – Microcastle-Weird Era Continued
6. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
7. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

It’s just in alphabetical order. Deerhoof is supposed to be SB soon. I’m excited for that.

Well, here are some of my lists. (Note: Numbers in parentheses are the score Pitchfork gave the album.)

Top 10 Albums:

1. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer (PF: 7.7)
2. TV on the Radio – Dear Science (PF: 9.2)
3. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (PF: 8.1)
4. Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (PF: 8.6)
5. Animal Collective – Water Curses EP (PF: 7.3)
6. The Dodos – Visiter (PF: 8.5)
7. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (PF: 9.0)
8. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (PF: 8.8)
9. The Walkmen – You & Me (PF: 8.5)
10. Portishead – Third (PF: 8.8)

NOTES:

1. I haven’t had a chance to fully listen to Deerhunter’s Microcastle, which is receiving great reviews. So it’s not on here only because of that.
2. Bon Iver’s album was actually released in 2006/2007 originally, but it was released on Jagjaguar in 2008 and that’s when it became more well-known. And, most importantly, 2008 is really when I got to know it. So it’s on my list, sucka.
3. When I first started listening to Dear Science, I wasn’t very impressed. But it has grown on me and I have seen the greatness that lies inside.

Most Overrated Album:

• No Age – Nouns (PF: 9.2)

Most Underrated Album:

• Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer (PF: 7.7)

(Rant on this here.)

I went to the Radiohead show in SB. It was amazing, to say the least. I have to say, it was the best show I’ve ever been to—mostly because Radiohead is possibly the greatest band ever, but also because the Santa Barbara Bowl is one of the greatest venues ever.

It was the last stop on their U.S. tour, and they decided to webcast it! There are some videos on the interwebs. Or, you can download the entire show as an mp3 from NPR’s All Songs Considered:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94315732

Some pictures from the show are here and here.

Here’s the set list (from the article in Santa Barbara’s The Independent):

Set List:

1. “Reckoner”
2. “Optimistic”
3. “There There”
4. “15 Step”
5. “All I Need”
6. “Nude”
7. “Talk Show Host”
8. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”
9. “The Gloaming”
10. “Morning Bell”
11. “The National Anthem”
12. “Faust Arp”
13. “No Surprises”
14. “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”
15. “The Bends”
16. “Karma Police”
17. “Bodysnatchers”

Encore:

18. “Cymbal Rush”
19. “House Of Cards”
20. “Paranoid Android”
21. “Go Slowly”
22. “Everything In Its Right Place”

Second Encore:

23. “Videotape”
24. “Lucky”
25. “Idioteque”

Sometimes Pitchfork and I don’t see eye to eye. But they recently gave the new Wolf Parade album a 7.7 (out of 10).

That’s not a horrible score, but it’s certainly too low, especially since they gave their first LP a 9.2. At Mount Zoomer is at least as good. And they are a great live band with lots of talent across the board. (I just saw them live in L.A. on the tour for the new album.)

With this and Pitchfork doing things like leaving Sunset Rubdown’s Random Spirit Lover and Menomena’s Friend and Foe off of their Top 50 albums of 2007, I’m starting to question their judgment.

• Water Curses (EP) – Animal Collective
• Third - Portishead
• Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
• The Con – Tegan and Sara
• For Emma, Forever Ago – Bon Iver
• Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
• Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel – Atlas Sound

I feel like I shouldn’t like some of these things. But, whatev, I do.