It started last week. Not one, but two respected labels sent out email blasts containing all the records they've released in the past year. Y'know, just one of those "in case you were looking to get ahead in your homework" type emails to help get us in the mindset of end-of-year lists and whatnot.
I was a little caught off-guard, really. But now that the seed's been planted, I'm having some trouble not thinking about what albums might make the cut...
No guarantee that any of these make my final list, but off the top of my head, and just for kicks at this point, I'd say some heavy consideration goes the way of the records listed after the jump, as they've certainly earned the lion's share of my listening hours this year...
Almost certainly gettin' in there: - Oracular Spectacular by MGMT - Dear Science by TV on the Radio - Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend - Keep Your Eyes Ahead by Helio Sequence - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into by Does It Offend You, Yeah?
And a few other discs I remember really liking at various points throughout the year: - The Rhumb Line by Ra Ra Riot - Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes - Cold Fact by Rodriguez - Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne - Do You Like Rock Music? by British Sea Power - Hold On Now, Youngster by Los Campesinos! - New Amerykah, Part 1 by Erykah Badu - The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow - Stay Positive by The Hold Steady - The Way I See It by Raphael Saadiq
...and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. Like, for one, I remember listening to a lot more hip-hop than this, but I'm blanking on any specific albums at the moment.
Anyway. What's on your early consideration list? Or, perhaps as a better conversation starter, what sucks on mine?
(Meanwhile, none of this has anything to do with song of the year, which is a totally different beast entirely.) --Pete Freedman
