A Few of the Year's Favorites

I know the year isn't over yet, so this list is subject to change*, but here's a smattering--a dozen or so--of my favorite albums from the year.

• Alexander, White Flags and Silver Spoons Have To Sleep in Separate Rooms
• Brett Dennen, Hope for the Hopeless
• The Donkeys, Living on the Other Side
• Mike Doughty, Golden Delicious
• Jack Johnson, Sleep Through the Static
• Kings of Leon, Only by the Night
• The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride
• Thao Nguyen & the Get Down Stay Down, We Brave Bee Stings and All
• Tyler Ramsey, A Long Dream about Swimming across the Sea
• Right Away, Great Captain!, The Eventually Home
• Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Pershing

Of course, there are lots of others that could make the list--Frank Turner, for instance, or The Grand Archives, or Chris Walla, or the Annuals, or Colour Revolt, or Lightspeed Champion, or Elevation, or Her Space Holiday, or even folks like Justin Townes Earle and The Gaslight Anthem.

And of course, there are bands like The Dimes that I discovered this year, but their latest album (which is amazing, by the way) was released in 2007.

And there was that new Death Cab for Cutie album this year, which was good, but it didn't grab me like their earlier albums do. Same story with the Coldplay, same story with Tracy Chapman, same story with the Cure.

And lately, I've been listening to the new album from Joshua James, which is good, but I haven't been listening to it for long enough to know if I'd call it a favorite.

In any case, it leaves me feeling amazed and grateful for all the music people are making.

* Note: There's also no guarantee that I'll sit down and write another list like this, even if I do change my mind about the year's favorite albums.