favorite releases of 2010 so far...

music is a great marker of time. when i think back on my younger self, i always think of the music that i was listening to and hearing at that point in time. i recently spent an entire day just listening to albums that the 8th/9th grade me was obsessed with (the presidents of the united states of america - II, eve 6's debut, nine days - the madding crowd, blink-182 - enema of the state, the cardigans - long gone before daylight, smash mouth - astro lounge, weezer - pinkerton, to name just a few) and i was amazed at how strong my attachment still is to this music and the fact that i still remember all of the words to these (often not very good) songs. but i loved them then; and to an extent i still do. at least the 14 year old part of me does. they are marking that time in my life; memories good and bad with songs good and bad. so now we turn to this year; to 23 year old me, to three-and-a-half-months-married me. here are my fifteen favorite releases of the year so far. there has been a huge amount of great music this year and a lot of it i am still digesting, but these are the releases that i have found myself spending the most time with. the music that i will come to associate with this year in my life. here they are presented in alphabetical order:

arcade fire - the suburbs

beach house - teen dream

big bio - sir lucious left foot: the son of chico dusty

the books - the way out

everything everything - man alive

gorillaz - plastic beach

hot chip - one life stand

janelle monae - the archandroid

(at this point my album of the year...here's to hoping sufjan's the age of adz will top it.)

joanna newsom - have one on me

marina & the diamonds - the family jewels

sufjan stevens - all delighted people ep

surfer blood - astro coast

the tallest man on earth - wild hunt

two door cinema club - tourist history

villagers - becoming a jackal

to be continued. there are still a great number of albums to be released this year and this list may look quite different come the end of december; but for now i'm marking the time with these. i hope you check out the ones that you haven't heard and continue to enjoy the ones you have.

peace.

the baron