1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest :: Gets better with every listen.
2. Mos Def – The Estatic :: Really glad he’s back, the last two have been phoned in. This one is solid.
3. Phish – Joy :: My favorite band is back together, and that makes me happy. They could have had 4′33″ on here and I would have listened intently.
4. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Palivion :: I couldn’t stand this when I first listened. Saw them at Bonnaroo, thought they were still bad. After some encouragement from Lincoln, I listened again. It is actually really really good.
5. Passion Pit – Manners :: Fun.
6. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You :: You can play this for every member of your family, and they’ll love it. Even Grandma.
7. Beirut – March of the Zapotec EP & Realpeople – Holland EP (the Holland EP is better) :: This kid makes me jealous of his talent. The ethnomusicologist in me loves the Oaxaca inspired EP. The ears like the Holland EP better.
8. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears – Tell ‘Em What Your Name is! :: Saw them at Bumbershoot. Sweet jesus, I was sold. Reminds me a lot of Buddy Miles.
9. Built to Spill – There is no Enemy :: Don’t believe they can make a bad album.
10. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic :: Different. Saw them at Marymoor this summer. Wayne started the show by climbing out of a … nevermind, don’t want to ruin it.
11. Wilco – (the album) :: Looking forward to getting old with Wilco.
12. The XX (self titled) :: What’s a VCR?
13. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You :: She is genuinely funny, and can write a really good pop song. However, usually requires headphones.
14. Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years :: The Welsh version of the Flaming Lips are great. See them live if you can.
15. Jay – Z – The Blueprint 3 :: But really, only ‘Empire State of Mind’. The rest of the album is kind of dull.

My favorite list of the decade is coming.

My first time seeing them was in April 06 in Amsterdam. I had been meaning to see them a long time ago, but it always seemed to fall through. That show more than made up for it. Andrea and I didn’t have tickets to the sold out show, so we went and waited in front of the Paradiso a couple of hours before. Wayne walked by while I was talking to a British fella. He was really friendly and shook our hands while he walked by. Later on, we had procured one ticket, but were still trying to get a second. Another guy came out with an all-access pass on his leg. I asked him if he had any extra tickets. He said he might and that, “someone had put his name on the guest list a couple of extra times.” We talked for 2-3 minutes and he said to wait here and he’d be back in 10 minutes. So we continued our quest for one more ticket at face value. It came through a couple of minutes later. We disappeared into a local pub to get a pint before the show. Turns out, that guy that had a couple of extra tickets was none other than Michael Ivins. While he was outside, he was looking for fans to dress up in santa suits and alien costumes to dance on stage. Upon further inspection, we both realized that other people looking for tickets, like us, were dressed up and getting down on stage. Damn! That would have been a thrill.

I would recommend anybody and everybody with a pulse to see them. It’s just a good fucking time.