In the Clearing Stands a Boxer

WXPN is asking for year-end top tens again (by midnight tonight). I wish I had the time and/or energy to write up a little about each of my choices, but work has been crazy lately and home hasn't been all that sane either.

Expect light posting up until the new year.

Here's my shortlist for Best Albums, it wasn't easy picking just ten this year:

ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird of Music
BIRDIE BUSCH Penny Arcade
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live in Dublin
FEIST The Reminder
GOLDRUSH The Heart is the Place
GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
IRON & WINE The Shepherd's Dog
JOSE GONZALEZ In Our Nature
JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House
JULIE DOIRON Woke Myself Up
KELLY WILLIS Translated from Love
KIM RICHEY Chinese Boxes
LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
NELLIE MCKAY Obligatory Villagers
NICK LOWE At My Age
PETER BJORN AND JOHN Writer's Block
RILO KILEY Under the Blacklight
ROSIE THOMAS These Friends of Mine
RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger
SEA WOLF Leaves in the River
SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
TEGAN AND SARA The Con
THE A-SIDES Silver Storms
THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele
THE NATIONAL Boxer
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army
THE POSTMARKS The Postmarks
THE ROSEBUDS Night of the Furies
THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
TRAVIS The Boy With No Name
WILCO Sky Blue Sky
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Magic
BAND OF HORSES Cease to Begin
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound of Silver
MARY GAUTHIER Between Daylight and Dark
RONDERLIN The Great Investigation

So, what ended up at the top of your pile this year?

Comments

[Karen]

Have you heard The Everybodyfields, "Nothing Is Okay" or "Eilen Jewell, "Letters from Sinners and Strangers"? Those are two of my recent favorites.

[Kathy]

I really liked Teddy Thompson's covers album Up Front and Down Low and I've yet to see it make any year-end best-ofs.

[Dan]

I keep going back to Spoon, Okkervil River and Dr. Dog. But by far, I think Wilco had the best album of the year.

[holaolah]

where do you get the money to buy all this music?