Artwork credit: Alyssa Shapkoff
So, here we go: fifteen albums each, some overlap (which means it's doubly - or, triply - good), links to listen and buy. Use your long holiday weekend to catch up on what you've been missing this year. We're halfway there!
Katie's Picks:
Beach House Teen Dream [buy] [myspace]
Broken Bells Broken Bells [buy] [myspace]
Common Prayer There Is A Mountain [buy] [myspace]
Courtney Jaye The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye [buy] [myspace]
Dr. Dog Shame, Shame [buy] [myspace]
Electric President The Violent Blue [buy] [myspace]
Freelance Whales Weathervanes [buy] [myspace]
Lissie Catching a Tiger [buy] [myspace]
Local Natives Gorilla Manor [buy] [myspace]
Mimicking Birds Mimicking Birds [buy] [myspace]
Mumford and Sons Sigh No More [buy] [myspace]
The National High Violet [buy] [myspace]
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings I Learned the Hard Way [buy] [myspace]
The Black Keys Brothers [buy] [myspace]
The Mynabirds What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood [buy] [myspace]
Jason's Picks:
Allison Moorer Crows [buy] [myspace]
Carrie Rodriguez Love and Circumstance [buy] [myspace]
Chris McGarry And The Weary Eyes Reply [buy] [myspace]
Cowboy Junkies Renmin Park [buy] [myspace]
David Ford Let The Hard Times Roll [buy] [myspace]
Freelance Whales Weathervanes [buy] [myspace]
Frightened Rabbit The Winter Of Mixed Drinks [buy] [myspace]
Josh Ritter So Runs The World Away [buy] [myspace]
Matthew Ryan Dear Lover (The Acoustic Version) [buy] [myspace]
Sam Quinn The Fake That Sunk A Thousand Ships [buy] [myspace]
Sarah Jaffe Suburban Nature [buy] [myspace]
The National High Violet [buy] [myspace]
Tift Merritt See You On The Moon [buy] [myspace]
The New Pornographers Together [buy] [myspace]
Tokyo Police Club Champ [buy] [myspace]
Matt's Picks:
Beach House Teen Dream [buy] [myspace]
Future Islands In Evening Air [buy] [myspace]
Gaslight Anthem American Slang [buy] [myspace]
Jónsi Go [buy] [myspace]
Local Natives Gorilla Manor [buy] [myspace]
Tokyo Police Club Champ [buy] [myspace]
Spoon Transference [buy] [myspace]
Surfer Blood Astrocoast [buy] [myspace]
The Morning Benders Big Echo [buy] [myspace]
The National High Violet [buy] [myspace]
The Radio Department Clinging to a Scheme [buy] [myspace]
Vampire Weekend Contra [buy] [myspace]
We only allowed ourselves to pick fifteen each, and of course, it's hard to whittle the list down. But, we'll ask again...what did we miss?
