Top Ten Albums to be Thankful for

A little delayed...but my 6 concerts in 10 days covering three states and nearly 1500 miles took its toll.

1. Owen's At Home - WOW, WOW, WOW! My favorite new band this year!!!  Possibly my album of the year. Plus I saw him last night at the Picador, it was a weird show..."Bags of Bones" and "Bad News" are so full of melodrama. If you don't listen to this album YOU ARE MISSING OUT!
2. Right Away Great Captain's The Eventually Home - Still such emotion,in nearly spoken songs. Every listen brings he closer to the conclusion that he and Conor Oberst are the same person. Then without warning the song breaks out to a near scream. The emotion is palpable in "Cutting off the blood" when he talks about walking in on a lover with someone else.
3. Rise Against's Appeal To Reason - Did I mention I saw these guys in concert? Un-fucking-believable. Still the best live show around.  I couldn't move during all the pogoing. People carried me up and down. The album is even better live, with Tim swinging the mic around and jumping off amps. Historia is still my favorite song.
4. Charlotte Sometime's Waves and The Both Of Us - What is this April?  For reason I felt like listening to this again, and was captivated like the first time. "AEIOU", "Army Men" , "Ex Girlfriend Syndrome", and "Sweet Valium High" are all brilliant.  Plus she is hilarious in person, though nearly making out with her bassist on stage was strange. Maybe I'm biased by drinking coffee and talking with her on the ped mall until 1am.
5. The Killer's Day and Age "Human" with it's talk about being a dancer is good, but Spaceman is the gem of the album, probably a top ten hit. "This is Your Life" starts out with Lion King like chants and builds.  Most of the album makes me think of the Clash, and full of such depth in the background, producer is a genius.
6. Of The Opera's Study Natural Law - I think this strikes me because this is a lot like what I make on my laptop, speaking of which I should call Giancarlo. A couple days ago I realized that 1909 is about Les Miserables, and we all know that is my favorite musical. And the start of "In 1868" is so much fun. One of the strongest middle of an album too.
7. Quietdrive's Deliverance - Pop-Rock in the vein of Anberlin, can't wait to see them with White Tie Affair on the 9th. Only a couple listens so far, but the clear stand out is "Birthday" that starts almost acoustic and transitions to a rock sing a long with this chorus I'm sorry I forgot your birthday, I'm sorry 'cause was shitfaced, I thought it was on a Wednesday, A Monday or a Tuesday I can tell they will put on a killer live show.
8. Swimming With Dolphins's Ambient Blue Another appearance my friend from Owantonna, Adam. One of his 7 CDs this year. Never fails to put you in a good mood.
9. Dustin Kensrue's Please Come Home - "I Knew You Before" and "Pistol" are damn good, but for some reason the rest of the album resonates less, too allegorical I think, although it is still is good. A line from "I Knew You Before" - But all I can say is I knew you before,You were beautiful back then, Before you grew up, before you gave in
10. Belle and Sebastian's the Life Pursuit - One of my favorite albums ever. Scots sure know how to make good music. "Blues are still blue" and "Funny Little Frog" are so fun to listen to

Last I am fairly sure the new Paul McCartney Album will make an appearance next week, but I haven't listened to it yet....didn't even know about until yesterday, rare for me.