I think after all these years, I think I finally went soft...

1. Califone – Roots and Crowns
2. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
3. Bob Dylan – Modern Times
4. Ali Farka Toure - Savane
5. Yo La Tengo – I am not afraid of you And I Will….
6. Benoit Pioulard - Precis
7. Six Organs of Admittance – The Sun Awakens
8. Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
9. Mogwai – Mr. Beast
10. Los Lobos – The Town and the City
11. Serena-Maneesh – Serena Maneesh
12. Stone Jack Jones - Bluefolk
13. One Second Bridge – One Second Bridge
14. Brightblack Morning Light – Brightblack Morning Light
15. Howie Gelb – Sno Angel Like You
16. Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
17. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
18. Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies
19. Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
20. Juana Molina – Son
21. Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up I Am Dreaming
22. Junior Boys - And So This is Good Bye
23. Tim Hecker – Harmony in Ultraviolet
24. Asobi Seksu – Citrus
25. Autumn Leaf – Into the Blue Again
26. Tapes ‘n Tapes – The Loon
27. Charlambides - A Vintage Burden
28. The North Sea and Rameses III
29. B. Fleischmann – The Humbucking Coil
30. The Brother Kite - Waiting for the Time to Be Right
31. The Knife – Silent Shout
32. Herbert – Scale
33. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
34. Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
35. Camera Obscura – Let’s Get out of This Country
36. Placebo – Meds
37. Neil Young – Living with War
38. Lindstrom and Thomas – Lindstrom and Thomas
39. Black Heart Procession – The Spell
40. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
41. Danielson – Ships
42. J Dilla – Donuts
43. Calexico – Garden Ruin
44. Solomon Burke - Nashville
45. Josh Rouse – Subtitulo
46. Tom Zé - Estuando O Pagode
47. Mastodon – Blood Mountain
48. Gotan Project – Lunatico
49. The Long Blondes – Someone to Drive you Home
50. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block

Califone! You rock.

whoaaa Harry, awesome list of music, with quite a few that will be in mine.

i'm definitely looking into Lindstrom and Thomas. thanks for the heads up.

Definitely some food for thought on there. Good on ya.

Been waiting on this one.

Knew I should've picked up that Califone album when I saw it on sale the other day.

Nice list Harr.

Been meaning to get that Grizzly Bear for a while now as well.

No shit? He's a local Nashville guy. How'd you hear this? I haven't heard it. RIYL?

Nice list, Harry. I'm still disturbed by the relatively high ranking for Neil Young this year, but I can't argue with too much else.

Sounds like: Early acoustic Bowie if he had been born in the Smokey Mountains to tech software survivalist geek parents and listened only to Scandanavian pop and southern folk-rock bar bands. Really unusual music. Deserves attention.

RIYL: Califone, Nick Cave, Eno, Jayhawks, the La's, REM, Architecture in Helsinki, Crazy Horse, Joy Division, Johnny Cash, Guns and Roses, Joni Mitchell... hah hah aha haaha ha ha

Bongos, banjos and prophecy.

Just got that Ali Farka yesterday... strong.

So, what's really the story with the Hold Steady?

People hate it because it's supposed to sound like Springsteen, and people like it because it's supposed to sound like Springsteen.

To me it gets to early-lets-drive-over -to-the-city-and-buy-drugs-Springssteen honestly, not ironically.

The best review of it said the band sounds like music the kids portrayed in the lyrics might choose to listen to. It's rock steady, heard best loud and in a context where your body can move to the music. And the lyrics are dirty and acidic... listen with bleach.

To me (idiosyncratic I suppose) it's like P.J. Harvey in recent years.... sometimes you just need to turn it up very loud and still stay smart.

Is it more or less like Springsteen than that Constantines record?

yah. it rocks. or what he said.

To me it's more like Springsteen than that Constantines because it seems more urban. But the lyrics and vocals are way better in the Hold Steady. Maybe cross Asbury Park era with Jim Carroll "People who Died."

But it's a good question...

Nice list.
And (you knew I was gonna get in here with this), I'm happy to see that you like the Tom Zé.

Have you not heard The Format, or did you just not like it?

Whoa. Thanks for the heads up on this one, and the great description you gave--piqued my interest enough to buy it.

Fantastic album.