(1) Teen Dream - Beach House (Sub Pop)
Dark, simple, surprisingly big organ dominated pop songs. Slightly boring, but absolutely gorgeous. (8/10)
(2) Broken Bells - Broken Bells (Columbia)
The Shins' James Mercer and Danger Mouse collab. Nice production, but the songs aren't typical Mercer quality. (6/10)
(3) Measure - Field Music (Memphis Industries)
Brewises make triumphant return to complexly structured and orchestrated 60s pop, adding 70s swagger and riffage. (8.5/10)
(4) IRM - Charlotte Gainsbourg (Because)
Actress collaborates with Beck on a folksy, groove oriented pop album with moderate success. (6.5/10)
(5) Ascending Melody 7" - Dirty Projectors (Domino)
Two Bitte Orca b-sides that are better than at the very least the last two songs on the album. (8/10)
(6) Sisterworld - Liars (Mute)
Best Liars album I've heard yet, but that's not saying much. I can't stand this band. Bad experimental punk, I guess. (5/10)
(7) Gorilla Manor - Local Natives (Frenchkiss)
A completely obvious and direct rip off of Fleet Foxes and The Dodos, but at least they do a good job at it. (5.5/10)
(8) Romance is Boring - Los Campesinos! (Arts & Crafts)
Surprisingly good third LP from these angry Welsh cuties. Sounds like The Anniversary, not twee or Pavement. (7.5/10)
(9) The Courage of Others - Midlake (Bella Union)
Decent, psychedelic and epic Lord of the Rings folk. Disappointing compared to what I've heard from their previous LP. (6/10)
(10) Dreamland EP - Moonface (Jagjaguwar)
Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown dude Spencer Krug's solo EP that is sparse, weird as hell and actually not half bad. (6/10)
(11) Heartland - Owen Pallett (Domino)
Follow-up from fka Final Fantasy dude. Grandiose, orchestrated, string heavy. V. pretty, not the most exciting. (6.5/10)
(12) 2 - Retribution Gospel Choir (Sub Pop)
Dude from Low's huge sounding, straight up rock band. Not nearly as interesting as I expected. (5/10)
(13) The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack (Kemado)
Totes fun, catchy and well produced garage punk. Seems pretty rare these days when that genre is done so right. (7/10)
(14) Transference - Spoon (Merge)
They do it again. Another groove oriented, smart, subtle, space-filled, weird and simply fantastic pop album. (8.5/10)
(15) Astro Coast - Surfer Blood (Kanine)
People who think this was a false alarm are crazy. Best guitar heavy, slightly emo-y indie pop album in a while. (8.5/10)
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