Best Records of the Year

Well, finals are over, so it's that time of year: top 10 music list time! This year actually wasn't too difficult to rank, for some reason. Either I'm decisive, careless, or my preferences mostly complete and transitive (I really hope it isn't the last - homo-economicus are really boring). All the usual disclaimers apply: I didn't hear all the records that came out this year, some of them, like Bon Iver, I heard too late to really put in a top 15 list, etc. I'm not trying to act as a critical gatekeeper here, or an objective arbiter of taste - this is just my favorite stuff I've heard this year. 

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

2. The Foxglove Hunt - Stop Heartbeat

3. TV On The Radio - Dear Science 

4. Son Lux - At War with Walls and Mazes

5. Bodies of Water - A Certain Feeling

6. Portishead - Third

7. Joy Electric - My Grandfather, the Cubist

8. The Black Keys - Attack and Release

9. Subtle - ExitingARM

10. The Walkmen - You and Me

11. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

12. Starflyer 59 - Dial M

13. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak

14. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend 

15. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair 

Some Favorite Songs Not Already Represented Above, Unranked

Byrne/Eno - Strange Overtones

Santogold - LES Artistes

m83 - Skin of the Night

Cannibal Ox - Mecca and the Ox

Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You

Music Go Music - Reach Out

My Brightest Diamond - Inside a Boy

Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)

Lil Wayne/Jay-Z - A Billi

Movies to Watch After Finals

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. It's been pretty busy, ya know, trying to avoid flunking out of the first year. I've not had much time, and I've wanted to avoid posting things that weren't substantive. But, I thought it would be fun to list some movies I've acquired through various means to watch after finals are done. The starred ones are ones that I haven't seen before.

Old Joy*

Annie Hall

Crimes and Misdemeanors

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie

Snow Angels*

Shotgun Stories

Wall-E

The King*

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly*

Brick*

Making lists of things I get to do after finals are through is one way I cope.