A very admirable follow up to Brothers. I feel like they had a very linear plan with this one. 'We've got a billion dollars from writing commercial hooks for movies and TNT, let's make songs that are fun to play live.' My favorite so far...Run Right Back.

Also, check out the recent LR session I did from this album:

8. Adele - 21

Wow, this thing just keeps selling. Very accessible and great for what it is, which is an album full of stellar production and stellar talent that the whole family can love. Rolling in the Deep is one of my favorite songs of the year.

7. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

On the other end of the female rock star spectrum comes St. Vincent. This album is, as my pal Ian said, 'deliciously weird.' And as with anything weird, there are parts that work and parts that kinda don't. Great guitar work all over and some really killer synth layers at the end of 'Surgeon.' But my favorite song? Cheerleader. Check out this live version (the bastards at soundcloud don't have the record.)
St. Vincent - Cheerleader (WNYC session) by mouxlaloulouda

6. Radiohead* - TKOL RMX 1234567

*Not really Radiohead but a plethora of the best DJs in the world remixing the band's spring release "The King of Limbs" (see #2.) Commercial breakout party for a lot of great artists including Rich Chwastiak favorite "SBTRKT." This one's pretty incredible.
Lotus Flower - SBTRKT RMX by Radiohead

5. The Antlers - Burst Apart

Some really nice sonic combinations and risky production choices here. And the performances have some balls. Contrary to most, I loved this record even more than Hospice, their acclaimed debut.
The Antlers - Parentheses by Frenchkiss

4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

The buildup to this album was really something to behold and with good reason. When you have a debut like they did, expectations soar to impossible heights. And after reading about Robin Pecknold's understandably manic last-minute rearranging and rewriting of this album, I was hoping they'd even release it. But they did, and it's awesome.

3. The Rapture - The Grace Of Your Love

They great messiah returns scathed but unfazed. The front of the dance-rock movement and every bit as good as ever. Ironically, I think the second single, 'Sail Away' is one of the worst Rapture songs I've ever heard, with that annoying hook, but the rest of the album, save maybe two, is a good ol' dance party full of killer hooks, funky percussion and a penchant for forcing you to move a body part. A little more downtempo than what we're probably accustomed to hearing but all in all, I missed these guys in their hiatus and glad to see 'em back.
The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love by DFA Records

2. Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Radiohead continue to astound me. Not only are they all virtuosic pieces that manage to climb that increasingly unscalable mountain to fit in snuggly with one another like a well-oiled machine, each person doing only as much as they need to, but they continue to push the envelope on the rest of the music world. Not since Nirvana has any band influenced its peers so much.

What's more, I was so disappointed the first five listens to this album. Now? I think it's better than Amnesiac. Just more proof that whatever us normal musicians think, Radiohead thought of last month.

1. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

What a revelation. Nothing quite like it out there and it manages to reach each end of the emotional spectrum with imaginative production from her countryman Bjorn of 'Peter Bjorn and John.' Extra points for a brilliant live translation and the most believable deliverance from a front-woman since...like...Gwen Stefani, er, someone like that. The perfect length and the perfect shape, it really is an achievement.
Jerome by LykkeLi

Honorable Mention:

Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some
Love these guys. They just get it.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Not even close to as good as everyone says, but good.

Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
A nice beginning for this new group.

Shrugs:

Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
Another example of the sum being less than the parts. Or too many cooks in the kitchen. Or whatever. This album sucked and was the biggest disappointment of the year.

Feist - Metals
Nowhere really to go but down for her but I was disappointed with this. My own fault for extraordinary expectations?

Gorillaz - The Fall
Yeah, it was recorded on an iPad in hotel rooms, blah blah blah. Not good enough considering it came from Damon Albarn.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
John Frusciante's absence (and Dave Navarro's for that matter) really left a huge hole in the songwriting department.

I Still Don't Get It:

James Blake - James Blake