albums of the first half of 2009:
current favorites:
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion; Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix; the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - s/t; Andrew Bird - Noble Beast; Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

also very nice:
Loney Dear - Dear John; Handsome Furs - Face Control; the Thermals - Now We Can See; M. Ward - Hold Time

too soon to tell:
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca; Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer; God Help the Girl - s/t