Top 50

50. HAMMOCK
Raising Your Voice ... Trying to Stop an Echo
Hammock are Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson, from Nashville, Tennessee. One could be misleaded into thinking their ambient soundscapes are very Iceland-ish, due to the obvious references to Múm and Sigur Rós. Very solid work. (Alexandre)

49. RHYMEFEST
Blue Collar
One thing I learned this year is that I have really started to turn the corner with my love for hip hop. That being said, I didn't find too much of it to be super good this year. But I did get Rhymefest, and Rhymefest is fucking fantastic; with a range of hip hop styles and the hook ups with Kanye West, this man had a pretty good chance of making it big. (Brandon)

48. HIDDEN CAMERAS
AWoo
Joel Gibb’s flamboyant and exciting entry into the Canadian music world this year left me spellbound. Filled with infectious enthusiasm, this album gets under your skin and stays there. Nice job, Mr. Gibb. (Kyle)

47. PAUL SIMON
Surprise
After decades of songwriting, Paul Simon could definitely hang up the guitar and live off the royalties of his immense back catalogue. Instead he chooses to work on and push himself to the limits. Here, he teams up with legendary producer Brian Eno and creates his best album since Graceland; in fact, it's an album that is even on a par with Graceland. (Ronan)

46. BENOIT PIOULARD
Precis
In my review of Precis, I asked this man to marry me. I can’t get enough of this record, and to quote myself, “the 15 songs of Precis are amazingly crafted pieces of art, and nothing quite like what I’ve heard before. It was a great experience the first time I heard it, and it continues to be so, as it haunts me with its bells, acoustic guitar, electrical bursts and Pioulard’s whispering voice. Each song brought with it a different emotion, led me by the hand into my imagination, and let me dream.” Okay, just go read the whole review please, and more importantly, listen to this little gem. (Aldona)

45. LATTERMAN
... We Are Still Alive
If Left Alone didn't come out of nowhere, Latterman would have been crowned album king of the year. They have two albums in my top ten list, so how can I talk badly about them? Almost everything these guys has been good so far. I want everyone to get ahold of a copy of Latterman so they can understand what I'm talking about. (Brandon)

44. OCEANOGRAPHER
On Leaping From Airplanes
Oceanographer are an unknown slowcore band from New York (originally from Texas). Their music consists of beautifully crafted acoustic and electric guitar-based songs with a subtle touch of noise, and emotionnal lyrics. (Alexandre)

43. ONEIDA
Happy New Year
I expected this to be higher. Maybe Oneida’s obsession with repetition (which was perhaps the one element of this album that made it resonate so much with me) turned off some of the other writers. Don’t let that deter you though. This is one of the broader albums on the list it’s hard to imagine the same almost RATM-sounding band that created “Up With People” also was responsible for the indie-pop tune “Busy Little Bee.” And that is why I strongly recommend Happy New Year: it's a veteran band using their entire arsenal and firing on all cylinders. (Dan)

42. ARCTIC MONKEYS
Whatever People Say I Am That's What I Am Not
Whatever anyone said about this band I initially dismissed. I hated this band until I saw them live. Now I quite like them, and I quite like this album. Like the Strokes before them, I’ll be surprised if they make another disc as good as their debut. The Hype Machine was actually credible this time around, but don’t give up on skepticism friends. (Mark)

41. SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN
Broom
Short, sweet and catchy; there’s nothing better than a good sold alt-rock-pop album – and the joy of sitting down with a solid album for repeated listens. That sums up my opinion of Broom, which is still in frequent rotation on my CD player. And may it remain there forever more. (Kyle)