Halfway

Okay so the year is halfway over, so time to reflect on my purchases. It's been a pretty solid year for music, but not overwhelming. I think the second half of the year will be better, but so far I've picked up some solid releases:

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Built to Spill - You in Reverse
Calexico - Garden Ruin
Cat Power - The Greatest
Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
Danielson - Ships
Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea
Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics
Half-Handed Cloud - Halos & Lassos
Islands - Return to the Sea
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Loose Fur - Born Again in the USA
Robert Pollard - From a Compound Eye
Streets - The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
Strokes - First Impressions of Earth

Pretty solid list so far. Pretty hard to pick a favorite, but I've got a few that really stand out....three of which I bought last week.....I'll write about that later.

Tomorrow is the release of Thom Yorke's solo album. Next week is new stuff from Golden Smog and Sufjan Stevens. (Tuesday edit: Whoops! Today is the release for the new Sufjan! Missed that one.)

Also looking out for by year's end is new stuff from Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Decemberists, Mountain Goats, Now It's Overhead, Robert Pollard, and Yo La Tengo. Also Jason Molina has about a hundred albums coming up. Can't wait.