Because Patchen Can't Leave Well Enough Alone...

I've got more albums I can't resist listing for one reason or another this year. So as promised in my last post, here are a few Honorable Mentions and other nods:

Honorable Mention:
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley — Welcome to Jamrock

Best Album I Still Haven't Bloody Heard All Of:
The Pipettes — We Are the Pipettes

Best Album I've Only Heard Online:
The Fratellis — Costello Music

You can, too! Listen to the whole thing here.

Best of Baltimore:
Karmella's Game — The Art of Distraction

Best Blues:
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals — Nothing But the Water

Best Group Fighting the Power (Punk):
Pretty Girls Make Graves — Élan Vitale

Best Group Fighting the Power (Hip-Hop):
Rhymefest— Blue Collar

Best Gratuitous Use of Dave Matthews:
Jurassic 5 — Feedback

Best Video Illustrating the Song:
Lily Allen — "LDN"



Best Live Show:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with Architecture in Helsinki in Philadelphia

I knew going in I was going to see CYHSY, and they didn't disappoint — it was what you hear on the radio, only gleefully moreso (the vocals more slurred, the whoops almost howled, and so forth). But since a friend had snagged the tickets, I had no idea I was seeing AiH until just before they went on, and I was thrilled since I've been spinning them for years. But even as a long-time fan, nothing prepared me for their live show—drum pads, fevered instrument-switching, shifts from indie rock to calypso mid-set, and an amazingly knowledgable audience that sang along and danced till the floor bowed. If you have a chance to see AiH, do it; they're from Australia, so it's not like they can just pop into town on a whim.

Best "I Totally Know These Guys" Moment:
Last week I realized that back in college I ran a light show for The Slip in this lovely converted Gothic revival chapel.

Sam Sessa Won't Stop Bugging Me Until I Admit:
...that he's a genius for discovering Amy Winehouse's "Rehab."

My Cooler Younger Brother Is Horrified I Haven't Yet Mentioned:
The Hold Steady — Boys and Girls in America

OK, I'm done. Let's all go and make a pie. Or some cake.