A little something I like to do every year is dole out some awards for the music up to the halfway point of the year. Nothing too detailed, just a little summary. As usual for all my lists, the only albums I’m including are albums that I own and are currently in my itunes library. And of course all this can change as I listen to albums more, but this is what I’m feeling so far for 2009. Enjoy!
Animal Collective
Best, let’s say, 7 Albums (in order of release date):
Antony & the Johnsons – The Crying Light
- It’s a beautiful and affecting listen, which was to be expected from Antony Hegarty. It was the first great release of the year and has stuck around to now. I already mentioned in my 1st quarter of ’09 wrap-up…nothing more to add to that really.
[“Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground – The Crying Light]
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
- Easily one of year’s best, which I also mentioned in my post about the first 3 months of ’09. It’s the highest rated studio recorded album of 2009 according Metacritic’s compiled reviews score and has a good chance of remaining there for the rest of the year.
[“My Girls” – Merriweather Post Pavilion]
The Antlers – Hospice
- Once again, check my 1Q of ’09 post that mentions this release as well. People are starting to pick up on its brilliance but it will surely gain even more of a following once Frenchkiss reissiues it this August.
[“Two” – Hospice]
Passion Pit – Manners
- A very fun listen and impressive full-length debut from the Boston, Mass band that I already featured in my review here.
[“Little Secrets” – Manners]
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
- I think my short review covers it pretty well.
[“1901” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
- About as perfect as an album gets. The review goes into more detail.
[“Two Weeks” – Veckatimest]
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
- The only album of these 7 that I haven’t mentioned on the blog yet. The first 6 songs are hard to top. Longstreth tones down the weird just a bit, and it gets album of the year hype…go figure.
[“Stillness is the Move” – Bitte Orca]
Most Overrated:
Japandroids – Post-Nothing
- It’s a fun, rockin’ little album, but the 4th best reviewed release of the year?!…come on!
[“Young Hearts Spark Fire” – Post-Nothing]
Most Underrated:
Loney, Dear – Dear John
- One of my most listened to albums so far this year. It doesn’t deserve any album of the year or even top 10 talk, but I think it deserves more attention than it’s getting.
[“Airport Surroundings” – Dear John]
Biggest Disappointment:
The Appleseed Cast – Sagarmatha
- They left behind their melodic pop hooks that made Peregrine so good, and went back to their post-rock instrumental days with bland results. Best description I’ve heard was that it’s like Explosions in the Sky tried to make an Appleseed Cast album…not what I was hoping for.
[“The Summer Before” – Sagarmatha]
Biggest Surprise:
Maria Taylor – LadyLuck
- Already mentioned this one here, but the more I thought about it, the more I concluded that it probably is my biggest surprise of the year.
[Time Lapse Lifeline – LadyLuck]
Need to give more listens:
Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
- I just haven’t put enough time into this one to get a reading on it. Some of it has some early Built to Spill indie feel to it, which deserves my attention.
[“Indiana” – Why There Are Mountains]
Notable albums I still need to get:
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
St. Vincent – Actor
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 