Top Albums: 19-17

19) WU Lyf - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

Appearing out of seemingly nowhere, shrouded in an unusual amount of anonymity, and taking a name that means World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation, Wu Lyf certainly has carved a unique niche for themselves.  But that wouldn't mean much if their "heavy pop" wasn't pleasing to the ears.

Unintelligible barks break between bursts of glistening organ and shards of glassy guitars.  This all builds to a thundering crescendo and then descends into an even more unintelligible call-and-response only to build once more.  WU Lyf definitely have a template for what they're doing, but, god damn, it's an effective template.

Top Albums: 22-20

22) Future Islands - On the Water

Theatricality is nothing new to the world of indie rock.  In the last ten years we've seen everything from the superbly overblown to the hilariously overwrought. Somewhere between those two points is Future Islands.

Top 25 Releases of 2011

It's that time of the season.  No, not Christmas.  It's time for lists!

As this is a music blog, and list-making is something music blogs are wont to do, the following should be considered the top 25 releases of the past year.  Over the next two weeks this site will chronicle albums and EPs that just about absolutely killed it.

So, time to dispense with the hyperbole: