Baby, You're My Top Special.

Inspired by this feller, who I saw waiting for a bus the other day, and would have given a ride to, had I not been almost late for work, I'm going to make an attempt at my Top 10 albums. I may only get to 7. Stick around and see!

These are in no particular order and are numbered only so I don't have to keep going back and saying "ok, so that's four- no six!"

1) Fever To Tell - Yeah Yeah Yeahs.



I read a review that called this album "Oversexed and overjoyed" which seems appropriate. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (besides having the best name in rock and roll) have put together a killer album brimming with ridiculous highs and dizzying lows, all the while boasting three incredibly unique musical talents. That, and the songwriting is just incredible.

Highlights: Date With The Night, Tick, Maps, Y Control



2) Knives Don't Have Your Back - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton



A new one I know, but I find myself unable to put it aside. Take all the cutting intelligence, sparkle, and sex of Metric and coat the whole thing in an elegant melancholy. Ohh, it's lovely.

Highlights: Our Hell, Crowd Surf Off a Cliff, Reading in Bed, Winning



3) Iron & Wine - Woman King EP



Beautiful, elegant, and surprisingly angry. The whole album lasts less than half an hour, but it feels like an eternity that went by too quickly. Sam Beam's lyrics seem to have an endless depth and richness to them which makes repeated listens akin to re-reading a favourite book. Plus: Distortion!

Highlights: Woman King, Jezebel, Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song)



4) Nick Drake - Pink Moon



Though it's unfortunate that the title song will be remembered by most as "that song from that car commercial!" Nick Drake's short and sweet Pink Moon album is gorgeous, quirky, existential mood music at it's best. Is there anyone else who could get away with a one minute and twenty-three second instrumental song on an album that's only twenty-eight minutes long to begin with? It fits, and I guess that's what's important.

Highlights: Pink Moon, Road, Horn, Know



5) Son House - Original Delta Blues



This isn't exactly an According to Hoyle album, but then Son House doesn't have any real albums to speak of; more of a series of recordings. So this is kind of a "Best Of" I suppose, but it still packs a mighty punch. Son House is the blues. He's dark, angry, and surprisingly sexy. Not to mention that voice. Just TRY and fuck with this man.

Highlights: Death Letter Blues, John The Revelator, Grinnin' In Your Face, Levee Camp Moan



6) Sigur Ros - ( ) Untitled #1



Again, not exactly a real album, but a single instead. Still, this short offering packs more of an emotional wallop than a full length Sigur Ros album, which (though I enjoy them mightily) I sometimes can't help but tune out. The three tracks which accompany Untitled #1 from the Parentheses album perfectly add to an already stunning track, expanding on the original without diluting it. Plus the fourth track was my theme music when I played Edmond in King Lear!

Highlights: Untitled #1, Untitled 9A, Untitled 9B



7) The White Stripes - Elephant



It's a classic. This is the gold standard that rock and roll will have to live up to in our generation. Aside from the hard rocking that goes on in many of the tracks, there is a palpable insecurity to Jack's lyrics which makes this much more than a fuzzed-out rock blitz. The beast has a heart. Plus Meg sings!

Highlights: Seven Nation Army, Black Math, In the Cold Cold Night, You've Got Her in Your Pocket, Little Acorns, Hypnotize, The Air Near My Fingers



8) The White Stripes - De Stijl



And in the end I couldn't pick just one. This album could have made the cut based solely on the meaty cover of Son House's "Death Letter Blues," but the whole album celebrates the band's influences in a uniquely Stripes way.

Highlights: You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl), Hello Operator, Little Bird, Apple Blossom, Death Letter, Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me?, Your Southern Can is Mine



And, as an added bonus:



9) You Say Party! We Say Die! - Hit the Floor!



I can't listen to this album without coming out in a better mood. In fact, it seems designed to perform that specific action. The opening overture is apocalyptic and seems to agree that yes, the world does suck and is crumbling. But the rest of the album says "We may as well have some fun while we're still here." Catchy and intrisically danceable.

Highlights: Cold Hands! Hot Bodies, Stockholm Syndrome Part 2, The Gap (Between the Rich and the Poor), Midnight Snack, He!She!You!Me!They!We!Us!OK!



10) Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene



I was kind of impartial to this album at first, until I discovered the joys of listening to it really really loudly. The sound is so rich and full and it deserves the full attention of your speakers. Plus, the more I think about it the more each track is spectacular in its own way.

Highlights: Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day), 7/4 (Shoreline), Fire Eye'd Boy, Superconnected, Bandwitch



Runners Up! (Will possibly make the list next time)

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
Funeral - Arcade Fire
Architecture - Amy Campbell
Strong Bad Sings & Other Type Hits - The Brothers Chaps
Picaresque - The Decemberists
The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls
Live at Town Hall - Eels with Strings
Veni Vidi Viscious - The Hives
Van Lear Rose - Loretta Lynn
Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Kid A - Radiohead
Pretty In Black - The Raveonettes
Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins
Navy Blues - Sloan
So Jealous - Tegan & Sara
The Eraser - Thom Yorke
Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground
The White Stripes - The White Stripes
Tommy - The Who