2009 is a tough year to judge. I’ve checked out more albums this year than any year in the past. Well over 1,000. And there have been quite a few great ones as well. When this list began, it had 110 albums. I abandoned my top 33 and 1/3 for 45, and then said “screw it” and upped the number to an even 50. These are the top notch albums of the year, all worthy of praise.

What a decade it’s been. 2004 was my first year in the so-called Real World; jobs, car payments, instability everywhere. Things weren’t all happy and seemingly upbeat like the mid 90s. After eight months in Seattle, I found myself unemployed and decided it was time for more education. I moved to the greater Portland area and began prep to enter a Masters in Business Administration program, taking night classes at WSU Vancouver and making a frequent trip out to Pullman, where I’d soon attend graduate school. …

The second installment of A Retrospective, in which I recap my favorite albums released from 2000 to 2008, this time: 2001. Wrought with turmoil and watching a life fall apart as so many others were having similar experiences but in a different manner; that was 2001 for you. The year I turned 21 (hence the wine bottle photo above). A year that lives in infamy. Young or old, we all seemed to grow up that year. Music, too seemed to progress in ways unthought, even …

So we meet again after several years / after several years of separation begins Kings Of Convenience’s new single “Boat Behind”, and it’s the most fitting opening as the band has been on hiatus for about half a decade. As we hit the rainy fall season, “Boat Behind” is the perfect video to induce a nostalgic state, draped with sunny days and open sunroofs and hitchhiking girls. And as one of my all-time favorite bands, coupled with its glorious ending, “Boat Behind” is among the best music videos …