Here they are, in no particular order….

Pale Young Gentlemen, Black Forest (Tra La La)

I wrote about these guys for Cville Muse back in October and I’m still loving the album. “The Crook of My Good Arm” is eminently radio-friendly, “Coal/Ivory” is downright enchanting, and the whole album is strong.

MP3: Coal/Ivory

–

Palms, It’s Midnight in Honolulu

Ethereal and German, need I say more? I had trouble choosing my favorite track to showcase, so I went for the more upbeat option.

MP3: Das Lowenfell

–

Benoit Pioulard, Temper

I like the fuzzy, jangly sound of Pioulard’s music, a lovely blend of rock and folk. Besides, anyone who can work the word “palimpsest” into their lyrics rates pretty highly in my book.

MP3: Ragged Tint

–

The Donkeys, Living On The Other Side

You can read more of my thoughts about this album here. This was such an outstanding year for music, The Donkeys couldn’t make it into my official Top 10, but they deserve an honorable mention for such a solid album.

MP3: Walk Through A Cloud

–

The Accidental, There Were Wolves

Except for the the self-titled release by Fleet Foxes this year, The Accidental is my favorite bedtime reading music. It’s soothing and mellow enough to blend into the background, but has several songs that manage to stay with you for days. Gorgeous harmonies and lots of strings.

MP3: Illuminated Red

–

Beach House, Devotion

I liked the first release by this Baltimore duo, and their newest album has proven to be just as strong. Their sound hasn’t changed much, and that’s a good thing.

MP3: Holy Dances

–

Dark Dark Dark, Snow Magic

More earthy folk, with some interesting harmonies. The album is admittedly uneven, but their best songs are damned good.

MP3: Winter Coat

–

Emiliana Torrini, Me and Armini

The production values of this album really set it apart from just another coffee-shop singer sound. It wasn’t until one of the songs came up on my iPod shuffle that it caught my attention - but once it leapt out at me, I kept going back to hear more.

MP3: Dead Duck

–

Fire on Fire, The Orchard

Cerberus Shoal is back, this time with name of “Fire on Fire”. It’s really a shame that the station received this album so late in the year - this album probably won’t get much attention on the top ten lists. Alternative folk meets bluegrass in this haunting album.

MP3: Heavy D

This tree is located in a field near the airport - I only see it when I’m dropping someone off, or heading out on a trip of my own. A friend of mine and I realized back in February that we’d both noticed it and wanted to return. One frigid day a couple of weeks later we drove out to see it, and took a number of pictures. This isn’t the most artistic shot from that day, but it shows the tree’s immensity better than any of the others.

I took this picture on Halloween, and it’s amazing how much the view has changed since then. All the leaves are gone, and my leafy bower now looks out upon the barren yards of of my neighbor’s houses. I’m glad I seized the moment that morning to snap this picture - it will be a while before the leaves return.

Sea Wolf, Winter Windows
Lykke Li, Window Blues
Wildbirds and Peacedrums, The Window

Looking back over the year in pictures, I thought I would post some of my favorites.

Back in August, I spent a surreal 24 hours in Solvang, California. I’m still peeved by the rude service at the Little Mermaid Café, but I loved walking around the town and seeing the morning mist burn off of the mountains.

For those of you interested in my radio show, Melodic Mayhem (Saturdays, 1-3am), you can hear portions of it over at the Big Fun Blog.

Also, check out my recommendations for Cville Muse, posted here and here.

Fursaxa, Song of the Spindle-Berry
Christ & Emily, Ghost
Sunset, Graveyard Dog
Andy Votel, Frankenstein rerip (France)
Nina Simone, I Put A Spell On You

I followed a link from a friend’s tweet this morning to an article about dogs and yawning. It seems that yawning is contagious, even between people and their pets. While I’ve never noticed a connection between my yawns and those of Lilah, we do have an uncanny connection via sighs. Many a night, after I put down the novel I’m reading, turn off the light and snuggle down into my covers, Lilah will answer my sigh of contentment from the comfort of her own bed. It never fails to make me smile at how much I love that critter.

Julie Doiron, Faites de Beaux Reves

School has started again, hurricanes are churning away in the Gulf of Mexico, and dreary rainy days are starting to dampen the gold of summer. It’s time to hold onto the best of warm nights, daylight savings time, and green leaves before we all go into hibernation once more.

Lee Moses, California Dreaming
Dr. Dog, The Beach

As I travel up the coast of California, I’m reminded of the old Ink Spots song, “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano.” It rang through my head as I walked through the quiet courtyards and peered into the amazing koi pond among the ruins - but there were no swallows to be seen, unfortunately.

More to come from my adventures….