Here are my favourite albums of the year:
   
    1. In Elvis Garage - Winning by Cheating
    2. Son Volt - The Search
    3. Clemente - Whilst Honey Hums
    4. Loose Salute - Tuned to Love
    5. 1900s - Cold & Kind
    6. Soft Hearted Scientists - Take Time to Wonder in a Whirling World
    7. Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara
    8. Okkervil River - Stage Names
    9. Amandine - Solace in Sore Hands
  10. Minor Canon - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
  11. Coolabahs - Wait for a Brighter Day
  12. The Elephants - s/t
  13. Lacrosse - This New Year Will Be for You and Me
  14. Sarabeth Tucek - s/t
  15. Mr D - Wings & Wheels
  16. Or, The Whale - Light Poles and Pines
  17. State Of Samuel - Here Come the Floods
  18. American Babies - s/t
  19. Armstrong - Under Blue Skies
  20. UK States - Psychgeography
   
  As Jay Farrar is my favourite songwriter it pains me to relegate Son Volt  to second place, but it had to be done as the In Elvis Garage is my favourite pop album of all time.  I was lucky enough to get a CDR of it from the band about a year before its proper release and after a hundred plus listens I am not even close to becoming bored with it.  The great thing about it is that it is a genuine power pop album.  They manage to get the guitar sound just right so that it is powerful enough to drive the songs along but never so heavy that it overwhelms the melodies and hooks.  It is also a pop album from start to finish - there is no token acoustic track tacked on the end or forays into ska or funk in an attempt to give it some variety.  The variety comes from changes in tempo and volume and the sparing use of a brass section and it flows brilliantly as an album.  There are also no guitar solos on it which is something to be applauded in my opinion. 
 www.myspace.com/inelvisgarage
  It is available from Ray at Kool Kat www.koolkatmusik.com
   
  I would recommend the Clemete album to any Uncle Tupelo fans out there.  They are the one band I think come close to matching UT's intensity and they do it whilst having their own sound.  They do fit loosely into the alt country spectrum but don't sound obviously like any one else.  Their first album, Teeth Measure the Need, is great as well.  www.myspace.com/yellowmeansinfection
   
  The Coolabahs album I think would go down well with Auditeers.  Their album is a mix of 60s tinged upbeat pop and really beautiful quieter tracks.  It is a CDR but with proper artwork.  www.myspace.com/thecoolabahs
   
  The Armstrong album doesn't sound that promising on paper as it is a one man band affair.  The songs are built around acoustic guitar and fleshed out with keyboards and drums.  It is a good mix of upbeat tracks and more introspective ones is a cut above most of this sort of stuff.  It is a homemade CDR with limited artwork.  www.myspace.com/armstrongwales
   
  The UK States album I find quite dark and unsettling so  is probably unlikely to be big on Audities.  I wanted to give it a plug though as it has been released to complete indifference.  I really like it and would describe it as the Velvet Underground trying to make and Americana album.  www.ukstates.com
   
  EPs of the year:
   
  Hem - Home Again, Home Again (available from CDBaby)
  Count To Fire - s/t CDR - a new UK alt country band and the EP is available for free to anyone in the UK who sends them an SAE - details at www.myspace.com/counttofire
   
  Maurice

       
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