Phil Goldberg

Top 10 Albums

White Rainbow
New Clouds
Kranky

Adam Forkner continues to preach his metaphysical sonic gospel, only this time the substance is compelling. Like Yume Bitsu’s best work, New Clouds allows the listener to lose themselves in a benevolent trance. Let’s hope some people are still listening.

Volcano Choir
Unmap
Jagjaguwar

Just as most of us were finally getting ready to take For Emma and The Blood Bank EP out of the rotation, another Justin Vernon project emerges, proving that Vernon’s talent will continue to reveal itself well into the decade ahead.

Slaraffenland
We’re On Your Side
Hometapes

Not as mindblowing as Slaraffenland’s debut, We’re On Your Side is still a cut above most indie rock released this year.

Morrissey
Years of Refusal
Attack/Lost Highway

Good people can disagree about nearly everything this man has ever done. But let’s be honest, it’s the “bad people” in all of us that drives our appreciation for Morrissey. This record, like so many before it, has enough well articulated catharsis and tongue-in-cheek pleasantries to validate our discontent, so that our good sides can re-emerge and we can get on with our lives.

Emeralds
What Happened
No Fun

This Cleveland noise trio continued to keep busy (they released two other records this year), and despite the reality of the group’s prowess in their chosen genre, the rest of the country hasn’t seemed to have caught up yet.

Antony and the Johnsons
The Crying Light
Secretly Canadian

As far as I’m concerned, this music is simultaneously a blessing and a curse. The blessing: these are some of the most gorgeous compositions laid to track. The curse: the music is so engaging you cannot help but emotionally commit to its profound melancholy.

Mew
No More Stories Are Told Today...
Columbia

Scandinavian prog pop may be a bit too much for the masses to swallow, but the stuff Mew has created is brilliant.

Isis
Wavering Radiant
Ipecac

Champions of the doom-groove sensibility continue to prove their worth with their latest release.

Mountains
Choral
Thrill Jockey

This ambient drone duo’s Thrill Jockey debut is a $750 billion bailout for your psyche.

Bill Callahan
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Drag City

As of 2007, Bill Callahan hasn’t been releasing records under his revered indie household moniker Smog. On the off-chance he made this move to signify a departure or separation from his prior work—not unheard of with these singer-songwriter types—then he’s not fooling anyone. This year’s Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is artful mastery of the hysterically morbid and powerfully engaging style that listeners have delighted in for two decades now. The record’s instrumental arrangements reach something approaching perfection when paired with its bizarre and insightful lyrics. Though Callahan’s contemporaries remain highly productive, none of their releases in recent years have even come close to the remarkable Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle.