Albums of my year, 2009-2022


These were made for The Portland Mercury, Letters With Mixtapes, and myself.

Best of 2022

1. Cat’s Miaow- Songs ‘94-’98 (World of Echo)

2. Taylor Swift- Midnights (Republic Records)

3) Kate Ferencz- You Will Love Again (Self-Released)

4) Friendship- Love the Stranger (Merge Records)

5) Time Pieces- Boundary Problems (Porchlight Records)

Best of 2021

1. Idle Ray- Idle Ray (Life Like Tapes)

2. Advance Base- Wall of Tears & Other Songs I Didn’t Write (Orindal Records)

3. Midwife- Luminol (The Flenser)

4. Pleasure Systems- Visiting the Well (Orchid Tapes)

5. Karima Walker- Dreaming the Waking Body (Orindal Records)

6. Dry Cleaning- New Long Leg (4AD)

7. Oh, Yes- Crooked Wine Smile (Relief Map Records)

8. Fog Lake- Tragedy Reel (Orchid Tapes)

Best of 2020

1. Babytooth- Thataway EP

2. Waxahatchee- Saint Cloud

3. Frances Quinlan- Likewise

4. Adrianne Lenker- Songs

5. Destroyer- Have We Met

6. The Mountain Goats- Songs for Pierre Chuvin

7. Idle Ray- Demo EP

8. Y La Bamba- Los Gritos

9. The Innocence Mission- See You Tomorrow

10. Radisson Blue- Assemblage EP

Best of 2019

1. Purple Mountains- Self-Titled

2. Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron- Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2

3. Sacred Paws- Run Around the Sun

4. Big Thief- Two Hands

5. Y La Bamba- Mujeres

6. Friendship- Dreamin’

7. Erin Durant- Islands

Best of 2018

1. Fred Thomas- Aftering

2. Black Belt Eagle Scout- Mother of My Children

3. Advance Base- Animal Companionship

4. Kate Ferencz- What Was the World

5. Stephen Steinbrink- Utopia Teased

Best of 2017

1. Kelela- Take Me Apart

2. Jessica Dennison + Jones- Self-Titled

3. Midwife- Like Author, Like Daughter

4. Michael Nau- Some Twist

5. Fred Thomas- Changer

6. Allison Crutchfield- Tourist in This Town

Best of 2016

1. Mal Devisa- Kidd

2. Frankie Cosmos- Next Thing

3. Michael Nau- Mowing

4. Sister Grotto- You Don’t Have to Be a House to Be Haunted

5. Mutual Benefit- Skip a Sinking Stone

6. Noname- Telefone

Best of 2015

1. Kate Ferencz- Dying Alone

2. Advance Base- Nephew in the Wild

3. Willis Earl Beal- Nocturnes

4. Richard Album- Saturday Night Album

5. Aunts- Good Mourning Moon

6. Two White Cranes- Radisson Blue

7. Quarterbacks- Self-Titled

8. Golden Hour- Don’t Be Cute

9. Mommy Long Legs- Assholes EP

10. Natural Magic- Self-Titled

Best of 2014

1. EMA- The Future’s Void

2. Stephen Steinbrink- Arranged Waves

3. Nicholas Krgovich- On Sunset/On Cahuenga

4. Blowout- We All Float Down Here

5. Silver Shadows- Self-Titled EP

6. Allison Crutchfield- Lean In To It

7. Two White Cranes- Self-Titled

Best of 2013

1. Mutual Benefit- Love’s Crushing Diamond

2. Kelela- Cut 4 Me

3. Autre Ne Veut- Anxiety

4. Corespondents- Land of the Low People

5. James Blake- Overgrown

6. Beyoncé- Self-Titled

7. RIVKA- Faded

Best of 2012

1. Arlt & Thomas Bonvalet- Self-Titled

2. Dirty Three- Toward the Low Sun

3. Azealia Banks- 1991

4. Lau Nau- Valohiukkanen

Best of 2011

1. Barren Nieces- Lascivious Occupations

2. Jordan O’ Jordan- Drawn Onward

3. EMA- Past Life Martyred Saint

4. Mega Bog- Freaky Dawn

5. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up

Best of 2010

1. Joanna Newsom- Have One on Me

2. CocoRosie- Grey Oceans

3. The Books- The Way Out

4. Eleanor Murray- Oh Thunder

5. Cock and Swan- Unrecognize

6. Corespondents- Ur

7. Xiu Xiu- Dear God I Hate Myself

8. Innocence Mission- My Room in the Trees

9. Ô Paon- Courses

10. S.L.F.M.- Affaire

Best of 2009

1. Christina Antipa- The Royal We

2. Polka Dot Dot Dot- Syzygy

3. Tiny Vipers- Life on Earth

4. DJ Dogwater- Amy Winehouse Memorial Mixtape

5. Gunmothers Head- Her Husband Didn’t

6. Corespondents- Do Not Doublestack Do Not Doublestack

7. Lactacious- Strong and Wrong

8. Arrington de Dionyso- Malaikat Dan Singa

9. Tara Jane O'Neill- A Ways Away

10. Karl Blau- 96