1. The First Days of Spring — Noah and the Whale

I’ve been a moderate Noah and the Whale fan for a couple of years. Their album, Peaceful the World Lays Me Down (2008), made my top ten a year ago and had a fairly regular appearance in my music rotation. I wasn’t sure what to expect from First Days, but what I didn’t expect was to be completely blown away by the group’s growth in performance and songwriting. There isn’t a weak song on the album; the whole thing continues to build like a great playlist and makes for one of those rare albums that is great for any occasion: studying, working, driving, even rocking out.

Top tracks: Blue Skies, My Door is Always Open.

2. Build Me This — Joshua James

This was another album, like Last Days, that completely took me by surprise this past year. I was familiar with Joshua James, but none of his previous work had really struck a chord with me. That all changed when I heard the first song off the album, Coal War. James is a fantastic songwriter who hits a home run with this effort.

Top tracks: Coal War, In the Middle.

3. Strict Joy — The Swell Season

First, if you’ve yet to see the film Once, do yourself a favor and stop reading this right now and go out and rent, watch and enjoy it. You can thank me later. The Academy Award winning duo featured in Once make up the lead musicians for The Swell Season, and their first major album release since the 2006 film is nothing short of spectacular. It’s one of those albums that the more you listen, the better it gets.

Top tracks: Low Rising, I Have Loved You Wrong.

4. Conditions — The Temper Trap

A really good up-and-coming rock band that sadly has yet to really catch on in the United States, despite great success in their home of Australia and in the United Kingdom. Speaking of which, there are quite a few similarities from The Temper Trap that one would find in the popular British band Bloc Party. All songs on Conditions are equally enjoyable.

Top tracks: Sweet Disposition, Fader.

5. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — Phoenix

Most of my top ten list is devoted to strong singer-songwriters. Phoenix, however, is not the typical soft, artsy folk-like music found on my list. It is the perfect upbeat, electronic album. The French band has been around for a few albums, but is just now making it big on this side of the Atlantic. Their music is also so universally appealing it’s begun to make its way into car commercials. Don’t interpret commercial appeal with generic either — this band has a unique style that the American music scene was desperately lacking.

Top tracks: 1901, Love Like a Sunset

Rounding out the top 10:

6. Songbook, Woodpigeon
7. Far, Regina Spektor
8. Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King, Dave Matthews Band
9. To Lose My Life, White Lies
10. Everybody, Ingrid Michaelson

Also worth mentioning:

These albums are all top ten worthy, but I disqualified them either because they were a soundtrack, an E.P. or the artist and producer were both people with whom I was acquainted.

Flannel EP — Kelsey Shields: As the final touches of production were being done to this album, I was living upstairs from the basement studio where this fantastic EP was recorded. Despite hearing these songs over and over again for hours on end, the music never gets old; in fact, if I go too long without listening to the album, I go through withdrawals. Kelsey surely has a future in music, and if she doesn’t, something is sorely wrong with this world.

Blood Bank — Bon Iver: This EP, along with the Bon Iver’s 2008 release For Emma, Forever Ago, may have been recorded in the cold, depressing Wisconsin winter, but they’re the perfect companion to warm up with during a dreary Oregon night.

(500) Days of Summer Official Soundtrack — Various Artists: Not only was the film immensely enjoyable, but the soundtrack took this little independent movie that could and made the story that much more compelling; Only Garden State had as equally superb a soundtrack that had me leaving the theater debating whether the film or the music was greater. Two artists who landed in my top ten owe their discovery by me to this very soundtrack.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything about music. Which is odd considering how much of an impact it has on my life.

While working on some projects over the last couple weeks I’ve averaged over 100-songs a day – that’s anywhere from eight to ten hours of music, most in one sitting – so yeah, I should have something to say.

Favorite musician right now:

William Fitzsimmons – I’m not sure exactly how I came upon his music, but it only took a couple notes to hook me. Initially I compared Fitzsimmons to another unkept bearded musician: Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, and while the musical styles are at times similar, Fitzsimmons has an uncanny ability to do far more with less than any other songwriter that comes to mind.

Last month I had the privilege of seeing several of my favorite artists perform live; in addition to seeing Fitzsimmons perform, I saw Coldplay, Greg Laswell, Switchfoot and Blue October. While Coldplay was an incredible experience, it will be Fitzsimmons intimate show with about 50 attendees that will live in my memory forever.

Fitzsimmons ability however, goes far beyond his exceptional guitar skills. The man is an epic songwriter who, unlike so many who try and fail, captures the perfect lyrics for love and heartbreak. He recently appeared on an NPR segment discussing the inspiration for his lyrics.

If you’re only going to listen to one Fitzsimmons song: “Just Not Each Other.”

Other musicians getting lots of play:

Jenny Owen Youngs, who opened for Fitzsimmons at the show I attended. In particular, her song, “Last Person,” which is her singing to a man sitting at the bar alone who fears being “the last person on earth tonight” – a feeling I can really relate to at this point in my life.

Brenden James’ debut album “The Day is Brave” has been listened to so many times on my computer/iPhone I fear I must be wearing out the digital files. There isn’t a bad song on the album, and “Hero’s Song” is a war protest song on par with anything heard during the Vietnam War.

Bon Iver is probably the “most trendy” pick on this list, since it seems six months ago no one knew of him and now he’s everywhere. Yet, I just can’t get enough of his musical stylings, so here he is. From beginning to end “For Emma, Forever Ago” is a masterpiece of an album, but his more recently released four-song EP “Blood Bank” may be even better.

Ingrid Michaelson has been a constant on my playlists since that Old Navy commercial a couple years ago featuring “The Way I Am.” Unfortunately, Michaelson has fallen into that “one hit wonder” trap that so many great singer-songwriters fall into (See: Vanessa Carlton, et al). Mainstream success aside, Michaelson is a fantastic artist, and her new album “Everybody” features a couple jewels, including: “Are We There Yet,” and the single, “Maybe.”

So, I’d like to introduce you to my roommates, Matt and Joanie, together they form the band Trees of Lyres. Over the weekend, they shot this video. Hope you enjoy.

Be sure to visit their last.fm or myspace page for more!

I’m not a fan of the Grammy Awards, but I’m glad to see a band like Coldplay win some well deserved trophies in last nights ceremony.

I’m not sure Coldplay needs much of an introduction from me. Each of their four full-length releases over the last dozen years has gone multi-platinum.

I’ve been a fan of the British group since hearing their song “Yellow” several years ago; and while I’ve enjoyed every single album, it wasn’t until the release of “Viva La Vida” that put one of my most-played musical acts on to my all-time favorite musical acts list. There isn’t a single song that I would consider sub-par on the entire album. I’m sure I’ll get hell for saying it, but from beginning to end, “Viva La Vida” may be the best Rock album of all-time.

Last night after tuning into 60 Minutes to watch the story on Flight 1549 captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, they ran a piece on Coldplay and their front-man Chris Martin, which you can see below. It’s easy to like a group of guys like this.

Martin said that his goal is to write the perfect song, which can’t be done. Maybe not, but they’ve already come close, several times. Every album seems to be better than it’s predecessor; I was sure “Viva La Vida” wouldn’t ever match the brilliance of “X&Y,” but somehow it did. Is it even possible for expectations of this group to be set too high? Because, somehow they exceed them no matter how high the bar.

Several years ago I made the comment to a couple friends that Coldplay had the potential to become my generations U2, not only with musical genius, but also with their ability to help charitable causes on a scale only Bono and U2 have thus far been able to deliver. I believe they’ve arrived as the musical equivalent to the Irish band, only time will tell if Martin and the rest of the group can rise to that level of generosity.