Time for the obligatory end of year lists; decisions, decisions

If you're anything like me, you read blog after blog after blog with lists that seem to mirror each other just a little bit too much. And then you ask yourself "Why?" Why do bloggers come up with these lists? Why are so many of them so much alike?
Answer: I have no idea - but I'm going to do one anyways.
This year wasn't exactly a stellar year, in my opinion, but there were some really good albums that came out that deserve noting again. Maybe they slipped under the radar with all the hype surrounding releases from the likes of Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, etc.; maybe they came out in the beginning of the year and simply were forgotten about. It happens.
On that note, let me start off with what I think were the best songs of the year. This was not an easy list to make. I wanted to keep it simple (and short) so there were a handful of really great songs that didn't make the cut. As much of a chore as it was just deciding which songs to list, I'm not going to put them in ranking order. Good enough is just simply that.

The Walls Are Coming Down by Fanfarlo from Reservoir

Much More Than That by Sharon Van Etten from Because I Was In Love

Quiet Little Voices by We Were Promised Jetpacks from These Four Walls

Two by The Antlers from Hospice

The Rake's Song by The Decemberists from The Hazards of Love

Effigy by Andrew Bird from Noble Beast

Ljósið by Ólafur Arnalds from Found Songs

No You Girls by Franz Ferdinand from Tonight

I Became A Prostitute by The Twilight Sad from Forget the Night Ahead

When They Fight, They Fight by Generationals from Con Law

Winter Hill by Doves from Kingdom of Rust

French Navy by Camera Obscura from My Maudlin Career

Advent in Ives Garden by Sin Fang Bous from Clangour

Canadian Dream by Andrew Vincent from Rotten Pair via TLOBF

Percussion Gun by White Rabbits from It's Frightening

There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve by A.C. Newman from Get Guilty

Coast of Carolina by Telekinesis from Telekinesis!

Idiot Heart by Sunset Rubdown from Dragonslayer

Young Hearts Spark Fire by Japandroids from Post-Nothing

Actor Out of Work by St. Vincent from Actor

Just This Ashtray by Lemonwilde from Red Room

The Last English Rose by All The King's Men from Dirty Pubs & Bouncing Rooms

Games for Days by Julian Plenti from Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper

Champagne Downtown by Halloween, Alaska from Champagne Downtown

If Eilert Loevborg Wrote A Song, It Would Sound Like This by Broken Records from Until the Earth Begins to Part

image from chewie2008~ at Flickr