best albums of 2009... so far

want to know what's missing from your album collection but don't know where to start? tired of sifting through the ever-growing list of worthwhile 2009 releases found on the left-hand side of this page? wish you had a handy and succinct nashville mixtapes-endorsed list of 2009 releases to take with you to your favorite locally owned record store this week?

well, you're in luck. these aren't albums i think should be good, these are albums i know are the absolute best of the year so far:

animal collective - merriweather post pavillion
cotton jones - paranoid cocoon
vetiver - tight knit
elvis perkins in dearland - s/t
every memory cassette ep and album released (ep's only available on itunes here, full album available 8.24)
dan deacon - bromst
doves - kingdom of rust
bill callahan - sometimes i wish i were an eagle
papercuts - you can have what you want
thee oh sees - help
woods - songs of shame
the horrors - primary colours
dead meadow - s/t
grizzly bear - veckatimest
danger mouse & sparklehorse - dark night of the soul (not for release, but get it here if you bittorrent)
mos def - the ecstatic
stardeath and white dwarfs - the birth
milktooth - s/t ep
ramona falls - intuit (out tomorrow)