1. The Dodos, Visiter
(This duo captures the busker spirit just as well as The Long Winters or Sufjan Stevens. Percussive, melodic, and altogether infectious, this is a indie-rock classic. Pretty and chaotic at the same time.)

2. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
(Who would have guessed that Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo's cryptic duo would produce a second album that might actually be better than the first? More cohesive as an album, and short of the novelty songs this time, it's as spacey as you've ever heard them.)

3. The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia
(Afghan Whigs singer Greg Dulli and Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan create this power combo, trading verses of grizzled and growling barroom mope. They're murder ballads, but also defiantly orchestrated and catchy.)

4. DeVotchKa, A Mad & Faithful Telling
(Gypsy-punk may not be the wave of the future, but this acclaimed band makes a viable case with an album that embodies the best of acts like Beirut or Bright Eyes. Exotic, passionate, and pumping.)

5. Kaki King, Dreaming Of Revenge
(On this album of half instrumentals and half late-night folk-pop, King sets her place firmly at the throne of a new era of female singer/songwriter.)