Instead of being like all the other critics around the nation, and
picking albums such as White Stripes - Elephant, Outkast - Speakerboxx/Love
Below, and The Rapture - Echoes as their Number 1's - I think I'd rather
pick something that tried to be less predictable, and more passionate and daring. I can only think of one album that tried and succeeded beyond all others, and that would
be Elvis Costello's North. Now I know that most critics have looked beyond this
album for being too sparse and quiet, but I dare all listeners to take a closer look.
This album is bold, and beyond moving. Between writing the first half of the
album about his painful divorce from his ex-wife Cait O'Rierdan, to the uplifting
second half about his courtship to new found love Diana Krall, this album has it
all on the emotional scale. And the fact that Costello composed every piece
of music on this album is beyond astounding. For my money, no one came close
to the honesty and emotion Costello laid bare on the most personal album of his
career - North.

1 - Elvis Costello - North
2 - Delgados - Hate
3 - Cursive - Ugly Organ
4 - Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power
5 - Blur - Think Tank
6 - Al Green - I Can't Stop
7 - Rufus Wainwright - Want One
8 - Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
9 - Cat Power - You Are Free
10 - Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
11 - Joe Strummer - Streetcore
12 - Strokes - Room on Fire
13 - Ben Harper - Diamonds on the Inside
14 - Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
15 - Joe Henry - Tiny Voices
16 - Fire Theft - Fire Theft
17 - Postal Service - Give Up
18 - Ravonettes - Chain Gang of Love
19 - Richard Hawley - Lowedges
20 - Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
21 - Elefant - Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid
22 - Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
23 - Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Fever to Tell
24 - Sleepy Jackson - Lovers
25 - Josh Rouse - 1972