Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished (2000), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear).
It sounds like ghosts; it sounds like children; it sounds like agony; it sounds like nonsense; it sounds beautiful. 8.5/10.
Standout track: the epic "Alvin Row" and the transcendental "Spirit They've Vanished".

Danse Manatee (2001), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist).
Violent, horrific, while gleefully and wildly experimental; while not accessible at all, this is the most out there and intriguing release they've done. 7/10.
Standout track: The almost frightening "Essplode" and the tribal "Runnin The Round Ball".

Hollinndagain (Live, 2002), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist).
Shows the power that the band can have live; it's essentially a more improvised, less polished version of Danse Manatee. 6.5/10.
Standout track: The meandering A-side song-cycle "I See You Pan/Pride And Fight".

Campfire Songs (2003), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin).
Freejazz folkpop that was recorded in a way that implies the title and, really, just sounds like what you'd expect, with lyrics ranging from heartbreaking to hilarious. 6.5/10.
Standout track: the heartbreaking "Doggy".

Here Comes The Indian (2003), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, Geologist).
The first recording with the whole band is the most complete panorama of all their sounds, for better or for worse, mostly the former. 7.5/10.
Standout track: The insane "Native Belle".

Sung Tongs (2004), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear).
Hackneyed songwriting, shallow "quirkiness", and boring rehashings abound on what amounts to Raffi For Hispters. 3/10.
Standout track: the effervescent "Who Could Win A Rabbit".

Feels (2005), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, Geologist).
Soft, playful, and nuanced, it is probably their most "child-like" album, and also probably their easiest. 6.5/10.
Standout track: the quaintly climaxless "Banshee Beat".

Strawberry Jam (2007), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, Geologist).
Accessible and yet without much compromise, although the second half has its weak points. 7/10.
Standout track: The raw "For Reverend Green".

Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009), by Animal Collective (Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist).
A fucked experimental band experiments with some pretty, kind of empty, purely pop-y musings and fail beautifully, but they still fail. 5/10.
Standout track: the heartfelt "In The Flowers".

My Maudlin Career (2009), by Camera Obscura.
The most faggot-tastic dream-pop you'll ever hear, and Camera Obscura's first excursion without ripping off Belle & Sebastian even once! 7/10.
Standout track: the laidback 50s-tinted "French Navy"

Free Jazz (1960), by Ornette Coleman.
Insanity in each ear with a "double quartet" holy hell, Coleman, you are a crazy motherfucker, you are a crazy, talented, creative motherfucker, you . 9/10.
Standout track: ~.

Bromst (2009), by Dan Deacon .
Go back to bed, little ravers-- adults are dancing. 8/10.
Standout track: the bittersweet suite "Snookered"/"Of The Mountains".

The Hazards Of Love (2009), by the Decemberists.
Wow, a narrative-concept album with heart, emotion, and a real sense of narrative flow without a pedantic Roger-Waters-ish superiority complex? Cool. 7.5/10.
Standout track: the nearly disturbing sludge-folk "Rake's Song".

Visiter (2008), by Dodos.
Like Sung Tongs, except not shitty. 7.5/10.
Stanoud track: the chaos-skirting tour-de-force "Jodi".

Bootleg Series Vol4: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (Live, 1966), by Bob Dylan.
The Rite Of Spring of the second half of the 20th century. 9.5/10.
Standout track: from acoustic set, the beautiful jazz tinted rendition of "Mr Tambourine Man". From electric set, the tour-de-force 'fuckin loud' "Like A Rolling Stone".

Tonight (2009), by Franz Ferdinand .
Just about as shallow, frivolous, and unworthy of real note as the hedonistic-night-out that this concept album is supposed to detail. 3/10.
Standout track: The catchy yet mediocre "Ulysses".

Litanies of Satan (1982), by Diamanda Galas .
Someone help! Diamanda Galas is loudly choking-- ON HER GENIUS. 8.5/10.
Standout track: The disturbingly hilarious vocal heroics of "The Litanies of Satan" and the disturbingly disturbing vocal/overdub heroics of "Wild Women with Steak-Knives".

Honey (1968), by Bobby Goldsboro.
By and far, the most gloriously lame thing I have ever heard. 3/10.
Standout track: the  almost-Zombies-rip-off "Love Arrestor".

Veckatimest (2009), by Grizzly Bear.
"With Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear has created a Pet Sounds for our generation; unfortunately, subsequent generations don't require superfluous revamps of existing albums that remain widely available" (line ripped off from Andrew Miller). 5/10.
Standout track: the only not-boring track, the strangely mesmerizing "Two Weeks".

The Furry Album (2009), by Kurrel the Raven.
Stephin Merritt is a big influence-- or maybe I should say STEPHIN FERRET! DO HO HO (but seriously, some really cute and "human" art-pop, even if half made up of in-jokes it makes a real effort at accessibility ). 6/10.
Standout track: The heartwrenching "Maybe One Day".

I Could Live in Hope (1994), by Low.
So sad you'd think they're swedish, so heartfelt you'll be surprised they're mormon. 9/10.
Standout track: the dynamically hopeful and yet hopeless ten-minute "Lullaby".

69 Love Songs (1999), by The Magnetic Fields.
A few good tunes, a great track or two, and 60 or so disappointments. 5/10.
Standout track: The beautifully hopelessly sad, if slightly obscure, "Busby Berkeley Dreams".

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (2009), by the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.
A cute little collection of My Bloody Valentine b-sides. 6/10.
Standout track: The adorable and punny-as-all-hell "Young Adult Friction".

Original Sin (1989), by Jim Steinman's Pandora's Box .
A testament to what "regular pop" music can and should be: emotionally powerful without kitsch, truly dynamic and epic songwriting, soulful performances, from the existential, to the deeply loving, to the loving-for-the-wrong-reasons, to hilarious sarcasm, there is a full spectrum here. 9/10.
Standout track: the romantic/tragic and easily misunderstood "It's All Coming Back To Me Now".

The In Sound From Way Out! (1966), by Perrey & Kingsley.
Influential in that is the first electronic pop music created-- not without its campy ridiculous flaws though, but still not without its campy ridiculous merits. 7/10.
Standout track: the cute "Swan's Splashdown".

The Wall (1979), by Pink Floyd.
Pretty much just an attempt to make Tommy more high concept and "deep", but just make it more self-concsious and pretentious without adding anything new to the idea of a rock-opera. 5.5/10.
Standout track: The quietly desperate "Hey You".

Jealous of Shit & Shine (2006), by Shit & Shine.
Turning using crappy half broken instruments and recording equipment-- and then breaking them even more-- into an artform. 8/10.
Standout track: the tribal minimalist jam "Practicing To Be A Doctor".

The River (1980), by Bruce Springsteen.
The American Dream. 9/10.
Standout track: the bittersweet pragmatic "Hungry Heart" or the gloriously tragic title track "The River"

Vampire Weekend (2008), by Vampire Weekend.
Vampire Weekend is the complete distillation of Collegiate smugness, but DAMN if they don't turn smugness into an artform. 7/10.
Standout track: the cheeky in-joke "Walcott"

Wavvves (2009), by Wavves .
Jealous of Shit And Shine for the overly sensitive and uninformed. 5/10.
Standout track: the only barely passable "No Hope Kids".

WEAKNESS (2009), by weakness.
Better than Wavvves. 7/10.
Standout track: the funky punky "fame" and the dynamic "Stormy Dayz".

Rock Bottom (1974), by Robert Wyatt.
Sincerity... 9.5/10.
Standout track: ~.