The second one

Top 14 albums of the year:

1) Radiohead -- In Rainbows
2) Andrew Bird -- Armchair Apocrypha
3) Wilco -- Sky Blue Sky
4) Arcade Fire -- Neon Bible
5) Budos Band -- Budos Band II
6) Okkervil River -- The Stage Names
7) Dan Deacon -- Spiderman of the Rings (Baltimore's Own!!)
8) Modest Mouse -- We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
9) Caribou -- Andorra
10) Beirut -- The Flying Cup Club
11) Bjork -- Volta
12) Blonde Redhead -- 23
13) The National -- Boxer
14) The White Stripes -- Icky Thump

Also strong efforts from My Teenage Stride, Spoon (whom I don't ordinarily like despite going to school in Austin), Ted Leo, Sigur Ros (despite it mostly being live), Dr. Dog, Deerhoof, The Shins, etc...

I have to say Radiohead gets top spot in my book for the sheer revolutionary-ness of the whole thing. Name your price, eschew label, etc. But Andrew Bird is my big new discovery this year; the album is a pearl and destined to go into my "comfort album" list. Some people have comfort food -- sweet cornbread, fried chicken, turkey and dressing, etc. I have comfort albums that get me through the night or the post-call day: Curtis Mayfield "Superfly", Arcade Fire "Funeral", Pavement "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain", Badly Drawn Boy "Hour of the Bewilderbeest" and a few others. "Armchair Apocrypha" is securely on the list.

And I bought the Iron and Wine 2 days ago so I can't rank it yet.

Recruiting dinner tonight. Drank heavily and ate like a glutton. Life is good for now. It will be miserable soon again.