The Alternative Ulster: January 2010: Great Job!

Much of the 'blogosphere' concurred about the best album of 2009, Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion. Ever since copies began circulating in late 2008 (and every music nerd acquired in some sort-of illegal fashion as well), everyone was going ape shit. Everyone. Stereogum posted a blog on January 5th, 2009 titled "Is Merriweather Post Pavilion The Best Album of 2009?," and, for what it's worth, they were pretty much right (although yours truly thought a little differently). Along with Franz Ferdinand's Tonight, Franz Nicolay's Major General, Andrew Bird's Noble Beast and Late of the Pier's Fantasy Black Channel, the month of January 2009 threw the gauntlet down for the rest of the year.

Looks like the start of the new decade is no different. In fact, it could even start on a stronger note than last year. Do we have some ground-breaking, mind-altering album like MPP? No, but I'll be goddamned if a month this year can be better than this one. New-release-wise, that is. (Okay, that may be unfair, because the Hold Steady are recording a new one). Check out the best that stupid, freezing January had to offer for music:

Vampire Weekend - "White Sky"