Rilo Kiley -- The Execution of All Things

I mentioned this album in my review of The Appleseed Cast's show about a week ago, and I'm not kidding when I say that it is one of my favorite albums. Call me lame all you want, but this album is definitely the standard that I hold all female vocalists to. Jenny Lewis has a great voice, and I think it really shines on this album, more than her solo work or other Rilo Kiley albums, because she offers such a varied range. She fits the slower acoustic songs while still being able to shout her way above the din in the louder songs. This brings me to another bit I love about this record. The instruments work. The drums work. The guitars work. The bass works. Every instrument knows its place and is perfectly happy to be there and not steal the show. This causes the album to, quite simply, work. Sing-along songs like 'With Arms Outstretched' (this song is one of my favorite songs ever, by the way) contrast well with the moments in songs like 'Spectacular Views' where the band goes into full rock-out mode. All in all, while not a perfect album (the sequences about Jenny's childhood in Alaska at the end of some tracks can be annoying), The Execution of All Things comes pretty close and provides a good standard for female vocalists, instrumental cohesion, and indie-alt-country-rock hyphenated genre albums in general.

Bill Callahan -- Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

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I don't want to sound cliche, but this album may be one of the best of 2009 already. Granted, I haven't heard the new Casiotone For The Painfully Alone or the (fingers crossed) new Circle Takes The Square album, but this should come in close to the top. This album is full of gentle folk songs slowly leaking from Bill Callahan's mouth like syrup that keep you absolutely entranced. The man also has a perfect sense of timing and knows when to sing and when to just let the music do the talking. Amazon Music (lolololol) put it very when when they described the album as "[u]nfolding like a first view of paradise, then a slightly less ecstatic second view of paradise and then finally a glance back over your shoulder at that stupid paradise bullshit". Be sure to get this and listen to every song. 'Eid Ma Clack Shaw' and 'All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast' are my favorites.
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