Well it’s 2009 already – check that – it’s well into 2009 already. Wow time flies. Seems like just yesterday we were drooling over the upcoming Animal Collective release and pondering who would win a GRAMMY. How far we’ve come.

Scarcely have Panda Bear, Avey Tare, and Geologist settled into their throne overlooking the rest of 2009’s releases than has buzz begun to build for their overthrow. Can’t a group get a break? They released a phenomenal album on January 20^th, and here we are, February 10^th, talking about possible superiors.

Luis pointed out to me that there has been a fair amount of hype around the latest release from Ohio natives Heartless Bastards. And by “fair amount of hype,” I mean that there have been huge calls. Massive calls. Album of the year calls. Calls that, obviously, must be addressed.

Is “The Mountain” the album of the year? Does it best “Merriweather Post Pavilion”? There’s only one way to find out – the first, but probably not last, ALBUM OF THE YEAR SHOWDOWN. Continue reading →