I have had the privilege of calling Mark Whiten my friend for a lot of years now. He and and I share our love of music with others through the sporadic music/interview podcast that we do together: The Habañero Hour (or keep up on Facebook). Here are his picks of the year:

01. Neulore – Apples And Eve
02. Isbells-S/T
03. Hark the Herons-S/T
04. Drew Grow & The Pastors Wives
05. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
06. Broken Records-Let Me Come Home
07.  Fang Island – Fang Island
08. Joe Pug – Messengers
09. Scanners-Submarine
10. Sleigh Bells – Treats
11. Horse Feathers-Thistled Spring
12.  Mid-American-Fake Homes
13. Mt. Desolation-S/T
14. Moving Mountains – Pneuma and foreward
15. Jonsi- go
16. Doug burr – Oh, Ye, Devestator
17. Titus Andronicus_The Monitor
18. The Pressure Room -Wide Of The Mark
19. Colonies – Thirty Thousand
20. These New Puritans -Hidden
21. Crippled Black Phoenix – I, Vigilante
22. Arcade Fire- Suburbs
23. Black Rebel Motorsycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
24. Sleeping At Last – Yearbook project
25. Mighty Tiger – Western Theater
26. Shapes Make Stars – These Mountains Are Safe
27. The National – High Violet
28. Golden Triangle – Double Jointer
29. Seabear – We Built a Fire
30. Midlake -the courage of others
31. Wovenhand-The Threshing  Floor
32. Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz
33.  Warpaint-The Fool
34. Sandra McCracken – In Feast or Fallow (2010)
35  Beach House-Teen Dream
36. Backwards – The Buffalo Still Roam
37. 6he Black Keys – Brothers
38. Aaron Strumpel-Vespers I & II
39. Devo – Something For Everybody
40. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

Anticipated albums 0f 2011:
The Cave Singers – No Witch

Favorite Song of 2011:
House of Heroes – “God Save The Foolish Kings” from Suburba

Late Discoveries:
Jeremy Larson – Salvation Club
Immanu El- Moen/They’ll come, they come
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up from Below
Band of Skulls – Baby Darling Doll Face Honey