When I review a new release, I also give the album a score based on the quality of each individual track and the album as a whole. To be eligible for this list the album needs to be released in the U.S. between December 1, 2007 and November 30, 2008. The following albums have scored highest this year so far. I update these Standings every time an album or albums break into my Top 20.

Update: The latest releases from Beck, Modern Guilt, and The Hold Steady, Stay Positive, find their way onto the list. And the debut from The Baseball Project, Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails , squeezes in a few spots behind them at #20. Meanwhile, Man Man’s Rabbit Habits, The Kills’ Midnight Boom, and Santogold’s self-titled debut all get nudged out of the Top 20.

1. My Morning Jacket Evil Urges (ATO)
2. Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend (XL)
3. Adele 19 (XL/Columbia)
4. Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple (Atlantic)
5. Lupe Fiasco The Cool (Atlantic)
6. Hot Chip Made in the Dark (Astralwerks)
7. The Hush Sound Goodbye Blues (Fueled By Ramen/Atlantic)
8. Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer (Sub Pop)
9. Death Cab for Cutie Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
10. Dizzee Rascal Maths & English (Definitive Jux)
11. Death Angel Killing Season (Nuclear Blast America)
12. Shy Child Noise Won’t Stop (Kill Rock Stars)
13. Beck Modern Guilt (Interscope)
14. Disturbed Indestructible (Warner Brothers/Reprise)
15. Portishead Third (Mercury/Island)
16. The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely (Warner Brothers)
17. The Hold Steady Stay Positive (Vagrant)
18. MGMT Oracular Spectacular (Red Ink/Columbia)
19. The Mountain Goats Heretic Pride (4AD)
20. The Baseball Project Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails (Yep Roc)