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, 2008 and November 30, 2009. 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 last two months have been pretty disappointing for new releases, but one major exception to that rule is Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest. The album has been one of the most buzzed about of the year, and, for the most part, it lives up to the hype. It enters the Top 5 on this list as it pushes U2’s No Line On the Horizon out of the Top 20.

1. Psapp The Camel’s Back (Domino)
2. The Decemberists The Hazards of Love (Capitol)
3. Grizzly Bear Veckatimest (Warp)
4. M. Ward Hold Time (Merge)
5. Neko Case Middle Cyclone (Anti-)
6. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Lightning Rod)
7. Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino)
8. Handsome Furs Face Control (Sub Pop)
9. Electric Owls Ain’t Too Bright (Vagrant)
10. P.O.S. Never Better (Rhymesayers)
11. N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo (Anti-)
12. Peter Bjorn & John Living Thing (Almost Gold)
13. Heartless Bastards The Mountain (Fat Possum)
14. Lily Allen It’s Not Me, It’s You (Capitol)
15. St. Vincent The Strangers (4AD)
16. Morrissey Years of Refusal (Attack/Lost Highway)
17. Matt & Kim Grand (Fader)
18. Beast Beast (Verve Forecast)
19. Manchester Orchestra Mean Everything to Nothing (Favorite Gentleman/Canvasback)
20. Bishop Allen Grrr… (Dead Oceans)