Sound: Regina worked with four different veteran pop/rock producers on Far and the result is the slickest album she’s released to date—her piano-driven, chirpy pop songs and precious meditations lack the rough edges of the past…

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-)