It’s hard to believe we are already halfway through 2010, but it’s true, as evidenced by the selection of really great new records we’ve been treated to thus far along the way. Check out our top 40 record record releases from the past six months. Organized for you in order of release date—from January to June—we invite you to take a stroll through our list of the most satisfying releases of 2010… so far.

Surfer Blood
Astro Coast
(Kanine, January 19th)
The debut from this Florida four-piece packs a punch of ‘90s indie throwback, touching on elements of shoegaze as well as Pavement-style song construction and delivery while infusing more of a catchy, pop sensibility. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Four Tet
There Is Love in You
(Domino, January 26th)
There Is Love in You smatters chirping electro-beats and a range of samplings—from fuzzy and distorted to clear as glass—all throughout the nine tracks, and the result is warm and organic-sounding, a pleasurable trip into your senses that achieves great hypnotic effect. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Beach House
Teen Dream
(Sub Pop, January 26th)
Teen Dream somehow seems light years ahead of everything else out there right now. Each listen reveals something new and rewarding, and how could you not wanna just completely submerge yourself in Victoria Legrand’s voice. The record came out back in January and is still at the top of our rotation. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Yeasayer
Odd Blood
(Secretly Canadian, February 9th)
Pulling influences ranging from their own Brooklyn scene to various world music genres, Odd Blood builds on Yeasayer’s brand of eccentric yet anthemic indie rock, adding more danceable elements. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Local Natives
Gorilla Manor
(Frenchkiss, February 16th)
If you like the harmonizing and vocal arrangements of bands like Fleet Foxes but wish they had more of an edge or spunk to their sound, then Local Natives is what you’ve been looking for. They trade the delicate, rootsy style for a more urgent, intense one, and they’re all the better for it. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Joanna Newsom
Have One On Me
(Drag City, February 23rd)
Joanna Newsom sings like an elfin angel and she’s a virtuoso on the harp. She seems to emanate from a different place, a golden age. There’s a reason why we’ve written about her so much this year: Have One On Me is her shining opus, three discs, two-hours long, dense and eccentric and wholly, wonderfully unique. –AZ
Listen: “’81” [youtube.com]

Read through the rest of our list after the jump!

Fang Island
s/t
(Sergeant House, February 23rd)
Summed up in one word: Fun. You can just feel the youthful exuberance pouring out of your headphones. Think Matt & Kim meets Explosions in the Sky. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Holly Miranda
The Magician’s Private Library
(XL Recordings, February 23rd)
This record has a nocturnal, jazzy bent to it, but the focus here is on Holly Miranda’s rich vocal range. Lovely background music for a dinner party, or when you’re stuck in rush hour traffic. It has a pronounced calming effect. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

The Besnard Lakes
The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night
(JagJaguwar, March 9th)
The Besnard Lakes are able to build their intricately produced, atmospheric soundscapes deceptively, without bombast or in-your-face chants of their more anthem-driven counterparts. The result is a record that almost melts in your ears and consumes your brain, and that’s meant as a total compliment. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Geographer
Animal Shapes EP
(Tricycle Records, March 9th)
Orchestral synth-pop doesn’t get much better than Geographer. The blend of cello, drums, and synth loops creates entire atmospheres you can lose yourself in, and lead singer Mike Deni’s voice lends incredible power and gravity to their sound. The EP is also astoundingly versatile; it’ll complement a mellow mood of romantic contemplation or sound just as stellar at a dance party with the volume cranked way up. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Titus Andronicus
The Monitor
(XL Recordings, March 9th)
New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus sorta have it all: Big, brittle songs that evoke the Boss, a vocalist that sounds like Conor Oberst, and weighty themes and smart lyrics that are all their own. The Monitor is about the Civil War, but the harrowing subject matter makes for a record of bright, anthemic choruses and rowdy rock ‘n’ roll. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Parlovr
s/t
(Dine Alone, March 9th)
Montreal band Parlovr (pronounced Parlour) knows when to let their instruments do the talking and when to unleash their vocal range. What you get are well crafted rock songs with frenetic bursts of energy that leave you singing along and jumping around till you pass out. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
The Brutalist Bricks
(Matador, March 9th)
If you’re looking for powered, punk-driven rock, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists is a likely last stop. Churning records out for over a decade has not stopped the band from sounding any less urgent and contemporary. Leo is an artist that seasons with the times, and the latest in his catalog is all the proof we need that he and his band are essential as ever. They will always have something to say. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Drink Up Buttercup
Born and Thrown on a Hook
(Yep Roc, March 23rd)
Pennsylvania’s next big thing if you ask us. On their debut full-length, Drink Up Buttercup gets whimsical and raucous, garage-y and psychedelic, lo-fi and folk—sometimes within the course of just one song. The animalistic theatrics of Man Man meets the melodies of the Beatles. Trust us. It works very, very well. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Dum Dum Girls
I Will Be
(Sub Pop, March 30th)
If anybody does the genre blend of the Motown girl group sound with ‘90s lo-fi beach rock better than Best Coast, it’s Dum Dum Girls. They straddle the line of punk edge and pop accessibility, a tricky feat, but they nail it. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
I Learned the Hard Way
(Daptone Records, April 6th)
Sharon Jones met her match when she paired up with the Dap-Kings in the early 2000s. Their fourth studio album, I Learned the Hard Way, brings to mind the burgeoning years of Motown or Stax Records, but their deep-funk and retro-soul is actually brewed up over in Brooklyn. With singer and band so incredibly proficient, nearly everything they put out is supreme, and this record is no exception. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Harlem
Hippies
(Matador, April 6th)
Recent Matador signee Harlem makes ramshackle garage-pop that paces itself like a truck barreling down a coastal highway with teenagers spilling out the back and beer bottles rolling around on the floor. They may live in Austin now, but their music has a surf-rock feel to it, and their high-energy does not relent through the entire 16 tracks, which clock in at just 40 minutes. Great summer album. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

The Tallest Man on Earth
The Wild Hunt
(Dead Oceans, April 12th)
Simple Dylan comparisons be damned; Swede Kristian Matsson’s sophomore effort delivers his own brand of twanged-out, acoustic folk-rock that incorporates everything from piano to steel drum. These are songs and words that stay with you long after the last track finishes. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Roky Erickson with Okkervil River
True Love Cast Out All Evil
(Anti- , April 20th)
When a pysch-rock legend takes to the studio with some of indie rock’s best songwriters, the results are of course going to be good. After a troublesome past, Erickson sounds like he is having a good ol’ time, his raggedy blues fleshed out by Okkervil River, whose fluid songwriting round out any rough edges. –AZ
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Freelance Whales
Weathervanes
(Frenchkiss, April 27th)
Hard to find a review of this record without the word “emo” showing up, but we think that cheapens the level of songwriting and well thought out pop found on Weathervanes. It’s got touches of Death Cab, Le Loup, and Sufjan Stevens, which strikes us as pretty good company. –DT
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]