It’s that time of year: mid-year reviews. We’ve traditionally kept things to a single yearly review, but we’re moving to the semi-annual model so that we can provide more consistent feedback and, you know, keep everyone motivated.

So here you go, best albums of 2010 to date (Q1 and Q2). So far, 2010 has not only met, but in many cases, exceeded expectations. Well done 2010. And the rest of the year looks just as bright. We’re anticipating some great music in third and fourth quarters.

Note that a couple of these are pre-release tracks from albums that still haven’t come out. The first song (Ring Ring by Sleigh Bells) is the single from an album that has since been released and by the time the album came out, the track had been renamed Rill Rill and sounded quite a lot different. I liked this version better.

Also, the order here is kind of rough still. I think the Charlotte Gainsbourg album may show up a little to early and the Surfer Blood album comes too late. Well, it’s only mid-year…still plenty of time to get it right for the list that counts.

(By the way, this is a modified version of this (slightly better) app. The editorial text was the time sink last time so I cut it from this version and tried to move things around a little to fill the gap. It only kind of worked, so you’ll have to forgive the layout that feels like it’s missing something.)