While looking at all the music I was listening to this year I see that most of my favorite stuff ended up being single songs. (Stay tuned for a post on that topic.) But the albums that I dove into I dove into repeatedly and often. Here are about half of my favorites.

Since leaving Soul Coughing in 2000, Mike Doughty has released a couple of EPs, a half dozen records, toured in a few configurations and played here at KDHX (twice!).

I've been back from Lollapalooza for four days now, after being there for all three days for the first time. The blisters have healed, sunburn is aloe'ed to the gills, and leg muscles have finally relaxed to put some notes to paper.

Elizabeth Cook is performing on June 8 at Twangfest 15, her third appearance at the festival. Her music can be witty, contemplative and everything in between.

How many bands can say that their first show was bootlegged? Obits, from Brooklyn, can. Apply stylistic labels if you must, but don't forget that some bands just play kick-butt rock & roll.

While on tour with Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, a previous guest in our studios, Rounder records artist Delta Spirit came by the KDHX studios to play a few tunes from the brand new record, History From Below.

Kate Miller-Heidke's catalog is filled with smart pop songs full of wit, playfulness, and all kinds of things to ponder. Since 2004 she's released a trio of EPs and two full-length albums and is currently touring to support Curiouser, her US debut. She came by the KDHX studios for a session on Train of Thought during her first tour of the U.S. after enjoying success in her native Australia.

Miniature Tigers is that rare band that lives up to its online presence and hype. Songwriter Chris Bland met drummer Rick Scheir through America Online, and after building tremendous activity on the net, Rolling Stone named Miniature Tigers one of "the 25 best bands on Myspace."

Garage a Trois has changed the way people hear the marriage of funk and jazz. The band pushes boundaries and pulls bits from just about any rhythm-based genre you can imagine. The New Orleans group can make you want to groove or make you sit back and soak in the sound.

Formed here in St. Louis in 2005, Gentleman Auction House self-released its first EP a year later, following up with two other EPs and 2008’s full length disc, Alphabet Graveyard on Emergency Umbrella Records. GAH has performed at South By Southwest and Daytrotter, and the Riverfront Times named the group Best Indie Band of 2009.