F*ck Top Ten Lists - Mine, Yours, Everyone's.

It's that time again! Time for everyone to shun everything they've actually been listening to and post the most important music of the year in a top ten list to pump up their self image... Okay, that might be a little cynical, but raise your hand if you've never posted a top ten list that was at least part bullshit - look, there's no hands up! Tell me you've never scanned Pitchfork's Top Hundred to make sure you didn't forget something "important" - like making sure you include something like Billy Bragg, or Antony And The Johnsons, so you feel like you're down with it and don't risk confirming for all your smart friends that you're a pop-leaning dolt. Well, throw off the yoke of status anxiety... tell everyone what you've really been listening to - however uncool it might be. Sade, Mariah Carey, Gaslight Anthem, whatever it is - come forward and be proud!

(On the other hand, if you've been listening to Styx, Foreigner, Kansas, Journey, Creed, or Rush, please keep it to yourself. That shit's just embarrassing.)

All right - in no particular order - there's no #1, and this is a mix of 11 or so albums and singles that I wore out this year, because that's just the way I roll...

Voyager One - Geography (EP)
Hooray Space Music! 1000 Miles, 1000 Deaths = my favorite single o' the year.

Brian Eno - Small Craft On a Milk Sea
Moving, eclectic, beautiful. I doubt I'll ever tire of it and I've got the attention span of a gnat.

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma, and Pattern+Grid (EP)
Talk about down with it, this guy's doing not just what's next, but what's coming after that too.

Autolux - Transit, Transit
They tap into Sonic Youth a little too faithfully at times - but the record's solid. They also merit special mention for their sleepy interview with Jason Bentley on KCRW earlier this year. Jason's got better taste in music than 99.9% of the world (but never gets to play any of it on Morning Becomes Eclectic) and Oh God, are his interviews painful to listen to. At one point I'm pretty sure the band was getting so annoyed with Jason's cheerful "how're you doing?" line of questioning I was hoping they'd stir from their slumber and bludgeon him to death on the air. (Note: Almost all shoegaze-leaning bands work for me.) (Note #2: Jason, whenever a radio show is called "influential" that's a codeword for "boring as shit"...Please go back to the night show and start breaking music soon...)

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
Not everything works on here, and some of it definitely could have used a little polish, but there's four songs on here that will make you want to jump and down no matter what an old fart you are. I'm rarely nostalgic but I'm really glad this band is still kicking.

Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountain
Smacks of time spent porch-sitting and spinning yarns, Howie Gelb comes out of the desert and drops another great collection of stories on us all - if you like Calexico, this is required listening.

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
See notes on Flying Lotus about not just doing what's next... The Unshaven One reigns o'er everything smart and danceable again.

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Gets more listenable with each record, and not in a mainstreamy way - painfully smart and sublime.

No Age - Everything In Between
Everything they release is my new favorite record, this is no exception.

The Fall - Your Future, Our Clutter
Whouldathunkit - Mark E. Smith survived to put out a brilliant record. Bravo.

Black Keys - Brothers
I hated Led Zeppelin, yet love bands heavily influenced by them - ironic, no?

Just missed: Champaign, Illinois by Old 97's, Teen Dream by Beach House, Astro Coast by Surfer Blood and Broken Bells.

Notable for it's absence: Suburbs by Arcade Fire - See my screed about "important" music and wake me when this band is over...zzzzzzzz.

Happy Holidays and Love to you all!