In Which I Pretend to be a Cool Music Chick

I just finished listening to the All Songs Considered podcast with host Bob Boilen and four music critics from around the country tracking NPR Listener's Top Ten albums of the year--and also sharing their own lists. Actually putting together my own list would be much more than my up-way-too-late-at-Fox-and-Hound's brain could handle right now, so I'll just discuss the reader list. As if what I think matters.

That said--my own biggest musical disappointment of the year was the extremely low number of concerts I made it to this year. Many of my current favorite artists (several on this list, actually) came through DC but I was either too behind the ball to get tickets, lacking in concert friends to go with, too busy with shows and rehearsals, or just too friggin' broke. I like going to live shows. Good ones harness an energy and passion that I rarely experience in the theater. I need to do it more often. Maybe I should get over my going to concerts alone neurosis. Or I need to find more concert friends. Let me know folks--you need a date, I'm there.

And with that:

#10--This one was a tie between Regina Spektor's BEGIN TO HOPE, The Hold Steady's BOYS AND GIRLS IN AMERICA and Beck's THE INFORMATION. Throughout the show listeners called in to vote for which of the three should officially be in the top ten. I have never been a Beck fan. I don't dislike him, but he's never done much for me. So he was off the table. Initially I thought I'd vote for The Hold Steady which is just a fun, balls out album that is brash and straight-forward and makes me want to move. But then I relistened to Spektor. There are some songs on that album that I can barely listen to (That Time) but then there are others that I can listen to over and over again because they are fun and pop-y (Radio Song) and others that intrigue me more each time I listen to them (Apres Moi and Lady). So ultimately I'd have to go with Spektor. Incidentally- Spektor won the listeners poll as well.

#9--Tom Waits' ORPHANS. I haven't listened to the album. I should. I've heard a lot about it. I do love Tom Waits. But he is so tied up in memories and associations with certain times and people in my life that it is hard for me to take him on his own terms. Fifty-four songs here. Maybe I should itune one a week for the next year. It can be my official reclaiming of Waits.

#8--Jenny Lewis' RABBIT FUR COAT. I don't know her at all. I liked what they played of the album though. That's why I dig the end of the year review. New music, good times.

#7--Cat Power's THE GREATEST. One of the few concerts I saw this year. She didn't freak out but she wasn't impressive enough to try for another concert. She's great on my Ipod though. I love the album. I love the title song. I love "Lived in Bars" (too true), shimmy to "Living Proof", and weep just a bit to "Where is My Love" (of course I do.)

#6--Joanna Newsom's Ys. I have listened to her a bit, but nothing from this album. Should I? She seems a bit too quirky for my tastes.

#5--TV on the Radio's RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN. Like The Hold Steady these guys are good for me. They get me out of mellow sad weepy mode that I tend to fall into with music. They are so musically unique and each song ventures into it's own unpredictable territory. I've heard them compared to Sigur Ros. Bah. The comparison is a disservice. They are much more interesting, less pretentious and more fun. Standouts: "I Was a Lover" and "Hours".

#4--M. Ward's POST WAR. Again, I've not listened to him. But I like what they played.

#3--Bob Dylan's MODERN TIMES. Simply not a Dylan fan. I appreciate his relevance but am not driven to listen to his music.

#2--Neko Case's FOX CONFESSOR BRINGS THE FLOOD. Yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Will you be my friend Neko Case? Probably my personal #1 album of the year.

#1--The Decembrist's THE CRANE WIFE. Here's the thing. I LIKE The Decembrist's. But I have not been that excited by what I have heard of the album. Admittedly--I have only heard portions. I'll give it another try. They are just feeling kind of contrived to me these days. Less connected. A bit overwrought.