Top 10 lists? Bah humbug

Tis the season where publications hit their writers up for a top 10 list. It's a nice ritual in that you might learn about some music you hadn't heard about or just learn how much consensus there is about certain albums. The one thing that cheeses me off about this is that there's never just 10 albums that I love in a given year but that's what I'm (and other writers) are stuck with. Another problem is that as soon as you hand in these lists, you think "maybe I should have included (insert record of your choice) instead..." These lists are usually just snapshots that change with time and such but we're not given the opportunity to update our thoughts and taste. That's why I think it's better to allow a larger list of albums to draw on which you may change the order of but you'll probably always find a bunch of favorites there. Of course, that doesn't account for albums that you find out much later after the fact but then again, these kind of things are always works in progress, truth be told.

So, for what it's worth, here's my big list of favorites. Slappy holidaze and see you in '06...

Garbage Bleed Like Me
Buck 65 This Right Here Is Buck 65
Clem Snide End of Love
Dalek Absense
Hot Hot Heat Elevator
Nikka Costa Can'tneverdidnothin'
Fountains of Wayne Out-of-State Plates
Bonnie Raitt Souls Alike
Saul Williams Saul Williams
The Willowz Talk In Circles
Rogue Wave Descended Like Vultures
Atmosphere You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
Common Be
Eels Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
Konono #1 Congotronics
Blacklicious The Craft
Princess Superstar My Machine
Amy Rigby Little Fugitive
Edan Beauty and the Beat
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall
Portastatic Bright Ideas
Ponys Celebration Castle
M.I.A. Arular
Kanye West Late Registration
Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree
Vex'd Degenerate
Jamie Lidell Multiply
White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (pre-Sony version)
Gene Watson Then and Now
Perceptionists Black Dialogue
Four Tet Everything Ecstatic
Ellis Hooks Godson of Soul
Mike Ladd Negrophilia
the Fall Heads Roll
The High Dials War of the Wakening Phantoms
Spoon Gimme Fiction
Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell Begonias
Sarah Borges Silver City
Emma Roberts Unfabulous and More