I hastily threw together a "top 20 albums" list of 2012 for a poll, so I present it below. Disclaimers: I didn't hear as many new albums as in years past, and I didn't do the "playoffs" I used to do when compiling my list of favorites. So this isn't carved in stone, but it's as good a list as I'm going to come up with right now.

1. Maximo Park - The ( Read more... )

I've been looking forward to critics' TV lists and thought I'd make my own this year. I used to make year-end lists of my favorite albums, but I don't feel like I've been able to keep up with all the music I'm interested in, at least not as quickly as it's been released. And I've done lists of movies, too, but I don't see as many movies as I used ( Read more... )

Monday: Leonard Cohen, Vince Charles, Harper Simon.

Tuesday: Chuck Prophet, Scrooged soundtrack, Love Tractor, Stars, the Concretes.

Wednesday: The Dead Girls, The Gypsy Hombres, Seven Worlds Collide, Run-DMC.

Thursday: Brendan Benson, a psychobilly compilation, Dinosaur Jr., Lou Barlow.

Saturday, live: Chuck Prophet, Brendan Benson.

Monday's rotation: I.R.O.M.A. Music Sampler #1, Al Stewart, Wee Hairy Beasties, Four Horse Johnson.

Tuesday's rotation: Teena Marie, the Kryptonics, Sound Spectacular (Beggars Group label sampler).

Wednesday's rotation: Sound Spectacular (Beggars Group label sampler), Robert Earl Keen ( Read more... )

Sunday's rotation: some comedy CDs, a girl-group compilation.

Sunday, live: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Monday's rotation: a girl-group compilation, Exene Cervenka, Roseanne Cash.

Tuesday's rotation: Robert Earl Keen, Leonard Cohen.

Wednesday's rotation: The Dead Girls, Four Horse Johnson, A Very Bert Dax Halloween (compilation of ( Read more... )

Monday's rotation: The Bitter Spills, Remington Super 60, Four Horse Johnson, Pete Townshend.

Tuesday's rotation: Pete Yorn, Bruce Springsteen, the Resentments, Dean & Britta, the Kryptonics, I.R.O.M.A. Music Sampler #1.

Wednesday's rotation: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson, I.R.O.M.A. Music Sampler #1, Rotary Connection, Dinosaur Jr., Teenage ( Read more... )

Tuesday's rotation: Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, the Clientele, I.R.O.M.A. Music Sampler #1 (compilation of bands from the Iron Range of Minnesota), Teenage Bottlerocket.

Wednesday's rotation: Mel Blanc, Dinosaur Jr., Michael Penn, the Concretes.

Thursday's rotation: Leonard Cohen, Judith Owen, Favorita, Seven Worlds Collide.

Thursday's rotation (10/1): Dan Wilson, Write Your Adventures Down: A Tribute to the Go-Betweens, Bruce Springsteen, the December People, Amy Farris, Blondie.

Friday, live (10/2): Cowboy Indian Bear, Softee, the Dead Girls.

Monday's rotation (10/5): Go!Go!7188, Blondie, Liam Finn and Eliza-Jane, Amy Farris, The Bombay Connection (compilation of " ( Read more... )

Here are some recent playlists ( Read more... )

Was September the month I was going to start posting again? Guess not. So I'm just popping in between trips (we were in Cleveland over Labor Day weekend, and we leave for Austin tomorrow) to post the playlists that have piled up ( Read more... )