Top Ten and Then Some

This was a very tough year. Nothing really grabbed me and blew me away, but there were around 20 CDs that I thought were worthy of multiple listens. Any one of them could have made my top ten at any one particular time. But rules are rules, so here's my list.The top five would be on every list, but the bottom five and about 10-15 others are almost interchangeable.

1. Mendoza Line - Thirty Year Low. My most recent favorite disc so it goes at the top. Alternately poignant and vicious, low key and rocking, this disc made me go back and buy the entire catalog. If you liked this and would like the companion disc of cover songs, let me know and I'll burn it.

2. Two Cow Garage - III. Some bands that rely on power and passion fail when they add more melody and more polish - thankfully, it didn't happen here.

3. Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall. Some think that it doesn't qualify for the list because there is no new material on this CD. Or because it was recorded 30 years ago. Or something like that. What can't be argued is how great he sounds and how great these songs are.

4. Ike Reilly - We Belong to the Staggering Evening. One great song after another for this underappreciated songwriter. Why can't we just throw a fish and the President, say we're sorry and be on our way?

5. Star Spangles - Dirty Bomb. Sure they ape the Replacements at times. Well, almost all the time actually. But because they do it with the same kind of wit (sometimes) and power (most times) as their (my) heroes, they can be forgiven.

6. Dirty Sweet - Of Monarchs and Beggars. If you told me I'd really dig a retro seventies CD named "Of Monarchs and Beggars" that features a longhair on a horse on the cover, I would have said you were nuts. But here it is and I do dig it.

7. Superdrag - Changing Tires on the Road to Ruin. Uh oh. Another CD with old material on it. Oddly enough, this collection of unreleased songs that failed to make the cut for whatever reason is as solid as any of their regular releases.

8. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II. Even an ordinary Neil record makes any top 20 list and this one, while a bit uneven, is a shade above ordinary so it gets into the top 10

.9. Black Francis - Bluefinger. Is it just me or are most of his solo records at least as good as any Pixies record. Blasphmemous on the surface, but listen to the likes of this, Cult of Ray and Teenager of the Year and you'll at least give the notion some thought.

10. Imperial Teen - The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band. Another pop gem from a band that never disappoints me.

The others that almost got on: John Doe, Sounds Like Violence, Ryan Adams, Sleepin’ in the Aviary, White Stripes, Son Volt, Richard Thompson and some others I forget.

By the way, if Robert Pollard took the best 20 songs from his four, yes four, 2007 releases and put them on one CD, it would be in the top 5, probably #1.