Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

In no particular order this year. Dawn Landes- Meet Me At The River (Yep Roc) Austin Lucas- Immortal Americans (Cornelius Chapel) Pig Destroyer-Head Cage (Relapse) Fucked Up-Dose Your Dreams (Merge) Sleep-The Sciences (Third Man) Ken Mode-Loved (Season of Mist) Grant Lee Phillips-Widdershins (Yep Roc) Damien Jurado-The Horizon Just Laughed (Secretly Canadian) Superchunk-What a Time To Be Alive (Merge) Nothing-Dance on the Blacktop (Relapse) War on Women-Capture the Flag (Bridge 9) Neko Case-Hell-On (ANTI-) Jeff Rosenstock-POST- (Polyvinyl) Lucero-Among the Ghosts (Liberator) Bettye Lavette-Things Have Changed (Verve)

I'm doing something different this year for my top list. I want to cover records that have not gotten appreciation or coverage that much, so I have devised a list that pulls from all genres without the usual suspects. However, a few might still make it because there are so many lists. This means that many records that would normally make my overarching list will be missing, yet I hope to cover them in short posts throughout next year. One goal is to do more "Track This" entries, as well as more reviews of my favorite stuff. I have noticed over the last few years that many lists are samey, and there are always records that slip through the cracks to put certain artists in high spots. I honestly admit that many of my choices also trend in certain directions. In recent years, I have a strong affinity for Americana and metal, while less attention has been paid to punk or indie. I've looked at a few lists this year for those genres and was at a complete loss. Also, I tend ...