As I type, the Internet and old fashion media look at the year 2010. So let us return to the past. Let us return to 1980, but before we go there, I must admit I might have it all wrong. The turn-of-decade sea shift from “classic rock” to “new wave” could be about Glen Thrasher changing from child to something vaguely resembling a man: the changes not about everything or anything changing in music. A musical change I perceive obvious could be unfathomable to those not Glen Thrasher. During the period 1977 to 1980 Glen Thrasher changed from a high school boy living in the suburbs who never went anywhere after dark into some semblance of an adult. He became “a man” with an apartment in a dangerous major American city, a girlfriend, and a string of jobs. Nightlife consisted of going to bars to watch live music 2 to 7 nights per week for the next 20 years. (For those that doubt Atlanta was a dangerous city those years, remember, this was the era Atlanta was called Murder Capitol of the Nation. It was also the period of news cycle driven missing & murdered black children of Atlanta. Assumed to be the work of a serial killer, these headline-making crimes were attributed to my fellow Georgia State University alumni, Wayne Williams. At the time of his arrest I was working in the G.S.U. registrars office. I looked up his file and discovered his class schedule and determined we were enrolled in an introductory English composition class together. I cannot say if Wayne attended the class. I certainly do not remember him. A side note worth mentioning: his file was unusually slim. I assume the police had already been there to remove anything/everthing more interesting. Every other student file I ever saw contained an essay written by the student at the time of their application for admission. I would have enjoyed a look at Wayne’s essay.) I found something in the world outside of Glen Thrasher to parallel these changes within. It was inevitable. I imagined changes in the music. Also inevitable. Most of my new life revolved around music: buying records, spinning records at small radio stations, going to see bands at seedy bars, writing about music: live & recorded, and before long attempting to play in bands before audiences. I associate personal changes with musical changes, real or not. Sea change, or song remains the same, 1980 was another remarkable year for music. As with 3 years preceding there are many records good enough to be the best record of many a lesser year.

Best LPs of 1980

1. Graham Lewis & B.C. Gilbert: Dome (Dome, UK)
2. Half Japanese: Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts (Armageddon)
3. Information/Blinding Headache/Mofungo: Tape #1 (cassette)
4. The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms (Stiff)
5. Young Marble Giants: Colossal Youth (Rough Trade, UK)
6. The Raincoats: The Raincoats (Rough Trade, UK)
7. Swell Maps: In Jane From Occupied Europe (Rough Trade, UK)
8. Joy Division: Closer (Factory)
9. Borbetomagus: Sauter, Dietrich, & Miller (Agaric)
10. Captain Beefheart: Doc At the Radar Station (Virgin)
11. Martin Rev: Solo Album (Lust/Unlust)
12. Graham Lewis & B.C. Gilbert: Dome 2 (Dome, UK)
13. Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (Alternative Tentacles)
14. The Mekons: The Mekons (Red Rhino, UK)
15. Caberet Voltaire: Voice of America (Rough Trade, UK)
16. Magazine: Play (IRS)
17. The Cure: Boys Don’t Cry (PVC)
18. Glenn Branca: Lesson No. 1 (99 Mini-LP)
19. Talking Heads: Remain In Light (Sire)
20. The Fall: Grotesque (Rough Trade, UK)
21. Elvis Costello: Get Happy (CBS)
22. Durutti Column: Return of the Durutti Column (Factory)
23. Soft Boys: Underwater Moonlight (Armageddon)
24. Colin Newman: A-Z (Beggars Banquet, UK)
25. David Bowie: Scary Monsters (RCA)
26. Pylon: Gyrate (Db)
27. The Cure: 17 Seconds (Fiction, UK)
28. X: Los Angeles (Slash)
29. The Flesh Eaters: No Questions Asked (Upsetter)
30. The Fall: Totale’s Turn (Rough Trade, UK)
31. Siouxsie & the Banshees: Kaleidoscope (Polydor)
32. The Boys Next Door: The Birthday Party (Missing Link, Aus.)
33. The Jam: Sound Effects (Polydor)
34. The Ex: Disturbing Domestic Peace (Verrecords)
35. The Dicks/The Big Boys: Live at Raul’s (Rat Race)
36. The Pop Group: For How Much Longer Can We Tolerate Mass Murder (Rough Trade, UK)
37. John Fahey: Live in Tasmania (Sonet)
38. Bill Dixon: In Italy Volume 1 (Soul Note, Italy)
39. Magazine: The Correct Use of Soap (IRS)
40. Art Ensemble of Chicago: Full Force (ECM)
41. John Zorn: School (Parachute)
42. LaDonna Smith & Davey Williams: Direct Waves (Trans Music)
43. Tom Waits: Heartattack and Vine (Asylum)
44. Elliott Sharp: Rhythms & Blues (Zoar)
45. Kurtis Blow: Kurtis Blow (Mercury)
46. 999: Biggest Prize In Sports (Polydor)
47. The Clash: Black Market Clash (Epic)
48. John Zorn: Pool/Hockey (Parachute)
49. Various Artists: Wanna Buy a Bridge? (Rough Trade)
50. Anthony Braxton: Seven Compositions 1978 (Moers)
51. Bow Wow Wow: Your Cassette Pet (EMI cassette) 1^st version
52. Killing Joke: Killing Joke (Editions EG)
53. Suicide: Alan Vega & Martin Rev (Ze)
54. Lewis & Gilbert: 3r4 (4AD)
55. Sam Rivers: Contrasts (ECM)
56. The Undertones: Hypnotized (Sire)
57. Elvis Costello: Taking Liberties (CBS)
58. Steve Beresford: The Bath of Surprise (Piano)
59. The Clash: Sandinista! (CBS)
60. Fela Kuti: I.T.T. (Polygram)
61. Psychedelic Furs: Psychedelic Furs (CBS)
62. Circle Jerks: Group Sex (Frontier)
63. Prince: Dirty Mind (Warner Brothers)
64. Jim Carroll Band: Catholic Boy (Atco)
65. ACDC: Back In Black (Atlantic)
66. Jah Wooble: The Legend Lives On… Jah Wooble in “Betrayed” (Virgin, UK)
67. Caberet Voltaire: Live at the YMCA (Restless)
68. David Moss: Terrain (Cornpride)
69. Robert Ashley: Perfect Lives (Private Parts) (Lovely)
70. The Last Words: The Last Words (Armaggedeon)
71. Harold Budd & Brain Eno: Plateaux of Mirrors (Editions EG)
72. Various: Decline of Western Civilization (Slash)
73. Van Morrison: Common One (Warner Brothers)
74. Michael Hurley: Snockgrass (Rounder)
75. The Teardrop Explodes: Kilamanjaro (Mercury)
76. The Units: Digital Stimulation (415)
77. Jon Hassell & Brian Eno: Fourth World Volume 1: Possible Musics (Editions EG)
78. The Ramones: End of the Century (Sire)
79. XTC: Black Sea (Virgin)
80. The Cramps: Songs The Lord Taught Us
81. Motorhead: Ace of Spades (Mercury)
82. Vic Godard & the Subway Sect: What’s the Matter Boy? (MCA. UK)
83. The Associates: The Affectionate Punch (Fiction)

I recommend Keith Richards “Life” to anyone who still cares about rock ‘n’ roll music. This is the story of the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones are what rock ‘n’ roll is about. Younger people don’t get it. For many under 50-year-olds, no doubt for many over, the Rolling Stones are just this crap old band that has put out mediocre music for decades. I agree with all that, and think they would be better off if they had broken up in 1973, leaving a clean legacy, much as the Beatles did. The old Rolling Stones vs. Beatles war is done. The Beatles won. It was a massacre. But history has not had its final say. The Stones put out 7 brilliant rock records that stand up well, as far as I am concerned they put to shame, any and all of the Beatles discography. In case there is doubt those 7 records are: Out of Our Heads, Aftermath, Between the Buttons, Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Finger and Exile On Main Street. I find it curious I can put "Life" at the top of my favorite books of 2010 without shame. Probably says something about 2010. Probably says something about me.

BEST BOOKS 2010

1. Keith Richards: Life (Little Brown)
2. Patti Smith: Just Kids (Ecco)
3. Tana French: Faithful Place (Viking)
4. Rob Young: Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music (Faber and Faber, UK)
5. Jennifer Egan: A Visit From the Goon Squad (Knopf)
6. Lane Smith: It’s A Book (Roaring Brook)
7. Paul Auster: Sunset Park (Henry Holt)
8. Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life With the Taliban (Columbia)
9. Cynthia Ozick: Foreign Bodies (Houghton Mifflin)
10. Karl Marlantes: Matterhorn (Grove/Atlantic)
11. Mick Houghton: Becoming Elektra: The True Story of Jac Holzman’s Visionary Record Label (Jaw Bone)
12. Martin Amis: The Pregnant Widow (Knopf)
13. Greil Marcus: When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison (PublicAffairs)
14. Philip Dray: There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America (Doubleday)
15. Chris Hedges: Death of the Liberal Class (Nation)
16. Jonathan Franzen: Freedom (FSG)
17. Ian McEwan: Solar (Nan A. Talese)
18. Declan Kiberd: Ulysses and Us: The Art of Everyday Life in Joyce’s Masterpiece (Norton)
19. Andrew Hsiao & Audrea Lim: The Verso Book of Dissent: From Spartacus to the Shoe-Thrower of Baghdad (Verso)
20. Orly Castel-Bloom: Dolly City (Dalkey Archive)
21. Christopher Hitchens: Hitch 22 (12 Twelve)
22. Safiya Bukhari: The War Before: The True Life Story of Becoming a Black Panther, Keeping the Faith in Prison & Fighting for those left behind (Feminist Press)
23. Eric Davidson: We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988 – 2001 (Backbeat)
24. Julian Rios: The House of Ulysses (Dalkey Archive)

The music is flowing as it has never flowed before. The era we are living is so overloaded with popular art in every form, no one should claim able to keep up. I certainly do not claim any such thing. The music I hear is a tiny slice of what is available, determined by my own habits. I listen to what I want to hear: records on display at my local record shops, records written about in a few favorite publications, something played and/or reviewed on N.P.R., something a friend recommends and very little else. I never hear much of the music most America is hearing. No doubt I miss great stuff. I could wait and check out the various lists as they are posted and published. I would rather my choices remain my own curious slant on what is good. I have already seen the Mojo Magazine “50 Best of 2010”. One of my choices, Gonjasufi’s “A Sufi and A Killer” is something I learned about from that list, checked out on the Internet, and picked up next day. I don’t want to allow my list to be corrupted. A year from today, my 2010 favorites will probably look different. These LPs and CDs are my favorites heard from the trenches of my own personal battle. As always, I list my choices in order of preference. Everything is subject to change within moments of being posted.

Best LPs & CDs 2010:

1. Swans: My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (Young Gods LP)
2. Circle Pit: Bruise Constellation (Siltbreeze LP)
3. Roky Erickson: True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti LP)
4. Fabulous Diamonds: Fabulous Diamonds II (Siltbreeze LP)
5. Brian Eno: Small Craft On a Milk Sea (Opal CD)
6. Getatchew Mekuria, The Ex & Guests: Moa Anbessa (Terp LP)
7. US Girls: Go Grey (Siltbreeze LP)
8. Kate Nash: My Best Friend Is You (Fiction CD)
9. Dead Weather: Sea of Cowards (Warner Brothers LP)
10. Massive Attack: Heligo Land (Virgin 2-LP)
11. The Roots: How I Got Over (Def Jam CD)
12. Z’s: New Slaves (Social Registry 2-LP)
13. The Thermals: More Parts Per Million (Subpop CD)
14. Various: Stroke, Songs For Chris Knox (Merge CD)
15. Lower Dens: Twin Hand Move Ment (Gnomsonsong LP)
16. Caribou: Swim (Merge LP)
17. Weekend: Sports (Slumberland 2-LP)
18. Barn Owl: Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey CD)
19. Martin Rev: Stigmata (Blastfirstpetite CD)
20. Johnny Cash: American VI: Ain’t No Grave (American Recordings CD)
21. Thee Oh Sees: Warm Slime (In the Red LP)
22. The Dead C: Patience (Ba Da Bing LP)
23. Liars: Sisterworld (Mute 2-LP)
24. Evan Caminiti: West Winds (Three Lobed LP)
25. Wild Nothing: Gemini (Captured Red LP)
26. Hole: Nobody’s Daughter (Mercury CD)
27. Trash Kit: Trash Kit!! (Upset the Rhythm LP)
28. Tape & Bill Wells: Fugue (Immune LP)
29. Grinderman: 2 (Anti LP)
30. Goldfrapp: Head First (Mute LP)
31. Indian Jewelry: Totaled (We Are Free LP)
32. Bryan Ferry: Olympia (Virgin CD)
33. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: I Speak Fula (Sub Pop CD)
34. Wetdog: “Frauhaus!” (Captured Red LP)
35. Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City 3-CD)
36. She & Him: Volume Two (Merge CD)
37. Laetitia Sadier: The Trip (Drag City LP)
38. Gonjasufi: A Sufi & A Killer (Warp CD)
39. Naked on the Vague: Heaps of Nothing (Siltbreeze LP)
40. Mathis Hunter: Soft Opening (Shakedown LP)
41. Brian Jonestown Massacre: Who Killed Sgt. Peppers (a LP)
42. Vaselines: Sex With An X (Sub Pop CD)
43. Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3: Propellor Time (Satorial LP)
44. Stereolab: Not Music (Drag City/Duophonic Ultra High 2-LP)
45. Pit Er Pat: The Flexible Entertainer (Thrill Jockey LP)
46. Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh (CD)
47. Nice Face: Immer Etwas (Sacred Bones LP)
48. Psychic Ills: Astral Occurrence (Spring Press LP)
49. Psychic Ills: Catoptric (Social Registry LP)
50. Tandoori Knights: Curry Up It’s the Tandoori Knights (Norton LP)
51. Sleigh Bells: Treats (Mom & Pop CD)
52. Noot d’Noot: From Every Since (Shakedown LP)
53. A Frames/Climax Golden Twins: AFCGT LP + 7” (Sub Pop LP/7”)
54. Trans Am: Thing (Slumberland CD)
55. Various: Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa (Honest Jons 2-LP)
56. Effi Briest: Rhizomes (Sacred Bones LP)
57. Titus Andronicus: Monitor (XL CD)
58. Woven Bones: In and Out and Back Again (Hozac CD)

REISSUES/Compilations/Live/Oldies

1. The Velvet Underground: The Quine Tapes (Sundazed 6-LP)
2. Orange Juice: Coals to Newcastle (Domino 5 CD plus DVD)
3. Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series No. 9 – The Witmark Demos: 1962 – 1964 (Columbia 2-CD)
4. The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street (with Bonus disc) (2 CD)
5. Kleenex/Liliput: Live Recordings, TV-Clips & Roadmovie (Kill Rock Stars CD+DVD)
6. Various Artists: Worried Now, Won’t Be Worried Long: Field Recordings from Alan Lomax’s ‘Southern Journey’, 1959 – 1960 (Mississippi LP)
7. Various Artists: I’ll Be So Glad When the Sun Goes Down: Field Recordings from Alan Lomax’s ‘Southern Journey’, 1959 – 1960 (Mississippi LP)
8. Various Artists: Wave The Ocean, Wave the Sea: Field Recordings from Alan Lomax’s ‘Southern Journey’, 1959 – 1960 (Mississippi LP)
9. Various Artists: I’ll Meet You on That Other Side: Field Recordings from Alan Lomax’s ‘Southern Journey’, 1959 – 1960 (Mississippi LP)
10. Various Artists: I’m Gonna Live Anyhow Until I Die: Field Recordings from Alan Lomax’s ‘Southern Journey’, 1959 – 1960 (Mississippi LP)
11. Fucked Up: Couple Tracks (Matador 2-LP)
12. X: Aspirations (Rocknroll Blitzkrieg LP)
13. Various: Fanajana: A Collection of Recordings and Photograhy from Madagasikara (Mississippi LP)
14. Kebab: We Live in a System (Softspot LP)
15. Interference: Interference (The Social Registry 2-LP)
16. Black Tambourine: Black Tambourine (Slumberland LP)
17. Kevin Dunn: No Great Lost, Songs, 1979 – 1985 (Casa Nueva CD)
18. Z’ev: as/if/when (Sub Rosa LP)
19. Various Artists: Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Volume Two: Experimental German Rock and Electronic Musik 1972-83 (Soul Jazz 2-LP)
20. Various Artists: Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Volume One: Experimental German Rock and Electronic Musik 1972-83 (Soul Jazz 2-LP)
21. The Scrotum Poles: Auchmithie Forever (Dulc-I-Tone LP)
22. Mike Rep and the Quotas: Stupor Hiatus (Silt Breeze 2 LP)
23. Sweet Talks: The Kusum Beat (Sound Way LP)
24. Hedzoleh: Hedzoleh (Sound Way LP)
25. White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (Third Man 2-LP)
26. Ozzie: The Parabolic Rock 1975 – 1982 (S.S. 2-LP)
27. Various Artists: Brazillian Guitar Fuzz Bananas (Tropicalia in Furs 2-LP)