I’m only a few days late. This was a month of making the best Christmas mix CD ever (exclusively in the hands of my closest friends), listening to countless best-of-2007 lists (hence the recurrence of M.I.A. and The Snake The Cross The Crown), a new This Will Destroy You record (not as good as Young Mountain, but still not a waste of money if you make it to the last few songs), discovering only a few years too late how great I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning is and realizing that Sam Beam has probably been listening to dub music.

Coming up: my personal goals for 2008, which explains how this here blog will finally be put to greater use than monthly playlists and the occasional rant.

1. The Knife – “We Share Our Mothers’ Health” (Silent Shout)
2. Daft Punk – “Robot Rock / Oh Yeah” (Alive 2007)
3. Holy Fuck – “Echo Sam” (LP)
4. Thom Yorke – “Harrowdown Hill” (The Eraser)
5. Sufjan Stevens – “O Come O Come Emmanuel” (Songs For Christmas)
6. Vince Guaraldi – “Christmastime Is Here (Vocal)” (A Charlie Brown Christmas)
7. Rihanna – “Umbrella” (Good Girl Gone Bad)
8. A Fine Frenzy – “Fever” (Dan In Real Life Soundtrack)
9. Bright Eyes – “Poison Oak” (I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning)
10. Bright Eyes – “Road To Joy” (I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning)
11. This Will Destroy You – “The Mighty Rio Grande” (This Will Destroy You)
12. Mindy Smith – “Santa Will Find You” (My Holiday)
13. The Snake The Cross The Crown – “Cakewalk” (Cotton Teeth)
14. M.I.A. – “Mango Pickle Down River” (Kala)
15. The Snake The Cross The Crown – “Electronic Dream Plant” (Cotton Teeth)
16. M.I.A. – “Paper Planes” (Kala)
17. Iron & Wine – “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog)” (The Shepherd’s Dog)
18. This Will Destroy You – “They Move On Tracks Of Never-Ending Light” (This Will Destroy You)

I’ve been lazy with the blogging as of late. It’s more fulfilling to post stuff like that on Buzzgrinder because people actually comment on it. So I’ll just link you to my top 10 list there and give you (who is “you” anyway?) 11 through 20 with no descriptions:

20. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
19. Eluvium – Copia
18. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
17. Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
16. The Snake The Cross The Crown – Cotton Teeth
15. Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
14. M.I.A. – Kala
13. Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
12. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
11. Daft Punk – Alive 2007

Here’s the breakdown of what I listened to last month that made me happy. Songza made linking ridiculously easy.

Also, December is going to be a dead month for new music. Guess what that means? More meaningless end-of-year lists! Hooray! Expect several of these from me, just like last year.

1. Sigur Rós – “Í Gær” (Hvarf/Heim)
2. Ray Charles – “What’d I Say” (20 Golden Classics)
3. Bright Eyes – “If The Brakeman Turns My Way” (Cassadaga)
4. Neko Case – “Hold On, Hold On” (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood)
5. Alison Krauss & Union Station – “New Favorite” (New Favorite)
6. Jóhann Jóhannsson – “Part 1 – IBM 1401 Processing Unit” (IBM 1401, a User’s Manual)
7. Damien Rice – “Eskimo” (O)
8. Stars – “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (Set Yourself On Fire)
9. Stars – “Set Yourself On Fire” (Set Yourself On Fire)
10. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Nong Eye Gong” (Ire Works)
11. Opeth – “Ghost Of Perdition” (Ghost Reveries)
12. Jakob – “Pneumonic” (Solace)
13. Daft Punk – “Around The World / Harder Better Faster Stronger” (Alive 2007)
14. Feist – “My Moon My Man” (The Reminder)
15. Burial – “Archangel” (Untrue)
16. Bright Eyes – “Lua” (I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning)
17. Regina Spektor – “Music Box” (Begin To Hope)
18. Ryan Adams – “Pearls On A String” (Easy Tiger)

Albums that are sticking like glue:

• The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works: It’s everything I hoped it would be, and then some.
• Burial – Untrue: I’m not ashamed to admit that Pitchfork tipped me off on this one. I can’t put my finger on why I like it so much yet.
• Daft Punk – Alive 2007: Best live album I’ve heard in years.
• Jakob – Solace: Great sleeping music.

A few weeks ago, I read Rob Sheridan’s lengthy diatribe about the state of the music industry and his proposed solution to its many problems. The general idea is that the RIAA is killing its own business by using scare tactics, treating its customers like thieves and using its position of power to alter and protect copyright law for its own selfish purposes.

The solution (according to Sheridan): Stop buying music from labels that support the RIAA. Download it for free instead, and then use your money to support the artist directly through merchandise and ticket sales.

That wasn’t a perfect summary, so go read his rant if you have the time. It was both enlightening and concerning.

In the end, I was left with several questions, which I’ll leave with you to ponder as well. If you any answers I would very much appreciate them.

• I subscribe to Rhapsody in order to legally access as much music as possible for a low price. Certainly some of the money I give them goes to the RIAA’s efforts. Is my subscription to their service helping or hurting the situation? Would I be better off using illegal means to sample music?
• As a follower of Christ, is it my duty to follow the law put before me, or is it to recognize the corruption of the law and do what I can to help correct the situation even if my actions would be considered illegal? (I know that this would be easier to answer if we were talking about something more universally significant than music or art, such as human rights or public health.)
• Does “trying before buying” help to improve the problem of there being so much terrible music that still manages to sell well? (In other words, if I only spend money after I’ve concluded that an artist is valuable, does it mean I’m “voting” for the very best and therefore helping only the best artists to succeed?)

These are just a few of the questions that have been spinning in my head for the last few weeks. Right now it’s only a dialog (mostly internal); I don’t want to take any action that I can’t fully justify and support with a reasonable argument. The only “action” I’ve taken so far is to see if what I’m buying supports the RIAA, so I at least have some idea as to where my money is going. In my selfish nature, I know I would love for music to be free and easily accessible, but I refuse to let my own desires get in the way of making a wise decision.