December was one of those months that seemed to be about three months long. I have no idea why. I drove to and from LA two weekends in a row, trying (and failing) to put a holiday mix CD together, spent Christmas happily alone and tried to control myself from reading too many year-end top 10 album lists.

A lot of this month’s interesting tidbits came from listening to albums on other people’s lists, though, so I can’t really knock them that much. It’s a great way to figure out what I missed over the course of the year. That’s where Benea Reach, Shearwater, Okkervil River and Frightened Rabbit all came from.

Happy new year, everyone!

1. Adam Pasion - “Schoolhouse Virginia” (O Hear the Rattling)
2. Johnny Cash - “It Ain’t Me, Babe” (Greatest Hits, Vol. 1)
3. Akon - “Right Now (Na Na Na)” (Freedom)
4. Akon - “I’m So Paid” (Freedom)
5. Horse Feathers - “Curs in the Weeds” (House With No Home)
6. MGMT - “Electric Feel” (Oracular Spectacular)
7. Caroline - “Winter” (Murmurs)
8. Starflyer 59 - “My Name” (Everybody Makes Mistakes)
9. Justice - “Genesis” (A Cross the Universe)
10. Common - “Universal Mind Control” (Universal Mind Control)
11. Horse Feathers - “Father” (House With No Home)
12. Fleet Foxes - “Oliver James” (Fleet Foxes)
13. Okkervil River - “Calling and Not Calling My Ex” (The Stand Ins)
14. Shearwater - “Home Life” (Rook)
15. Benea Reach - “Awakening” (Alleviat)
16. Neko Case - “Look for Me (I’ll Be Around)” (Blacklisted)
17. Benea Reach - “New Waters” (Alleviat)
18. Stars of the Lid - “Even If You’re Never Awake” (And Their Refinement of the Decline)
19. Kanye West - “Say You Will” (808s & Heartbreak)
20. Kanye West - “Paranoid” (808s & Heartbreak)
21. Frightened Rabbit - “Head Rolls Off” (The Midnight Organ Fight)

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

Ryan Adams wins this month. Between my realization that Heartbreaker is an amazing album and the release of his new one, Easy Tiger, he pretty much dominated my listening for the month. I’m actually listening to Love Is Hell while I write this, completely by coincidence. It’s no surprise, then, that he’s broken into the top ten of my all-time most played artists.

Oh, and a new “feature” for you: Often times the tracks I put in my monthly playlist are available for stream and/or download by the artist in some capacity, in which case I’ll provide a link.

1. Clipse - “Mr. Me Too” (Hell Hath No Fury)
2. Ryan Adams - “Halloweenhead” (Easy Tiger)
3. T.I. - “What You Know” (King)
4. Amy Winehouse - “Rehab” (Back To Black)
5. Mew - “Chinaberry Tree” (And The Glass Handed Kites)
6. Ryan Adams - “Two” (Easy Tiger)
7. Interpol - “Pioneer To The Falls” (Our Love To Admire)
8. Ryan Adams - “To Be Young (is to be sad, is to be high)” (Heartbreaker)
9. The American Dollar - “DEA” (The Technicolour Sleep)
10. Justice - “Genesis” (†)
11. Los Campesinos! - “You! Me! Dancing!” (Sticking Fingers Into Sockets)
12. Maps - “To The Sky” (We Can Create)
13. Mono - “halcyon (beautiful days)” (Walking cloud and deep red sky, Flag fluttered and the sun shined)
14. Iron & Wine - “Boy With A Coin” (The Shepherd’s Dog)