I started out with the usual list of CDs, but noticed that a lot of brilliant moments were being left out because I didn't necessarily like the albums that they came on all the way through. Think of this as a singles-of-the-year list, then. Atmosphere, "Always Coming Back Home To You" (from "Seven's Travels") - Emotionally complex, mature hip-hop road music... damn. Hieroglyphics, "Classic" (from "Full Circle") - The disc is nothing extraordinary, but this is catchy as hell. Matthew Shipp, "Vamp to Vibe" (from "Equilibrium") - Christmas Gift of Choice for Friends #1, and the only Shipp album I've ever loved start to finish. Hoahio, "DJ Hashimoto" (from "Peek-Ara-Boo") - Nothing like the rest of the album, but that koto line gives me fits of the giggles. ONJQ, "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk" (from "Tails Out") - Sine waves in a Mingus tune... and it works! Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf, "Red Light Green Light" (from "Big Shots") - A whole album of sunny, beautiful memories of the '90s as they should have been. Ward 21, "Coochie Zone" (from "U Know How We Roll") - I should be offended, but they're so nuts that I can only laugh. Spring Heel Jack, "Part II" (from "Live") - It's better than "Masses". Spectre, "The Rolling Force" (from "Psychic Wars") - A faintly cheesy album, but I love those grooves. David Toop, "Poison Incense" (from "Black Chamber") - Perfect music for a dark apartment on a quiet night, though it freaks my roommate out. The Bug vs. The Rootsman w/Daddy Freddy, "Imitator" (from their Tigerbeat6 EP) - Amazingly, it sticks in my head even more than "Politicians and Paedophiles". REISSUES OF THE YEAR: The New Pornographers, "Mass Romantic" - Christmas Gift of Choice for Friends #2 (chronologically; #1 by quantity) v/a, "Mutant Disco" Milford Graves, "Meditation Among Us" Albert Ayler, "Music is the Healing Force of the Universe" SURPRISE MP3 DISCOVERY, COURTESY OF MACADDICT MAGAZINE: BT, "Somnabulist (Simply Being Loved)" - Actual intelligent dance music... holy crap! OLDER STUFF, JUST UNEARTHED: v/a, "No New York" Boom Bip & Dose One, "Circle" Dafeldecker/Hautzinger/Tilbury/Sachiko M, "Absinth" - The most engaging Erstwhile-style effort I've heard since a Kevin Drumm show about three years ago; it actually takes me places. The The, London Town box - Man, do these discs sound incredible now. Big Picture, s/t Portastatic w/Ken Vandermark and Tim Mulvenna, "The Perfect Little Door" - A perfect little EP, it never overextends itself... it's just NICE. That's enough typing for now... off to work I go. -me