Rollo & Grady — Paste – The 25 Best Albums of 2009 25. Thomas Function – In the Valley of Sickness 24. Various Artists – Dark Was the Night 23. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz! 22. Sufjan Stevens – The BQE 21. Wilco – Wilco (The A... more info

Bridging The Atlantic — With attention to flow rather than order of preference, my absolute favourite songs of 2009.1. Happy Up Here - Röyksopp2. 1901 - Phoenix3. Osaka Loop Line - Discovery4. Lovesick Teenagers - Bear in Heaven5. Blood Pt 2 - Buck 65 Remix ft Sufjan Ste... more info

Music For Ants — Sufjan Stevens wrote a pretty interesting essay a couple years back about “Friend Rock”, music made by friends, and the unusual moral conundrums that it can stir up in a music enthusiast. While he concludes that the term is non-evaluative and the... more info

I Guess I'm Floating — There are less than two weeks until Christmas arrives and I'm taking care of some non-blog related issues today. Needless to say, I lacked the time to really dig deeply for some of my favorite covers and similarily lack the time to get any of my hol... more info

Guardian Music — Step aside Sufjan Stevens – the prolific Dev Hynes has recorded 50 LPs to be made available as free downloads. Shame that most of them are 'awful' ...Lightspeed Champion's Dev Hynes has announced that he will release not one, not 10, but up to... more info

Guardian Music — This itinerant band of former buskers create a sort of junk-shop, thrift-store vibe with a rustic, homespun charmHometown: Queens, New York.The lineup: Judah Dadone (drums, bass, guitar), Kevin Read (harmonium, banjo, cello), Doris Cellar (glockenspi... more info

Guardian Music — As pointed out in a recent blog by Mark Beaumont, Christmas songs are best when they're not trying to be cool. What's the point in trying to be a hipster when you're sat having roast parsnips with your aunt Mildred? Do you really think your gran want... more info

Guardian Music — Armed with a hoard of antique instruments, this multi-tasking band create ornate pop full of sepia-tinted nostalgiaHometown: Portland, Oregon.The lineup: Micah Rabwin (vocals, guitar, musical saw, keyboard), Sean Ogilvie (vocals, keyboard, guitar, ac... more info

Stereogum — I recently sat down with Sufjan Stevens at the Diner on 9th Avenue in Manhattan to talk about the release of The BQE CD/DVD for a piece in Art In America and Interview. We touched on the new project, but also got into a discussion of some of Stev... more info

The Vinyl Villain — I normally move away quickly to the opposite corner of the record shop as fast as I can if someone points in the direction of a charity record, for almost without exception they are well-meaning but crap.But not Dark Was The Night, a 2CD release fro... more info