By Todd Williams

So much for keeping up on today’s music scene. This year’s Top 10 list for best “rock” albums of the year almost entirely escapes me.

OK, so I do have one album by TV On The Radio (which came in at a measly No. 7),and I have heard of the Black Keys, but man, I’ve got to start listening to the XM more often.

I do fare better in the honorable mention section of the article, but own only one album mentioned here, and that’s by emo kings Death Cab For Cutie. That can’t be a good sign.

I can only imagine that by this time next year, I’ll be sputtering, “Those darn kids and that rock AND roll racket. It’s just a passing phase, don’t ya know?”

It looks like I’m headed to a visit with my good friends the Russians for a quick lesson in what the kids are listening to these days. And I thought I was cool for even knowing a few of these bands.

Anyway, here is the synopsis put forward by Jack Coyle of the Associated Press.

1. Constantines, “Kensington Heights”
The most underrated band in North America hails from Toronto, is led by Bryan Webb’s angst-ridden growl, and is capable of leaving any beer-soaked bar crowd slack-jawed and devastated. Five years after the excellent “Shine a Light,” the Constantines are still carrying on the tradition of Bruce Springsteen with anthemic, uplifting rock dirges. What could be more vital in these troubled economic times than the pulsating and mature “Kensington Heights”? On “Credit River,” Webb sings: “I may be in the red but I’m still hungry.”
2. The Hold Steady, “Stay Positive”
Like the Constantines, the Hold Steady worship at the altar of the Boss. This is a good thing. Though their last, “Boys and Girls of America,” may have been better, the Hold Steady, ah em, hold steady with another stellar album. The glorious single “Sequestered of Memphis” is surely the first song to make the phrase “I went there on business” sound riveting.
3. Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes”
The sonorous, multipart harmonies of Seattle’s Fleet Foxes bring to mind the Beach Boys, had they moved up the coast and swapped their surfboards for a wooded campfire. Half a year after their debut, they’re beginning to age like Crosby, Stills & Nash — but there are worse things.
4. Santogold, “Santogold”
You could quibble that Santogold isn’t truly “rock,” but she really defies genre categorization. “L.E.S. Artistes” and “Lights Out” were among the best rock tunes of the year. She’ll make “name droppas” of us all.
5. No Age, “Nouns”
Who knew L.A. punk existed? And that it was so good? Nothing about No Age was expected, making it all the more exciting.
6. Lykke Li, “Youth Novels”
Lykke Li is a 22-year-old Swedish pop pixie. “Little Bit” and “I’m Good, I’m Gone” were two of the most danceable songs all year — as evidenced by no less than the ever-jitterbugging Lykke Li herself. But it’s the cooing “Time Flies” that cements “Youth Novels” as an excellent album.
7. TV on the Radio, “Dear Science”
The bouncy guitar riff on “Crying” is, alone, really enough to make this one of the year’s best. The Brooklyn brainiacs’ last one (”Return to Cookie Mountain”) was better, but TV on the Radio are nevertheless the most vital, current band in America.
8. Black Keys, “Attack and Release”
The Black Keys could be anyone’s favorite band. Two goofy dudes from Akron, Ohio, who make some of the rawest, most soulful blues. This is their most dynamic and full album yet, which can be partly attributed to producer Danger Mouse. (Danger Mouse’s most famous project, as half of Gnarles Barkley, also put out one of the year’s best, “The Odd Couple,” thanks largely to Cee-lo’s powerful James Brown tribute: “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul.”)
9. Jenny Lewis, “Acid Tongue”
Like Elvis Costello (who guests on “Acid Tongue”), Lewis will likely turn out an excellent album most every year — whether as a solo act or in her band Rilo Kiley — for decades to come. The best example of her prodigious songwriting talents here is “Bad Man’s World.” Unless it’s “Acid Tongue.” Or “Carpetbaggers.” (You get the idea.)
10. Dr. Dog, “Fate”
Some find this Philadelphia group too retro. They, after all, seemingly want to, literally, be the Band. But with a bass that thumps just like Rick Danko’s, Dr. Dog stirs up life in old sounds.
Honorable Mentions: Firewater, “The Golden Hour”; Wolf Parade, “At Mount Zoomer”; M83, “Saturdays  Youth”; Vampire Weekend, “Vampire Weekend”; Death Cab for Cutie, “Narrow Stairs”; Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Lie Down on the Light”; The Walkmen, “You & Me”; She & Him, “Volume One”; Deerhunter, “Microcastle”; Mogwai, “The Hawk Is Howling”; Portishead, “Third.”

By Todd Williams

I purposely held off on my review of the new Rolling Stone for a couple of issues to that I wouldn’t rush to judgment. And after seeing the first cople of issues in the smaller, more traditional magazine format, my judgment is: I don’t know for sure.

Fellow Feedback and Distortion contributor Eric Lochridge and I have had the discussion about music mags and how you naturally gravitate toward the ones you read when your music tastes are developing, so for me, that was Rolling Stone. In the 1990s, I dropped my Rolling Stone subscription for Spin, but I couldn’t fight my way through the format. I liked what they were saying, I just didn’t like the way they were saying it.

And then there’s Blender. Certainly entertaing and easy to read, but when it has articles such as “The Top 100 songs Before You Were Born” and the oldest song in there came out when I was in college.

So, I’ve stuck (on and off) with Rolling Stone. And even though it turns my stomach when Brittney is on the cover, I still like sitting down and reading it. It’s like having a conversation with a beloved relative. Not a whole lot new here, necessarily, but enjoyable nonetheless.

By Crystal Hohenthaner
Journal Staff

Okay all my music aficionados (is that how you spell aficionado?), I need help. I need to get a Christmas present for my boyfriend. He is a big music lover – and I don’t mean the way Brittany Spears fans love music. He is actually a skilled and talented musician and he can even write music – which completely baffles me. In fact he has actually produced several indy CDs.

Cool, right?

Not so cool for me at the moment, because I really want to get him something ‘musical’ for Christmas, but his abilities and understanding are so far above mine that I am basically paralyzed with fear over the possibility of giving him something lame.

I already got him something small and funny … er, lame. That’s right I have exhausted all of my silly points and I still want to get him something more. Unfortunately, I’m basically out of money too.That means, I’m thinking musical and cheap – would it be totally lame to burn him a CD of love songs? And, if it isn’t too lame, what songs should I put on the CD?

Help me! Please!

By Eric Lochridge

Here’s what I came up with for the 10 best albums I heard this year. I felt like there was a lot to work with. Did I leave anything out?

10. Colin Meloy, “Sings Live” – The Decemberists’ singer took a live solo turn this year. His stripped down versions of his band’s songs emphasize his voice, and he augments his quirky lyrics with entertaining between-song banter.
Best song: “We Both Go Down Together”

9. Remedy Drive, “Daylight Is Coming” – The Lincoln, Neb., Christian alternative-rock band played at Fountain Springs Community Church in Rapid City, and put on an impressive high-energy show. The album’s title track is one of the best songs I heard this
year, and the rest of the disc doesn’t slouch one bit.
Best song: “Daylight is Coming”

8. REM, “Accelerate” – The ’80s and ’90s rock stalwarts finally made an album that was easy to like. The band had mysteriously gone soft for a decade or so, and this was the grungy jump start fans desperately needed.
Best song: “Living Well is the Best Revenge”

7. Kings of Leon, “Only By the Night” – On 2007’s “Because of the Times,” the Kings showed how those opening tour slots with Pearl Jam and U2 paid off. The result was arena rock that unsettled fans of the band’s first two albums. “Only By the Night” is an attempt to walk the line between, but it leans toward the arenas again.
Best song: “Sex on Fire”

6. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, “Rattlin’ Bones” – This one flew in under my radar. It was released in April, but I didn’t hear about it till November. I typically keep an ear out for new stuff from Chambers, an Australian who does country as well as any Southerner from the U.S. Nicholson is her husband. Her last album, “Carnival,” was good but scattershot, so it’s nice to find that her rootsy side has overcome her tendency toward pop.
Best song: “The Devil’s Inside My Head.”

5. The Raconteurs, “Consolers of the Lonely” – As things were falling apart for the White Stripes last year, Jack White cranked up with The Raconteurs instead. Where the first Raconteurs album was a sonic departure from White’s other band, “Consolers” has a decidedly White Stripes stripe to it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

4. Black Francis, “Svn Fngrs” – Whether as Frank Black or Black Francis, the former Pixies frontman always keeps it interesting. This seven-song EP continues in the manic vein of last year’s “Bluefinger.”
Best song: “I Sent Away”

3. The Black Crowes, “Warpaint” – When the Black Crowes went on hiatus in 2002, fans were stunned. But when a band’s core is two feisty but talented brothers, you know any break won’t last forever. With “Warpaint,” the Crowes pick up in a better place than where they left off, and it’s a most welcome comeback.
Best song: “Evergreen”

2. Beck, “Modern Times” – Beck takes us back in the wayback machine with sparse songs that recall The Who and the’60s a-go-go. It’s no “Odelay,” but it is his most consistent album in years.
Best song: “Youthless”

1. Coldplay, “Viva la Vida (Or Death and All His Friends)” – The best thing about Coldplay’s fourth album is that it is absolutely a surprise. Lush sound, engaging lyrics, unpredictable tempo shifts, soaring melodies, a wider vocal range — all combine in unexpected ways. 2005’s “X&Y” seemed to point toward a mundane future in the pop arena. But “Viva” shattered that assumption. I haven’t stopped listening to it since I got it.
Best song: “Death and All His Friends”

By Eric Lochridge

Word on the street is that Britney Spears’ new comeback album, “Circus,” is almost as good as her first comeback album, “Blackout,” which was out about this time last year.
I’m wondering: Is there anyone out there has heard the albums and could give us a comparison?
And can Spears’ “Circus” even hope to come close to as good as Lenny Kravitz’s “Circus” (1995)? I think not.
And who’s planning to wait for Spears’ third comeback album, just to be safe?