I’m looking at my list and realizing there’s only one record here I actually went to a store and bought, and that includes Amazon. The rest were borrowed from friends and copied, given to me as copies or taken out from the library. Sorry about that, recording industry. But somehow, great music is reaching people. All the top 10 lists, such as my colleague Pat Ferrucci’s top 20 list, have fantastic choices. As always, I’m not qualified to be a critic. This is just stuff I like.

10. The Hold Steady “Stay Positive.” Not as good as “Boys and Girls in America,” but rocks hard and sounds good in the car.
9. REM “Accelerate.” They were lost in the woods for a while, but got back to basics, turned up the amps and stopped trying so hard.
8. iCarly soundtrack. Some filler, but plenty of catchy pop songs my family likes to sing along to. Kicks the Jonas Brothers’ ass.
7. N.E.R.D. “Seeing Sounds.” Genre-busting, funky, funny and weird.
6. Shelby Lynne “Just a Little Lovin’” Tribute album to Dusty Springfield was a quiet understatement during a noisy year. Perfect late-night record.
5. Nick Cave “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!” Satan’s lounge act.
4. Portishead “Third.” When you go 11 years between records, it better be good. It is.
3. Ting Tings “We Started Nothing.” My kids love this record, with good reason. Catchy garage pop is always welcome at my house.
2. Raconteurs “Consolers of the Lonely.” Anything Jack White does is OK by me. Even James Bond themes.
1. Black Mountain “In the Future.” Heavy as a feather sonic assault. This is the record I shelled out cash for. Glad I did.
Just missed the cut: Kings of Leon, Black Keys, Vivian Girls, Supergrass, Paul Weller, Stereolab, Be Your Own Pet