ADRIAN BLAKE - Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Kate Nash: Great body of work, and a great songwriter. The voice is a little much, but she captures something new, somewhere between Lily Allen and Ani DiFranco.
The Feeling: “I Love it When You Call” has about 36 hooks and modulates like Manilow. World-class craftsmanship.
Amy Winehouse: Unstoppable. Covers of “Valerie” and “Monkey Man” are particularly good.
The Go! Team: “Doing it Right” = Pop Rocks and Orange Soda.
Fountains of Wayne: “Yolanda Hayes” is the best single of the year written about the DMV
Dans le Sac vs Scroobius Pip: “Thou Shalt Always Kill.” Thou shalt not buy Nestle products?
Flight of the Conchords: That’s why they call them Business Socks.
The Veils: “Advice for Young Mothers-to-Be”. His Dad was in XTC.
The Hold Steady: “Stuck Between Stations” has the guitar hook of the year.
Groove Armada & Mutya Buena: “Song 4 Mutya” is 80’s-tastic

Honorable Mention for Best Rediscovered Adult Contemporary/Soft Rock/70’s pop hit: Andrew Gold, “Lonely Boy”. Seriously, listen to this—it’s immense. Great piano hook, ludicrous but structured lyric, perfect ‘70’s sideman guitar solo. This might have been my most heavily played single this year.

Worst New Trend: The Disney Channel as the new MTV. I saw Hannah Montana live in Omaha. (With Kay Hanley from Letters to Cleo as one of her backing vocalists.)

Best New Trend: The Red Sox Century

Other worthy efforts:

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: “What Have You Done for Me Lately”
The Fratellis: “Flathead”
Carbon/Silicon: “Why Do Men Fight”
Malcolm Middleton: “A Brighter Beat”
Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake: “Dick in A Box“
Vampire Weekend: “Oxford Comma”
Field Music: “Closer at Hand”
Tracey Thorn: “Raise the Roof”
Young Knives: “She’s Attracted To”
Seu Jorge: All the Bowie covers are great
Arctic Monkeys: “Fluorescent Adolescent”
Peter Bjorn and John: “Young Folks”
Polyphonic Spree: “Lithium”
Bloc Party: “I Still Remember (Lull’s Music Box and Tears Mix)”
Miranda Lambert: “Desperate”
Ted Leo: “The Sons of Cain”
Magic Numbers: “Take a Chance”
Jose Gonzalez: “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Feist: “1234”
White Stripes: “You Don’t Know About Love, You Just Do What You’re Told”
LCD Soundsystem: “North American Scum”
Sugababes: “About You Now”
Rihanna: “Umbrella”
Rilo Kiley: “Frug”
Radiohead: “Bodysnatchers”
Arcade Fire: “Keep the Car Running”
Klaxons “Golden Skans”
Tegan and Sara “When U Were Mine”
The Hives: “Tick Tick Boom”