Last year I observed that while there was a lot of good music still coming out, almost like a fire hose at this point, there seems to be a dearth of great music. This year finds me feeling no differently. There was lots of stuff this year to admire, and I’m not going to pretend I spent any real amount of time grimacing through stuff I had t review or simply grow familiar with in order to stay current with the prevailing tastes, both popular and critical. But as the year draws to a close I find myself shunning much of what I initially viewed as “artistic achievements” in favor for music I think has the actual legs to still pop up without me wincing a few years down the road. So once I finished my list no one could have bee more surprised than I at how it ended up. more ›

Park West, 322 W. Armitage, January 12, 8 p.m., Tickets $30-$50 more ›