1. "Twin Cinema," the New Pornographers — The best pop/rock album of the year. Fun, sexy and bold. Adults — Canadians, even — act as playful as 2-year-olds, with melodies worthy of the best Broadway shows, Nashville dives and high school mixers.
2. "Lookaftering," Vashti Bunyan — The fun part of these end-of-the year lists is in realizing trends and patterns. Of my five favorites this year, three are by women at different ages. Bunyan returned to music after 35 years away, with this timeless collection of folk songs.
3. "Ex Hex," Mary Timony — Timony picked up her guitar again, rocking out harder than any other 30-something, despite realizing that she'll probably never sell a million, or even 50,000 records. This is music made by someone, for herself, because she loves it and has to.
4. "Vertically Challenged," Lady Sovereign — Miss Lady is hard to discuss without the obligatory mentions of her being a white, British, 19-year-old girl. She's also Jay-Z's new favorite and the toughest, funniest rapper today, reminiscent at times of Eminem and Missy Elliott but with more futuristic beats.
5. "Buena Vista Social Club Presents," Manuel "El Guajiro" Mirabal — Another old Cuban master, trumpeter Guajiro has so much energy left that you'll have no choice but to shake that healthy butt.
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