This one turned out OK: I don't know as much about the context as I'd like but en masse it's the stuff I've most enjoyed recently--all year, really.

If I read a piece three times just for the sheer pleasure and smartness of it, that means I should mention it here, right? So I will: Tom Ewing on what pop fragmentation might really mean.

That jingle at the end hasn't left my head in a quarter-century, god help me.

Greatest Year Ever, part 1.

Actual editing by actual editors. Also:



Never thought I'd like one of these again so much, but lo and behold.

I write for Resident Advisor and listen to the podcasts every week--or I leave them for a couple and then catch up. That's what I'm doing now with the nsi. from last week. It's a 49-minute live set, it's the kind of thing pop fans will find horribly self-indulgent, it hits my experimental and spooky and dry psychedelia buttons perfectly, it has an absolute sense of place, and it's one of my favorite recordings of the year.

75 tracks I like from 2009's first half.

1. Maxwell, “Pretty Wings”
2. DJ Quik & Kurupt, “9x's Outta 10”
3. Art Brut, “Demons Out!”
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Zero”
5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “Young Adult Friction”
6. The Love Language, “Sparxxx”
7. The Fiery Furnaces, “Lost at Sea”
8. Camera Obscura, “French Navy”
9. Drake, “Best I Ever Had”
10. Walter Jones, “Living Without Your Love”
11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll”
12. Moody, “Freeki Mutha F cker”
13. House of House, “Rushing to Paradise (Walkin' These Streets)”
14. Ne-Yo, “Part of the List”
15. Wye Oak, “I Want For Nothing”

16. Dyme Def, “Not That Dude”
17. The Juan MacLean, “One Day”
18. School of Seven Bells, “Iamundernodisguise”
19. New Boyz, “You're a Jerk”
20. Clinton Sparks ft. Clipse & Pharrell, “Still Got It 4 Cheap”
21. Major Lazer ft. Vybz Kartel, “Pon de Floor”
22. Jahdan Blakkamoore & 77Klash, “Best I Ever Had Freestyle”
23. Jeremih, “Birthday Sex”
24. Pogo, “Expialidocious”
25. The-Dream, “Kelly's 12 Play”
26. Roy Davis Jr. ft. Erin Martin, “I Have A Vision (The Juan MacLean Remix)”
27. Lee Jones, “Lab”
28. Kelly Clarkson, “I Do Not Hook Up”
29. Tiye Phoenix, “The Award”
30. The Hold Steady, “Atlantic City”

31. Dan Deacon, “Surprise Stefani”
32. brakesbrakesbrakes, “Ancient Mysteries”
33. Telekinesis, “Tokyo”
34. Wavves, “So Bored”
35. Bob Dylan, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”
36. Lil' Wayne, “Yes”
37. Lily Allen, “The Fear (Stonebridge Clean Radio Mix)”
38. New York Dolls, “'Cause I Sez So”
39. U.S.E., “All the World”
40. Micachu & The Shapes, “Golden Phone”
41. Love and Theft, “Runaway”
42. Tanlines, “New Flowers”
43. Meleka, “Go (Crazy Cousinz Remix)”
44. The Field, “The More That I Do”
45. Franz Ferdinand, “Live Alone”

46. Gucci Mane, “Stoopid”
47. Green Day, “Know Your Enemy”
48. The Glimmers Present Disko Drunkards, “Grover”
49. Cascada, “Evacuate the Dancefloor (Radio Edit)”
50. Bloody Mary Featuring Argenis Brito, “Sed Non Satiata”
51. Boy Better Know (Shorty, Skepta, Wiley, JME and Frisco), “Too Many Man”
52. Bunji Garlin, “We Done Dey”
53. Black Moth Super Rainbow, “Twin Of Myself”
54. Chilled by Nature, “Otherness (Windsurf's Golden Bear Dub)”
55. Spinnerette, “Geeking”
56. Neko Case, “People Got a Lotta Nerve”
57. DJ Koze, “First Snow”
58. Jay Weathers & Lenny Future, “Dance aka Too Many Gals”
59. Diego Bernal, “Diego's Donut (RIP Dilla)”
60. Jürgen Paape, “Ausklang (Burger/Voigt Mix)”

61. Moody, “Desire”
62. Horsepower Productions, “Damn It”
63. Afrobutt, “The Taste (Round & Brown)”
64. Shawn Lee ft. Fanny Franklin, “Cruel Woman”
65. Jarvis Cocker, “Angela”
66. 10-20, “InB”
67. Easy Star All Stars ft. Kirsty Rock, “She's Leaving Home”
68. Azealia Banks, “Gimme a Chance”
69. John Daly, “Freak Out or Get Out”
70. Luomo, “Tessio (Stimming Remix)”
71. Moby, “Study War”
72. Neon Walrus, “John Solo”
73. Raphael Saadiq, “100 Yard Dash (Daytrotter Session)”
74. Royksopp ft. Robyn, “The Girl and the Robot”
75. Tanya Morgan ft. Napoleon, “Plan B”

"Jesus" loves you IT'S ALL RIGHT!

When billboards proclaiming "Buy Local Orlando" first appeared in Orlando, Florida, Julie Norris, a cafe owner who last year co-founded Ourlando, an initiative to support indie businesses, was excited to see the concept getting such visibility. But she soon realized that the city-funded program, which provides businesses who join with a "Buy Local" decal, seminars at the Disney Entrepreneur Center, and a listing on the web site, was open to any business in Orlando. "We sat down with the city and said, 'What you guys are doing is a real disservice to the local business movement,'" she said.

The city did agree to remove from its press materials and web site a reference to a study that found that, for every $100 spent locally, $45 stays in the community. The problem was that the study, conducted by the firm Civic Economics, found that to be true only if the money was spent at a locally owned business. Shop at a chain store, the analysis found, and only $13 of that $100 spent stays in the community.

Stacy Mitchell on corporate greenface.

Half-year albums. I've updated this from a week ago; the usual caveats apply.

1. DJ Koze, Reincarnations: The Remix Chapter 2001-2009 (Get Physical)
2. Art Brut vs. Satan (Downtown)
3. A-Trak, FabricLive 45 (Fabric)
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz! (Interscope)
5. The Juan MacLean, The Future Will Come (DFA)
6. Jay Haze, Fabric 47 (Fabric)
7. Claro Intelecto, Warehouse Sessions (Modern Love)
8. DJ Quik & Kurupt, BlaQKout (Mad Science)
9. The Glimmers Present Disko Drunkards (glimmertwins.com)
10. Tanya Morgan, Brooklynati (Interdependent)

11. Black Moth Super Rainbow, Eating Us (Graveface)
12. The Fiery Furnaces, I’m Going Away (Thrill Jockey)
13. Henrik Schwarz, Ame & Dixon, The Grandfather Paradox (BBE)
14. Dan Deacon, Bromst (Carpark)
15. 10-20 (Highpoint Lowlife)
16. Kiki, Kaiku (Bpitch Control)
17. Major Lazer, Guns Don’t Kill People . . . Lazers Do (Mad Decent)
18. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino)
19. Ada, Adaptations: Mixtape #1 (Kompakt)
20. Afrobutt, Wunderbutt (Electric Minds)

I had a Top 75 Tracks prepared and then decided not only to not finalize it but to get rid of the playlist altogether. Having taken the train to Minneapolis, I didn't do anywhere near the amount of re-listening on the rails I'd planned to. In fact, I barely listened to music at all, opting instead to get loads of reading done. I have another day and a half of Amtrak before landing in New York for a spell, and I'm not anticipating I'll listen much more. Either way, it'll probably be a while.

The writing ain't much (it's a blog, it's Variety, it's a Variety blog), but this is some fun what-if about the '70s Best Picture nominees expanded to 10.

You're adults; you can take one more MJ think piece. Make it Phil Nugent's.