Rumors about the next Coachella always start right about the time the current Coachella ends. At that point, they primarily come in this form: “Dude, next year? Smiths reunion. It has to happen.”

Never mind that they were once offered a reported $5 million to play the annual desert bash in Indio — and they turned it down. Oh, and forget all of that stuff about how they don’t ever speak to or even like each other anymore. And you remember that drummer Mike Joyce sued Morrissey and Johnny Marr in ‘96 … and won … right? (Of course, by 2005, Joyce was apparently broke again — and so desperate that he started selling rare Smiths recordings on eBay.)

By late summer/early fall, however, speculation about the impossible at Coachella really ramps up. (Like this: “No, seriously, I heard from the pot dealer of a friend of a cousin of a guy who used to work at Goldenvoice that Moz and Marr are talking. It’s totally on!”)

By Christmas, other ginormo names enter the mix, and we no-life Coachella watchers start attempting to map out three days of stars-plus-high-undercard-acts. (”The Killers … maybe they’re the Friday night headliner, like Jack Johnson last year. Either that, or they’re on Sunday night with the Smiths or Bowie. I hear Saturday night is U2, or Pearl Jam, or Radiohead.”)

Radiohead is always mentioned, by the way. To the point that I sometimes hope they never play Coachella again, just to make ‘04 even more special than it already is.

But, see, I’m kinda perverse about particular resurrections anyway.

Blur, one of the few bands I’d lay 3-1 odds on as a legitimate lineup contender this year … now that’s a reunion I welcome, as the firm of Albarn, Coxon, James & Rowntree hasn’t been away so long that it has become mythologized. (Plus, I suspect there’s still great work left in that lineup.) The Smiths and Talking Heads, on the other hand, I really don’t want to ever reunite, for the same reason why I’m glad the Clash never did.

Would it blow my mind if either ever happened? Do I think their sets could be incredible? Of course. Yet with any reunion there’s always a high chance of disappointment. And regardless, whether historic highlight (Pixies, ‘04) or lackluster letdown (for me, New Order, ‘05), a legacy will have been unsealed — in the cases of the Smiths and T.Heads, rather perfectly preserved legacies at that.

I have little doubt both bands still possess such rare chemistry that they would summon something amazing. But I’d still rather they stay broken up, and we all move on.

Anyway … I was saying something about Coachella lineup speculation … for the point of this ramble is that now is when it starts to really get heated up.

Now, when we’re probably 2-3 weeks away (at the very most) from an announcement, now is when Coachella fanatics the web-world over hone their powers of deduction and elimination and really start zeroing on who will be there … and who won’t (for instance, the freakin’ Smiths! Let it GO, people!).

Nerd though I am, I nonetheless do not keep a running, written list of names — like this logic-driven one, a roundup I’m sure is as in-the-know as any you can find, yet which I still figure is only 75-80 percent on the money.

That blogger’s educated guesses certainly include a few head-scratchers, doncha think?

• The Black Keys even though Dan Auerbach has a solo album and tour happening?
• Primal Scream even though they’re playing Club Nokia a month before the fest — a no-no to lineup mastermind Paul Tollett, who typically doesn’t permit that sort of pre-fest play? (A week-of-event warmup gig — that’s different, and happens every year.)
• Kings of Leon even though they just played last year? (How many back-to-back repeaters can you name?)
• DItto Animal Collective, which seems wrong on both counts — show this month plus they just played.
• And … Hall and Oates?!? Huh? Neil Young seems a stretch right now, too.

I bet big on one thing every year, and for the moment my money is still on U2. Desert Jeff thought of it first in my circle of freaks, but I fully concur a tour kickoff at Coachella makes a lot of sense.

The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, the Hold Steady, Hercules and Love Affair — those all seem like no-brainers. I almost feel that strongly about the inclusion of Jenny Lewis, Kimya Dawson, the Knux, Built to Spill, the original Specials. I’d like to say there’s still a chance for a My Bloody Valentine sighting, but I think a second set from Wilco would be more likely.

I’m as excited as anyone else about the return of No Doubt — but, please, not at Coachella, OK? My two cents: the coolest thing they could do is to get back to their roots and play the Verizon parking lot headlining Bamboozle Left.

Beck and Depeche Mode — everyone but everyone keeps mentioning these two, but I’m still not so convinced.

Beck would be great, and he hasn’t headlined since Coachella was born. (How better to celebrate the 10th anniversary, eh?) That said, he played a LOT locally last year.

Depeche has a new album coming, yeah, so a Coachella appearance makes sense … in the most obvious, commercially motivated way possible, which is precisely why I think Tollett will avoid having them. Three years between performances is likely to strike him as too soon. Red Hot Chili Peppers at least waited four before they came back.

Of the other reunion rumors I’ve heard, only Pavement and the Replacements seem plausible to me. Pearl Jam and R.E.M. will always come in high on the speculation meter, simply because they’ve never played Coachella.

And then there’s Bowie.

Here’s the thing: The guy never does anything without a compelling reason. He only seems to tour anymore when he has something new, and by now we’d be hearing what that might be. And much as he’s filled his shows this decade with plenty of classics and lesser-known gems, he’s also not the sort of artist to indulge one-off nostalgia just because.

Now … maybe if it were billed as Bowie doing Ziggy Stardust in its entirety, or a set devoted to that and other Ziggy-era staples, or maybe a set built out of Bowie/Eno collaborations … he’s done Low in full before, so something like that isn’t out of the question. Performing complete albums is in vogue now; even Coachella dipped into it with Roger Waters‘ Dark Side set last year.

Then again … performing complete albums is in vogue now … and Bowie tends not to do whatever’s in vogue. Keep dreaming, starkids.

I’m Richard Chang, an arts and entertainment writer at The Orange County Register. I usually blog on our Arts Blog, but I figured I’d give you the lowdown on a recent show I caught.

Wednesday night I attended a set by Kina Grannis at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach. You may be familiar with this young, talented singer-songwriter. She grew up in Mission Viejo, she’s a big hit on YouTube, and she won last year’s “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, sponsored by Doritos. Read all about her here.

Anyway, she performed a short set, maybe 35-40 minutes, as part of a fundraiser for the Jimmy Miller Memorial Fund. (Miller was a Southern Californian surfer and beach-goer who died in 2004.)

Grannis, who accompanied herself on acoustic guitar (and keyboards for a couple tunes), sang songs from her three independently released albums. Her younger sister Emi provided backup vocals as well.

Grannis did a good job, but unfortunately she didn’t have the audience’s complete attention. Saint Rocke is a bar, and a lot of the crowd came only to drink and socialize while Grannis delivered her sensitive, heartfelt set. You could tell it was a bit of a struggle for her (and her sister) to even hear their own voices.

Grannis, in a dark gray dress, black tights and boots and little black cardigan, sang “Stay Just a Little,” “Down and Gone (The Blue Song),” and a Jason Mraz cover (“I’m Yours,” I believe) before ending with “Message from Your Heart,” the catchy song that won her the Doritos contest.

Overall, it wasn’t her finest hour, but it wasn’t her bleakest either. I caught up with her afterward and asked a few questions.

Q: Where are you living these days? I heard you were in Austin for a while.

KG: I’m back in Los Angeles, on Miracle Mile.

Q: When is your next album coming out?

KG (crossing fingers): In April or May.

Q: Are you still signed with Interscope?

KG: I can’t tell you. I can tell you that next week.

Q: When’s your next show in the L.A. area?

KG: It’s Kollaboration, Feb. 21 at the Shrine (Auditorium). I’m also going on a little tour, to New York and D.C.

Q: Do they know you back East?

KG: Yeah, they do. Because of YouTube and stuff.

Q: Would you say your winning the Doritos Super Bowl contest was a career changer?

KG: Definitely. Because of that, I’m able to focus on my music and play music full time.

• English prog-rock forebear Yes is carrying on without Jon Anderson after canceling last year’s Close to the Edge and Back Tour because the distinctive vocalist has been suffering from respiratory problems, initially expected to sideline him for at least six months.

Rumors have it both ways: One story is that Anderson (pictured in 2004 at the then-Pond) is deeply upset his fellow Yes men – Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and Rick Wakeman’s son Oliver – would tour with a replacement, Canadian singer Benoit David; the other story says Anderson gave them his blessing.

Find out whether Benoit can do for Yes what Steve Perry sound-alike Arnel Pineda did for Journey when the group plays smaller rooms than it has in years – Feb. 22 at House of Blues Anaheim, Feb. 24 at House of Blues San Diego and Feb. 27 at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. Tickets – $57.50-$97.50 for the Mouse House, $42.50-$82.50 for San Diego, tba for the Wiltern – go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10.

• Also at the Wiltern: The Derek Trucks Band, whose sixth studio album (Already Free) arrives next week, April 16, also on sale Saturday.

Speaking of respiratory problems …

• Merle Haggard, who canceled his Grove of Anaheim gig late last year because he had part of a cancer-infected lung removed, is apparently feeling much better – and now plays the Grove on Feb. 5. (Mind you, it’s the first of only a half-dozen dates on his itinerary at the moment.) Tickets, $40-$65, are on sale.

Also at the Grove: English medium Lisa Williams, star of the Lifetime show Life Among the Dead, March 7, $35-$100, on sale at noon Saturday.

• WIlliams also performs Feb. 27 at Club Nokia ($35.50-$100), but the surefire sell-out at that L.A. Live venue going up this week is soul star Ne-Yo’s show there Feb. 7, with fellow multiple Grammy nominee Jazmine Sullivan opening, along with Ryan Leslie. Tickets, $49.50-$73.50, go on sale Friday, Jan. 9.

Other Club Nokia gigs announced while I was on vacation: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (now that’ll be a nice one), Jan. 28, $25 … and Primal Scream (that one too), March 16, $31.50

• It was alive and thriving, then dead, now alive again: Musink, the rock ‘n’ tattoos emporium that wound up not going on tour with Social Distortion and Motorhead this year, will still take place across three days (Feb. 20-22) at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. Day 1: Reverend Horton Heat, Nekromantix and Manic Hispanic. Day 2: Atreyu, Story of the Year, Far and Scott Russo of Unwritten Law. Day 3: Danzig, Throwdown, Winds of Plague. Tickets, $25 per day, go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

• Another annual bash, the 28th annual Ragga Muffins Festival, is also set for that same weekend, Feb. 21-22, at Long Beach Arena. Buju Banton headlines the first night, along with Mad Professor featuring Macka B & Dennis Bovell, K’Naan, Soja, Heavyweight Dub Allstars, Detour Posse and more. Night 2 boasts both Stephen Marley and Ky-Mani Marley, the Wailing Souls, Tony Rebel, Pressure, Queen Ifrica, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Marcia Griffiths, Etana, Rootz Underground, Tessanne, Groundation, Baijie and more.

• But back to HOB Anaheim … the ever-present multi-culti outfit Ozomatli will play three more shows there, Feb. 26-28, $25.50-$42.50 … Runner Runner, Vogue in the Moment and Fiasco have been added to Mest’s Jan. 23 gig, $17.50-$32.50 … Raining Jane and Keaton Simons will open for Tyrone Wells on Jan. 29, $15 … Buck-o-Nine, Deals Gone Bad and Chase Long Beach have joined the Voodoo Glow Skulls and the Toasters for the Ska Is Dead Tour stop on Feb. 3, $14-$27.50 … the still-strong Swedish punk band Millencolin plays March 15, $16 … Longwave and IO Echo open for OK Go on March 21, $17.50-$37.50 … Less Than Jake returns for a March 29 show, with the Expendables in tow, $20.50, $40 … and Billy Ray Cyrus (now better known as Miley’s dad) now plays June 13, $27.50-$47.50.

• Meanwhile, The Hollywood Palladium will host Brazilian Carnaval 2009 on Feb. 21, featuring performances from Katia Moraes and Pure Samba Band, Nation Beat and more. Tickets go on sale at 1 p.m. Saturday.

• NOFX has added another local date, Feb. 5 at the Music Box at the Fonda in Hollywood. Tickets, $25, go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8. Also at the venue: Demetri Martin, Feb. 13, $31.75, on sale Friday.

• At El Rey Theatre: Millencolin with the Briggs, March 13, $18, on sale Friday … Dark Star Orchestra, April 10-11, $30, on sale Saturday … and Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek’s band, May 27, $22, on sale Saturday.

• New at the Avalon in Hollywood: An Café, April 11, on sale at noon Saturday.

• And Nigerian star Femi Kuti has had to cancel his winter tour (including a Jan. 23 stop at House of Blues Sunset Strip) due to illness. Look for him to tour this summer, however.

Very sad news: Ron Asheton, co-founder and guitarist for the mightily heavy and legendary proto-punk band the Stooges, was found dead today at his home in Ann Arbor, Mich., apparently of a heart attack. Police entered after Asheton’s personal assistant reported she had been unable to reach him for several days. It’s believed he died either on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. He was 60.

News only broke a few hours ago, but already RollingStone.com has a tribute from the surviving Stooges — Ron’s brother Scott, former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt (who assumed the late Dave Alexander’s role when the band reunited in 2003) and indestructible frontman Iggy Pop. (Asheton is on the left in the above promotional pic for the band’s 2007 return to recording, The Weirdness.)

“We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron’s death,” the group said in a statement. “He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed.

“For all that knew him behind the facade of Mr. Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not. As a musician Ron was ‘The Guitar God,’ idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him.”

Iggy added, “I am in shock. He was my best friend.”

Asheton, who ranked 29th on Rolling Stone’s recent list of the 100 greatest guitarist of all-time, remains an underrated force whose brutal riffing, like that of the MC5’s Wayne Kramer, pointed the way forward not only for all Detroit rock to come (whether from Ted Nugent or Jack White) but for the whole of punk rock.

The violent simplicity of his power-chord fretwork on the short-lived band’s crucial albums — The Stooges (1969), Fun House (1970) and Raw Power (1973) — has been echoed in everything from the Ramones‘ blitzkrieg attack and Steve Jones‘ stuff for the Sex Pistols to Kurt Cobain’s sound for Nirvana, not to mention a horde of other admirers: Sonic Youth, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Black Flag, Guns N’ Roses, David Bowie (who of course originally produced all the punch out of Raw Power), Patti Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers … it’s a long list.

After Ig left the Stooges, Asheton carried on with several bands: the New Order (not to be confused with those “Blue Monday” Brits), Destroy All Monsters, New Race, Dark Carnival, the Empty Set, the Powertrane and Wylde Rattz, a supergroup comprised of Asheton, Watt, SY’s Thurston Moore, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm and Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis.

Routinely (and stupidly) overlooked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Stooges are back on the ballot for the Class of ‘09. Wonder if sentimentality will now help them finally get their due, or if voting is closed and it’s too late. In any case, at least they got to play at the ceremony once before Asheton died — when, last March, the quartet tore up “Burning Up” and “Ray of Light” in honor of Madonna’s induction.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but that may stand as Asheton’s final appearance with the Stooges, with their last local show being a Wiltern stop behind their 2007 comeback, The Weirdness. Me, I’ve got my seared-in memory of the group’s galvanizing return at Coachella ‘03, gratefully captured (at least for one song, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”) in Drew Thomas‘ 2006 film Coachella.

With new organizers taking over from founder Martin Brown, the basics of this would-be local Grammys is being retooled: Instead of what it was, a submission-based competition in which bands paid an entrance fee to become potential nominees, the OCMAs now will switch to an academy-driven process.

That is, a select body of club owners, booking agents, invited writers (including your faithful scribe and other Soundcheckers) and presumably assorted industry types will, in two rounds, vote to nominate and choose winners in 19 categories.

That change alone could make all the difference for the OCMAs, which so far has been a rather dubious honor because of its pay-to-play premise. Kudos to the indefatigable Brown for his generosity toward O.C. talents and determination to promote and popularize as many as possible, but his brainstorm was severely hampered from the get-go.

I served as a judge during the OCMAs second year, when (if I recall correctly) Scarlet Crush and the Fenians seemed to sweep everything. I didn’t return because the whole thing felt faintly rigged –- it wasn’t, of course, but that pay-to-play stench permeates so potently, it was hard not to get suspicious.

I’m not saying it’ll go more smoothly this time, under new management. But now that I agree with the awards’ fundamentals, I’m willing to give it another shot.

It does mean, however, that I need to do my homework, catch up on some bands I should’ve checked out a while ago –- and hopefully encounter a few even the cool kids are only beginning to murmur about. Bonus: We can all kinda get in on this, via 10 weekly Tuesday night showcases for the OCMAs’ two live categories, one for acoustic performers, the other a battle of the bands.

Round 1 is tonight (Jan. 6) at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, where all of January’s face-offs will occur. In February and March, the competition moves to Chain Reaction in Anaheim, eVocal in Costa Mesa and the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana. That last location will host the acoustic finals on March 27, while another downtown venue, the underused Yost Theatre, will hold band finals on March 28.

The main awards ceremony will be held April 4 at the Grove of Anaheim.

Not sure if I’ll be able to properly judge in those categories -– committing to three months of Tuesdays on this beat is damn near impossible. (Next week there’s a conflict with John Legend at Gibson Amphitheatre, for instance.) But I plan to get to as many showcases as I can anyway. To my ears, our little corner of SoCal is going through a transforming resurgence. Never know what discoveries might surface by spring.

Best of all: Showcases are free. At least they are at Detroit Bar.

Here’s the club’s schedule, each night running 9-midnight:

• Jan. 6 –- Will Crum, Melanoid, Michael Rosas, Ryan Baxley
• Jan. 13 –- The Sweet Sweet Things, Aushua, Venus Infers, Stereofix
• Jan. 20 –- Faded Paper Figures, Oliver Jane, Matt Kollar & the Angry Mob, the Vessel Tongue
• Jan. 27 –- Champagne Blvd, Starving for Gravity, Sederra, the Living Suns

Photo credit: William Vasta, for Citizens Business Bank Arena
Main set: Holly Holy / Beautiful Noise / Love on the Rocks / Play Me / Cherry Cherry / Home Before Dark / Don’t Go There / Pretty Amazing Grace / Crunchy Granola Suite / Done Too Soon / Brooklyn Roads / I Am … I Said / Solitary Man / Forever in Blue Jeans / Sweet Caroline / You Don’t Bring Me Flowers / I’m a Believer / He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother / Hell Yeah
Encore: Cracklin’ Rosie / America / Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show

9. Joseph Arthur, Could We Survive / Crazy Rain / Vagabond Skies / Foreign Girls / Temporary People
One of the most (someone say the most?) underrated and overlooked singer-songwriters this decade, the restlessly prolific 37-year-old Arthur made Ryan Adams look lazy this year. From March to July he issued four EPs on his own label that essentially add up to a brilliant and varied double-album, teeming with subtle sonic joys and deep emotional revelation. Not satisfied with that accomplishment, Arthur then released another ramshackle album (Temporary People) with his band the Lonely Astronauts -– and reminded he can rock when he wants to. He’s sharper than most any peer you care to name. When will he get his due?

8. The Knux, Remind Me in 3 Days …
Just as Common started falling off and you thought there might never be another hip-hop album that combined the thought-probing of the alt-rap set with the street savvy of hard-core rap and still maintain both commercial and cultish appeal, here come the Lindsey brothers, Krispy Kream and Rah Almillio, with a funky, colorful, genre-upending gem so anthrax-infectious it makes me care a little less whether OutKast ever gets its act together again. Post-Katrina, New Orleans is suddenly aflame with displaced poets breathing truth with wicked humor and a determined stare. Lil Wayne isn’t the only native son who deserves exaltation. This disc is the most exciting debut of its kind since De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising.

7. Anything from Lost Highway Records
I hate it when critics cheat like this, but the Americana label’s roster this year was so outstanding, it deserves special merit. If I had to pick only one title, it’d be a fight between Ryan Adams & the Cardinals’ Cardinology and Hayes Carll’s Trouble in Mind –- and Steve Earle sound-alike Carll would probably get the nod, if only to shed a little light on another budding cult hero. But just about every 2008 disc from Lost Highway is worthy of mention, whether from veterans (Lucinda Williams’ Little Honey, Van Morrison’s Keep It Simple, Elvis Costello’s Momofuku), newcomers you should seek out (Johnny Flynn’s A Larum) or O.C.’s own Donavon Frankenreiter. Even Shelby Lynne’s sleepy Dusty Springfield tribute grew on me. Even more reason to love these albums: Everything Lost Highway puts out is released on 180-gram vinyl, often with bonus tracks or different covers (like the alternate one for Cardinology you see here).

6. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
The moniker of Justin Vernon’s mesmerizing project is a bastardization of the French for “good winter,” and as with the stark, gray landscape on the cover, it couldn’t be more apt. Technically a late-’07 release that only began to gain notice when Jagjaguwar gave it a broader indie release in February and selections from it (notably “Skinny Love”) started turning up on everything from Grey’s Anatomy to Chuck, Vernon’s haunting, heavily overdubbed listening experience was recorded while secluded in a remote cabin in Wisconsin for three months. It’s the sound of a man regressing while hibernating, mulling over the potholes in his past, wondering what more lay ahead, and letting his mind drift with the snow when he can’t figure it all out. Yet it never broods –- introspection has rarely been so delicate, so gorgeous.

5. Benji Hughes, A Love Extreme
Such a treasure trove of a debut! Two discs, 25 tracks, and not once does the humble Hughes stumble, even when he starts joking about the inherent danger in hiring the Mummy to play your prom (“when the Mummy gets drunk, he unravels”) or when he straightforwardly recounts a trip to see the Flaming Lips on mushrooms. In a perfect world, the bittersweet “You Stood Me Up” would be a hit alongside whatever Maroon 5 spit up, and “Waiting for an Invitation” and “All You’ve Got to Do Is Fall in Love” would become slow-dance standards. But no lovesick soul who looks like Billy Gibbons’ chunky nephew ever managed to become a pop star. That’s why we have cult heroes.

4. Coldplay, Viva la Vida or Death and All his Friends
I got tired of “Clocks” a whole lot faster than the title track, which still sucks me in whenever it comes on the radio. I don’t care that Chris Martin is starting to believe his own press. (See his comment about the Killers’ “Human” putting that band in Coldplay’s league? Told ya he was falsely modest.) I don’t mind that this fourth disc’s ambition is much smaller than its grand global embrace would have you believe –- it advances primarily by fusing the textures of X&Y to the rousing melodies of A Rush of Blood to the Head. And I don’t care how loud the backlash will inevitably get –- it got that way with Rush of Blood, too, but I still haven’t come across more durable albums this decade. Any band that aims to dominate the world with its music must suffer more slings and arrows than most. What can deflect even the thorniest reactions are great songs –- sonically adventurous ones that never fail to inspire. Ask Bono: a killer anthem will shut up the naysayers every time. Eventually, they’ll even start singing.

3. Dr. Dog, Fate
Another great, unheralded Philadelphia band, though nothing at all like my No. 16 choice. Much as applying the descriptor “Beatlesque” can come easy when prattling on about the occasional track that does it too obviously, I’m loathe to make strong Beatles comparisons –- as with Led Zeppelin, no one really measures up to level of complexity. This delightful fifth Dr. Dog album, however, does its damnedest to earn such a compliment. Its layered yet often down-home production (think the Band attempting Abbey Road) and attention to detail (like the way strings and horns sneak in at just the right moments, or the way the ensemble throws in a sophisticated change-up during the fade of “Army of Ancients”) merits headphone inspection, and the whole thing ends and starts again with beautiful synchronicity. It’s simply a joy to listen to, brimming with optimism, tickling your pleasure center with every chorus.

2. Vampire Weekend
Go on, cynics. Keep knocking it. Keep saying it’s overrated and transparent and too calculated and soulless and a blatant ripoff of Graceland and Fela Kuti and the English Beat and anyone/anything else you can detect in its irresistible hybrids. Keep trying to convince me it won’t outlast the hype any more than Clap Your Hands Say Yeah did, and that they’ll never top it. Whatever. I tuned out all that white noise months ago. Been too busy getting caught up in the high life of this flawless, sparkling debut. Inauthentic though it may be compared to Paul Simon’s South African expedition, it’s no less beguiling –- and, for a younger generation, positively ear-opening. Deserving of every accolade lumped on it, and then some.

1. TV on the Radio, Dear Science
Yeah, yeah, so scores of critics and rock rags have this one at or near the top of his/her list, including Rolling Stone and Spin, and I dislike it when everyone loves the same thing as much as you do. But I’m no bandwagon-hopper. Return to Cookie Mountain, this distinctive Brooklyn quintet’s second effort, took me by surprise late in 2006 and topped my best-of-the-best list –- in a significantly stronger year for albums, I might add. This time, as evidenced by the widespread acclaim and the fact that it will probably lead the Village Voice’s pan-critic Pazz & Jop Poll, TVotR simply cannot be denied. Whether vocalists Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone rail against war, rant about injustice or just crawl into their own headspaces and contemplate forever, they do so in fascinating form, concocting densely detailed yet instantly accessible hybrids of electro, Prince-ly funk, epic-sized inspirational rock to shame Arcade Fire and, as ever, a dash of something unknown, something you can’t quite describe. First time I played it I knew nothing else all year compared.

• Click here for Nos. 11-20 …
• Click here for my annual A-list …
• And click here for other Register contributors’ picks

19. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
Hear what glorious psychedelic sunshine pop the Flaming Lips and Spiritualized and Mercury Rev hath wrought … and then wonder if the torch isn’t being passed. Jason Pierce (who slumbered through Songs in A & E this year) and the Lips are far from dead entities, but they move at a drifting whale’s pace compared to the shark-like movements of the Brooklyn duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. If “Time to Pretend” and “Kids,” both ubiquitous since spring, have tempted you, don’t hesitate: all the other cuts on this striking debut measure up.

18. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Talk about sustained vision: 14 albums on –- just counting Bad Seeds records, mind you, not to slight his proto-goth roots in the Birthday Party and that wicked Grinderman side project from last year –- the dark Aussie is more magnetic, fiery, obsessively romantic and vocally robust than ever. His ghoulishness as human as it is theatrical, Cave remains a force all his own, a chronicler of life’s macabre underbelly as singular as Patti Smith. Here, he’s in superb form, and the Bad Seeds pack enough wallop to crack your chest with a crucifix.

17. Nas
You can have Lil Wayne. He makes my A-list, sure; I’ve got ears enough to hear that his duly impressive Tha Carter III is like nothing else in hip-hop all year. But I worry it’s style over substance – for as much as his verbalism can boggle the brain, I still worry he’s not really saying anything. The unstoppable Nasir Jones, who titled his last album Hip Hop Is Dead and wanted to call this one the n-word (he settled for appearing on the cover with a whipped N across his back), has rarely not had something insightful to say, especially about the black experience in America. He’s been strengthening and progressing all decade, and now it pays off, with a fearless work as brutally incisive and abrasively arresting as the record it is most often compared to, Public Enemy’s searing 1988 social statement It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Easily his best since his hallowed 1994 debut, Illmatic.

16. Man Man, Rabbit Habits
Honus Honus, the leader of this ragtag gang of costumed multi-culti weirdos from Philly, considers this his band’s pop record, by which he means people who’d never dare sit through a Captain Beefheart or Tom Waits record might, however, dig his updates and variations. He’s wrong, of course –- nutty-creepy stuff like the zombie swagger of “Big Trouble” or oddities with titles like “Mister Jung Stuffed” and “Harpoon Fever (Queequeg’s Playhouse)” are only ever apt to reach those predisposed to such clever clatter, carefully designed to seem chaotic. All the same, you’re advised to take a chance; tucked among the deranged fun that plays like a more sophisticated Gogol Bordello you’ll find plenty of morsels (like the yearning piano-pounder “Doo Right”) that will keep you coming back.

15. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
What was I saying about sustained vision? Nine years may have passed since Newman, now 65, turned his attention away from scoring Hollywood flicks to get back to the business of crafting sophisticated, tartly comic songwriting showcases. But his 10th proper studio album –- not counting things like Faust and all those soundtracks –- proves he’s forever a master of the form. In a year filled with fresh-vintage gems from elder artists (Van, Dylan, Al Green, even Glen Campbell, and welcome back, LaBelle), here was another witty, heartfelt, satirical assortment from the bespectacled gentleman from New Orleans, steeped in fundamentals and greatly building on the personal reflection that started sneaking in with Land of Dreams (1988) and Bad Love (2008). Can’t wait to hear what he puts out in 2019.

14. Portishead, Third
I never cared that this English trio never made another record after its two moody gems from last decade, the trip-hop hallmark Dummy (1994) and its more noir cousin Portishead (1997). Now, after getting captivated at Coachella and slowly but surely becoming hypnotized by the industrial soundscaping of this 11-years-later return, I hope they really never do make another record. With this, they complete a trilogy that only grows more sinister and seductive as you’re led through Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley’s increasingly futuristic passages by Beth Gibbons’ scary-sexy-sad singing. The whole thing will only grow more legendary over the years -– assuming nothing comes along to mar it.

13. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
Kelli Skye and I have this ongoing argument. She nominates Foo Fighters as the Led Zeppelin of her generation. I see her point -– in terms of colossally popular hard-rock bands, there aren’t many other contenders -– but great though they are, they’re not worthy of such sky-high praise. No one is, frankly; plenty have the thunder these days, but no one has the diversity and breadth and self-made mythic allure of Zep. This supergroup, however, which went from a tentative debut (2006’s Broken Boy Soldiers) to this heaping slab of blow-ya-back neo-classic-rock, has the potential to make a grab for their crown. That is, if Brendan Benson doesn’t tire of Jack White’s wandering attention and they can keep this on-and-off thing going tightly enough to expound upon the electricity their chemistry creates here. The title track still rocks my skull open whenever it comes on.

12. The Dears, Missiles
This fourth album from the Canadian outfit basically broke up the band; tensions ran so high that by the time recording was over only leader Murray Lightburn and his wife, keyboardist and occasional singer Natalia Yanchak, remained. That must have been tough, but out of misery sprang greatness, as Lightburn (often referred to as “the black Morrissey,” a comparison he hates) clearly comes into his own here. No longer having to bend to the desires of others, he instead descended down the rabbit hole, stared into the abyss of his soul and re-emerged with a bold, brooding bit of brilliance that demands repeated plays. You’ll notice the shades of Roxy Music and Air right off the bat. You’ll settle into the lengthy slow ones by the third or fourth spin. And you’ll keep coming back to hear more of Lightburn’s yearning voice. It lingers.

11. Fleet Foxes
My misgiving about Pitchfork’s and Mojo’s top pick, the niggling little matter I don’t see many reviewers bringing up, is just how much this lovely, harmony-saturated disc –- one of several wonderful debuts this year that wasn’t just empty buzz –- sounds like My Morning Jacket on a lush psych-folk bender. Half the time when it comes on I think Jim James singing, and figure if Satriani can sue, Jim should too. Why that bugs me, when the opening vocal swoop (like so many other minute details) is cribbed directly from the Beach Boys and that doesn’t bother me at all, well, I dunno. Must be a timing thing, as other older references (the baroque shades of Simon & Garfunkel, for instance) only make me smile. Only my No. 5 choice was more steady go-to soother, and why it’s not in my Top 10 has nothing to do with wishing to sidestep critical collusion. I just wonder if it ultimately won’t seem too precious -– that it so captured 1968 that it lost sight of 2008. Then again, maybe that’s its charm. Maybe that’s what will make it timeless.

• Click here for Nos. 1-10 …
• Click here for my annual A-list …
• And click here for other Register contributors’ picks

The Airborne Toxic Event
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part 1 (4th World War)
Beck, Modern Guilt
Black Mountain, In the Future
Brazilian Girls, New York City
Brightblack Morning Light, Motion to Rejoin
British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?
David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Matt Costa, Unfamiliar Faces
Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Momofuku
Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
Darker My Love, 2
Delta Spirit, Ode to Sunshine
Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams
Bob Dylan, Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid
The Felice Brothers
Liam Finn, I’ll Be Lightning
Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
Al Green, Lay It Down
Hercules and Love Affair
The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
Kings of Leon, Only by the Night
The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement
Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
Mates of State, Re-Arrange Us
John Mayer, Where the Light Is –- Live in Los Angeles
John Mellencamp, Life Death Love and Freedom
Midnight Juggernauts, Dystopia
Mudcrutch
M83, Saturdays = Youth
My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul
Conor Oberst
Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
Sam Phillips, Don’t Do Anything
Pretenders, Break Up the Concrete
Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
Ratatat, LP3
R.E.M., Accelerate
The Roots, Rising Down
Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It
Santogold
She & Him, Volume One
Sia, Some People Have Real Problems
Venus Infers, The Truth about Venus Infers
Martha Wainwright, I Know You’re Married but I’ve Got Feelings Too
Neil Young, Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968

Richard Chang, world-beat and otherwise
1. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
2. A.R. Rahman and various artists, Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
3. Cheb i Sabbah, Devotion
4. Novalima, Coba Coba
5. Conor Oberst
6. Señor Coconut and His Orchestra, Around the World
7. Rupa & the April Fishes, Extraordinary Rendition
8. Aterciopelados, Rio
9. The Roots, Rising Down
10. Coldplay, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Robert Kinsler
1. Sigur Rós, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
2. Coldplay, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
3. Al Green, Lay It Down
4. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, Rattlin’ Bones
5. R.E.M., Accelerate
6. Snow Patrol, A Hundred Million Suns
7. Aimee Mann, @#%&! Smilers
8. Sonny Landreth, From the Reach
9. Jack’s Mannequin, The Glass Passenger
10. She & Him, Volume One

Peter Larsen
1. Fleet Foxes
2. Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
3. Santogold
4. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
5. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
6. Beck, Modern Guilt
7. Brazilian Girls, New York City
8. Benji Hughes,  A Love Extreme
9. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
10. Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Momofuku

Jeff Miller
1. The Henry Clay People, For Cheap or For Free
2. Vampire Weekend
3. Santogold
4. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
5. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
6. The Knux, Remind Me in 3 Days …
7. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
8. Dr Dog, Fate
9. The Whigs, Mission Control
10. Little Jackie, The Stoop

(Honorable Mention: Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy. I’m tempted to give it my album of the year just for existing — and not entirely sucking.

George A. Paul
1. James, Hey Ma
2. The Enemy UK, We’ll Live and Die in These Towns
3. The Stills, Oceans Will Rise
4. Jack’s Mannequin, The Glass Passenger
5. Kings of Leon, Only by the Night
6. The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement
7. David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
8. Teddy Thompson, A Piece of What You Need
9. The Cure, 4:13 Dream
10. Beat Union, Disconnected

Niyaz Pirani
1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
2. Vampire Weekend
3. Thrice, The Alchemy Index Vols. III and IV
4. Dear and the Headlights, Drunk Like Bible Times
5. Flobots, Fight with Tools
6. Metallica, Death Magnetic
7. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
8. Portishead, Third
9. Scars on Broadway
10. Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint that S-t Gold

Lauren Wilson
1. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
2. The Kooks, Konk
3. Fleet Foxes
4. Vampire Weekend
5. In the Heights soundtrack
6. Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
7. Jason Mraz, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
8. The Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer
9. She & Him, Volume One
10. Flight of the Conchords

Martin Wisckol, jazz
1. Jim Hall and Bill Frisell, Hemispheres
2. Medeski Martin & Wood, Radiolarians I
3. Kaylon Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider, Silent City
4. Stanton Moore, Emphasis on Parenthesis
5. Lionel Loueke, Karibu
6. Barry Guy, Phases of the Night
7. Saxophone Summit, Seraphic Light
8. Marilyn Crispell, Vignettes
9. John Zorn, The Dreamers
10. Conrad Herwig, The Latin Side of Wayner Shorter