Don't Panic: The year in lists

For news writers, the year-end list is a subtle signal to readers that their publication has early holiday deadlines and they had to hurry up and turn something in.

For critics, it’s often an exercise in hipper-than-thou opacity.

“Wouldn't it be sweet if an album took the prickly psych damage of Black Dice but made it work in the context of epic rock, so that it had the cathartic build of early Mogwai?"

That’s an actual sentence from Pitchfork’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2008” list. And for the record, no it wouldn’t be sweet.

I’ve written two year-end lists.

Read them both and save a puppy's life.

Top Five Best-Named World Leaders of 2008

Five People Who Also Should Have Had Shoes Thrown At Them In 2008