From: Randall Roberts <rroberts AT mo.net>
Subject: the twenty
Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 12:33:35 -0600

Hey Doug--
Cutting it close, as always. Thanks

Randall. 

These are in alphabetical order. 

Beck  *Odelay* (DGC)
Various Artists *Brassic Beats Vol. 1* (Skint UK)
Brother JT *Rainy Day Fun* (Drunken Fish)
Bugskull *Snakland* (Scratch)
Don Byron *Bug Music* (Nonesuch)
Elvis Costello  *All This Useless Beauty* (Warner Bros.) 
Drain *Off Speed and In There* (Trance)
Bill Frisell *Quartet* (Nonesuch)
Eyvind Kang *7 NADEs* (Tzadik)
*Headz 2* (Mo' Wax UK)
Neutral Milk Hotel *On Avery Island* (Merge)
Sleater Kinney *Call the Doctor* (Chainsaw)
Stereolab *Empire Tomato Ketchup* (Elektra)
Strapping Field Hands *Wattle and Daub* (Shangri La)
Tortoise *Millions Now Living Will Never Die* (Thrill Jockey)
Gillian Welch *Gillian Welch* (Almo Sounds)
John Zorn Chamber Ensembles- "Bar Kokhbah" (Tzadik)

Most exhilarating entrance into a duet: Lucinda Williams in "You're 
Still Standing There" from Steve Earle's *I Feel Alright* (Reprise).
Most seductive song of the year: "Theme from First NADE" from Eyvind 
Kang's  *Seven NADEs*.
Best use of pedal steel: Beck's "Sissyneck"
Best album I discovered three weeks ago: John Zorn's *Bar Kokhba*
Best album of 1996 that I think is from late 1995: Magnetic Fields 
*Get Lost* (Merge)
Honestly, the three albums I listened to more than any others: 
Stereolab, Beck, and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Album I would have put on this list, but if I'm honest with myself, I 
didn't listen to them that much: Sun City Girls- *330,003 
Crossdressers* 
Best lyrics: Handsome Family *Milk and Scissors* (Carrot Top Records)
Best skiffle band: Strapping Field Hands
Finally, an Indie Rock album with a vocalist who can carry a tune: 
Neutral Milk Hotel.
Finally, an Indie Rock album by someone who can't sing worth a damn 
but sure can write a lyric: Silver Jews.
Most brilliant use of beauty: Elvis Costello.
Best Louvin Brothers song not written by them: "By the Marks" by 
Gillian Welch, from her self titled debut (Almo Sounds).
Album I listened to most at work: Bill Frisell Quartet 
Best rock song: Sleater-Kinney's "Good Things"
Best 12": Third Eye Foundation-"Semtex" (Domino U.K.)
Best 30 minute jam: "Ghost Ghat Trespass/Sussmeier" by The Sun City 
Girls.
Best album for which I have no clever category: Tortoise