I am Kyle's self-indulgence

10. Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
The latest album from Gorillaz took a while to grow on me. It’s the group’s most hip-hop album to date, a genre that is just generally harder for me to get into. But over time I came to appreciate most of the tracks, including those featuring unexpected guests Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed. My very favorite moments are the tracks “On Melancholy Hill” and “Stylo,” which feature cool beats with Albarn’s unmistakable vocals. I don’t think Plastic Beach is as consistently good as the previous Gorillaz releases (the end tends to lose my interest), but still it’s another fine release by a very interesting group.

9. Antifogmatic by Punch Brothers
I admit that I’m a sucker for anything with banjo and mandolin, so my musical judgment of anything resembling bluegrass may be a bit skewed. Nevertheless, I’m surprised that the progressive bluegrass of Punch Brothers doesn’t get more attention. Led by Chris Thile, formerly of Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers make music that is complex and lush, but also foot-stomping, knee-slapping fun. By the end of their latest album their formula starts to grow a little stale, but standout tracks like “Rye Whiskey” and “Next to the Trash” elevate this to one of my favorite albums of the year.

8. Planetary Vol. 4
Although Warren Ellis’s excellent series Planetary concluded at the end of 2009, the final collected edition was released this year, so I’m including it on my list. Volume 4 sees one of the best comic book series of the last decade reach its zenith. Ellis and Cassaday really outdo themselves here, especially with the two-part episode in which the heroes discover an ancient spaceship as large as a planet. Its gargantuan pilot died eons ago and the dead ship has been adrift for so long that it’s developed its own ecosystem full of highly evolved life. This is all revealed in a tremendously fantastic series of silent images, the ultimate expression of the wild weirdness that drives the whole series. Rarely do you find an ongoing series that is this consistently good and is allowed to come to a fitting end while still at the peak of its originality.

7. My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky by Swans
When I make this list each year I’m sensitive to the fact that most of my favorite things are by creators and artists I’ve already known for some time. I actually do try out new things all the time, but the ones that get me most excited tend to be by people I already know and love. Here’s an exception. I had never heard of the band Swans before this year, but based on numerous recommendations I bought their new album and loved it right away. It’s a dark, noisy, messy, and sprawling album. The songs, some of them as much as nine minutes long, are given lots of time to grow and expand slowly. Although this is not the type of music that lends itself to catchy melodies, I was surprised at how well each song manages to distinguish itself from the rest. This is an album that heavily rewards repeated listening.

6. Go by Jónsi
Go is easily the most accessible release Jónsi has been involved with (for one thing, I can read not just the album title but most of the song titles), but the music is still the dreamy orchestral rock that is Sigur Rós’s trademark. Even when sung in Icelandic or a made-up nonsense language the music alone is able to carry the listener to thrilling epiphanies. In fact, one of the things I’ve loved about Sigur Rós is that, to those of us who don’t speak Icelandic, the emotional power of their songs is communicated solely through the music. Perhaps the nicest surprise on Go, then is how Jónsi’s lyrics make the music even more powerful. On “Animal Arithmetic,” he proclaims, “Every time, everyone, everything's full of life,” and at the height of the song, amidst dizzying drums and the building crescendo of strings and chorus, he repeats, “I see you colourful, I see you in the trees / I see you spiritful, You're in the breeze / I see it in your hands, Tree fingers draw a beam / I see you in the sand : Roll down the stream.” It’s hard not to love such naked joy at the world.

5. Absolute All-Star Superman
I usually don’t read Superman comics because I find the character uninteresting. I also generally don’t like Grant Morrison. It seems sometimes like he’s trying too hard to be weird and re-inventive when I’d rather he just tell a good story. So it stands to reason that I wouldn’t like Grant Morrison, right? Wrong. I think in this case Morrison’s sci-fi weirdness and thorough knowledge of Golden Age comics provides a fascinating new take on Superman that is both futuristic and nostalgic. Yes, this is all old news but I have held out on actually buying the series until the inevitable oversized Absolute Edition is released. Well, it came out this year and it’s every bit as good as hoped. Frank Quitely’s artwork is served very well in the oversized format, and there are the usual character sketches and other such extras. This is the most interesting and attractive Superman story every written, presented in its ideal format. If you are inclined to buy this kind of product, I highly recommend it.

4. Inception
After I saw Inception I started hearing complaints about confusing and difficult to follow it is, and frankly, which baffled me slightly. I thought the story couldn’t be more straightforward. Sure, there are multiple things happening at once, but each level of dream reality takes place in a very distinct setting, which I think makes it very easy to differentiate. Aside from that, the story mostly unfolds chronologically. Neither did I think the movie was particularly groundbreaking or revolutionary. Although it is original, it’s not that radically different from great action movies that have come before. That said, Inception is a particularly well-crafted, exciting, and entertaining film, and I loved every minute of it, from the opening that thrusts the viewer into an unfamiliar world to the ending that is deliciously ambiguous. As soon as it was over I immediately wanted to watch it again--the mark of a truly great movie.

3. Grinderman 2
After spending decades building a reputation for combining highly literate song lyrics with top-notch instrumentation, Nick Cave, along with three of his Bad Seeds decided to form a separate band with a rougher sound. The idea was that each individual would play an instrument other than what he typically uses, with Cave himself abandoned his piano for the electric guitar. Furthermore, when writing the songs for this project, Cave left behind his allusions to Homer, the Bible, and folklore to focus on more low down and dirty subjects. As one reviewer put it, “In The Bad Seeds, Nick Cave thinks with his brain; in Grinderman, he thinks with his dick.” The first eponymous album from this side-project was definitely different: it was rough, grungy, and a lot of fun to listen to. Grinderman 2 continues in a similar vein, showing off Cave’s nasty sense of humor on “Worm Tamer.” It’s also a prettier album, though, with more than one song that would feel at home on a Bad Seeds album. “When My Baby Comes” is the song of a woman repeatedly begging, “Just how long you gonna be, my baby?” over gradually crescendoing strings until the song explodes in electric guitar. “Palaces of Montezuma,” on the other hand, seems to be the first truly sincere love song by Grinderman, a piano-based tune that promises a number of lavish gifts to the beloved, including “The hanging gardens of Babylon,” “Miles Davis the black unicorn,” “The epic of Gilgamesh,” and “A pretty little black A-line dress.” At this point the difference between Grinderman and The Bad Seeds seems pretty arbitrary, but no matter what they’re calling it, it’s some of the best music of the year.

2. The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens
It took me a while to make up my mind about Sufjan Stevens’ new album. It’s not that the sound was completely unexpected: after hearing the BQE, the eighth Songs for Christmas EP (not officially released, but leaked online), and various songs recorded for compilations, I knew that Sufjan was moving in a different, more electronic direction. No, with the Age of Adz there were other factors at work. One was the different approach to songwriting. There’s less emphasis on lyrical content and traditional song structures and more emphasis on creating unusual sound textures. There’s also just less of a cohesive idea linking the songs together. Sufjan is good at making complete concept albums like Illinois or even Seven Swans, but on Age of Adz the themes are not as immediately obvious. What helped me was seeing Sufjan in concert (thank you, Danny). It actually helped me to hear Sufjan explain the ideas behind some of the songs and, in some cases, hear them performed with the videos projected behind the stage, further integrating the music with the visual work of artist Royal Robertson. I don’t think The Age of Adz is perfect from start to finish like Illinois is, but it is a bold and exciting record that more than once rises to pure delight.

1. Toy Story 3
Lately I've felt some disappointment at the announcements of Pixar's planned sequels. I love their original films so much that I would much rather see them take a chance with something like Up or Ratatouille than fall back on already-established characters. But it’s hard to stay bitter about Pixar getting into the sequel game when their sequels are this good. Toy Story 3 isn’t content with just doing what has worked in the past: it moves the characters to even greater emotional depth than they have experienced before. While in their previous adventures they have faced the prospect of losing one or two from their group, they now have to deal with the possibility of them all being neglected, thrown out, or even utterly destroyed. There are relatively few jokey jokes in Toy Story 3, the story focusing much more on the characters and their plight. And oh, that spectacular ending that makes you laugh and weep at the same time. It’s rare that a movie manages to move so many people so deeply, especially when you realize that these characters that elicit such genuine pathos are made of plastic. I know Disney/Pixar is pushing for a Best Picture win at the Oscars, which animated films are generally deemed unworthy of. It will be interesting to see if Toy Story 3 can break that ceiling.