My picks:

1.  The Skies Of America - SHINE  (I'm really surprised that this isn't
on more lists - this topped mine by a very wide margin.)

2.  Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs - UNDER THE COVERS, vol. 1 (This
dominated my CD player when it first came out - sure hope there's a vol
2!)

3.  Gigolo Aunts - THE PRIDE OF POTSDAM (I hope this is eligible - it's
an odds and ends collection, most of this was either unreleased or
b-sides.)

4.  Rhett Miller - THE BELIEVER (Stronger than his first, still not
quite the 97s)

5.  Clover - THE SOUND CITY SESSIONS (Again, I hope this is eligible -
recorded in 1975 or so, this was un-earthed and remixed.  All unreleased
material - good stuff from Alex Call, Huey Lewis, John McFee and the
rest of possibly my favorite band ever.)

6.  Cowboy Mouth - VOODOO SHOPPE (Really glad to see this mentioned by
someone else -- even if you don't have any of their releases, try to
catch them in concert.  The most entertaining shows I've been to.)

7.  The Raconteurs - BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS (I thought this was a pretty
solid effort - although I must admit it fell a little short of my
expectations for Benson and White.)

8.  Josh Joplin - JAYWALKER (Joplin is a guy, for me, who always seems
to have 3 or 4 GREAT songs on an album.  I put together a 'greatest
hits' of my own choice for a friend, and she went crazy over it.  This
album is pretty solid, with most of the real strong tunes in the first
half.)

9.  Gin Blossoms - MAJOR LODGE VICTORY (My company had these guys for
our kickoff meeting last January, and they put on a good show.  I was
slightly disappointed by this - I really liked their mid-90s output.
It's pretty solid, but no real great "crank it up" tune.)

10.  Tim O'Reagan - S/T (For me, this is a 'mood' record - somewhat
quiet and mellow.  Not that that's a bad thing - I just didn't play it
quite as much as the others on this list.)

Honorable Mention:  Cliff Hillis - CHILIS BABY BACK RIBS :-)

Best Book: "Birth of A Band, The Record Deal and the Making of 'Present
Tense'" by Jeff Murphy.  A good, light read about the early days of
Shoes, with lots of cool photos that Jeff took while recording/mixing
the album.  I'm really looking forward to Murphy's solo album, too,
which should arrive any day from Mr. KoolKat (right, Ray???)

Best Movie:  Invincible - ok, I'm biased, but it was a really good
flick.  Go Birds!!


Happy New Year to all.

Mike