About the List

by Patrick Rapa

Oh settle the hell down. We know lists like this are pointless little architecture-inspired breakdances not to be taken seriously. That said, we have a formula. First we solicit top-10 lists from our critics, staffers, hangers-on, turtledoves, bludgets, autem-divers and interns. (I also asked Cheryl from my bowling team. Turns out: great bowler, indiscriminate listener. Just awful, awful taste in music.) Points are assigned: 11 for a No. 1 album, nine for a No. 2, etc. More points get tossed around to break ties and avoid embarrassments. (Basically, to render all Cheryls moot.) And voilà. It's not a perfect system. Vampire Weekend won it all last year. City Paper regrets the error. Nothing wrong with Neko, though. To read everybody's lists (and examine the data with absurd sortability), click here.