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Tim Sommer, rock raconteur extraordinaire, recently wrote a playlist for Tim Broun's blog Stupefaction. (#1 choice shown above.) Mr. Sommer has lately been writing a daily column in The Brooklyn Bugle (motto: "On the Web because paper is expensive") that immediately became the one thing that I read every day, just so I can enjoy his combination of cultural erudition and lunatic whimsy. In one of his Bugle columns he wrote about making the list. And in that article he posited other approaches/lists that I found myself wishing he had made as well. But he's undoubtedly got better things to do with his time. I apparently do not, however (okay, I do, I just have poor impulse control), and made my own lists based on his criteria.

And here they are. I could have gone thirty deep on each of these lists just as he did on Stupefaction (well, maybe...

Nada Surf: The Stars Are Indifferent to Astrology (Barsuk)

I know it's early, but this sure feels like the album of the year. In fact, I'm even ready to crown this the power pop album of the decade. Oh, there's an occasional ballad ("When I Was Young" is especially notable) that reminds of Matthew Caws's twee side, but mostly this rocks out, with guest Doug Gillard (Guided by Voices, Cobra Verde, Death of Samantha, etc.) an important presence -- that wild guitar on "Teenage Dreams" has gotta be him. Rarely has bittersweet sounded so tough. Nada Surf's made lots of excellent albums, but this is their best yet. A limited edition version comes with a second disc containing acoustic versions of five of the album's songs.

Sharon van Etten: Tramp (Jagjaguwar)

I understood why van Etten was a Brooklyn indie fave already based on her earlier releases:...

1. Pj Harvey: Let England Shake (Vagrant/Island)

A great concept album, a statement about England's proclivity for war and how it has costs both (more or less) countable -- lives, injuries -- and unquantifiable: shattered psyches and tainted national morality. That Harvey is able to do this not in essays but in songs, including some of the best in her long and distinguished career, is an achievement that has eluded many. I wrote about this album at greater length in a review early this year.

2. Dum Dum Girls: Only in Dreams (SubPop)

There are a lot of bands doing the updated '60s girl sound thing, but none more compellingly than this one. Because without good songs, a sound is merely a signifier of taste, an empty vessel. Leader Kristen Gundred Aka Dee Dee writes excellent songs, then plays them with a sonically riveting style.

3. Mimi Goese & Ben Neill:...

Getty Robbie Guertin of Radical Dads, seen in 2008.

Northside Festival, organized by The L Magazine, is back again, delivering four nights and three days worth of constant entertainment all over Greenpoint and Williamsburg. This year the event, which kicks off tomorrow, has some new bells and whistles.

Spread across more than 25 venues, 270 bands play at shows for which fans can purchase individual tickets, or acquire a badge for about $60 that grants access to all the shows–provided there’s room.

Chicago – At a time when many so-called independent film distributors are following the mold of mainstream companies, Oscilloscope Pictures is a breath of exhilaratingly fresh air. Its films range from electrifying shoestring documentaries like “Dear Zachary” and priceless foreign imports like “Kisses” to major award season contenders such as “The Messenger” and “Wendy and Lucy.”

All of these films are independent in a way that few commercial entertainments are ever allowed to be. They are each artworks more than entertainments, and often paint riveting and provocative portraits of the society in which we live, devoid of any stereotypical speechifying. When a big star signs on for one of these pictures, the filmmakers often allow the performer to work at a raw and intimate level rarely achievable in Hollywood (much like how HBO brings out the best in every actor, from Claire Danes to Al Pacino).

DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0

Though she is...