After an unintended break for Thanksgiving:

1. Miranda Lambert, "Kerosene." A lot of the toughest rock and roll of the last few years has come from female country stars.

2. Mary Gauthier, "Mercy Now." She was 35 when she cut her first album ... she packed a lot of living into those 35 years. This may be her best song.

3. The New Pornographers, "Use It." I don't understand most music videos.

4. Kanye West, "Gold Digger." Now, that is a sample that messes with your ears.

5. The Decemberists, "16 Military Wives." It's not that I don't like lyrics. It's that I don't always pay attention to them. I like this song, but I never managed to figure out what it was about until I wrote this blurb. Until then, I just liked the hooks and stuff.

6. Anna Nalick, "Breathe (2 AM)." Trivial facts I'm surprised to learn: in high school, Nalick played in a Rush cover band.

7. Brad Paisley, "Alcohol." Been helping white people dance. It's appropriate that a song devoted to drinking would be a good singalong.

8. Jace Everett, "Bad Things." True Blood featured a lot of spooky shit ... vampires, weredogs, exorcisms. But the spookiest thing of all is this: Jace Everett somehow managed to write the theme song several years before the show was made. You don't believe me? Has there ever been a song better suited as a theme to a TV series than "Bad Things" to True Blood? How'd he do that?

9. Keyshia Cole, "I Should Have Cheated." Representing Oakland. Hard to believe no one ever wrote a song with this title before. (They didn't, did they?)

10. M.I.A., "Hombre." From her debut album, which means she'll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2030.