The one bad thing about no longer working in Top 40, is that I’ve not been listening to nearly as much music as I did last year. Also, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to explore as much non-super-commercial music as I would have liked to, but here goes for my album pics of the year: Best Debut Album: This kid K’Naan out of Canada via Harlem originating in Somali is pretty dang wonderful. Mixing political protest, along with reggae, along with hip-hop, and lyrics that are heavy on the poetry, he totally earned his place as a critical darling. The album’s called Troubador and it’s strong all the way through. Definitely worth checking out. [Troubador, r. February 2009. Your way in: “ABC’s”] Best Lastest Album: I thought Lily Allen‘s first album was a bit of a one-trick pony, but was so pleasantly surprised by her sophomore effort, which perfectly encapsulated a 20s mindset. Her subject matter and perspective have definitely grown up, but her delivery and lyrics remain delightfully mischievous. It’s like listening to Rumplestiltskin’s impish little sister sing. [It’s Not Me, It’s You. r. February 2009. Your way in: “The Fear“] Worse Album: It’s Blitz! by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs was not only way more commercial than I wanted it to be, but also tepid. Unlike their first two full-length albums, the only surprise on this collection of songs was how woefully uninspired they were. Huge fail IMO, even if their pandering netted them bigger album sales. As with most worst album picks, I chose this one, b/c it was the most disappointing. But it should be noted that I loved Karen O’s bad-ass jacket in the video for “Zero.” We’ll be covering singles in the coming weeks,...

… by going over 2009 ad nauseum. As the new year gets closer, I thought it would be a good idea to use our entertainment space to figure out our nominations for the Best and Worst Entertainment of the year, starting off with TV. Here are my nominations… Best New TV Show of 2009: Hands down Modern Family. Such a lovely surprise with the added benefit that both my husband and my MIL like it, too. I already told you everything I love about this show here, so I won’t rehash — just encourage everyone to watch. Best Returning TV Show of 2009: Big Bang Theory is pretty much the only show I make sure to watch on the same night it broadcasts and the character of Sheldon is pure comic genius. Plus they helped me towards hating Wil Wheaton even more than I already did. Worst New TV Show of 2009: V. I wanted to love it, but it is SO boring and ham-handed. Also, it can’t decide whether it wants to be derivative of Lost or derivative of Battlestar Galatica, which just makes it a derivative mess. Worst Returning TV Show of 2009: I want to say Heroes, but I took back my dignity and finally forced myself to stop watching it this year. So I’ll just say Scrubs, b/c it refuses to effin die already. If Scrubs were my boyfriend, I would have been dumped him … and filed a restraining order. So now it’s your turn. Please nominate shows for each of these categories in the comments and at the end of the year, we’ll put the top two in every category to a vote. Fun,...