ALBUMS (10 each)
1. Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
2. The New Pornographers - Challengers
3. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
4. Feist - The Reminder
5. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
6. Mark Olson - Salvation Blues
7. Michael Penn - Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947
8. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
9. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
10. Nerissa & Katryna Nields - Sister Holler

TRACKS
1. Feist - 1234
2. Spoon - The Underdog
3. The New Pornographers - Challengers
4. Dan Wilson - Hand on My Heart
5. Fountains of Wayne - Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim
6. Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun
7. Jill Sobule - San Francisco
8. Michael Penn - Walter Reed
9. The Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running
10. Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight

REISSUES
1. Heartworn Highways V/A - Heartworn Highways
2. Arthur Alexander - Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter

ARTISTS
1. Jill Sobule
2. Jen Trynin
3. Rilo Kiley
4. Fiest
5. Michael Penn

COMMENTS
Most of the artists on my ballot, while popular, aren't really mainstream. In a better world they would be, and the mainstream would be better for it. Right now the mainstream seems to be more about selling trendy product than making truly good music.

I cheered when The Shins, Spoon, and Arcade Fire debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard album chart. The Shins' "Phantom Limb", Eddie Vedder's cover of "Hard Sun", and Arcade Fire's "Keep the Car Running" got mainstream airplay, as did Feist with the wonderful "1,2,3,4", also featured in a TV iPod ad.

Independent artists of all genres are putting out inspiring music. The Nields put out one of the best folk albums I've heard all year. Today's indies have the power to change the face of music, just as garage did inthe 60s, punk in the 70s and grunge in the 90s. We need that kind of change again — a new Nirvana, a new Beatles, a new Janis Joplin. The albums and artists I listed here give us signs of hope. More has to happen, like the FCC ruling that commercial radio stations must play at least some indie music. A change will come, sooner than later, I hope. And it will be wonderful.