Well, folks, this is the last Top 30 of “aught-nine,” and that makes me sad. You see, with the new year approaching, my chances to put “aught” in front of the year are dwindling quick. Of course, I’ve tossed around the idea of being a rebel (so hip!) and just saying “aught-ten”, “aught-eleven” and so on, but that probably won’t work. You see, the kids will tell you that anything that is faked or put-on and thus isn’t “real” just isn’t cool. And since I do the news here at KVSC as well (and will have to say “twenty-ten” or “two-thousand-ten” lest I sound unprofessional), my tendency will not be to say “aught-ten”. So, to be cool, it has to be natural, but it can’t be natural because of my responsibility to the station. Coolness sucks.

Still, it’s not all bad. This week’s charts feature some sweet things to reflect my frown across the X-axis (/mathjoke). For one, at One, we have the Flaming Lips. I’m sure James will be pickled tink to see them up at the top spot like that. I have similar feelings for our number 2 artist this week, the Clientele, who are finishing their run on our charts strongly. But, most of all, I am pumped for BlakRoc’s performance this week. If you haven’t heard, I absolutely love The Black Keys, and this rock/rap project they’ve put together is really something special. In fact, you heard it featured a couple of weeks back on Crispy Critics, and I think you’ll be hearing about it again next week, in our special semester-in-review edition.

Other notes:

Local music in the form of Wookiefoot (#11, again!) and the Alpha Centauri (#7!) continues to prove the quality of the Minnesota scene.

 Sneaking in at #30 this week, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis is a group you should check out if you’re into 40s-50s throwback tunes. It’s seriously cool (read: authentic) stuff.

And shouts-out to B.C., Boat, King Khan & BBQ Show, and Julian Casablancas.

I love you too, but I’m gonna mace you in the face!