Tris McCall is the reason I even attempt to write about music. He - among many other things - is the founder, editor and vote-counter of the venerable and increasingly popular Tris McCall Critics Poll, a round-up of the previous year's outstanding music. Yeah, yeah, yet *another* list, right?

But, trust me: this 2007 retrospective - which just reached its fifth and final day of posting - is nothing like any other music list, or any other music blog, for that matter. First of all, he, well, takes five whole days to post - and editorialize - the results of the voting (of which i was one of roughly 160 submitters). All the while, he uses the current pop, hip-hop (a genre of which he's startlingly knowledgeable) and indie landscapes for a jumping off point for personal screeds on matters ranging from what presidential politics, gender debates, his experiences as a local musician, or even more mundane concerns, like what constitutes good songwriting. No one I've ever read listens to, or writes about, music remotely like him.

Put another way, you now have someone to put some much-needed fresh and well-worded perspective on things such as:

* Neon Bible's reductive Anti-Americanism (and occasionally crummy singing)

* The real impact of Kevin Barnes' shacking up with Outback Steakhouse

* The validity of emo's immediacy

* And most importantly, the vanishing distinction between music blogging and PR re-hashing

Kinda makes it hard(er) to read Stereogum, no?

While this year finds McCall in an uncharacteristically dour mood - previous editions have had a much sunnier tone to his candor - his writing remains urgent and unrelentingly fascinating. And, unlike most music blogs, it actually makes you think about what you listen to, and why. No you're not gonna agree with all of it; that's hardly the point. Rest assured, though, that this is not empty Sasha Frere-Jones-style empty provocation. Besides, in an era when someone is a quickly labeled a "hater" merely by disagreeing with conventional wisdom, any provocation is welcome.

And, yeah, it's can be some pretty dense stuff (his advanced-level Pop Music Abstract - a late December post - clocked in this year at over 170 entries totaling 30,000 words); should it not be? Like good music, it should invite and reward repeat visits.

The point being: there's a lot of people writing about music right now, and a lot of them are saying the same thing, and not even particularly well. If you care about music writing and criticism at all - and i bet you do - then read it and stick with it, because you'll enjoy it. Especially if you're a fan of Prinzhorn Dance School.