Editor’s Note: Each of the writers from Aural States was given free-reign to make an optional year-end post, filled with lists, oped, whining, whatever…this is what one came up with:

My cat gave me Videohippo’s Unbeast the Leash for Christmas, I’m not sure if that’s a statement about her sense of fulfillment in her life or not. Either way, it’s now my soundtrack to Christmas. I’m sitting around, 3:30 on December 25th, still in my pajamas. I’ve eaten a disgusting amount of cinnamon buns in the last week, and I haven’t shaven in three or four days. A little bit of me wants to die. Four cinnamon buns. FOUR.

And it’s perfect. This melancholy, slightly nostalgic music set to my yearly dose of Christmas nausea.

Keeping that in mind, here’s what I’m going to do. At this point in the year, everyone’s throwing out lists as fast as they are wrapping paper, and they all seem to think their wrapping paper is the best wrapping paper. In reality, it’s only trash. I’m going to throw you some of my wrapping paper though, but it’s not going to be a “best of” deal. Let’s make this functional. I’m going to give you 5 songs from this year that I really enjoyed, ignoring the ones everyone already knows about. If you like them too, give me 5 songs you enjoyed a lot. That’s what year-end lists are good for, music recommendations.

And hey, if you don’t like the songs I shoot out to you, give me a list anyway. Just for fun. It doesn’t even have to be music-related, list me 5 anythings.

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   Mister Jung Stuffed – Man Man (Rabbit Habits)

2. Barnacle Goose – Born Ruffians (Red, Yellow, and Blue)
3. Stains – Flying (Faces of the Night)
4. Grass Stains – Jacob Borshard (The Last Brontosaurus)
5. Willow Tree – Chad VanGaalen (Soft Airplane)

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