Lorraine West, whom I’ve come to realize has pretty astute judgment when it comes to music, compiled her list of the Top ten albums of 2004. Of the ten, I have two (Green Day/American Idiot, Interpol/Antics) and have had plans on getting one more (N.E.R.D./Fly or Die) for quite some time. Most of the other albums on the list are very obscure and range from a North African pop singer to an early-60s experimental album by Bill Cosby and Quincy Jones. There are also a few mainstream albums on there, namely Kanye West and Bjork, but neither are really my type.

I’ve gotten a few corrections from today’s column already. Yes, I know that the drinking bandit was in Columbus, Ga. and not Columbus, Ohio; and yes, I know that Bryan Adams is Canadian, not British. Dammit, this is what happens when you pile crap on me and then expect me to turn out a good column. Actually, it is pretty good today. Take a read if you have the chance.

One guy sent me an email message correcting my Bryan Adams faux pas with the subject line reading: “Embarrassed to know Bryan Adams trivia.” I said I was ashamed to make that mistake because I definitely knew Bryan Adams is a Canadian. In fact, I said, he is one of the pillars of my argument that Canada is punishing us in the only way they can: by exporting bad music. They’re sneaky about it though, because they import really tasty, potent beer too with the hopes that we’ll get drunk, not notice the music sucks and spend our hard-earned American dollars (or dough-lers, as they say) on their albums. So far it seems to be working. Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Nickelback, Alanis Morrissette and Avril Lavigne all form the basis of my reasoning, with Geddy Lee’s voice and fans of the Barenaked Ladies rounding out the argument as to why we should ban the import of Canadian music. He countered with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and said that although Gedde Lee’s voice and Barenaked Ladies’ fans are annoying, the two bands’ music is amazing. You win for now, Jim Mulhern, but I’ll be back.

Finally, I got a call from 248-982-4190 this morning on my cell but I missed it. There was no voicemail. It could be a wrong number, or it could be you. If it’s you, drop me an email.