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Loyal JPP readers probably recall the Fifty Years of Great Music project where I listed the one hundred best songs and albums of each of the last five decades. Maybe you read it, maybe you didn’t; maybe you dug it, maybe you thought I was an idiot. Or maybe you’re angry upon landing at this site and discovering that it doesn’t feature photoshopped nude pics of celebrities. However it might be, buck up, sir or madam, because it still might be your lucky day. Most giveaway sweepstakes announce right off the bat what you’ve got a shot at winning, but not the Greatest Music Giveaway Ever. You have the chance to win any one of approximately five hundred prizes—and you get to decide what we send you. Provided, of course, that you win. You do want to win, don’t you?

To many, Roy Orbison is best known for his highly successful single "Oh, Pretty Woman." But Orbison's career spanned many decades and he was an accomplished songwriter and legendary performer.

Let's explore the life of this music legend. Roy Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas in 1936 and music quickly became an important element in his life. His father gave him a guitar when he was six years old and by the age of thirteen he organized his first band called "The Wink Westerners," which was named after the town that his family had relocated to. The band had some success on local television and was allotted 30 minute weekly shows. It was at one of these shows where Orbison met one of his guests, a man named Johnny Cash.

Welcome to another edition of CD Impressions, the bi-weekly feature at JPP that allows the music writers to offer brief opinions and critiques on recent albums. We’ve been absent for a while, but we’re back today to offer a look at some leftovers from 2009 that we’ve finally caught up to. Among them: jazz-pop singer/songwriter Norah Jones, the chillwave alias Memory Tapes, the debut full-length of the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, and Polish metal trio Grimlord.

I'm not going to lie. I've been one of the most vocal supporters of the Grammy Awards over the last few years. I wrote an article detailing how much I enjoyed the performances last year, and I even get a heightened sense of anticipation every time the album of the year is about to be announced at the end of every evening. With the 52nd Grammys less than a week away though, I sadly couldn't care less. After reading the unimaginative list of performers and nominees for this year's ceremony, I'm starting to think that the Grammys may be a total waste of a Sunday night this time around.

Most of us have already put a final nail in the coffin of last year, but let’s take one last look back at the final year of the aughts before moving on to the new decade. Considering that I just finished the Fifty Years of Great Music series (and the JPP staff already offered its own Top 10 of the year), simply revisiting the best songs and albums that 2009 had to offer would be repetitive (and in so little time, what else can I say that I haven’t already?). So instead, let’s try and figure out how this last year progressed (and regressed) the state of popular music on pop culture and beyond. While there’s no doubt plenty ahead that you probably wish that you could simply forget forever, some things are tough to shake and, yes, some should be remembered for their impact, import, greatness or tragedy. To refresh your memory of the best, worst and weirdest things that happened in music during 2009, read on.

The nearly year-long project Fifty Years of Great Music has finally come to an end with the final installment, the Top 100 Albums of the 2000s. I mark the occasion with a heavy sigh of relief, as time restrictions has made elements of its creation more arduous than enjoyable recently, but since I’m sure everyone’s already getting sick of all these “best of decade” lists, putting it off even longer would have been unwise.

As it was with the 2000s’ song list, I have included the full list of nominees (300 instead of 500) on the last page, as well as links to any reviews that you can find on the site. And feel free to offer your own two cents about how right or wrong I am. After all, this is a celebration of great music, and no one deserving should be left in the dark.

Animal Collective was formed at the start of the decade, assembling in Baltimore in 2000, and ended the '00s with the most lauded and appreciated album of their career. That album was Merriweather Post Pavilion, an experimental yet inviting work that brought out the very best AC had to offer. The album was ranked #6 on our Top Ten Albums of 2009 list, and was given a terrific 9/10 rating in our review.

The year and decade are rapidly coming to a close, which means it's due time to look back on the year that was in music. There's no doubt that 2009 was an interesting year, full of terrific recordings and emerging artists. So what better way to get all nostalgic about the last twelve months than to compile a top ten list that highlights our favorite albums of the year.

With an expert panel of JPP's finest music writers contributing to the formation of the list below, we feel as if you'll find nothing but quality releases in our top ten; so we urge you to go and check out the albums featured in our list that you haven't had the chance to listen to yet. Without further ado, the top 10 albums of 2009.

Welcome to another edition of CD Impressions, the bi-weekly feature at JPP that allows the music writers to offer brief opinions and critiques on recent albums. This time, we're pleased to present a look at recent albums from the extreme noise rock duo Lightning Bolt, Christian rockers Relient K, James Chapman's electronic pop alias Maps, and indie alt-rock darlings Animal Collective.