My Tunes: Intro

The holidays are a time for family, schmaltzy Christmas commercials that somehow make you cry, and, if you are involved in music journalism, listmaking. Lots and lots of listmaking.

Over the past few years, the availability of year-end critics' lists has multiplied faster than the worry lines on Ben Bernanke's brow. Mark our words, come mid-December the Internet and the magazine rack at your local bookstore will be brimming with a head-spinning, eye-glazing cornucopia of rankings of the following de rigueur albums: The Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, The National's Boxer, Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, M.I.A.'s Kala, Radiohead's In Rainbows, LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, and Battles' Mirrored. If you want to go parse the exact sequence of those records in your favorite publication or Web site, feel free to do so. We're going in a slightly different direction.

Instead of compiling the usual assortment of critics' lists, we asked musicians, DJs, authors, and athletes to tell us what music they loved most this year. It could be albums, songs, or the collected works of an artist. We think you'll agree that even though some of these Bay Area celebs may not have rock-snob pedigrees, they have good taste in music. They also offer an eclectic range of musical tastes that you probably won't see in a lot of rock-critic list-offs. So, without further ado, let the lists begin.

Kelenna Azubuike

Juanita More!

Kronos Quartet

Lyrics Born

Deejay Schmeejay

Orlando Cepeda

Beth Lisick

For more top tens from Margaret Cho, Vanilla Ice, Scarface, and some other random B-listers go to All Shook Down