Callahan bill

Great start this morning, as I’ve just cracked open the new Prins Thomas album, which seems to carry on right where Lindström & Thomas’ “II” left off. In other goodish news, this long-running dickaround will finally be resolved in the next couple of days. I imagine you’ve all guessed what it is now?

Exciting news this week, with the auspicious arrival of three CDs of new music from a big favourite round these parts. Anyone care to hazard a guess who it might be?

A few bits and pieces to mop up today, beginning with one last thankyou to everyone who has posted on the end of year blogs – or, come to that, who's commented on any of the things I’ve written in the past 12 months. It’s been a genuine pleasure to hear from almost all of you; and of course heartening to discover other people interested in the same music.

Previously: 100-81, 80-61, 60-41, 40-21.

Warren Ellis' trio will make their only London live appearance in December

The new issue of Uncut should be out any day now, featuring our thoroughly extensive Best Of 2009 coverage: the Top 50 albums of the year, best reissues, best comps/boxsets, films, DVDs, books and so on.

“Uncut never ceases to find ways to analyze music by dumping on anything American,” notes a correspondent on the still-entertaining Bob Dylan Christmas thread, which isn’t one of the more typical criticisms we hear levelled at the magazine. He also accuses me of using the word “Americana” “as if it’s a swear”. Wow.

The second annual Uncut Music Award launches today (September 23) as we reveal our longlist of albums in the running for the prize to reward the "most inspiring and rewarding musical experience" of the past year.

See the longlist in contention to grab the prize Fleet Foxes scooped last year

A message that one of the Uncut team, Bud Scoppa, had filed his Top 25 tracks of the last six months inspired me this morning to do something similar.