A few thoughts on Christmas on Mars: It is surprisingly subtle. It is, as you really ought to expect, walking a fine line between buzzy craziness and humane simplicity. And it is on occasion very funny.

Anyway, I sort of expected, since there was an alien in a Santa Claus suit, you'd get some sort of key moment involving him, but there wasn't, or not such as I was expecting. And in retrospect I like that.

What you should do is go to their MySpace and listen to "Riding To Work In The Year 2025" a thousand times.

". . . but at least I've got my blueberries with me."

My top three bands of 2008:

1. The Fiery Furnaces
2. Animal Collective
3. The Hold Steady

(Extra top band of Quarter Four '08: Mount Eerie)

Conclusions derived from too little data:

• 2008 is the year I lost all interest in personally identifiable narrative.

Or at least I don't have any obvious ins to songs about tough-luck street kids, ship captains, or whatever exactly is going on in Widow City.

This isn't quite the point I thought I was making originally. These days I like songs that tell complicated stories.