Anyhow, here are my 20 favorite downloads from Audiofile this year. As usual, they're not as eclectic as I'd like, as it's still the case that indie rock is the only genre to have fully embraced the Web and the idea of giving away songs on it as an effective promotional tool. Regardless, much as I wish there were more jazz, more world music, any classical, etc., this is still a batch of 20 songs that I'm proud to have hosted. Tell me where you think I went wrong in the comments. Thanks to all the artists and labels for allowing us to post their music, and thanks to you for listening.

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Salon has played a role in making this such a good year for legal downloads: We're particularly proud of all the exclusive downloads we've been able to offer -- great songs that are available only here. Thirteen of the 20 downloads below -- my 20 favorites that have appeared on Audiofile this year -- are Salon exclusives.

For regular Audiofile readers this is a chance to revisit some great songs from the past year -- and to argue with my selections in the letters section. For those of you who are new to Audiofile, here's a premium sampler of the best of 2005, which I hope you'll like enough to become a regular visitor in 2006. Happy holidays, and see you next year.

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Now his fans have more reason to celebrate. Rhino has released a two-DVD set that includes "Beautiful Dreamer," a feature-length documentary about the making of "Smile," and a filmed live performance of the album in its entirety. The documentary, by TV veteran David Leaf, follows the story of "Smile" from the beginning, chronicling Wilson's growing ambitions (primarily to beat the Beatles in the race to open up new frontiers in popular music), oddities (his infamous piano in a sandbox in the middle of his living room) and paranoia, and his eventual nervous breakdown, from which he has not fully recovered.

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Their answers are below (with most recent contributions listed first):

Alex Ross, music critic at the New Yorker, blogs at The Rest Is Noise.

The London one is the one I'd go to, I guess, though only if it were at the Royal Opera House.

Which ones would I drop? All but the following: the Scissor Sisters, Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, a-ha and 50 Cent.

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This, I said to myself, is a Great Pop Culture Moment. It was like a "South Park" parody of "American Idol" -- because really, the only place David Hasselhoff belongs these days is as an object of mirth on "South Park" -- built directly into the show. But it was just a moment. And it passed.

But let's go back to the beginning. Let's go all the way back to ... Tuesday night, when I first laid eyes on the pulsating, sticky mess of British ingenuity and modern American shame that is "American Idol." Yes, my "American Idol" cherry was popped just two days ago. And yes, there was lots of blood.

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Def follows a number of high-profile rappers into acting -- Ice Cube, Vanilla Ice, LL Cool J, Tupac, ("rapper") Mark Wahlberg and plenty of others -- but his transition has been notably accomplished. His latest role is as Ford Prefect in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which opens Friday. Salon recently interviewed Mos Def by phone.

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After that career boost, Mann steadfastly continued an independent career, releasing her last two records ("Bachelor No. 2" in 2000 and "Lost in Space" in 2002) and her upcoming, much-anticipated concept album, "The Forgotten Arm" (available May 3), on her own Superego label. "The Forgotten Arm," she says, is set in the early '70s, and recounts the shaky relationship between John, a Vietnam vet and boxer, and Caroline as they meet, fall in love and set out on a cross-country road trip (go here to listen to a few sample tracks). Produced by Joe Henry and recorded over just nine days, it's her most straight-ahead rock record to date, but the songwriting is as crafted and subtle as ever, a series of first-person accounts that delve into the psychological subtleties of the two characters with Mann's customary grace.

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But ... I'll be back in two weeks with a new real-time music column, updated daily. In addition to daily free downloads, there will be concert reviews, interviews, music news (and gossip), free downloadable mix tapes, and assorted musings on music. If you have any ideas for column features -- or, as always, if you have a great download to recommend -- drop me a line.

In the meantime, here's a really stunning song, one of the most affecting, gutsy pieces of music I've heard in an age -- and, I'm pleased to say, a Salon Exclusive Free Download (thanks to Secretly Canadian Records).

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I can't find much information about Tori Alamaze, except that she used to be a makeup artist. Her strange, sad and astonishingly good debut single, "Don't Cha," was produced by the consistently brilliant Cee-lo.

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The resounding, unavoidable answer: A whole lot of people. And they care for a whole lot of different reasons. There are the disillusioned fans who feel betrayed and the more loyal fans who rush to the defense of their beleaguered idols. ("Everybody lip-syncs!") There are the people who heap scorn on those same fans for having been "duped" by these "frauds," and suggest that the hapless tweens seek out some "real" music (usually Wilco). And there are the people, thousands upon thousands of them, who eagerly watch the embarrassing clips and soak up the delicious schadenfreude of it all.

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And then there's all the free music, which is what I'll be tracking down for you. I've got a bunch of exciting tracks lined up already, but as always, I'd like suggestions. So if you know of a free and legal download that you think would be right for this column, post it on the Wednesday Morning Download Table Talk thread, or e-mail me.

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Best source of free, legal mp3s:
Better Propaganda

Best online music magazine:
Stylus

Best music-related blog:
Alex Ross' the Rest Is Noise

Best album title:
McLusky's "The Difference Between You and Me Is That I'm Not on Fire"
Honorable mention: The Silent League's "The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused"

Most overpraised record of the year:
Brian Wilson's "Smile"

Musical innovation I'm most eagerly awaiting:
An intimate, voice-inside-your-head, talking-to-himself rapper, the Cat Power of hip-hop. It's the logical next step.

Most astounding gap in quality between two records from a single artist:
From the thumb-twiddlingly boring, hubristic depths of Elvis Costello's maiden orchestral voyage "Il Sogno" to his pretty damn good rock record "The Delivery Man."

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Lastly, since this column is all about downloads, I've included a list of my 25 favorite free mp3s of the year. Devoted readers have probably downloaded many already. But for the rest of you, it's a nice little mix tape of some of the year's very best music. And in the spirit of the holiday season -- they're all free!

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The oracle spoke, the people listened. Jay-Z, with his new fondness for suits and button-up shirts, best set the year's tone: Maturity was in, clean-cut was in. An old-fashioned, elegant idea of what was stylish was ascendant. In popular music, this was the year of the white suit, of the rakishly angled hat.

The new aesthetic was everywhere: in the retro-utopian ballrooms of R. Kelly's "Happy People" and Outkast's "I Like the Way You Move" videos; in the speak-easy vibe of Beyoncé's "Naughty Girl" video; in the "Ed Sullivan Show" theme of the "Hey Ya" video; in the sudden celebrity of P. Diddy's natty manservant, Farnsworth Bentley. Nelly, the man who brought us "Hot in Herre," released a record called "Suit." And look at what happened to Christina Aguilera! I don't know how they got the skank out of that girl, but now she's dressing in '20s-style flapper dresses with a coquettish curly bob. Even Britney is grown up, married with children. In the upper echelons of hip-hop and pop, it was out with the hoodies and gold chains, and in with a more classically moneyed style, with all the trappings of wealth and maturity. Out with bling, in with bespoke.

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But what's really astounding is that 20 years later -- 20 years down the road toward cultural sensitivity -- Geldof and his pals recorded the same incredibly clueless song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" which features lines like "There won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime/ The greatest gift they'll get this year is life," "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you" and, of course, the refrain "Do they know it's Christmastime at all?" I bet they don't, those poor little pagans.

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But even the biggest ad campaigns rarely work this well. The song that all these ads feature, "Vertigo," is awesome but almost certainly not destined to be a hit; after two months, it's only made it up to No. 31 on the Billboard chart. And yet, through some perfect combination of marketing savvy and a lucky alignment of the stars -- like few other recent releases from big acts, Eminem's "Encore" the exception -- this is the record everyone is talking about.

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"The Boatman's Call" was not just a triumphant aesthetic arrival; it was also a great record: 12 songs focused starkly on Cave's clumsy baritone and simple piano playing, chronicling a romantic relationship, from tenderness to pain to bitter anger (the record is rumored to be based on Cave's relationship and breakup with PJ Harvey). "The Boatman's Call" belongs with Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" and Lyle Lovett's "Road to Ensenada" on any list of great breakup records. As a display of rock songwriting, it has few peers.

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Over the 35 years that he's run ECM, Manfred Eicher has single-mindedly maintained a recognizable aesthetic for the label, but he's also shown an astonishing ability to spot great talent early on. The list of significant artists who made early recordings on ECM, before they achieved legendary status -- including Jarrett, Bill Frisell, Paul Bley, Dave Holland, Chick Corea, John Scofield, Paul Motian and Dollar Brand (later Abdullah Ibrahim), as well as composers like Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt -- is genuinely mind-boggling.

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Deerhoof's recent "Milk Man" didn't quite grab me on its release. It seemed a little staid, a little reserved, a little too calculated in its combination of dissonant guitar stabs, catchy chorus melodies and surprise tempo shifts. But in concert, the songs come alive. There's an extraordinarily compelling balance between the cerebral intensity and exactitude of guitarists Chris Cohen and John Dieterich, who seem to think and move as one, and the exploding energy and improvisatory looseness of drummer Greg Saunier. Happily, the band has made a 10-track live record, "Bibidi Babidi Boo," available for free download here. Both recording quality and performance quality are varied, but the whole thing is worth hearing.

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