I'm writing this from a cramped airplane seat, so I'm not in my usual perky headspace. Instead of wasting my vitriol, I'm channeling it into a rare Rooneyesque moment to discuss some things that need to die.
"OMFGBESTALBUMEVER"
There's nothing more eye-rollingly annoying than hyperbolic writing. Something—an album, a band, a song—is either the best or the worst with no middle ground. By the time I heard the Field album, I was convinced rose petals would fall at my feet and my credit rating would improve; it inspired nothing more than the desire to listen to anything else. (People have the same response to the new Burial record, but in that case, they're wrong, because that's one of the best albums of 2007.)
Differences of opinion are great, but along with the ever-growing mounds of praise that end up meaning less and less, a consensus imposes a collective will. I have a hard time believing that so many writers' preferences line up so tidily with Pitchfork's best-of list. Independent music and independent writing is perfectly suited for independent thinking.
"That Genre Is So Over"
It's happening to dubstep and it'll happen (again) to Italo disco soon enough—the inevitable backlash from months of incessant, effusive praise. Fads are unavoidable, but it's starting to feel like dominoes, with genres set up only to be knocked down.
"Check Out My Remix"
No, I don't want to go to your MySpace to hear your "Crunktalo Juke Reedit" of "D.A.N.C.E." Remixes can be great, completely altering the mood of the source, but rather than smartly curated affairs (check the Hot Chip or Four Tet remixes of Matthew Dear), unofficial reedits are flooding the world with miniscule variations on "the hits," propped up by an ecosystem of MP3 blogs. It's the corollary to the ring-tone rapper: the MySpace remix. You've already killed any joy in listening to Justice. How many more albums have to be desecrated?
"The End of the Record Industry"
Any year now the music industry is going to keel over and die. All of those invested billions are going to be lost, and the world will be left with... with what exactly? Pundits love to talk about the impending death of the record industry, but for every Radiohead, there are scads of acts that long for nothing more than to be part of the industry machine. Not every group wants to be the Big Indie Hope. Some people want to be a pop star, and pop stardom all but requires the gears of the monolith that the vocal minority despises. And don't forget that the luxury of deep pockets means that even with the years of missteps, the "evil" major labels have enough money to burn to hire incredibly intelligent people to find the next way to exploit their position. Don't believe the hype—the majors are going to squeeze every bit of juice from the current model while they transition to the next.
The New Year will surely bring its own set of complaints. Hopefully they'll remain subservient to what matters most—the music. 
