Frank Kogan

Ha ha, I love this thread!

Anyway, here is my (incorrectly named) gatekeeper list for this year:

Benny – Amigo Charly Brown: Die Hits Von Gestern Und Auch Heut (Found out about Benny on a bunch of used German K-Tel-style '70s and '80s compilations that Metal Mike Saunders mailed me about a year ago. Once I noticed I loved all the songs by him on those, I googled him, and found out this album was on Rhapsody.)
Scooter – Under The Radar Over The Top – The Dark Side Edition (Right, Frank got me interested in them last year -- I edited a piece at the Voice several years ago where Barry Walters had talked about them, but for some reason that didn't spur my interest; maybe the time wasn't right. Anyway, toward the end of 2009 I somehow wound up on their Rhapsody page, noticed they had a new album - in two different versions - and listened to it.)
Collin Raye – Never Going Back (Time Life) (Got this in the mail as a promo, and it pretty much blew me away on the spot; had never given him any thought before.)
Uz Jsme Doma – Cod-Liver Oil (I have a few of their early CDs -- Don Allred had written about them in the Voice in the early '00s, I think, so either I found out about them through him or I alreay knew about them from promos, I'm not sure which. This year, Spin asked for some pitches for their 100 Best Bands Of The Past 30 Years You Never Heard Of Issue, and I pitched Uz Jsme Doma among many other bands, and they went for it. In researching my blurb for the issue, I'd noticed they'd put out a new album in the past couple years, which I also noticed was selling for cheap on Amazon, so I ordered a copy.)
Jono El Grande – Neo Dada (Got an email from Forced Exposure which listed this CD, and it sounded interesting, so I asked for one.)
Lady GaGa – The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition)(First heard her while doing a column on new Billboard chart entries called "Next Little Things" for Idolator in 2008; didn't like what I heard at the time. But the car radio, assisted by several emails from Metal Mike Saunders, convinced me I'd been missing something, which I had.)
K’Naan – Troubador (Had received, and kind of liked, a promo CD of his previous album a year or two back, so I was ready for this one when it came in the mail.)
Death – …For The Whole World To See (Read about them on an ILM reissue thread -- Andy Beta, I think, had suggested I'd like them. Asked Drag City for a copy of the CD, which they sent me.)
Kid Sister – Ultraviolet (Read about her "Pro Nails" single somewhere back in mid '08 I guess, probably in an article about jerking music or Chicago hipster rap; checked it out on youtube; got an earlier version of this album in the mail later that year; got this one this year.)
Brad Paisley – American Saturday Night (A couple people -- Anthony Easton was one -- had asked me what I thought of this album, on the Singles Jukebox and ILM Rolling Country, before I heard it. Was kind of meh about the prospect, since I've never been a particularly huge fan of the guy. Eventually asked the label for a copy, but I'm not sure what the final catalyst was.)