by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Seems like The Reader‘s “Music Issue” gets pushed back further and further every year. Something that used to come out in the fall is now becoming a year-end tradition, along with all those other year-end “best albums” lists, etc.

Anyway, here it is. The process for creating the list was the same as it ever was — The Reader‘s music writers got together and hashed out the list over beers at the Dundee Dell. Arguments for or against including a specific band involved whether a band performed, toured or released any music over the past year.

So are these the best bands? Are they the most popular bands? Are they the most successful bands? No, no and no. They’re not even our favorite bands. Throughout the back-and-forth that went into making the list, preference was given to bands that have made the biggest impact from our area.

My chores this year also involved writing a “State of the Music Scene” essay that precedes the list. The Reader‘s Top 20 for 2013 (descriptions written by the esteemed Chris Aponick) and Next 29 (!) are in this week’s issue on news stands now, and online right here. (Don’t ask me who that is in the photo at the top of the article).