[Cunningham isn't the only one making a list. While Jonathan is busy sizing up the best in 2009 Seattle hip hop, PubliCola MusicNerd Anand Balasubrahmanyan is counting down his top tracks of the year.]

[audio:http://www.seattlemet.com/data/publicola-assets/08-Thin-Moon.mp3]

It seems a little weird to celebrate a miser this time of year but Spokane's frugal crate digger makes the most of a tight wallet. James Pants' method is simple, he makes sample collages from dollar bin records—failed '90s RnB and wind-chime-heavy new age. But by re-contextualizing these cheesy records, he humanizes the schmaltz. The crooners are left vulnerable and judged, desperate both to seem sexy and to get a record deal. Is there anything that resembles real life courtship more than publicly humiliating yourself?

This track, "Thin Moon," goes for broke. The lover man has waxed his mustache for the occasion. A would-be Lothario lays rose pedals on a bed of syrupy synth arpeggios. He knows the only key to your heart is a delicate falsetto. But the magic of Mr. Pant's production is that despite the goopy cliches and misguided metaphors, I'm charmed.

Yeah those scented candles are lame but it's nice that someone is trying to do something special for me.

#9 here.