And then one day we found out we’re the best.

We were browsing the internet a couple of days ago when we came across About.com’s picks for the best blogs of 2010. We’re their favorite music site.

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but we assure you we’ll do our best not to believe our own hype. We’ll still provide you with consistently, up-to-the-minute coverage of all things music. In the end, it’s not the honor that matters. It’s what we did to deserve it that does.

We plan on keeping it that way.

– The 2011 Grammy nominees were revealed.

– Jeff Mangum caused a bunch of hipsters to commit suicide.

–Bright Eyes announced what may be their final LP, The People’s Key.

– PJ Harvey gave us a taste of what’s to come.

– Jack White insisted that he’s not exploiting anyone.

– Kanye West‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy reached #1.

– Yo La Tengo and Jeff Tweedy played some songs together in celebration of Hanukkah.

– Bon Jovi announced a hiatus. So did Wolf Parade.

– Want to pick a song that will be on Patrick Stump‘s forthcoming solo effort? Click here to find out more.

– The Killers put out a holiday single. Coldplay followed suit.

– The Decemberists will release a deluxe box set for their upcoming sixth LP, The King Is Dead.

– The Streets will release a compilation of room recordings.

– On that note, Spoon will put out a collection of outtakes and other bonus material.

– The Clash are producing a film about their seminal 1979 effort, London Calling.

– Michael Cera played with newly formed indie supergroup Mister Heavenly.

– Is vinyl dead? Find out more here.

– Jimmy Tamborello told us not to expect a new Postal Service LP anytime soon.

– Soundgarden divulged some of their plans for the future.

– And just in case you haven’t spent enough money this holiday season, we updated our Holiday Shopping Guide and debuted our online store.

– Michael Roffman interviewed Joy Division/New Order/Freebass bassist and all-around legend Peter Hook.

– Before you check out our Megan Ritt’s review of the Tron:Legacy Soundtrack, be sure to read David Buchanan’s look at the 1982 original’s score in the latest edition of Cinema Sounds.

– Winston Robbins shared his thoughts on Niki Minaj‘s Pink Friday, easily one of the biggest debuts this year.

– Faith No More said goodbye last week with two shows in L.A. Karina Halle was there for both of them.

There’s another music format out there – vinyl. The last decade has seen a massive flux of nostalgia, and the musical frisbees are just one example. So how are the sales doing? No better than anything else. During 2008, 1.88 million units moved in the U.S, a massive 89.9% increase. 2009 saw more movement at 2.5 million units sold, but the increase was only 33%. In the first half of 2010 compared to the same span of time last year, there has only been a 9.1% increase.

90 percent to a potential 18 percent in two years is what economic statisticians call a bad sign. If products don’t continue to grow, their value to companies evaporates. Given, that ’08 upsurge data is a bit skewed due to the fact that vinyl was considered passé until the mid-aughts, with shipments not even breaching the million mark in ’06.

The question might be is this really even a problem? An increase is an increase, after all. This is true, but when sales begin to flatten out at marginally insignificant numbers, the validity of the product comes into question. General album sales, including CDs, LPs, and digital downloads, reached 373.9 million in 2009, with digital sales eating up a whooping 76.4 million of those. In juxtaposition, vinyl’s 1.3 million so far this year seems paltry.

So perhaps it’s true that vinyl’s popular resurgence is reaching an apex. Whether that means record companies will abandon the format as they did in the ‘80s is yet to be seen. Does this mean you should take ‘turntable’ off your holiday gift list? As always, the decision and the power really lies with you, the consumer. Audiophiles swear by the dinner-plate-sized format, and bands are always glad to find a solid income source. If you want this platform to stick around, then it’s up to you and your wallet. Though as our source Digital Music News all too accurately points out, “no matter how distinctive and collectible, LPs are still competing with free.”

In all, the number of records sold last year leapt from 988,000 in ‘07 to 1.88 million in ‘08. Still, the sales from vinyl only made up 0.1 percent of the music sales in 2008, a year that saw a 14 percent decrease across the board.

So, why is a dated medium starting to rival something that was considered vital and high-tech ten to fifteen years ago? Of many reasons stated (such as pure nostalgia), it could be anything from interest in wider album art layouts to arguments in the quality of sound compared to varying bit rates of MP3s. Prices can be remarkably low if certain recordings are sought in the right place. Used Dark Side vinyls can run the gamut to less than $10 while the right store could get you decent tags for recent releases (e.g. Metallica’s Death Magnetic or Radiohead’s In Rainbows).

What a confused market we deal in where Abbey Road is still a chart topping release (the 2nd most successful vinyl release of ’08) and modes of music that fifty-somethings gave up on decades ago come back fighting. If anything, it’s exciting and as vinyl becomes a more relevant source of music, one wonders whether or not we can expect to see turntable competitions making comebacks also.

Anyone for a ride on the Run DMC rhythm express?