A zany woodsprite to Björk's possessed tree goddess. With her pint-size voice and full-size harp, Newsom baffled and charmed indie-folk fans this year, mainly because you'd expect someone who sings about love and loss as sweetly and surreally as she does to sound older than 12. Mendermight be off-putting on first listen, but it's totally addictive thereafter.

If you are the kind of person who talks about music too much, there are two words that undoubtedly play an integral role in your workaday lexicon: "overrated" and "underrated." This is because those two sentiments pop up in 90 percent of all musical discussions.