While I prefer the Last.FM Best of 2010 for the data it provides in terms of what people were really listening to over the course of a year I still always look forward to the Hype Machine Zeitgeist. It rarely contains any surprises in terms of artists receiving a lot of buzz but it presents them in a fascinating way. Even if I'm not using it as a music discovery tool, I am highly engaged to keep clicking through the Top Artists to see all the different illustration styles and maybe even a familiar face among the contributing artists.

Oddly enough, it actually functions as a fine artist discovery tool quite well.. along with being a reminder of the most talked about musicians of the past year. Thanks HypeMachine!