This is Said the Gramophone's 2010 Funding Drive.

It's where we ask those who have enjoyed the site over the past year to help keep this wild nonsense going.

You may notice that Said the Gramophone does not have advertising. That is not an accident, or a mistake. We just feel the site is better without it. And although there are costs to running an mp3blog like this - server costs, website costs, most of all the investment of time - we have made do, for several years, by becoming shills just once a year. That is to say, by asking you, on bended knees, for your dimes, nickels and Sir Robert Bordens. You can donate here.

Said the Gramophone is run by three people. Dan is an actor; Sean is a freelance writer; Jordan, who contributes once a month, somehow pays his rent as an editor. This doesn't mean you should feel bad for us: we don't feel bad for us, we're doing things we love. Besides, you're probably broke too. But what we mean is this: we could use your help.

In the past year, we have written more than 250 posts, played you more than 500 songs. Some of it, we hope, you liked. (We try very hard.)

Said the Gramophone will never be the biggest mp3blog in the world. We do not post videos, tour-dates, album art. We do not even post the new singles by our favourite bands - unless they are wonderful songs, deserving to be here. We try to do just one thing - writing with spirit about the songs we love, - and to do that one thing well. As we've said before: Our audience is you. That's it. There's no one else. You small, strange gang.

If you enjoy the site, please support us with a donation. (We're even giving thank-you gifts, including mixes, graffiti, chess-moves and short films.)

These are some of the things we did in the past year: introduced or (more likely) reintroduced you to artists such as Abner Jay, Andrew Cedermark, the Antlers, Au, Bear in Heaven, Black Feelings, Boat, Bombadil, Braids, Brave Radar, Capybara, Cains & Abels, Caves, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christopher Smith, Clara Clara, Clogs, Clues, Cousins, the Crown Vandals, Cryptacize, Digital Leather, Dori Hoffman, Double Dagger, Drake, El Perro del Mar, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Eternal Summers, Exuma, the Franks, Gigi, Girls, Gobble Gobble, Googoosh, Grand Trine, Group Bombino, Happiness Project, Haunted House, Here We Go Magic, Highlife, the Hoof and the Heel, JEFF the Brotherhood, KenLo Craqnuques, Laura Marling, Lido Pimienta, Little Scream, Los Zafiros, Luc, the Luyas, Machesa Traditional Group, Maison Neuve, Matias Aguayo, Mixylodian, Nicolas Jaar, Nicki Minaj, Nurses, Oberhofer, Pat Jordache, Pill Wonder, Railcars, RatTail, Reigning Sound, Sean Nicholas Savage, Sharon Van Etten, Silly Kissers, Sleigh Bells, Smith Westerns, Speech Debelle, Standard Fare, Suckers, Surfer Blood, Talbot Tagora, the Tallest Man on Earth, the-Dream, Titus Andronicus, Tomboyfriend, Tune-Yards, Twin Sister, Valleys, Young Galaxy, Yura Yura Teikoku, and the xx; wrote stories about sweat, Sir Galahad, the Cloud King, Major Kill, Cajun breakfast, "Good Intentions Paving Company", Pop Montreal, Sappyfest, fourteen seconds of Tim Hardin, filthy love songs, the blues, Gary "Cartmeleon" Cartman, file folders, the Institute's shrinking machine, squared circles, Miguel and Abby, hawks, "utter guff" about Michael Jackson, last words, cute stuff, Trans Parents, WU LYF, true love, eight-year-old Dickie, not following Mark Kozelek, a free Mushpot comp, and the deaths of three great singers; offered just a few guest-posts, by Michael Krueger, Bear in Heaven, White Hinterland, Frog Eyes and Jeff Miller; found a couple of hundred strange, fitting picture images. We also shared our favourite songs and favourite albums of 2009.

Now in our eighth year, we did a lot with little. But it was only worthwhile because of our readers' kindness of spirit, eagerness of ear, and dope handclaps. Thank you so much for all your comments and clicks, your hoots and chides, your tips and toodle-oos, your back-blogs and back-rubs. Thanks for telling your friends, your uncles, your sisters, your thesis advisors about us. Thanks for adding us on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for playing our favourite songs to your lovers. Thanks for having patience with our bullshit. We understand that not everyone can afford to donate to a silly website. Regardless of dollars or cents, pounds or zloty, thank-you thank-you thank-you all yet again for continuing to make this one of the most rewarding things in our lives.

Now then, a song:
Peter Nalitch - "Gitar".
Nalitch was Russia's delegate at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Before all that, this was his hit. Thank you for reading Said the Gramophone.