Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Ten

I'm a sucker for top-10 lists; I even compile my own "best albums" list at the end of each year based on other top-10 lists. That said, Seattle Weekly columnist, John Roderick has put together a good reminder about top-10 lists that is worth a read ... especially for any other like-minded top-10 fans like myself.  It is, of course, presented as a top-10 list, so let me present you with an example to whet your appetite before you click the link below:
3. If you are too busy to discover new albums for yourself, the last thing you need is a list of more albums to buy. You should take a hot bath instead. I hear this from people all the time: They love top-10 lists because it helps them discover new music, as if discovering new music was some epic, heroic quest. I wonder--did they listen thoroughly to every record they bought last year? Did they listen to them all the way through, even? The people making records are still spending months and years on them, while the people buying them are munching through them like corn chips. Slow down.
This is something I've been saying since the dawn of the iTMS: music is becoming so disposable these days and this makes me sad. I love the album... a proper, well-ordered collection of songs, I mean; not just a collection of radio-friendly singles. I love the journey it can take you on.

Yes, I'm guilty of number four on his list, and as I mentioned above, also guilty of number five, but I still agree with what he says here. Good points and it looks like he's got a number of other good articles that I'll have to go back and enjoy as well.

Happy New Year!

» Found at: Seattle Weekly's Reverb Residency column
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1 comment:

  1. MatthewJanuary 4, 2011 at 4:12 PM

    I'm not sure that I agree with the premise of #3. OK, there's only a pair of albums that I've listened to well this year. But since I listen to my iPod more than anything else, if I didn't have the All Songs Considered podcast, I wouldn't have discovered Mumford & Sons for a while yet, or a couple of other things that I will listen to well in 2011. I didn't give a fair listen to the Top 10 Albums lists that Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Carrie Brownstein, and Stephen Thompson created--people who care about albums the same way as you do--but I have started to explore things I wouldn't otherwise.

    I wouldn't have discovered (either ever, or as early as I did) The Frames or Townes Van Zandt without Josh Ritter talking about them as music he loves; don't we discover things when they're shared with us? And aren't lists, despite their flaws, ways of sharing?

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