End of Year Anti-List

I had something else I was going to post tonight, but I’ll get to that in the next couple of days. I need to address this “best of” thing first.

Every year about this time, all sorts of lists appear featuring various takes on the perceived best albums/songs/bands/TV shows/sex toys/what-have-yous of the previous 12 months.

Last year, my first end-of-year blogging, I didn’t do a Top 10 list. This year, with a couple more months under my belt, I still have no intention of making a Top 10 list. I have a two-fold reason for not doing this. First, same as last year, I probably haven’t heard 10 albums released this year that I would consider “keepers.” I’ve spent as much time listening to Hank III’s Straight to Hell, which was released in 2006, as I have anything from this year. The handful of new albums I’ve heard this year – and may still listen to next year – isn’t large enough to rate an entire list.

Which brings me to my second point with these lists. If I made a list full of records I like, what the hell does that mean to you? When I see a Top 10 list filled with albums I didn’t like in March, why would I feel different just because they’re on a list in December?

If you really feel like you need a list as some sort of closure or whatever, Large Hearted Boy has a Master List of End-of-Year lists.

Consider this post the start of my holiday Grinchiness. And, just for the record, my favorite album of 2007 was The White Stripes’ Icky Thump.

Icky Thump.mp3 Live, Madison Square Garden 7/24/2007
Icky Thump.mp3 Live on Conan, 6/18/2007
Icky Thump.mp3 album version

Labels: live music, White Stripes

posted by aikin @ 8:48 PM