How Good Is "Best"?
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while now and, given that this is year end list time, this seems like as good an opportunity as any. The Internet is great at providing a platform for anyone to share their opinions. However, rarely do we get any later reflections on those opinions. “Best of” lists are probably the prime example of this. Take the recently posted “Top Twenty Albums of the Year” list at This Recording. Now, other than Santogold, i don’t think there’s an inclusion on this list that i agree with, but that’s fine. It’s their list, they can do what they want. What i wonder is how much of this list are they really going to be listening to next year? Are they still going to be playing that Metronomy album next December, or is this their Echoes? Sure it’s hard to predict what we might be listening to in the future (especially these days when we’re bombarded with so much new music), but you can kinda get an idea. Also, say what you want about Pitchfork (everyone does), but at least they have gone back and reevaluated the lists they’ve made, once for the best albums of the 90s and once for the best albums of 2000 - 2004. My point is this: i think there should be a new rule that if you’re going to post “Best of” lists, you should first have to look over the list you made the year before and let everybody know what you still listen to, if you listen to any of it. Seems fair to me. And in the spirit of this rule, here are the top 5 albums from my previous four lists. Those in bold i still actively listen to, those with ** i basically only listen to if they come up on shuffle, and those with nothing, i don’t really listen to at all.
2007
1. The National - Boxer
2. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
3. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
4. R Kelly - Double Up
5. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2006
1. J Dilla - Donuts
2. Girl Talk - Night Ripper **
3. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain **
4. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar **
5. Ghostface - Fishscale
2005 - No list that i can find
2004
1. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
2. Madvillain - Madvillainy
3. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News **
4. Rjd2 - Since We Last Spoke **
5. A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder
2003
1. Prefuse 73 – One Word Extinguisher & Extinguished Outtakes
2. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow **
3. The Wrens – Meadowlands
4. Four Tet – Rounds
5. Broken Social Scene – You Forget it in People
Two things real quick (as this post is long enough as it is): Firstly, i’m not sure if all the 2007 selections are bold because they are really all that good, or that they’re just the most recent. I suppose time will tell (i do really love them, though). Secondly, 2003 was quite a year for music for me.
I’d like to hear what you think. How do your own “Best of” lists hold up?
