As some of you know, I almost didn’t do a list for the first time in seven (!) years. What were the top albums of those years, you ask?
2011: Nebraska, by Bruce Springsteen
2010: Alligator, by The National
2009: Remain in Light, by Talking Heads
2008: OK Computer, by Radiohead
2007: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel
2006: Foxtrot, by Genesis (whoopsie-doodle)
Top 5 reasons I almost didn’t make a Top Ten list:
- I got a got-danged job
- I haven’t had a stereo since May
- My laptop’s speakers are garbage
- I’m more content than I’ve been in ages, so I don’t quite need music as much
- I spent half the year listening to just one record (spoilers)
We can thank the efforts of a kindly, filth-covered urchin boy named AJ for showing me the magic of Top Ten lists again. A Festivus miracle!
I listened to plenty of great music this year, to be sure, especially toward the top of my list. But unlike years past, I neither made a consolidated effort to expose myself to the classics of each genre, nor did I luxuriate in all of these albums and consider them at their own speed. All of these records are wonderful in their own way, but we’ll just say that these are the least hard-and-fast rankings since my 2009 list, a similarly top-heavy group.
Yes, I’ve got some doubts, and I’d like to (and will) spend more time with all these records. But when I think about what my life was like in 2012, this is what I’ll hear:
