Thinking About Year-End Lists (and Some Honorable Mentions)

After much careful listening and thoughtful contemplation, I’ve finalized my list of the top twenty new albums of 2013, which I’ll be posting shortly.

Yes, another year-end list.  I know what you’re thinking—isn’t it kind of pointless to post another list of best albums?  Even this humble blog will post two different top twenty lists all by itself.  These kinds of lists are a lot of fun to make, to read, and to argue about, but are they pointless?  Not exactly.  They’re only pointless if you believe the intent of a year-end list is to honestly and objectively rank music.  Let’s skip right past that nonsense.  We all know that art appreciation is subjective.  I like Vampire Weekend, you love Deafheaven, and there’s no right and wrong about any of it. 

What this is really about is sharing opinions, passions, values, and identities.  If we care enough, we defend our picks and attack other people’s lists, and we fight extra hard because these battles can never be won, so there is only the fight itself.  If we’re lucky, we discover a new band or a new album or a new perspective on music.

Another point to keep in mind—these lists are not just about music.  We like to think they are, because if it’s only about the music, then we have common ground on which to stand.  If you are obsessed with the Lorde album and the music connects with you, then perhaps you can convince others that your opinion on Pure Heroine is the right opinion to have. 

But, of course, it's not that simple.  Even if you aren’t aware that Lorde is a 17-year-old girl from New Zealand whose father is an award-winning poet, at the very least you know that “Royals” is a song that frequently gets played over the speakers in shopping malls, in waiting rooms, and at Applebee’s restaurants.  This means when you talk about Lorde, you have to say stuff like, “Yeah, I know it’s overplayed, but it’s still a great song.”  People have been having the same conversations about “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines” all year, and it colors the way we understand and care about the music.

Two more examples that it’s not “all about the music”: Lady Gaga and Kanye West.  Both artists put out new albums this year (neither happens to be on my top twenty list).  How would it be possible to evaluate the merits of Yeezus and ArtPop solely on the music?  The whole point of Lady Gaga is that pop music can be more than just pop music, so much so that her album felt like an afterthought before it was officially released.  Would the album be a reimagining of the possibilities of pop music?  Would high art and pop music finally blend into one unstoppable force?  Were these questions even relevant questions to be asking in the year 2013?  Did anyone care?

Yeezus didn’t have the endless promotional cycle of ArtPop because Kanye himself is the promotion.  He’s now been sucked into the vortex of Kardashianism, which has only amplified his already churning self-promotion engine.  Talking about Kanye is at least as interesting as talking about Kanye’s music.  For those of us who tire of that sort of thing, it undoubtedly affects our ability to divorce art from artist.  I’m not saying Yeezus would definitely be on my top twenty if it was released by an anonymous man living in a van down by the river.  But I also know that I’m listening to Kanye West when I listen to Yeezus, and I won’t lie and say that isn’t a factor at all.

Point is, these lists are personal.  Putting Yeezus or ArtPop on my list would be a mistake, because there are at least twenty other albums that I’ve spent more time with, loved, thought about, grown attached to.  Call it a snapshot of the albums I cared about this year. 

And despite all that preamble, yes, I do think my list is the best.

Below is a list of albums that fall outside the top twenty, presented without editorial comment.  These are albums that are worth listening to but fell short, for one reason (not quite good enough!) or another (e.g., Bob Dylan, whose release didn’t really qualify as a “new” album).  The top twenty will come in subsequent posts, with reviews of each album.

Honorable Mention

• ·         AlunaGeorge - Body Music
• ·         Bob Dylan – Another Self Portrait
• ·         Charli XCX - True Romance
• ·         Darkside - Psychic
• ·         David Bowie - The Next Day
• ·         Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
• ·         Four Tet - Beautiful Rewind
• ·         Janelle Monae - Electric Lady
• ·         Jon Hopkins - Immunity
• ·         Julianna Barwick - Nepenthe
• ·         Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
• ·         Kanye West - Yeezus
• ·         Lady Gaga - ArtPop
• ·         Laura Marling – Once I Was an Eagle
• ·         My Bloody Valentine - mbv
• ·         Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven
• ·         Phoenix - Bankrupt!
• ·         The Field - Cupid's Head
• ·         Torres - Torres
• ·         Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt