It isn't a matter of scoring and grading, PE. I listen to three or four albums and simply note "Hey, I enjoyed this one more."

The point is, this approach irons out unconscious prejudices...which I have, and you have, and everyone has. Unconscious prejudices which caused me to underrate Archer Prewitt and LCD Soundsystem, and overrate Decemberists. Your reaction to an album is affected by your expectations for that album, that artist, or that genre. Just like everyone else's. This approach corrects this, and allows me not to waste time listening to albums I don't really like. It's the only way I find I can truly be fair.

It's not about any of those shallow things you accuse it of being about. It's just trying to get an accurate representation of my own tastes.

Which approach irons out the prejudices? Giving a rating? Or rating month-by-month? I fail to see how giving something an arbitrary numeric score roots out prejudices. I don't use the scoring approach, but I don't waste time listening to albums I don't like either.

I completely agree with you that expectations matter, and I don't think you can root that out. I expected the new Spoon to be different than it was, and I probably won't ever like it as much as someone who wasn't into Spoon before they heard Gimme Fiction, but I don't see how it's possible for me to ever hear it as a new Spoon fan would. There's no Rawlsian veil of ignorance I can climb under for that one. I try not to have expectations, but it's not possible to avoid them.

In the case of Spoon, though, I took what your raves to heart and gave it another go-around, and liked it more. Mark did the same thing for me last summer, prompting me to bring Wilco's AGIB (which I had written off) back out, and it grew on me greatly. I never was claiming that I don't let other people's opinions help guide me...but I can't like something because someone else does (ex: Pinkerton, In the Aeroplane...)

I agree with pE her Bob. I don't see at all how your analytic approach to music helps you iron out personal prejudice. Please explain. Also, I guess I've known other people who have liked to rank their music tastes, but I've never been able to see where the fun is in that. I'm thinking of your cataloging of the best albums of every year (where you are up to 79-80) even more than the way you treat new music. I've always found that half of the fun of listening to music was the strange paths that bring me to new albums. Thinking back on how one album led to another, completely different band who may have been connected through a third band I had heard once and liked. I think if I were simply reading off lists and systematically picking up 'the great albums from each year' I would get bored quickly. I'm interested in what you get out of your approach that I dont see.

I think you misunderstand my approach. I *don't* give numeric values.

What I do is..listen to four albums side by side, and while they are in short term memory, simply record which one I enjoyed more than the others on that particular listen. This does help iron out prejudices because...well, I'm rating them while they're all still strongly in my memory, and not in retrospect. If it was rating it wouldn't work, but I'm not saying 'this gets a 9, this gets a 7.' I'm saying 'This one gives me more pleasure than this one.' Enough comparisons and you know which ones you're really enjoying more.

I'm not saying everyone should do this, I'm just saying it's more accurate than trying to compare enjoyment between two albums you listened to a few months ago. When you're comparing two albums that aren't strongly in your memory, you can't remember everything, and your biases 'fill in the blanks' for what you remember.

If I *didn't* do this comparitive listening thing, here's what I bet I would have done. I would have decided that Arular and Picaresque are the best albums of the year so far, and committed to putting them at the top of my list. So any other album that wasn't by a band I expect to be great like White Stripes or Sleater-Kinney would have had to be way better than Arular or Picaresque in order to dethrone them.

I have derived lots of pleasure from 'I Am A Bird Now' lately, and if I just went by my impressions from memory I wouldn't have listened to it more than once or twice after I bought it.

--

As for my year by year thing....I simply want to expose myself to as much good music as possible, and this is an arbitrary way to be thorough. When people are talking about some music they think is great and I've never heard about, I get the feeling I'm missing out on that music. Like, all those indie bands nobody I know listens to that you all talk about, I want to know what I'm missing. Going by year gives me direction.

I tend to play my newest records the most at any particular time, as well as those I just can't keep out of the player. Now, when the year gets further along, I compile a list, and as well as listening to my newer music the most, I start playing ALL the records on my list in their order to decide how to fine-tune and tweak my list in time to at least put one up here. Of course, even after we turn over to 2006, I won't put out a Final, Final list because there will always be the ones which fell through the cracks which made some other lists, so I'll want to go back and compare.

That's near what I do, except random order and quarterly.

Heck...all this talk about ratings...it's overrated!

I'm really enjoying Spoon and Architecture In Helsinki right now because of some of you guys here. That's all I'm listening to right now (ok, some Jaga, Caribou and M83 thrown in, 'cause they are sooo good). Some new ear candy, to which I cannot rate/not rate yet cause I'm too busy listening and keeping up with some of your suggestions....

Still haven't listened to P:ano-Brigadoon yet(picked up last week) but haven't seen on anyone's list......Anyone hear this yet????

.....back to Spoon.....

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
As for my year by year thing....I simply want to expose myself to as much good music as possible, and this is an arbitrary way to be thorough. When people are talking about some music they think is great and I've never heard about, I get the feeling I'm missing out on that music. Like, all those indie bands nobody I know listens to that you all talk about, I want to know what I'm missing. Going by year gives me direction.

That's an admirable project, I think. I've thought of trying to do it for genres I don't know well enough (jazz, hip hop, classical)...make a list of things I should have and start picking them up. Going year by year seems like a reasonable move. I would imagine the tangential connections that KLT is mentioning come to fruition in a year-by-year move. If you pick up an Elvis Costello record and really like it, you might be inclined to get another, even if it's not from the year(s) you're working on.

I misunderstood your rating system. Given that, on your blog, you give numeric reviews, I assumed that was the measurement. I listen to several records at a time, as well, and the cream usually rises to the top. Of course, some will always miss me on the first go around. Some records that I treasure today (David Gray's Flesh, Echo and the Bunnymen's What Are You Going to Do With Your Life) I didn't appreciate until well over a year after I got them. I s'pose I could simply buy fewer records (so I can pay attention to all of them) but that wouldn't be much fun, would it?

01. The Decemberists - Picaresque
02. The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
03. M.I.A. - Arular
04. The Hold Steady - Seperation Sunday
05. Iron and Wine - Woman King EP
06. Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness
07. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
08. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
09. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
10. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

11. Edan - Beauty and the Beat
12. Matt Sweeney & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Superwolf
13. Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
14. The Fiery Furnaces - EP
15. M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us
16. M. Ward - Transistor Radio
17. 13 & God - 13 & God
18. The Books - Lost and Safe
19. Shining - In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster
20. Black Mountain - Black Mountain

May update:

1.(2) Caribou
2.(1) Out Hud
3.(-) Jaga
4.(-) Architecture In Helsinki
5.(5) M83
6.(3) Lemon Jelly
7.(-) Spoon
8.(4) Fiery Furnaces - EP
9.(7) Prefuse73
10.(6) QOTSA.

Bubbling:
(-) Edan
(-) Dalek
(9) M.I.A.
(-) NIN

Sufjan Stevens upped the release of his new album to June 5th because it's already on the internet!

(That just strengthened the Apr-Jun competition quite a bit...)

Plus...a week ago, no way in hell I'd even consider getting a System of a Down album. But the track I acquired is starting to impress me, and Playlouder just gave it '5 heads' in addition to the 87 it already has... I don't know..maybe I will get it.

System is a great heavy band...give them a try...undoubtedly one of the few bands you think you'll hate at first, but after a few listens you'll be nodding and thinking, "shit...this is good..."

Hey, you know, it just occurred to me..

With Sufjan's release date change, Coldplay, White Stripes, and Sufjan Stevens' new albums are all coming out on the same day.

These are three strong top ten contenders.

I just got a weird idea to separate out the new millenium releases from my 'top 100' list, then integrate them some point in the future when they've really had time to sink in better..maybe sometime when I'm really, really bored I'll work on that.

yeah, the new system of a down is incredible. they're easily one of the most innovative bands in rock right now.

1. System of a Down - Mezmerize
2. Oneida - The Wedding
3. Low - The Great Destroyer
4. Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
5. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
6. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Horses in the Sky
7. The Impossible Shapes - Tum
8. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
9. Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze
10. Ida - Heart Like a River

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Hey, you know, it just occurred to me..

With Sufjan's release date change, Coldplay, White Stripes, and Sufjan Stevens' new albums are all coming out on the same day.

I don't care much about the White Stripes,and I really don't like the first single from that one, but add the US release of the new Teenage Fanclub to the mix, and that's a good day for new releases for me. I really liked the last two Sufjan Stevens discs, and the buzz on the new one makes me hope it's as good as Michigan or Seven Swans.

The first single from Get Behind Me Satan doesn't sound much like the rest of the album. Guitar isn't as angry, his voice isn't as Princey. It's different, but really good. A few of the tracks kind of have a country feel (maybe influenced by his work with Loretta Lynn?). I need to listen a few more times to really get a full grasp on it.

Well, PE, I don't think much of Coldplay (I think they're 'solidly above average'). I included them because many people see them as a top ten contender.

The point is, a lot of smart people are going to like all three of these albums a whole lot, and they're all coming out on the same day.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Well, PE, I don't think much of Coldplay (I think they're 'solidly above average'). I included them because many people see them as a top ten contender.

The point is, a lot of smart people are going to like all three of these albums a whole lot, and they're all coming out on the same day.

I think you took my comment a little personally, chief. I wasn't casting aspersions on what you were or weren't going to pick up...only pointing out that, even sans White Stripes, it was going to be a good week for me. But you put far more value into what the "smart people" think of records than I do, and I bet you more of them will like the White Stripes than Coldplay.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
But you put far more value into what the "smart people" think of records than I do.

Eh, a pox on the so-called smart ones....

"Anniemal" gets a Stateside release on June 7th and I am so gonna pick up that one.

...along with the new Dressy Bessy and any other syrupy, poppy delights that might catch my summertime fancy.

Did I mention that "Lemon Love" by Aslyn is a real corker?

You might have taken that 'smart people' comment a little personally as well...

Maybe 'smart people' was the wrong word, but I only meant that the folks who are only into mainstream radio stuff and don't open their mind to stuff their friends aren't litening to don't really count. Because if they did, in talking about 'the music people think is the best' would be confined within crap like 'Hollaback Girl'.

And you seem to have somehow gotten the idea that professional reviews somehow change my opinion of a piece. I use reviews to inform my purchases, because I have little else to go on. Period.

Why does it seem every time I say anything, it gets interpreted in the most creatively scandalous way possible? It gets annoying.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bobthespirit,