A list…

Without going into great detail, my friend Simon got me hooked on a list-making exercise. The task: list your favourite albums (favoured for various personal or technical reasons) for every year you’ve been alive.

This posed many problems, as anyone who loves music would discover. Firstly, how does one pick only *one* album from, let’s say 2004 when there were so many great releases (“Louden Up Now” by !!! being a notable casualty). What about albums that – while not “great” – represent a moment in time for the listener which can never be replaced (I’m thinking “Pod” by The Breeders).

As Simon later shared with me, after we’d posted our lists, there are Sophie’s Choice moments: which albums do you choose to include and which do you decide to cast away? Heart-breaking, really. And then, of course, there are those years which for the individual are barren (mid-80s, mid-90s) of truly wonderful music…choosing between two or more great releases is one thing; at least you can make a choice. What do you do when there’s nothing particularly good? (Hint: you hold your nose and spin the wheel.)

And of course, after you make these choices, you inevitably bolt out of your sleep in the middle of the night, screaming “Why didn’t I pick The The? Nooo!”. Oh, the horror. In any case, these are what I picked. Try it some day – it’s hard, but sorta fun at the same time (he says).

The list:

1970 – Cosmo’s Factory, Creedence Clearwater Revival
1971 – Pearl, Janis Joplin
1972 – Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
1973 – Stranded, Roxy Music
1974 – 1969: Velvet Underground Live, The Velvet Underground *
1975 – Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin
1976 – Fly Like An Eagle, Steve Miller Band
1977 – Marquee Moon, Television
1978 – Street Hassle, Lou Reed
1979 – The Wall, Pink Floyd
1980 – Scary Monsters, David Bowie
1981 – Tattoo You, The Rolling Stones
1982 – Shoot Out The Lights, Richard and Linda Thompson
1983 – Rock ‘n Soul, Pt. 1, Hall & Oates
1984 – Couldn’t Stand The Weather, Stevie Ray Vaughan
1985 – This Nation’s Saving Grace, The Fall
1986 – The Colour of Spring, Talk Talk
1987 – The Joshua Tree, U2 ***
1988 – If I Should Fall From Grace With God, The Pogues
1989 – tie: Girls Girls Girls, Elvis Costello **
1989 – tie: Doolittle, Pixies
1990 – Passages, Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass
1991 – Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, Henryk Gorecki
1992 – Whale Music, The Rheostatics
1993 – The Sound of Speed, The Jesus and Mary Chain**
1994 – Bee Thousand, Guided By Voices
1995 – Alien Lanes, Guided By Voices
1996 – Murder Ballads, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds ***
1997 – September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill, Various
1998 – The Italian Flag, Prolapse
1999 – Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada, Godspeed You Black Emperor! ****
2000 – Kid A, Radiohead
2001 – Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
2002 – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco
2003 – tie:Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, Do Make Say Think
2003 – tie: Fever To Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2004 – N’Ecoutez Pas, Fly Pan Am
2005 – No Wow, The Kills ***
2006 – Glissandro 70, Glissandro 70
2007 – Tromatic Reflexxions, Von Südenfed
2008 – Au Contraire, Pas Chic Chic

* (technically, it came out in ’74 even though it was recorded in ’69)

** (compilations, but I say it’s fair)

*** (arguably terrible years for albums, music, and mankind)

**** (of all the years, there was simply nothing I could slot in here that I was really happy with)