Year by Year Favourite Albums

[Mike]

I will now listen to:
The Cure - Faith
Elvis Costello - Trust
Au Pairs - Playing with a Different Sex

Your favorite 81 records better be good. But I trust you and have faith. Hahahaha

[Kevin Davis]

For what it's worth, I really like "Trust," but it was kind of a "favorite by default" pick -- I don't have a lot from that year either.

[bada]

The correct answer for '81 is Ghost in The Machine.

[Norah]

2015: The Mynabirds - Lovers Know
2014: St. Vincent - St. Vincent
2013 :Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe
2012: Fiona Apple - The idler Wheel...
2011: St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
2010: The Mynabirds - What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood
2009: St. Vincent - Actor
2008: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
2007: Bon iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
2006: Beck - The Information
2005: Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
2004: Arcade Fire - Funeral
2003: Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
2002: Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2001: Bob Dylan - Love & Theft
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
1999: Tom Waits - Mule Variations
1998: Pearl Jam - Yield
1997: Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
1996: Pearl Jam - No Code
1995: Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
1994: Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
1993: Pearl Jam - VS
1992: Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
1991: REM - Out of Time
1990: Sonic Youth - Goo
1989: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
1988: REM - Green
1987: ???
1986: Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Blood and Chocolate
1985: The Cure - Head on the Door
1984: REM - Reckoning
1983: Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
1982: Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
1981: Kraftwerk - Computerwelt
1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light
1979: Talking Heads - Fear of Music
1978: Devo - Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!
1977: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
1976: ???
1975: Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
1974: Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1972: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1971: The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies
1970: Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
1968: Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
1967: The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
1966: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
1965: Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
1964: Sam Cooke - Ain't That Good News
1963: Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

[Birds in Hell]

1960: Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
1961: Bill Evans Trio - Explorations
1962: Bill Evans and Jim Hall - Undercurrent
1963: Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and Sinner Lady
1964: Muddy Waters - Folk Singer

These are great selections; had I gone back past '64 they are almost certainly the exact records I'd have chosen, though for '61 I probably would have picked Coltrane at the Village Vanguard.

I'm a bit uncertain about my 1964 pick, I had relatively slim pickings for that year. Folk Singer is definitely great but when I reach for a Muddy Waters album it's almost always 1958's The Best of Muddy Waters compilation. I could've kept the Beatles run going by opting for A Hard Day's Night (and I almost did) but I feel much more strongly about Rubber Soul and Revolver. I have Coltrane Live at Birdland but haven't really spent enough time with it to place it in the same company as the other records in my list.

I would almost claim the opposite of your second paragraph, though -- I find there's a fair amount of personal significance behind my rating of music from years where I was actively engaged with it, as I feel like I have a distinct connection with how I processed those records against other music that came out at the time. Last year, I remember "Lost in the Dream" really standing out among other music that was coming out at the same time, and identifying with it against that backdrop. I don't have that same connection with stuff that came out in the '60's, say -- at that point it's just picking a favorite album from a pile of CD's that share a copyright date. Our cutoffs are about the same, though -- once I hit the early '90's, the nature of the process begins to change...

Yes, it's definitely a different kind of engagement. I don't know if it's simply attributable to insecurity about my tastes, though I can't put my finger on why that would be much less acute in relation to an album that was released before I was born than one I bought upon release. Maybe I feel as though I bear a greater responsibility for the latter in some way.

If I were to have continued, I was possibly going with Mudhoney's Piece of Cake (1992), Vs (1993) and Superunknown (1994). I still have a somewhat tortured relationship with music from that period - on one hand, I feel kind of embarrassed for enjoying it however I can't deny I really love those records and they've played a role in shaping my tastes. Perhaps part of me wishes that wasn't the case, I guess, but that's tempered by a sense of indignant stubbornness in which I insist to myself that those records are genuinely pretty good and it's OK to simply enjoy them for what they are. Perhaps the best explanation is that, after I got into music in a significant way, I spent a lot of time immersing myself in music criticism and journalism and hanging out with a lot of people 10-15 years older than I was through getting involved in a radio station and playing in bands. There was definitely a lot of criticism flowing towards that 'alternative rock' explosion of the early-to-mid 90s from people who had been involved in the independent scenes in the 70s or 80s and I think I've internalised a lot of those opinions to the point where it's hard not to feel a sense of guilt for enjoying that music, even though I can recognise the absurdity of feeling that way.

[BurtReynolds]

we're here for you when you're ready.

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, this went a bit strange. Sorry, guys.

[zeb]

If I were to have continued, I was possibly going with Mudhoney's Piece of Cake (1992), Vs (1993) and Superunknown (1994). I still have a somewhat tortured relationship with music from that period - on one hand, I feel kind of embarrassed for enjoying it however I can't deny I really love those records and they've played a role in shaping my tastes. Perhaps part of me wishes that wasn't the case, I guess, but that's tempered by a sense of indignant stubbornness in which I insist to myself that those records are genuinely pretty good and it's OK to simply enjoy them for what they are.

A man who renounces Superunknown is no man at all.

[LoathedVermin72]

R U OK, Spen?

[Kevin Davis]

Yeah, this went a bit strange. Sorry, guys.

It's cool, man. This type of thing is way more enjoyable to me than a list any day.

I'd also wager that any big-time music fan who says they've never felt any insecurity over their tastes is full of shit.

[Birds in Hell]

R U OK, Spen?

Thank you for asking, LV - I'm doing fine. I just think about this stuff, y'know?

I will now listen to:
The Cure - Faith
Elvis Costello - Trust
Au Pairs - Playing with a Different Sex

Your favorite 81 records better be good. But I trust you and have faith. Hahahaha

Faith will hopefully not disappoint. It's a fantastic record.

[Kevin Davis]

As an aside: "Live at Birdland" is a weird release -- the live tracks are great, the studio tracks are great, but they don't seem to belong together for any compelling reason (though oddly enough, my favorite track on that album is the bonus track, "Vilia"). A lot of jazz records are like this, unfortunately -- unrelated sessions cobbled together by producers in the interest of flooding the market with product, which is part of why albums like "Sketches of Spain" and "The Black Saint..." feel especially precious.

[ridleybradout]

2015: Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybeer

[BurtReynolds]

Work in progress:

2015: Foals - What Went Down
2014: War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
2013: The National - Trouble Will Find Me
2012: Torche - Harmonicraft
2011: Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
2010: The Sword - Warp Riders (almost: Rainbows are Free - Believers in Medicine)
2009: Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid (shit year)
2008: Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
2007: Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
2006: My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
2005: Sigur Ros - Takk (maybe Beck - Guero)
2004: Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
2003: Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts Of The Great Highway
2002: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2001: Pinback - Blue Screen Life
2000: Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica
1999: Pinback - Pinback
1998: Pearl Jam - Yield
1997: Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West
1996: Pearl Jam - No Code
1995: Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut?
1994: Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley
1993: Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
1992: PJ Harvey - Dry
1991: Pearl Jam - Ten
1990: The Breeders - Pod
1989: Pixies - Doolittle
1988: NWA - Straight Outta Compton
1987: Guns N' ROses - Appetite For Destruction
1986: Metallica - Master of Puppets
1985: The Jesus And Mary Chain - Psychocandy
1984: Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
1983: Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
1982: Missing Persons - Spring Session M
1981: The Gun Club - Fire of Love
1980: Motorhead - Ace of Spades

Eh it gets pretty boring before that. The usual suspects.

[Kaius]

I like your style, Reynolds.

[BurtReynolds]

I like your style, Reynolds.

[Kevin Davis]

Mr. Beast was '06, Burt.

[LetMeSleep]

Except his list indicates he has never heard Number Of The Beast or Piece Of Mind. Pathetic.

[Kaius]

His 80s selections are dodgy, but everything after makes up for it.

[Kaius]

All of your lists are wonderful. I love them all totally and equally.