1. To run a 2018 tournament and the Get To Know A Top 10 threads successfully.
2. To repeat my February Black History Month and March Women's History Month listening projects, but this time for the entire months. Will take a break in Get To Know A Top 10 for this, but would consider a loophole for the 2010 group diary if it is still in progress.
3. To buy a fairly nice turntable and start collecting vinyl now that I have a new job (as of today), but only with a very low hard price limit ($5 or $10?) and/or a strict budget.
4. To listen to more albums twice or more when I discover them.
1 & 2 were successful. 3 less so, in part because a mediocre turntable fell into my lap and I've been procrastinating on replacing the needle. 4 was not really successful.
In 2019 I spent a lot of time going through my library systematically to make sure I've listened to everything all the way through at least once, including comps. I'm getting close to finished with that project. That's one 2020 resolution.
Going to re-up 1 & 2, although obviously this time will be the 2019 tournament.
My final 2020 resolution is to have recently updated year charts with at least 50 albums for as many years as possible. I currently have just nine. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
oh man. a great success. i'm not gonna re-up this one cause i'm eating noodles this weekend, and my confidence is low, but i did have a successful year. i really need to up my ante anyhow.
this year, i'm resolved to finish something. anything. doesn't matter what. i have too many unfinished projects lying around and whatnot. they take up space, and it's disappointing looking back on the year and not having anything much to show for it creatively. made good progress on a lot of stuff, but yeah, i don't think i finished anything. _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
Jimmy DreadOld skool like Happy ShopperModeratorProfile 555 Dub Street
1. Find (...) Karma, Seefeel's Quique and Senay's Honki Ponki to add to the record shelf
2 out of 3 - picked up a 70s Japanese press of Pharoah Sanders' masterpiece and an original of the Seefeel LP. Still no Honki... its time will come...
Quote:
2. Start my vlog in the absence of having a proper job and make squillions from documenting my visits to record shops and buying more JA curios
Got a proper job literally the week after my gardening leave ended so didn't get the chance. In fact it's taken up pretty much all my spare time getting back in the 9-5 grind. Could do with sharing a few more of my musings with you groovers though, so keep an eye peeled on my diary where hopefully something might be afoot soonish.
Quote:
3. Visit a record shop somewhere outside of the UK (yet to do so)
Actually did this when I went on holiday to the Costa Del Sol, although it was a chain store with a pretty decent range of Spanish language LPs but no second hand unfortunately. Didn't buy anything, so kind of still on my radar - planning a trip to Madrid in March so might finally get a chance.
Quote:
4. Sell out of cassettes of my album and press it on vinyl to satisfy the masses, then get all copies bar 10 destroyed due to lack of sample clearance and it be worth over £1k before the end of the year
Got to record the bloody thing first. All the songs are written. Just stuck in my head.
As for 2020:
1. Find (a Vortex pressing of) Sonny Sharrock's Black Woman, The Field Mice's So Said Kay and Black Jade's Contempo (though chance of the latter would be a fine thing) to add to the record shelf,
2. DJ somewhere interesting - preferably a dub set - rather than at a half-empty pub, a mate's birthday or some nondescript party
3. Post some more on here, 'cos I've been pretty quiet as of late and haven't been giving you all as many digital dancehall and fingerpicked folk recommendations as i should have.
4. Record an album, sell squillions of copies and buy a yacht. It's going to happen one day, I tell thee... _________________ 'Reggae' & t'ing Folk 'n Stuff SHAMELESS RECORD DEALER PLUG
3. Visit a record shop somewhere outside of the UK (yet to do so)
Actually did this when I went on holiday to the Costa Del Sol, although it was a chain store with a pretty decent range of Spanish language LPs but no second hand unfortunately. Didn't buy anything, so kind of still on my radar - planning a trip to Madrid in March so might finally get a chance.
Madrid and Barcelona kinda have record shop 'districts'. Hang around Malasana enough and you'll find one. All of Barcelona's record stores are literally in a hundred metre clump. Being said, they're all kiiiinda similar and extremely rock/metal-centric (with smidges of jazz sections). I've found used sections in Spain are either a bin or two decent picks, or entire walls of dredge. Best thing I've found in Madrid was a pretty good 80's press of Rain Dogs for €10. Not entirely sure how up your alley the shops there will be, but wishing you all the best. Honestly, I've found the best place to buy records in Spain is Fnac (which... isn't as much fun, but they sure love Rosalia). _________________ Doubles & Conch
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
Things I'll never accomplish, but would be amazing if I did:
1) Finish my assessment of music from 500 to 1950. (possibly working backwards?)
2) Start doing year charts in earnest (review each year, starting with 2018, and work backwards).
3) More genre discovery - there's likely music in genre's I already like I need to discover more deeply.
Not too shabby... I'm in the 1750s... (well technically like antiquity to 1600 and then 1750 to 1720 or something)
Also did that Genre thing with stuff most people thought was a joke, but it turned out to be kinda fun way to discover/start digging into parent genres a little more seriously. (Actually I should probably finish that game and then dig into them more seriously/deliberately).
But no, I didn't do years. Didn't even really dig into 2018 at all... so maybe in 2020...??? haha. I'm happy with the progress I've made. Probably too much to bite off all in one year in any seriousness anyway.
So yeah, I'm going to tie my shoes this year. (or not let the noodles fall out of my mouth)
Oh and not so seriously, I'm starting to rate movies on RYM.
I'm still plugging. Can't believe another year has gone by. This year went by so fast with high demands.
I'm in 1859 now in my music history project. Kind of wishing I was further along, but when you have 4 hour operas counting as a single album it's less easy going. I also rounded out the top 500 on both BEA and RYM in the canon game and am now rounding out the 1001 albums list.
2018 and 2019 and 2020 will have to wait unless something amazing comes along, even if I wanted to do a better 2010s chart (good lord is mine bad).
Excited to get into early 20th century stuff like early jazz/pre-album era stuff... hoping to round that out by end of year, but likely will just make a good start.
Also Tap kinda inspired me to re-listen to more music. So every now and then I'll pop on a playlist of music I discovered/have liked and just listen to that instead of being so "serious" about my spreadsheets and shit.
My end goal of course is to "deliberately survey everything I want and then cherish the good" - so far that journey has taken 4 years... which is kind of ridiculous. Sometimes I feel guilty with how much time I spend with music (not in a single day, but how much of my overall life) [also with how much I suck still on being able to bring it all together/have a command over what I like/what's good]; but then other times I'm like, nah, I'll do this over watching a single episode of Friends or other mindless TV any day/any time.
ok so less random thoughts:
1) Finish my "art music" project (Western Music)
2) Finish a pre-album era "pop music" project, including Jazz/other genres in it's more serious forms too
3) Finish an album era years review ala dihansse (probably more a 2021 thing in all reality)
4) Finally enjoy music? haha (just kidding - but yeah maybe be ok with not tracking and trending and scoring and reviewing cuz I like data too much/process or internalize better when I am more conscious/deliberate about what I think about something, kinda maybe)
Last edited by RoundTheBend on 01/01/2020 22:53; edited 1 time in total
Jimmy DreadOld skool like Happy ShopperModeratorProfile 555 Dub Street
Honestly, I've found the best place to buy records in Spain is Fnac (which... isn't as much fun, but they sure love Rosalia).
It was a Fnac I visited whilst in Marbella (and bought Fnac all from). They did have a few Brazilian represses (Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, etc.) on the Spanish Elemental label which were about double the price they were going for back home, and seemed pretty well-stocked with all the run-of-the-mill stuff, but nothing that made me reach for my Euros. Instead I bought my lad a Beanie Boo dog from the toy section which he seems rather fond of. _________________ 'Reggae' & t'ing Folk 'n Stuff SHAMELESS RECORD DEALER PLUG
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
Upon reading baystateoftheart's that reminds me that I listened to my full iTunes collection for the first time since like 2011 when I started using Spotify and this site to discover more music. All 12134 items/1111 albums, 32.8 days, and 109 GB... hehe. Back then that was a big deal kinda. Now it's a single binge watch away from infinite content.
babyBlueSedanUsed to be sort of blind, now can sort of seeProfile
1. Write more reviews on RYM. I enjoy writing reviews and chart descriptions for albums but a lot of times they never make it out of my head. I don't want to assign a number but I want to do at least a few every month.
I wrote 23 reviews this year, including at least one every calendar month except in December (more on that later). You can find me as GiveUpComeTo on RYM if you're interested. For some reason though even when I'm in the mood for writing about an album I always get writer's block and they never end up sounding quite like what's in my head. Maybe the subsequent "at least one a month" goal got into my head. Going forward I'll probably only write them if I'm really in the mood.
babyBlueSedan wrote:
2. Finish and publish my hip hop chart and make other genre charts for folk and maybe emo
I did a hip hop one! It's here. I also started a punk one, but I don't think I'm going to finish it, which is unfortunate because it has a really great name. While surveying other potential genres I realized there are a few bands I really like in every genre, so my charts would usually be pretty heavy on certain artists. Hip hop was like this too, but not to the same extent as punk, emo, or folk would have been. So instead of focusing on genres, I started focusing on songs by certain artists. In December I put together a list of my favorite Modest Mouse songs, which you can find here. I might put together more of these, but they'll only be 10 or 20 songs and the descriptions won't be nearly as in-depth.
As for this year:
1. Update my overall chart at least once. It's crazy how quickly this gets out of date.
2. Stop thinking so much about the rating I'm going to give an album while I'm listening to it. This has really become a problem lately, and it make me enjoy albums less.
3. Related to 2, listen to new albums or favorites more often. Most of my listens lately have been to albums I'm unsure of my opinion on in an attempt to solidify my opinion. But there's really no reason I have to have a strong opinion on everything and would rather spend time listening to things I love or new things I might love.
4. Go to more concerts. I think I only went to 1 last year and I have 2 lined up for this year so hopefully I'll be able to do it! _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
It's the opening lyrics to this song by Cloud Nothings. I don't remember why I decided to make it different, I must have been really into Cloud Nothings at the time. I like my BEA username a lot better. _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
baystateoftheart
craola
Jimmy Dread
Hayden
RoundTheBend
babyBlueSedan
