Thinning the herd: 2017

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rkm





  • #1
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 01:16
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My 2017 album list grew to about 55 through the year. It's my task this month to get it down to 30-35. This is my self-imposed limit.

I've got other loose rules I follow each year, based around trying to represent my tastes and personality.

There are broad things I know will be represented: a dose of rock, a big dose of singer/songwriter, a portion of country/folk/Americana, and jazz.

Then there's narrower interests I try and find each year: at least one R&B/Soul album, one ambient album, one soundtrack or crossover classical album, one guitar nerd album, one faith-based album, one Australian album (where I'm from), one blues album, one world music album.

Having carefully created lists for every year, I'm at a point where I think I've become fairly familiar with my own musical DNA, and could probably map it out on a pie chart. It's enjoyable to listen to music beyond those limits, but also satisfying at the end of the year, to whittle the list down to things I know I really connect with, which unfortunately also means letting go of some very good music.

Anyone else thinning the herd? What are your rules and limits? What's your musical DNA?
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rkm





  • #2
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 01:30
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This morning I let go of "Balsams" by Chuck Johnson in favour of Brian Eno's "Reflection". They're not really that similar, but I only have enough room for one ambient sort of album. Eno's album is one long track, which makes it harder to latch onto, but then again that's the idea of an ambient album. Johnson's album sounds like Lanois, maybe too much like Lanois, and is warm and enveloping. The compositions are shorter, and easier to latch on to. I've enjoyed it this year, but I feel like I've worn it out.


Balsams by Chuck Johnson


Reflection by Brian Eno
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
United States

  • #3
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 03:34
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Great questions. I'm pretty confident in my top 20 or so (as I said in another thread). I'm also attempting to review the year more earnestly than I probably ever have before.

So many albums are crap and then some I just don't realize are great slow burners or growers (elbow at first I thought was a bit boring and now I'm loving it).

Rules - idk.

I do like what I think Craola said once - give it a pass fail. I'm thinking I'll do that for my discovery processes (not sure WHEN something fails or passes quite yet). It's simple kind of and I complicate it - more or less does it suck or not. Do I like it or not.

Like I'm not gonna do top 30 or bust and even if I really like something I'm only doing a certain number. I will though very likely not have crap albums on my list. That's one thing I want to work on - getting my year charts in order. Right now my year charts are more or less listening lists/things I've listened to, not necessarily 90+ albums or whatever from that year. Some of my year charts are pretty pitiful.

Musical DNA:
I think I said it earlier... something like:
Swing/Jazz (not a fan of free jazz)
Classical (mostly Baroque to Early Romantic)
Alternative Rock (ala 80s/90s) - children of hippies
Actual Hippies or the sort - of the late 60s/early 70s
Hip-hop/Rap - I can't really dial in which kind... it's pretty random
"Good?" Folk/singer songwriter

Themes: Humanity & Philosophy - basically things that are emotionally and intellectually pleasing/honest/real (not challenging for the sake of being challenging)
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
United States

  • #4
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 03:37
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Random thought I as I listen to my 2017 playlist...

It doesn't matter what my final "product" is for my list... what matters is I enjoyed discovering music of 2017.

It also doesn't matter I found a bunch of amazing new artists who debuted after 2010 (kind of long term vision of why I'm on this site, even if I still suck at it 6 years later). If I did naturally, great.
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babyBlueSedan
Used to be sort of blind, now can sort of see


Gender: Male
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  • #5
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 04:36
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Musically this is my favorite time of the year - finalizing my year end list and watching publications' lists for anything that I missed that I might like. Right now I feel like I'm doing the opposite of trimming down my list, as I'm listening to a bunch of stuff that I didn't get around to earlier in the year. But I'm also reevaluating some of the stuff I already had discovered to create a final year-end ranking. I find that I'm a little stricter by the end of the year so my ratings will more accurately reflect how I feel about certain albums.

I don't have many strict criteria for my final list - it's just the albums I enjoyed the most. This is my fourth year listening to a decent chunk of albums, and I typically come out to liking about a third of the albums I hear enough to add them to my collection. That's really my main criteria - my final ratings and rankings are less important than figuring out what my definitive albums of the year are. I'm at around 30 out of 100 this year so I'm right on pace for my usual percentage. I'll probably do a few more new listens this weekend and then work on revisiting all the ones I'm not sure about after that.
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rkm





  • #6
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 05:27
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sethmadsen wrote:

I do like what I think Craola said once - give it a pass fail. I'm thinking I'll do that for my discovery processes (not sure WHEN something fails or passes quite yet). It's simple kind of and I complicate it - more or less does it suck or not. Do I like it or not.


I think I've become pretty discerning regarding a pass or fail reaction. I know when I have no interest in returning to an album. The bit that I find frustrating, is that sometimes an album can seem good but not great, until I hear it in a different context (in the car, on headphones, late at night, cloudy day), and then somehow an album that I could've dismissed, becomes indispensable.

And sometimes albums that are immediately gratifying wear thin, while less obvious ones are growers.

This one has been a grower of late.


Out Of Silence by Neil Finn
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rkm





  • #7
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 05:31
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sethmadsen wrote:


Musical DNA:
I think I said it earlier... something like:
Swing/Jazz (not a fan of free jazz)
Classical (mostly Baroque to Early Romantic)
Alternative Rock (ala 80s/90s) - children of hippies
Actual Hippies or the sort - of the late 60s/early 70s
Hip-hop/Rap - I can't really dial in which kind... it's pretty random
"Good?" Folk/singer songwriter

Themes: Humanity & Philosophy - basically things that are emotionally and intellectually pleasing/honest/real (not challenging for the sake of being challenging)


Do you like any contemporary jazz, say from the 90's onwards?
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Tap
to resume download


Gender: Female
Age: 38
United States

  • #8
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 05:33
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I've heard 11 2017 releases just in the past week, I'm more of a herd thickener
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rkm





  • #9
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 05:39
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babyBlueSedan wrote:

Right now I feel like I'm doing the opposite of trimming down my list, as I'm listening to a bunch of stuff that I didn't get around to earlier in the year.


Me too. I'm adding things as quickly as I'm deleting other things.
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad



Location: Ground Control
United States

  • #10
  • Posted: 12/08/2017 06:21
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Tap wrote:
I've heard 11 2017 releases just in the past week, I'm more of a herd thickener


Laughing

That's awesome.

There's no such thing as a staple or a standard. F the norm.

And I'm all like, who are the Beatles again? Laughing
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