No Year End Music List This Year
Longtime readers will recall that in the early days of this blog, I would spend the last days of the year posting about music. I'd post a record every day for 10 to 14 days. These would be my top records of the year. Then a few years ago, I stopped doing that and went to a single post with my top ten records of the year (usually with a few extras thrown in for good measure). Here is last year's post for example.
This year, as hard as I tried, I could not get up for doing it. It's not that I am losing interest in music. Far from it. I am more into music right now than I have ever been.
As I've been pondering my complete lack of interest in a top ten records post over the past few weeks, I've come to the conclusion that it is the result of two factors. The first is that I don't listen to records much anymore. And the second is that I don't collect music anymore. I guess the two are related.
For me music has become real time, all the time. My current music experience is like a twitter feed. Music comes at me from everywhere on every device I own. I'm on turntable.fm at 5am hanging in the indie while you work room. I'm on soundcloud on my android at the gym at 7am. I'm listening to my girls' recent listens on rdio on sonos over breakfast at home. I'm on the ex.fm app on my android on the subway to work. I'm listening to fredwilson.fm on my computer at work. I'm watching my son's friends YouTube music videos on our kitchen iPad before dinner. I'm listening on the hype machine app on boxee on my family room TV after dinner. And it goes on like that all the day, until I get into bed and go to sleep.
Instead of getting obsessed about a record, I get obsessed about a song. I listen to it over and over. Then eventually I move on. But not before posting it to my tumblr and my music stream. fredwilson.fm is like my delcious feed for music, but you can listen to it. If you want to know what I was into in 2011, that's probably the best thing to do.
But if you don't have 21 hours (that's how long it will take to listen to the past twelve months of my music stream), then here are a few songs I'm obsessed with at the moment.
Comments (Archived):
first
first reply 🙂
Hey Fred – gotta tell you…for us west coasters, you posting late everyday is a true gift. I miss being up at 8AM EST and catching your posts as they come out! (Maybe I could talk you into posting this late in the New Year…?) :-)I completely hear you on the the repetitive listening to songs over and over again. I had this going in the office for a full week before I got sick of it, and thanks to Spotify, everyone knew I had hit Ellie Goulding 8 hours a day for 7 days.http://lights.elliegoulding.com/
it will end on Jan 2nd or Jan 3rd. not sure which.
Oh well, worth a try anyways. Now I just have to convince Mr. Suster to post everyday at 8AM PST, and I’ll be back to my old routine
My current obsession by a band in Toronto that is amazing live http://wildlifeband.bandcam…
strange that they have a soundcloud page but no music on ithttp://soundcloud.com/wildl…
The shift away from albums (in terms of purchasing, at least) is very cool. Being able to consume at that rate is phenomenal, and the ability to listen to nearly any song at any time is great. You use a TON of services for content consumption though – more than a casual user would, I suspect.When does consolidation/contraction in the space happen? I feel like that step will be critical for mainstream adoption (even if it’s an aggregator service that links others together).
it is happening. pandora, spotify, youtube, soundcloud are the big services if you look at listens per month
I use Spotify predominantly, because it’s what seems to fit me best. It’s great at passively sharing, and I think that’s going to be an important component of listening and discovery moving forward. At least those top three have or are releasing radio products (and I’m fairly ignorant of SoundCloud). But you use all of these services for a reason (presumably beyond industry research) – each offers some unique angle that you regard as worth your time. Can one of the big players really do everything (I think Turntable is a good example of a “feature” that you can’t add to another service easily)? Or will the sum of these services remain for the multi-service power users?
The album. Some say it was a cynical piece of commercial bundling to squeeze more money out of consumers (and it was), and others say it was an art form (and it was).Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album was music as continuous art, and the technical clue being that each track merged with the next. Listening to any one track in isolation would not do the whole justice. Perhaps this is where modern music distribution and consumption may be killing aspects of the art or the development of the artist.What would Mozart have been if he’d lived before the musical instrument? How many Mozarts did live before the musical instrument? We’ll never know. How many Mozarts will live in the future and be marginalized by the future ‘technicalities’ of music? We’ll never know. Mozart was of his time. That’s all we can say.
I really like albums – that’s why Spotify works best for me. I like consuming art as the artist intended it. Sometimes you get some that have great songs, but together they’re not that impressive, but sometimes you certainly get albums that (even without breakout hits) are very beautiful in their own right.I don’t think that albums will go away in earnest, but to have the option to buy a really great song without paying $10 for the whole shebang is pretty valuable also. These options also allow an artist to create a spectacular song without needing to pull together an entire album, and I think that’s important as well.
I like to believe that the musical album is like the artist’s portfolio; an intentional symbiotic collection that belongs together. But I also realize that some artists might fall to pressure and stuff an album with inferior work. And that sucks.
I’m with you and Rob. I went through a phase for a few years where I wouldn’t buy an album if I didn’t want to listen to it front to back. Now I buy mostly live albums, or “older” stuff.
Growing up, it was all albums all the time. So, later on, when listening to the radio, I wondered why only 1 or 2 particular songs off an album got all the airplay – because to me, most if not all the songs were radio worthy. Naive perhaps, but there are albums out there where every track is supreme.
100% agree. Cliche examples, but Dark Side or Quadrophenia are even better as a whole than in pieces. What are some of your favorites looking back?
Van Morrison – Moondance and Tupelo HoneyDerek & The Dominos – Layla and Other Love SongsNeil Young – many early albumsBeatlesDire Straits – Making MoviesElton John – Tumbleweed ConnectionGrateful Dead – Workingman’s DeadEvery Steely Dan albumMost REMBrubeck – Take Five…OK, enough dating myself…I could do this all day!!
Great list Jim! Looks a lot like my most recent Pandora seed artist list.M
Did you see Steely Dan when they were here?They blew my mind live.
It takes me a while to get to the point here, so bear with me…Not so long ago (up to the mid-’60s or so) the standard practice in pop music was for labels to release a single (or a few singles) by an artist, and then get the artist to quickly record enough material for an LP if a single became popular.That approach flipped by the late ’60s, when it became common practice to release an LP and then promote a couple of individual tracks as a way to push sales of the LP. By the ’80s, the (physical) single was effectively dead — it was largely a marketing concept.The second approach produced some of the great pop albums, but I’m not convinced that it slowed down the rate of the “two singles and some filler” records at all. Because you *had* to have a full LP to get promotion, artists who didn’t really have enough solid material ready had to release what they could come up with in order to get promotion for their “fully baked” music.And now to the real point: what’s interesting to me about the current situation is not so much the unbundling of the album into individually purchasable units, but rather the ability for artists to release music at a different pace. Musicians can sell, and get marketing and attention for, a single track or small collection of songs (EP), even if they’re not ready to release a full length record.In an odd way, it’s like taking the best of both of the older models and combining them.
Good point.
Your mozart comment is really interesting. The history of Mozart is such that one of the reasons he was able to break away from the patronage system (His patron was the Archbishop of Saltzburg) was the development of the concert hall as an independent business and the development of printed sheet music as a way of gaining income. he changed the business model of music in the face of new technologies.So my questions are thus: Who is the next mozart to do the same with the current change, and how will s/he change the business model of music?
Fred Wilson, music impresario, Mozart of the 21st century?Poor young Mozart, hawked around the aristocracy of Europe looking for a backer. Should have gone to NYC.
:)Yeah, but he made good money once he stopped that. Albeit some that he poorly managed.I’m just curious what the new Mozart will do.
…and to think that I had considered that I might be going slightly crazy…not :-).With films on DVD (Yes, I buy them) I watch the same one again and again and again until somewhere in my mind the decision is made that I’ve taken in everything I need, until I’m satisfied. Right now it is Are The Kids All Right, which I think I’ve watched seven times in two weeks. I recommend this process because there’s so much nuance in the script and the dialogue that the writers have put in that definitely gets missed the first and second time. It has to be films of a certain quality though. This is such a film.Loop the loop and then fly straight.
what a great film
Lisa Cholodenko is a great director. Laurel Canyon also a fave and also with a really great soundtrack.
i can’t tell if you meant The Who, Annette Bening, or something else because that doesn’t appear to be the correctly phrased title :^)and i need to know because i’m attempting to queue films to watch this holiday weekend with my experimental home theatre setup. cheers.**edit: nabbed ’em both. Thx 4 the ideas!
It’s the sequal :-)’The Kids Are All Right’ is the correct sequence. A brain fart.
City and Colour – awesome. Thanks for sharing!!
thank them for sharing. i just shared it forward.
And so I shared it forward as well.
The sound track for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Saw it last night. Amazing…
i am going to see it this weekend for sure
Haven’t seen the American version. Saw all 3 Swedish movies. Heard the Swedish are better. Just sayin’.
Saw both.Story detail in the Swedish version was more involved and intricate and heady. Closer to the book.English version was really good. Sound and acting and production IMO make it a better film. Rooney Mara was amazing.This is a change for me though. Mostly Martha/No Reservations. La Femme Nikita remakes massively disappointed.
Thanks. I’ll see the American version eventually.Agree wholeheartedly on La Femme.Martha? Link?
Hi JimMostly Martha:http://www.imdb.com/title/t…I’m into food movies, probably because there are so few great wine movies.For food movies though, Tucci’s Big Night is still the best for me:http://www.imdb.com/title/t…
Have you seen Vatel with Gerard Depardieu (2000). Set in the 17th century, it recalls the days of famous chef Francois Vitel and his obsessions. He’s credited for inventing the creme Chantilly by merely forgetting it too long on the counter and returning to taste it with much surprise.http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…
Mostly Martha unfortunately not available for streaming on Netflix. 🙁
Bummer….That’s why I keep my Netflix DVD account. I’m a geek and there’s always something I can’t stream.iTunes has it though.
Did you see A Good Year Arnold? I thought it was a good wine movie, per your wine movie comment below.http://www.imdb.com/title/t…
Thanks for reminding me of that one Matthew. I’d forgotten about it and certainly, wine does play a role as a major character in it. The other two that jump to mind:Sideways:http://www.imdb.com/title/t… Bottleshock:http://www.imdb.com/title/t… are starting to be a couple of good documentaries made on the Natural Wine Movement and a friend who is finishing up some some films on the Douro Valley in Portugal that should be terrific. I’ll post them on my wine blog when available.
@disqus:disqus not letting me reply below…I was living in Napa Valley when Bottle Shock came out. The response locally was mixed – I thought it was really good.
They will be arguing over the facts of this one forever.Great story. Love the movie.BTW…got to spend an evening with George Taber (the journalist at the tasting in the movie) in Brescia, Italy in October. Interesting guy and after a long dinner and many (many!) bottles of wine with him, I’m accepting his side of the story as captured in his book.Have a great new years!
Slightly off topic Arnold, forgive me…..My Swedish friend’s actor brother in law was the audio book reader of the series. Apparently awesome, and before the movies of course. Having hung out with many Swedes my Swedish should be better, but not enough to muster that.Still can’t bring myself to see Dragon Tattoo – too violent for me. I am a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy girl, the original. Will see new version from great reviews by trusted sources, and Gary Oldman fan. But Alec does Smiley like no one.Have you seen TTSS? If so thoughts?
Haven’t seen TTSS yet. Will but there are a couple ahead of it.But when I think of Gary Oldman I still see him as Drexl Spivey in True Romance. Talk about crazy and violent!Have a great new years!
Don’t miss the opening credit sequence. Really amazing work and music.
Liked the cover of The Immigrant Song in the trailer. Probably not going to see the movie though.
Twas great. FYI, Someone said hello to me when I saw that movie. I only got a brief glance at the person, and I suspect it was someone from here. If you are that unnamed person, mind telling me who you are….
Not me, I’m in Rochester!
Thanks for sharing, Fred. Will check out. :)Here’s one of my songs of the moment..Pumped up Kicks by Foster the People – http://www.youtube.com/watc…
that is somewhere on my feed. probably early last year when that song first hit the internet. you might like this cover that i posted to my feed sometime this year http://fredwilson.vc/post/9…
Ah.. Thanks Fred. I love City and Color and Youth Lagoon!Here are a few more for the moment..1. Norwegian Recycling – Have you heard this guy before? Brilliant mash upshttp://www.youtube.com/watc… 2. Danse (French) – Gregoire http://www.youtube.com/watc… (Some other songs in his album toi + moi are great) 3. Fix you – Boyce Avenue Coverhttp://www.youtube.com/watc… 4. Waiting for my chance to come – Noah and the Whaleshttp://www.youtube.com/watc… 5. All of my Days – Alexi Murdochhttp://www.youtube.com/watc… And So Fast – Goldspot – I guess GG would like this 🙂 A bit poignant though.. :)http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Gotham Gal is a huge Goldspot fan
I’m getting three empty Chrome error embeds, then three “this sound is not currently available” on Soundcloud.I’ve tried and failed to go to the cloud for music. At some point that will stick, but it just isn’t working for me yet.I uploaded my music to Amazon Cloud Player and downloaded that app to my Android. The UI is absolutely awful and sucks all the beauty and creativity out of playing music. And my connection is so spotty at the gym that my music would stop half the time.I tried Spotify, but we don’t buy that much new music, and we buy individual songs mostly, so $10/month for mobile access was about right but pushing it. Then I found out my wife and I couldn’t simultaneously play music on our Spotify account. So that would be $20/month.So I’m back to iTunes on my computer, and syncing my music with DoubleTwist. The app on Android is absolutely beautiful. My music plays 100% of the time regardless of my data connection. It’s not perfect, but it’s what works right now.
it’s working fine for me in chrome. i wonder what the issue is.
I’m on a Verizon Mi-Fi connection. A new revenue stream from the record labels? ;)In all seriousness, this is a case study of the future of the Internet if SOPA passes.
A few were empty initially in Firefox, but all appeared after I refreshed the page.
Same with me Dave
Dude you’ve got awesome taste in music. Thanks a ton for turning me on to so many greats. Happy New Year to you, GG and the gang.
right back at to you. same exact message.
My music discovery comes from you and Fred both. Been really enjoying your top 2011 album Tumblr posts.Thanks and have a great new years!
Same to you Arnold!
thanks for showing interest on my tumblr page. ex.fm was one of my favorite surprises in 2011, hope you keep ripping it up in 2012.
Thank you Tyrone! It’s a great blog.
Like you, I struggled with my best of this year. I just didn’t feel like doing it.But I had to remind my friends I’m still the king of finding that perfect beat.Instead of 2 discs or 30 tracks this year I did 1 playlist of 10 sure hit songs. Songs that took up 80% of my listening time and were unique enough to show the sound of the future.Maybe I’ll just do 5 next year.
link please!!!!!!!
Most of these are electronic beats, not available on Spotify or any of the major streaming/download sites. Hence the Youtube links. I’ve starred the ones I think you’ll like based on your tastes:Holy Other – Touch: http://www.youtube.com/watc… **Tropics – Mouves: http://www.youtube.com/watc… Floating Points – Arp 3: http://www.youtube.com/watc… Braille – Breakup: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Old Apparatus – Hammerhand: http://www.youtube.com/watc… Zomby – Labyrinth: http://www.youtube.com/watc… Koreless – 4d: http://www.youtube.com/watc… Instra:mental – When I Dip: http://www.youtube.com/watc… S-X – Woooo: http://www.youtube.com/watc…**Martyn – We Are The Future: http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Thanks
Most of these are electronic beats, not available on Spotify or any of the major streaming/download sites. Hence the Youtube links. I’ve starred the ones I think you’ll like based on your tastes: Holy Other – Touch: http://www.youtube.com/watc…**Tropics – Mouves: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Floating Points – Arp 3: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Braille – Breakup: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Old Apparatus – Hammerhand: http://www.youtube.com/watc… Zomby – Labyrinth: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Koreless – 4d: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Instra:mental – When I Dip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…S-X – Woooo: http://www.youtube.com/watc…**Martyn – We Are The Future: http://www.youtube.com/watc…
why struggling with your best of the year if you can have it as easy as with a wellsbaum.musicplayr.com playlist. this is the easiest way to share your delicious feed for music…yes, we disagree here with fred’s streampad/tumblr solution – one of the rare occasions though;)tweet us your email and we sent you an early access link (applies for the folks in the comments as well)
I’m the same way, obsessing over individual songs for periods of time. This one has had me nailed for the past week. Needs to be played loud and grooved to: http://www.youtube.com/watc…. Listening to it right now.
(it’s too hard to link to music)
listening now. thanks
the quality on that youtube is not great — better on rdio.–Nick Grossmanhttp://nickgrossman.info
Would you say it’s safe to say you’ve spent less money on music than in past years?
no, because i have two rhapsody accounts, three rdio accounts, and one mog account
I totally relate to your shift to real-time music and how difficult it makes compiling year end lists. I also believe that my music Tumblr blog (http://markzohar.tumblr.com) is the best representation of the music that mattered to me in 2011. You can listen to it on the blog or stream it on my Ex.fm page: http://ex.fm/markzohar. That being said, there were a few albums (not songs) that really stood out this year for me. In no particular order, here are my Top 10 albums of 2011: Wounded Rhymes by Lykke LiWhokill by Tune-YardsAnna Calvi by Anna CalviPast Life Martyred Saints by EMACults by CultsBad As Me by Tom WaitsCivilian by Wye OakA Creature I Don’t Know by Laura MarlingFather, Son and Holy Ghost by GirlsIn The Mountain, In The Cloud by Portugal. The Man
Great list Mark! FYI: Your ex.fm link is picking up the close parenthesis and not loading. Sorry can’t help my tech support ways. ; )PS: Loving your tracks. Listening now.
Thanks Kirk. Hopefully, this link will work to my Ex.fm page: http://ex.fm/markzohar
I feel like I keep telling you this -I LOVE EXFM. I love it more than anything, it keeps me occupied by people with better taste.
I don’t think we’ll ever tire of folks saying they LOVE exfm, so you can keep saying it as much as you like. Happy New Year!
i listened extensively to all of that music this year except anna calvi. i will have to check that out
By the way, one of the music highlights of 2011 was the integration of SoundCloud and Tumblr. It’s made the workflow for discovering, posting and sharing music extremely efficient and a real delight. Thanks to SC and Tumblr for making this happen.
eric (co-founder of soundcloud) showed up in tumblr’s offces and he and david coded it up together. how cool is that?
Fred/others who’ve used Soundcloud – I haven’t used Soundcloud myself. I’m curious to understand how it deals with the usual issues of copyright etc that pop up when sharing music?
Same ish as YouTube, just earlier in their lifecycle. IOW, SC does/will address takedown requests in the same way. Hope they don’t get sued or SOPA’ed out of existence.
Great post! What’s it like being so cool, Mr. 50?
Hopefully, you’ll find out one day. 😉
We are kindred music brothers. I especially love YL and Tennis.
If I were to pick a top record it would likely be youth lagoon
just bought now
Hey Fred,do you like house music? Any dj’s in particular that really do it for u?
I saw deadmau5 a few times. I enjoyed that
Thanks for posting these, Fred. I haven’t heard any of these tunes, so something to look forward to.
I’m (almost) with you, Fred.Just finished compiling my Top 20 Tracks of 2011, but it was harder than it should have been. Why? Because of the transitory nature of my digital music consumption.Like you, I’ve noticed a change in my listening habits in the past year or two. Am down in Australia (where we can’t get Spotify) and my day-to-day listening is dominated by SoundCloud — iPod is only when I’m running; CDs when I’m driving; and radio when I’ve got nothing better to do.One of the potential downsides of this real-time consumption is its transitory nature. Music is a huge part of my life, but the risk is that those special songs that define certain moments can be lost amongst the thousand and one other songs that now flood into my daily existence.I kept a “musical diary” (via Tumblr) for a while, but always thought there was a better solution. Mentioned it briefly to a SoundCloud friend when I was in Berlin in July and scrawled some notes on my whiteboard for a while (extended here –> http://prezi.com/j4-xlx9614…, until a friend mentioned http://thisismyjam.com/.I still think there is something in the record-keeping / audio diary concept but am not sure whether daily / weekly / random book-marking is the answer… Any feedback gratefully accepted :)PS: In case you are interested, my Top 20 is here –> http://livesofourdays.tumbl…
I’m going to check out your post. Thanks for the link
The same thing is happening to content as well. We get it from everywhere- twitter, flipboard, social networks, direct sites, shares, private feeds (e.g. eqentia), email, etc.. It seems that everything digital has that characteristic eventually. Totally fragmented distribution. This is great for the consumers, but a bit harder to manage for the producers.
CREATORS MUST BUILD FANS, NOT DISTRIBUTION.
fans and distribution are different in the end?
FANS ARE DISTRIBUTION FOR DIGITAL.
In my mind they are all fans and all distribution of one sort or another.I send product, they like, they fan, they tell others. Am I missing something?I have objects now, and digital soon. But those who see are fans. To me they are a form of distribution. I make thing, they like, they give as xmas gift, getting product from me. $$!!Still would love to send you one to underground dino cave with mega secret address.If you want you send secret double blind address to [email protected]. The AVC crowd got theirs at the party in NYC. Maybe you give me cousin Nelly in Maine’s address and she send to you. Then you tell me if I am complete dolt.
ME THINK YOU UNDERSTAND BASE.CAN DELETE EMAIL FROM POST NOW, SO NO GET SPAM. ME SEND REPLY.
I’ve definitely shifted from “collecting albums” to exploring real time streams more this year as well. I’m bummed that it isn’t just me though; was looking forward to your list to see what I’ve been missing. Also, between library subscription services (rhapsody, spotify) and all the other new music services (ex.fm, turntable) I’ve been enjoying this year, I find it harder to browse my “purchased” music list, which used to be my way to keep track of the things I cared enough to pay for. I’ve actually started to find last.fm really useful again for keeping track of my listening habits. Off the top of my head, the few new albums that were my tops for this year: Watch The Throne, All Eternals Deck, Middle Brother, and My head is an animal. I’m sure there were others, but that’s the extent of “local files” on my phone right now.
i’m with you on needing some kind of service to glue all of this togetherlast.fm was it for a while but they just don’t scrobble enough services i use to make it 100% reliable
I also share the need to get this all together. What would be the first thing you’ll do?
“Instead of getting obsessed about a record, I get obsessed about a song. I listen to it over and over. Then eventually I move on.”I remember the first time I heard Bone Thugs –n–Harmony’s “1st of Tha Month.” My dad was driving my brother and I to school one morning and it came on the radio. I instantly fell in love with the song, but I didn’t know who made the song or what the title of the song was. (I didn’t hear the DJ say anything!)The next morning I heard the song again on the radio. This happened again the following morning, and I noted the time. For a few days, the radio station (WENN 107.7 for anyone who lived in the Birmingham metro in the 90’s) played “1st of Tha Month” everyday during the time interval from roughly 7:05 a.m.-7:20 a.m. (I’m sure they played it at other times during the day, but, alas, I was in school all day and didn’t get picked up until my parents got off of work after 5 p.m.) And, as a result, I had a reason to quickly get ready for school.One day the song didn’t come on the radio during my morning commute. It ruined my morning. I didn’t hear the song the next day during the morning commute either. A few days went by until I heard the song again on my way back home from school. (Note: I didn’t have cable at the time.) Eventually, I learned the name of the artist and song, and my parents bought a “radio-edit” cassette tape a few weeks later so my brother and I could listen to the song [somewhat] on-demand.Your comment triggered this memory. Thankfully, discovering music and being able to listen it on-demand is so much simpler now. The tradeoff, for me at least, is that songs get played out more quickly. However, I’ll make that trade knowing that by the time the song is played out, I will have discovered a new song to obsess over.
Clicked on that video and there was a banner ad for ChristianMingle.com. Amazing how there’s still so much contextual fail in online ads.
Haha. It’s not limited to online ads either. CAPTCHA contextual fail:http://www.youtube.com/watc…From the same video (in case you want to skip ahead):http://www.youtube.com/watc…
So funny, but alas so sad.
Your triggered memory triggered my memory as a child. I was playing baseball in little league and before every game played the same song “I Love Rock N Roll” by Joan Jet.Every time the song played, my team won the game. One day the song never played and I found myself getting crushed 24-0. Does music play an important roll in all of our lives? YES!
2 questions…- which service do you rely on the most for discovery of new music?- how much do u spend roughly per month on music? thanks
YOUTUBE, TWITTER$10-30
Can you elaborate on the twitter part?
TWEET LINKS TO #CODEMUSIC WHEN WORKING.GET TWEETS BACK WITH SUGGESTIONS.IT MAGIC OF TWITTER.
turntable.I spend over $1000/yr on music, 80%+ via subscription services
A lot.Spotify — highest level plan because I wanted to lock it in while I was in the States before they launched in Austria… Don’t use it as much as I thought I wouldiTunes — just so easy. A lot of this is done by my wife as she says “ooooh, I want to hear that song.”Amazon — I prefer to buy from Amazon when I buy digital music because they were first with a reasonable DRM-free setup and the first with the logical “cloud” value add.I also am a member of a private P2P site that is the best place in the world to get music. I use this to scarf up rare and out of print things that I just can’t get anywhere else. Easily $500/year b/w them all.And I’m now 100% online or digital. After decades of collecting various disks (I have thousands of LPs stashed somewhere in the US and thousands of CDs in books in my closet). I am just too much of a digital nomad to have physical inventory anymore.
two songs I’m currently obsessed with (and both albums they come from are actually really good too):http://www.youtube.com/watc… http://www.youtube.com/watc… Shameless Self-Promotion Note: I originally discovered both of these via knowabout.it and the ‘compare with friends’ feature back in the fall…
Nothing wrong with self-promotion, IMO, when it’s relevant, as it is in this case.A few comments about your choice of songs here:1) Something in common with Fred and others is the presence of rap songs alongside songs that might have been called folk decades ago. Interesting.2) Still amazed at how atomized music has become. You could listen to the radio, watch TV, and even dabble in social media for a year without coming across your songs, or most of the songs mentioned here (some exceptions, though, e.g., that Foster the People song, which was everywhere).3) Related to the second point, a blogger elsewhere mentioned that when there were fewer channels for popular music, musicians made more of an attempt to crossover.
quick responses:1. I cross over to liking music of all types and realms (I didn’t list it above, but I’m also really into ‘red solo cup’ by Toby Keith right now too — a country song)…to me music is about an experience, and it really depends on my mood, environment, and situation as to what song I’ll like when…and often when I hear a song it instantly takes me back to a specific memory/situation that I’ve mentally related that song too…which is one of the things I love about music as a whole. I think this is prob. more common these days as it’s easier to be exposed to more of the world than it used to be…and hence easier to cross boundries and not have to stick to one set group, classification, or type of anything…2. This is true for content in general I think (regardless of format — so including music, video, tv, film, and the written/spoken word). Mostly gone are the days of buying your way to the top via media exposure (it can still be done, but is not nearly as profitable or possible as it once was). I think this is a good thing for us all…we can focus more on quality and personal preference and less on the Joneses…3. Feels true to me though I have not really thought about it much I guess.
You ever see Toby Keith’s video for “As Good as I Once Was”?: http://youtu.be/ldQrapQ4d0Y
Good stuff! Thanks for pointing it out 🙂
Oh one more: Keith as a vice cop, and even more implausibly, Nelson as a forensic sleuth: http://youtu.be/o1JOFhfoAD4
folk to rap and everything in between is basically my musical taste
That’s like saying you have no specific musical taste. If you like everything, than you have no preferences.
Hey William,I use Ex.fm, SoundCloud, Hype Machine, Jango and follow about 30 music blogs. My monthly music budget is generally around $150. More significantly, I probably spend 2-3 hours a day (actually, usually late at night) listening to, playing and blogging about music.
Exactly! Directly relevant to what you and I were just emailing discussing. This is a BIG trend.I suddenly no longer need my “record collection” anymore (and I would have told you it was among my top possessions just a few years ago).I suddenly demand the ability to audio output any app or browser page wirelessly from my laptops or Android phones to home, office, and car sound systems, not just itunes or my local media files as DoubleTwist and others only do.Your post earlier this year on streaming vs file-based was very seminal on this.
What are your favorite Pandora seed artists?My latest:Stevie Wonder Ray Charles (Holiday)Yours?
One I found of 90s music. I enjoy listening to music from my early high school days?
I don’t use Pandora. Tried it a few times. It reminds me of muzak
It was one of your year end posts that set me off on a Jason Collet kick a couple of years ago and led to a lot of great finds, so thanks for that.I’m worried about the downfall of the album though. What are we gonna do if there’s never another Dark Side of the Moon or Tommy? Or if there is one, what if you miss it?
What if there is not another Mona Lisa or Guernica?
Oh, there have been Mona Lisa’s and Guernica’s. But art education, or the layman’s connection to the arts is at a major low. The art is there, just not the consumers for it. And it is not just painting/drawing/sculpture or MFA stuff, but interactive, film, etc. And I am not even well versed compared to some of my peers. I have been looking at Asian art for 15 years mainly, which requires retraining the eye from Western Art. Murakami comes to mind as an artist versatile enough to span old and new school. I strive to understand the logic of such crap arts education in this country. We are heathens compared to many cultures in this regard. Even when I travel in educated circles I am floored at the low ebb of arts consumption or arts in the US. The air has become very rarified, and that’s a shame. My daughter is at top girl’s school in NYC, where I went, and still I drop xyz reference and get blank stares. And I am alum there.As an artist I make work for those who enjoy it, and that can be anyone from a PhD to my doorman. Same for my design. For an increasingly visually saturated population, the depth of knowledge is sub par, and I am neither some erudite what sit nor a snob.I will say Fred that the few time I have checked your tumblr or GG’s blog you have both been out looking at art and that simple fact warms my soul.
we went to see Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim yesterdayhttp://fredwilson.vc/post/1…if you haven’t been, you must go
thanks, on my way.you are the third person to recommend that show. one was a ten year old.
i hope you enjoy it as much as i did
Actually, I didn’t love it. But you are in my field now, Sculpture, which can be trickier than painting. And I went in a great mood ready to absorb.I don’t know Cattelan’s previous work, so had to get the concept from the curator’s blurb, but the self-effacing/ready to pull the plug on himself quality he supposedly has (“back in 5 minutes”) I found in opposition to a bunch of large objects exploded into suspended animation in the rotunda with some sort of coded insider meanings.A close comparison of artist in my mind would be Vito Acconci, and I can’t imagine a retrospective, right before he then announces retiring from art, as Cattelan apparently has, would be so successful as a collection of oversized flotsam and jetsam from his own body of work. I had Acconci come to school and critique my work and friends work and we spent the afternoon talking about the beautiful and fascinating things you find among the littler of precious, pretentious, and flimsy. Acconci is reassuringly direct, while remaining charming and mysterious. It was a real treat.So I am curious as to what you liked about the show. If you have a minute to share I’d enjoy hearing what made it exciting for you.
awesome is awesome
XV is super fun
We’ve been working on a site to help people discover new music. It’s called Songspin.FM. Love it if some of you would try it out! http://songspin.fm
Hey Fred:While I get your shift in music-listening habits, I consider your year-end list (and those of our other music-loving friends) a music *sharing* habit. And it’s been this music sharing that has been one of my favourite aspects of the web for the past 5++ years. So I’m disappointed not to see your list and I’ll hope you’re back next year with your Best of 2012. I follow you and others in real-time through the year, but I still love the thought and choice that goes into the lists.My 2 cents.Happy New Year!DAVE
Do you have one?
Interesting list of apps/devices. Very Interesting – given your demographic. I somewhat find it odd that iTunes is missing as a platform to push music. I somewhat understand that given your preference for Droid over iOS…really seems like your music is cutting edge and “Live” more so than static.I would be interested to know if there is any use of iTunes in your home – re: Gotham Gal or your daughters/son.Side note – I do enjoy listening to fredwilson.fm – some very good “new” music for me.Happy New Year to you, your family and the AVC community -PEACE
i super dislike iTunes bordering on hate. it is the service that first got me disliking apple.
HUMMMM : “dislike iTunes bordering on hate” – Fred – I am sure you have certainly have forgotten more about the music business than I will even know (artists, record cos, distribution, services, etc.).iTunes was certainly one of the major disruptive forces in the music industry over the last 10 yrs – Like any argument – there are Pros and Cons. My uninformed hunch is that iTunes/iPod was good for the industry;- iTunes was probably the driving force albums >songs (in your blog you talked about not having favoriite albums for 2011 but rather songs….not sure if that is a good thing for you or not)- Before iTunes the music industry was getting lost in DRM issues- My sense (I can completekly wrong on this one) is that artist may not need to rely on major record labels to get published on iTunes – if this is true – it has to be good for the artists- iTunes may have have created the void for some of the services you using today to launch and become successful – I can completely wrong on this one again.- Since your post (and a similar one on the GothamGal site) – I have taken a break from my old iTunes library and started listening the selection on FredWilson.fm – it is great to get introduced to a much newer slection of music and artists – thanks as always – One of the great benefits from reading the AVC blog – Re: your listing of devices/apps – you lack a central depository/database – unless your FW.fm site serves this purpose.Again – thanks for sharing your valuable insights!
Project 46. Progressive house mix. SoundCloud. Listen with your headphones. Filthy.
PROJECT 46 GOOD.
is this project 46?http://soundcloud.com/proje…
THAT BRAZIL ONE.ME LIKE THIS ONE: http://youtu.be/6Q3F9Tn1pA8
Thanks. Will check it out
Should these shares be showing in your SoundCloud stream?
what is my soundcloud stream?
I follow you on Soundcloud, but i don’t see these songs in your Likes or Sounds. Since I saw you shared them via SoundCloud, I was expecting to be able to listen to them via soundcloud, same way as I do when I follow you on exfm.
they are in my favorites
I can only see your Likes on SoundCloud, not Favorites.
hmm. will look into that
My bad. I see them now. The order/dates threw me off. Thanks
“Instead of getting obsessed about a record, I get obsessed about a song. I listen to it over and over. Then eventually I move on.”Same. Exactly. Often buying multiple versions from the same artist or cover versions (typically multiple live concert versions) enjoying the subtle differences.
I, too, enjoy the subtle differences of renditions — particular live concert versions. (Much thanks to the folks at Archive.org for a lot of music discovery!)I also love the drastic differences of multiple live concert versions.For example, these are three different Derek Trucks solos during various performances of “Little Queen of Spades”:ChicagoSt. PaulRaleigh
When Paradise by Coldplay was released, I must have added over 100k in youtube views for them. I was ecstatic when Fedde Le grand released a paradise remix, only to be more excited when Tiesto released his paradise remix.I really enjoy the “subtle differences”
“”The first is that I don’t listen to records much anymore”There is one thing that I believe will change as people move away from records to individual songs. For lack of what to call this for now I will call it the “bleed effect”. I’m sure there is a proper psychological term though (similar to a pavlovian response perhaps).When you listen to a record initially there might be 1 to 3 songs that you like on the record that are the killer tracks. Typically these tracks are not the first or last song. If you listen to the record in sequence (as would have been typical on long car trips as one example) I have found that the pleasure of the song that you like bleeds to the song before and after that song. So over time you end up having a positive response to the song right before the killer track(s) as well as the song right after the killer track(s). Over time if you listen to the same record over and over again this will eventually enhance liking almost the entire album/record (in addition of course to the repetition and gaining appreciation out of the nuance of the songs that occurs separately from repetition.)I’ve noticed that this has happened to me multiple times in the past back when I used to listen to complete records but not so much anymore. So anticipation of the song you are waiting to hear (which after listening multiple times is memorized location wise) increases the pleasure for the song before that song (so you like it more) and the pleasure after listening to the killer track also puts you in a more positive frame to enjoy the song after. That’s my theory based on my own experience I’m curious if anyone else has felt this.
Awesome theory. I am with you 100%”Gaining appreciation out of the nuance of the songs that occurs separately from repetition.” I love one song so much, then after playing that song 10000x, I realize that indeed my favorite song was a song I failed to give a shot in the beginning.”So anticipation of the song you are waiting to hear increases the pleasure for the song” As a music listener, I literally jump out of my seat when the before/after song plays…and I never understood why until now…Thanks & Happy new years LE
GOOD SONG TAKE 10 LISTENS BEFORE BECOME GREAT SONG.
But fall in love right away?And remember that moment?Every time it plays?So boss.Even if GiDoBot, methinks possible.
POSSIBLE.GREAT GEMS TAKE TIME TO DISCOVER DEPTHS.
Maybe I am fool, easily swayed, but I fall first time, and I hear from afar or near. I hear really well.Repeats = more traction, but first time =seal deal.Very few songs take long time to sink in. I not stupid and I am present, always.You know my kind? You know what I like?
ME, GRIMLOCK, FIND MANY SONGS SO-SO AT FIRST, AWESOME LATER.GRIMLOCK IS NOT YOU.
NOW ASSOCIATION EFFECT WORK ON “SONGS LIKE THIS” LIST.
Association effect can be powerful in different situations. Recently I installed some special CFL spots in my offices. The spots take +- 3 minutes to warm up. I then had 3 timers installed so that I could program the spots to go on and be fully warmed up before I arrived. They worked. But I ended up turning off the timers a few weeks later because I noticed that it upset me for some reason when I arrived and the lights were on. Why? (…it had nothing to do with energy waste.)I thought about it and determined that when the lights were on in the AM it reminded me subtly of not being the first one to arrive (back when I had an office where others worked). As if I had missed something or was slacking off. Holding to an ideal of the first to arrive and last to leave. So even though it doesn’t matter now at all, I still get the same emotional response to the stimulus. So I decided it feels better to arrive and turn the lights on. Which is what I do.As far as “songs like this” I’m not sure the effect would be as powerful (if I understand what you are saying) since you don’t have the repetition factor that you have with a set of fixed track order.
EMOTION, RITUAL, VERY IMPORTANT. UNDERSTAND BOTH, HAVE KEYS TO OWN OPERATING SYSTEM. YOU RIGHT, ASSOCIATIVE EFFECT WITH SUGGESTED SONGS NOT AS POWERFUL.BUT WHEN USER GROUP INTO PLAYLIST, LISTEN TO OVER AND OVER? THEN IT KICK IN. BUT BLEED IS ACROSS ARTISTS. RAMIFICATIONS INTERESTING.
How do we harness ritual for the positive?
BUILD RITUAL AROUND GOOD THINGS.WANT GET UP EARLY? STACK OTHER HAPPY THINGS LIKE DRINK COFFEE, MEET FRIEND, LISTEN TO HAPPY SONG, AROUND WAKE UP.WANT BE LESS FAT? BUILD RITUAL AROUND SHOP FOR HEALTHY FOOD, COOK HEALTHY FOOD, EAT HEALTHY FOOD. STACK REWARDS AROUND ALL, LIKE GO OUT, EAT WITH FRIENDS, USE NICE PLATES, ETC.EVERYTHING GOOD YOU NOT TURN INTO HABIT NOT HAVE RIGHT RITUAL, EMOTION. BEFORE WRITE WORDS OR CODE, GRIMLOCK HAVE FOOD TO EAT, MUSIC TO LISTEN TO, THINGS TO READ. MAKE SET BRAIN RIGHT MUCH EASIER.DIFFERENT SET FOR DRAW. ETC.HACK SELF IS FIRST THING SHOULD HACK.
Hack self= know thyself + improvements in behavior and performance / ritual and priming. I dig.So Lamarkian.
“WANT BE LESS FAT? BUILD RITUAL AROUND SHOP FOR HEALTHY FOOD, COOK HEALTHY FOOD, EAT HEALTHY FOOD. STACK REWARDS AROUND ALL, LIKE GO OUT, EAT WITH FRIENDS, USE NICE PLATES, ETC.”I’ll add one thing to that list which I agree with. Invert the experience. You can train yourself to release positive endorphins by resisting an urge (or simply limiting an urge or consumption) to replace the endorphins released by succumbing to the urge. (Addiction shifting so to speak.)It takes practice but after a while it becomes an automatic thing and the thought of successful resistance creates a positive feeling that makes resisting almost effortless.(In your example the “nice plates” and other things you mentioned release endorphins which allow you to resist the temptation to overeat.)
Are you woken up, or do you wake up?
Most of the time I wake up.
before or after the Sun rises?
After. (But I have blackout blinds, wear ear plugs and eye shades.)
word
You have a very important point, the concept is AOR, Album-Oriented Rock. Plenty of radio stations used to orient themselves around this (including when I DJ’ed at my college station). This can have some pretty profound effects. Maybe things go backwards in a way and become more hits based. Maybe “concept albums” become even tougher to get traction than in the 60s-70s.
I never really had the experience of listening to albums as such so I don’t know :).I can only barely remember a time with music cds….
young crowd in tonight. got any id? 🙂
My first business out of college was located across the street from a nationally famous record store called “Third Street Jazz and Rock” in the Old City section of Philadelphia. At the time TSJR sold albums and cars would drive up constantly and the owner (Jerry Gordon) would buy the record collections out of the back of the trunks of the cars. Famous rock stars would visit and it was a real hopping place. This was the early 80’s. The owner of TSJR sold the place around the time that CD’s started to gain traction to his friend, an attorney, Gary Lozoff. Timing is everything. The attorney didn’t realize the change going on and was naive. The seller of TSJR knew what CD’s coming out meant and knew his days were numbered. Albums obviously went the way of video tape and were quickly replace by CD’s in the 80’s. (I wrote the above and then found this quote which support my recollection of what happened at the time, “Jerry” was the founder of the store and “Lozoff” was the attorney who bought the store, the quote is from 12/1997):http://articles.philly.com/…http://articles.philly.com/…”“Jerry was prescient,” Lozoff said. “He understood where it was going. I really didn’t understand that technology would change the business – not just the move to CDs, but the informational edge that everyone would have.”Here’s an another interesting article on TSJR which will provide insight into the way it used to be in terms of being turned on to music. Every city of course had their “Third Street Jazz and Rock”: http://archives.citypaper.n…Some interesting quotes from that article, dated January 1998:””The whole industry’s changing,” said Chris. “Eventually people will be able to download whatever they want. It’s like the whole concept of records and CDs will be obsolete, except as devices to record stuff off of your computer.””””People come in and say, ‘I want to buy some music,'” she said. “And I say, ‘What do you like?’ Then I can recommend something. It’s a more hands-on approach. It’s an interaction with another human being and you both care about the same thing. I never wanted to sell someone something just to sell it. I wanted them to like it.”””Third Street sales clerk Jackie Zahn would say to us, “You haven’t heard that? You really need to hear this.””
Neat of you to remind those of us who do. Sigh.
the bleed effect lives on in playlists
Great point. I listen to entire Bob Dylan albums at a time, and I don’t do that with music todayEach Dylan album represents an experience in itself. Whenever I stick on the album, I rarely do it to listen to a song, and always listen to the whole thing through. I don’t do that with music now a days.
THIS ME, GRIMLOCK, TOP MUSIC 2012 LIST:EISENFUNK – PONG http://youtu.be/cNAdtkSjSpsIMPERATIVE REACTION – MINUS ALL http://youtu.be/QdsCbRsD-msFADERHEAD – BEAUTIFUL FREAK http://youtu.be/57g–_BaUjAAESTHETIC PERFECTION – THE GREAT DEPRESSION http://youtu.be/vx4Zw34MOY4MISS CONSTRUCTION – THEME SONG http://youtu.be/lYUdvYHoavcREST OF CODEMUSIC LIST IS HERE: http://fakegrimlock.com/201…
Thanks. Will check these out
I enjoy the liberation of the web, no longer being encumbered by so much physical ‘stuff’,. It’s a lesson in life that to worship ‘things’ is to worship a false god.
I always was like this – obsessed with songs, not records.Problematically I find it makes me detached from the artist. I feel less tied to them earning money since there will always be another “must love” song.
Would have thought at this advanced age, you’d be pitching Glenn Miller and Mantovani to us. Stay young, old man!
Being in ballroom dancing lessons right now, I can tell you that Glen Miller sounds great when you’re dancing, such a great way to enjoy the music. Perhaps I am biased by having parents who danced to it. I just enjoy how you dance to it.In fact, I’m looking for recc’s on swing/foxtrot/lindy. I can probably manage salsa better than most here but if anyone wants to send a suggestion I am open. I start hustle soon, and that will be amazing as a child of disco and funk.
Oh, that’s fun.It would be great if that Fred.FM thing were off on the side somewhere so that every time we came to read your blog, we could turn on that sound track.
hmmm. maybe i can do that
Maybe I am complete 70’s/80’s throwback, but I listened to several complete albums recently, the last few weeks: Prince – LovesexyThe English Beat – Beat ThisBeethoven’s Piano Concertos 1-5and damn did they ever sound good and complete. Actually, they were on cassettes recorded from LP’s. I might add With The Beatles to the list, and I’ll stop there. My 10 year old loves Birth of The Cool since she was 6. But then she is way cool. And she’s getting into jazz, as well as single songs, as we talk about here. Used to be singles were not cool enough, but now they rock.And don’t even ask what I was up to during Dark Side of The Moon, mentioned here in the threads, because many people would blush deep red…:), but damn it was fun….
I totally agree. You’re right about the Beatles, too. many of their albums are a complete narrative from end to end. Abbey Road, in particular — there’s not even a space between each song.And Miles Davis — and many great jazz albums — are better, deeper in meaning as a whole album.What no one on here mentioned is the importance of narrative. People always have loved stories and I think that we always will. There are short narratives and long narratives. Short attention spans are now culturally acceptable in a way that they weren’t a couple of decades ago. So now, a narrative has to be packed into a short song to get attention quick before dying. Are musicians purposely creating music to meet the cultural/market needs? Overall, I doubt it. I bet musicians are hoping someone will fall in love with one tune and then want the complete narrative.Another issue is support for musicians. I almost always buy a whole album after I hear a song I love. And I usually try to buy it direct from the musician. I want my money to go directly to those creative people so I can support them. Isn’t this really the same philosophy as buying local when you can? It’s about community as much as it is about the product.Also, I always buy the CD then rip it to digital. The sound quality is much better. I know I’m a small minority in my thinking….But, I came home the other day and found my 15 year old son blasting The Beatles Abbey Road from end to end. I was surprised. “Do you like this? I thought you only listened to this because it’s what I wanted to hear,” I said. He then replied (I shit you not), “Mom, this is the best CD ever. Did you ever notice how the songs just perfectly blend into each other? I love how Sun King just quietly turns into Mean Mr. Mustard.”
I am an artist who works in series. You see one piece, you like, good. You see more, you see whole vocabulary, and language. Then you grok it.
Addendumforgot So Peter Gabriel
What’s a “record” these days, anyway?The concept of “record” has disappeared.
agreed
Oh, Oh….I am having a New Year’s party this evening and everyone of us is bringing our favorite record (vinyl) to the party…then we will sit around a fireplace, with wine and food, and enjoy the music…By the way, vinyl records are making a comeback:http://www.computerworld.co…
I like vinyl. Its the only way I like to own music.
This post makes my head hurt. In the most interesting way, you are not normal.6 devices & corresponding services just to keep the soundtrack of your day in place. That’s commitment pardner!
normal behavior leads to normal returns
That should be the front of the T-shirt – algorithms aren’t investors can be the back.
yes!
Great selections! I hadn’t heard any of these yet. Happy New Year to you and your family and all the A VC readers as well!
thanks scotty!
@fredwilson:disqus I am still obsessed with the album.Just letting my fellow AVC community peeps know that I am going in 25% with my best mate to help him complete his album.He is 5 tracks in and dont want to pass up on this opportunity. Not monetary opportunity just to be part of if.We are obsessing over the album being his entry into the world of music and to be able to stand next to the rest of the great musicians in terms of offering him the opportunity to give up the job he doesn’t love and be making music full time.Here’s to the album getting him noticed.Hope you guys will all take a listen when its done.Thanks all music lovers.Listening now to All Things Must Pass 30th Anniversary EditionMy word you all have to watch George Harrison: Living in the Material World directed by Martin ScorseseLet music aid in bringing peace to the world, seriously though…
Thanks to turntable.fm I’m finding out that my music is probably closest to being in the “Chill” category. A kind of a weird experimental+classical version of it, but least I have a benchmark to work off of now.Honest question for everyone here: do you look for diversity or consistency when buying an “album”? Is a package with a lot of different things better than one that maintains the same mood throughout?
Incomplete post. How can you not give a shout out to John Denver?
i thought i did with that youth lagoon cover
I can’t stop listening to:Koope & Ane Brun – Island Blues http://www.youtube.com/watc… (incredible mix of old/new)Mana- Lluvia al Corazon – very upbeat http://www.youtube.com/watc… Stereo Love – The accordeon part gets to you http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Over the last year, Fred, you have broadened my listening experiences with sharing your musical interests. Exceptional. Thank you for all of it.Like you, I too listen to music all day but search out the songs or albums on Rhapsody creating the play lists that feed the entire house. I feel that the sound quality and the imaging of the music is always lacking.How do you achieve a better musical experience? Listening through the speakers on a laptop just doesn’t seem to shine.
i connect all of these services to our sonos system and play them all over the house
I’ve had the opposite reaction lately. I used to listen to individual songs on grooveshark all the time and now I enjoy listening to whole albums on rdio.I think the arrangement of songs itself can be quite artistic.
Here’s another great android (soundcloud-based) app to add to your list – https://market.android.com/…
Its – Tues (jan 3rd) 6:40AM and I log on to http://turntable.fm/indie_w…And I see Fred’s Avatar bopping in the front row
i’m there most every day at this time
NOOOOOO! I’m bummed about this post. Aside from the Hype Machine, your top 10 albums of the year list is the only music year-end post I look forward to!I’m surprised that you listen to albums less; I understand how technology makes listening to and discovering songs easier, but I think an album is a great way to measure an artist.I find myself listening to albums more as it’s an effective way for me to find the truly great artists.Quick example, Jay-Z and Kanye are both great rappers. Kanye is a much better musician, hands down. Look at his albums, the work he does on them, how they flow… that level of appreciation is lost if you listen to his hit songs.This is the same reason people appreciate retrospectives of artists as apposed to their “hits.” Context matters.
i don’t disagree with anything you saybut i like to watch what people do, not what they sayand i don’t listen to albums much anymore
As the music sources we listen to increase, I’d like to see the stats reporting improve as well. Last.fm is the canonical location to store my listening history, but sadly it is wildly out of date with what I’ve listened to this year. It misses stuff like streams from Spinner.com and listens from random blogs. And the fact that I have to connect last.fm to *every* source is annoying and a security risk. I’d love to see music stat curation moved up one level, for example, as a browser plugin. That way it could log any song I listen to in the browser, regardless of source.
i share that same pain. i told that to my friend who is in charge of last.fmthe other dayi wish you could scrobble from a browswer plugin
I believe I’m a bit late to this conversation, but right now we are in the Golden Age of Hip Hop and Rap so I wanted to share what I loved this year specifically from that genre. Now that I’ve written the post, I’m even surprised at the number of albums here, but I could honestly go back and listen to all of these in their entirety again.Theophilus London- ‘Timez Are Weird These Days’ – http://www.youtube.com/watc… underrated mixtape of the year:http://hypetrak.com/2011/06… …if you don’t want to download it, hear a sample here http://www.youtube.com/watc…Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover from the show ‘Community’) had a breakout year:From his mixtape: http://www.youtube.com/watc…From his critically acclaimed album CAMPhttp://www.youtube.com/watc…http://www.youtube.com/watc…Common released an amazing album, including ‘Blue Sky’ http://hypetrak.com/2011/10…Pusha T- ‘Fear of God’ mixtape http://grooveshark.com/#/al…Big Sean- http://hypetrak.com/2011/06…J.Cole – the mixtape was better than the album in my opinion, but both were amazing mixtape: http://www.livemixtapes.com… album:http://fistintheair.com/201…the weeknd has serious talent, covering MJ’s ‘dirty diana’ here:http://www.youtube.com/watc…and one of my favorite remixes of the year was done to his track here:http://hypem.com/item/1dn3c…More mainstream, L’il Wayne’s album was pretty good. http://fistintheair.com/201… [I recommend ‘Nightmares on the Bottom’ but tracks 12-15 are excellent too]And the most obvious mainstream success, Watch The Throne, my favorite track was http://www.youtube.com/watc…..and last of all, if you want to see what I’m listening to and liking in an ongoing basis.. http://hypem.com/thepursuit
Great list
I love Y B C. Try then Koop & Ann Brun link above