Best Songs of 2012 Introduction

It’s that time of the year again, that time when all of us “pasty white dudes” begin typing our year end “best of” lists. Boy have these lists become divisive. I wonder if it’s because those who criticize them are growing older and more cynical of the music industry. Or maybe the music industry really has changed for the worst and these lists have become less about content and more about whoring your blog out for year end pageviews. Is it that the internet has become so convoluted with dudes like myself, who compile year end lists on dime a dozen music blogs, that most of them are meaningless? It’s probably all of those things. It’s probably, just as we music nerds enjoy criticizing the larger publications’ year end lists, the more sardonic pop culture enthusiasts enjoy criticizing the practice itself. But I love this time of year; I can’t wait to read Pitchfork’s and Stereogum’s and Fantano’s and Lewis’s lists for the content, and even NME’s and Rolling Stone’s and Spin’s for the funnies. More than anything though, I love making my own list. Collecting all of my favorite songs and sharing them is not only fun, but it keeps me actively engaged with current music. I don’t want to become my parents just yet, talking about how the last great album was Physical Graffiti. It’ll probably happen someday, but that day does not reside in 2012.

So, thanks for sticking with me. Tomorrow I will begin posting my 25 favorite songs of 2012. As opposed to compiling one entire list of songs, I’ll use tumblr’s format to my advantage and post a song or two a day. I hope you enjoy.

Get acclimated with my 2011 list.

Hi.

A lot of my time is spent listening to music. Not only do I enjoy continually discovering new music, I also love to delve in to its history, particularly the history of pop & rock. I'll listen to a band like Dismemberment Plan and hear the influences of the Talking Heads, and in listening to the Talking Heads I hear influences of The Velvet Underground; this part of listening to music is one of its most exciting aspects - the history never ceases. However my favorite artists not only pay homage to their influences, they shape the sounds of the present, and influence future artists to come. And this is how I most enjoy music, through not only its musicianship and songwriting but its representation of time and influences.

Very recently, my computer and mp3 player broke within 24 hours of each other. Being as I did not back up my files, I had to upload my entire music library all over again. All the information stored in a media player like play counts and ratings was lost, and all you OCD music-listeners know this can be damn near heartbreaking. I tried to spin it as positively as possible. I am using this personal tragedy as an opportunity to revisit and listen to each album in my music collection in its entirety, and being the meticulous person I am, I am doing so in reverse alphabetical order according to artist name. And so we come to the purpose of my writing:

I will share a few thoughts and critiques with the reader (if there are any of you) on each album I visit; why I like it, why I don't like it, what it reminds me of, what it means to me, etc. I also hope to include the occasional video or audio snippet as well. Now, why do you care? Well, I'm not sure you do. However, music has always been one of my primary passions in life and I will very much enjoy documenting my own personal evolution through music, all the while sharing it with you.