It's that time of year again when people start going list crazy. It's the end of the year, lets list everything, albums, films, songs, gardens, vegetables, shampoos, toe nail clippings of ex-Eastenders stars (well maybe not the last one).
For some inexplicable reason lists dominate pretty much every single music publication at the end of the year, and for the casual music listener it gives them an idea of what is "good/cool". However because 2009 is ending that means we are going into list overdrive. We have to list all the best albums from this year and we have to list all the best albums from this decade. But do we, honestly?
As much as I love a good list, and I will be doing one for albums of this year and decade, essentially they lack insight and could be considered as lazy journalism. Yet they seem to be a mainstay in music media. Famous independent online music webzine Pitchfork Media is the current king of lists for me, if you currently got to their home page at http://pitchfork.com/ on the left hand side there is ironically a list of fourteen lists about albums and songs from over the past fifty years in different categories. The fact that these lists are still at the forefront of this website shows just how important and influential they can be. They encourage debate, people can look back at them with nostalgia and change their mind.
Essentially lists might be insanely simple and a way of putting the December or January issue of a magazine on the shelves, but I can guarantee people will talk about them, argue about them, agree with them, glass other people over them. They are talking points.
Los Campesinos-My Year In Lists:
For some inexplicable reason lists dominate pretty much every single music publication at the end of the year, and for the casual music listener it gives them an idea of what is "good/cool". However because 2009 is ending that means we are going into list overdrive. We have to list all the best albums from this year and we have to list all the best albums from this decade. But do we, honestly?
As much as I love a good list, and I will be doing one for albums of this year and decade, essentially they lack insight and could be considered as lazy journalism. Yet they seem to be a mainstay in music media. Famous independent online music webzine Pitchfork Media is the current king of lists for me, if you currently got to their home page at http://pitchfork.com/ on the left hand side there is ironically a list of fourteen lists about albums and songs from over the past fifty years in different categories. The fact that these lists are still at the forefront of this website shows just how important and influential they can be. They encourage debate, people can look back at them with nostalgia and change their mind.
Essentially lists might be insanely simple and a way of putting the December or January issue of a magazine on the shelves, but I can guarantee people will talk about them, argue about them, agree with them, glass other people over them. They are talking points.
Los Campesinos-My Year In Lists:
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