But first...
As a kid I had tapes, and listened to my parents’ vinyl. At some point in the early 90s, I began voraciously buying CDs, and by the time I began doing these album of the year lists in the year 2000 I had hundreds of them. In 2012, I sold all my (by then, thousands of) CDs and started buying Mp3s.
As a kid I had tapes, and listened to my parents’ vinyl. At some point in the early 90s, I began voraciously buying CDs, and by the time I began doing these album of the year lists in the year 2000 I had hundreds of them. In 2012, I sold all my (by then, thousands of) CDs and started buying Mp3s.
The summer of 2018 saw me finally
making the next switch, from buying digital downloads to using a streaming
service. Financially, it had just become
untenable to spend £10 on one album, when a joint account with my wife would
give me access to virtually everything for £7 a month. But this change has had an interesting impact
on my list. In the second half of 2018 I
was able to listen to a far greater number of eligible records, which expanded
the ‘field’ of contenders significantly, and opened the door to me experiencing
and enjoying weirder and more varied artists; at the same time, freed from the
need to ‘get my money’s worth’ with repeated plays, and now spreading my time
across so many more albums (dipping in as I wanted), fewer records than in
previous years broke through into regular rotation and carved out a meaningful place
in my heart. On the one hand, at least 3
of my 2018 list entries are records that I never would have taken a chance on
buying, but which I now love. On the
other hand, it’s notable that of my final 2018 list, a disproportionate number
of ‘placing’ albums came out during the first half of the year, when I was
still buying them outright: perhaps they just were better, but I suspect it’s
in part because I felt financially obliged to give them more chances to
impress.
It’ll be interesting to see how this
list shapes up in 2019, when everything I listen to will be streamed. My current sense is that streaming is a
double-edged sword, but it’s hard to begrudge the fact that I now spend less
money to listen to more music. It all
makes me feel old, and I’m not yet sure how to process this unlimited access,
or strike a good balance between trying as much as I can while giving records
enough opportunity to get the most from them.
I’m sure I’ll get used to it, though, just like I got over not having a
physical booklet to flip through every time I got a new CD. Ultimately, in the words of mighty rock
titans Clutch: ‘You can’t stop. You can’t stop progress.’
Anyway, enough of this – on with the list for 2018!
Anyway, enough of this – on with the list for 2018!