Today, we're starting a new category of posts called "Making My Readers Mad." This is reserved for posts I think will incite the furor of some fraction of the small audience reading this fine blog. I hate Counting Crows. I have never liked Counting Crows. They came to being at a time in my life where if it didn't involve heavy guitars I hated it. Even today, when I love all kinds of rootsy bands - a little bit of just about everything, really - I cannot bear this band. Why? Let's review: They are vastly overrated. In my high school, when they first came out, every kid who loved them was an ass. And they went on and on about how great Counting Crows is. And how I just don't understand. And how the bands I like aren't nearly the musicians that the members of Counting Crows are. And, how that even though I saw Pink Floyd, Beck, an entire flipping Lollapalooza , R.E.M. and many more before graduation, I had not yet seen a "good" concert bec...
Lord. This is the only post I've made to the blog all year, which has a lot more to do with availability of time (and how free time is spent) than a lack of things to say. Several times, I've put fingers to keys only to back off... it's been a year of listening more than ranting, though, here's a one-line political blog for you, dear reader: There seem to be a lot more people interested in telling/trolling than listening. Anyway. The music. Weird flipping year. I've had about 18 hours with the new N.E.R.D. and Charli XCX albums/mixtapes/whatever-the-hell-we-call-40-minutes-of-music-in-one-place-anymores. One album below came out last year, because if you put something out on Christmas Day, it's not going on that year's list. Taylor Swift somehow managed to be simultaneously the most and least relevant musician of the year. Beck put out the perfect album for the summer of 2015, which, perhaps, makes it a candidate for one of this year's most disappoi...
I can't even pretend I listened to every new album worth hearing this year. And now that some of the "official" lists are out, I realize that any list I make here is likely going to be terribly incomplete. For instance, you won't see Adele's 21 on this list, despite the fact that it's apparently amazing. I did listen to a lot, though. And let's be clear... this was an underwhelming year. I'm pretty sure even if I included a certain British chanteuse and Bon Iver, this list would still be a struggle. Unlike last year , which was a veritable cornucopia of bad-ass tunes, this year swung and missed more often than not. Anyhow, let's try this. As always, second opinions provided so you don't think I'm nuts. Honorable mentions Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne - You know, it's good. My issue was more that both of these guys are so much more than good. Maybe I need to chill out, but I kept feeling this could have been so much...
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