Giovedì 18 Ago 2005, 19:46
I just noticed that today is my 1 year anniversary of signing up here! And at the moment I'm at 8,952 songs. In some ways that doesn't seem like a lot of music in a year. Here's how it breaks down:
172 songs per week
24.5 songs per day
1.02 songs per hour
Actually, 24 songs per day does sound like a lot.
Of course this doesn't count songs that I've listened to away from my work or home computer, but these days that's a small portion of my listening. I have transfered 75% of my CDs to my Mac at home and my work Mac has about 450 CDs on it.
It's been interesting to see how my charts develop. Obviously Casino Versus Japan is far and away my number one. But if I had known about AS a year before, I wonder what my charts would look like? Probably a lot more trance, especially Antix, Saafi Brothers, X-Dream, Son Kite and others. Trance, particularly Psytrance has been my bread-and-butter music since around '95.
I listened to trance non-stop for about 5 years, attended many parties, including the El Cuco festival in Puerto Rico, and many local outdoor events. I met a lot of great people, some of whom are also here on Last.fm. But I listened to it so much that I burned out on it in a big way…these days I can only listen to a few choice artists that somehow have remained fresh sounding to me.
Since then, my listening has splintered into a few directions. Mostly IDM (have I mentioned how much I hate that term?). And, it's been interesting that I have gone back and listened to some of the stuff I liked in the 80's…stuff I barely listened to at all in the 90's. I mean Depeche Mode is 28th in my list! They wouldn't have showed up at all in previous years. I have enjoyed them quite a lot this past year.
Another surprise for me was how rapidly Nine Inch Nails skyrocketed into my chart. I was skeptical about his new album With Teeth, but after recommendations, I bought it and really enjoyed it a lot. I think Trent recovered the direction he lost with The Fragile and crafted a new sound and kept his lyrics as pointed as ever. I don't think it's as coherent and solid an album as The Downward Spiral, but it holds it's own, and the good tracks are really, really good.
Monolake also had a strong showing for me this year. Like Casino versus Japan, Monolake is an artist I discovered this year and really ran with. I tried to find all of his material, and for the most part I did. Unfortunately, his new release Polygon_cities doesn't do a lot for me. In a way it sounds like retro electro from the early 80's but for whatever reason, I just can't get into it as much as Monolake's earlier stuff. But I only just got it, so I'll give it time.
Boards of Canada made a huge impression on me this year. I've owned the album Geogaddi for a few years, but never got into it until last year. Somehow I just didn't get it before…maybe my trance oriented brain couldn't make sense of this more abstract kind of music. Whatever the case, I'm now a card-carrying fan of BoC.
To pick another old-school fave is Skinny Puppy who also had a new album this past year. I liked it, although it didn't have quite the impact as their older albums did when I was a teenager.
The most recent discovery that made my top 10 for the year would have to be Populous, which has been a real joy. I really like this sound, and in general it has turned me on to the Morr Music label, which also has Mum among other cool artists. Populous sounds to me like a glimpse of the future of electronic pop music, sparse and clean but emotional.
Other albums or artists that made an impact on me this year: Guero, Talkie Walkie, Deadbeat, Surrounded (incredible music!), Tosca, Adam Freeland (particularly the track We Want your Soul which is amazing…and old time favorites Dead can Dance - who would have been near the top of any chart for the past 10 years, and Radiohead, the reigning kings of Audioscrobbler for good reason.
It's been a great year of music. I can't wait to hear what discoveries the next year brings!
Audioscrobbler rules!