Best album of every year since....

1993 - Insides - Euphoria (or possibly Bjork's Debut)
1995 - Tricky - Maxinquaye
2005 - Kate Bush - Aerial (this breaks my half-conscious only one album per artist rule)

I didn't even think I could include compilations, I guess I might've changed my 1996 entry to the Incoming! label comp Submerged Vol. 1 or Warp's Blech and the 1997 entry to Derrick May's Innovator. And Grace Jone's Compass Point Sessions would've been a strong candidate for 1998. Then again, the list is perfectly fine as it is.

And Metalheadz' first Platinum Breaks comp would've been a fine candidate for 1996 too. That's a tough year.

I think Richie Hawtin's Concept 1 also came out in 1996, though I only got it a year or two later.

No, sorry, the original vinyls in the Concept series were released in 1996, but the CD comp only came out in 1998, so I must've bought it then. Another strong candidate for 1998 nevertheless.

I can't think in album terms very well before 1967 so:

1967: Love: Forever Changes
1968: Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: We’re Only In It For The Money
1969: Dusty Springfield: Dusty in Memphis
1970: The Stooges: Fun House
1971: Sly & the Family Stone: There's a Riot Goin' On
1972: Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St.
1973: New York Dolls: New York Dolls
1974: New York Dolls: In Too Much Too Soon
1975: Steely Dan: Katy Lied
1976: Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
1977: Miles Davis: Dark Magus
1978: X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents
1979: Chic: Risque
1980: Jon Hassell/Brian Eno: Fourth World Vol. I: Possible Musics
1981: Greatest Rap Hits Vol. 2
1982: The Angry Samoans: Back from Samoa
1983: DeBarge: In a Special Way
1984: Uncut Funk…The Bomb - Parliament's Greatest Hits
1985: New Order: Low-Life
1986: Motorhead: Orgasmatron
1987: Prince: Sign 'O' the Times
1988: Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation
1989: Pussy Galore: Dial 'M' For Motherfucker
1990: The Go-Betweens: 1978-1990
1991: My Bloody Valentine: Loveless
1992: Shanté: The Bitch Is Back
1993: LiLiPUT
1994: History of Our World Part 1: Breakbeat & Jungle Ultramix By DJ DB
1995: Whale: We Care
1996: DJ Shadow: Endtroducing . . .
1997: Tiger: Shining in the Wood
1998: The Music in My Head
1999: The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
2000: The New Pornographers: Mass Romantic
2001: The Moldy Peaches
2002: The Best Bootlegs in the World Ever
2003: The New Pornographers: Electric Version
2004: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: The Doldrums
2005: Wide Right: Sleeping on the Couch
2006: The Knife: Silent Shout
2007: M.I.A.: Kala

I LOVE Lex Pretend's list assuming it's not a joke.

credit to Dizzee for making it in a woman's world

1962 Jacques Brel - Jacques Brel
1963 The Beach Boys - Surfer Girl
1964 The Holy Modal Rounders - The Holy Modal Rounders
1965 The Beach Boys - Today!
1966 The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
1967 The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
1968 The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
1969 Scott Walker - Scott 4
1970 Neil Young - After The Goldrush
1971 Beach Boys - Surf's Up
1972 David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
1973 Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
1974 Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
1975 Kraftwerk - Radioactivity
1976 Lee "Scratch" Perry - Super Ape
1977 Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue
1978 Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
1979 The Specials - The Specials
1980 Talking Heads - Remain In Light
1981 Abba - The Visitors
1982 Roxy Music - Avalon
1983 Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
1984 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
1985 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
1986 Slayer - Reign In Blood
1987 Tom Waits - Franks Wild Years
1988 Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather
1989 Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
1990 Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
1991 REM - Out Of TIme
1992 The Prodigy - Experience
1993 Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
1994 Blur - Parklife
1995 Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
1996 Aphex Twin - Richard D James Album
1997 Radiohead - OK Computer
1998 Autechre - LP5
1999 Plaid - Restproof Clockwork
2000 Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
2001 2 Many DJs - This Is Radio Soulwax part 2
2002 Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi
2003 Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
2004 Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
2005 M. Ward - Transistor Radio
2006 The Knife - Silent Shout
2007 Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer

I conclude that 1988 has to be the worst year for albums ever.

and 2008 so far is Autechre's Quaristice

I am going to be revealed as e-lame by posting this:

1982: Combat Rock – The Clash
1983: Madonna - Madonna
1984: Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths
1985: Starpeace - Yoko Ono
1986: Who Made Who - AC/DC
1987: Come on Pilgrim - The Pixies
1988: Tracey Chapman - Tracey Chapman
1989: Doolittle - the Pixies
1990: Changesbowie - David Bowie
1991: Leisure - Blur
1992: Ooooooohhh.... On the TLC Tip - TLC
1993: Pablo Honey - Radiohead
1994: His n Hers by Pulp
1995: Post - Bjork
1996: The It Girl - Sleeper
1997: The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse
1998: The Boy with the Arab Strap - Belle & Sebastian
1999: 69 Love Songs - the Magnetic Fields
2000: The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem
2001: White Blood Cells - the White Stripes
2002: Lifted or The Story Is In The Soil Keep Your Ear To The Ground - Bright Eyes.
2003: Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Belle & Sebastian
2004: Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again - Modest Mouse
2006: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer - Of Montreal
2007: Blackout - Britney Spears
2008: Juno soundtrack so far

ok so I actually tried to think back to what i loved and played the most each year since '82 (after i got old enough to pay attention to music that wasn't my parents')

'82 Duran Duran: Rio
'83 Michael Jackson: Thriller
'84 Van Halen: 1984
'85 Phil Collins: No Jacket Required lol
'86 Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill (just barely over Run DMC: Raising hell)
'87 Prince: Sign O' the Times, i guess. I don't remember caring much about anything that came out this year. at the time, of course.
'88 Guns n Roses: Appetite for Destruction
'89 N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton
'90 Jane's Addiction: Ritual de lo Habitual
'91 Dinosaur Jr.: Whatever's Cool With Me (yeah it's an e.p. so if this is unacceptable then probably Cube's Death Certificate)
'92 Beastie Boys: Check Your Head
'93 Snoop Dogg: Doggystyle
'94 Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
'95 Pavement: Wowee Zowee
'96 Outkast: ATLiens (edging out Wilco's Being There)
'97 hell if i know. i was probably only listening to old stuff. I guess i could throw it to Pavement: Brighten the Corners, but i think i remember not liking it at the time.
'98 Jay-Z: Vol 2: Hard Knock Life
'99 ODB: Nigga Please
'00 The Glands: The Glands
'01 i'm torn like 4 ways. I'll give it to Bonnie Prince Billie: Ease Down the Road
'02 The Reigning Sound: Time Bomb high SChool
'03 New Pornographers: Electric Version
'04
'05 ugh. maybe that LCD Soundsystem?
'06 Jack O. & the Tearjerkers: The Flipside Kid

hey grozart. 1988. you know mary margaret o'hara? you know miss america?

and there was also spirit in eden in 1988. maybe the best year.

spirit of eden

My 80s list back THEN would look something like this

1980: Norske Jenter - The Kids
1981: Dunno, but possibly "The Elder"
1982: Upstairs At Eric's - Yazoo
1983: Colour By Numbers - Culture Club
1984: Into The Gap - Thompson Twins
1985: Dream Into Action - Howard Jones
1986: One To One - Howard Jones
1987: Close To The Bone - Thompson Twins
1988: Provision - Scritti Politti (But spent most of the year buying and digging old Depeche Mode records)
1989: For a while it was all about "The Seeds Of Love" by Tears For Fears.

1977 Giorgio Moroder, From here to eternity
1978 The Only Ones, s/t
1979 Talking Heads, Fear of music
1980 Talking Heads, Remain in light
1981 Flipper, Generic
1982 ABC, The lexicon of love
1983 R.E.M., Murmur
1984 The Smiths, Hatful of hollow
1985 Scritti Politti, Cupid and psyche 85
1986 Slayer, Reign in blood
1987 Sonic Youth, Sister
1988 AR Kane, 69
1989 New Order, Technique
1990 Ice Cube, Amerikkka's most wanted
1991 Nirvana, Nevermind
1992 Pavement, Slanted and enchanted
1993 Insides, Euphoria
1994 Notorious BIG, Ready to die
1995 Mobb Deep, The Infamous
1996 Tortoise, Millions now living will never die
1997 Chemical Brothers, Dig your own hole
1998 Mercury Rev, Deserters songs
1999 Wilco, Summerteeth
2000 Radiohead, Kid A
2001 Daft Punk, Discovery
2002 Sonic Youth, Murray Street
2003 Dizzee Rascal, Boy in da corner
2004 Junior Boys, Last Exit
2005 LCD Soundsystem, s/t
2006 Half Man Half Biscuit, Cammell Laird Social Club
2007 The Go Betweens, Oceans Apart
2008 The Studio, West Coast

I never thought anyone would call 1988 the worst year in albums... In rap alone it's considered maybe the best year ever, with classic albums by the Jungle Brothers, Ultramagnetic MCs, Public Enemy, Booge Down Productions, Big Daddy Kane, etc.

So whenever was rap relevant for me when I decide whether a year was the worst ever?

1988 was the worst ever year for albums (well, since 1963-64 anyway) because it was bad for new romantics, bad for synthpop (truly analog synths were hardly in use at all, outside the Chicago house underground, otherwise it was all sampling and DX7), bad for prog (I mean, even neoproggers like Marillion, IQ and Pendragon went briefly AOR at that point), bad for sophisiticated melodic pop (Deacon Blues, Danny Wilson or Black were hardly 10cc) and bad for indie (late 80s indie sounded even more low budget than it was and the vocals were mixed so low in the production you could hardly hear the melody below all the exaggerated reverb). In other words: Bad for ALL the musical styles that I love.

Excellent news!

From 1988 I luv:

Spirit of Eden
Miss America
Daydream Nation
Isn't Anything
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
69
The Walking (or is this from 1987)
Strictly Business
The House of Love

Admittedly I'm having trouble coming up with non-canonical choices for that year - I think all of the above bar The Walking have been listed upthread (and anyone who loves Miss America should get on The Walking).

More from '88:

I'm Your Man
Tender Prey
Surfer Rosa

Oh yeah I cosign all three of those actually!

tim your taste in old music shocks me.

I LOVE Lex Pretend's list assuming it's not a joke.

why would it be a joke?!

1988 is the only year you need. spirit of eden was released, and then everything else just became.......average.

Lex's and Tim F's lists are both pretty great

tim your taste in old music shocks me.

Why, because he's actually heard Talking Heads?

Lex, I guess the issue here is that it's hard not to be canonical and a bit boring about old music unless you know the era (or at least a specific genre of it) really well. Probably there were albums released in those decades that I'd like a lot more than the ones I listed if I was aware of them - the flipside of this is that throughout the nineties and this decade there were quite canonical/typical-rock-crit albums I loved that just didn't make my number one spot - e.g. my second favourite album of last year was Panda Bear (sorry!).

Having said that, I listen to Miles Davis/Herbie Hancock/Alice Coltrane/Can in a manner rather similar to how I listen to minimal/techno/etc. I reckon of those albums you'd actually really like In A Silent Way, Journey In Satchidananda and any Can from Tago Mago through Landed. They're all profoundly androgynous and fluid in feel - like, if you like Henrik Schwarz and Achso and Where You Go I Go To I reckon you'd like these albums for some of the same reasons.

Probably my most offensive selection: Blood on the Tracks I've only really gotten into in the past twelve months. I wouldn't call myself a Dylan fan really, although I might become one in the future. From 1975 I like The Hissing of Summer Lawns equally as much but didn't want to list Joni twice. Next choices would be Another Green World and RadioActivity, I think. I'd like to hear the Robert Wyatt and Steely Dan albums that came out in those years, too.

If it makes you feel better, my second choice for 1977 is Donna Summer's Once Upon A Time and my equal second choice for 1978 is C'est Chic, and Michael Jackson's Off The Wall is probably my second choice for 1979.

1964 – the Beatles ~ Beatles for Sale
1965 – the Rolling Stones ~ Out of Our Heads
1966 – the Beatles ~ Revolver
1967 – the Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Are You Experienced?
1968 – the Velvet Underground ~ White Light/White Heat
1969 – the Rolling Stones ~ Let It Bleed
1970 – Led Zeppelin ~ Led Zeppelin III
1971 – Yes ~ The Yes Album
1972 – the Rolling Stones ~ Exile On Main Street
1973 – Pink Floyd ~ The Dark Side of the Moon
1974 – James Brown ~ The Payback
1975 – Queen ~ A Night at the Opera
1976 – the Modern Lovers ~ The Modern lovers
1977 – Sex Pistols ~ Never Mind the Bollocks…
1978 – Captain Beefheart ~ Shiny Beast
1979 – the Specials ~ The Specials
1980 – Talking Heads ~ Remain In Light
1981 – the Psychedelic Furs ~ Talk Talk Talk
1982 – PRINCE ~ 1999
1983 – Violent Femmes ~ Violent Femmes
1984 – the CURE ~ The Head On The Door
1985 – Fine Young Cannibals ~ Fine Young Cannibals
1986 – PRINCE ~ Parade
1987 – Sonic Youth ~ Sister
1988 – Pixies ~ Surfer Rosa
1989 – De La Soul ~ 3 Feet High and Rising
1990 – Public Enemy ~ Fear of a Black Planet
1991 – Mercury Rev ~ Yourself Is Steam
1992 – Pavement ~ Slanted & Enchanted
1993 – PJ Harvey ~ Rid of Me
1994 – Built To Spill ~ There’s Nothing Wrong With Love
1995 – the Flaming Lips ~ Clouds Taste Metallic
1996 – DJ Shadow ~ Endtroducing
1997 – Modest Mouse ~ The Lonesome Crowded West
1998 – Black Star ~ Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
1999 – the White Stripes ~ The White Stripes
2000 – the Avalanches ~ Since I Left You
2001 – the White Stripes ~ White Blood Cells
2002 – Ugly Casanova ~ Sharpen Your Teeth
2003 – Cat Power ~ You Are Free

takes a nation of millions to be white

i can do since...1999.
99 - Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
00 - Radiohead - Kid A
01 - Daft Punk - Discovery
02 - Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
03 - Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow
04 - Liars - They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
05 - Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
06 - Liars - Drum's Not Dead
07 - Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
08 - Black Pus - Black Pus 4: All Aboard The Magic Pus

takes a nation of millions to be white

list away, pappa

"I'm Your Man" is the only one of those mentioned 1988 ones that is any good at all (and possibly House Of Love - I haven't heard anything by them other than "Shine On" - which was nice and catchy)

it's hard not to be canonical and a bit boring about old music unless you know the era (or at least a specific genre of it) really well. Probably there were albums released in those decades that I'd like a lot more than the ones I listed if I was aware of them

this is exactly why i don't know (or really care tbh) about old music, i already know i can never know the era like i know mine, and i also know that my appreciation of my favourite music is almost always heightened by knowing my era, so...getting into the past always seems like an unnecessarily sisyphean task. also, my reaction to anything canonical is to avoid it for as long as possible, the entire process of canonisation appalls me.

i do like miles davis, alice coltrane &c...i think i've had like 2, maybe 3 can albums on my computer for over 2 years now and still haven't got round to listening to them.

Canonisation is good and important. The classical canon exists for a reason and it's the same with the rock canon. Plus all musical genres should be judged from a criteria not too unlike classical music.

clash of the tits

judged from a criteria not too unlike classical music

Lol, by these criteria every album on your list is shite. Oh hang on, what am I doing?

"This is exactly why i don't know (or really care tbh) about old music, i already know i can never know the era like i know mine, and i also know that my appreciation of my favourite music is almost always heightened by knowing my era, so...getting into the past always seems like an unnecessarily sisyphean task."

I pretty much agree with this. Most of the time when I get into old music it's more because the specific artifact represents some idea or style that seems really crucial to me in an atemporal sense. Like, with Can, I don't really care about the position in 1970s music, their influence on post-punk etc. It's really much more about what they were doing with rhythms and grooves, which strikes me as existing on this horizon of, um, jagged funkiness (stay with me here) that a lot of my favourite music gets to but has difficulty getting past (perhaps in the same sense that you can't get past a horizon. So the reference points for Can for me are not so much Faust or P.I.L. and more other stuff from a whole host of styles which I feel exists on that same horizon. I made a comp the other day with Can's "Spoon" and Talking Heads' "The Great Curve" but also 2-step, A Guy Called Gerald jungle, Matias Aguayo, dancehall, Bubba Sparxx, 'O'Rang... It makes more sense to me to think of Can in a constellation like that, one that, I guess, effaces the canonical hierarchy between all these things but without extinguishing the point of difference that is uniquely Can's. I think Can are important, but I don't think you (or, perhaps, rather, I) can grasp that importance terribly well by approaching them with some more typical canonical framework such as "krautrock".

yeah, you can still read old music internally without having a surplus of circumstantial knowledge (knowing what mingus phrases quote monk phrases etc). linking it with whatever you have heard and making those kind of connections is what makes listening to old music out of context so exciting imo.

absolutely, i can relate with the lyrics of say, byrne, bowie, wilson and richman, probably more than yer average r'n'b or hiphop lyrics. totally white aesthetic i apppreciate, but if a white middle-englander can escape into the world of gangsta rap then i don't see why he or she can't transport themselves into 60s california. are you saying, lex, that you don't see the point of listening to music unless you can relate it directly to your era?

Personally, I listen to a lot of old music exactly because it's so different from today's music. I don't know any current artists who'd give me the same vibe as Fela Kuti or Curtis Mayfield or Alice Coltrane. And I love finding about all the musical as well as other connections between the musicians and tunes of the past, it simply gives one's appreciation of the music and the era more depth, kinda like doing historical research. But I guess there's a difference between the type of music fan who wants to keep up with the music of today and only selectively listens to old music, often based on its connections to current music (I used to be like this when I was younger), and the type of fan who's lost track of current directions in music and only selectively listens to new music, but finds older music a more exciting and more easily manageable whole to dig into (I'm like this now). I'm not saying either approach is better than the other, but for a person like me, whos simply doesn't have the time and the energy to keep up with all the current developments and trends even in genres I like (let alone recorded music as a whole), the latter approach seems more comfortable and intriguing.

(x-post)

I think Lex's point is that there's a social aspect to enjoyment of Lil Wayne that is missing for David Bowie by and large.

i guess? i think what i like is the sense that the aesthetic i'm listening to is a living, breathing one. it's not that i can't transport myself into whatever aesthetic, i don't find i'm missing anything when i listen to the supremes or joni or whoever, it's perhaps that i just don't see the point of making the effort to get into an aesthetic which was the zeitgeist of people 40 years older than me.

when i first went to university i made a real effort for maybe 5 months to get into the old music i thought/was told i "should" like and i'm not joking, it almost all sucked...dylan, stones, beatles, bowie. dreadful! so many hours wasted trying to get into them. those 5 months may have put me off delving into the past 4 life.

xpps yeah the social aspect is impt, but it's also the sense that this artist or this scene could go anywhere or do anything and i ~don't know what it is~. watching a tennis match on replay when you already know the result vs watching a tennis match live. the former, you can appreciate the skillz etc but there's no thrill, it's done and dusted, we have the result and we're into the next round already, keep up.

I think Lex's point is that there's a social aspect to enjoyment of Lil Wayne that is missing for David Bowie by and large.

I can see the point, yes, but I don't think it's wholly valid. If you are a person who's interested in old music and know about the musical and social history of the era, then you can put it into context, even if the context is unavoidably partial (but then again, so is today's context - no one can ever see the whole context to anything). If this weren't true, you couldn't really appreciate old books or movies either, right?

It's like anything (but specifically it might be like Eng Lit at school) - the past is much more fun when you find out things for yourself and make/invent your own connections. Helpful too if you're an old geezer like me who's lived through multiple nows and can still gain random or not-so-random pleasure from any of them.

Unhelpful is the schoolmaster/cod liver oil swallow it/it's good for you approach that too many people in power still take. For example I was put off listening to "classic soul music" - i.e. JB, Aretha, Stax etc. - for the best part of the eighties because of didactic twats in the NME, The Face etc. telling me the eighties music I liked was crap and fake and plastic and that I should listen to half an hour of Aretha every morning to learn about dignity. This at a time when hip hop, House, Jam & Lewis etc. were rewriting the rulebook practically every day - so if nothing else there wasn't any TIME to listen to "old" music, there was more than enough exciting new stuff to keep up with and find and yet there were all these palsied old twats in the NME and the fanzines moaning about ten years after punk it's all gone down the bog Buzzcocks and I'm YELLING fuck aren't you listening to Husker or Swans or Sonic Y or Big Black get out of your fucking provincial indie ghetto.

Then I discovered all that classic soul stuff for myself, spontaneously, and I realised how fucking great it really was, but I wouldn't have gone near it with all that capitalised Red Wedge Soul Passion & Honesty jaded music-crit baggage loaded onto it.

What's amusing now is to see people like Reynolds, who back then was in the vanguard of reaction against all of this, now moaning on about things they don't understand and haven't experienced properly (viz. Funky House, but that's just one example) and how we should all fall in obeisance to the Wire/Dissensus doctrine and so Pip Pyle RIP >>>>>> all modern music and that's just stupid, he's just turned into everything he used to hate. Or whinge whinge whingers oh the Verve album's a pile of shit and I felt guilty about buying it but I bought it FOR FUCK'S SAKE rap + R&B + grime + dancehall's going through a CLASSIC phase RIGHT NOW get out of the fucking graveyard and learn about living again, stop swallowing the corporate Guardian Music/Radio 2/Q line, pop music's in a BLOODY GREAT STATE at the moment and it's all there to be investigated and heard and loved. Right now I do feel that it's one of these times when again I don't really have the urge to delve back into the past (apart from the albums blog but that's a different past which nobody goes into much and not one affiliated to Rock's Rich Tapestry, thank fuck); I'm hearing amazing new tracks every bloody day at the moment and if I can still get a kick from now at my age then there's no excuse for anyone else.

I meant that, like, you hear Lil Wayne on the radio and in clubs and the like far more easily than David Bowie. You'd have to have an incredibly selective social network with kind of idiosyncratic social practices to surround yourself with seventies glam in public to the extent that you can with chart rap. But it turns out this isn't what Lex meant really anyway!

Anyway I don't disagree with your general point Tuomas. I wasn't trying to say that a work's historical context isn't important to me, but that the stuff I like also has to be able to transport itself out of that context as well. The experience can't be entirely curatorial. The, as you say, unavoidability of partiality-of-context makes overly canonical presentations of taste seem a bit fictional and even dishonest to me, and I always think that something is being repressed when i read people talk about the music in those terms. For me there's got to be a relationship of mutually creative articulation between actual history and the listener's, more, erm, astrological take on the music they like.

x-post - what Marcello said! Specifically the first three paragraphs but I agree with the rest too pretty much.

In reynolds' defence, at least he appears to like donk-bounce...

But it turns out this isn't what Lex meant really anyway!

it's what i meant as well! talked about that more on the past vs future music thread the other week, but i totally agree re the social factor - it's kind of the tangible manifestation of my nebulous "living, breathing aesthetic" thing.

really relate to marcello's 2nd para, it's no coincidence that all the music i love i got into either accidentally or before i was aware of music criticism generally. there's so much "you must listen to this album in this way" baggage with old music and, as with marcello in the 80s...new music takes up all my time now! those can albums i have, on every occasion i've nearly listened to them i've ended up being distracted by "ooh another young jeezy leak" or "ahh must go on beatport spree today actually" or "whoop whoop new ciara video on youtube".

the music of the past i most want to get into is 80s freestyle but i have no idea where to begin (debbie deb greatest hits is as far as i've got).

"xpps yeah the social aspect is impt, but it's also the sense that this artist or this scene could go anywhere or do anything and i ~don't know what it is~. watching a tennis match on replay when you already know the result vs watching a tennis match live. the former, you can appreciate the skillz etc but there's no thrill, it's done and dusted, we have the result and we're into the next round already, keep up."

Yes this is so true. Something similar I wrote w/r/t funky house:

"Later on, we'll be able to look back and discern a narrative, to signpost almost precisely the moments when the goalposts were shifted and the paradigm transformed. But right now all such narrative flourishes are up for grabs, and the resulting sense of uncertainty is as satisfying as it is disarming for a critic like me. Critics like to look into the rearview mirror and think they see the future; what distinguishes UK funky house from any other style currently going is not merely that this story hasn't been written, but that it's moving so fast and so multi-directionally that such attempts at prophecy seem feeble even before they hit the page. To be able to accurately predict the future is fun, but to be in the thick of it, to hear the future emerging so unexpectedly that it confounds your predictions... there's quite seriously nothing better."