In February 2007, I set out on a mission; devote a week each to fifty-two albums that somehow got lost in the shuffle after I purchased them. I figured that by putting them in heavy rotation for seven days it would atone for the years of neglect they’d suffered.
And here we are, a year and two months later and I’m finally done. I actually finished listening to the last album on the list a month ago, but somewhere along the line I’d gotten behind on the write-ups—a month behind. Still, when that last day rolled around I was pretty happy to clear that final album from my iPod.
All in all, I think the project was a success. There were a few albums in my collection that were, up to that point, there just for show. But now I can not only say “that album sucks/rocks” but I can also suggest tracks that a person may enjoy.
But I’d never do anything like that again.
I’m not a fan of authority. I don’t like being told what to do, not even when I’m telling myself to do something. I hated being forced to listen to those albums. There were times, particularly in the fourth quarter, when I really, really didn’t want to listen to whatever the album of the week was.
It also depressed me a bit. Hearing some of the artists (like Brand Nubian) resorting to trying to sell records rather than make music really bummed me out.
For a second, I pondered doing another musical resolution. I briefly considered investing in the catalogue of every Paste cover subject this year. Considering that past cover subjects have included Beck, Ryan Adams, Pete Yorn, Fiona Apple, Kanye West, The White Stripes and Death Cab for Cutie (and I’ve got their respective catalogues) it was a pretty safe bet that I’d be investing in something that I’d enjoy.
Then I thought that maybe I’d resolve to expand the musical tastes of my friends and coworkers. In the past two months alone I’ve exposed coworkers to Elliott Smith, Jenny Lewis, Doves and Iron & Wine. And that’s certainly building good musical karma, though I don’t know how exactly to cash in good musical karma.
Suffice it to say, I don’t have a musical resolution this year, and I’m totally cool with that.
