zwolanerd

It’s the end of the year (as we know it) and that means it’s time for “best of” lists, right? I think anyone with a website is required by law to produce them, on pain of disinterest. I’ve been mulling which lists I could pull off, and since I kept track of albums I bought this year, that seemed like a good place to start. These albums weren’t necessarily released this year, but I did buy them this year.

I Bought These Because I Always Buy Albums From these Artists but I Ultimately Couldn’t List One Song Off Any of These:

• “Covers” by Norah Jones – Norah has one of the greatest voices ever — for a particular type of song. I have now bought 4 (maybe 5?) albums by her, and they’re all very pleasant to listen to, but the only song I could list of hers is “Come Away With Me” from her first album. I may need to stop buying her albums.
• “Shine On” by Sarah McLachlan – I have 6 or 7 of her albums, and really liked her last two, but couldn’t name one song off this album without looking, and even if I looked I wouldn’t remember the song. I love her voice, though, and will continue buying her albums.
• “Classics” by She & Him – Here’s another case of them being extremely well-suited for a particular type of song, but the last couple of albums haven’t really fit that mold (in my opinion). Their first album is my favorite.
• “Pulses” by Karmin – It’s a stretch to say that I “always buy their albums,” but they have two out and I own both of them, so… I didn’t really like this one, though.

I Bought These Because of One or Two Songs

• “Night Visions” by Imagine Dragons – bought for “Demons” and (sort of, a little, I guess) “Radioactive”
• “My Head Is an Animal” by Of Monsters and Men – bought for “Little Talks”
• “Spreading Rumours” by Grouplove – bought for “Ways to Go”
• “Wish I Was Here” Soundtrack – bought because it tied in well with the movie, but I don’t really care for most of it (other than the title track) on its own
• “Unapologetic” by Rihanna – I still can’t stop listening to “Stay”

I Bought Her Previous Album And Really Liked It But Don’t Know What to Make of This One

• “Ultraviolence” by Lana Del Rey – I don’t even know why I couldn’t stop listening to her previous album for so long.

My Top Four Albums From This Year, Ordered by How Much I Listened to Them

4. “Head or Heart” by Christina Perri

3. “The Blessed Unrest” by Sara Bareilles – I’m curious how long it will be until “I Choose You” starts being used in weddings, and I cringe at the thought of people unqualified to sing it trying to sing it.

2. “Mandatory Fun” by “Weird Al” Yankovic – I’m still mulling my ranking of of this one. have patience!

1. “Lights Out” by Ingrid Michaelson – This became my default CD for the car when I was tired of the radio of another CD. I like all but two of the songs on it.

Out of these 14 albums, 9 of them are either female singers or feature female singers predominately. I’d guess that would be representative of my entire CD collection, but won’t know for sure until I count that out some day (which could happen, you never know).

 

Tags: Weird Al

Written by: Mark