Looking at last December's posts, I see I didn't even acknowledge the passing year. To make amends this year, I thought about listing my best CDs of the year or some such. That however has several problems. Because of iTunes, iPods, and MP3s, I have basically given up listening to CDs and mostly listen to individual tracks. This means my listening is broader and yet more incoherent! Second, although I still mostly buy CDs rather than download tracks, a fair amount of music comes from the Amoeba bargain bins and the virtual equivalent (Berkshire Record Outlet), which means albums not released this year. So, I can't come up with a CD list with any authority.
I could also blog my musical experiences of the year, but it wouldn't be as interesting and charming as Helen Radice's recent post of her year so that's not a good idea either. What would be something that I could uniquely write that reflected my year, and wouldn't require any real effort?
Without further ado, here are the aworks Top Ten Tracks of the Year, as selected by iTunes. Note this doesn't necessarly represent the best music of the year, or that with the most artistic merit, or of likely enduring value, or recommendations to others, or even my particular favorites at this moment. These tracks are simply those that iTunes reported I listened to most this year...
At #10, with a "play count" of 29, it's dance 4 (The Dance of Death--to the memory of John Lennon) from Peter Garland's Matachin Dances. One of six dances from the Cold Blue CD, this one is purely two violins in a touching display of sadness and togetherness. The Cold Blue website talks about this Garland work:
Through repetition and variation processes, he weaves simple, enticing structures that almost seem to alter the listener's time perception.
Prior aworks Matachin Dances post.
After listening to the electronica and idm tags on last.fm earlier today, I'm listening to Scott Unrein's NonPop Show podcast number 13. Hearing Peter Garland's piano piece Jornada del Muerto: Hermit Songs gives me a sense of clarity after all that glitch and drone. It also obviates the post I was thinking about writing on how last.fm and its ilk are so convenient and how they ultimately cut into my classical music time. Never mind.
