We’re starting our top ten lists a little bit later than usual this year, which may affect my other lists, but not so much albums. It’s always the list I have the easiest time putting together at the end of the year, perhaps because I’m still fairly in tune with what’s going on in music these days, though the passage of time and the feeling of getting older never helps. But also, new music is just a lot easier to fit into the rhythms of your day-to-day than a new TV show or movie, and considering all of us have to fit our music listening habits into the constraints of our dayjobs, that certainly impacts what music we respond to.

For me, this was a year spent mostly listening to music while walking to work, riding the bus/subway, cooking, doing chores, or just enjoying a day off. Would I have responded to different albums in a year of different circumstances? Probably. But we’re dealt the year and the music we’re given, and these were the albums that intersected in just the right way with whatever was going on in my day-to-day. Continue reading →