Pop 365 is an ambitious attempt to write about my favourite albums ever recorded, blogging once every day in 2014 about the music that matters to me. The number is slightly less arbitrary than many others (100, 500, 1001) in that I started by actually listing the albums that I love, and this (almost organically) brought me to a total of 365.
One of the drivers for this project is the sense of living in a world where I'm constantly bombarded with new information and recommendations, at the same time as having access to services (last.fm, iTunes, Spotify, etc) that allow me to access music instantly and to store & stream it digitally without limit. At first, this all felt like opening Pandora's box, but more recently I've felt the urge to bring order and some sense of meaning to it all. This also partly explains my renewed love of vinyl; a need for a physical connection with the albums that are important to me (though, of course, I can't afford to buy them all!).
I've also got to a point in my music listening life where I no longer feel the need to keep searching far & wide, but instead focus my mind and concentrate on quality over quantity. Having worked my way through 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die over the past year, I got the strong sense that a list that size is just simply too long. There's just no way anybody could get to know that many albums intimately in a lifetime. Those selected here are what I consider companions that have got me through many good & bad times, and will continue to be a source of solace & joy.
To start with, below is a timeline of the first 31 albums in the list (chronologically) and I'll be writing a short blog about each in January 2014, with the rest to follow throughout the year.
Of course, all these lists are highly subjective. My favourite music tends to be folk, soul and rock. I've dabbled in heavier rock (morphing into metal), country, hip hop, jazz and latin music, and some of the albums listed here are representative of those genres, but I know where my bias lies and I'm comfortable with that. Hope you enjoy reading (and listening).
One of the drivers for this project is the sense of living in a world where I'm constantly bombarded with new information and recommendations, at the same time as having access to services (last.fm, iTunes, Spotify, etc) that allow me to access music instantly and to store & stream it digitally without limit. At first, this all felt like opening Pandora's box, but more recently I've felt the urge to bring order and some sense of meaning to it all. This also partly explains my renewed love of vinyl; a need for a physical connection with the albums that are important to me (though, of course, I can't afford to buy them all!).
I've also got to a point in my music listening life where I no longer feel the need to keep searching far & wide, but instead focus my mind and concentrate on quality over quantity. Having worked my way through 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die over the past year, I got the strong sense that a list that size is just simply too long. There's just no way anybody could get to know that many albums intimately in a lifetime. Those selected here are what I consider companions that have got me through many good & bad times, and will continue to be a source of solace & joy.
To start with, below is a timeline of the first 31 albums in the list (chronologically) and I'll be writing a short blog about each in January 2014, with the rest to follow throughout the year.
Of course, all these lists are highly subjective. My favourite music tends to be folk, soul and rock. I've dabbled in heavier rock (morphing into metal), country, hip hop, jazz and latin music, and some of the albums listed here are representative of those genres, but I know where my bias lies and I'm comfortable with that. Hope you enjoy reading (and listening).
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