For the past two years, I've optimistically declared that the next year will probably be my best year for music I've yet to have. So far, this is the first where I'm on track to see that prediction through. I have four A+'s with about four more that are on the border and twelve A's, which is one more than I had in all of last year. Nevertheless, I realized as I assembled my most anticipated albums for the second half of the year that my year might be teetering out faster than I thought. I'm nearly done with the first wave of punk music, which was what helped me start this year with such a bang. Additionally, though I barely have any more 60s and early 70s artists that I'm still excited to do, something holds me back from completely calling it a day on that era. Thus, there's a decent chance I might squander the rest of the year doing artists I've been putting on the backburner for over two years. However, I still have high hopes for the future and I'm excited to finally get around to Van Morrison, Stevie Wonder, and Otis Redding, all of whom I forgot to include on yesterday's list of anticipated albums.
Unlike past years, I decided not to include a top artists list. Because I felt unsatisfied with the result last time, I think I'm going to retire that tradition. However, I will readily inform you all that the Clash were easily my favorite artist I've started this year and they're high up there on my all time artists list. Other favorites this year have been Lou Reed, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, and the Ramones.
Like last year when I did the blues, a major highlight of this year has been listening to early country music. Nearly ever artist I've picked up I've found to be incredibly worthwhile and interesting. I'm very happy with how the Early Country and Folk Albums/Artists page has turned out so far. Since I started listening to compilations of old music last year, I've gotten very good at determining what the best compilations to listen to and I think that has helped me give better reviews to the artists (in the past, I often lived in the uncertainty of whether I chose the right compilation when I didn't much care for an artist). I used to tout the Early Blues Albums/Artists as my favorite page on my blog but the country page has been inching closer, mostly because I think the reviews are better written.
As I wrap up the first two generations of country musicians, I'm looking forward to getting to Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and others. After that, I'll probably listen to a few early folk artists--the most important of whom is Woody Guthrie--before I finally circle back around to the blues and get to Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and others. If I'm lucky, that will all happen before the year ends!
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