Advent 24

One from the fifties, three from the sixties, fourteen from the seventies, four from the eighties, and two from the noughties. No other decades get a look in. This has been an interesting journey for me: I have been surprised by the extent to which my list (which was compiled unscientifically and with no question of proportionality) is dominated by music gestated in the seventies. The odd thing about much of that music is that I came to it years after its production. However in all cases what attracted me was the conception of the album as an entity to be listened to as a whole. The iPod shuffle has a lot to answer for in the near death of this manner of musical participation.

Some damned fine music has missed out. In no particular order I feel guilt about omitting REM, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Paul Simon, Todd Rundgren, Muse (very guilty in fact), the Stones, John Mellencamp, Pink Floyd, and on and on goes the list.

So here it is - the album that to me seems to be distill the allure of the medium. From 1982, musical perfectionism winnowed down to just thirty-eight minutes: Donald Fagen's The Nightfly.

 
Happy Christmas to you all and may your god go with you.