BACKGROUND





As some of you will recall, my list

of the

100 best CDs from

last

year



generated lots of commentary and

even unexpected controversy. In

the aftermath, a number of people

wrote about the list and offered

speculation and opinions about

my music listening habits. So let

me start this year’s list by sharing

some background info on how the

list is constructed.





How much music do I listen to?



This year—for the first time in my

life—I actually kept a tally, so I

could answer this question. Thus I

can state with scrupulous accuracy

that I listened to more than 800 new

CDs released during 2012. (The

exact number was 817.)





What styles of music do I include

in my listening?

I listen to

everything—from doo-wop to K-pop,

from bebop to (yes) hip-hop. I

especially like to hear music that is

fresh and different, so this forces me

to go beyond the major commercial

categories.





Why do I compile this list?

Like

any music lover, I enjoy sharing my

favorite music with others. But in

the last few years, a different

motivation has spurred me. I believe

that the system of music discovery

is broken in the current day. There

is more music recorded than ever

before, but it is almost impossible

for listeners to find the best new

recordings. The most creative

work in music is increasingly found

on self-produced projects and

releases from small indie labels—

to an extent hardly conceivable only

a decade ago. Very little of this

music ever shows up on the radio,

where formats seem to get narrower

and narrower with each passing

year. Music fans once heard good

new music at indie record stores,

but most of them have closed. Or

they could read reviews in the

newspaper, but both the news-

papers and the music reviews are

shrinking or disappearing. And the

big record labels are the worst

culprits of all, picking acts for their

looks or their potential appeal to

fourteen-year-olds, or some other

egregious reason, and in general

jumping on the most trivial passing

fads. On the other hand, the Internet

presents an almost infinite amount of

music and music commentary—yet

where do fans even begin to

separate the good from the bad

and ugly? My personal solution to

this dilemma has been to listen to

lots and lots of music, and try to

identify recordings of quality and

distinction. I share my list because I

know, from past experience, that

many other listeners are frustrated

with the broken system of music

discovery, and are also looking for

good new music.





What criteria do I apply?