[Review] 2008: A Year With Music

Similar to my film viewing habits, this year I have broadened my horizons in regards to the music that I have been buying/listening to. However, unlike my experiences with film, where I went out of my way to seek out non-commercial screenings, my journey with music has been much more organic.

For the majority of my youth, I was holistically enraptured by electronic dance music, to the point where I had no inkling to explore other genres. The tide began to change in March of 2007, when I bought myself vinyl turntables and hit Sydney's 2nd-hand record shops. Simply by spending many hours digging through crate after crate, I slowly yet surely began exiting with a wide range of different sounds and styles.

This growing curiosity for new sounds became an unquenchable thirst when, in February of this year, I started a new job and made 2 new friends, with whom I discussed music at any available opportunity. Increasingly, I would hereafter walk into record shops with a much more educated awareness of what 'important' artists and albums I should be looking out for.

Here is a 30 minute mix of some of the music which has been making a deep connection with me this year. 2008 was a year in which my passion for music and film took a giant surge forward, although it was also a year that saw a number of close friendships slowly begin drifting away with the changing tides of life. The reason I seem to be drawn to the melancholic and bittersweet emotions within this music is no doubt a reflection of the experiences this year has provided me with.

'White & Blue'

01 Brian Eno - Aragon (1978)
02 Radiohead - All I Need (2007)
03 Earl Grant - Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You (1961)
04 Art Garfunkel - Ragdoll (1975)
05 The Brian Jonestown Massacre - We Are... (2007)
06 Kerri Chandler - I Think Of You (Reprise) (2006)
07 The Cure - All Cat's Are Grey (1980)
08 Louis Armstrong - Black And Blue (1929)

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