Trapped In The Past

Listmania is upon us as the year comes to a close and as the next few days should attest I am not immune from the fever sweeping across the entertainment press and blogs but I did stumble into a piece on Connect Savannah that makes an interesting point. Given the amazing amount of albums released in a year across a sea of genres each year top 10 lists function as a "media Rorschach test" so that "critic’s allegiances can truly be ascertained". The article's author demonstrates his point by taking apart a couple of bigger outlets lists noting that "the average age of the top three artists on Rolling Stone’s list is 48" which "doesn’t bode well for your openness to new and different sounds". In a year where blogs have come into their own and taken over the arena of championing new music you might wonder what the editorial staff at Rolling Stone was thinking. Perhaps they were too distracted getting down with the kids with their new mtv reality show to focus on music that reflects 2006. Regardless the hidden agenda behind some lists is something to keep in mind when you're skimming the many top 10 lists out there.