You’re supposed to pick a favorite album for each year you’ve been alive. You can pick a record based on what you like now or what you would have picked that year assuming you were old enough to care.
Also, here’s a helpful way to find out which albums were released for pretty much any year, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_in_music, although it’s far from complete.
1980: Devo, Freedom of Choice
1981: Tom Tom Club, self-titled
1982: Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Imperial Bedroom
1983: Stevie Ray Vaughn, Texas Flood
1984: Tie: REM, Reckoning; Prince & the Revolution, Purple Rain
1985: Talking Heads, Little Creatures
1986: The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead
1987: Suzanne Vega, Solitude Standing
1988: Pixies, Surfer Rosa
1989: Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique
1990: The Replacements, All Shook Down
1992: Screaming Trees, Sweet Oblivion
1993: Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream
1994: Heatmiser, Cop and Speeder
1995: Radiohead, The Bends
1996: The Afghan Whigs, Black Love
1997: Buena Vista Social Club, self-titled
1998: Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2000: Jurassic 5, Quality Control
2001: Built to Spill, Ancient Melodies of the Future
2002: The Decemberists, Castaways & Cutouts
2003: Placebo, Sleeping With Ghosts
2004: Blonde Redhead, Misery Is a Butterfly
2005: Belle & Sebastian, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
2006: The Twilight Singers, Powder Burns
2007: Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha
2008: Gutter Twins, Saturnalia
2009: Coconut Records, Davy
2010: Black Dub, self-titled
2011: The Twilight Singers, Dynamite Steps
http://www.avclub.com/articles/geeky-list-time-pick-an-album-for-every-year-youve,8828/
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This little exercise also introduced me to some of the raddest band names I had never heard before, such as... Bucks Fizz, Desperate Bicycles, Witchfinder General, Witchfynde, Stormwitch, Hawkwind, Hawklords, Prefab Sprout, Beat Farmers, Brand Nubian, Spear of Destiny, Harem Scarem, Leftover Salmon, Dog Fashion Disco, and Bruce Willis.
Observation #2, Mission of Burma has been around for a long time.
Observation #3, for certain years this was very tough. There was a lot of stiff competition.
Observation #4, I have missed a lot of new music the past few years and need to catch up. This was a good reminder.
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December 4, 2011:
I originally posted this back in March, in the pre-history of this blog, and I'm reposting it because I think it's a cool meme and because, as I mentioned, my answers for some of the recent years may change if I got back in the habit of listening to more music. Well, I have been listening to a lot more. So, maybe I'll revisit it.
gamechangershow
kianamaiart
amandla
prguitarman
tangentwithtanner
pixelskylines
snowghoul
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
