We’re already two-thirds into 2009 (even if you’re still pining for the seventh month) and I realised that there is very little chance I’ll be able to do my Top 10 Albums of the Year like I have done so in the past. Reason being? I’ve only bought four albums that have been released this year. Of course I do realise that could change as we’re heading into the Christmas release schedule. Ahh, now you’re harping on how it’s only August, huh?!
So I lay the question out, has this year been a poor year for music or is it just that I’m out of touch with what is “sick” with the cool kids? I’ve never been musically fashionable (or indeed in any other aspect of my life!) but when I look at the wee pile of CDs that consist of The Proclaimers’ ‘Notes & Rhymes’, A-ha’s ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ along with ‘Travelling Like The Light’ by V.V. Brown and Sugarland’s CD/DVD combo-release ‘Live On The Inside’, I can’t help but think while those four albums are incredibly strong, I should have at least double that many by this stage of the year.
Maybe my lack of enthusiasm is born out of the knowledge that I’ve been stung so many times in the past buying a full price album that I’ve seen within six months at under five pounds or has been re-released with extra content, thus rendering the version I have somewhat inferior.
My other thought process is I look at my shelves full of CDs I rarely play and there are stacks and stacks of CDs that I don’t have the room for anymore, but frankly that has never stopped me in the past and I doubt that is honestly the case now. That includes the piles of CDs covered in dust too.
It is an unfortunate truth that just like DVDs, many CDs have lost their value and with it, like movies, music has been cheapened. In the past you could always sell on an album and get a semi-healthy return on it. These days, most probably due to the illegal downloading torrent culture, any value has plummeted to a meagre couple of pounds. Shops are retailing brand new copies for one or two pounds more, so the second-hand market is almost void unless it’s a collectable release, in which case you probably won’t want to sell it!
Whatever the reason for me only having four albums that were released this year, feel free to recommend your suggestions for your favourite CDs of 2009 here for me and anyone else who chooses to read this. Ta Muchly!
