Features

For this list, there is no introductory statement that won’t come across as overly self-absorbed and politically bitter, so I’ll just indulge: despite barely being 4 years old at its beginning, I acknowledge that the 2010’s were a complete mess. Disastrous elections, racism, religious and regional intolerance, war, and climate change all contributed to our current feeling of impending doom, yet music remained brilliant. As it’s now “best albums of the decade” list season, to retain our reputation as an excellent music criticism website that doesn’t blindly overrate Vampire Weekend, of course we’re joining the action! Each of our two regular writers will post their top 50 albums of the decade lists, potentially followed by an AnalogPlanet team list with annotations. Before the main top 50 list however, there are several honorable mentions that, for one reason or another, aren’t in an AOTD conversation but are nonetheless enjoyable. Below are the honorable mentions listed in order of how their representing songs appear in the attached Tidal, Spotify, and YouTube playlists (sorry, Apple Music users and Endless fans):

Bob George The Archive of Contemporary Music's founder and director was scheduled to participate in a "Making Vinyl Hollywood" panel discussion I moderated last fall, so to prep for it I called Mr. George and proposed a visit to the Archive during which we'd discuss his participation. As you'll see in the video, by the time I visited last September I'd forgotten the reason for the visit!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an AnalogPlanet playlist, mostly since I’ve busied myself with many other projects. But because it’s the holiday season, it’s only appropriate to bring, with a selection of my Christmas favorites, some holiday fun on here. There’s a mix of the normal picks (Nat “King” Cole’s “The Christmas Song” and the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas) and some seasonal tracks from a couple of my favorite artists (Tyler’s “Lights On,” the White Stripes’ “Candy Cane Children,” and the David Bowie/Bing Crosby collab) as well as some “how did anybody let this happen?!?!?!” Christmas songs (Dylan’s “Must Be Santa” and Eilert Pilarm’s rendition of “Blue Christmas”). Below are Tidal, Spotify, and YouTube playlists (sorry, Apple Music users) followed by commentary on each song. (Note: David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” isn’t on the Tidal playlist. The record label made every effort to delete the song’s original version from streaming services in favor of the far inferior “modernized” London Symphony Orchestra-overdubbed version.)

For as long as I’ve reviewed high-performance audio equipment, I’ve repeatedly iterated that to bring young people into the hobby, audio manufacturers need to make excellent, affordable, and convenient products. If a product fails any one of those criteria, hundreds of potential audio enthusiasts are turned away and save for a few outliers, hi-fi continues to be a hobby for old, mostly white men.

Bad music. We generally try to avoid it, but some is so awful that we just can’t help but listen and laugh. Typically, artists who are self-indulgent, high out of their minds, trying to be profound, and/or unaware of their skill (or drug consumption) limits create the worst music. For my monthly AnalogPlanet playlist feature, I’ve compiled for your pleasure a list of the worst music in the history of mankind. Since some of this music is only available on certain streaming platforms, I’ve included underneath each individual song or album a streaming link. It’s also worth noting the list’s strategic structure: as you keep reading the music gets worse. Read at your own risk, but if you’re willing to subject yourself to the final entry (what I believe to be the absolute worst album ever created by anybody), I guarantee you will have a good laugh. Anyway, let’s get your suffering over with and begin the proceedings right away…

Have you been wondering what music I’ve been listening to lately? Probably not, but I’m telling you anyway! And maybe now that I’ve brought it up, you genuinely would like to know what AnalogPlanet contributing editor Malachi Lui currently spins in heavy rotation. Below are embedded playlists from Tidal, Spotify, and YouTube along with comments on the songs and/or mini-reviews of their associated albums that I unfortunately don’t have enough time to extensively cover.

If you search Stereophile's website under darTZeel founder Hervé Delétraz's name you'll find his multi-part "DIY" story posted in 2000. Since his "DIY" days, Mr. Delétraz has gone on to design and manufacture a series of sonically stunning and visually distinctive high performance darTZeel audio products.