Only The Newbies Can Top

Call me jaded, call me bitter, call me the sexiest man you've ever encountered… or something close to that. But I've recently taken to getting annoyed with these end of year lists, in particular when it comes to music. I'm a music snob. I have a tendency to like what I like and that's about that. But it's become evident to me that I don't see eye to eye with many editors and reviewers.

Take for example Amazon's Editor's Picks for Top 100 Albums of 2008. The one, and probably only, thing I like about these lists is that I get reminded of a few artists that I still need to check out, but more often I'm reminded that the music industry is overly obsessed with Youth. Gay culture is keen on Youth. The music industry drinks Youth's blood in hopes of staying alive one more day. And I don't mean that they are only targeting young people, I mean that they really only value new artists. Looking at the Top 100, there are only about 20-ish bands/artists that have released more than one album on a major label and/or on a major scale. Out of all of the artists in the world that released new records this year, you mean to tell me that only 20 of the best ones came from veterans? Yeah, I highly doubt that.

New musicians bring new sounds to the market. Sometimes. Most times, it's a variation on a tried and true sound, perfected by an elder artist. Many of the Top 20 on Amazon's list are rehashes of another act, adding just a splash more synth or boring and over-rated Falsetto. A few are ones that I need to check out, like Santagold and Kings of Leon before I can really say much else (truth be told, they sounded decent from the clips, but the others in the top just didn't impress me). I also think labels find it easier to promote a new band, and sales numbers traditionally suggest that an artists first major outing will be their most well-received on the sales floor, but whether that's due to laziness on the label's marketing efforts or actual decline in artistic content is up for debate (ok, who am I kidding, it's usually the damned label's fault).

It just saddens me when really good music goes unnoticed, in particular if goes unnoticed because it's the band third or fourth record. Bands like Unwritten Law and Alanis Morissette released new albums this year, and both were great, but nowhere near the Top 100 according to Amazon. Hell, Ray LaMontagne released his third outing and Brett Dennen his second (still my Album Of The Week… after several weeks…), both amazing efforts, and crap like Duffy hopped onto Amazon's list. It's nice to see a group like Gnarls Barkley get recognition (even if it's at 76), but that's lessened when MGMT grabs a top 10 spot for using an already tired Shoe Gaze sound.

So here's what I say. Grab Alanis' album. Check out Ray LaMontagne. Give Scott Weiland's new solo album a whirl. Hell, give Buckcherry a third chance. But don't just drop these artists by the way side because they're "old news." Their albums have done more to advance music this year than most (not all) of these newbies on Amazon's Top 100, and they've shown that they have some staying power in this apparently Youth-centric industry. New isn't always bad, but honoring new simply because it's new doesn't make much sense if they "old guard" is still putting out better products.