Lists 2011!: Week #1—Music

It is nearing the end of the year and is therefore time for everyone to start putting out their year end lists for anything they can think of. As a longtime lover of lists I have decided to join in the fun. I, however, certainly do not have the time nor the resources to have watched all the year's new movies or listened to all the year's new music, so there's no way I could ever come up with a "Best of" list for 2011 in any category. My lists, therefore, will be purely idiosyncratic. Over the next three weeks I will do some music lists, some movie lists, and some book lists.

Up this week: Music

List #1--Artists Whose Music I Love But Too Much Time Has Past For Me To Actually Start Buying Their Records

1. Sigur Ros
2. Iron and Wine
3. Larry Norman
4. ELO (Electric Light Orchestra)
5. Queen
6. Bill Withers
7. Lilly Allen
8. LCD Soundsystem
9. Bjork
10. Calexico
11. Cat Stevens
12. Gnarls Barkley
13. John Lennon and Paul McCartney (solo records)
14. Muse

List #2--Artists Whose Music I Know Very Little About But Whom I Want to Know More About and If I Had Any Expendable Time or Income I May One Day Start Purchasing Their Records (donations are not being accepted at this time)

1. Tune Yards
2. Wye Oak
3. Avett Brothers
4. Imelda May
5. Janelle Monae
6. Joanna Newsom
7. Duke Ellington
8. John Prine
9. John Tavener
10. Juana Molina
11. Knaan
12. Raphael Saadiq
13. Kraftwerk
14. Mastodon
15. Nellie Mckay
16. Neu!
17. Devotchka
18. Godspeed You Black Emperor
19. A Tribe Called Quest
20. The Legendary Shack Shakers
21. Toumani Diabate
22. Mariachi El Bronx
23. Jordi Savall
24. Hildegaard Von Bingen
25. Afro-pop music (to use a very general, non-helpful term)

List #3--Artists That Others Love and Adore Whom I Absolutely Cannot Stand (Believe me I’ve tried)

1. Pink Floyd (top of the list)
2. David Bowie (I hate Bowie only 90% of the time, but that 90% is very intense)
3. The Rolling Stones
4. The Flaming Lips
5. They Might Be Giants
6. The Doors
7. Tom Waits
8. James Taylor
9. Elvis Costello

List #4--Artists Whose Music You May Not Listen Too Whose Music I Think You Should Start Buying (If you already know these artists then don’t bother with this list)

1. Andrew Osenga
2. Keith Green, Rich Mullins, and Fernando Ortega (of course!)
3. Over the Rhine
4. Explosions in the Sky
5. Brooke Waggoner
6. Burlap To Cashmere
7. Vince Guaraldi
8. Charlie Peacock
9. Jeremy Casella
10. John Reuben
11. Josh Garrells
12. Waterdeep
13. Loney, Dear
14. Elbow
15. MuteMath
16. The Normals
17. Phil Keaggy
18. Randy Newman (He’s written a lot of stuff OTHER than the Toy Story theme song)
19. Steve Reich
20. Taize
21. Steven Delopoulos
22. Steve Taylor
23. J.S. Bach (I’m serious about this one. Go and listen to Bach. Now. Actually, we all should just go listen to Bach right now.)

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Related Articles:
Lists 2011!: Week #2—Movies
Lists 2011: Week #3—Absolute Favorites and Books
Summer To Do List Part 1: My (Hopeful) Summer Reading List
Summer Reading List (2013)