l-dopa

Every year, indie-cred barometer site Pitchforkmedia.com publishes their “best albums of 2005″ list, and I secretly scan the list to determine how many of their “best albums of 2005″ (read: indie-credible! albums of 2005) I own or am at least familiar with. This year, things look awfully grim, as I own only two of the 50 albums and I’ve only heard eight more of them:

I own:

• 50: Orthrelm “OV” (and hated it)
• 36: Keith Fullerton Whitman “Multiples”

I’ve heard:

• 46: Fiona Apple “Extraordinary Machine [Jon Brion Version]”
• 45: M83 “Before the Dawn Heals Us”
• 31: Konono No. 1 “Congotronics”
• 30: Franz Ferdinand “You Could Have It So Much Better”
• 26: The Decemberists “Picaresque”
• 21: Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Matt Sweeney “Superwolf”
• 07: Animal Collective “Feels” (and hated it)
• 02: Kanye West “Late Registration”

…that’s only 20% familiarity, and of that twenty percent, I only genuinely liked eight out of those ten, dropping my already weak score to a mere 16%. OUCH. In my meager defense, I do not own any albums by any of the people featured on American Idol. Yet.

~jeff