Tired of Lists

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Does anyone still get excited about lists? We're inundated. Just thinking about them makes me sleepy. I can just ignore them, but I like reading about music & they're taking an increasing amount of space. All Blender and Spin do is crank out lists day and night. A couple a year is plenty for me. What do you get out of them at this point? Seriously, why do you like lists?

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 14 August 2003 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

The "What? Nirvana is better than the Beatles?" is getting a bit old.

The only thing to get out of a list anymore is validation .. 100 greatest ____. - Yeah, I own 80 of them. I'm cool.

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Larcole and I were talking about this briefly the other night, and with reference to ILM! I think and Larcole agrees (though she still thinks lists in general are too High Fidelity ;-)) that if more lists actually explained the choices in detail then they could be really enjoyable. It's what I tried to do some years back with my best of nineties thing, at least. I've done a couple of lists on here I know but whenever another list thread starts I just look at it dully. The best thing about the 'worst songs on each album by fave artists' thread was Dave Q's footnotes -- see, THAT'S what is needed, I think.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I found the top 100 90s hip-hop tracks thing I started very useful, because I wanted specifically to download some great hip-hop tracks from a period I am inexpert about. I've still only got to about No.20. The lack of description there was actually helpful because there was no indication of what to expect from each tune, so many pleasant surprises.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I like lists that provide insight into the zeitgeist, the canon, how history is being written, etc. Pazz & Jop is fascinating to me as a document of what music critics were listening to in a given year. Q101's Top 500 Alternative Rock Songs of All Time (1999 edition) was really interesting to compare to Q101's Top 500 Alternative Rock Songs of All Time (1996 edition) in terms of what was left off, what was put on. (In short, Metallica was suddenly alternative; new wave wasn't.) But a lot of the SPIN and Blender lists I ignore, if they seem like they're just dashed off for a cheap laugh.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Hm, that's an interesting alternate way to think about it, Tom, I agree. Perhaps that's where the ability to download can transform a list as such.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:09 (twenty-two years ago)

"100 greatest ____. - Yeah, I own 80 of them. I'm cool."

For me I think the interest is more to do with: I own 80 of them; I know I don't / won't like 18 of the others;.... but what are those other 2?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm really enjoying making my own lists, but other people's, yeah, whatever. Oh, and second Ned's detail thing.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 14 August 2003 14:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The lists are too predictable. Any Spin list (best ever, most influential, best cover, best produced, most underrated, etc), for example, will be topped with Nirvana's "Nevermind". I'm pretty sure I saw it atop their "best hip hop albums of the '90s" list as well. Not just that but "Loveless", "Screamadelica", "OK Computer", "Miseducation of....", "Odelay", etc etc. All the usual suspects.

― ham on rye (ham on rye), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I like lists best when it's hard to figure out what exactly they're a list of

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

granted, it's tough to sell magazines with "list of 100 things, we're not telling you if or how they're actually connected"

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I am somehow mentally incapable of making one, even only 5 of something. I don't know if this makes me a saint or a moron (plz don't answer).

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:28 (twenty-two years ago)

hate magazine lists since its the same boring nonsense but ILM can turn up with a surprise or two but even then i sometimes dislike 'em at times.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Lists are a way of keep the high functioning autists happy. They have a right to enjoy music too, you know.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 14 August 2003 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

the best questions (e.g. top pop moments of the year so far) provoke the best lists on here, obviously, but then you have a look at the responses; read the first two and you realise there are still 100 posts to go and you think fuck it - ill just skip to the end and add my own so thats what you do and no one reads yours either - i bet no ones reading this, i have probably just written all this for myself.

― jed-e-3, Thursday, 14 August 2003 21:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Not true, I read it. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 14 August 2003 21:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Another thing lists can be good for is thought experiments - take a single for instance, would it be diverting/provoking/interesting/make you go "yes!" if you saw it at #1 on a best singles list - if so there's probably something to be said about it.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 15 August 2003 06:49 (twenty-two years ago)

jed-e-3 -

You lazy fuck! Read the whole thread. You're the only person who skips to the end. Everyone else reads every post - sometimes twice to make sure we haven't taken anything the wrong way.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 15 August 2003 10:15 (twenty-two years ago)

this is obviously too short a thread for that experiment to work properly!

― jed-e-3, Friday, 15 August 2003 10:37 (twenty-two years ago)

altho you do get those idiots who spend all year tweaking their future pazz and jop top 10s

― Chip Morningstar (bob), Friday, 15 August 2003 10:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Lists are fine if you limit the number of items to ten.

― Orbit (Orbit), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I have nearly just nearly finished my Pazz & Jop 2014 ballot.

― David. (Cozen), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

"ILM: tweaking your future Pazz & Jop Top 10"

― David. (Cozen), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Are you downloading music yet, Mark? When I'm bored I find a random list thread and download random songs from it.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

You know you're tired of lists when. . .

― Al Andalous, Saturday, 16 August 2003 18:12 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

Glory Daze

― timmy tannin (pompous), Friday, 3 November 2006 03:16 (nineteen years ago)

Excellent writing back in those days.

― everything (everything), Friday, 3 November 2006 04:14 (nineteen years ago)

six years pass...

http://istanbulmusic.blogspot.com/

― redress control number (_Rudipherous_), Monday, 12 November 2012 17:15 (thirteen years ago)

I know, Beatles, but look at all those other lists. Top five Albanian musicians, etc.

― redress control number (_Rudipherous_), Monday, 12 November 2012 17:17 (thirteen years ago)

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