Category Archives: Top 5’s
Tom’s Top 5’s: Most Anticipated Albums of 2015 (Addendum!)
Upon posting my Top 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2015, friends questioned why I hadn’t included several other exciting new releases scheduled for the coming year. In my defense I can offer only ignorance: in most of these cases, I … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 10’s: Most Anticipated Albums of 2015
Any year that kicks off with Kanye West and Paul McCartney collaborating on a Stevie Wonder-esque ballad is going to be a year of surprises. A mere week into the new year, it’s tough to say what curve balls 2015 … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 10 of 2014, Pt. 2
It’s a blustery, snowy day here back home in South Dakota. So what better time to bundle up indoors with a cup of tea and finish up my Top 10 Albums of 2014? The first half of my Top 10 … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 10 of 2014, Pt. 1
In December 2013, as regular readers may recall, I decided to catch up on the state of contemporary music by listening to and reviewing an album every day for a month. My listening in 2014 was more evenly spread out … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2013
And so, 48 days and 240 albums later, we come to the last of my Top 5 Albums of [xxxx] (until my inevitable Top 5/10 of 2014, that is). This list took all of five minutes to put together, mostly … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2012
As Ralph Ellison once put it, “Eclecticism is the word.” So after several years of Belle & Sebastian/Camera Obscura/Divine Comedy indie pop consistency, my tastes throw me a curveball in 2012: hip-hop, glitch-hop, throwback prog, piano rock, and anthemic indie … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2010
As the first decade of the third millennium comes to a close, you may have noticed that, when I like a band, I really like a band, to the point that their releases tend to dominate my Top 5’s. So … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2009
2009 is a surprisingly thin year for me. The following albums completely deserve their Top 5 rankings on objective merits. But as I was putting the list together, I came to the realization that I didn’t actually own that many … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2008
2008 was the year I began university, and also the year that I campaigned like a crazy person for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. I remember on Election Night, huddled with my fellow College Democrats, watching intently as CNN called each … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2007
If you’ve been keeping track of these lists, you’ve probably ascertained I’m a big Paul McCartney fan – apart from dominating with the Beatles during the 60s, of course, he made a strong showing on my lists for 1973, 1982, … Continue reading
Revolutions Per Minute 