Artist of the Week

So it all started early 2009. I scrolled through my Ipod and decided to listen to Sufjan Stevens. I wondered how long it was since I’d listened to him? At best months ago, probably years. In fact, when was the last time I listened to anything other than what I’d recently bought and a handful of old favourites? You carry most of your record collection with you at all times in your Ipod but you could just as well have a walkman with a few cassettes rattling around in a bag the amount you explore your own music. I wanted to listen all of the music of varying quality I’d gathered over the years. But I wanted it to be structured (if there’s one thing I love more than music it’s structured fun) and I wanted to be something that I could show off about (if there’s one thing I love more than structured fun it’s being the centre of attention). Artist of the week was born.
It’s a simple idea: listen to everything you own and can gather by that artist and, if you can be bothered, anyone they have collaborated with or are influenced by. By the end of the week you really know how much you like the artist and what their best work is. My rules don’t mean that you have to exclusively listen to the artist of the week; you should listen to other stuff as well. So although Sufjan Stevens was a decent first week it is quite telling that I have barely listened to him since.

The second week was dedicated to Franz Ferdinand because their underrated album ‘Tonight’ had just been released and I was keen to keep on listening to new music alongside my old records. Another good week, but things only got astonishing and turned from sad-music-fan experiment to sad-music-fan-way-of life in the third week. Listening to all of PJ Harvey’s records reminds you of how talented she is and how lucky we are that she’s around. I didn’t realise then that later in the year Peej would hammer this point home, like Jermaine Defoe scoring a fifth goal, with the unhinged brilliance of her latest collaboration with John Parish.
All very nice, but a bit introspective? Not if you start shouting about it to friends and on social networking websites. This is where the attention seeking part fits it. Some of the best fun I’ve had comes from producing a fanfare and announcing what week it is on Facebook. It’s always interesting to see who responds and what they say, whether they are interested and interesting, like a furious debate between friends about what was The Cure’s best album, or amusing and sarcastic: Elbow week prompted someone to say ‘Why? Has your Ipod broken?’ When I’m not sure which artist to go for I sometimes put it to vote on FB or twitter. I now know that my friends really don’t like Bob Dylan but seem to be all about Belle and Sebastian.
I also know that, secretly, some people I know are really annoyed about me going on about something as mundane as what music I am listening to, and that makes me enjoy it even more. There is an easy way to get me back though. I received a text at two o’clock one morning from my dear friend Dave imploring me to have a Manic Street Preachers week. He later admitted that he was drunk and belligerent and knew that I wouldn’t shirk a challenge even though it meant me wading through a lot of mediocre stadium rock to get to the odd gem. It was the worst week I’ve had, but I still take suggestions. I told my good friend at work Vicki about the weekly ritual and got the impression she considered it (perish the thought) a little bit sad, but approved of that week’s choice, Johnny Cash. I asked her who I should listen to next, she went for Dolly Parton which made for a corking week.
Sometimes I go for concepts (as if this piece could not get any more wanky…) Covers week and gay week were both fun. Sometimes more than one artist; a recent week was White Stripes and Strokes week. The White Stripes won this contest easily, with the Strokes limping in third behind The Raconteurs. Otis Redding and Dusty Springfield week was an odd pairing that worked, The Bluetones and Gene week was a chance to revel in one of my very favourite genres: division 2 Britpop.
I save my favourite artists for special occasions - Pulp week was very fitting for my birthday weekend in Sheffield. I haven’t had a Beatles or a Stones week yet. I’ve done Morrissey week (no surprises, Maladjusted and Southpaw Grammar still appalling, the new one not great) but not the Smiths. The recent birth of my first child, Juno, has meant that I’ve not been as disciplined in the last few weeks, but I did manageto have a week dedicated to Radiohead (brilliant, and still maintain that OK Computer is at best only their fourth best album). Not sure what will be up next, open to suggestions.

So what have I learned? Lots: Richard Hawley’s new one is fantastic, Lady’s Bridge is terrible. Elliott Smith is better than Nick Drake. Disintegration is The Cure’s best album and The Eels deserve much more praise than they get. David Bowie’s last two records stand up rather well, the Manics’ don’t. Like all years there’s been a lot of good music released this year. I have also pledged to myself that I’ll only stop doing this when I have scraped the barrel so much that the only artists I haven’t played are Jamiroquai and U2. Either that or I’ll go back to the start and listen to Sufjan Stevens again, he might have even done a record about another American state by then.