2013: Disaster

So I did okay - I listened to a lot of British Rap. I missed a lot too - for a number of reasons. One: these records are fairly unavailable in any form, Two: I'm disorganised and Three: Life took over.

But I did okay. I got to the top ten; I got a copy of Dettwork Southeast. I could never find a copy of the Katch 22 album. And I'd had the top three for years (MC Mell'o; Hijack; London Posse). I didn't get to wax lyrical about the London Posse. Basically I don't like them that much but How's Life In London is without question, the best pop single to come out of the UK ever.

It's been a funny old year - I came here with a suitcase containing Christmas Crackers, celebrated Christmas 2 with Amy, got a new cat, rediscovered buying records, made some new friends and some really terrible beer. America's a funny place sometimes, and living here I sometimes feel like an anthropologist: This is different, that is different, Amy cringes each time I declare that I'm off to the toilet. You can really while away your time watching Americans use knives and forks.

But now I feel it's my home - that it's the place that celebrates the slightly weird aspects of my personality that always made me feel awkward back home. That I spent the majority of the year uncovering this hidden world of incredible music both made me a little homesick but it also acted as an impetus to move forwards. The Krautrock project was all about unbridled optimism for the unknown future and being prepared to live in that future whilst in the present. This project reminded me that there's still plenty to learn. That these records have gone largely unnoticed or unacknowledged is unsurprising but it's nice to come across them none the less.

And overall, the quality was fairly astonishing. There were a few clangers (probably a result of over enthusiasm at the time of writing) but 90% of the records on there were stone classics or records to become stone classics. And whilst I struggled to deal with them sometimes, they were surprisingly surprising and beautifully well formed.

So with an order of the Katch 22 record to go, I think I've done enough on this one.

But what of 2014? I've been testing CDs out on long car journeys with Amy and she practically told me to do the project that I've planned. It's not a top 50 but it's a revisiting of the entire output of a group that will take the whole year. It required a spreadsheet and three days of research to prepare. I will take a less stressful approach to this one: If I can't get it I can't get it. The main stuff should be easy to acquire.

I'm well excited.