Welcome. This is the inaugural Musical Advent Calendar, an annual event chronicling the year’s music and paring it down to the top 31 releases of the year.

I got this idea from a friend of mine, although I believe I’ve changed it slightly from his incarnation. He would use the advent calendar to reveal the best musical acts to come out in the past year. I’m not sure if I doubt my own abilities at discovering 31 acts in a given year, or if there simply cannot be 31 new acts worth mentioning every year, but my version of the advent calendar is not so narrow-sighted. I am expanding on his idea with his blessing.

How I create the list

I simply look at the music that I’ve listened to the most that originated between Nov. 1, 2008 and Oct. 31, 2009. I offset the year by two months because: a) I don’t want to rule out music released while compiling my list, and b) I don’t want to have to try and consider something I’ve barely had any time to listen to. Then I try to establish order out of the top of the heap. It’s not definitive, for sure. Throughout the year if I discover and love something that was released in 2009 that is list-worthy, I reserve the right to edit the list down the line. I’m sure you understand. And if you subscribe to the RSS, you’ll get those updates as well.

The list will be in reverse-chronological order, to build suspense along the way. Please comment on things you like and let me know if you’re liking what you’re seeing (or disliking, too).

Enjoy!

Royal

ps — you can also find me at my Bacon Tumblr if you’re looking for more than just my music tastes.

pps — you should also follow me on Twitter.