Despite 2012 being a pretty great year for songs thus far, I'm going to come right out and say that, based on the limited number of albums I have listened to, it has been a pretty bad year for music. But, much like with other cultural forms of entertainment, I look toward the future and see that brighter pastures are ahead. With Japandroids, Beach House, Kanye West, Fiona Apple, and countless other artists set to release records in the coming year I can't help but feel hopeful.
And really the reason I do my Quarterly Reviews, aside from using them as an aid to keep track of what exactly I have listened to in the year, is to track how my feelings have changed. Unlike the past few years, I am not sure if my favorite album from the year has been already released, or is even on my radar. And that unknown excites me like a a kid who just won a timed shopping spree in Kay-Bee Toys.
But this isn't a most anticipated list. This is the present, and the present is a gift. So how about we get to unwrapping?