I couldn’t leave her if I tried

Has it really been a year? Wow.

This post marks the first anniversary of Armagideon Time. When I launched this project on May 3, 2006, I was certain that I wouldn’t make it through six weeks before I got bored and packed it in. I came close on a couple of occasions, but there always seemed to be someone around at just the right moment to whisper words of encouragement and praise in my ear.

It took me a while to find my voice. When I started off, I tried my hardest to force myself into the role of a music critic and historian, but it was never an easy fit and I eventually gave up trying. Then, in an Archimedes-in-the-bathtub moment, I hit upon the notion of doing “theme” posts, and I started to hit my stride. Besides, I’m somewhat ambivalent about formal music criticism; I enjoy reading it when it’s done well, but it’s a rare occasion when overly detailed analyses manage to capture what makes a given piece of music a success or a failure, especially when lensed though the many-fold prism that is “personal taste.”

Given the choice, I’d rather just relate a personal anecdote, popcult reference, or random factoid to set the tone, and let the music speak for itself. I think this approach works, based on the fact that there are a hundred of you who make the effort to visit the site on a regular basis. (“Only a hundred?” you may ask. I’ve never been comfortable with being proactive on the self-promotion front, so the growth in readership has been an organic affair, helped along by the occasional kind mention here and there. Or you can see it as a bit of cyber-gnosticism, a hidden little cabal where the cool kids hang out but need to find the hidden doorway before entering the clubhouse. It’s also why I don’t beg for comments.)

I’m amazed whenever someone cites Armagideon Time as a positive example of or a favorite music blog, especially when the person giving the praise is able to codify what the heck it is I’m doing when I myself am not sure most of the time. Assessing a project from the trenches is hard to do, and it’s very comforting (and flattering) to discover that maybe, just maybe, I’m not completely making a terrible mess of things.

So, yeah, a big thanks to everyone who helped this blog make it as far as it did: the readers, fellow bloggers (as represented in the “Other Places of Note” links in the sidebar), and most importantly, my wife Maura, who has been patient and supportive regarding the whole project…even if she will never understand why Shampoo’s “Trouble” is such a great song.

No particular theme for this momentous occasion, just a small assortment of tracks culled from my “Current Favorites” Winamp playlist.

The Clash – Kick It Over (from Singles Box, 2006) – My favorite of the two 12” dub mixes of “Armagideon Time” The Clash recorded.

Benny Goodman – Sing, Sing, Sing (from Greatest Hits, 1996) – Yeah, it’s the one bit of swing jazz that everybody knows, but it still gives me chills each and every time I hear it. It’s also one of the few songs where “drum solo” doesn’t mean “slow, painful torture.”

The Monkees – I’m a Believer (from More of the Monkees, 1967) – I make no apologies. I’m a pop functionalist; the internal processes involved in production don’t matter, only the end result.

The Wall – When I’m Dancin’ (from a 1982 12” single, collected on No Future: Punk Singles Collection, Vol. 2, 1997) – Note-perfect punk pop, made all the more special because I discovered it unexpectedly on a collection of so-so UK82 band b-sides. The wife and I had it played during our wedding reception.