If one thing defined the year in music for me in 2015, it was the seemingly endless struggle I had just trying to keep up with all the great releases. The pace and volume at which albums were dropped, often with no advance warning or fanfare, was breathtaking, and it felt harder than ever to spend a lot of time with any one record I loved. Sufjan Stevens put out what is by far my most beloved album in 2015. I feel like I listened to it on constant repeat throughout the year. But my iTunes play count tells me I only heard it 18 times! (Can that be right?) Wilco put out my number two record and I only listened to it all the way through a half dozen times (though I heard individual songs more). In our year-end review, Ann Powers talked about listening to albums this year the way we usually watch movies — you really only see your favorite ones a handful of times, if that. But it left me a little frustrated at the end of the year, wishing I had more time. I suppose there are worse things in life than an embarrassment of riches.
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