I’ve been criticized (I won’t name names) for having music tastes that are often devoid of any feel good, singing with the windows rolled down, rockin’, happy tunes, but rather focuses on being different from the norm and usually less rockin’ or poppy than what most would consider instantly gratifying tunes…aka “weird”. This is, of course, a criticism I vehimately deny. I will admit, however, that when it comes to picking my best albums, they are usually albums that do not fit into the mainstream or pop music crowd. This isn’t to say that I don’t like some bands like that, it’s just that I do not consider those albums to be the best albums of whatever year. This is one reason why I always differentiate my year end list by calling it the best albums of the year, rather than my favorite…because those are two different things, however, I will say, oftentimes they are one and the same.
You can think of it in terms of movies. For example, a couple years ago a movie like Transformers was an insanely entertaining and very fun movie to watch and was probably one of my favorite movie going experiences of the year. However, that movie has no business even being uttered in the same sentence as The Academy Awards (unless it’s for a technical category), and this is something that can be said for most Summer blockbusters (Transformers 2 this Summer!!!) and thus I rarely consider to be the best movies of the year however enjoyable they may be. Music is the same way. There are many catchy, fun to listen to albums, but ultimately they lack substance and really are just cheap thrills…and that is something I don’t find much artistic value in. However, every now and then an album comes along that merges both sides of this spectrum. Manners is one of those albums.
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 