Fifteen years ago, the seeds of Idle Time were sown via sheets of legal paper surreptitiously circulating among three bored co-workers. Top 5 lists, inspired by a mutual love of High Fidelity (one of the few things we could ever agree on), typically about music, gave way to mix CDs, which in turn evolved into the first “Best Of” compilations in December of 2002.
Our roster has grown over the years and, since we all ostensibly like each other, we’ve tinkered with our ranking format on virtually every list for the sole purpose of cutting down on the amount of friendship-jeopardizing disputes. For 2015, we rolled out one of our most egalitarian systems ever.
Five Idlers, including one newcomer, each with eight selections apiece, have assembled our Favorite Forty in Music for the year that was. The ranking process was still somewhat contentious (we have to argue about something), but at least we have a List. And, despite The Holy Bee’s celebrated farewell to music ranking (I’ll paraphrase: “I’m done listening to shit I don’t like.”), we were able to coax a few spins out of him to provide some additional sidebar comments. It’s a nice reminder that we don’t always agree on what is deserving of an Idle Time accolade.
So, without any further ado, here be the forty albums that we’ve been all about in twenty-fifteen.
The Institute of Idle Time 