It’s almost 2009! That means every music magazine in existence either has already presented or is going to present their best-albums/songs-of-the-year lists in the coming weeks. I myself still have one or two last-minute purchases to make before I can comfortably assemble my own list. A lot of stuff came out this year, but I’m beginning to come around to the idea that the long-playing album is more or less dead. Meaning, it didn’t used to cause me a migraine to think of an album that wowed me from start to finish. No such luck this year. How these magazines can stretch out their lists to 20, 33, or even 50 (alternate) selections just baffles me. I buy way more than 10 albums every year, but I can truthfully say that there is rarely a 12 month period that produces more than 10 “classic” albums, and that number is most likely going to dwindle as we move forward into the iTunes age. I’m still something of a purist, prefering to use mp3s as a tool for discovering artists and albums that I may want to own an actual CD of. I like liner notes and sleeve art; I’m a graphic designer—sue me. But as quality long-player output continues to wane, I can already sense the impending, inevitable shift to a more digital musical diet. Progress! (Right?)