Hi everyone, Anthony Fantano here. I hope you're doing well, and unfortunately I have to come on here and say that once again I am being crucified for the crime of enjoying music.

Yes, seems once again I have gone too far with thinking that music is good and cool and good to enjoy, and I now have to be punished for doing so. Lo and behold, this silly-ass post over here, which has garnered quite a bit of attention on music Twitter, which pretty much brings together all of my albums that I have formally in real time in recent years, scored a 10 out of 10 or has been referenced as 10 out of 10 or perfect albums in the past in other videos on this channel.

And yeah, there you go. I mean a bunch of records that effectively I have said in so many ways are in my mind pretty much near perfect or perfect in terms of album. craft, in terms of composition, in terms of album flow, in terms of aesthetics, in terms of boldness and creativity they showcased at the time they were released, or cultural impact they have proven to have in the years since they've dropped. These characteristics, criteria, and more are pretty much what I am taking into account when I decide to judge any one of these albums on such a level. In that context, I have no qualms or reservations about how having made any of the calls on these records that I did.

However, it was never my hope or intention that anybody would assemble all of these records into a Topster and then put it onto the internet and say, this is what represents the taste, the mind frame musically of Anthony Fantano. No, that is not what I am doing. That is what you guys are doing and pretending this assembly of albums means. Y'all are ushering me into a conversation I didn't ask for an invite to because the vast majority of the albums in this Topster were placed into lists that I created based on what I felt were perfect albums that were released within a certain decade.

And my intention behind those picks was to say, for this time period, these albums are essentially like near-perfect or perfect touchstone influential albums that have incredible flows, incredible musical qualities that are super significant, super influential, and I knew when picking them that these were very popular, well-liked albums. Yeah, I know everyone enjoys Nevermind. I know everyone enjoys London Calling. I know everyone enjoys Abbey Road.

I know these are not deep pulls, but even if they were, and even if this list was supposed to be just purely an expression of my preferences, because if it was, there would be some Squarepusher here, some Roland Kirk in here, some Fugazi in here. There'd also be some, I don't know, some LCD Soundsystem in here.

But even if this list did also have all of that, that doesn't mean I'm broadcasting to the world that this is me and that this is what makes me special. And look, guys, I understand that, as a passionate music fan, there's power in being a part of a community, and all enjoying a certain thing. But I'm sorry, if this Topster post has proven anything, it's just how sad and unfortunate many people are in that they don't perceive there being anything special or significant about them outside of the music they consume.

I don't know, maybe this is unc of me, but when I'm telling you guys I like a record, or I'm recommending an album to you, I'm doing it because I think it's a really cool album. I think the music on it is compelling. I think I had a significant emotional experience with that music. I'm not recommending it to you because of how I think it'll make you perceive me, which is honestly some weirdo loser shit.

I'm sorry. If you are into music, if you are into a certain kind of music because of how special it makes you look, if you're kind of gazing in reverence at your 40-album Topster that's packed with nothing but obscure noise releases or extreme metal tapes or something like that, I mean, I'm happy for you. If you genuinely enjoy that stuff, that's cool. But buddy, I am 40, and my main YouTube channel is almost 20. I am not trying to prove anything to you or to anybody by liking a thing. And the only reason you're playing obscurity police with other people's preferences is because you're struggling to feel special on your college campus, which I promise you will grow out of one day. And that doesn't mean that your taste is going to become more generic or more bland or dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. It just means you're going to like what you like, and you're not going to allow the popularity or unpopularity of certain things to dictate how much you gravitate toward a certain thing.

Like if you're actually genuinely interested in, like a more accurate, portrait portrayal of my real-time taste, I would look at maybe the past 50 entries into the loved list on the main channel or even look at the run of records I've given album of the year to over the years. Because if you just look at this 10 out of 10 list, you're not going to see Natalia Lafourcade. You're not going to see Tim Hecker. You're not going to see Father John Misty's Pure Comedy, which I've recently fallen back in love with.

And even with this list of albums standing as it currently is. There are notable albums here that very few people have ridden for in the way that I have. Be it either Death Grips The Money Store, or Spelling's The Turning Wheel, or Lingua Ignota's SINNER GET READY. You can't watch my content, adopt my recommendations, and then punish me for it when they get popular. What sense does that make?

For sure I understand that I'm not the only entry point for a lot of different music listeners on any number of these bands or albums, but I for sure as fuck didn't hear about Death Grips from some guy who has a blue checkmark on Twitter. So again, guys, unless I make and explicitly post a Topster for you to do something like this with, don't generate one yourselves and then pretend like I'm in on the Topster discourse over something you made. And look, historically, I have not really been super anti-Topster discourse. I feel like they can be a cool way to spread the word on certain records or to make certain recommendations. I think they can be a useful tool.

However, what I'm not into is using them as proof that you're so unique and a special snowflake and nobody listens to music like you. That is some wiener shit that I don't want to be involved in. That is not how I listen to music. That's not how I think other people should listen to music either. In fact, I would love nothing more than for all of my favorite artists to have audiences that love and support them and are vocal about their work and go out to all their shows and give them lifelong careers. So please, if you guys have the power to do so, take all of the obscure artists I like and make them not obscure anymore tomorrow, please.

But yeah, don't put me in no more wiener talk like this. I'm done with this wiener discourse. Just enjoy the things that you enjoy regardless of how popular they are, or they aren't. And there you go.

Anthony Fantano. Topsters. Forever.