Since statistics are a big part of what I do for a living¹, I can’t get enough of the musical statistical goodness of Last.fm. Here are some more stats on top of my most listened-to albums.

Top 10 Artists

1. of Montreal

2. Nine Inch Nails

3. Sugababes (tie)

3. Coheed and Cambria (tie)

5. Weezer

6. Tegan and Sara

7. Spoon

8. The Fiery Furnaces (tie)

8. Death Cab for Cutie (tie)

10. M83

It’s interesting how little overlap there is with my top 10 albums. It means I mostly listened to albums that didn’t come out this year.

Then there is LastGraph, a service that graphs music listening in a visually pleasing form. Here is part of my graph for 2008:

It’s chronological, with each line beginning a month (October, November, and December, here), and artists get a bigger blob the more they are played during that time.

I love how I can see my whole year in music reviewed. Above you can see the pinch when I got my new computer and wasn’t recording song plays for a while. Earlier is an even bigger BC/Halifax vacation blackout. In November there’s the giant ball of eclectic NaNoWriMo listening. There are depressing periods of sappy pre- and post- breakup/other disaster music.

If you care you can view the rest of the graph here.

Looking at the music I listened to, it’s also interesting, as Sean pointed out, that a large proportion of the artists are influenced by or outright rip off the music of the 80s. M83, Neon Neon, Cut Copy, The Killers, Grand National, Chromeo, Ladytron, LCD Soundsystem, etc…all owe the 80s something for their sound. I don’t know if this says more about the music industry or about me. Maybe some nostalgic longing brought on by the need to grow up.

But the past has passed, so it’s time to look to the future. My New Years resolution is to continue being so incredibly awesome that I don’t need any New Years resolutions.

Ok ok and maybe lose the 7 pounds that Wii Fit told me I gained over the holidays.

Happy 2009 everyone!

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¹ IF YOU CALL THIS LIVING.