About & FAQs

About & FAQs
Photo by blocks / Unsplash

This website is where I share my annual best albums of the year review lists, as well as occasional other album reviews throughout the year. Stick around and subscribe to catch more of my thoughts!

About me

If you signed up for this newsletter, you probably already know who I am, but in case you don't, my name is Spencer Pevsner - I am a paleontologist who spends a great deal of his spare time listening to the latest albums in the indie rock and electronic music scenes. I've been interested in the cutting edge of music my whole life, from the very first album I listened to in full (American Idiot by Green Day, back in 2004), to seeing LCD Soundsystem perform the long goodbye at Madison Square Garden in 2013, to when I first began writing my annual album review lists in 2019. If you want to know more about my professional life, you can go to my personal website at www.spencerpevsner.com, but this newsletter will be reserved for my music thoughts.

What are the rules for your annual write-ups?

Great question! I do have rules, and I (usually) follow them to the letter. However, on occasion, an unusual year of quality (for better or for worse) will require eschewing some of the rules. But normally, they proceed as follows:

  1. Any albums being considered must have been released in the year being evaluated (i.e. when evaluating the best albums of 2024, each album must have been released in 2024).
  2. In order for an album to be in consideration, I must have listened to it in its entirety at least once.
  3. A collection of EPs and/or singles cannot be included on the list.
  4. Soundtracks, particularly instrumental-only soundtracks, may not be on the main list but may appear as honorable mentions. This rule does not apply to instrumental-only albums that are not tied to a separate piece of media.

Finally, and most importantly:

  1. No bad music is allowed on the lists!

Why subscribe?

None of my lists will ever be behind a paywall - I just do this for fun! If you feel compelled to support me financially, shoot me a message and I will let you know how you can do so. Who knows, if enough people sign up for this thing then maybe I'll switch to a plan that will allow me to set up an option where you can sign up for a paid membership here!