Karl Snyder

The year 2023 was, most of all, the year I prepared to become a parent and then became a parent to a sweet and curious little person named Lucy Jo. It was a year of sudden transition; deep exhaustion; even deeper joy; and, eventually, a year of embracing the gift of routine. According to the extensive lists I keep year-round on my phone, I have listened to 225 albums that were released in 2023*, which is about 14% fewer than last year.

The year 2022 was my first full year back in Minnesota; it was a year of settling in, rebuilding old connections, and beginning to build new ones. According to the extensive lists I keep year-round on my phone, I have listened to 261 albums that were released in 2022. Like last year, when my total album count was very similar, I again felt like this number was a sweet spot that allowed me to reconnect with albums from past years that I hadn't listened to in a while.

The Music That Defined a Year of Transitions In 2021, I moved across the country, bought a house, and got a new job.