I am generating a list of musical artists who, in my opinion, recorded at least one record of historical significance. The list will ultimately contain every critically significant musical artist/band/assembly. To keep my head in it, to avoid it becoming boring for me, rather than going through alphabetically, as I normally do, I have the artists listed in a spreadsheet, and I sort the names on a random key, then take the first unassessed artist from the top of the randomized list for assessment (I know, it makes music feel very very sexy to use these cold terms. It’s my talent.)

Considering that “current” artist, I try to examine as much of their LP discography as I can find information about. I rank each LP according to an arcane and mystical process that relies on, in order of importance, 1) my opinion, 2) online and hard copy databases and record guides (Allmusic, Rate Your Music, Pop Matters, Pitchfork, Discogs, and The Penguin Guide to Jazz figure prominently, others are considered when more info is needed,) and 3) kismet.

I continue this process until 1000 total records have been assessed, sort the list in terms of quality, and post the results. Currently, 171 artists are considered. They are

Alabama Shakes
Ali Farka Touré
Alice Cooper
Allman Brothers Band
Anthony Braxton
Art Blakey
Art Pepper
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Badfinger
Band of Horses
Big Daddy Kane
Bikini Kill
Bill Evans
Bill Fay
Billy Bragg
Bob Marley
Bobby Timmons
Bobby Womack
Body Count
Booker Little
British Sea Power
Bryan Ferry
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Camera Obscura
Canned Heat
Cardinal
Carpenters
Chieftains
Chris Isaak
Clipse
Cold Chisel
Coleman Hawkins
Colin Blunstone
Colin Stetson
Cure
Dave Edmunds
David Murray
Deerhunter
Depeche Mode
Descendents
Destroyer
Digital Underground
Dirty Three
Disco Inferno
Dizzy Gillespie
Dolly Parton Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris
Drive-By Truckers
Earl Sweatshirt
Earth, Wind and Fire
Edan
Elbow
Electronic
Ellen Allien
Elvis Costello
Elvis Presley
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emperor
Fatboy Slim
Foo Fighters
Frank Sinatra
Fuck Buttons
Funkadelic
Gal Costa
Gary Numan
Gerry Rafferty
Gillian Welch
Godflesh
Grandaddy
Gregory Isaacs
Half Japanese
Hamilton Leithouser
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Henry Cow
High Llamas
Hop Along
I Roy
Jacksons
Jan Johansson
Joe Henderson
John Cage
John Cale
John Coltrane
John Martyn
Johnny Winter
Julee Cruise
Julie Driscoll
Julie London
k. d. lang
Kaiser Chiefs
kd Lang
Keith Hudson
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kings of Convenience
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Late of the Pier
Lee Konitz
Leonard Cohen
Lil Wayne
Little Feat
Los Lobos
Lounge Lizards
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Macy Gray
Mahmoud Ahmed
Mano Negra
Marilyn Manson
Marvin Gaye
Melvins
Metronomy
Microphones
Mink DeVille
Modest Mouse
Mylo
Naked City
Nancy Wilson
Neil Young
Neko Case
Oasis
Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Opeth
Orbital
Orchestra Baobab
Otis Redding
Otis Rush
Pallbearer
Panda Bear
Pantha du Prince
Paul Simon
Pink Floyd
Prefuse 74
Propellerheads
Rage Against the Machine
Ray Charles
Rod Stewart
Roots
Roots Manuva
Rostam
Roy Orbison
Ruts
Santana
Scott Walker
Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Simply Red
Sleaford Mods
Sloan
Sonic Youth
Spice Girls
Squeeze
Steve Lacy
Sting
Stranglers
Sturgill Simpson
Swamp Dogg
Swans
Tangerine Dream
Television Personalities
Temptations
Thelonius Monk
They Might Be Giants
Titus Andronicus
Tom Verlaine
TV on the Radio
Ullrich Schnauss
Uncle Tupelo
Van Morrison
Washed Out
Wayne Shorter
Weather Report
Whitesnake
Wilco
Woodentops

There is some raging arguing going on in my head as to whether Parton-Ronstadt-Harris should get individual assessments. SO that’s what my life is like.

For each artist, I have devised a pair of assessments. The first is based on the overall quality of their available complete discography. The second is based only on their 10 best recordings. These assessments can lead to vastly different rankings. Neil Young, for instance, for a while was tops in “Ten Best”, but near the bottom in overall discography, as he has released, to my way of thinking, about 18 records in the last 20 years, most being nearly unlistenable. I still love him mightily, but it’s one of the longest slogs in musical history.

Artists with less than 10 records can nonetheless rate reasonably highly, if all of their records were strong, by the “Best Overall” ranking.

An artist’s final position in the ranking is determined by whichever of the two methods is most favorable for them, with the tie going to the “Best Overall.” Applying this method to the current list of artists, we get roughly a top 20% that looks like this. So far.

1 – Thelonius Monk
2 – John Coltrane
3 – Steve Lacy
4 – Neil Young
5 – Art Pepper
6 – Frank Sinatra
7 – Bill Evans
8 – Anthony Braxton
9 – Joe Henderson
10 – Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
11 – Bob Marley
12 – Dizzy Gillespie
13 – Lee Konitz
14 – Elvis Costello
15 – Leonard Cohen
16 – Opeth
17 – Ray Charles
18 – Ali Farka Toure
19 – Elvis Presley
20 – Otis Redding
21 – Wilco
22 – David Murray
23 – Swans
24 – Van Morrison
25 – Paul Simon
26 – Wayne Shorter
27 – Booker Little
28 – Funkadelic
29 – The Allman Brothers Band
30 – Keith Hudson
31 – Drive-By Truckers
32 – John Cale
33 – Cold Chisel
34 – Sonic Youth
35 – Los Lobos
36 – Marvin Gaye
37 – The Chieftains
38 – Sloan
39 – Coleman Hawkins
40 – John Cage