Happy New Year.

Having had a break over the Christmas and New Year period, Something For The CV is back with a damp squib, bloated, tired and in need of a new years diet. But I haven’t rethought, rebranded, redesigned or repurposed anything. It’s very much a case of groggily soldiering on, realising that this blog is very much like sitting in a dark room talking to myself. Oh well, I enjoy it.

So, with an increasing lack of free time brought on by various developments (my new Kindle I’m looking at you), I hope to write more posts this year, but make them shorter in length. Short and sweet, less is more etc. As well as trying to secure more high-profile interviewees.

And so onto 2012, and I’m in a reflective mood. I didn’t receive any new music for Christmas, and haven’t heard anything new I’m particularly excited about since being back at work. So nothing to report there.

The most contact I’ve had with music recently was a large amount of time I spent creating a playlist for a NYE party I attended. My obsession with sharing music with others is well documented on this blog and this party was another opportunity I couldn’t resist, though I wish I had.

Caribou's Odessa made the playlist, but did anyone else notice?

Here is what I learned, the good and the bad:

• Old music unites people far more than new music
• Hardly anything I liked from last year reached a mainstream audience
• It probably speaks more about my taste but most of what I enjoyed last year wasn’t suitable for a NYE party

And a few tips for any other playlist makers:

• Don’t spend large amounts of time cutting out gaps in between songs, no one will even notice the transitions you have worked on and think are amazing
• Don’t take out a song that you think no one else will like – you’re the only one paying attention anyway
• Equally, don’t include something you hate to please others, again they probably aren’t listening
• Why bother? I mean really, why bother?

And a few musical resolutions too for good measure, this year I will try to:

• Buy more vinyl
• Go to more gigs (Ben Howard + Daughter, Florence + The Horrors and Summer Camp tickets already booked)
• Listen to more new music
• Spend less time on playlists
• If a playlist does need making, make it self-indulgent beyond belief

Happy New Year.