The Vortex and related Vortices are a method of organizing a year of music releases into a comprehensible shape. Every year, you will see people ask one another, “what have you been enjoying this year?”, followed by a clumsy exchange of releases and grasping attempts at qualifying taste. At the end of the year, everyone everywhere laments what they missed.
The Vortex puts an end to all of that.
The Vortex is a community spreadsheet, telling you at a glance what the aggregate popular albums are, at with the click of a button what each individual has been enjoying (or not enjoying). No more wondering if they’ve heard your favourite, or if you’ve missed theirs, now you have only to check.
The Vortex accomplishes this with a scoring system known as V.A.R.G., or Vortex Approved Rating Grade. V.A.R.G. scores albums out of a possible 10, representing the best of the best, down to the lowly 0, representing unmitigated garbage. It furthermore arbitrates 5 as the perfectly average album, something bereft of both negatives and positives. This allows people to read, at a glance, how an album was received and what it offers. The full scale is roughly:
The Vortex and V.A.R.G. can be seen in glorious action on the 2018 Vortex, and soon participate yourself in the 2019 Vortex.
The Vortex is an excellent tool for facilitating discussion on your loves and your hates and all that middles. Come join the official Vortex Discord, a key element to any vortex.
The Vortex will see you soon.