Magazine/website/record store BEST OF 2011 end-of-year list pile-up

clams casino is garbage

also i really dg why hour logic is the one of the 5000 things laurel halo was involved in this year that people like/have heard

that photek song is p good!!

ILM (i forget what thread) is the answer to your xp question for me, what is better?

50: OSSIE ‘TARANTULA’ (LIGHTWORKS)
49: MR. BEATNICK ‘SYNTHETES’ (DON’T BE AFRAID)
43: LEVON VINCENT ‘IMPRESSIONS OF A RAINSTORM’ (NOVEL SOUND)
41: CREEP feat. NINA SKY ‘YOU’ (YOUNG TURKS)

^^massive cosigns, particularly "synthetes" and "you"

(thought levon v's "man or mistress" was better but it might be yet to come)

i'm surprised not to see the brandt brauer frick album on these lists, am only belatedly discovering it but it's fucking great

that's... a really random rap song to coalesce around

http://open.spotify.com/user/djperry1973/playlist/5KMVL4vKFAEHkuemnt5jFU

Figured I might as well start a Spotify playlist for the FACT tracks countdown

I like brandt brauer frick and Roll The Dice but they're not quite EOY for me.

"Tarantula" and "Synthetes" come across as very mannered and polite, kind of like house music that wouldn't offend your conservative older relatives; I'm not really feeling either of them. (This is kind of my problem with dance music in general these days; it's either too anonymously mannered or too anonymously brash, with nothing actually sticking out as exciting.)

Pusha T is... okay? Again, kind of boring/unengaging, like I'm listening to it through a thick pane of glass that's blocking me from making an emotional attachment to the music.

i don't really think of "synthetes" as dancefloor-focused particularly - i just love the sweep of the strings

ha yeah that's very close to what i was saying yesterday about how both kendrick lamar and pusha kind of try to project a personality in their words that never comes out in their voice (xpost)

dan might like this by mr beatnick and ahu, who's an absolutely wonderful turkish singer (it's from 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQwZ_WcaPe0

I think my headphones are letting me down massively with "Mark Ernestus Meets BBC"

hadn't heard the Ossie track before - its slightly reminiscent of Kerri Chandler's bar-a-thym

lol lex that had no sound for me! Fortunately one of the related links had it; this is... okay? It's a little like the Night Slugs reaction all over again; it's all decent/well done but it doesn't actually speak to me.

Like, this is basically downtempo Jill Scott record and I already have enough Jill Scott that I don't really need something that just reminds me of her.

"Sweetheart" is already interesting me more because the vocals are on the weird side. It's definitely my favorite of the songs I've played so far (obv not better than "You")

I'm listening to something by Brandt Brauer Frick on Spotify right now and it's great, but apparently from 2010? Is there something from 2011 I should know about?

lol I feel like calling this year the time when music stopped getting real, and started getting polite </realworldnerd>

o i c, they added "Ensemble" to the name for 2011 xp

The Brandt Brauer Frick's 2010 You Make Me Real is assembled from samples & overdubs on a computer workstation. 2011's Mr. Machine is largely studio live performance mostly reprising pieces from the debut by a 10 piece ensemble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCpLXpMB7F8

Have listened to the first, listening now to the latest...not sure which I prefer, but "Pretend" was phenomenal.

lol I feel like calling this year the time when music stopped getting real, and started getting polite </realworldnerd>

― OH NOES, Monday, December 5, 2011 1:38 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

haha sometimes it really is a waste that you're not a critic

He's a critic. He only does it for us, though, and doesn't get paid.

We don't get paid much either.

Feels treasonous to say but I don't really get the big deal (among the tiny crowd who cares) about Ossie. All of his stuff sounds nice enough but hardly distinct from other polite funky. Seems related to the weird level of cred and respect afforded to DJ MA1, though. Like, this is the way to be down with trad house conservatism.

We don't get paid much either.

what? this is outrageous.

:( I like MA1 a lot

tim you were the first person i know to start bigging up ossie

I know! Or at least while I can't remember I can imagine myself having done that. But I think it's a bit like how you say you like Azealia Banks but she'd be nowhere near your top 10 (tho obv that comparison doesn't work on any other level!). I think Ossie (and DJMA1) are fine, even great sometimes, but they seem like really odd people to be singled out.

oh i guess it's the same for me then - "tarantula" is in my longlist of like 200 tracks of the year but probably won't make the top 50 or anything. but #50 seems like a fine enough position for it here...

has ma1 done anything nearly as good as "i'm right here" since '09?

Stereogum Top 50 Albums of 2011
http://stereogum.com/891411/stereogums-top-50-albums-of-2011/franchises/listomania/

50 Youth Lagoon – The Year Of Hibernation
49 Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine
48 Oddisee – Rock Creek Park
47 Wilco – The Whole Love
46 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
45 Adele – 21
44 James Blake – James Blake
43 Twin Sister – In Heaven
42 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
41 Das Racist – Relax
40 Kendrick Lamar – Section.80
39 Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
38 Burst Apart – Burst Apart
37 Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
36 Cut Copy – Zonoscope
35 Atlas Sound – Parallax
34 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
33 SBTRKT – SBTRKT
32 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
31 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
30 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
29 Washed Out – Within And Without
28 Pictureplane – Thee Physical
27 Destroyer – Kaputt
26 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Belong
25 Cold Cave – Cherish The Light Years
24 Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra
23 Wild Flag – Wild Flag
22 Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
21 Clams Casino – Instrumental Mixtape
20 Real Estate – Days
19 Iceage – New Brigade
18 Beyoncé – 4
17 Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
16 Neon Indian – Era Extraña
15 Zola Jesus – Conatus
14 Austra – Feel It Break
13 Yuck – Yuck
12 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
11 Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
10 Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch The Throne
09 ASAP Rocky – LIVELOVEA$AP
08 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
07 EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
06 Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
05 The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
04 Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
03 Bon Iver – Bon Iver
02 Drake – Take Care
01 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Here are mine. http://sickmouthy.com/2011/12/06/albums-of-2011/

i read this on the train this morning, nick. nice round-up. I especially liked your descriptions of nicolas jaar and st vincent.

kind of getting moved to write my own top ten.

FACT tracks #40-31
http://www.factmag.com/2011/12/05/50-best-tracks-of-2011-50-41/2/

40: OLD APPARATUS SIDE A PART 1 (DEEP MEDI)
39: TEETH ‘SHAWTY’ (502 RECORDINGS)
38: SOFT METALS ‘PSYCHIC DRIVING’ (CAPTURED TRACKS)
37: DARQ E FREAKER ‘CHERRYADE’ (OIL GANG)
36: THE-DREAM ‘BODY WORK & FUCK MY BRAINS OUT’ (RADIO KILLA / DEF JAM)
35: BOK BOK ‘HYPERPASS’ (from SOUTHSIDE, NIGHT SLUGS)
34: CHAMPION feat. RUBY LEE RYDER ‘SENSITIVITY’ (FORMULA)
33: JAMIE XX ‘FAR NEARER’ (NUMBERS)
32: VATICAN SHADOW ‘WHITEWASHED COMPOUND STEALTH HELICOPTER CRASH’ (from PAKISTAN MILITARY ACADEMY, HOSPITAL PRODUCTIONS)
31: PERC ‘LONDON, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED) (from WICKER & STEEL, PERC TRAX)

New York magazine
http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2011/top-ten-albums/

1. Austra Feel It Break
2. Colin Stetson New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
3. Shabazz Palaces Black Up
4. Destroyer Kaputt
5. PJ Harvey Let England Shake
6. Iceage New Brigade
7. Tune-Yards W h o k i l l
8. Kendrick Lamar Section.80
9. Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact
10. Nicolas Jaar Space Is Only Noise

^ Nabisco's list rather than a staff poll

Rad

Okay that 3D effect on all the album covers for Dusted's running year-end list stuff is so annoying and headache-inducing that I had to stop reading it.

the comments on nabisco's list are a TREAT

"Sex life"? How very.

Back to the FACT tracks on Spotify, the Soft Metals track does the polite electro thing in a much more engaging, warmer manner than the stuff I was playing yesterday; I was wondering why this was on an EOY list until it switched up around the 2 minute mark. I like the little filter swoops that pop up intermittently.

"Cherryade" is one of the best tracks of the year? Really? It seems kind of like an inoffensive throwaway track that you'd play as filler while you looked for the track you ACTUALLY wanted to hear.

first time i've heard it and i concur. It's kind of a boring ten actually

I would be totally infatuated with this Bok Bok track if it had a massive beat. Everything else about it is fantastic but if it had pounding, punishing drums under it it would be exactly my type of shit. (I wonder if my headphones are letting me down on this one.)

"Sensitivity" is niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

i kind of agree re: that bok bok track (and that whole ep) :/

total cosign on champion & ruby lee ryder "sensitivity"

that jamie xx track has got to be the most overrated in this general scene of 2011. just doesn't do enough of anything.

haha that's what I'm playing now, it's basically okay but I feel like it's missing something

also the echo on the vocal sample creates a really UGLY dissonance that doesn't seem to serve any purpose or push the song anywhere

oof the "breakdown" around the 4 minute mark is pathetic, this is not a track that is improved by stripping it down to highlight disparate parts

I think I might be the only person favourably inclined towards funky who doesn't love Sensitivity. Or more to the point, I like it more as a vehicle for riotous MCs to jump all over than I do as a song in its own right.

Terror Danjah's 'Full Attention' on the other hand, which also features Ruby Lee Ryder, is majestic and should be very high up the FACT list.

I think I agree with whoever it was upthread who was eyerolling at the praise the FACT list gets. A few years ago they felt like a refreshing alternative but now it feels like they're very content to plough their own furrow and it's one that by and large isn't that interesting to me. I fully expect the RA list to knock it into a cocked hat.