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

I don't know his previous stuff, but the lazy comparison for Room(s) is a less murky Burial.

I don't see that comparison at all

Ok maybe I'm completely wrong, but it makes sense in my head (I've only listened to Room(s) twice so it was a snap judgement)...they're coming from different genres obv but the use of vocal samples seems notably similar (though maybe not uniquely so) and the overall ambience of emotive background music is functionally very close.

I'm just listening to Room(s) now and there are more similarities than i remembered. Machinedrum's music a is a lot busier though. It feels pretty cluttered at times, which isn't something you can say about Burial

i didn't dig that room(s) album, and i love burial's music.

i am following some dude's list via twitter and would like to give him props for including the craig wedren album "WAND" which is really good and is not getting a lot of press.

thanks! i am still rolling out my list but it'll all be here by friday morning:

http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-top-50-albums-of-2011.html

also my paper did top 10 albums of the year and top 10 local (Baltimore) albums:

http://citypaper.com/special/topten/the-year-in-music-1.1244503
http://citypaper.com/special/topten/the-year-in-local-music-1.1244501

new machinedrum is definitely way moodier than his early stuff, the burial comparison is not that far off.

guess i'll have to give it another listen.

i mean this sounds like burial to me idk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS02KaxBvg0

I've just noticed how conspiciously absent the Jamie Woon album is from these lists, I thought that would have fared a lot better.

Kind of surprised at just how much love the Nicolas Jaar album is getting on some of these lists. Maybe I need to revisit, but it didn't seem all that amazing to me.

AllMusic’s Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Albums of 2011
http://blog.allmusic.com/2011/12/14/allmusics-favorite-raphip-hop-albums-of-2011/

Ace Hood – Blood Sweat & Tears
Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2
Danny Brown – XXX
Childish Gambino – Camp
The Cool Kids – When Fish Ride Bicycles
Das Racist – Relax
DJ Quik – The Book of David
Drake – Take Care
J. Cole – Cole World: The Sideline Story
Killer Mike – PL3DGE
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV
Pharoahe Monch – W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)
9th Wonder – The Wonder Years
Phonte – Charity Starts at Home
Pusha T – Fear of God II: Let Us Pray
Random Axe – Random Axe
The Roots – Undun
Saigon – The Greatest Story Never Told
ScHoolboy Q – Setbacks
Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
Tech N9ne – All 6’s and 7’s
Tyler, the Creator – Goblin
Wale – Ambition
Jay-Z/Kanye West – Watch the Throne
Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers

I wasn't feeling the Jaar album much, but I do like a lot of the singles. I think I need to hear the album on a real stereo.

A lot of his singles, I mean. Seems like there's at least an album's worth of nonlp stuff.

AllMusic’s Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Albums of 2011

embarassing

i think it's kind of adorable that someone besides Mountain Dew still remembers that The Cool Kids exist

Pitchfork Top 50 Albums of 2011: 50-21

50. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
49. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
48. Toro Y Moi – Underneath the Pine
47. Sepalcure – Sepalcure
46. Cults – Cults
45. Kendrick Lamar – Section.80
44. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol.2: Judges
43. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
42. SBTRKT – SBTRKT
41. Liturgy – Aesthethica
40. AraabMuzik – Electonic Dream
39. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
38. Sandro Perri – Impossible Spaces
37. Iceage – New Brigade
36. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
35. Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra.
34. Katy B – On a Mission
33. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
32. Panda Bear – Tomboy
31. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
30. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
29. DJ Quik – The Book of David
28. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
27. Beyonce – 4
26. The Field – Looping State of Mind
25. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
24. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
23. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
22. The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
21. Jay-Z / Kanye West – Watch the Throne

how do you get these up so early?

it's on the site already. they usually post these things late at night. it's the same with their reviews

that machinedrum album is hella boring. dj diamond album is way better as things in that vein go.

LWE 30-21

30. EQD, Equalized#005-B
29. RNDM, Hideaway (Dub)
28. Tin Man, Nonneo (Donato Dozzy Remix)
27. Protect-U, World Music
26. Roman Flügel, Iron Curtain
25. Crystal Maze, Crystal Maze (Chicago Skyway Remix)
24. Martyn, Masks
23. Burial, Stolen Dog
22. The Citizen’s Band, West 42nd
21. Machinedrum, Come1

― april wowak, Monday, December 12, 2011

just heard the citizens band track from this - really good, wooozy!

Interesting to see Frank Ocean at no.3 in the Guardian. I suspected there'd be an Odd-Future-related one in the top five. I'd imagine Katy B and PJ Harvey would be no.2 and no.1.

Quite surprised at how badly the Sandwell District album has done - possibly in part due to the small release at the end of 2010, but at least RA clearly considered it, but it didn't get into their top 20.

i can't put sandwell district on any of my ballots. discogs says very clearly the version i've been loving is a 2010 thing. if i disregard that then i open the floodgates to every other dec 2010 album.

i was surprised at frank ocean on the guardian list. i'm kind of perplexed by frank ocean love in general. he is just not very special and he CAN'T SING!!!!!!!!!! is it that he's "sensitive"? critics : frank ocean :: x factor voters : matt cardle?

Yeah the Sandwell thing of only putting out 300 (?) copies one week before the end of 2010 and then releasing a less good version on CD in 2011 almost seems calculated to avoid appearing on year-end lists. That said, I don't know how many people actually heard it in 2010.

LWE 10-6

10. Todd Terje, “Snooze 4 Love"
09. Ital, “Ital’s Theme”
08. Spekter, “Pipe Bomb”
07. Gesloten Cirkel, “Yamagic”
06. D’Marc Cantu, “Set Free”

re:Pipe Bomb - I know its the way things work but feels like this was a shoe-in only because it was a one sided 12 and on theo's label (and a bit because specter's records were so overlooked in previous years)

i was surprised at frank ocean on the guardian list. i'm kind of perplexed by frank ocean love in general. he is just not very special and he CAN'T SING!!!!!!!!!! is it that he's "sensitive"? critics : frank ocean :: x factor voters : matt cardle?

― degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 08:58 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Permalink

Err... You're not gonna like this, but I don't think it's so much to do with his music as the fact his whole angle makes him more saleable to more rock-oriented audiences - i.e. the OFWGKTA association, lyrics about Coachella, how he calls himself a "singer-songwriter" rather than an R'n'B artist (which is what he is, really), sampling Radiohead and the Eagles, the "homegrown" element of the music. It's R'n'B for hipsters, not popheads and sadly that's what gets props on non-specialist lists like the Guardian's.

i kind of knew that but it's nice to have someone else spell it out so i don't get "lex whingeing about the same things again" thrown back at me

i'm listening to the goapele album and it's just so gorgeous, light and crisp and melodies for days and her voice is, like, right up in the sky. and yet critics prefer to hole up in frank ocean's horrible bedroom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRn2DAggPEE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C8br28So7U

i got sent this the other day. i'll check it out.

Frank Ocean easily my favourite album of the year. I am not a hipster, but then again I'm also not really a true r'n'b fan either.

Well, that's the point really. I was using "hipster" in its widest sense. The Lex is obviously truly invested in r'n'b and gets frustrated with critics fawning over this spruced up, watered down, crossover stuff when in his experience there's much better stuff out there that doesn't have to pander to rock audiences. And he's right - there are probably dozens of great r'n'b albums out this year that are better than Frank Ocean. But for the average rock fan, only really dipping their toe into the r'n'b ahem, "ocean", it's stuff like The Weeknd/F.O. etc that will act as a gateway to greater things. I think there are now plenty of indie/rock kids out there who are ready and willing to diversify and explore other styles, but for whom diving straight into the deep end of r'n'b is just a little outside their comfort zones. When an artist is presented in the way of Frank Ocean, it doesn't feel like such a leap and hopefully this will lead to further exploration: "Well I can deal with Frank Ocean, how about The-Dream" and onwards...

Funny you should end on that note cos, mainly thanks to ILX/Lex, I really love The-Dream also. V much liked the new Anthony Hamilton as well. I think that so far I've had a much harder time connecting with some of the female led acts he has recommended and I think I'll try harder on that front next year. Not keen on the Weeknd tho (I've only heard the 'happy house' one tbf)

Diddy-Dirty Money was my favourite album of last year as well, by far. Not sure if that counts as hip hop or r'n'b. Well both I guess.

I'm no r'n'b exponent either to be honest. I generally try to get as much as I can from as many styles as possible, but I admit I'm one of those people who finds a lot of r'n'b a barrier, so yeah I did like the Frank Ocean album, and admittedly the Weeknd album - but I kind of know that these are a bit boring and probably not the "right" things to listen to. I'm the equivalent of the punk rock kid who only listens to Sum 41 and Green Day I guess. It's why it's good to have huge advocates like the Lex around on ILM, because even though his tone can come of as maybe a bit gripey, even scolding, it galvanises people like me into checking out things that don't necessarily pander to my preconceived values.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
I often feel like my musical tastes would v often make the Lex roll his damn eyes or kiss his teeth, but there is also so much stuff that he broadly approves of that I now unabashedly love thanks to his championing of it.

I really believe that one of the best things about music in 2011 is the fact there are no longer these big tribal barriers between styles, and you will happily see e.g. screamo kids getting into dubstep, or indie kids getting into r'n'b, and that this isn't even an exception to the rule anymore. If you have access to an iPod and an internet connection, there's no reason you can't listen to any style of music, and that's why it's largely crossover artists - ones who bridge the gap between pop/rock/dance or commercial/underground: Katy B, Odd Future, Skrillex etc who are making an impression on people. And I know people bitch about many of these - Skrillex not being "proper dubstep" or whatever, but think about how many people are being introduced to dance music via his records and what this means for the future of music. Big tings for the rest of the decade, I guess.

I'm not all that convinced about the concept of gateway records/artists but have no problem with a thing not being a "proper version" of a thing

I suppose it does in a way explain the rapid rise and subsequent fall of certain kinds of artists though - once people either go through a door, or retreat from whence they came, leaving the artist in a limbo area

Yeah, the gateway thing doesn't really ring true for me either. Especially when a lot of fans of, say, The Weeknd frame their enjoyment of them in terms of their opposition to mainstream R&B

xpost what kinds of artists do you mean?

Yeah, the gateway thing doesn't really ring true for me either. Especially when a lot of fans of, say, The Weeknd frame their enjoyment of them in terms of their opposition to mainstream R&B

― Number None, Thursday, 15 December 2011 11:37 (12 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink

Yes, but it's still getting people out of their comfort zones. Sure a lot of Weeknd fans will say dumb shit like "It's r'n'b music, but, like, good, y'know?", but (and here's hoping) they'll stop swimming in the kiddie pool after a while and start exploring other things. That's how tastes evolve - more often than not it's not about being hit round the head by something that challenges every idea and value you hold about what makes something "good".

And the people listening to The Weeknd, I'm glad to say, aren't doing it in an ironic way. It's not like they're saying "ooh look at me, I'm listening to that r'n'b nonsense, what a loveable rogue I am". It's being treated with reverence most of the time. There was so much posturing and post-modernism going on in the last decade, particularly with the whole eighties revival thing and it's nice to be getting away from much of that IMO.

I'm not all that convinced about the concept of gateway records/artists but have no problem with a thing not being a "proper version" of a thing

Yeah, as much as it pains me to say this, AW absolutely OTM.

Because I know that I tend to get snobby about ppl getting into, say, BRMC and me being all "that's not proper dronerock!" - but if someone made the same protest about me previously saying that the great thing about Busted was, that they were bubblegum punk, and utterly *not* a gateway into "proper" (i.e. shit emo) punk.

Like it for what it is, but don't pretend that you're getting out of your paddling pool when it comes to comfort zones of Other music.

I dunno, obv this is my perception. I think the difference these days is we now have access to much more music online that it's really easy to discover stuff via Last.FM, YouTube, Spotify etc. If you're interested in one thing, it's likely you'll come across something else sooner or later. Who's to say lots of kids didn't get into Green Day through Busted and then into NOFX and then Black Flag and Minor Threat and Converge?

Metal Hammer Top 50 albums of 2011

50 Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
49 Primus - Green Naugahyde
48 Arabrot - Solar Anus
47 Hammers Of Misfortune - 17th Street
46 Cerebral Ballzy - S/T
45 YOB - Atma
44 TessaracT - One
43 Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
42 Vallenfyre - A Fragile King
41 Times Of Grace - Hymns Of A Broken Man
40 The Dwarves - The Dwarves Are Born Again
39 Anvil - Juggernaut Of Justice
38 Ken Mode - Venerable
37 Altar Of Plagues - Mammal
36 Blood Ceremony - Living With The Ancients
35 Will Haven - Voir Dire
34 Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination
33 Wormrot - Dirge
32 Nightwish - Imaginaerum
31 Devin Townsend - Ghost
30 Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events
29 Solstafir - Svartir Sandar
28 Foo Fighters - Wasted Light
27 Trivium - In Waves
26 Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
25 In Solitude - The World,The Flesh,The Devil
24 The Damned Things - Ironiclast
23 Pentagram - Last Rites
22 Autopsy - Macabre Eternal
21 Steel Panther - Balls Out
20 Motorhead - The World Is Yours
19 Black Stone Cherry - Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea
18 Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno
17 Primordial - Redemption At The Puritan's Hand
16 Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
15 Devildriver - Beast
14 Amebix - Sonic Mass
13 The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
12 Gentleman's Pistols - At Her Majesty's Pleasure
11 Evile - Five Serpents Teeth
10 Graveyard - Nuclear Blast
9 Skindred - Union Black
8 Black Spiders - Sons Of The North
7 Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
6 Hell - Human Remains
5 Megadeth - Thirt3en
4 Opeth - Heritage
3 Anthrax - Worship Music
2 Machine Head - Unto The Locust

1 MASTODON - THE HUNTER

Why would it be a ~good~ thing if kids got "into Green Day through Busted and then into NOFX and then Black Flag and Minor Threat and Converge"

That's just rockist bullshit. Who's to say that it's not equally valid if kids got into Backstreet Boys, the Jackson 5 and the Supremes through their bubblegum influences?

It's not the path that gets you there that's the wrong thing. It's the inherent privileging of one over the other that is problematic.

Unlike the Lex, I have no problem with people liking indie-flavoured R&B, so long as they don't pretend that Indie is somehow inherently *better* than R&B. It just isn't.