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

Katy B the innovator in brastep

maybe we are entering a new age of "genre-hopping" where bands will do a token track in a given style all through an album

you mean like the Beatles or Primal Scream

I think the idea of a genre-less utopia is worth interrogating. what would be so great about it?

to expand on this a little - one of the things I like about (the increasingly rare) genre partisans is that their dedication often results in a treasure trove of a music collection, highly specialized knowledge, a more finely nuanced grasp of the genre, etc. When I come across someone whose got some huge country or jazz collection or whatever, I am deeply grateful that these people don't have broad collections, that they opted to specialize. Cuz y'know who else would take the time to digitize Waylon Jennings' entire (and largely out of print) discography.

Drowned In Sound - Albums 2011
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4144253-drowned-in-sounds-albums-of-the-year--5-1

20: Destroyer Kaputt
19: The Field Looping State Of Mind
18: Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells Everything’s Getting Older
17: Wild Beasts Smother
16: A Winged Victory For The Sullen A Winged Victory For The Sullen
15: EMA Past Life Martyred Saints
14: Low C’mon
13: Tom Waits Bad as Me
12: Bon Iver Bon Iver
11: St. Vincent Strange Mercy
10: Metronomy The English Rivera
9: Beirut The Rip Tide
8: Bright Eyes The People’s Key
7: Nils Frahm Felt
6: When Saints Go Machine Konkylie
5: Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
4: SBTRKT - SBTRKT
3: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2: Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
1: The Antlers - Burst Apart

yeah honestly i have pretty much zero problem with people who have a very rich and nuanced appreciation of some particular musical niche to the point of total disinterest in anything else -- so long as they can talk about what they love without ranting about what they don't listen to and why every 5 minutes (xpost)

Is there a word for the sort of desperate bending over backwards people do to consider people like Skrillex because, despite not really liking them they're terrified of suddenly seeming old/missing out on the new Nirvana?

it's called a "reverse Tebow"

lol

ban dog latin

skrillex is pretty much the music i've been waiting for all my life, it just came 16 years too late. i don't think he's the next nirvana, but i don't not like it. really, "skrillex" is a shorthand for that filthstep sound in general, and i'm kind of tired of having to make analytical excuses for liking it. because, fuck it, it's fun and dirty and daft, and in that way, yeah it brings the teenager out in me.

ban away, if that's a problem.

PS KILL PEOPLE, BURN SHIT, FUCK SCHOOL

tbh i'm not hating on anyone who genuinely likes skrillex music, just engaging in "kids like it, it's the new nirvana" type bullshit whether facetiously or sincerely is nagl

also "it's a THING so we HAVE to make ourselves like it"

lex yr transformation from wide eyed poptimist to grumpy old man has been a wonder to behold

so tired of every lex post being immediately followed by urgent reports about whether they square w/ other people's idea of who the lex is

Should've stopped after first six words there

there are people around here i'm more sick of than lex

Guess I set myself up for that one

Pitchfork Top Albums of 2011: 20-1

20. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
19. Danny Brown – XXX
18. Atlas Sound – Parallax
17. Clams Casino – Instrumentals
16. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
15. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
14. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
13. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
12. James Blake – James Blake
11. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
10. The Weeknd – House of Balloons
9. Real Estate – Days
8. Drake – Take Care
7. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
6. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
5. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
3. M83 – Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
2. Destroyer – Kaputt
1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

For the record, my comparison was not Nirvana to Skrillex. My comparison was 'kids these days' to the generation directly preceding it...

looking at all of these in one place is so numbing

LWE 5-1

05. Steffi ft. Virgina, “Yours”
04. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled-A”
03. SCB, “Loss”
02. Tin Man, “Nonneo”
01. Omar-S, “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!!”

looking at all of these in one place is so numbing

yah srsly

lol p4k tho

Liked quite a few things on the LWE list but none that would make my own EOY list. None of my 2011 picks have appeared on any list yet (with RA still to come) - I have just bought that Citizens Band record from the lwe list but not really had a chance to listen to it properly yet

Would happily listen to 10 of the Pfrk top twenty. The only one I had a strongly adverse reaction to out of the other ten is Destroyer.

i find focusing on pj harvey is a somewhat effective method of retaining my zen when looking at these lists

i have always been a grumpy side-eyeing poptimist, shakey

i mean my formative years were the heyday of britpop, obviously i learned how to be disdainful then

oh man this might be the best yet

Glovidge

15 December 2011 7:15PM

Is this the Guardian music writers M-People moment?

YES! yes it is

I'm guessing it'll be more like that year when Let England Shake won the Mercury prize, Glovidge ya big douche.

5. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
3. M83 – Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
2. Destroyer – Kaputt
1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Oh you fucking clowns, Pitchfork.

4/5ths utterly indefensible. why are those people allowed to be tastemakers again?

despite the preponderance of tumblr&b in the grau list, i am s0 proud to be part of an organisation that has katy b, beyoncé and rustie in its top 10 instead

Several XPs: I'm guessing Jimmy Riddle is Nate Carson? I prefer Hammer for the writing even if the music in Terrorizer and R-A-R is more to my tastes generally speaking.

I understand everyone's problems with Frank Ocean bar the thing about him not being able to sing. This is just nonsense. Also, I like what I've heard by Goalpele but I don't think her songs are as strong (and no, I wouldn't want to hear her singing over Take Me To The Limit or Yellow). The problem is one of taste though, she's simply slightly too slick/sophisticated for me. If there's one RnB singer who I would have voted for personally this year if I'd heard him earlier it would have been B Bravo. As for FO, I think he's more complex than just 'sensitive', for example I don't think Bon Iver would start a song with a rumination on how much he'd like to fuck Emma in the garden. Also, this talk of 'indie' is a red herring; Frank Ocean isn't Gayngs.

I just can't subscribe to this narrow view of what should or shouldn't be allowed in certain genres though. If it works it works. It's not for me to say if Frank Ocean is great pop/rnb in general as I don't know enough about the genre. The idea that this is the only RnB I can cope with is a bit daft. I've listened to plenty of other albums/tracks that have been recommended here and most of them are - to my tastes - too insipid or too urbane. I really like Nostalgia/Ultra though, and that's good enough for me. I'm sure it's not double standards however as I like Liturgy as well. I'm not going to not listen to them just because they wear V neck sweaters, look like Vampire Weekend and live in Williamsburg.

Sorry to state the obvious but the only important thing to me is that they don't sound like Vampire Weekend.

I think Lex's point about free albums might be right however. It seems like it's worth mentioning to me that so many of my choices this year have been free downloads but I guess this is old news elsewhere.

jimmy riddle = kerr/algerian goalie/pfunkboy etc

RA

50. Moodymanc - Black Paint (Larry Heard's After Dark Mix)
49. Gesloten Cirkel - Yamagic
48. Sneaker - You Think You Think
47. L.I.E.S. - Comeback Dust (Max D's Big Top Dustheads Mix)
46. Maurice Donovan - Babeh
45. Legowelt - Sark Island Acid
44. Clockwork - It's You Again
43. Zomby - Natalia's Song
42. Miguel Campbell - Something Special
41. M83 - Midnight City
40. Morphosis - Too Far
39. Cassius - The Sound Of Violence (Franco Cinelli Remix)
38. SBTRKT - Ready Set Loop
37. WhoMadeWho - Every Minute Alone (Tale Of Us Remix)
36. Tropic of Cancer - A Color [Blackest Ever Black]
35. Floating Points - Myrtle Avenue
34. Eats Everything - Entrance Song
33. Genius of Time - Houston We Have a Problem
32. Dan Andrei - Trebuie Da, Prima Incercare
31. Storm Queen - It Goes On
30. Tiger & Woods - Gin Nation
29. Oliver $ - Doin' Ya Thang
28. Maceo Plex - Can't Leave You
27. Danny Daze feat. Louisahhh - Your Everything
26. Mathew Jonson - Learning to Fly
25. Kassem Mosse - Untitled A1
24. Osunlade - Envision (Ame Remix)
23. Four Tet - Pyramid
22. Peverelist - Dance Til the Police Come
21. Session Victim - Good Intentions
20. Objekt - CLK Recovery
19. Scuba - Adrenalin
18. Benoit & Sergio - Principles
17. Pangaea - Hex
16. Mosca - Bax
15. Burial - Street Halo
14. Daphni - Ye Ye
13. Virgo Four - It's a Crime (Caribou Remix)
12. Benoit & Sergio - Walk & Talk
11. Noir & Haze - Around (Solomon Vox Mix)
10. Unknown Artist - Sicko Cell
09. Levon Vincent - Man Or Mistress
08. Martyn - Masks
07. SCB - Loss
06. Steffi feat. Virginia - Yours
05. Todd Terje - Ragysh
04. Todd Terje - Snooze 4 Love
03. Julio Bashmore - Battle For Middle You
02. Omar-S - Here's Your Trance, Now Dance!!
01. Blawan - Getting Me Down

32. Dan Andrei - Trebuie Da, Prima Incercare
21. Session Victim - Good Intentions

would both be in mine

11. Noir & Haze - Around (Solomon Vox Mix)

expected this to be a lot higher!

(esp in a year where jamie jones and troxler take the top 2 in the dj poll)

wow i can actually totally cosign 8 of the top 10, wasn't expecting that - feel slightly disconnected from dance music in 2011 due to going out a bit less. as for the other two, i've heard the martyn one but can't remember it, and i don't know what SCB is

27. Danny Daze feat. Louisahhh - Your Everything

this is the one i expected to be much higher, a dead cert for my overall top 10

no move d though?! i thought that workshop 13 single was huge

good to see storm queen being recognised too, thought that slipped out without as much fanfare as "look right through" but it's excellent

Workshop 13 is really good - but Move D type stuff doesn't seem to have done particularly well in the eoy stuff

no lee foss "keep my cool" either ;_;

and no john talabot is surprising

14. Daphni - Ye Ye

Glad to see this showing up somewhere, it's been huge every time I've seen it played out.

None of my picks seem to have got anywhere near the RA eoy (other than Session Victim - not much of a surprise, and Dan Andrei - kind of a big surprise, that is definitely not an immediate record)

A very fragmented year though, will be interesting to hear the ones I don't know (which is actually most of them)

the noir & haze really doesn't seem like a very you record, april! esp the vocals

Its..a guilty pleasure;)

(I do actually have quite a bit of time for that kind of sound - tho i do prefer the instrumental)

and no john talabot is surprising

Not sure, doesn't seem to be quite where RA's head is at right now.

04. Todd Terje - Snooze 4 Love

This has really grown on me

05. Todd Terje - Ragysh

This hasn't

45. Legowelt - Sark Island Acid
31. Storm Queen - It Goes On
29. Oliver $ - Doin' Ya Thang
28. Maceo Plex - Can't Leave You
26. Mathew Jonson - Learning to Fly
24. Osunlade - Envision (Ame Remix)
11. Noir & Haze - Around (Solomon Vox Mix)
08. Martyn - Masks
06. Steffi feat. Virginia - Yours
05. Todd Terje - Ragysh
04. Todd Terje - Snooze 4 Love
02. Omar-S - Here's Your Trance, Now Dance!!

Love these ones, not heard a fair few of the others. Surprised by the lack of Jamie Jones/Lee Foss or Soul Clap in there. It's way better than the FACT list, although eyeroll at Julio Bashmore being so high. Battle For Middle You is alright but it's not that great.