Good call on the Peter Bjorn and John ft. Victoria Bergsmen track otherwise a bit meh, Strokes at #8 is a joke surely?

haha, over half the top 10 singles are actually good! though the four which aren’t are hideous. ‘young folks’ needs to die.

curious to see ‘bossy’ in there.

It’s nowhere near as bad as Q’s WORST LIST EVER IN THE WORLD EVER, but it’s still pretty predictable. Agreed on The Strokes being a joke.

I was gonna buy this as I usually buy this once a year issue. But i dont think i’ll bother.

I have 3 albums in that top 50.

wow winehouse at 7?

ARCTIC YEAH MUSE

I don’t think I can put Hot Chip high up on my lists now :-(

hot chip remixes >>>> hot chip

winehouse is great.

albums i own:

44 Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballard of The Broken Seas (pretty but mimsy; inessential)

41 The Gossip – Standing In The Way of Control (brilliant title track; can’t remember what the rest is like)

30 Cat Power – The Greatest (rather lovely actually)

23 The Knife – Silent Shout (GENIUS)

16 Amy Winehouse – Back To Black (GREAT)

06 Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere (still not bothered to listen to, must rectify)

05 CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy (three great songs, the rest is shit indie)

02 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones (i really like this)

singles i approve of:

44 Regina Spektor – “Fidelity

42 Kelis – ”Bossy“

33 Nelly Furtado – ”Promiscuous“

28 Hot Chip – ”Boy From School“ (the erol alkan rmx is SO GOOD)

24 Lupe Fiasco – ”Kick, Push“

18 Justice Vs Simian – ”We Are Your Friends“ (though HELLO 2003)

10 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ”Cheated Hearts“

07 Amy Winehouse – ”Rehab“

06 CSS – ”Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above“

05 Gnarls Barkley – ”Crazy“

03 The Gossip – ”Standing In The Way Of Control“

01 Hot Chip – ”Over and Over“

hot chip are good live too, sophie and i ate HOT CHIPS while dancing around

how do i eat hot chip

does it contain msg or mp3????

“Young Folks” is one of the year’s best singles. You need to die, not the record.

Of the NME’s Top 50 albums, precisely three will appear in my CoM Top 50; the lowest crossover ever.

“Over And Over” would probably be in my top ten singles (if I compiled such things) but the album is suboptimal.

Obviously there’s no point whatsoever in debating whether this is a good list or a bad list I really like all three of their top three singles, blimey, and five of the top ten. Quite surprised by the low placing of The Raconteurs, I thought they’d have the NME jizzing all over them.

Lex did you actually hear We Are Your Friends in 2003 or are you just posing? Note—“I first heard it in 2005 like everyone else” is not a valid answer.

Also, should I poll the top 20 singles in the other place?

I have ten of the albums, and have heard probably ten more in full. It’s possible the other 30 could be awesome.

maybe early 04

and yes but not yet because my top 20 singles are currently a 200-strong MESS

xp

No they’re not; one thing you learn when you work as a “music journalist” is how such lists are frequently glorified thank-yous to the four or five PR companies who service the magazines in question (Nick S xpost).

Of the NME’s Top 50 albums, precisely three will appear in my CoM Top 50; the lowest crossover ever.

Cat Power, The Knife and Amy Whinehouse?

At least there’s no Joanna Newsom.

No they’re not; one thing you learn when you work as a “music journalist” is how such lists are frequently glorified thank-yous to the four or five PR companies who service the magazines in question (Nick S xpost).

I can see how that could happen, and in fact nearly had a piece in The Guardian this coming Friday that runs tangentially to that issue. I can assure you that the Stylus list wont be put together that way.

No they’re not; one thing you learn when you work as a “music journalist” is how such lists are frequently glorified thank-yous to the four or five PR companies who service the magazines in question.

World shaken on its axis by this sensational news. DJ Martian dies in apoplectic rage.

Well I don’t want Nick to have to waste good money on thirty deeply average albums just because of favours done to NME writers.

Surprised about the omission of Newsom.

Bill—one out of three.

I’m looking forward to the Stylus list.

The CoM list isn’t going to pretend to be anything other than the fifty albums which I personally liked best in 2006—it is NOT a Definitive Overview—but I can assure readers now that no favours have been involved in its compilation and that everything is there on merit alone.

I am, however, VERY surprised at the non-appearance of Scritti.

I’m not.

I can assure you that the Stylus list wont be put together that way.

Yeah, like anyone in Music PR has ever heard of Stylus. BURRRRRNED!

I was about to make a similar joke in a much funnier way but now I won’t bother, because I sort of feel dirty.

I wasn’t going to buy any of the NME 30, just in case you thought I’d had some kind of cerebral haemorrhage.

Yeah, like anyone in Music PR has ever heard of Stylus. BURRRRRNED!

Considering the 1,300 unread emails in my Stylus account telling me what KT Tunstall and J Dilla are up to next week, some of the bastards must have.

What is KT Tunstall up to next week?

i would love to see one of the emails telling you what j dilla is up to next week

Obviously there’s no point whatsoever in debating whether this is a good list or a bad list

QFT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(W. Hollywood, CA; November 28, 2006) KEY CLUB and STAR 98.7 welcome certified platinum artist KT TUNSTALL on Thurs. December 7, 2006. Credited as a “born live performer” by The Los Angeles Times, KT will take the stage with material from her critically acclaimed album EYE TO THE TELESCOPE. Doors open at 7 PM, tickets are $25 and available by calling the KEY CLUB box office (310–274–5800) or via www.ticketmaster.com.

The Scottish-born TUNSTALL has won praise from ROLLING STONE (the publication hailed her as a “folk rock goddess”) PEOPLE and THE NEW YORK TIMES to name a few, after she leaped into the public eye thanks to EYE TO THE TELESCOPE’S funky, foot-stomping first single “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” After the track spent fifteen weeks in heavy rotation on VH1, it was featured in the finales of both WILL AND GRACE and pop phenomenon AMERICAN IDOL, which catapulted sales of the album through the roof. TUNSTALL’S music has been used in various other films and television shows, such as THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, GREY’S ANATOMY, and UGLY BETTY.

Immersing herself in music from an early age, TUNSTALL formed her first band, HAPPY CAMPERS, at the Kent School in Connecticut. Upon graduation, KT returned to the UK and continued her music education, ultimately teaming up with legendary producer Steve Osborne, who has worked with U2 and NEW ORDER, to begin recording her debut album, which was released stateside in early 2006.

For more information on KT TUNSTALL, visit www.kttunstall.com or www.myspace.com/kttunstall.

Voted #1 Live Music Venue by AOL City Guide for a second year in a row, KEY CLUB is dedicated to being the absolute best venue for live music, fine dining and special events. For more information visit www.keyclub.com. Media inquiries, please contact Meghan Pochebit, 310–274–5800 x243.

###

KEY CLUB 310.274.5800

J DILLA x NEW ERA HATS IN STORES NOW

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The Gray Kid—Pilgrimmage Mixtape

Pilgrimage Mixtape

The Gray Kid’s Pilgrimage Mixtape is some lip smackin’ Thanksgiving leftovers that are gonna last a while! It includes sneak peaks at new and upcoming GK bangers, as well as classic mixtape style rhyming on hit records by Clipse, Dead Pres, Jay Z, Masta Ace and even Bjork… Click here to wile out to the whole mix or download the tracks piece meal here. Check out the video flyer here. Catch GK live and direct in LA and San Francisco this week, click here for details.

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Roger O’Donnell On Tour with Christopher Willits

Roger Remixes

With stops in Philly, NYC, Detroit, Chicago, LA, San Fran, Portland, and Seattle, Roger O’Donnell is bringing his sweet electronic pop to you. Vocalist Erin Lang will be accompanying him and Ghostly International’s Christopher Willits will be supporting. Click here or here or here or here for details. Plus, Roger O’Donnell’s “Half-Truths” EP is now available exclusively on iTunes. It incudes remixes by Album Leaf, Four Tet, Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello of The Postal Service / Figurine), and Martin Gretschmann (of The NoTwist) in his Acid Paulli and Console manifestations,

Roger O’Donnell—“For The Truth In Me” (Dntel Remix) [DOWNLOAD]

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Mike Ladd’s “Still Life with Commentator” in Brooklyn

Still Life with Commentator

Don’t miss the New York premiere of “Still Life with Commentator” as part of Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, December 6–10, 2006 at the BAM Harvey Theatre. The critically acclaimed piece is a collaboration between poet/performer Mike Ladd, composer-pianist Vijay Iyer and conceptual artist Ibrahim Quraishi. Watch and listen to promotional clips on the BAM website or Vijay Iyer’s website.

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Introducing Colourmusic...

Colourmusic

Colourmusic is gigging in Brooklyn (NY), Bethlehem (PA) and Champaign (IL). Doing their own thing, great rocking rolling tunes and on-stage theatrics that’ll keep you guessing what’s next!

Colourmusic—“Circles” [DOWNLOAD]

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Nicolay Signed CD Giveaway

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Nicolay is gigging weekly parties in NC—get loose with Fuzz Jax and Big Hop at the Rooster.

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that’s not actually what j dilla is up to next week though! i was hoping you would be clearing up the MYSTERY OF AFTERLIFE

Obviously there’s no point whatsoever in debating whether this is a good list or a bad list

QFT

There is, if we define what we consider a “good NME list” to be. And the two lists that spring to mind for me are the ones from 1996 and 2000, because both of them suprised me, neither pandered to a scene, and they each had several record included, and highly, that I thought were great.

2000

1. Queens Of The Stone Age – Rated R

2. Primal Scream – Exterminator

3. PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

4. Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

5. At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command

6. Coldplay – Parachutes

7. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP

8. Doves – Lost Souls

9. Super Furry Animals – Mwng

10. Kelis – Kaleidoscope

11. Radiohead – Kid A

12. Granddaddy – The Sophtware Slump

13. Lambchop – Nixon

14. Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out

15. Teenage Fanclub – Howdy!

16. Godspeed You Black Emperor! – Levez Vos Skinny Fists Comme Antennas To Heaven

17. Elliott Smith – Figure 8

18. The For Carnation – The For Carnation

19. The Go-Betweens – The Friend Of Rachel Worth

20. Richard Ashcroft – Alone With Everybody

21. Wu-Tang Clan – The W

22. Delta – Slippin’ Out

23. Broadcast – The Noise Made By People

24. Six By Seven – The Closer You Get

25. Jeff Buckley – Mystry White Boy

26. Bell And Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant

27. Smog – Dongs Of Sevotion

28. The Delgados – The Great Eastern

29. The Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia

30. The Kingsbury Manx – The Kingsbury Manx

31. Two Lone Swordsman – Tiny Reminders

32. Johnny Cash – American Iii: Solitary Man

33. Shellac – 1000 Hurts

34. Marilyn Manson – Holy Wood (In The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death)

35. Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun

36. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele

37. Paul Weller – Heliocentric

38. Leila – Courtesy Of Choice

39. Asian Dub Foundation – Community Music

40. Black Box Recorder – The Facts Of Life

41. David Holmes – Bow Down To The Exit Sign

42. Outkast – Stankonia

43. Clinic – Internal Wrangler

44. Amen – We Have Come For Your Parents

45. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker

46. Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs

47. Madonna – Music

48. Q-Tip – Amplified

49. Grand Drive – True Love And High Adventure

50. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – The Blue Tree

1996

1. Beck—Odelay

2. Manic Street Preachers—Everything Must Go

3. Orbital—In Sides

4. Super Furry Animals—Fuzzy Logic

5. DJ Shadow—Endtroducing

6. Screaming Trees—Dust

7. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds—Murder Ballads

8. Tricky—Pre-Millennium Tension

9. Rocket From The Crypt—Scream, Draculs, Scream!

10. Sparklehorse—Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

11. The Bluetones—Expecting To Fly

12. Suede—Coming Up

13. Placebo—Placebo

14. Kula Shaker—K

15. The Boo Radleys—C’mon Kids

16. REM—New Adventures In Hi Fi

17. Babybird—Ugly/Beautiful

18. Stereolab—Emperor Tomato Ketchup

19. The Divine Comedy—Casanova

20. Aphex Twin—Richard D James

21. Fun Lovin’ Criminals—Come Find Yourself

22. Fugees—The Score

23. The Lemonheads—Car, Button, Cloth

24. Beth Orton—Trailer Park

25. Ash—1977

26. New Kingdom—Paradise Don’t Come Cheap

27. Nicolette—Let No One Live Rent Free In Your Head

28. Alex Reece—So Far

29. Ghostface Killah—Ironman

30. Gallon Drunk—In The Long Still Night

31. The Afghan Whigs—Black Love

32. Tiger—We Are Puppets

33. Plug—Drum ’N’ Bass For Papa

34. Baby Fox—A Normal Family

35. Tortoise—Millions Now Living Will Never Die

36. The Black Crows—Three Snakes And One Charm

37. Underworld—Second Toughest In The Infants

38. Sebadoh—Harmacy

39. Animals That Swim—I Was The King, I Relay Was The King

40. Lilys—Better Can’t Make Your Life Better

41. Nas—It Was Written

42. The Olivia Tremor Control—Dusk At Cubist Castle

43. The Cardigans—The First Band On The Moon

44. John Parish/Polly Harvey—Dance Hall At Louse House

45. Red Snapper—Prince Blimey

46. Radar Brothers—Radar Brothers

47. The Future Sound Of London—Dead Cities

48. Dodgy—Free Peace Sweet

49. Urusei Yatsura—We Are Urusei Yatsura

50. Spice Girls—Spice

that’s not actually what j dilla is up to next week though! i was hoping you would be clearing up the MYSTERY OF AFTERLIFE

In heaven you sell hats, dude, is that not enough?

These top 50 albums are fare better than Q’s.

Albums I have and I don’t hate:

40 Midlake – The Trials Of Van Occupanther
39 The Young Knives – Voices Of Animals and Men
37 Be Your Own Pet – s/t
36 Datarock – Datarock Datarock
32 Lily Allen – Alright, Still
28 Morrissey – Ringleader of The Tormentors
27 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – s/t
26 Jarvis – That Jarvis Cocker Record
23 The Knife – Silent Shout
18 The Rapture – Pieces of The People We Love
17 The Futureheads – News and Tributes
08 The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
07 The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home
05 CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy
02 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones

Albums I have/have heard:

44 Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballard of The Broken Seas (a bit dull)

25 Mogwai – Mr Beast (not bad, but not up to former glories)

22 The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics (not bad, but not up to former glories)

Singles I have heard (I don’t buy singles)

33 Nelly Furtado – “Promiscuous” (feh. shite.)

29 The Dresden Dolls – “Back Stabber” (good, but not one of the album’s strongest)

25 The Flaming Lips – “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” (best song on the album)

20 Jarvis – “Running The World” (excellent in its weary anger)

13 Arctic Monkeys – “When The Sun Goes Down” (briefly surprised that it was better than I expected. still not my bag though)

07 Amy Whinehouse – “Rehab” (sweeeeeeeeeet! one of the year’s best singles)

06 CSS – “Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above” (nowehere near as good as the title, and nowehere near as good as death from above)

05 Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” (strong song, but not enough to make me check out the album. and I sold my gnarls tickets once the support band pulled out)

04 Muse – “Supermassive Black Hole” (one of their weaker efforts)

maybe NME isn’t the mag for me anymore.

i think the 2000 nme list is pretty dreadful considering the amazing stuff which was happening in hip-hop and r&b at the time, it’s got this major HEAD IN SAND feel about it.

“nowehere near as good as death from above”

o’boy.

were you a big rnb fan in 2000, the lex?

The 2000 NME list is good, also the year was pretty classic too.

(I was that post above with 4, wrong registration)

hip-hop and r&b has never really been NME’s focus though...in the same way that metal has never been its primary concern.

Yeah the 2000 list screams ‘lack of editorial direction’. Not as bad as the 99 list though. The 2001 list is great though.

(We have trawled through these in depth on Poptimists in case you’re wondering)

“nowehere near as good as death from above”
o’boy.

— temporary enrique (miltonpinsk...), December 6th, 2006.

whoa nelly.

it’s a great title only DFA (band) are so shit.

I disagree entirely.

11. The Bluetones—Expecting To Fly
12. Suede—Coming Up
13. Placebo—Placebo
14. Kula Shaker—K

Come on Nick this is as bad as going Killers-Razorlight-Muse-Kasabian in 2006. Possibly worse.

i think the 2000 nme list is pretty dreadful considering the amazing stuff which was happening in hip-hop and r&b at the time, it’s got this major HEAD IN SAND feel about it.

You could say that, Lex, and I’d expect you too, only NME isn’t a hiphop or r’n’b magazine, but Outkast, Ghostface and Eminem are in there, and I believe Missy got single of the year in 2001. It’s head-in-sand, yes, but the nearest thing to Lex-music in the album list 2006 is Lily Allen.

Several Xs.

Please, don’t mention Suede in the same sentence with Razorlight or Killers & Co.

Funny thing is I recall the mag itself, over the course of 2000, being a lot more inclusive than that would suggest. I think Kelis and Destiny’s Child had front covers as well as that IBIZA V AYIA NAPA WHO WILL WIN thing. The EOY poll is where Marcello’s point abt the PR co’s comes in, I think, but in fairness there is a lot of albums in there I still think really hold up (ie the indiest ones on the list haha)

It is, Matt, but that’s four, and look—Orbital and DJ Shadow top 5! Imagine that happening now!

Looking at the 1999 and 2001 lists and while the former is better than the latter, they’re both much more adventurous than 2006. Lack of editorial control isn’t a bad thing if it introdues people to a wider range of good music! Unfortunately NME’s remit isn’t as a public servant.

i think “lack of editorial direction” (which the nme definitely had in 2000–01) was kind of a GOOD THING only they didn’t really figure out how to write about rnb etc. but they did cover it, and that was a good thing.

xpost hivemind

This little run has too many The’s.

23 The Knife – Silent Shout

22 The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics

21 The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers

20 The Streets – The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living

19 The Longcut – A Call And Response

18 The Rapture – Pieces of The People We Love

17 The Futureheads – News and Tributes

were you a big rnb fan in 2000, the lex?

my first ever favourite song was ‘i love your smile’ by shanice in 1991, i have never not loved r&b! got into hip-hop properly around...’99 i think? still catching up on 90s stuff.

You could say that, Lex, and I’d expect you too, only NME isn’t a hiphop or r’n’b magazine, but Outkast, Ghostface and Eminem are in there

yeah, this has long been a bugbear though, rock mags never admit they’re genre mags and insist that they cover the entirety of popular music, precisely by inserting a couple of token genre picks like this.

Funny thing is I recall the mag itself, over the course of 2000, being a lot more inclusive than that would suggest.

i remember reading the sentence “forget white boys with guitars, black women with computers are making the best music in the world” in the nme back then! i wonder when the regressive shift back occurred, and why.

It occurred in Autumn 2001 when The Strokes hit.

Yes but Nick exactly the same argument was raging in 1996. The 86 list is far more diverse and adventurous than the 96 list.

The question is whether this is JUST the NME becoming increasingly conservative or whether it reflects an increasingly conservative market.

i remember reading the sentence “forget white boys with guitars, black women with computers are making the best music in the world” in the nme back then! i wonder when the regressive shift back occurred, and why.

The regressive shift probably occurred due to its readership going ‘fuck that’ and IPC noticing that Aaliyah on the cover sold a hell of a lot fewer copies than Oasis on the cover.

presumably the shift (‘regressive’ is debatable) occurred simply because the magazine’s readership didn’t agree, and conor is all about the benjamins, baby.

err...ditto.

But even in 2001 we get Aphex, Basement Jaxx, Daft Punk, Missy, Bjork, Boredoms(!), Beanie Sigel, Four Tet, Aaliyah, N*E*R*D, Oxide & Neutrino, Kurupt, Cannibal Ox, Sizzla and Gorillaz, dude! That’s nearly 30%!

The market has got WAY more conservative in the last five years, certainly. But we’ve also got THE LONG TAIL to consider now.

Nick, its because since 2001 guitar music has become far more fashionable therefore the editorial team know exactly who their market is an how to pander to them.

The more I think about it the more awesome it is that Orbital were #3 ten years ago! There’s nothing equivalent *anywhere* in this year’s top 50

The years between 1996 and 2001 were not so good for white boys with guitars, simple as that. And the NME lists show that too.

i remember reading the sentence “forget white boys with guitars, black women with computers are making the best music in the world” in the nme back then! i wonder when the regressive shift back occurred, and why.

i was gonna bring this up, it’s one of the defining moments for the nme. it’s a fucking stupid sentence really, so arrogant and forgetful. it’s precicely an example of the nme thinking it covers all music, of that delusion. it says ‘we the nme have just heard of computers and black people, in 2001’.

there was definitely a time when the strokes and destiny’s child seemed to be co-existing quite happily in the nme; i’m still not convinced that the strokes (who seem to be completely forgotten these days) were the start of the current indie revival, they seem very different beasts to futureheads, kaiser chiefs, kasabian, my chemical romance et al. (infinitely preferable, too, and i never liked the strokes.)

Also I really doubt even the NME still holds the pretence of covering ‘all music’. It’s transparently a magazine for 16–21 year old indie kids and very rarely pretends otherwise. Exhibit a = anti-emo standpoint (despite MCR in the Top 10).

The years between 1996 and 2001 were not so good for white boys with guitars, simple as that. And the NME lists show that too.
— zeus (zeus...), December 6th, 2006.

crack is some bad shit!

I forgot to mention at the top of the list after last years debate about bumping Bloc Party up it said that the list is done by getting lists of 20 from writers #1 gets 20, #2 19 and so on, pen, calculator and we have a list.

I’ve heard 25 of those, maybe half of which would feature on my top 50 for the year.

No Razorlight on either list which is odd but welcome, nor Guillemots which isn’t IMO.

Raconteurs won MOJO album of the year.

We have had this discussion before. Indeed I believe my first ever post to ILM was on the exact same topic.

I note in passing that no Scritti Politti album has EVER appeared in any NME end-of-year list.

Nick, its because since 2001 guitar music has become far more fashionable therefore the editorial team know exactly who their market is an how to pander to them.

And that pandering may well be why their market isn’t expanding. I think there’s too much pandering. In all sorts of areas and ways.

Double X—Lex, The Strokes redefined an aesthetic for guitars, taking it from Verve/Oasis/Radiohead British ROCK maximalism to a scratchy, post-punk pseudoartrock zone. It’s evolved since then, but they began it. Prior to them, there was nothing like that for years in NME’s zone. QOTSA? ATDI? No way.

futureheads, kaiser chiefs, kasabian, my chemical romance

But most of these bands appeal to different people! I’m pretty sure there’s minimal overlap between the MCR and Kasabian fanbases.

I note in passing that no Scritti Politti album has EVER appeared in any NME end-of-year list.

I’m pretty sure the album that came out c. 1999 did. Can’t remember what it was called though.

The more I think about it the more awesome it is that Orbital were #3 ten years ago! There’s nothing equivalent *anywhere* in this year’s top 50
— Feargal Hixxy (lackofinteres...), December 6th, 2006.

as is well documented, i haven’t much given a shit about nme of music in general since the 90s, but what’s so weird about orbital being top three in an alternative music magazine? ‘the box’ was a big hit; ‘satan’ (in early ’97) and uh ‘the saint’ — also hueg. surely they sold more than cancer the sexy?

And Lex, as I’ve mentioned to you before, The Strokes influence isn’t as much in their music (although Nick is right upthread) but in the fact that they made guitar music fashionable not just in a Music For The Kids way but also in a Proper Style Press way. The perception of the music totally changed as a result.

The years between 1996 and 2001 were not so good for white boys with guitars, simple as that. And the NME lists show that too.

Hmm, one of the chart stattos on here might be better fielding this one but there were a fuckload of indie bands in the top 10 throughout 96. Bluetones and Suede and Placebo and Kula Shaker seemed to me to be really, really popular, on the Radio 1 A-list etc, and I don’t even want to think about how many tabloid front pages Oasis had (while for all that they were still thought of as an ‘indie’ band, just one which had mutated into something Mothra-like and insane)

Hmm, one of the chart stattos on here might be better fielding this one but there were a fuckload of indie bands in the top 10 throughout 96. Bluetones and Suede and Placebo and Kula Shaker seemed to me to be really, really popular, on the Radio 1 A-list etc, and I don’t even want to think about how many tabloid front pages Oasis had (while for all that they were still thought of as an ‘indie’ band, just one which had mutated into something Mothra-like and insane)

— Feargal Hixxy (lackofinteres...), December 6th, 2006.

OK, than let it be ’97 and 2001.

And that pandering may well be why their market isn’t expanding. I think there’s too much pandering. In all sorts of areas and ways.

i couldn’t agree more with this, except apply it to the music press—not even that, THE MEDIA IN GENERAL. so many publications seem so afraid that people might stop buying them—it seems desperate, this constant following of demographics in an attempt to give people what they want and no more.

Enrique I said “awesome” not weird! It was my favourite album of the year

um lex your main shit is albums machine-tooled in exactly this way.

zeus — no.

Anomie And Bonhomie.

I’ve just rechecked the 1999 list and it’s not in there (Matt xpost).

Lex, it’s because the magazine industry in general is overcrowded, volatile and fragile. Most of them have a ‘stick to what you’re good at rather than competing on other people’s terms’ line.

Also with the NME its not that sales are expanding, its that they’re relatively stable in an otherwise contracting sector. I think Kerrang!‘s still growing and that has an even more tightly-defined brand than NME. And no one’s moaning about the lack of rnb in the Kerrang top fifty.

hip-hop and r&b has never really been NME’s focus though...in the same way that metal has never been its primary concern.

Prince, Public Enemy and De La Soul all topped NME EOY album lists in the 80s tho

Yeah if you try and think back to NME (and others) circa 99–2000 they threw their indie hat in the ring with bands like Shack and, I dunno, Alfie. It’s not hard to figure out why they jumped on The Strokes like they did

xpost to Zeus

zeus — no.

— temporary enrique (miltonpinsk...), December 6th, 2006.
?

what feargal said. also terris.

...and qotsa topped it in 2000. aberrations...deviations from the morrissey/joy division/radiohead-fellating miserabilist indie guitar core.

um lex your main shit is albums machine-tooled in exactly this way.

i want different things from music and writing, oddly enough

Lex, it’s because the magazine industry in general is overcrowded, volatile and fragile. Most of them have a ‘stick to what you’re good at rather than competing on other people’s terms’ line.

yeah, i know all the reasons and they make commercial sense and if you’re all about the £££ which all mags are then there’s no reason to do it otherwise, but it’s still annoying because it still smacks of desperation. no leadership!

OK, than let it be ’97 and 2001.

Urban Hymns, OK Computer, Be Here Now, Tellin’ Stories, In It For The Money, Vanishing Point, Evergreen, Blur, etc.

White boys with guitars were coining it in in ’97.

Yeah, but sincerely, who bought Terris, King Adora or Shack records? No one did, guitar music was simply not fashionable then. Except Travis, Coldplay, etc., but it was not music for kids, they always made music for 20 or 30somethings.

And Shack didn’t?

Urban Hymns, OK Computer, Be Here Now, Tellin’ Stories, In It For The Money, Vanishing Point, Evergreen, Blur, etc.

White boys with guitars were coining it in in ’97.

— nu_onimo (gerry.wat...), December 6th, 2006.
Vanishing Point is rather an electronic record, not guitar, and all of the bands you mention have been in the business since ’93–94, there were no newcomers to the scene. That’s my point. In 1997 almost everyone claimed listening dub, triphop and jungle, from Bowie to Brett Anderson.

Also worth noting that in both ’98 and ’99 the #1’s were Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips, both very much Uncut reader bands compared to the trends in the magazine in the years before and after. Even Spiritualized’s #1 in 1997 is more of an ‘adult’ record then Radiohead and especially The Verve.

guitar music was not fashionable in the way the strokes were during that period (c. 98–01), but the nme still covered it and probably sold ok. maybe king adora et al sold poorly but the strokes weren’t massive, it was more of a zeitgeist thing.

it also covered other tings, but they never felt ‘at home’, quite; but then the nme is partly a local rag, covering local bands, gossip fresh from camden, etc.

25 The Flaming Lips – “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”

i still don’t get how anyone can like this

No-one said anything about newcomers, you said it wasn’t a good year for white boys with guitars and I was pointing out that it was arguably a fucking great year for white boys with guitars. Be Here Now was a fucking monster seller. OK Computer and Urban Hymns were huge.

xxxposts

mercury rev and flaming lips weren’t full-fledged uncut bands till a bit later, ditto spiritualized who even steven wells liked. and rly 16 minute songs about why won’t that girl talk to me, hey drugs are a bit like love innit — really more ‘adult’ than radiohead?

As exhaustively explained on the other thread it all comes down to the C86/hip hop wars in the NME of the mid-’80s which C86 won.

It was never really a war. Or rather, it was never a level playing field.

the Strokes changed how men dressed — official.

Maybe true but I bet the NME didn’t shift many extra units by having Spiritualized, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips and probably QOTSA on the front compared to The Strokes, Coldplay, White Stripes, Franz, Bloc Party and now Arctic Monkeys.

x-post

Yeah, but sincerely, who bought Terris, King Adora or Shack records? No one did, guitar music was simply not fashionable then

I was agreeing with you, ie they backed a lot of horses which seem faintly ridiculous now.

Mercury Rev weren’t a big band in 98–99, and they were much more of a ‘Melody Maker band’ in their first incarnation than they were an ‘NME band’ circa Deserter’s Songs

PUT YOUR HANDS UP FOR PASSANTINO—HE LOVES THE FIST

louis otm about dylan! tedious fucking grandad with the voice of a busker. tenacious d are crap as well though, i raise you a PARIS HILTON >>>>>>>>>>> BOB DYLAN

the scary thing is that i was only jestin’ about tenacious d... :P

Bob Dylan is a much better dancer than Hilton.

yr dylan hate is not fitting the nu-lex’s ‘omm/uncut dude’ profile (cf love for newsom, scritti).

well, i don’t hate some dylan! blonde on blonde, for instance, is a brilliant album, one of my 60’s top 5, completely made, i add, by the PUMP ORGAN which appears to be COMPLETELY ABSENT from ‘modern times’. the sound he got back then was a very delicate, nostalgic, endlessly listenable one. modern times sounds like a good ol’-time bar-band, and i have MANY better things than that to listen to TYVM.

I’d quite like to hear Paris Hilton with a good ol’-time bar band.

xpost: i.e. he was an innovator then, and knew it, but here he’s a conscious reactionary. IT SHOWS.

i hate all dylan! newsom and scritti are completely different, they make good and interesting and moving music for one. also for all the furore over newsom’s voice she has never ever plumbed the depths of irritating that dylan does on the regular, not even at her most infantile

What are the other four, Louis?

How does “nostalgic” evolve into “reactionary”?

1) King Crimson—In The Court Of The Crimson King

2) Jimi Hendrix—Electric Ladyland

3) Bob Dylan—Blonde On Blonde

4) The Beatles—Magical Mystery Tour

5) Captain Beefheart w/Tralala choir and Orchestra—Trout Mask Replica

nostalgia is clearly a positive, wistful feeling, whereas reactionary sentiments repel what is new rather than clasp what is old to new’s bosom.

paris hilton is a reactionary without having been nostalgic.

xpost: if only 1970 were allowed as well, then Soft Machine—Third and The Yes Album and Ummagumma would all be in there.

I couldn’t discern any “reactionary sentiments” on Modern Times.

hey, that’s a cruel trap! I was only talking about the difference between nostalgic and reactionary feelings in general. on the subject of ‘modern times’, it was the music that i felt to be reactionary, not necessarily the lyrics.

John Wesley Harding to thread.

The Infromation

This must be that super-duper black market thing Beck did about 20th Century Nubian hair styling in L.A.

bands i haven’t heard of before:

50 The Kooks

49 Absentee

48 Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly

47 Wolfmother

46 Semifinalists

42 The Automatic

40 Midlake

39 The Young Knives

37 Be Your Own Pet

36 Datarock

35 Forward Russia

33 The Bronx

31 The Sunshine Underground

29 The Spinto Band

19 The Longcut

11 Howling Bells

any good?

Ugh what a foul list. Louis J OTN about Bob Dylan!

50 The Kooks- stage school indie, not as dreadful as they could be

49 Absentee

48 Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly- Athlete meet Roni Size, goes for walk to Brighton

47 Wolfmother- The fucking pits

46 Semifinalists—Downloaded then forgotten what it sounds like, maybe Swedish?

42 The Automatic- student disco rockers, have a way with a chorus

40 Midlake- lol southall

39 The Young Knives- Ten a penny arty indie act

37 Be Your Own Pet- Jailbait boobs punkas

36 Datarock- Rubbish

35 Forward Russia- lol leeds lol

33 The Bronx

31 The Sunshine Underground- “new rave”, sounds like the support act for Del Amitri circa 1994

29 The Spinto Band- lol sheffield

19 The Longcut

11 Howling Bells

All of these got sent to me unsolicited and I swiftly donated them all to the poor of the parish.

Did they send them back? (c)JohnPeel...

The Bronx aren’t bad. They’re also number one in Rock Sound magazine’s top 75 albums of the year! Wild.

that Howling Bells single was OK

I really liked the novelty Datarock single. Plus the followup was an actually reasonably Talking Heads knockoff.

The Sunshine Underground sound like The Music, but not as good!

i got caught there between “reasonable talking heads knockoff” and “reasonably good talking heads knockoff”

Wolfmother = the ultimate Led Zeppelin tribute band, except not as good as that sounds.

I like Datarock.

i might put ‘Naive’ in my top 100 songs of the year list, just for the uproar

maybe the Lily Allen version, for maximum uproar (UPROAR!).

Fuck this. I think this list is worse than the Q one, which was terrible. A complete imagination-bypass. The one from 2000 indicates the obvious alterations in market positioning which have occurred under the auspices of cunt-faced McNicholas.

Cleverly the freebie Modular CD doesn’t play on my CD player. I put it in the computer and it’s a folder with a .wav file of each track in.

I should point out that Howling Bells is Quite Fucking Awful Australian Shit™.

I used to live next door to a family of Poles. THEY WERE FUCKING CRAZY!

Also, I hate Bob Dylan and every fucking single thing he’s done.

I like Datarock too, but the album is 2005.

i can’t believe they rated that shitty morrissey album that high.

Fair play, only the second half is shitty. And it’s more boring Mozzer-By-Numbers than shitty.

BUT THE FIRST HALF IS ACE!!

modern times is awesome.

it feels playful to me, not reactionary.

also, dylan’s jokes are way funnier than tenacious d’s.

xpost i was pretty let down by the moz...i really liked about half of you are the quarry.

i don’t think there’s a decent lyric or melody on the whole of tormentors...every time i finish listening to it, i can’t recall ONE song i just heard.

I certainly can’t remember anything on the second half. But the first half has “Dear God Please Help Me” and I’m sorry if I can’t forget Morricone scoring the strings to La Mozza’s Hot Roman Gay Sex.

29 The Spinto Band- lol sheffield

try philadelphia

Cleverly the freebie Modular CD doesn’t play on my CD player. I put it in the computer and it’s a folder with a .wav file of each track in.
— Raw Patrick (rawsweate...), December 6th, 2006 8:51 PM. (later)

Umm doesn’t that make it easier?

Not to play in my CD player, no.

Oh right, just twigged.

Mmmm! Some big screwup I reckon! (Mine is the same)

no RAZORLIGHT ?? ace!

the big shock is the killers being so low. cause its rubbish. not that you’d have guessed it from the review 3 months ago.

i didn’t even notice Razorlight weren’t on either list. how did that happen?

Razorlight are the new Embrace in terms of reputation and media approval.

when did NME turn on them? thought they were their sort of thing

Live8, dude. Uncool. Also Johnny Borrel probably irked Conor one way or another.

Who are The Horrors and Metric?

Any ideas?

I bought a Sunshine Underground single, cos I liked the name, and they ARE rubbish.

I’m surprised ShitDisco aren’t on the tracks list. Weren’t they part of the NME tour thing that they do every year?

And if the NME can’t even support their own manufactured scene, what the hell are they for?

Borrel was one of the three artists to say ‘fuck’ in the afternoon at Live8 (Madonna and Snoop were the other two). I expect the NME took a dim view of this.

Because they didn’t use the patronising Fook?

The Horrors are a contrived Brighton gothpunkdisco mess. Metric are Canadian dancepopindie mates of Broken Social Scene.

The Horrors, funnily enough, are horrible. I can’t say anything about Metric because I’m biased and have strange new feelings whenever I see Emily Haines.

The Horrors are a contrived Brighton gothpunkdisco mess.

That actually sounds good!

The Horrors are an odd one, insofar as they’re a band created to capitalise on a fashion style that didn’t yet have a soundtrack (the indie pseudo-goth look that’s been creeping around the outskirts of indiedom since 2003), which is surely the first time that’s ever happened?

King Adora?

King Adora were just Placebo filtered through Richey Manic fetishism.

no they weren’t

the horrors are not from brighton. they are part of teh vibrant and exciting southend scene which also includes eh someone else...

Don’t make me flood this thread with pictures of Rachel Stamp.

Now it sounds less good.

http://www.rachelstamprocks.com/latest/pix/Press2004.jpg

Rachel Stamp wallpaper!

Lock thread?

I’ve only just realised that ‘Monster’ isn’t on that singles list. Blimey.

I still refer to that song as “Box car” cos that’s what I was sure they were saying was coming over the hill. I thought it was by Box Car Racer and was self-referential to fuck.

I really don’t like that song (The ‘Monster’ one). The chorus is vile

it’s hard to resist.

Rachel Stamp—worst band ever.

Hang on, aren’t The Kooks that band whose ambitions stretch as far as wanting to be the Libertines?

Hang on, aren’t The Kooks that bandisn’t England that country whose ambitions stretch as far as wanting to be the Libertines?

Fixed.

Nah, we’re too busy trying to remove johnny foreigner

them’s fighting words, mister dom.

and I don’t even live in england.

No, the Kooks are the band whose ambition is wanting to be the next Maroon 5.

it’s hard to resist.

temprique hints at liking some recent music EXCLUSIVE

PUT YOUR HANDS UP FOR ENRIQUE- HE LOVES THIS INDIE DISCO

woah nelly — i’ve only heard bits of it, on adverts for ‘now’ and shit.

You can trust my award-winning/job-losing Time Out review!

absence of razorlight surprises me. i don’t read the nme, but if they include the kooks... why is playing live8 not ok by the nme?

it’s surely nothing to do with live8 participation (see inclusion of madonna, coldplay and others in last year’s list).

a rateyourmusic users has formatted the NME 2006 albums list

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/ijkidd/nme_albums_of_the_year_2006

Question: which European ILM-er not from the UK is listed in the “Similar Lists” section?

I bet it’s not Stan. I wonder who it could be..

http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,1966974,00.html

Highgate School. hah. pissed in their drive the other week.

“Before you get a record deal,” he says, “you think that when you get signed, your problems will disappear. But then you realise that, far from curing everything, success is a big challenge in itself.”

maybe if johnny had listened to some rock songs before starting a band he would have picked this up in time.

lol at totured lung/rollercoaster metaphor

I have to say, No Razorlight in either list is just plain nonsense!

That’s aside from if You like them or not.

i saw an ad on the tube for an nme compilation album: it tracks by razorlight AND the ordinary boys. integrity.

are you dom passantino’s dad?

his mum seems to think so.

*roll eyes emoticon*

uk comedy z lister mitch benn had turned up on cookd and bombd. can’t we have a “celebrity” apperance. it’s been ages since dorian lynskey turned up.

he means you, conor.

tim jonze at a push

Tim Kash would do as well.

http://www.audiojunkies.net/adventures/ep1/adventures.htm

http://www.audiojunkies.net/adventures/ep4/ep4.htm

http://www.audiojunkies.net/adventures/ep2/1.htm

“The week the single came out, the US essentially legalised torture with the detainee bill and there were three in-school shootings,” says Borrell. “To have my entire country singing, ‘There’s trouble in America, there’s panic in America,’ is something that makes me quite proud. And yet people still come up to me and say, ‘You’ve got a bit of a reputation, people think you’re an arsehole.’ I don’t see how that adds up. That song was the most played song on the radio for weeks. It’s a fact that people like listening to Razorlight.”

he has shit hair

ah stevie yr pretty much a rock crit celebrity but the worse anyone could say, is that you over-rate the drones. hmmm.

over-rate the drones? unpossible.