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.
God, I’m quite ashamed of knowing only about 5–7 on that RA list. Walk And Talk is classic (wonder where it’ll place on the ILX tracks list). I know I’ve heard and enjoyed some stuff by Storm Queen but I can’t remember if it’s this track. Natalia’s Song is a highlight on the Zomby album and I’m glad it’s included here. Is the Peverelist tune a cover of Shut Up & Dance? If so I’d be very interested in hearing it. I guess it’s lists like this that help me through the slow January month...
The Steffi tune is probably my favourite on there, just such a rich, satisfying vocal house tune.
Also the Onsulade/Ame track is really worth hearing, the second half is so ravey!
Also, this talk of ‘indie’ is a red herring; Frank Ocean isn’t Gayngs.
Gayngs >>>>
The LWE list has been a joy to read, the write-ups are excellent.
So, theoretically, an 80s retro fixation should have played itself out by now (every decade looks back 20 years for inspiration, which means we should be well into 90s revivalism by now), but P4K’s top three albums all have a retro-80s vibe.
Didn’t expect Destroyer to rank as high as it did, but I was happy to see it.
I don’t normally like to bash P4K, but their list is less inspired than the NME’s. Is the Bon Iver album an 80s-retro thing? I can’t stand him tbh.
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
Also the Onsulade/Ame track is really worth hearing, the second half is so ravey!
yes! how had i not heard this!
i am just never going to get benoit & sergio :( sooooo dull.
not even walk & talk? :-(
do you like the Wolf + Lamb vs Soul Clap mix from a wee while back, Lex?
it was okay
is the Bon Iver album an 80s-retro thing?
At least partly, yeah. One song sounds like Toto (without the rhythm section, kind of like the song you know I won’t hold you back).
Surprised they went for seemingly every Benoit & Sergio *except* Everybody which I thought was kinda the acknowledged anthem.
I’m kind of sad the Art Department album didn’t make any EOY lists, this year.
speaking of dull
an art department where all the paint is grey
ha xp!
This is the Art Department and is pretty decent—but there’s also Soul Clap and Onsulade input there as well.
Generally I think they’re fine when there are no vocals getting in the way.
I didn’t think it was grey. certainly moody, but quite emotional and affecting.
Tiny Mix Tapes (USA) Albums EOY 2011
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2011-favorite-50-albums-2011
50—Tom Waits—Bad as Me
49—Liturgy—Aesthetica
48—Matana Roberts—Coin Coin Chapter One: Les Gens de Couleur Libres
47—Kurt Vile—Smoke Ring for My Halo
46—A Winged Victory for the Sullen—A Winged Victory for the Sullen
45—Tiziana Bertoncini and Thomas Lehn—Horsky Park
44—The Psychic Paramount—II
43—St. Vincent—Strange Mercy
42—Zomby—Dedication
41—Fabio Orsi—Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul
40—Kreng—Grimoire
39—Arrington de Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa—Suara Naga
38—Earth—Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1
37—Telebossa—Telebossa
36—Future Islands—On the Water
35—The Men—Leave Home
34—Panda Bear—Tomboy
33—Rafael Toral—Space Elements Vol. III
32—M83—Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
31—EMA—Past Life Martyred Saints
30—Lil B—I’m Gay
29—Thee Oh Sees—Castlemania
28—Thee Oh Sees—Carrion Crawler/Dream
27—The Weeknd—House of Balloons
26—Amen Dunes—Through Donkey Jaw
25—Hype Williams—One Nation
24—Bill Orcutt—How the Thing Sings
23—PJ Harvey—Let England Shake
22—Death Grips—Ex Military
21—James Ferraro—Far Side Virtual
20—DJ Rashad—Just a Taste
19—Sean McCann—The Capital
18—Flaming Lips—The Strobo Trip: Light and Audio Phase Illusions Toy
17—Dirty Beaches—Badlands
16—Kwjaz—Kwjaz
15—Bill Callahan—Apocalypse
14—Peaking Lights—936
13—Shabazz Palaces—Black Up
12—tUnE-yArDs—WhoKill
11—Tim Hecker—Ravedeath, 1972
10—Demdike Stare—Triptych [2010]
9—Destroyer—Kaputt
8—Gang Gang Dance—Eye Contact
7—John Maus—We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
6—Grouper—A I A: Alien Observer / A I A: Dream Loss
5—DJ Diamond—Flight Muzik
4—The Caretaker—An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
3—Colin Stetson—New History Warfare, Vol. 2: Judges
2—James Blake—James Blake
1—Oneohtrix Point Never—Replica
^ decent enough list, huge improvement on pitchfork imo
much more interesting. James Blake in second place is a bit of an odd one, considering the quality of the stuff that precedes it, but big props for putting DJ Diamond so near the top.
yeah, the tiny mix tapes list is interesting. i mean, there’s a lot of overlap and re-ordering of the titles on the P4K list, but there are also interesting items on the TMT list that didn’t make it to the P4K list (e.g., dirty beaches; demdike stares; peaking lights).
btw, i haven’t gone thru it yet, but the individual lists on dusted’s year-end summary are always interesting (no total-staff best-of list at dusted).
The Best Rhythm and Blues of 2011
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/tools/full/152019
01 Maya Azucena—Cry Love
02 Rashaan Patterson—Bleuphoria
03 Mamas Gun—The Life and Soul
04 Lalah Hathaway—Where It All Begins
05 Beverly Knight—Soul UK
06 Goapele—Break of Dawn
07 Patti Austin—Sound Advice
08 Van Hunt—What Were You Hoping For?
09 Daryl Hall—Laughing Down Crying
10 Ledisi—Pieces of Me
no yardbirds?
^agreed. It’s an outrage.
luckily we have tuneyards
I don’t normally like to bash P4K, but their list is less inspired than the NME’s.
Who looks to these lists for inspiration?
this muthafucka
Here’s the tracks off of the RA list I could find on Spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/user/djperry1973/playlist/1hyXkhovMXjdch00K74y6B
fyi 15 seconds in and I already like this list much much more than the FACT list
Yeah it’s pretty good. Already discovered a few keepers i wasn’t familiar with
okay I am in LOVE with this Sneaker track, which is essentially one measure of music repeated for 12 minutes
What was the guardian number 1? pj harvey?
yarp
WateryTart
16 December 2011 1:27PM
Let England Shake – a genuinely great piece of war art – was made by a woman, too, though in 2011 we really should have moved beyond finding this unusual. ...
Female singer-songwriters are supposed to be winsome things who write about their feelings for guys. ...
Folk singer Linda Thompson, part of a panel of judges who voted Let England Shake Uncut magazine’s album of the year (it won the Mercury prize, and was Mojo and NME’s album of the year, too) put it like this: “I was impressed that a woman could go through a whole album and not mention some stupid bloke, except a stupid dead bloke.”
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
“She’s a girl but she writes about war and that’s innovative and unusual for a girl, though we really shouldn’t have to say that. But we will. Because she’s a girl. And her album is full of deep stuff, not like what girls usually write about. It’s good when girls don’t write about what girls usually write about.”
I must reiterate:
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
okay really?
yeah, i thought that was a pretty weak summation of why this is a good album. I’m still looking for an “in” to it, but being told “it’s good because it’s a girl singing about war” is not only plain sexist, but the least interesting thing about the record.
I love that album for several reasons:
- The totally different, delicate vocal color of PJ’s singing voice, particularly the stunning floated headvoice used on “On Battleship Hill”.
- The connected narrative running through the album.
- The music arrangement of the songs.
Linda Thompson’s summation is lame but Kitty Empire’s is a lot more nuanced than that.
i can’t really think of anything more to say about LES—having written about PJH a lot this year—but every time i see someone suggest that LES : UK :: Destroyer : USA (in that UK critics care way less about Destroyer than US critics, and US critics care way less about PJH than Destroyer), I am tremendously thankful to be on the right side of that
Let England Shake – a genuinely great piece of war art – was made by a woman, too, though in 2011 we really should have moved beyond finding this unusual.
Yes durr.
But Harvey’s gender, and her upbringing on a Dorset farm, are both inherent to its greatness.
Also true.
I was more boggling at Linda Thompson
i also liked Kitty E’s write-up
NY Times critics top 2011 picks
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/from-retro-yuck-to-foodie-rap.html?ref=music Jon Caramanica
Likes Yuck, Action Bronson, Drake, Beyonce and more
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/music-of-heartache-mortality-and-success.html?_r=1&ref=music Jon Pareles
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/pistol-annies-yob-deaf-center-paul-simon.html?ref=music Ben Ratliff
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/ambrose-akinmusire-drake-the-roots-st-vincent.html?ref=music Nate Chinen
Harvey began writing lyrics for the album before setting the words to music. She has cited the poetry of Harold Pinter and T.S. Eliot as influences, as well as the artwork of Salvador Dalí and Francisco de Goya and music of The Doors, The Pogues, and The Velvet Underground.[7] She has also spoken of researching the history of conflict, including the Gallipoli campaign, and reading modern-day testimonies from civilians and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
this is very kinda ‘ambitious sixth former’
well luckily her execution is way beyond “ambitious sixth former”
Diamond Mine has appeared 6 times ITT and always in the lower ranks. When Saints Go Machine appeared only twice, and just once in the higher echelons. And today I bought a scotch egg and there was no egg in it. Fuck this world!
on a related note why is so much conceptual ambition in art, esp that which involves actual research, always dismissed as “sixth former” or “undergraduate”? as if it’s somehow juvenile?
if it is, the people responsible for slating it should be shot in front of their families (Etc).. Maybe this is some throwback to the punk-rock conceit that “concept albums are for nerdy art-fags who like classical music” or something?
and US critics care way less about PJH than Destroyer
I don’t really see this though, PJH has seemed to show up ahead of Bejar on a lot of lists.
...from U.S. centric outlets, I meant to add.
Lolololololol at Reynolds putting Woebot’s album in his top 10.
Also there’s a Woebot album wtf?
idk this album but those all cohere into a particular sort of late-adolescent worldview
why is so much conceptual ambition in art, esp that which involves actual research, always dismissed as “sixth former” or “undergraduate”?
in this case i think it’s partly to do with the listed influences being sort of obvious touchstones to young people just discovering literature/music and the idea of naive “anti-war” themes.
nb i’ve got no idea what the record’s like i’m just explaining why that bit of review reads that way
woebot has been releasing for years!
nv gracious to the bleachers as ever
nb u cd just as easily make a list of trying-too-hard slightly more obscure references. it is the way that paragraph is written that gives off the vibe i think
on a related note why is so much conceptual ambition in art, esp that which involves actual research, always dismissed as “sixth former” or “undergraduate”? as if it’s somehow juvenile?
Because Sixth Form was the last time in their lives that any of these people did any actual research or conceptual thinking, for pure intellectual curiosity, or any other reason.
The list of influences is kinda sixth-form actually But ambitious six-formers tend not to talk to soldiers back from Afghanistan and Iraq or do much research into Gallipoli, in fairness. Also yeah the execution.
they all do Gallipoli! it must be every GCSE History syllabub ever!
Because Sixth Form was the last time in their lives that any of these people did any actual research or conceptual thinking, for pure intellectual curiosity, or any other reason.
ha that’s what i was gonna say but i couldn’t get the sentence out right. when it comes to thirst for knowledge i’d take most 6th formers over most adults.
i never did gallipoli! before i reviewed LES i had to ring my dad to talk to him about WW1
and then i did my own internet research, like PJH before me
“WWI = tragic WWII = noble”
The list of influences is kinda sixth-form actually But ambitious six-formers tend not to talk to soldiers back from Afghanistan and Iraq or do much research into Gallipoli, in fairness. Also yeah the execution.
― Matt DC, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:54 (1 minute ago)
hah it’s exactly the mix of entrylev highbrows and socially engaged extracurriculars that give it the school yearbook feel
how would an actual grown-up approach this kind of material in your opinion then?
Unless you’re a child-genius autodidact you shouldn’t be singing about anything other than cars and girls.
Tom Lamont
Albums
1) The Antlers – Burst Apart
2) The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
3) Noah and the Whale – Last Night on Earth
4) Bon Iver – Bon Iver
5) Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
6) Owl City – All Things Bright and Beautiful
7) Papercuts – Fading Parade
8) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
9) The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh
10) King Creosote and Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
man I’m a nice guy but just looking at this is making me feel like Biffa Bacon to his Cedric
lex u ought to have noticed this is something quite specific! not the old nme reviewer staple of ‘sixth form poetry’
insofar as polly j is successful it’s cuz she preserves a sort of adolescent directness and vitriol very well
The album isn’t particularly vitriolic though? There’s a weird lack of overt commentary there given the subject matter.
man I’m a nice guy but just looking at this is making me feel like Biffa Bacon to his Cedric
I have no idea what this means but I’m going to assume from context that it involves disemboweling and vivisection
LES isn’t vitriolic or particularly direct though! indeed what makes it very unadolescent is her commitment to an “objective stance” throughout—there’s no polemic, no sloganeering, just...describing, and making human. it’s very comparable to new amerykah pt 1 in that sense (and i guess if you reduced erykah badu to the themes she’s concerned with you could call her a bit sixth form as well?)
what sort of influences do raiohead cite these days? courtney love? is billy corgan still writing and if so what is he reading
is there a good reason why Fleet Foxes shouldn’t fill me with an almost irresistible urge to kill
lol king of limbs influences #1 result is sick mahfy
what sort of influences do raiohead cite these days?
Penderecki and ye old englische dubsteppe.
what makes it very unadolescent is her commitment to an “objective stance” throughout
I’ve seen random internet chuckleheads denounce it for both glorifying and criticising war, which kinda suggests she’s done her job
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke told BBC that he has always been infatuated with the music of Neil Young and has even been told some of his music sounds like the legendary singer songwriter.
I really cannot get over how much better than the FACT list the RA list is; even the overlapping tracks sound better on the RA list.
is there a good reason why Fleet Foxes shouldn’t fill me with an almost irresistible urge to kill
I don’t even really want to open this can of worms, but I really like the new album. They’ve really expanded on what they did with their over-hyped first album and I think there are some really interesting moments. Some songs put me in the mind of the first Midlake album, while other hit on a CSNY vibe that works for me. I can totally see why this wouldn’t be up most peoples alley, but otoh it kind of annoys me to see it so frequently lumped in (by both detractors and people that love them!!) with shit like Mumford or Noah and the Whale.
there is a reason why they get lumped in with shit like Mumford tho
I mean, I recognize that they are talented and I actually think they have very, very good singing voices; I just want to start punching until my fists are nubs whenever I hear their music
i guess one reason is that it’s possible not to listen to them
what is the best way to convey how little indie music you have heard without seeming tuomish or otherwise obnoxious
oh dan, while you’re here you may not have seen this in the knifelike thread, but fatima al qadiri’s latest ep is currently blowing my mind, and i think you might be into it
http://soundcloud.com/fatima-al-qadiri/sets/genre-specific-xperieince