some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2) — the most critically neglected album...
So great, it’s on 5 out of what, 50 lists here? For someone as accomplished as Kate Bush to release such a bracketed slice of music as Snow is a gift in itself. If it’s divisive, then i have yet to encounter any reasonable descenting opinion (and, Doran, as colorful as The Elton John track is shit statement is, doesn’t quite pass muster). Is it that the press believe she didn’t wait the requisite decade before releasing new material, or that the year just had too many other superior offerings?
Kate Bush is a true master, no matter how inventive (i imagine) you find this years debut of Yuck.
that the year just had too many other superior offerings?
Yes. Also: she’s recorded at least three stronger albums.
I’m not going to bother arguing further with the aptly named.
x-post: That shouldn’t be held against her if the current one can compete with the other albums out there this year (and for me it does). Not that I’m particularly worried about it not being higher in more lists. It’s not as good as Aerial but it’s still a strong followup to that.
When does an undebated disagreement become the equivalent of “argument”—this is exactly what’s wrong with society; no discussion, just lines in the sand.
also, thank you to Lord and Rudi for their reasoned entries.
yeah, the world would be way better if everyone just engaged in fair and honest debates about kate bush
. . . And banned BIFFA from consideration in year-end polls. Breaches of this policy shall constitute a second-degree felony. Our a capital crime. Haven’t worked out that part yet.
Try fair and honest debate about anything... media and politics has mostly been reduced to taking sides and pointing fingers. Uncultured vultures.
FWIW I’m a Kate Bush fan and Aerial is probably my joint favourite of her albums but 50WFS doesn’t quite pass muster as an outstanding album in my book.
What do you think of the PJ Harvey album?
Has NYT been done yet?
I love that Ratliff finds a way to get Jason Moran in once again even though he didn’t have an official release, and of course there’s a metal album in there, but this is still a nice-looking list: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/pistol-annies-yob-deaf-center-paul-simon.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=ratliff&st=cse
I like that Caramanica digs Pistol Annies too, and Action Bronson (even if he isn’t really top 10).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/from-retro-yuck-to-foodie-rap.html?ref=music
and of course there’s a metal album in there, but this is still a nice-looking list:
how dare someone include a metal album!
I still haven’t heard the Craig Taborn album I wanted to hear that made two of the NYT lists.
(Solo piano can be good. No cymbal tapping.)
What do you think of the PJ Harvey album?
I’ve been a fan of PJ since day 1. I lost track of her around Stories but she stormed back to me with White Chalk (which is the album i believe equipped her with the tools that makes England Shake so much. PJs album is more important in the social sense, and it was my #1 until i started listening to Snow about a month back.
how dare someone include a metal album!
I know, right? He’s a superfan.
Yob’s album is the best on that list. IMO etc.
OTM
how dare someone include a metal album!
has ghost’s album (opus eponymous) been on many of these lists? feels like it’s been unfairly neglected all year. people call it “death-metal,” but — lyrics aside — the songs are too catchy and the vocal harmonies too lush to be “death metal.” really they’re the new blue-oyster-cult, and that’s okay with me. the lyrics are kinda death-metal-y, i’ll grant you; still . . .
poor satan. gets no respect from music writers.
It’s well loved in the ‘metal community’. I think Terrorizor, Hammer, Kerrang! and Rock Sound in this country all loved it.
Ghost album was out last year. It was in the ILM Metal Poll.
It certainly isn’t death metal though.
north american release was january 2011 (according to wiki)
I’m completely surprised the Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats album has been ignored in metal and non-metal lists.
I’m not that into very retro sounding heavy rock/metal and there was only room for one in my end of year list—Uncle Acid, but Ghost, Black Spiders and Gentleman’s Pistols all released good cider and spliff LPs this year.
XP: The Quietus can’t be the only magazine who’ve picked up on it. I feel that it will probably feature next year because of the CD issue coming out then.
Hopefully Terrorizer will have it. I think a lot of non-metal fans on ilm would love it if they heard it. It’s psychedelic rock with lots of good melodies. Or as someone out it If The Beatles had continued and been influenced by Black Sabbath
no hyperbole there! It’s a nice album but that’s about it.
well that was how someone (not me) on ilm described it
The influence of The Beatles and Black Sabbath is pretty clear to be honest and it’s better than just nice. Without the tunes, riffs and hooks it would be just another good head nodder. Also, the production is evil.
to each their own.
npr best ‘outer sounds’ albums of 2011
1. Nicholas Szczepanik, ‘Please Stop Loving Me’
went to high school w this guy, he wore the same hail to the thief shirt every day
yeah, i agree with doran. besides, whether an album is “nice but that’s about it” depends on a broader context. if, say, the ghost album inspires a new direction for a lot of death-metal-y bands — a deemphasis on cookie-monster vocals; a greater emphasis on almost sweet-sounding vocal harmonies — it could be a significant album. you can’t know until you either see evidence of its influence, or time passes and you realize it hasn’t had an influence.
(sung like the carpenters): ♪♪♪ this temple of ritual/smells of dead human sacrifices/from the alter ♪♪♪
I’m completely surprised the Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats album has been ignored in metal and non-metal lists.
It’s decent, but needs a better singer.
You’d like it more if it was Fab Macca not Lennon singing?
i like his vocals
xp
this line from the FACT writeups floored me
Sure, ‘NY is Killing Me’ became annoyingly inescapable
Gil-Scott’s gotta be like the “Moves Like Jagger” of England right?
inescapable?
c’mon. that black eyed peas song was inescapable. the GSH song was escapable.
but did you want to flee?
nah. i was drawn to it, as if sirens were calling me to shipwreck.
black eyed peas, OTOH, make me want to claw out my eyes with needles.
ATP.
didn’t see this on the thread as of yet. several of the contributor lists are working for me.
http://www.atpfestival.com/assets/membership/top10s.html
Albums Of The Year
1. PJ Harvey—Let England Shake
2. Radiohead—The King of Limbs
3. Panda Bear—Tomboy
4. Destroyer—Kaputt
5. Battles—Gloss Drop
6. Gang Gang Dance—Eye Contact
7. Tom Waits—Bad as Me
8. Fucked Up—David Comes to Life
9. Tuneyards—Whokill
10. Deerhoof—Deerhoof Vs Evil
11. Kurt Vile—Smoke Ring For My Halo
12. Braids—Native Speaker
13. Fleet Foxes—Helplessness Blues
14. Colin Stetson—New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
15. Low—C’mon
16. Atlas Sound—Parallax
17. Walls—Coracle
18. Bjork—Biophilia
19. Tim Hecker—Ravedeath, 1972
20. Death Grips—Ex-Military
Not much range there
in its own way that might be the worst collective list itt so far
dang that juno list might almost top the RA one... twice as many tracks and has some srsly killer stuff that RA did not include (there were so many vakula eps this year that i almost missed ‘picture of you’! so good!)
LWE:
1. Machinedrum, Room(s)
2. Andy Stott, Passed Me By
3. BNJMN, Plastic World
4. Morphosis, What Have We Learned
5. Jonsson/Alter, Mod
6. Roman Flügel, Fatty Folders
7. Tim Hecker, Ravedeath, 1972
8. Legowelt, The TEAC Life
9. Steffi, Yours & Mine
10. Agnès presents Cavalier, A Million Horses
(individual staff lists here)
OOR (major Dutch music magazine)
Dutch artists in bold
1. PJ Harvey—Let England shake
2. Wilco—The whole love
3. Spinvis—Tot ziens, Justine Keller
4. James Blake—James Blake
5. Adele—21
6. Arctic monkeys—Suck it and see
7. Vaccines—What did you expect from the Vaccines?
8. Elbow—Build a rocket boys!
9. Gillian Welch—The harrow & the harvest
10. Kurt Vile—Smoke ring for my halo
11. Pete & the Pirates—One thousand pictures
12. Destroyer—Kaputt
13. Bon iver—Bon iver
14. Other lives—Tamer animals
15. Fleet foxes—Helplessness blues
16. Radiohead—The king of limbs
17. Fucked up—David comes to life
18. Tom Waits—Bad as me
19. Danger mouse & Daniele Luppi Present—Rome
20. War on drugs—Slave ambient
21. Decemberists—The king is dead
22. Zomby—Dedication
23. Alamo race track—Unicorn loves deer
24. Girls—Father, son, holy ghost
25. Miles Kane—Colour of the trap
26. Tim Knol—Days
27. Dazzled kid—Fire needs air
28. Florence + the Machine—Ceremonials
29. Ryan Adams—Ashes & fire
30. Foster the people—Torches
31. Black lips—Arabia mountain
32. John Maus—We must become the pitiless censors of ourselves
33. Real estate—Days
34. Rustie—Glass swords
35. Washed out—Within and without
36. Eefje de Visser—De koek
37. Lykke Li—Wounded rhymes
38. Marike Jager—Here comes the night
39. Smith westerns—Dye it blonde
40. dEUS—Keep you close
41. Beady eye—Different gear, still speeding
42. Little dragon—Ritual union
43. Noel Gallagher’s High flying birds—Noel Gallagher’s High flying birds
44. Timber timbre—Creep on creepin’ on
45. Frank Turner—England keep my bones
46. Beirut—The rip tide
47. Kasabian—Velociraptor!
48. M83—Hurry up we’re dreaming!
49. Tune-yards—Whokill
50. Colin Stetson—New history warfare : vol 2 Judges
Oh cripes—I forgot that dEUS album even came out. Was it any good or was it boring?
SMH at that whole piece, this line leapt out as being particularly inept:
“It’s a slap in the face for such music juggernauts as Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, who are conspicuous by their absence.”
God I hate this shit when paid journalists get all: “EOY list/Mercury Prize is full of weird stuff no one’s ever heard of like PJ Harvey”.
For the latest album from the gloomy indie songstress has managed to sell barely 130,000 copies
The Independent suffered the biggest decline in circulation of any national newspaper in October, recording monthly and annual sales falls of more than a quarter ... Alexander Lebedev’s daily title reported month-on-month fall in circulation of 24% to 133,449 copies, a 26.84% year-on-year fall
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/11/independent-suffers-biggest-circulation-fall
gah, fuxored formatting
Humo (Belgium) Albums EOY 2011
http://www.humo.be/muziek/60621/de-beste-cds-van-2011
25. EMA: Past Life Martyred Saints
24. Cat’s Eyes: Cat’s Eyes
23. Laura Marling: A Creature I Do’nt Know
22. Benny Zen & The Syphilis Madmen: Run Back To The Safety of The Town
21. The Kills: Blood Pressure
20. A.A. Bondy: Believers
19. Jonathan Jeremiah: A Solitary Man
18. Amy Winehouse: Lioness
17. Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo
16. Andy Stott: Passed Me By
15. The Antlers: Burst Apart
14. Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2
13. Amatorski: TBC
12. Radiohead: The King of Limbs
11. Holy Other: With U ep
10. tUnE-yArDs: Whokill
09. Tom Waits: Bad As Me
08. -
07. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
06. Thurston Moore: Demoished Thoughts
05. The Horrors: Skying
04. Shabazz Palaces: Black Up
03. James Blake: James Blake
02. Josh T. Pearson: Last of the Country Gentlemen
01. PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
22. Benny Zen & The Syphilis Madmen
well-payed xxp
played*
what’s going on at number 8?
They forgot to list one.
it’s considered unlucky in Belgian culture
Not much range there
― Another Suburbanite, Monday, December 19, 2011 6:10 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink
unlike the RA, FACT and metal lists..
also lol
No matter, for the result is from the annual HMV Poll of Polls, officially announced tomorrow – a ranking drawn from 35 polls by magazines, national newspapers and websites.
Don’t expect to see any big names, let alone ones you might recognise. For Britain’s music critics have outdone themselves in finding some bands so obscure they wouldn’t even be famous in their own homes.
One, tUnE-yArDs (sic), has sold just a few thousand copies of its Whokill album. And the back catalogues of acts such as Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Wild Beasts, Kurt Vile, James Blake and the Horrors are not exactly troubling the bestseller charts.
It’s a slap in the face for such music juggernauts as Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, who are conspicuous by their absence.
yet here everyone complains the lists are predictable. We really are detached from the real world that’s out there. aren’t we?
lol
But whatever Christmas bonus Harvey reaps from “serious” music fans rushing out to buy her album, it will be small change to Adele.
In the Top 10 that really counts – sales – her first two albums have sold more than any other record in Britain this year.
I like the bit where they talk about PJ Harvey being “thankful for the exposure” as if Polly Jean stares out the window all day going “One day—one day I’ll be as famous as Bruno Mars—just gotta lighten up a bit and get my name out there”.
actually i fucked that one up. this one is the punters vs pundits options. (the 1st one is the actual albums chosen)
Guardian top 40 tracks of the year:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-songs-2011
That’s a pretty definitive Top 3 I reckon. I thought the Yonkers video was excellent and the album paled in comparison. Video Games and 212 are also very high on my list of “great songs by artists whom I’ve heard nothing else by and would be happy not to”.
Lots and lots of R’n’B/Hip-hop near the top, which is good to see. The St Vincent song should’ve been Cruel instead of Surgeon. They picked the correct James Blake song. The wrong Radiohead song. Good to see Rustie in there. Oh and Gang Gang Dance.
Compared to the rather dull albums list (rockist comments trolling aside) that’s pretty good IMO.
Actually I’d probably be pretty happy if the ILX top 3 had those songs in it.
That’s hilarious. That last Bon Iver album sold like hundreds of thousands of copies
39 Canibus – Brainwash Reversal Remix
lol everything about that one
Did anyone post the Pfork honorable mentions? Much better than their top 50. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/8730-albums-of-the-year-honorable-mention/
Stoner Hive is rolling out a top 20 album countdown that’s quite fun—http://www.stonerhive.blogspot.com/
fuckers didnt ask for my vote this year
Its usually the case that I find more to love on the Forks’ honorable mention list.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ e.g., the dirty beaches disc!
Quietus compilations, mixes, reissues, odd and sods list:
http://thequietus.com/articles/07602-quietus-reissues-compilations-of-the-year-2011
someone asked for this but I’m not done yet, here are top 31 candidates for top 10 spaces, might change this as there are a few more knocking on the door. in approximate but not final order:
Anthony Hamilton, Back to Love
The Original 7ven, Condensate.
Invisible System, Street Clan.
Lauren Pritchard, Wasted in Jackson.
Louis C.K., Hilarious.
Vusi Mahlasela, Say Africa!
El Gran Silencio, Revolusound Contra Systema.
The Gift, Explode.
CSS, La Liberación.
Charles Bradley, No Time for Dreaming.
Nikki Lynette: Roses N Guns 2: the BADDER ASSED mixtape that rocks.
Killer Mike, Pl3dge.
Over the Rhine, The Long Surrender.
Vijay Iyer/Prasanna/Nitin Mitta, Tirtha.
The Mountain Goats, All Eternals Deck.
Susheela Raman, Vel.
Lee “Scratch” Perry, Rise Again.
Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Bon Iver. (hi Lex)
Das Racist, Relax.
Celso Piña, Sin Fecha de Caducidad.
Book of Mormon soundtrack.
Amir ElSaffar, Inana.
Cornershop, Cornershop & the Double O Groove of.
Battles, Gloss Drop.
Dub Colossus, Addis Through the Looking Glass.
Wizard, …Of Wariwulfs and Bluotvawes.
Slagwerk den Haag, Michael Gordon: Timber
Katy B, On a Mission.
C.J. Chenier, Can’t Sit Down.
Zun Zun Egui, Katang.
Cankisou, Fayt.
oh and forgot Radio Moscow, The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz.
Condensate! Happy to see that on your list. Surprisingly strong.
Given that I only started adding the long lists at the end of our EOY stuff because some people on ILX complained, I’m posting our reissues list here:
1 Throbbing Gristle – Heathen Earth
2 SunnO))) and Nurse With Wound – The Iron Soul Of Nothing
3 Ben UFO—Rinse 016
4 King Midas Sound – Without You
5 Chris and Cosey – A Mix For The Quietus
6 Chris Watson—El Tren Fantasma
7 The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace Omnibus Edition
8 The Black Dog—Liber Chaos
9 Cloaks—Versions Grain
10 Demdike Stare – Triptych
11 Various Artists – Hessle Audio 116 And Rising
12 K-S.H.E (Terre Thaemlitz)—Routes Not Roots
13 Drexciya—Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller
14 AR—Wolf Notes
15 John Fahey – Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You: The Fonotone Years
16 Autechre—EPs 1991 – 2002
17 UFOmammut – Snailking
18 Suede—Dog Man Star reissue
19 Mark McGuire—A Young Person’s Guide
20 Desert Island Dicks/Where Woodwose Walk – Clearance Sale
21 Swans—Live at ATP via NPR
22 Dinosaur L—24>24 Music
23 Various Artists – Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds
24 Can—Tago Mago
25 Mark McGuire—A Young Person’s Guide
26 Oneida—The Ocropolis Live at ATP via NPR
27 Various Artists – Twenty Fucking Years Of Planet E: We Ain’t Dead
28 AME—A Mix For FACT
29 Jane Weaver—The Watchbird Alluminate
30 The Units – Connections
31 Pentagram – Be Forwarned
32 Grandaddy—The Sophtware Slump
33 Various Artists – Life Is Dance
34 Gary Numan—Dead Son Rising
35 Various Artists—Sofrito
36 Opika Pende – Africa At 78 RPM
37 Various Artists—Disco Discharge: Disco Fever USA
38 Lucy—A Mix for Resident Advisor
39 Tandy Love—Turk Jerk
40 Various Artists—Bangs & Works Vol 2
41 Orchestre Poly Rhythmo de Cotonou—The First Album
42 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds—Let Love In
43 Various Artists—Cartegena
44 LFO – Frequencies
45 The Juan Maclean – Everybody Get Close
46 Leonard Cohen—Box Set
47 The Kelly Twins—A Mix For Bass Music Blog
48 Paul McCartney—McCartney II
49 Queen – News Of The World
50 Mercury Rev—Deserter’s Songs
Just listened to ‘El Tren Fantasma’, absolutely astonishing. If the rest of the stuff on the Quietus list is as good I’m going to be very happy.
Well, if you’re hoping to hear any more recordings of trains I think you’ll be very disappointed but in a lot of ways I think our reissue chart is better than our albums chart. Certainly covers more ground.
Interesting-looking list, Cibuloid.
cibula always seems disappointed if people don’t snort condescendingly at his taste, i should get in some “anthony hamilton rubberstamp” jibes
some dude always seems disappointed if he can’t condescendingly assume what others intend with their lists
Off-topic, Cibuloid, but what is the best Bersuit Vergarabat album?
I mean, a guy who actually puts a 2011 Limp Bizkit record on his EOY list shouldn’t cast any stones related to snorting at people’s tastes.
jon i have hung w/ cibula IRL and we have had silly arguments about him liking anthony hamilton more than me in the past, so maybe you chill on valiantly defending him from an evil internet bully?
oh come on, I wasn’t trying to defend him, it was more just an excuse to zing you for your Bizkit inclusion
I’m still learning how to troll from the best.
he zinged himself by including limp bizkit.
dudes LULU is in my top 10, i’m clearly trolling and do not give a fuck
hey everyone LEAVE SOME DUDE ALONE
hey some dude I NO LONGER CARE if people snort or don’t snort, you should see some of the stuff I left off this list that will show up on my eventual list of 200 (h/t Spotify)
hey jaymc BEST THREE BERSUIT ALBUMS: Hijos del Culo, La Argentinidad al Palo Volume 1, La Argentinidad al Palo Volume 2. Testosterona is okay, others are okay too. New one coming next year but frontman Gustavo Cordera has quit the band and the other guys, while great songwriters and maybe better singers, are nowhere near as interesting vocally. We shall see.
Damn I missed this place with its random bullshit. You’re all beautiful and I love you.
As for Anthony Hamilton: forget everything else, dude is a GREAT songwriter, still just as much country as R&B. And I didn’t think his earliest stuff was all that great and didn’t love Ain’t Nobody Worrying as much as other stuff...but yeah close enough to rubber-stamp status for me as anyone else ever.
oh you care, you care so much, but in an endearing way.
there’s actually been a LOT of love for the hamilton on the R&B thread but it’s just not hitting the spot for me like some other ‘contemporary old school’-type soul records this year (raphael saadiq, robin thicke, marsha ambrosius).
i haven’t even waded into r&b thread yet, just signed back up here on saturday. i like marsha okay but no great shakes, saadiq is like every other week with me because I find his songwriting as frustrating as his presentation is exhilarating, won’t listen to robin thicke because oh I don’t know why probably his hair. was excited about jill scott until i listened to the album and i think it’s still that she has so much love for herself that there’s no room for me to love her. beyonce is half-great half-ehhh as far as i’m concerned. so there it is with me.
nikki lynette might end up being higher on my list. she is dope-opolis.
curious which half of the Beyonce album you think is great