great lists lex—surprised there’s no Jhene though!
^^^ + no kandi either?
jaymx use ur xls! i am not explaining my love of tom waits for the 93085034th time in my years in ilx.
re: this album specifically—i’d actually given up on him, he seemed to finally lurch into self-parody about a decade ago, but i like the casualness of the affair—it’s tom happily doing what tom does w/o trying too hard about it but enjoying himself and getting some good shots at the outside world in, and several moments of resonant emotional truth
kandi = 2010 even if i didn’t hear it til 2011 and thus never got to rep for it in any EOY list ;_;
I’ve had the same disinterest in Waits for years, and this album broke through for the same reasons.
dreadful year-end list from popjustice as to be expected:
1. Lady Gaga—Born This Way
2. Will Young—Echoes
3. The Sound of Arrows—Voyage
4. Sophie Ellis-Bextor—Make A Scene
5. Susan Boyle—Someone To Watch Over
6. Pnau—Soft Universe
7. Nicola Roberts—Cinderella’s Eyes
8. Rihanna—Talk That Talk
9. Britney Spears—Femme Fatale
10. Nicole Scherzinger—Killer Love
11. Jennifer Lopez—Love?
12. Cut Copy—Zonoscope
13. Adele—21
14. Monarchy—Around The Sun
15. Patrick Wolf—Lupercalia
16. Christophe Willem—Prismophonic
17. Cher Lloyd—Sticks + Stones
18. Nerina Pallot—Year Of The Wolf
19. Example—Playing In The Shadows
20. The Saturdays—On Your Radar
21. Beyonce—4
22. Frankmusik—Do It In The AM
23. Vanbot—Vanbot
24. Patrick Stump—Soul Punk
25. Jessie J—Who You Are
26. Kelly Clarkson—Stronger
27. Natalia Kills—The Perfectionist
28. Katy B—On A Mission
29. Lights—Siberia
30. One Direction—Up All Night
31. Same Difference—The Rest Is History
32. CocknBullKid—Adulthood
33. David Guetta—Nothing But the Beat
lack of Jhene in Lex’s track list is redeemed by his #79 track...
Susan Boyle????
Didn’t really want to start a new thread for this, but last night I picked up some 2011 albums based on praise from various ilxors in their personal year-end wrap-ups.
So, Ned and Adrien, I am holding each of you personally responsible if the Active Child and Cold Cave albums, respectively, suck. ;)
In all seriousness, the write ups you guys did for those two inspired me to pick up on some stuff I skipped over this past year.
boomkat charts are making my head spin
i want all of peter rehberg’s list and him too
Fuck yeah, I was hoping they were going to do their guest list thing again this year...
nice to see the rene hell record getting some mentions itl
lots and lots of good stuff in the dude from digitalis’ list
For you, Lamp:
SPIN’s top 20 Avant albums!
http://www.spin.com/articles/spins-20-best-avant-albums-2011
Libération—2011, sélection super hotte
http://next.liberation.fr/culture/01012378598-2011-selection-super-hotte
Rock
The Kills—Blood Pressures
Sallie Ford (& The Sound Outside)—Dirty Radio
Jeff Bridges—s/t
Hi-fi
Hanni El Khatib—Will The Guns Come Out
Danger Mouse et Daniele Luppi—Rome
Timber Timbre—Creep On Creepin’ On
Pop folk
Josh T. Pearson.—Last of the Country Gentlemen
James Blake—s/t
Fránçois & The Atlas Mountains—O Volo Love
Larsen
Crystal Fighters—Star of Love
Black Lips—Arabia Mountain
Real Estate—Days
Platines
DJ Rashad—Just a Taste
Africa Hitech—93 Million Miles
Kourosh Yaghmaei—Back From the Brink
Slowcore
Low—C’mon
Wye Oak—Civilian
Ema Past Life—Martyred Saints
Jazz
Anthony Joseph and The Spasm Band—Rubber Orchestras
Ambrose Akinmusire—When the Heart Emerges Glistening
Tigran Hamasyan—A Fable
Chamanique
The Rapture—In the Grace of Your Love
Mirel Wagner—s/t
Lykke Li—Wounded Rhymes
World
Lucas Santtana—Sem Nostalgia
Magnifico—Magnification
Debademba—s/t
I don’t know whether I’m lolling more about Jeff Bridges being their third best rock record of the year or them having a Slowcore chart in 2011
Whiney, you have some nice picks in there. Out of the ones I don’t know, Shinji Masuko sounds pretty interesting.
thanx for the list dealwithit.gif. have heard just over half of the stuff you listed with ‘summvs’ and ‘owl splinters’ being partic standouts to me
i tried listening to the ‘garden of the forking paths’ record but it was too much for me tbh
yeah, owl splinters is a huge standout for the year. what a cool record
Trying to be a big boy and not resent lex for rendering my own list redundant.
Excellent lists obv!
ha, I doubt it will be redundant. I’m still waiting for someone to tell me which Denyque track is best
I loved Garden Of Forking Ways when I first heard it but I’ve developed tinnitus since and can’t go near it now. Good list though.
whiney as much shit as ive given you on ilx honest thanx for recommending the hauschka record this is like tailor made for me
haha here is a weird thing http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/12/nba_preview_miami_heat_bon_iver.php
haha awesome
I have that Shinji Masuko album; I keep forgetting to listen to it...
I just found it on eMusic for £0.84 (!) so yeah, will definitely give it a go.
masuko record is ~lovely~
any music tailor made for me this year?
just kidding. I don’t want people to recommend indie shit
juno’s singles list is interesting and good.
really special tracks dot this list, like those from cosmin-TRG; factory-floor; ital; and auntie flo.
Phew! Just now finished listening to all the tracks in Lex’s Top 120 that I hadn’t previously heard (shamefully enough this was about 80 of ’em)
Lots and lots of good stuff as to be expected, but I especially loved Vibe Kartel ‘Colouring Book’, Aisha Davis ‘My Loving’, Tiffany Evans ‘Won’t Find Me’ and Lloyd ‘Private Dancer’ which reminded me very much of Scritti Politti for some reason.
The track that absolutely blew me away however, and ensured that I had a smile on my face for all of yesterday afternoon, was the fantastic Cherry V ‘I’m In Love’
Thx for the tunes Lex!
So, Ned and Adrien, I am holding each of you personally responsible if the Active Child and Cold Cave albums, respectively, suck. ;)
In all seriousness, the write ups you guys did for those two inspired me to pick up on some stuff I skipped over this past year.
Too kind! And that album of course does not suck but I would say that. (Those interested can check my list via the blog as desired .)
Massive list of ambient and experimental from Fluid Radio
http://www.fluid-radio.co.uk/2011/12/50-for-2011/
1: Paul Jebanasam – Music For The Church Of St. John The Baptist
2: Lawrence English – The Peregrine
3: Willamette – Echo Park
4: Humble Bee / The, E And I – The Indescribable Brightness Shone / Projected Images
5: Daniel Thomas Freeman – The Beauty of Doubting Yourself
6: Petrels – Haeligewielle
7: Grouper – AIA Dream Loss/Alien Observer
8: Daniel W J Mackenzie – Teeth Sleep Under Winking Black Eyelid
9: Talvihorros – Descent into Delta
10: Jasper TX – The Black Sun Transmissions
11: Hallock Hill – The Union
12: Danny Paul Grody – In Search Of Light
13: Tape Loop Orchestra – Maybe I Told A Small Lie
14: Bitchin Bajas – Water Wrackets
15: Motion Sickness of Time Travel – Luminaries & Synastry
16: AR – Wolf Notes
17: Steven Hess & Christopher McFall – The Inescapable Fox
18: bvdub & Ian Hawgood – The Truth Hurts
19: The Haxan Cloak – The Haxan Cloak
20: Félicia Atkinson – The Driver
21: Jon Porras – Undercurrent
22: The Boats – The Ballad of the Eagle
23: Richard Knox & Frédéric D. Oberland – The Rustle of the Stars
24: Mountains – Air Museum
25: Fabio Orsi – Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul
26: The Humble Bee – The Royal Game
27: Richard Moult – Celestial King For A Year
28: A Winged Victory For The Sullen – S/T
29: Kyle Bobby Dunn – Ways Of Meaning
30: Illuha – Shizuku
31: Dustin O’Halloran – Lumiere
32: Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
33: Efrim Manuel Menuck – Plays High Gospel
34: Deaf Center – Owl Splinters
35: Nils Frahm – Felt
36: Isnaj Dui – Circle Of Sleep
37: Antonymes – The Licence to Interpret Dreams
38: Nicholas Szczepanik – Please Stop Loving Me
39: Jacaszek – Glimmer
40: Machinefabriek & Gareth Davis – Grower
41: Offthesky – The Beautiful Nowhere
42: Isidore Ducasse: S/T
43: Farewell Poetry – Hoping for the Invisible to Ignite
44: Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
45: The A. Lords – S/T
46: Simon Scott – Bunny
47: Christina Vantzou – No 1
48: Damian Valles – Skeleton Taxa
49: Natural Snow Buildings – Waves of the Random Sea
50: Hakobune – I Discover I’m Missing
Still need to hear that Lawrence English album, just release the thing online already
Similar lists also up on these two sites:
The track that absolutely blew me away however, and ensured that I had a smile on my face for all of yesterday afternoon, was the fantastic Cherry V ‘I’m In Love’
check her mixtape out! it’s really very good—http://www.facebook.com/CherriV (plus elsewhere on the internet probably)
(v glad you liked the tunes!)
i’ve never heard wu lyf, but i do know that yuck and girls are among the worst music i’ve heard, like, ever
― degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, December 15, 2011 5:43 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Permalink
Lex, you’re a critic whom I love reading more than most—due mainly because you open my ears to pop-r&b (pathetic as it may be to rely on criticism to listen to pop-music)—but if you think Girls and Yuck is some of the worst music you’ve ever heard, then please remove the shit from your ears. Give me a break with the hyperbole; these are at least competent ripoffs of their antecedents!
the idea of lex listening to wu lyf, girls and yuck gives me so much joy
haven’t heard the others but Girls is definitely a plausible candidate for worst shit you’ve ever heard from any angle
j0rdan just mentioned the Patrick Stump record on another thread, was happy to finally see it on a list itt even if it was popjustice, my #2 of the year
It’s a fantastic album.
the Lucas Santtana mentioned above is now legit top tenning it for me. dude is thrillingly “disrespectful” to whatever Brazilian music is supposed to be, in the same way that all great Brazilian music ever has also been. also no one here would have reason to hate the 2011 album from mundo livre s/a, which is excellently grounded in manguebeat and other subgenres but still strikes out on its own and is hilarious.
haven’t heard the others but Girls is definitely a plausible candidate for worst shit you’ve ever heard from any angle
― some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Saturday, December 24, 2011 9:11 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Permalink
^^
haven’t heard the others but Girls is definitely a plausible candidate for worst shit you’ve ever heard from any angle
― some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), S
Explain how they’re worse than Pearl Jam who you like.
It’s just retro rock that borrows from various eras. Maybe not amazing, but I am not clear why you think it is a candidate for the worst.
girls is worse than pearl jam who some dude likes
if you think Girls and Yuck is some of the worst music you’ve ever heard, then please remove the shit from your ears. Give me a break with the hyperbole; these are at least competent ripoffs of their antecedents!
their antecedents were shit as well!
i am not the only critic who thinks that about yuck: http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=2988
but I am not clear why you think it is a candidate for the worst
Because these people love hyperbole more than they love their own lives.
Lex, your tracks list is mostly shit. I still think you are useful to me for uncovering new developments I’m not likely to run across on my own.
dude is thrillingly “disrespectful” to whatever Brazilian music is supposed to be, in the same way that all great Brazilian music ever has also been.
This is vague enough that challenging it is probably a mistake, but I don’t like it. Why can’t Brazilian music spend some of its time simply being good Brazilian music (of whatever genre it is)? This makes it sound as though the best Brazilian music is always questioning the nature of Brazilian music and pushing against the boundaries and whatnot, and I don’t buy that. I willingly admit you know way more about Brazilian music than I do, but most of my favorite Brazilian music isn’t obviously iconoclastic. (Maybe some of it was more iconoclastic at the time than I realize). I wouldn’t particularly accuse you of that, but I think that for a lot of I listened to the Santtana album after seeing it on various lists, but I’ll stick with Maria Rita’s amazing, rather traditional (more jazz than contemporary pop) MPB album from this year. (And I listened to about three or four other new Brazilian albums this year, which is more than usual.)
Girls album actually sounds interesting but what I’m hearing about Yuck is “like Teenage Fanclub but with pretty melodies which makes me think that the hypesters are not on the level...
Lex, your tracks list is mostly shit.
your taste is mostly shit
I’m trying to understand Lex’s taste in rock—it seems to be mainly wispy rock with female vocals (new PJ Harvey) but I also think you like Tom Waits. The “worst” hyperbole stuff from you is so over the top that I think it hurts the much more nicely written praise of r’n’b singers and such that I generally agree with you on.
You don’t like Yuck or its predecessors so which rock oldtimer acts do you like— waht do you think of the Velvet Underground, Public Image Ltd., Ramones, Beatles, Johnny Burnette Trio...?
Lex, your tracks list is mostly shit.
your taste is mostly shit
lex, I’d be very surprised if you know much about my taste in music, especially since a lot of it is focused on areas you don’t bother with.
y’all are so dumb
kmt
“Another Suburbanite”, you really want to argue on christmas day with lex about the velvet underground, public image ltd., ramones, beatles and the johnny burnette trio? life is too short, homie. it really is.
occidental rudipherous, if your music taste is focused on areas that lex doesn’t bother with, then it probably is shit. i mean, just to be fair.
Who is v-shasty?
dick clark
Fair and balanced rap fan.
x-post to Tuomas. You’re probably right. Ok, I will move on to Brazilian music—
Rudiph:
I like the Maria Rita also. Another Brazilian album I liked this year is
. Romulo Froes- Um Labirinto em Cada Pé (A Labyrinth in Each Foot) (livrariacultura.com). Thank you to the ilx poster who mentioned this on a Brazilian thread on regular ilx. It’s available for free download, just google him and that album
occidental rudipherous, if your music taste is focused on areas that lex doesn’t bother with, then it probably is shit. i mean, just to be fair.
surely life is too short for this desperate shit also
v-shasty: Tuomas-obsessed, so probably Noise Board riff-raff.
waht do you think of the Velvet Underground
i like the nico album but suspect what i like about it most is nico. by “like” i don’t mean “enough to want to listen to on a regular basis”
Public Image Ltd.
never heard
Ramones
um i don’t think so. my editor once tried to get me into them by telling me miley cyrus was the modern day equivalent but the thing is i like demi lovato more than miley cyrus
Beatles
HATE HATE HATE WITH A MILLION KNIVES I HATE THEM. merry xmas!
Johnny Burnette Trio...?
whodin?
Public Image Ltd.
never heard
Lol.
v-shasty: Tuomas-obsessed, so probably Noise Board riff-raff.
― Occidental Rudipherous, Sunday, December 25, 2011 10:38 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark
or maybe just riff raff
it seems to be mainly wispy rock with female vocals (new PJ Harvey)
hey i like old pj harvey too. “long snake moan” ain’t wispy
Shasty otm. Lining up to ‘set Lex straight’ is one of ILX’s most tiresome holiday/year-end traditions.
Awesome he likes the VU & Nico album though.
(Oops, tried to dis-embed that, actually.)
I’m just annoying myself now. Will try to find other things to do.
god damn it Rudipherous and everyone I thought this was gonna be fun. forgot about how everyone has to get all angrified all the time.
so I guess there is no point in talking about the long tension in Brazil between those who righteously represent the old guard and the concept of “canibalismo,” no point in talking about how Maria Rita’s mother was one of the greatest synthesists in Brazilian music, no point at all in talking about how Tropicalia was a huge revolution in Braz. music that itself still has to be revolted against in order to keep things fresh, etc., all that stuff. never mind.
by the way the best salsa I heard this year was from Victor Waill. You could tell me who’s better out there now if you wanted to. But isn’t ANYONE here tired of ad hominem attacks? JESUS CRISTO
i’ve heard it’s his birthday
Not true, actually.
According to astro-theme.com, it was actually Feb. 28
hoped you were all talking about for a second
haha that girls album is pretty good.
one song sounds surprisingly like black-sabbath!
so I guess there is no point in talking about the long tension in Brazil between those who righteously represent the old guard and the concept of “canibalismo,” no point in talking about how Maria Rita’s mother was one of the greatest synthesists in Brazilian music, no point at all in talking about how Tropicalia was a huge revolution in Braz. music that itself still has to be revolted against in order to keep things fresh, etc., all that stuff.
What are you getting all pretend upset about here? I didn’t like the sound of what you were saying, since it seems to preclude the possibility of good Brazilian music that sounds like what people think good Brazilian music should sound like. By all means, talk about it. Your initial comment left me guessing what you had in mind.
by the way the best salsa I heard this year was from Victor Waill. You could tell me who’s better out there now if you wanted to.
I’m not familiar with the name, will check it out. I don’t like to say entire genres are dead, but salsa music is in pretty bad shape at this point, so I have absolutely zero salsa albums to recommend from 2011 (though the Michael Stuart collection of Louie Ramirez covers would be my pick if I had to pick one).
My question for the Lex is that if Girls and Yuck are literally some of the worst shit he’s ever heard, what does he think other people see in them?
guessing he’d say the people that like them are deluded or have bad taste?
i don’t know, what do you think people see in music you hate? xp
themselves:D
anyway! i finished my massive youtube playlist which takes in 99% of my albums and trax lists, plus a couple of sundry important things that i tacked on to the end
i don’t know, what do you think people see in music you hate? xp
I don’t outright ~hate~ a lot of music.
But for instance: I am not a big Bob Dylan fan. I think this is because I’m less interested in lyrics than I am in interesting sounds, and I also don’t find much appeal in traditional folk/blues structures. I suspect that Dylan partisans are, generally, the kind of people who sit down and pay attention to words and who not only aren’t bored by the trad structures but find strength and emotional depth in them. It’s not my cup of tea, but I can see how he appeals to people who listen to music differently than I do.
about some artists i (uncharitably) think that the only thing ppl are getting out of listening to them is getting to be the kind of person who would like that artist
See, I think that’s as true or untrue for people with good taste as for people with bad taste. There’s cachet attached to nearly every aesthetic bandwagon.
I’m fairly used to people not hearing what I hear in music (even if we both like the same stuff) so it’s fairly easy to concede that when people like something I dislike they are literally hearing something I’m not.
http://latinmusic.about.com/od/cdtoppicks/tp/The-Best-Latin-Music-Albums-Of-2011.htm
The Calle 13 is a 2010 release, but I guess for some its impact was this year
’Sterrenplaten’, small Belgian radio show, added its end of yearlist. [A-Z] this is.
http://www.mixcloud.com/Sterrenplaten/sterrenplaten-eindejaar-23-december-2011/
Beach Boys—Smile Sessions
Bon Iver—Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Clams Casino—Instrumentals LP/Rainforest EP
Dirty Beaches—Badlands
EMA—Past Life Martyred Saints
Girls—Father, Son, Holy Ghost
James Blake—James Blake
Julianna Barwick—The Magic place
Kuedo—Severant
Oneohtrix Point Never—Replica
The Psychic Paramount—II
Rustie—Glass Swords
I’m a rock/heavy metal fan of long standing and Lex is entirely right about Yuck and Girls.
Also this: “Beatles
HATE HATE HATE WITH A MILLION KNIVES I HATE THEM. merry xmas!”
is the most righteous tidings for Winterval.
All the best.
Richard Florida mapping Pitchfork’s top tracks by geography:
Greater New York (including the five boroughs and immediately surrounding suburbs) took the top spot, generating more than one in four of all 2011 Pitchfork hits. Three of them come from my home state of New Jersey – two from Jersey City’s Real Estate and one from Nutley’s Clams Casino (also the birthplace of Martha Stewart). London is next with 16 hits and Los Angeles is third with 10. In fact, these three super-star pop culture capitals account for just about half of all of Pitchfork’s 2011 hits.
My adopted hometown of Toronto is close behind with seven (including one for nearby Hamilton), followed by the San Francisco Bay Area with six (four for San Fran and two for Oakland). Atlanta has four, and Vancouver, three.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2011/12/geography-top-music-hits/750/
So yes, we’re starting with a subjective assessment, one that is heavily skewed toward English language acts in the indie, alternative, and hip-hop genres. It’s also admittedly one that’s on occasion been mocked as out of touch or overly snobby. Still, it’s as useful a barometer of what’s hot at the leading edges of popular music as any. And for our purposes, it turns out to be quite amenable to locational analysis, too.
The emails between Nabisco, Ann Powers, Jody Rosen, Jonah Weiner, et. al. continue.
The Spin top 20 pop albums list is kind of interesting to me, mainly due to the presence of the Perfume album as well as two kpop picks.
think they might’ve wanted to cut that one at 19
haha for real
jessie j’s latest appearance on british tv was so execrable that it’s actually full-on amazing in a sort of spectacle-of-true-horror way
as pete said on freaktrig, it’s like she’s trying to sing the lead vox and the backing vox at the same time
My dad would love that—I heard him coming upstairs while that was playing and had to race to mute it before he heard
this woman is a scourge