in one of them, powers writes about azealia banks and shabazz palaces, if you're dying to see her engage with rap that isn't on the pop charts that she's enthusiastic about
― we bought a zoo in a hopeless place (some dude), Thursday, 5 January 2012 03:33 (twelve years ago) link
those arent rap lol
― Regional Thug (D-40), Thursday, 5 January 2012 03:37 (twelve years ago) link
Though that whole Slate music critics' roundtable presents such a narrow idea of what's going on in the world that reading it drives me kinda batshit
haha srsly although as some dude points out the format tends to make discussions both disjointed and scleratic and so its hard to find a way to engage with the discussion, its this uncomfortable feeling of hearing someone talking abt a book you just read on the subway or s.thing
― Lamp, Thursday, 5 January 2012 03:41 (twelve years ago) link
oh i didn't realise deej was getting at, like, a referendum on ann powers specifically. i love her writing and think she's easily one of the smartest critics out there, and i actually get way more of a sense of her own character and tastes than i usually do. how is her generalism any more "fronting" than, say, nitsuh's relentless reasonableness and unwillingness to really go in on an act you can tell he dislikes?
this ann powers piece on "authenticity" and "character" in pop is one of the smartest things i read last year, gonna submit it to the da capo book - http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/10/26/141735626/whos-still-jenny-from-the-block-an-examination-of-autobiography-in-pop - and it's definitely not a bland, generalist move to just go ahead and use jennifer lopez and tom waits as your examples in the same column w/o justifying yourself to r*ckist readers.
i wish more writers used quotidian anecdotes tbh (even though whole foods sucks) - it helps root your assessments in your own personal listening experience, which is how it should be, rather than pretending they exist in some vacuum of objectivity. kat stevens does this really well on the jukebox.
maybe i get more of a sense of her tastes b/c i know she's a massive tori amos stan? there aren't many of us left. (taking notice of tori amos in 2012 is itself hardly a pandering move.)
im just saying i'd rather get the feeling that the critics were talking about something they were really interested in instead of centering around this idea of 'pop' as if pop music right now is the only music a big smart critic would talk about
oh LOL at this, this is exactly what happens but the critics who centre around "pop" are few and far between. compared to the legion of critics who blindly follow ~buzz~ (whether indie or otherwise tbh, cf your own "critics must talk about x because it's in The Conversation), powers comes off like a total maverick.
― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Thursday, 5 January 2012 08:51 (twelve years ago) link
how is her generalism any more "fronting" than, say, nitsuh's relentless reasonableness and unwillingness to really go in on an act you can tell he dislikes?
haha. i can't say i haven't seen this sometimes from him too -- i never claimed ann powers was the only critic i've disagreed with!
thanks for the links tho i'll check it out
― Regional Thug (D-40), Thursday, 5 January 2012 10:15 (twelve years ago) link
― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Thursday, January 5, 2012 2:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
i feel like she's just shifting the buzz towards yet another received wisdom, though, this time in favor of crowds rather than critics, so I don't really see it as an 'improvement' on people who only follow buzz at the end of the day, even if my particularly tastes are closer on that spectrum
i'd rather see how someone contrasts with a system, where the rough edges are as much as where they go with the flow; to me it's the tension between those two that makes writing exciting (& I certainly don't think Ann doesn't do that ever, or something; I guess I really just meant that sometimes I wish there was a little less "ahh genial acceptance of what is popular" & a lil more ... fight. or like, that her taste didnt seem quite as tied to pop
this is a criticism only as it relates to my relationship to her writing; it doesn't mean i think she's doing a bad job, it's just that it limits my level of interest
and again this is on a small scale, because I still read her stuff, and I think she's a great critic the same way I do Nitsuh
― Regional Thug (D-40), Thursday, 5 January 2012 10:18 (twelve years ago) link
i don't see any genial acceptance of anything in her writing - she was one of the few critics to go against the odd future buzz early on, and she quite obviously highlights acts she's fond of within her generalist remit, so i do get a sense of her own taste constellation. (she's great on female singer-songwriters, for instance.) why is her taste being tied to pop any better or worse than if it was tied to rap or indie?
this is something that all outlets' lead writers have to do to an extent - they have to cover the biggest albums/artists out. what i hate is when they do that while obviously holding their nose, and just end up regurgitating snark at easy targets (or withholding vitriol from hyped acts). with powers i get the impression she genuinely enjoys what she bigs up, and doesn't really follow any received wisdom. if you've got examples that demonstrate otherwise feel free to link, i don't religiously read her work (though she ranks high on "writers whose links i'll click on twitter if i see them")
― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Thursday, 5 January 2012 11:00 (twelve years ago) link
odd future aren't a charting pop act so that's not really what I'm talking about.
― Regional Thug (D-40), Thursday, 5 January 2012 11:11 (twelve years ago) link
why is her taste being tied to pop any better or worse than if it was tied to rap or indie?
And clearly it's got to be one of the three, because pop, rap and indie make up all the music in the world.
― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 5 January 2012 12:11 (twelve years ago) link
I understand the emphasis on covering pop, rap, and indie, but yes it was kinda frustrating reading this roundtable and not seeing any token outliers mentioned (and I would be ok with one of them saying "hey this is not as buzzed about but i like...) --metal, afropop, mainstream rock, regional thug rap, southern soul, jazz...Nabisco mentioned briefly Austra but that's kinda Pitchforky
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 January 2012 14:55 (twelve years ago) link
"hey this is not as buzzed about but i like...)"
exactly
― Regional Thug (D-40), Thursday, 5 January 2012 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
The Voice had a similar interesting roundtable but with the same problem. One writer mentioned liking Korean pop but then went back to talking about Drake on and on and on.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/columns/sotc_roundtable/
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 January 2012 15:58 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.frootsmag.com/content/critpoll/
1. June Tabor & Oysterband Ragged Kingdom (Topic)2. Fatoumata Diawara Fatou (World Circuit)3. Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down (Nonesuch)4. Juju (Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara) In Trance (Real World)5. Gillian Welch The Harrow And The Harvest (Acony/Warner Bros)6. Jackie Oates Saturnine (ECC)7= Aurelio Laru Beya (Real World) Mary Hampton Folly (Teaspoon) Aziz Sahmaoui University Of Gnawa (General Pattern)10= Tinariwen Tassili (V2/Anti) Abigail Washburn City Of Refuge (Rounder)
― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 January 2012 14:42 (twelve years ago) link
The title of that Ry Cooder album always makes me think it's a Captain Beefheart tribute compilation.
― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 9 January 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
my top 50 :
http://falcaodanoite.blogspot.com/2011/12/compras-2.html
^^ introduction blurb in portuguese, but it's not that important all in all.
― rusty_allen, Monday, 9 January 2012 18:28 (twelve years ago) link
http://africasacountry.com/2011/12/22/10-albums/#more-39216
― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 January 2012 19:54 (twelve years ago) link
Weird list of last.fm most listened to:http://www.last.fm/bestof/2011/artists?limit=100
Peter Gabriel! Alkaline Trio! Mogwai!
― good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link
where's New Order? Don't tell me ILM is out of touch with the real world?????
― Jimmy Riddle Orchestra (Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
Wow, I've heard of barely any of the 'most listened to artists first scrobbled in 2011'.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link
lol @ Wugazi
― Bam! Orgasm explosion in your facehole. (DJP), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:50 (twelve years ago) link
20. Mange Makers
comedy, avant-garde, derp
11,332 listeners
^ please let me never hear this ever
― Rapper rejoins fat man's co-op (NickB), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:52 (twelve years ago) link
He posts quite a bit here iirc
― questino (seandalai), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:56 (twelve years ago) link
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/126s/61692077.gif
Nyan Cat
nyan cat, brutal black metal, nyan
― good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 18:39 (twelve years ago) link
lol http://www.last.fm/tag/brutal%20black%20metal
― questino (seandalai), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
For posterity:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6680059147_5bff4966b1.jpg
― questino (seandalai), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
This list is amazing. Britain's answer to Smoove B:http://www.last.fm/music/Starboy+Nathan
― good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
2011: the year nu-crabcore broke:http://www.last.fm/music/Design+The+Skyline
― good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 18:57 (twelve years ago) link
is there a rolling last.fm thread this year?
― Jimmy Riddle Orchestra (Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 19:03 (twelve years ago) link
pop, fun fun fun fun, legend
― thug eclair (The Reverend), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 21:36 (twelve years ago) link
I've never even heard of Natalia Kills or Christina Perri.
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Wednesday, 11 January 2012 22:05 (twelve years ago) link
is there a thread for best mix/ mixtape/mix album in general of 2011? couln't find one
― Sébastien, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
christina perri had the song about the jar of hearts that 'broke' on so you think you can dance
― maura, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:25 (twelve years ago) link
very musical-theatric
"jar of hearts" is seriously one of the worst songs i've ever heard but the follow-up was surprisingly tolerable. she's definitely not so famous that anyone should worry about not having heard of her, though.
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:27 (twelve years ago) link
So how do they end up in the Last.fm top 10 then? (Which I guess is a way of asking, what are Last.fm's biases?)
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know if there are biases, just the number of times people listen to these songs on a device that scrobbles (or tracks) each listen.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
"Jar Of Hearts" was a big adult contempo hit, was #55 on the year-end Hot 100 list, so i mean...it was a popular mainstream song, it just i guess had a bigger impact on whatever lastfm's demo is than w/ other audiences. (xpost)
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:42 (twelve years ago) link
xp Right: but do Last.fm users skew to a particular demographic? (I'm guessing they're disproportionately young and British.)
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:42 (twelve years ago) link
well i mean there HAS to be some demographic skewing, whether we can summarize it in 2 or 3 words or not.
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
Like, it is also kind of amazing to me that someone like James Blake could be in the Last.fm top 20. But maybe it shouldn't be, I dunno.
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
I guess I just remember looking at Audioscrobbler/Last.fm charts five years ago and it was all Coldplay/Muse/Green Day/RHCP.
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:45 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah I misread your post jaymc, I think overall it definitely skews young, but afaik its distributed pretty widely around the world - I notice users from lots of different places.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:45 (twelve years ago) link
xp OK so I guess that is still essentially true of its weekly chart: Beatles, Radiohead, Adele, Rihanna, etc. So now I'm just confused how some seemingly less-popular acts make the year-end rankings.
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:49 (twelve years ago) link
E.g., the only artist in this week's Top 100 that I haven't heard of is Avicii, down at #78.
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:51 (twelve years ago) link
well i mean, the overwhelming majority of people listening to music on earth do not 'scrobble,' so of course you're gonna get statistical hiccups like The Strokes being the 7th most popular artist of 2011. not much we can really do or say about that beyond making the obvious jokes and generalizations.
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:52 (twelve years ago) link
it's possible that those lesser-known artists on the yearly list each have REALLY dedicated cults that just listen to their favorite acts more consistently over the course of the whole year than people who listen to less music or use lastfm less or something.
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:54 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I get this. Like I said, I was mostly confused b/c when I've glanced at Last.fm charts in the past (which I guess were just the weekly ones), it was mostly full of mainstream and big indie artists.
Strokes at #7 isn't that shocking to me. James Blake and the Vaccines (whoever they are) in the top 20 is.
Possibly?
Actually, is it possible that Last.fm's Top Artists of the Year only counts tracks released in 2011? That would explain the absence of some of the classic-rock artists that routinely show up in the weekly charts.
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 21:02 (twelve years ago) link
i dunno if you asked me "who had a good year among music fans on the internet in 2011," James Blake's name would come up a LOT faster than The Strokes
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
i think you're EXACTLY right about that list being only people who released music in 2011 (whether the figures only count their new music or all their music, i have no idea)
― some dude, Thursday, 12 January 2012 21:05 (twelve years ago) link
James Blake had a bigger year among music critics/nerds on the Internet, but I am not so sure about the broader pool of "fans."
― Bon Ivoj (jaymc), Thursday, 12 January 2012 21:09 (twelve years ago) link