Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

destroy anyone who uses "game changing" without irony

My tastes don't cross paths with Scik Mouthy's as often lately, but I love how thoughtfully, artfully done they are.

His lists, that is.

Thank you.

Truly America is another country.

And Truly Madly Deeply America is yet a third.

Where were you the first time you heard “Merry Go ‘Round”, the lead single from Kacey Musgraves’ first major label release? I certainly remember. I was at my desk, reading through my Facebook feed

don't personally see what's especially egregious about the Popmatters list, although there was a fair whack of stuff I'd never heard of in there and even with my objectivity hat on most of it... did not sound good

Every day, you can find a new band that is co-opting the holy altar of ‘90s alternative rock, and often it’s a very, very bad imitation of what came before, bands unsure if they want to be Pavement or Soul Asylum or some terrible iteration in-between.

FUCKIN' BANGERZ on the fact list <33333

(even though they seem to have confused its missteps with its highlights)

okay no one actually thinks Lorde has a "powerhouse voice", right

I ask this as someone who enjoys the album

Alice Smith (#41) was somewhat of an exception to that but the writeup told me nothing about her music other than that she's good at singing xp to self

"The Flaming Lips are almost the Madonna of rock bands at this point."

this is OTM though: Icona Pop is the hipster’s answer to Katy Perry.

woah I was not expecting to like London Grammar at all but "Hey Now" is startlingly beautiful

Drowned in Sound - Best Albums
http://www.drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147268-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2013--top-20

The Jesuit Roundup - Best albums
http://jesuitroundup.org/69275/the-best-albums-of-2013

2013, a monumental year indeed. We witnessed the downfall of Blockbuster, the evolution of Miley Cyrus, the craziness of the Harlem Shake, the selection of a new Pope, the Obamacare fiasco, the birth of Prince George of Cambridge, the iPhone 5S/5C release, and the massive typhoon in the Philippines.
Aside from these monumental events, 2013 was also a BIG year for music. We witnessed the rise of Imagine Dragons who, in less than a year, grew from a small, unknown band into one of the biggest bands on the planet. We also witnessed the break up of the famous boy band The Jonas Brothers and the untimely death of Lou Reed.

the monumental iPhone 5S/5C release, totally worth mentioning in the same space as a massively deadly typhoon

Rarely has a record captured my imagination in such a way, with only 'Psychocandy', 'The Holy Bible' and 'Turn On The Bright Lights' being others that would also merit a perfect 10/10. To these ears at any rate.

Not bothering with this DiS dude's album of the year.

xp omg

xp Like Paste and some others, the top of the PopMatters list is populated by pretty consistently blah and overrated albums -- Nick Cave, Okkervil River, Arcade Fire, Phosphorescent, Autre Ne Veut, The National, Haim, Chvrches, Daft Punk, Kanye, Disclosure, The Knife, Neko Case. I feel there's about 200-600 albums better than each of those choices.

I gave up on the Popmatters list, every time I clicked to advance to the next page of the list it took me instead to the site's main page. Trying to load the entire list with "single page" option just crashes my browser.

I couldn't get the Popmatters single page option to work either but I got some random clicked pages to work. The John Wizards album that I just discovered recently via the Wayne & Wax blog, is 15th. That's a South African duo with a guitar and beat-making white South African and a Rawandan immigrant vocalist. Its neither African club dance music nor old-school style African guitar and drums sounds, so its getting some attention.

great album

bit uneven i guess

the singles from it were 2 of my fav summer jams

There's some lovely stuff on this Nils Frahm album though, although I prefer the synth/looped/prepared piano stuff to the straightforward piano pieces.

http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2013/top-10-classical-performances/

posting this because I know and have performed with the woman at #7 and she is just ferociously good

hey who really loves slideshows?

Complex - Best albums
http://www.complex.com/music/2013/12/the-50-best-albums-of-2013/

hair aside this london grammar is p. decent lifestyle music for the winter months

Complex top ten albums:

1. Kanye West, Yeezus
2. Drake, Nothing Was the Same
3. Pusha T, My Name is My Name
4. Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap
5. Danny Brown, Old
6. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2
7. Haim, Days Are Gone
8. A$AP Ferg, Trap Lord
9. Blood Orange, Cupid Deluxe
10. Childish Gambino, Because The Internet

wait waht

christ

yeah there's some unexpected Childish Gambino love coming from Complex. iirc, it was also Complex that ranked one of his radio freestyles as one of the best tracks of the year.

Central Track, an online magazine started by some former Dallas Observer staffers when it was purchased by the Village Voice, just put out a solid and different top 50:

50. Austra -- Olympia
49. The Weeknd -- Kiss Land
48. My Bloody Valentine -- m b v
47. The Men -- New Moon
46. Pusha T -- My Name Is My Name
45. Fat White Family -- Champagne Holocaust
44. Son of Stan -- Divorce Pop
43. Local Natives -- Hummingbird
42. Grumbling Fur -- Glynnaestra
41. Waxahatchee -- Cerulean Salt
40. Mikal Cronin -- MCII
39. White Denim -- Corsicana Lemonade
38. Vampire Weekend -- Modern Vampires of the City
37. Odonis Odonis -- Better
36. Pond -- Hobo Rocket
35. The Joy Formidable -- Wolf's Law
34. Why? -- Golden Tickets
33. Daft Punk -- Random Access Memories
32. Speedy Ortiz -- Major Arcana
31. The Baptist Generals -- Jackleg Devotional to the Heart
30. Kvelertak -- Meir
29. Jamaican Queens -- Wormfood
28. Disclosure -- Settle
27. Dark Rooms -- s/t
26. James Blake -- Overgrown
25. Melt Yourself Down -- s/t
24. A$AP Rocky -- Long.Live.A$AP
23. Autre Ne Veut -- Anxiety
22. Comanechi -- You Owe Me Nothing
21. Matt Berry -- Kill the Wolf
20. A$AP Ferg -- Trap Lord
19. Deafheaven -- Sunbather
18. Primal Scream -- More Light
17. Protomartyr -- No Passion All Technique
16. Alice in Chains -- The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
15. Sky Ferreira -- Night Time, My Time
14. Suede -- Bloodsports
13. Caitlin Rose -- The Stand-In
12. Laura Mvula -- Sing to the Moon
11. Parquet Courts -- Light Up Gold
10. Rhye -- Woman
9. CHVRCHES -- The Bones of What You Believe
8. HAIM -- Days Are Gone
7. Savages -- Silence Yourself
6. Chance the Rapper -- Acid Rap
5. FIDLAR-- s/t
4. Drake -- Nothing Was the Same
3. Charli XCX -- True Romance
2. Kanye West -- Yeezus
1. Janelle Monae -- The Electric Lady

what's your #1 maura?

― lex pretend, Wednesday, December 4, 2013 10:50 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

marnie stern

― maura, Wednesday, December 4, 2013 10:56 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is actually pretty good, only marnie thing i've ever remotely liked, so thx for that.

I haven't made through the entire album yet, but I didn't think the Childish Gambino is too bad. Do people have a problem with him having the acting gig on Community? Chance the Rapper seems to respect him enough to guest on "The Worst Guys." Another album that's not mentioned much is ProbCause - The Recipe Volume 2. I've been enjoying that, especially "LSD", which also features Chance the Rapper.

I haven't listened to that Childish Gambino album because I heard* the first Childish Gambino album

* okay, I bought the first Childish Gambino album; fool me once, etc

i mean although literally no critic with a working brain would stan for childish gambino, he has zillions of fans on the internet. But i can't believe complex media would stoop to posting something just for clicks.

So far six of these seven have broken brains then. I wouldn't think of 60 as a positive score, but for example, The Observer says "The results are intriguing, occasionally frustrating, rarely boring." I did get bored myself but I'm not often in the mood for that stuff.

the fact that childish gambino is allowed to have a career proves that everyone has a broken brain

hahaha

"There's some lovely stuff on this Nils Frahm album though, although I prefer the synth/looped/prepared piano stuff to the straightforward piano pieces."

I've got the exact opposite take on Frahm. Whenever I hear him playing synths/loops/prepared piano I wish he'd stop mucking about and just play the piano (whereas, generally, I like synths/loops/prepared piano).

So annoying: every time I read the name Pond I think it's the great alt-rock band from the 90s.

me too!!

otm on pond though all of their (the recent one) recs have a couple of great tracks on em

musicOMH http://www.musicomh.com/features/lists/musicomhs-top-100-albums-2013-complete-list

1. John Grant – Pale Green Ghosts
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away
3. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
4. David Bowie – The Next Day
5. Arctic Monkeys – AM
6. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City
7. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
8. Savages – Silence Yourself
9. Jon Hopkins – Immunity
10. Kanye West – Yeezus
11. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
12. Queens Of The Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
13. Daughter – If You Leave
14. James Blake – Overgrown
15. Pet Shop Boys – Electric
16. My Bloody Valentine – m b v
17. Atoms For Peace – Amok
18. Matthew E White – The Big Inner
19. 65daysofstatic – Wild Light
20. Omar Souleyman – Wenu Wenu
21. Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
22. Low – The Invisible Way
23. Chvrches – The Bones Of What You Believe
24. Lorde – Pure Heroine
25. Summer Camp – Summer Camp
26. Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady
27. Manic Street Preachers – Rewind The Film
28. Six.by Seven – Love And Peace And Sympathy
29. Sigur Rós – Kveikur
30. Rokia Traoré – Beautiful Africa
31. Foals – Holy Fire
32. Boards Of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
33. These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds
34. Julia Holter – Loud City Song
35. Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer – Child Ballads
36. Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
37. Tim Hecker – Virgins
38. Hookworms – Pearl Mystic
39. The Icarus Line – Slave Vows
40. Willis Earl Beal – Nobody Knows
41. Caitlin Rose – The Stand In
42. Everything Everything – Arc
43. Tegan & Sara – Hertthrob
44. Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare
45. Haiku Salut – Tricolore
46. Kwes – ilp
47. Wayne Shorter Quartet – Without A Net
48. The Weeknd – Kiss Land
49. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba – Jama Ko
50. Keaton Henson – Birthdays
51. Sky Larkin – Motto
52. Thundercat – Apocalypse
53. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II
54. Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse
55. Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon
56. Laura Veirs – Warp And Weft
57. Marius Neset – Birds
58. Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks
59. Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides
60. Factory Floor – Factory Floor
61. The Field – Cupid’s Head
62. Eluvium – Nightmare Ending
63. Johnny Marr – The Messenger
64. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2
65. Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
66. Future Of The Left – How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident
67. Wooden Shjips – Back To Land
68. The Spook School – Dress Up In You
69. OMD – English Electric
70. Bill Frisell – Big Sur
71. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
72. Los Campesinos! – No Blues
73. MS MR – Secondhand Rapture
74. Ólöf Arnalds – Sudden Elevations
75. The Boxer Rebellion – Promises
76. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt
77. Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us
78. Melt Yourself Down – Melt Yourself Down
79. Iceage – You’re Nothing
80. Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle
81. Magic Arm – Images Rolling
82. The Haxan Cloak – Excavation
83. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven
84. Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd – Holding It Down
85. Villagers – Awayland
86. Postiljonen – Skyer
87. Bill Callahan – Dream River
88. Disclosure – Settle
89. Drenge – Drenge
90. Mikal Cronin – MCII
91. Money – The Shadow Of Heaven
92. Deafheaven – Sunbather
93. The Knife – Shaking The Habitual
94. Grumbling Fur – Glynnaestra
95. Katy Perry – Prism
96. James Holden – The Inheritors
97. Chelsea Wolfe – Pain Is Beauty
98. Jessy Lanza – Pull My Hair Back
99. King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath The Moon
100. Jenny Hval – Innocence Is Kinky

Unsurprisingly that's the list with the least personality thus far.

Sasha Frere-Jones' best albums of 2013, ordered by release date.

Legend/rating:
‡ I have lost sensation in my extremities.
† I feel funny.
* Something is up.

Atoms For Peace, “Amok” (XL). 2/26 *
My Bloody Valentine, “m b v” (MBV). 3/19 *
William Tyler, “Impossible Truth” (Merge). 3/19 *
The Haxan Cloak, “Excavation” (Tri Angle). 4/30 ‡
Xenia Rubinos, “Magic Trix” (Ba Da Bing). 4/30 *
William Basinski, “Nocturnes” (Label 2062). 5/20 †
Laura Marling, “Once I Was An Eagle” (Ribbon). 5/28 †
Old Apparatus, “Compendium” (Sullen Tone). 6/3 †
Queens of the Stone Age, “…Like Clockwork” (Matador/Pop Noire). 6/4 ‡
Jon Hopkins, “Immunity” (Domino). 6/4 †
Disclosure, “Settle” (Interscope). 6/11 †
Kanye West, “Yeezus” (Def Jam). 6/18 ‡
Daftside, “Random Access Memories Memories” (Darkside). 7/11 †
Pet Shop Boys, “Electric” (Kobalt). 7/16 †
Fuck Buttons, “Slow Focus” (ATP). 7/23 ‡
Blondes, “Swisher” (RVNG). 8/6 †
Dawn of Midi, “Dysnomia” (Thirsty Ear). 8/6 ‡
Earl Sweatshirt, “Doris” (Tan Cressida/Sony). 8/20 †
Julia Holter, “Loud City Song” (Domino). 8/20 *
King Krule, “6 Feet Beneath The Moon” (True Panther/XL). 8/27 ‡
Run The Jewels, “Run The Jewels” (Fool’s Gold). 9/17 *
Drake, “Nothing Was The Same” (Cash Money). 9/24 *
Lorde, “Pure Heroine” (Universal). 9/30 *
HAIM, “Days Are Gone” (Columbia). 9/30 *
Anna Calvi, “One Breath” (Domino). 10/7 †
Danny Brown, “Old” (Fool’s Gold). 10/8 †
Tim Hecker, “Virgins” (Kranky). 10/14 ‡
Four Tet, “Beautiful Rewind” (Temporary Residence). 10/15 †
Swans, “Not Here/Not Now” (Young God). 10/15 ‡
The Necks, “Open” (Fish Of Milk). 10/15 ‡
Noveller, “No Dreams” (Important Records). 10/22 *
Brandy Clark, “12 Stories” (Slate Creek). 10/22 †
Gardland, “Syndrome Syndrome” (RVNG). 10/29 †
Juana Molina, “Wed 21” (Crammed Discs). 10/29 *
YVETTE, “Process” (Godmode). 10/29 †
Sky Ferreira, “Night Time, My Time” (Capitol). 10/29 *
Son Lux, “Lanterns” (Joyful Noise). 10/29 †
Chris Forsyth, “Solar Motel” (Paradise of Bachelors). 10/29 *
M.I.A., “Matangi” (N.E.E.T./Interscope). 11/1 ‡
Various artists, “Saint Heron” (Saint). 11/11 †
Mutual Benefit, “Love’s Crushing Diamond” (Other). 12/3 †
David Van Tieghem x Ten, “FRKWYS Vol. 10: Fits & Starts” (FRKWYS/RVNG). 12/11 *

huh, a david van tieghem record, anyone heard?