Prince! Lol Pharrell's Girl. Well, it is a fairly accurate picture of what's regarded in the mainstream pop world, with exceptions like Leonard Cohen. I'm can't get into Cohen's recent albums, but I did go see him with a friend a couple years ago, and he was pretty magnificent. He was a singin, dancin' machine for nearly four (4) hours, with only like a 10 minute break! We can only dream of having that kind of energy in our 70s.
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 29 November 2014 17:47 (nine years ago) link
xpost: yes
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Saturday, 29 November 2014 18:01 (nine years ago) link
Sorry about a couple of misplaced hyphens in that Telegraph list. Shouldn't try to parse lists before caffeine kicks in.
― TTAGGGTTAGGG (Sanpaku), Saturday, 29 November 2014 18:10 (nine years ago) link
oh don't mind me.
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 18:21 (nine years ago) link
^^^^i was agreeing with you my bad if it seemed unclear
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Saturday, 29 November 2014 18:24 (nine years ago) link
no, sorry - I meant don't mind my - pedantic hyphen call out
but yeah, not much hip hop anywhere to be seen here.
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 18:38 (nine years ago) link
These lists are giving my dysentery
― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 29 November 2014 19:11 (nine years ago) link
Not much hip-hop anywhere, but at the same time everyone seems to agree it was a lousy year for hip-hop albums, right? I'd rather them make the lists they believe to be correct than elevate a rap album for looks. (Not saying they shouldn't / couldn't have dug deeper into hip-hop.)
― alpine static, Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:12 (nine years ago) link
yeah, i don't agree with "it was a lousy year for hip hop"
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:14 (nine years ago) link
i have several hip-hop albums i like, but everywhere I look ppl are saying it was a good year for songs, terrible for albums.
― alpine static, Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:20 (nine years ago) link
i dunno maybe i'm looking in the wrong places - and again, i don't necessarily agree - but i think i saw that discussion happening on ilm
― alpine static, Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:21 (nine years ago) link
also, you left off the word "albums"!
― alpine static, Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:26 (nine years ago) link
I'm a believer that unless you're a specialist in a musicological field (and likely not even then!), you're not in a good position to levy blanket judgment across an entire field of achievement. It's just too subjective unless you chop it up regionally (was it a bad year for New York-based hip hop artists?), stylistically (was it a good year for technical rap?) or financially (how were sales in Q4?).A quick flip thru my best of for the year folder suggests at least twenty to thirty albums and at least a hundred singles that I consider hip hop and that I really enjoyed. Is that a bad year? It's not a bad year for me.
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:39 (nine years ago) link
I'm gonna gank Spottie's hip hop playlists on Spotify (one for quality and for quantity) and post them here... I could easily take all of 2015 exploring this stuff alone!http://open.spotify.com/user/theshipment/playlist/3vHZAnvl134kijHL5Z0roNhttp://open.spotify.com/user/theshipment/playlist/2Hkan09bsPFtNN39CsAyki
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:41 (nine years ago) link
xpost nope, not a bad year. just saying, maybe the lack of hip-hop on these indie/pop mag lists reflects the general consensus, that's all. i generalized too much in my initial post.
― alpine static, Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:47 (nine years ago) link
i get where you're coming from. I guess if there's less hip hop in the indie/pop world's end tally i might suggest that 2014 was a year where those worlds started to diverge more radically than in the past.
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 20:56 (nine years ago) link
like pitbull, pharrell, iggy, juicy j and em were all absolutely at peak popularity and represented half of the year's #1 pop singles but, with the arguable exception of iggy, none of them really represent contemporary hip hop
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 21:00 (nine years ago) link
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Shabazz Palaces, Ratking and Young Fathers all in the Guardian top 40 so far with surely Run The Jewels to come, so that's not too bad for a newspaper list (whether you think those are the right records or not).
― sosmix klopp (NickB), Saturday, 29 November 2014 21:03 (nine years ago) link
if you went by lists then it might suggest that its a weak year for lots of genres whether it be indie centric lists or the guardian or ilx eoy polls. They have never covered everything. You cant base the state of any music on these lists. They are snapshots of a small amount of voters.
― Cosmic Slop, Saturday, 29 November 2014 21:03 (nine years ago) link
the current top 25 R&B/hip hop list features a plethora of young breakthrough artists that i think a casual listener of rap (which i'm gonna strawman the average indie/pop type being) just won't be familiar with: bobby shmurda, i love makonnen, rae sremmurd, young thug, rich homie quan, dej loaf
― Face facts poptimism hacks, your a scam. (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 29 November 2014 21:06 (nine years ago) link
i dunno, i think if the average indie/pop type being is on the internet, shmurda, thugger and rhq are pretty inescapable
i was gonna ask what "credible" rap album the big big outlets were gonna put in their top 10s this year, a la Kanye whenever he releases something or Kendrick in 2012 because I just don't see it being YG or Gibbs (or this particular Shabazz album, tbh) and then I remembered Run the Jewels. that solves everything.
― alpine static, Saturday, 29 November 2014 21:15 (nine years ago) link
I feel like one or both of the vince staples releases could make some lists (coldchain 2 and hell can wait)
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Sunday, 30 November 2014 01:15 (nine years ago) link
In my top 30 there's maybe 3-5 rap albums that were solid or close to it, but none of them are consensus picks, and that MIGHT be the issue in 2014 - few consensus picks, even though critics have their favorites.
― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 30 November 2014 03:00 (nine years ago) link
I'm thinking Kanye will either drop on Dec 25 or wait until next year. Nicki may wait too.
― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 30 November 2014 03:01 (nine years ago) link
I think I wi spontaneously explode if ye drops on xmas day
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Sunday, 30 November 2014 04:09 (nine years ago) link
*will
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Sunday, 30 November 2014 04:56 (nine years ago) link
For real though anyone voting for that not-bad-not-great Jack White album isn't going to great lengths to disguise their fundamental disconnection from current music.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 30 November 2014 10:46 (nine years ago) link
most popular rap sucks, most crit rap isnt that popular
― deej loaf (D-40), Sunday, 30 November 2014 12:03 (nine years ago) link
Feel like Run The Jewels is a decent chance for a top 10 placing on the more indie oriented sites lists. If not top 5.
― TheMenzies, Sunday, 30 November 2014 14:10 (nine years ago) link
Just like most genres then. They all seem to thrive without crossover success too
― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, 30 November 2014 14:14 (nine years ago) link
who the hell knows what we'll think about anything in 20 years!
I do think this is kind of an interesting exercise. If you look back at, say, Xgau's top 10 in, say, 1982 - or top 20, even - you can quibble at the rankings, but I don't think any of the records are bad, per se, and a couple of them have long been justifiably branded for the ages masterpieces. Then again, we've had several decades to get used to them or canonize them. I do wonder what, from this year, say, that future music nerds will deem worth digging up in several years. Will kids in 2034 be writing essays about U2's overlooked distributed for free masterpiece that no one ranked at the end of the year? Will they talk about Taylor Swift's "1989" the same way we talk about "Tusk?" Remind me to set my alarm for 20 years so that I don't sleep through the poll roll-outs.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 30 November 2014 14:23 (nine years ago) link
they will almost certainly be talking about Taylor, idk if they'll be comparing 1989 to tusk or any other fleetwood album tho. I highly doubt of all the U2 albums that could last 20 or even 30+ more years, songs of innocence is gonna be the one
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Sunday, 30 November 2014 14:29 (nine years ago) link
Those were just random examples. U2 will be talked about, at least in passing. Taylor, dunno. But again, just random examples.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 30 November 2014 14:48 (nine years ago) link
Recently there was a discussion of SPIN's 1991 poll. They may have posted it on their site. There was a conspicuous absence of Slint - Spiderland, MBV - Loveless and Talk Talk - Laughing Stalk. The stature of the first two have grown for sure, with Slint having a couple of successful sold out reunion tours and box set reissue, and My Bloody Valentine can be considered a classic, but not necessarily in the mainstream. 23 years later I still have no idea if more people know about late period Talk Talk, probably more in the UK. Genre classics like The Obsessed - Lunar Womb (Trouble's Manic Frustration still seems ignored), Melvins - Bullhead, The Jesus Lizard - Goat (not so much Halo of Flies), Monster Magnet - Spine of God and Coroner - Mental Vortex are well regarded within those circles, but I don't know that you could say that "people are talking about them." So it doesn't really matter to me whether anyone will be talking about Taylor Swift or not.
― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, 30 November 2014 16:33 (nine years ago) link
nor should it, necessarily. I remain continuously flummoxed, mostly in a good way, by what has stood the test of time and what hasn't.
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Sunday, 30 November 2014 16:57 (nine years ago) link
Heed the words of Sammy Hagar: time will tell whether we pass the test of time.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 30 November 2014 18:05 (nine years ago) link
― Matt DC, Sunday, November 30, 2014 5:46 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
23 years later I still have no idea if more people know about late period Talk Talk, probably more in the UK.
― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, November 30, 2014 11:33 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
"probably"
― benbbag, Sunday, 30 November 2014 18:42 (nine years ago) link
Well, history is written by the winners, right? One of the better points made in Amanda Ps excellent book (if you haven't read it) Do Not Sell at any Price is that the only reason Robert Johnson became the template for so much British blues-rock is because his stuff was the best reissued and circulated. But Johnson was by no means the most popular or originally best distributed blues act.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 30 November 2014 18:53 (nine years ago) link
From the metal poll thread though its not really a question about metal per se, just one of the examples along with hip hop. I'm sure there's other genres that it applies to.
I'm somewhat surprised the Mastodon album hasn't featured in non-metal EOY lists like the last one. It's good enough and got good reviews inmost places.Maybe metal isn't as in fashion as it was the past 5 years? Noticed a lack of metal and hip-hop this year in lists.Has critical coverage started getting narrower?― Cosmic Slop,mastodon's two late-aughts albums both ended up on multiple general albums lists with high rankings in several instances. skye was #3 in bloody time magazine!! and those are definitely full-stop metal albums.flash forward to 2012 - the latest converge album was #1 on most metal/hard rock only lists and got me, before that point not a huge metal/hardcore guy aside from occasional mastodon dalliances - deep in love with that band and exploring a lot of really hard shit I wouldn't have previously explored. but it got little to no love from many general albums lists. and then the next year deafheaven is adored by tons of people who aren't traditionally into metal. it's impossible to predict― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes),
Has critical coverage started getting narrower?
― Cosmic Slop,
mastodon's two late-aughts albums both ended up on multiple general albums lists with high rankings in several instances. skye was #3 in bloody time magazine!! and those are definitely full-stop metal albums.
flash forward to 2012 - the latest converge album was #1 on most metal/hard rock only lists and got me, before that point not a huge metal/hardcore guy aside from occasional mastodon dalliances - deep in love with that band and exploring a lot of really hard shit I wouldn't have previously explored. but it got little to no love from many general albums lists. and then the next year deafheaven is adored by tons of people who aren't traditionally into metal. it's impossible to predict
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes),
so has critical coverage started getting narrower?
― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, 30 November 2014 19:41 (nine years ago) link
XFM: http://www.xfm.co.uk/new-music/best-2014/50-best-albums-2014
^ a tedious click-fest filled with dull albums and dismal blurb
― sosmix klopp (NickB), Monday, 1 December 2014 00:04 (nine years ago) link
Jimi Goodwin - OdludekThe Doves man goes solo with an appealing set of gentle songs.
The Doves man goes solo with an appealing set of gentle songs.
thanks guys, sounds awesome
― sosmix klopp (NickB), Monday, 1 December 2014 00:05 (nine years ago) link
Lonely The Brave - The Day's WarProof - if needed - that rock isn't dead.
Proof - if needed - that rock isn't dead.
― sosmix klopp (NickB), Monday, 1 December 2014 00:10 (nine years ago) link
that list is like 80% 'I didn't realise they were still going'
― soref, Monday, 1 December 2014 10:01 (nine years ago) link
The Quietus Albums Of The Year 2014
ONE: Gazelle Twin - UNFLESH (Anti Ghost Moon Ray)TWO: Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - Soused (4AD)THREE: Swans - To Be Kind (Mute)FOUR: East India Youth - TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER (Stolen)FIVE: The Bug - Angels & Devils (Big Dada)SIX: Grumbling Fur - Preternaturals (TQPC)SEVEN: Katie Gately - Pipes (Blue Tapes)EIGHT: Manic Street Preachers - Futurology (Sony)NINE: Perc - The Power And The Glory (Perc Trax)TEN: Jenny Hval & Susanna - Meshes Of Voice (SusannaSonata)ELEVEN: FKA twigs - LP1 (Young Turks)TWELVE: Zamilska - Untune (self-released)THIRTEEN: Inner City Ensemble - Black/White (Instant Classic)FOURTEEN: Cooly G - Wait ‘Til Night (Hyperdub)FIFTEEN: Blacknecks - 006 (self-released) SIXTEEN: English Heretic - The Underworld Service (self-released)SEVENTEEN: Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Piñata (Madlib Invasion)EIGHTEEN: OAKE - Auferstehung (Downwards)NINETEEN: Grouper - Ruins (Kranky) TWENTY: Kemper Norton - Loor (Front And Follow)TWENTY ONE: Maurice Louca - Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Nawa)TWENTY TWO: Andy Stott - Faith In Strangers (Modern Love)TWENTY THREE: EEK ft. Islam Chipsy - Live At The Cairo High Cinema Institute (Nashazphone)TWENTY FOUR: Jane Weaver - Silver Globe (Bird)TWENTY FIVE: Daniel Patrick Quinn - Acting The Rubber Pig (self-released)TWENTY SIX: The Body - I Shall Die Here (RVNG Intl.)TWENTY SEVEN: Chrononautz - Public Domain Fuckover Series #1-6 (self-released)TWENTY EIGHT: Pharmakon - Bestial Burden (Sacred Bones)TWENTY NINE: Tweedy - Sukierae (dBpm Records)THIRTY: Objekt - Flatland (PAN)THIRTY ONE: Jar Moff - Financial Glam (PAN)THIRTY TWO: Willie The Kid & Bronze Nazareth - The Living Daylights (Embassy)THIRTY THREE: Lorenzo Senni - Superimpositions (Boomkat)THIRTY FOUR: Electric Wizard - Time To Die (Spinefarm)THIRTY FIVE: Klara Lewis - ETT (Editions Mego) THIRTY SIX: Kassem Mosse - Workshop 19 (Workshop)THIRTY SEVEN: Extreme Precautions - Precaution One (In Paradisum)THIRTY EIGHT: Kasai Allstars - Beware The Fetish (Crammed Discs)THRITY NINE: Arabrot - I Modi (Fysisk Format)FORTY: Einsturzende Neubauten - Lament (BMG)FORTY ONE: The Inward Circles - Nimrod (self-released)FORTY TWO: Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Piano Nights (Ipecac)FORTY THREE: Future Islands - Singles (4AD)FORTY FOUR: Consumer Electronics - Estuary English (Dirter)FORTY FIVE: BONG - Stoner Rock (Ritual)FORTY SIX: Nisennenmondai - N (BLAST First (petite))FORTY SEVEN: Wild Beasts - Present Tense (Domino)FORTY EIGHT: Olga Bell - Krai (One Little Indian)FORTY NINE: Cut Hands - Festival Of The Dead (Blackest Ever Black)FIFTY: Xiu Xiu - Angel Guts, Red Classroom (Bella Union)FIFTY ONE: Actress - Ghettoville (Werkdiscs)FIFTY TWO: YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend (Neurot)FIFTY THREE: Owen Pallett - In Conflict (Domino)FIFTY FOUR: Puce Mary - Persona (Posh Isolation)FIFTY FIVE: DonChristian - Renzo Piano (Camp & Street)FIFTY SIX: Ibibio Sound Machine - Ibibio Sound Machine (Soundway)FIFTY SEVEN: Lee Gamble - KOCH (PAN)FIFTY EIGHT: Leyland Kirby Presents V/Vm - The Death Of Rave (A Partial Flashback) (History Always Favours The Winners)FIFTY NINE: Laibach - Spectre (Mute)SIXTY: Shellac - Dude Incredible (Touch And Go)SIXTY ONE: Heterotic - Weird Drift (Planet Mu)SIXTY TWO: Liars - Mess (Mute)SIXTY THREE: Stein Urheim - Stein Urheim (Hubro)SIXTY FOUR: Ekoplekz - Unfidelity (Planet Mu)SIXTY FIVE: St. Vincent - St. Vincent (Loma Vista)SIXTY SIX: Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials (Southern Lord)SIXTY SEVEN: Russell Haswell - 37 Minute Workout (DIAGONAL)SIXTY EIGHT: Noura Mint Seymali - Tzenni (Glitterbeat)SIXTY NINE: Stephen O'Malley, Oren Ambarchi & Randall Dunn - Shade Themes From Kairos (Drag City)SEVENTY: Apollo Brown - Blasphemy (Mello Music Group)SEVENTY ONE: The Budos Band - Burnt Offering (Daptone)SEVENTY TWO: Anat Ben David - MeleCh (self-released)SEVENTY THREE: Yvette - Process (Godmode)SEVENTY FOUR: milo - a toothpaste suburb (Hellfyre Club)SEVENTY FIVE: Merkabah - Moloch (Instant Classic)SEVENTY SIX: Wrangler - LA Spark (Memetune)SEVENTY SEVEN: Ronika - Selectadisc (Record Shop)SEVENTY EIGHT: Bing & Ruth - Tomorrow Was The Golden Age (Happy Talk)SEVENTY NINE: Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste (Prospect)EIGHTY: DJ Q - Ineffable (Local Action)EIGHTY ONE: The Soft Pink Truth - Why Do The Heathen Rage? (Thrill Jockey)EIGHTY TWO: Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait (Def Jam Recordings)EIGHTY THREE: Tinariwen - Emmar (ANTI-)EIGHTY FOUR: The Juan Maclean - In A Dream (DFA)EIGHTY FIVE: Aphex Twin - Syro (WARP)EIGHTY SIX: Toumani & Sidiki Diabate - Toumani & Sidiki Diabate (World Circuit)EIGHTY SEVEN: Selim Lemouchi & His Enemies - Earth Air Spirit Fire Water (Van)EIGHTY EIGHT: Behemoth - The Satanist (Nuclear Blast)EIGHTY NINE: Wrekmeister Harmonies - Then It Came Down (Thrill Jockey)NINETY: Fumaca Preta - Fumaca Preta (Soundway)NINETY ONE: Scott Miller, Lee Camfield & Merzbow - No Closure (Cold Spring)NINETY TWO: Black Rain - Dark Pool (Blackest Ever Black)NINETY THREE: Anthroprophh - Outside The Circle (Rocket)NINETY FOUR: Adult Jazz - Gist Is (Spare Thought)NINETY FIVE: Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire (Avalanche)NINETY SIX: Obake - Mutations (Rare Noise)NINETY SEVEN: Clark - Clark (WARP)NINETY EIGHT: Joseph Curwen - Shunned House (City)NINETY NINE: Echoes Of Yul - Tether (Zoharum)ONE HUNDRED: Good Throb - Fuck Off (self-released)
― Doran, Monday, 1 December 2014 10:30 (nine years ago) link
Read this as:
EIGHT: Manic Street Preachers - Futurology (Sorry)
― Piss-Up Artist (dog latin), Monday, 1 December 2014 10:36 (nine years ago) link
beautiful choice of number one! also love katie gately and jenny hval & susanna in the top 10 (thought the gately was 2013 though?)
― sosmix klopp (NickB), Monday, 1 December 2014 10:40 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, Gately was 2013. There was a massive bit of dissonance for us here as we were some of the only people to write about Pipes when it first came out but then didn't include it in the chart probably because it was a tape and only had two tracks.
But it deserves people to hear about it - you have to bear in mind it only sold something like 1-200 copies in 2013 and it has been reissued this year and still remains one of the most unique and praiseworthy pieces of music out there.
Basically I felt guilty for not including it in my ballot the year before!
― Doran, Monday, 1 December 2014 10:54 (nine years ago) link
Some really good choices here. Great to see Objekt, Owen P, Katie Gately, Swans and ooh, didn't realise there was an Arabrot release this year? Haven't listened to Unflesh enough to work out if it deserves AOTY but from what I've heard, it's def a good album, like a deconstructed (as in eviscerated) Cocteau Twins or something.
― Piss-Up Artist (dog latin), Monday, 1 December 2014 10:58 (nine years ago) link
if anything deserves a bit of rule bending it's definitely pipes. approved! *stamps card*
― sosmix klopp (NickB), Monday, 1 December 2014 11:04 (nine years ago) link
Dutch mag Oor (bit like Mojo/Q):
1. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream2. Typhoon - Lobi Da Basi3. Spoon - They Want My Soul4. Swans - To Be Kind5. Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy6. Temples - Sun Structures7. Moodymann - Moodymann8. Beck - Morning Phase9. Avi Buffalo - At Best Cuckold10. Alt-J - This Is All Yours11. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots12. Real Estate - Atlas13. Flying Lotus - You're Dead!14. FKA Twigs - LP115. St. Vincent - St. Vincent16. Jack White - Lazaretto17. The Acid - Liminal18. Reigning Sound - Shattered19. Moss – We Both Know The Rest Is Noise20. Sun Kil Moon - Benji21. Perfume Genius - Too Bright22. Future Islands - Singles23. Cloud Nothings - Here And Nowhere Else24. The Black Keys - Turn Blue25. Royal Blood - Royal Blood
― a pleasant little psychedelic detour in the elevator (Amory Blaine), Monday, 1 December 2014 12:38 (nine years ago) link