Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Justin Townes Earle

lol did someone just make up a singer songwriter

Nope, he is Steve Earle's progeny.

Steve's son, named after the obvious influence.

oops xpost

thx guys I did guess but thx

:-)

idk what's going to win on ILX this year, never mind in places I don't pay attention to. The main thing I think about when reading these lists is how much music gets released every year and what a small proportion I ever hear - 2 of the American Songwriter picks, maybe 8 from the Mojo list?

The American Songwriter list looks like it should have Steve Gunn on it.

I bet the readership isn't pleased by #4.

Nah, AS has covered a lot of pop/crossover in the past.

also I thought "good songwriter" has been the least controversial line item on the TSwift resume for years now

eoy seems p ripe for bloc voting ententes this year. i suggest a dej loaf coalition, turn ilx to some macaroni

rtc I will donate £2/mo to your cause

Did that Warpaint album really come out this year?

― Matt DC, Monday, 24 November 2014 20:36 Bookmark

idk what it is but singles-wise i am rly feeling this about everything... big hits from six months ago seem irrelevant by a couple of years

xp argh i once did telephone fundraising over xmas one year dont give me flashbacks

I had this thought about "crying for no reason" today! xp

yeah totes. basically like anything off the duke dumont thread is dead

lol shame u xp'd there cos 'crying for no reason' is actually a perfect analogy to telephone fundraising now u mention it, just the right coercive cocktail of disposibility and portent

dgmw I don't care overmuch, my playlist of ~15 songs shifts at a tectonic rate these last few years (the rush of last year was a blip in this regard)

Honestly, wrt to that American Songwriter list, I don't know how Strand of Oaks is #3 because he spends half of the album singing out of tune.

I mean, I'm not talking about subjective tastes, because I understand that, but I just finished listening to it. Some tracks are really good, but his singing is quite off on a number of them.

maybe he writes good songs?

(idk who Strand of Oaks is)

Actually, that's the only reason it's on my list, but it is really low on it. #3 just seems suspiciously high?

Honestly, wrt to that American Songwriter list, I don't know how Strand of Oaks is #3 because he spends half of the album singing out of tune.

It's not the American Singer-Songwriter list.

some of those ppl aren't even american

There aren't enough American songwriters anymore to fill the list. "We used to write shit in this country" iirc

they just don't get coverage anywhere

Hiss Golden Mssngr is definitely the best record I'm gonna under-rate when I make my list

it's always bizarre to me that these lists come out in november/early december rather than, i dunno, march , by which point at least people might legitimately claim to have digested some if not most of the designated "major" releases of the previous year. myself, i'm still absorbing a lot of high-profile stuff from 2012 (if not 1972).

i guess people want these lists out in time for Xmas shopping?

has FACT mag released any lists yet? those tend to be worthwhile imo.

I had not listened to Strand of Oaks because the name and the appearance of the singer made me think it would be some Bon Iver shit. I'm pleasantly surprised it's absolutely NOT that.

there are some genres for which i just wait until some of the more insider-y year-end lists to even bother searching for stuff, since i don't have enough time to scour around otherwise. i tend to discover a lot of great hip=hop when the lists come out, for example.

ILX poll respects the (Gregorian) calendar year.

"I remember a couple of years ago you were asking "where's this year's 212/Video Games?" at a point when 'Call Me Maybe' had been out for months."

Ha, I'm an idiot then, Matt DC, because I loved Call Me Maybe. I don't remember saying that at all.

oof, the american songwriter list might be the closest to my own so far (and maybe at all this year) - t-swift, angaleena presley, miranda lambert, lee ann womack, and more than a few that i'd like to hear but haven't yet (is the leonard cohen good?)

As it stands, 2014 feels more like 2008, when pop-oriented critics were asking where was that year's 'Umbrella' while willfully ignoring Katy Perry becoming massive in the background.

i think it's probably a mistake to always assume that the most popular song of the year are going to be the best, or even good, as "i kissed a girl" and "all about that bass" amply demonstrate. let us wilfully ignore them!

The deep-house end of pop / pop end of deep house shouldn't be ignored either. not sure how popular things like Zhu, Gorgon City, Wankelmut and all them lot are in the US but the UK mainstream is loving that AFAIK

The Leonard Cohen album is good but feels a bit like a lesser Old Ideas, although its best moments are very good indeed.

(Old Ideas is one of my favourite records of the past five years so that possibly reads as more negative than it actually is)

Have there been many other 'institutional artist returns/still has it' albums this year? Soused obviously, but it's not really a return for Walker. I recall the last couple of years have been marked by a number of surprise excellent albums by older artists returning to the fray.

I should really check out more recent Cohen.

lee ann womack!

and there have been a ton of less institutional but certainly veteran artists who "still have it" (or got back to it) - miranda lambert, gangsta boo, meshell ndegeocello, even tori amos

kate bush live bootleg ftw

That's quite a broad definition of veteran there.

Neneh cherry! Tbf I think every year this is remarked upon tho, it's a lil patronising & ageist

pink floyd and aphex have been the headline comebacks i guess

That Pink Floyd album must be shit not to make either the Q or Mojo list. I know it only came out like a week ago but you'd expect Q in particular to just hold a slot open for it.

I heard a little on spotify, it was hilarious for a minute then just dulllllllllll

ultimate classic rock webzine are still to play their hand fyi xp

u2 ought to put their album back into everyone's itunes all over again, just to remind all the voters they're still out there

Robert Plant's album is very good. I like Bryan Ferry's as well but that's basically just another Bryan Ferry album. The Pink Floyd album was never meant to be a comeback.

I got curious about how many uncontested critic/Top 40 unifiers there have been in the past 10 years, ie Top 3 Billboard and Top 3 Pazz & Jop, and it's not as many as I thought: Gold Digger, Since U Been Gone, Umbrella, What You Know, Single Ladies, Empire State of Mind, Fuck You, Rolling in the Deep, Call Me Maybe, Get Lucky and Royals.