Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Can we now have the obligatory bit where people complain about the lack of hip-hop and R&B in the Uncut list?

Actually, Twigs at 4 in he Uncut list is pretty jaw dropping. Related to the departure of Allan Jones?

Only one mention of Mercury Award winners Young Fathers in this whole thread.

It's because no one cares about them.

NME Tracks

50 | Alt-J | Hunger Of The Pine
49 | David Bowie | Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)
48 | Ariel Pink | Put Your Number In My Phone
47 | Gruff Rhys | American Interior
46 | Flying Lotus | Never Catch Me (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
45 | Sun Kil Moon | Ben's My Friend
44 | Juce | Call You Out
43 | SBTRKT | New Dorp New York (feat. Erza Koenig)
42 | Ex Hex | Hot and Cold
41 | La Roux | Uptight Downtown
40 | Sleater-Kinney | Bury Our Friends
39 | Protomartyr | Scum, Rise!
38 | Morrissey | Kiss Me A Lot
37 | Sharon Van Etten | Every Time The Sun Comes Up
36 | Noel Gallagher's Flying Birds | In The Heat of The Moment
35 | Manic Street Preachers | Futurology
34 | The War On Drugs | Under The Pressure
33 | Death From Above 1979 | White Is Red
32 | Lana Del Ray | Ultraviolence
31 | Cherry Glazerr | Had Ten Dollaz
30 | Perfume Genuis | Queen
29 | Slaves | Where's Your Car Debbie?
28 | Interpol | All The Rage Back Home
27 | Taylor Swift | Shake It Off
26 | Mac DeMarco | Passing Out Pieces
25 | Warpaint | Disco//Very
24 | St. Vincent | Prince Johnny
23 | Damon Albarn | The Selfish Giant
22 | Run The Jewels | Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)
21 | Jamie T | Love Is Only A Heartbeat Away
20 | Honeyblood | Super Rat
19 | Alvvays | Archie, Marry Me
18 | Aphex Twin | minipops 67 (Source field remix)
17 | Iceage | The Lord's Favourite
16 | Shamir | I Know It's A Good Thing
15 | Kate Tempest | Marshall Law
14 | Jack White | Lazaretto
13 | Jungle | Busy Earnin'
12 | Merchandise | Little Killer
11 | Lana Del Ray | West Coast
10 | Mac DeMarco | Chamber of Reflection
09 | Royal Blood | Little Monster
08 | Jamie T | Zombie
07 | St. Vincent | Digital Witness
06 | Kasabian | Eez-eh
05 | Run The Jewels | Blockbuster Night Pt. 1
04 | The War On Drugs | Red Eyes
03 | Fat White Family | Touch The Leather
02 | Caribou | Can't Do Without You
01 | Future Islands | Seasons (Waiting On You)

^^^ Rock is dead.

And they come good with their number one single too.

11 | Lana Del Ray | West Coast

how is it that even now no professional publication seems able to spell this woman's name right

the new missy elliott

no Horrors album in the NME list? baffling.

boy am i missing something re that Caribou album/ band.

no horrors - that is weird... it's a good album!

11 | Lana Del Ray | West Coast

how is it that even now no professional publication seems able to spell this woman's name right

I think this is probably just one spelling mistake that is being replicated by the autofill of my spreadsheet.

Erza Koenig
Perfume Genuis

I think you do it on purpose.

so much empty music AARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGhhhhhhhhhh

UK consensus picks - there are 12 albums which appear in the Q, Mojo, Uncut and NME Top 50s:
Aphex Twin, Caribou, FKA Twigs, Future Islands, Jack White, Kate Tempest, Morrissey, Sharon Van Etten, Sleaford Mods, St. Vincent, The War On Drugs, Wild Beasts.

When people look back in 20 years time at these lists they will have the same reaction for Sleaford Mods as we do now at 90s lists with Carter USM.

Carter USM had a number one album and headlined Glastonbury, that's the bit that makes them baffling. Sleaford Mods is more like some random Fall album placing.

In the absence of a consensus rap pick, Aphex Twin easily wins the genre tokenism award this year

what genre is that?

EDM

feel like the gibbs/madlib album is the consensus rap pick thus far as it's def on the lists that historically have paid lip service at best to the genre, so it'll prob be on the more wide-ranging lists as well

I'm with NehruvianDOOM all the way as rap album of the year.

the guardian list begins...
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/nov/26/-sp-the-best-albums-of-2014

40. Tricky - Adrian Thaws
39. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
38. Toumani Diabate and Sidiki Diabate - Toumani & Sidiki
37. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
36. Ex Hex - Rips
35. Peggy Seeger - Everything Changes
34. Jamie T - Carry on the Grudge
33. Scott Walker and Sunn O))) - Soused
32. Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
31. Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems

kinda promising but they should learn how to spell sunn though for real

When is THE WIRE playlist coming out?

Amazed at the NME having such great number ones on both their lists.

Agree that it's pretty shocking they didn't find room for The Horrors. Especially when they got Interpol and Julian Casablancas in there.

I know it's too easy to mock the NME these days but they really should be ashamed for having that Kasabian single so high. I saw them dong it on Jools Holland and it reminded me of something from Nathan Barley.

Always annoys me how these lists come out earlier and earlier every year. Each publication wants their list to be the first one, so that readers/clickers won't bother reading any others. But there's a whole month to go.

Any major lists left to declare?

Kasabian sound and look like what would happen if Noel Fielding and Robbie Williams formed a band.

well, didn't noel f join kasabian on stage at glastonbury ?

i wouldn't know

wtf with this War On Drugs garbage

Right? Legalize it.

how many of the publications that failed to put beyoncé on their lists last yr due to timing are going to ignore it this year too

man I love that Shabazz Palaces album

it's really good, I should jam that on our Thanksgiving road trip tonight

beyonce - validated commercially, slagged critically because RELEASING IN LATE DECEMBER WTF

What's so vital in January and February that all the mags and websites have to publish lists in November and December before everything's even been released/digested? I sort of get it. No one wants to kick off a new year thinking about the last one, but Beyonce is getting snubbed and it ain't right.

(Personally speaking the album would've had a better shot on a Top Ten list of mine had she released in October or November.)

As I wrote above, imo it's less about not wanting to think about the old year in Jan/Feb, and more about the websites all wanting to get their clickbait in as early as possible.

xp

beyoncé is not getting "snubbed" as though she needs the validation of an EOY list

beyoncé is showing up EOY lists and the clickbaity desperation of their timing

i mean EOY lists are meant to be historical artefacts more than anything else. EOY lists from way back in the day like the 90s still get pulled up whereas individual reviews don't. in 20 years if anyone pulls up the 2013 lists and sees no beyoncé it'll just render that list a little more meaningless

Beyoncé don't need EOY, EOY needs Beyoncé. And anyway, she'll show them EOD.

i don't think beyoncé really cares about eoy critics lists (she's not solange), her eyes have always been on the long game of scooping the grammy aoty award. that's the reason she's releasing the otherwise pointless platinum edition now and putting the album on spotify and videos on youtube so as to give the album momentum before votes are cast. whether nme or p4k have it on a list is pretty small fry.

Putting Beyonce in a 2015 list would be so so lame.

Err, I mean 2014.

I think Beyonce should release a slightly different version of that album every year just so it can be put on EOY lists

Collab with Annie

bEOYncé