Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

If there were such thing as a peer-reviewed license to review music, RS's would be revoked.

i hope u2 and springsteen fans check out that YOB album :)

i am a huge springsteen fan and i thought high hopes was garbage

curmudgeon that record appears to be quite rare, unfortunately:

http://www.discogs.com/EEK-Live-At-The-Cairo-High-Cinema-Institute/release/5355219

total collector-scum label (I say that with love):

http://www.discogs.com/label/72950-Nashazphone

I'm still amazed they actually went there.

That Rolling Stone list feels kind of random at times, and quite amusing to see War on Drugs a little futrther down than most at 23, behind a Skrillex album.

"You're not Dire Straits enough for us yet, boys."

Had totally forgotten Fricke had given 4.5 stars to Springsteen's "stay busy" release.

That's Fricke at his Frickest.

the rolling stone list is no more embarrassing than almost every other one posted itt so far

* opens window *

Hahaha with that top three the Quietus are really making no bones about being massive goths are they?

b-but Run The Jewels at #8! Tokenism!

xpost did they ever?

I was about to say, there's a reason I'm happily settled in there.

the rolling stone list is no more embarrassing than almost every other one posted itt so far

I suppose the Popjustice list will somehow manage to find a way to up the ante in this particular category.

xpost in all seriousness, i quite like the way the quietus have now, quite unabashedly, started to carve out their own particular niche, influencing that musical area as much as they draw from it while still covering stuff from all over the shop.

i will say one thing for the RS list - it's the first to include YG lol

49 Tinariwen - Emmaar

^^wish this was getting more love :-\

otm, amazing album

remove the top 3 of the Rolling Stone list and I don't think it's that bad, as good as lot of lists....

The Tinariwen is great, but I think their consistency works against them. Easy to take for granted, too hard for most to differentiate one from the other, imo.

If you give the new U2 album five stars, it better top your list. That's commitment.

I forgot the Bruce came out this year or even existed, honestly. In fact, I was about to say it was good, since it popped up on shuffle the other day, but as I type this I realize it was actually "Wrecking Ball" that popped up. "Wrecking Ball" is great. "High Hopes" - the non covers titles barely ring a bell. Def. down there with "Working on a Dream" for a why-bother release.

49 Tinariwen - Emmaar
^^wish this was getting more love :-\

― ✓ out this insane nakh yall (gr8080), Monday, December 1, 2014 4:48 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes! Saw them live over the summer and it was transcendental.

Magnet magazine
Best Of 2014: Hip Hop
http://www.magnetmagazine.com/category/best-of-2014/

1 Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata (Madlib Invazion)
2 Flying Lotus - You’re Dead! (Warp)
3 FKA Twigs - LP1 (XL)
4 Childish Gambino - STN MTN/Kauai (self-released)
5 Staik Selektah - What Goes Around (Duck Down Music)
6 Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty (Sub Pop)
7 Busdriver - Perfect Hair (Big Dada)
8 Militia - Deluxe Cigars (self-released)
9 Rapsody - Beauty And The Beast (JAMLA, Empire)
10 Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait (Def Jam)

That Magnet top four is quite something.

ONE OF THOSE (FOUR) THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERSSSSSSSSSSS

"High Hopes" is OK for an odds and ends album but not more than that, really.

Oh, RollingStones paws

When I see that U2 album at the top of the page I don't even wanna look at the rest

Popmatters Top 75 Songs:
http://www.popmatters.com/feature/188623-the-75-best-songs-of-2014/

The Tinariwen is great, but I think their consistency works against them. Easy to take for granted, too hard for most to differentiate one from the other, imo.

Yup, Tassili was the first Tinariwen album I heard, and I was like, "Wow, where has this been all my life?" Emmaar is definitely good, but there's nothing surprising about it.

it's still better than most music released this year, being "surprising" is irrelevant

#2 placing is hilarious but I really like half of High Hopes: Down in the Hole, The Wall, Dream Baby Dream, Hunter of Invisible Game and the new versions of American Skin and Tom Joad. I like eerie Springsteen.

i'm absolutely not on board with everything on the list but the popmatters singles seems closest to my sensibilities thus far

its good some good picks thus far (on like page 3) and i will try not to consider it blasphemous that "move that dope" is only #75

*got some

For whatever reason I decided to read the blurb for "Water Fountain" and this:

Merrill Garbus’ opening hook sets the tone for the playful jungle bass

um

Also the fact that the writer thinks w h o k i l l was her debut record. Where's fact checkin' cuz?

no Run the Jewels on that Magnet hip-hop list is dumber than U2 at the top of the Rolling Stone list. YG, too, but I don't expect Magnet to list YG.

it's still better than most music released this year, being "surprising" is irrelevant

Sure, I'm just saying that I probably underrate it for that reason.

pretty into the washington post list

EIGHT: Manic Street Preachers - Futurology (Sony)

oh yeah i got to check this out. singles were dispiriting but uh green gartside guests

yeah, washington post list also has some smart moves

there are some truly perplexing picks on the popmatters list tbh

that Rolling Stone list really reshapes what we thought we knew about whiney, doesn't it

still seems incredible to me that the washington post pay the guy from q and not u to enthuse about rae sremmurd. what a world.

Post list is good/inspiring. "Young Thug -- singles and mixtapes" at #1 makes so much more sense than putting Black Portland in at #37 or whatever.

For whatever it's worth, all the MAGNET lists are due in in mid-October. When did RTJ2 come out?

So which will be the first list with BABYMETAL?

Soon, Fastnbulbous. Very soon. ;-)

*opens Popmatters, sees "All About That Bass", closes tab*