Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Everything I've heard in that DJ Mag top ten has been banging (Ten Walls, Patrick Topping, Wink/Klock/Lauer/Oliver $) except the Tale of Us Caribou mix which somehow manages to be even drippier than the original.

Boggling at that Standard article. Nothing says intellectualism like Alt-J.

Juno Plus -- Top 30 Albums of 2014

30. Vaghe Stelle – Sweet Sixteen (Astro: Dynamics)
29. Kassem Mosse – Workshop 19 (Workshop)
28. Lorenzo Senni – Superimpositions (Boomkat Editions)
27. Population One – Theater Of A Confused Mind (Rush Hour Music)
26. Perc – The Power And The Glory (Perc Trax)
25. Shit & Shine – Powder Horn (Diagonal)
24. Beau Wanzer – Untitled (Self Released)
23. Function & Vatican Shadow - Games Have Rules (Hospital Productions)
22. Jo Johnson – Weaving (Further Records)
21. Eric Holm - Andøya (Subtext)
20. Alessandro Cortini – Sonno (Hospital Productions)
19. Slackk – Palm Tree Fire (Local Action)
18. Mr Mitch – Parallel Memories (Planet Mu)
17. Ena – Binaural (Samurai Horo)
16. Vessel – Punish, Honey (Tri Angle Records)
15. Objekt - Flatland (PAN)
14. Yamaneko – Pixel Wave Embrace (Local Action)
13. Low Jack – Garifuna Versions (L.I.E.S.)
12. Vril – Torus (Forum)
11. Klara Lewis – Ett (Editions Mego)
10. Millie & Andrea - Drop The Vowels (Modern Love)
9. Arca – Xen (Mute)
8. Bing & Ruth – Tomorrow Was The Golden Age (RVNG Intl)
7. Ital – Endgame (Planet Mu)
6. Neel – Phobos (Spectrum Spools)
5. Mo Kolours - Mo Kolours (One Handed Music)
4. Gesloten Cirkel – Submit X (Murder Capital)
3. Shinichi Atobe – Butterfly Effect (DDS)
2. Andy Stott - Faith In Strangers (Modern Love)
1. Call Super – Suzi Ecto (Houndstooth)

It's cos Alt-J wear glasses and their name is a keyboard shortcut.

oh, i like a bunch of those! totally recommend the vessel record to anyone who liked the holden album from last year xp

nice to see the electronic lists pop up.

1. Ten Walls - Walking With Elephants
4. Sailor & I - Turn Around (Âme Remix)
5. Floating Points - King Bromeliad
9. Leon Vynehall - Butterflies
10. Oliver $ & Jimi Jules - Pushing On
Marquis Hawkes - Can't Find A Reason
Trumpet & Badman - Str8 Jugglin'

YASSS to all of these singles. looking fwd to the dance trax lists bc i spent a lot of this year completely out of the loop

the juno plus albums is an odd mix of stuff i really loved - call super is a great choice for no 1 - and a lot of stuff i found really dry or relentless (objekt, millie & andrea, perc). was really disappointed by the slackk and stott albums too.

although i feel like even if the usual outlets were always going to be slow to pick up deep tech, they shouldn't be so slow that it's not popping up in these lists

loved stott, but i'm a fan and perhaps bias. never, ever understood the appeal of the perc disc.

perc didn't do much for me either, but i'm liking the andy stott. both very grey albums in their own ways though, it's true

xps haha

Hip hop heads, teen queens, soul sisters, indie kids, rocking intellectuals, modern mums. Hilariously patronizing, and they forgot music lovers.

yeah that's got to go in the worst music writing thread. every sentence is condescending to the max.

stott's new one was kinda fine as background music, just disappointing after how revelatory luxury problems was

To be fair, if you scroll to the bottom, it also identifies "the dad dancers" (you may like Pink Floyd and Neil Young). Which makes it so much better and more even-handed.

They need to rethink their demographic info. Many dads these days were born in the mid-80s, and some as recently as late 90s! So Dancing Dads would be more into, oh, The Juan Maclean. Pink Floyd and Neil Young are for the Grampa Rockers!

Pink Floyd and Neil Young are for the Grampa Rockers!

― Fastnbulbous, Friday, December 5, 2014

curse you, fastnbulbous.

That Standard piece is really something else. Fuck.

And on the subject of awfulness, the comments under the Quietus list are well worth reading if you haven't already. Massive amounts of intentional and unintentional humour to be seen there.

that ten walls track sounds so familiar. is it just an update of a previous tune he did?

Dads like The Chromatics.

xp yeah it's a colliery band 'gotham'

never want to hear 'elephants' again in my lifetime but its omission on any worthwhile eoy would be inexcusable

chief keef is a dad

xp yeah it's a colliery band 'gotham'

never want to hear 'elephants' again in my lifetime but its omission on any worthwhile eoy would be inexcusable

― r|t|c, Friday, December 5, 2014 3:08 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah right thanks, i quite liked 'gotham' in a Plaid-goes-deep-house kind of way.

Pitchfork - Best album covers of 2014:
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9556-the-best-album-covers-of-2014/1/

definitely not a fan of the swans or sbtrkt ones

Pink Floyd and Neil Young are for the Grampa Rockers!

as a grampa I concur

I'm not either, but it appears they put a little bit more effort into that list this year which I'm grateful for. xp

nice little write ups too

yeah the swans album artwork sucks no matter which way i look at it.

Burning Ambulance Best Metal Albums of 2014:

25. Torch Runner, Endless Nothing
24. Baring Teeth, Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins
23. Cretin, Stranger
22. AEvangelist, Writhes In The Murk
21. Mastodon, Once More 'Round The Sun
20. Machine Head, Bloodstone & Diamonds
19. Decapitated, Blood Mantra
18. Monarch, Sabbracadaver
17. Hedvig Mollestad Trio, Enfant Terrible
16. Emmure, Eternal Enemies
15. Crown The Empire, The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways
14. Behemoth, The Satanist
13. Ringworm, Hammer Of The Witch
12. Obituary, Inked In Blood
11. Vader, Tibi Et Igni
10. Cannibal Corpse, A Skeletal Domain
9. Incantation, Dirges Of Elysium
8. Body Count, Manslaughter
7. Cavalera Conspiracy, Pandemonium
6. Opeth, Pale Communion
5. GridLink, Longhena
4. Exmortus, Slave To The Sword
3. Rigor Mortis, Slaves To The Grave
2. Job For A Cowboy, Sun Eater
1. Judas Priest, Redeemer Of Souls

Burning Ambulance Best Jazz Albums Of 2014:

25. Vinnie Sperrazza, Apocryphal
24. Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio & Peter Evans, The Freedom Principle and Live In Lisbon
23. Orrin Evans, Liberation Blues
22. Eric Revis, In Memory Of Things Yet Seen
21. Matthew Shipp Trio, Root Of Things
20. Wadada Leo Smith, Red Hill and The Great Lakes Suites
19. The Cookers, Time And Time Again
18. Michael Blake, Tiddy Boom
17. Sonny Simmons & Moksha Samnyasin, Nomadic
16. Matt Brewer, Mythology
15. Rudy Royston, 303
14. Eric Hofbauer Quintet, Prehistoric Jazz Vol. 1 & 2
13. Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, Erta Ale
12. William Hooker & Liudas Mockunas, Live At The Vilnius Jazz Festival
11. Johnathan Blake, Gone But Not Forgotten
10. Donald Edwards, Evolution Of An Influenced Mind
9. Eric Wyatt, Borough Of Kings
8. Tom Tallitsch, Ride
7. Mark Lomax Trio, Isis & Osiris
6. Sarah Manning, Harmonious Creature
5. Mike DiRubbo, Threshold
4. Brian Charette, The Question That Drives Us
3. Steve Lehman Octet, Mise en Abîme
2. Jerome Sabbagh, The Turn
1. Jemeel Moondoc, The Zookeeper's House

love how pharmakon always makes the cut on those covers lists

it's a good cover imo

it absolutely is. and a p good album at that

I still love Walking With Elephants but I haven't been overexposed to it. It really does feel like this year's ubiquitous tune with an impact way outside quotidian bobbins territory.

That Ben Klock remix of Josh Wink is immense.

got to 6 in the charts so yes

and on the latest NOW! comp

Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Albums, per metacritic:

1. St. Vincent - s/t
2. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
3. Perfume Genius - Too Bright
4. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
5. Mac Demarco - Salad Days
6. Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
7. Ty Segall - Manipulator
8. Beck - Morning Phase
9. FKA Twigs - LP1
10. Eric Church - The Outsiders

not a terrible list aside from that narcoleptic beck record & the overrated mac demarco

I haven't heard Salad Days yet but I love "2".

he's fine, like not bad at all, but he's hella overpraised imo. only listened to both his records in full once but def liked 2 better than salad days

I know we rightly criticise the tedious lionisation of boomer acts but really the critical edifice that's been set up to ensure that Pavement and Yo La Tengo are never allowed to go out of fashion is so much lamer. Which is my way of saying the Mac Demarco album is terrible.

Mac Demarco sounds like Pavement and Yo La Tengo?!

He's got strong songs, and him and his band are great musicians- one of those rare indie groups that show you can actually be indie-cool and technically proficient at the same time! You know, tight playing, tuned guitars, minimal glaring mistakes in the studio recording... the stuff that is opposite of the purposeful-DIY-sound approach.

i personally have never, ever, ever understood the appeal of yo la tengo. pavement is like, i understand how influential it is & some of it i genuinely enjoy but pavement also gave us speedy ortiz, who are fucking trash.

He does sound a bit like Pavement on occasion but his main constituency appears to be people nostalgic for early 90s Matador.

Btw, my exclamatory remark was not meant as a "no, he doesn't" - I've literally never heard a note of his work. I don't know what I was expecting him to sound like, really. I haven't thought about him much.

Is it really "so much lamer" though Matt?

He doesn't sound like Pavement or Yo La Tengo to answer that question.

i like pavement a lot. ylt i can take or leave, but i don't really see the point in a lot of the newer acts. i liked the first parquet courts quite a lot but sunbathing animal was a drag.

I've literally never heard a note of his work. I don't know what I was expecting him to sound like, really.

Same for me. Pavement was not what I'd expected someone to say, though.

sloth what of Yo La Tengo have you spent any time with?

considering stephen malkmus's album appeared in the lower reaches of only Uncut and American Songwriter magazines, maybe Pavement's endurance is overestimated?

Recent solo Malkmus is far from the tone of Pavement though.