Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

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.

The issue is not really whether he sounds like either.

evan i have heard fade, i am not afraid of you... and i can hear the heart beating as one. again this is more an issue of me thinking something is *shrug* rather than actively bad.

Gotcha- so... guitar indie in general?

xpost

mac demarco sounds like a sad ariel pink

Wow I played some of those ones in the djmag chart, really horrible!

Hey sloth I'd recommend giving Painful a go start to finish and see if you like that better.

We clown on Popmatters sometimes, but I really like their metal list. With some great contributions from at least one, that I'm aware of, ilxor.

15. Witch Mountain - Mobile of Angels
14. Babymetal - Babymetal
13. Dawnbringer - Night of the Hammer
12. Midnight - No Mercy for Mayhem
11. Ghost Bridage - IV: One With the Storm
10. Panopticon - Roads to the North
9. Mournful Congregation - Concrescence of the Sophia
8. Behemoth - The Satanist
7. Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
6. Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls
5. Agalloch - The Serpent and the Sphere
4. YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
3. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
2. Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
1. Opeth - Pale Communion

the YOB album truly is as good as advertised

Ugh The Outsiders. Is EW playing catchup?

i feel bad that Eric Church is getting dumped on so much in this thread. the album is not as hit-packed as its predecessor and has some goofy lyrics but i really love the arrangements/production and overall vibe.

I'm assuming that I will be just as bored by the new Eric Church album as I was by the first one?

one of my favorite things about the album is that 2 of the singles have zany tempo changes, you might enjoy that

I'm assuming that I will be just as bored by the new Eric Church album as I was by the first one?

You're correct.

sadly I am slightly intrigued by the promise of zany tempo changes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF-W4YJ6y_A

i keep trying to square the idea that "rock is dead" with the current critical/ILX love of extreme metal