Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

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

Time Out (London) - Albums:
http://www.timeout.com/london/music/the-best-albums-of-2014

30. Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour
29. SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
28. Richard Dawson - Nothing Important
27. Metronomy - Love Letters
26. East India Youth - Total Strife Forever
25. Beck - Morning Phase
24. Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
23. Aphex Twin - Syro
22. Alex G - DSU
21. Future Islands - Singles
20. The Horrors - Luminous
19. Mica Levi - Under the Skin OST
18. Kate Tempest - Everubody Down
17. Perfume Genius - Too Bright
16. Sun Kil Moon - Benji
15. Taylor Swift - 1989
14. Royal Blood - Royal Blood
13. Hookworms - The Hum
12. Warpaint - Warpaint
11. Jungle - Jungle
10. Owen Pallett - In Conflict
9. Caribou - Our Love
8. Ibibio Sound Machine - Ibibio Sound Machine
7. FKA Twigs - LP1
6. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
5. Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband
4. Goat - Commune
3. Todd Terje - It's Album Time
2. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
1. La Roux - Trouble in Paradise

Is that the first Ibibio Sound Machine nod in a major list? Nice.

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

― you say tomato/i say imago (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, December 5, 2014 1:30 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i saw someone on twitter say their year-end list had x many 'metal' albums but no 'rock' albums. i'm all for setting extreme metal totally outside the rock category as some kind of terrible IDM with guitars.

Time Out (London) - Best songs of 2014:
http://www.timeout.com/london/music/the-50-best-songs-of-2014

50. David Bowie – Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)
49. Kindness – This is Not About Us
48. Floating Points – King Bromeliad
47. Objekt – Ganzfeld
46. Mick Jenkins – Rain
45. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – Fancy
44. Meridian Dan – German Whip
43. Nadine Shah – Stealing Cars
42. Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne – My Love
41. Tiga – Bugatti
40. Strand Of Oaks – Goshen ’97
39. East India Youth – Heaven, How Long
38. Sun Kil Moon – Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes
37. The Horrors – So Now You Know
36. Sam Smith – Stay With Me
35. Honeyblood – Choker
34. Gorgon City ft. MNEK – Ready for Your Love
33. Brian Eno and Karl Hyde – Daddy’s Car
32. Kate Tempest – Lonely Daze
31. Caribou – Can’t Do Without You
30. Dan Beaumount – Trippy Pumper
29. Gazelle Twin – Anti Body
28. Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky
27. St Vincent – Digital Witness
26. Glass Animals – Gooey
25. Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne – Rather Be
24. Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar – Never Catch Me
23. SBTRKT ft. Raury – Higher
22. Real Lies – North Circular
21. Aphex Twin – Minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]
20. Little Dragon – Killing Me
19. Sia – Chandelier
18. Caribou – Silver
17. Damon Albarn – You and Me
16. Beyonce ft. Jay Z – Drunk in Love
15. Royal Blood – Out of the Black
14. Ibibio Sound Machine – Let’s Dance (Yak Inek Unek)
13. The War On Drugs – Red Eyes
12. Warpaint – Disco//Very
11. La Roux – Let Me Down Gently
10. Jessie Ware – Tough Love
9. Tune-Yards – Water Fountain
8. Perfume Genius – Queen
7. Kiesza – Hideaway
6. Metronomy – I’m Aquarius
5. Todd Terje – Delorean Dynamite
4. FKA Twigs – Two Weeks
3. Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
2. Jungle – Busy Earnin’
1. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)

some kind of terrible IDM with guitars

LOL, thanks

i'm sure actual terrible idm with guitars must already exist but i can't think who that would be

oh wait radiohead

RIP Atari Teenage Riot

imo "terrible idm with guitars" = refused

ruuuuuuuuuuuuude

refused rule

plus you get on that what's math punk and what's math metal thing w.like converge/refused/meshuggah/etc etc

RIP Atari Teenage Riot

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, December 5, 2014 12:49 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i sold the LP but i stil have the not your business EP w/raverbashing on vinyl, that is pretty amazing/ludicrious now

Y'all critics are totally sleeping on Weird Al's Mandatory Fun. "Word Crimes" is the best song of the year!

Midnight
No Mercy for Mayhem

Over the past few years Cleveland band Midnight has been steadily attracting new followers in the metal underground with its simple yet irresistible and very raucous blend of Motörhead’s fierce rock ‘n’ roll and the deliriously sloppy blasphemy of Venom. As brilliant as 2011’s Satanic Royalty was—and it was one of that year’s finest underground metal releases—it had many, including yours truly, wondering just what Midnight had left in the tank. After all, when you’re a one-trick pony, it’s hard to keep audiences riveted; just ask Motörhead and Venom, who’ve had their share of duds. What makes No Mercy For Mayhem so extraordinary, however, is that it’s just as intense and primal as ever, but now there’s a flashier side to the riffs, often bringing a deathpunk swagger to the proceedings, guaranteed to remind many of Norwegian greats Turbonegro. Just listen to how the crazed boogie-woogie of “Prowling Leather” segues immediately into the title track, whose slick leads are more Hanoi Rocks than Jeff Mantas. The end result is one of the most undeniably fun metal albums of the year, one that’s far more musically rich than anyone could ever have expected. Adrien Begrand

rock lives

Is rock undead?