Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

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?

that sounds fun

(that cleveland band not being a zombie)

it's great ums

(that cleveland band not being a zombie)

― you say tomato/i say imago (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, December 5, 2014 2:08 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

feel like a cleve rock band made up of zombies would be even more fun imo

i don't have much of a theory on this but i think a lot of the metal-lives-rock-is-dead phenomenon is just down to demographics. i mean, i would like to listen to more rock music, i suppose, i listen to a lot more than i did 10 years ago, but it's hard to find things that really interest me and seem good enough, when it's of recent vintage. some combination of post-00s mainstreamification of indie, and the ongoing state of commercial rock/alt-rock/loud-rock, and the retreadism (like brad's faves hotelier - i liked that but it also seemed too one-note to me to be forgivable, for such a familiar sound), and the weird unappetizing puttering about that i find in a lot of the headline indie/rock names of the last 10 years or so… it's like they're not currently expressing feelings/existential outlooks using sounds that i wanna hear. catering too much to the sensibilities of well-heeled 25-45somethings, their lifestyle plans, etc, for one.

whereas in metal you can find more of an outright disinterest in sounding nice for indie-npr, soundtracking beer-flight tasting night at the local coffeeshop, etc.; more acknowledgement of the current shittiness of society, life in it; at least (even if obscure/incoherent) some kind of nod to class (owing to metal's long-standing disreputable status).

on the other hand, aside from its other qualities that can make it unapproachable to people who don't like noise, massive downers, etc., extreme metal just has a built-in barrier to entry with the voices, the at the very least facade of interest in eeeevil, different styles of imagery, etc. so to some extent there are rock listeners who may have been comfortable with some configurations of, i dunno, negativity/refusal in music, that cannot get with those that are more available at the moment in some metal.

modern rock music in the popular arena = country

i know somedude checks for actual radio-rock, as some other critics here do. i suppose one way of putting it is that extreme metal offers some cred-cover for critics/listeners who want features of rock but can't stand for whatever reason to get them from / admit to get them from radio-rock.

i'm listening to a prog metal album right now and it is barely distinguishable from radio rock

the last band i liked a lot that could be called radio rock was gaslight anthem, but they have gotten suckier with every album. also i guess like, NIN, who i'll always ride or die for, gets some radio play for elder-statespeople reasons, thats pretty much it

i feel like theres a decent amount of rock - regardless of whether it's technically ensconced in some subgenre like the emo revival stuff - that in theory could have fairly wide appeal but it never seems to end up there

or say, the last baroness album - that record is chock full of anthems that are more or less radio-ready without sounding compromised, but i dont think any of those songs got play (correct me if wrong)

the last band i liked a lot that could be called radio rock was gaslight anthem

this reminds me that i had the thought the other day that some dude might like this year's taking back sunday record

i think the midnight album is interesting because it's open and riffy and hooky enough somehow, even with a nice and regular vocalist-over-the-top frontman, and not much in the way of noisy/irritating technique from the band, that it hits just the right buttons for your typical rock-listener-requirements. in a way that, say, the obliterations album from this year, or the oozing wound album, don't. but his vocals are juuuuust snarling/tortured enough to seem a little OTT / affected / playacty / indecorous if you're thinking that rock music should, like, be ok to have on at your independent coffeeshop. too many customers would be, 'it felt… disturbing'.

play where, slothrop? that album did get some critical play, and some ilm play. i actually listened to it quite a bit! but something about it made it too much of a sell/chore.

(and i think maybe it didn't stick enough with enough critics for the same sort of reason. lots wanted to like it, but didn't in the end?)

oh i mean on rock radio. thats what i was talking about - that baroness has songs that are still unquestionably baroness but could in theory be liked by rock radio audiences & yet don't get airply. it got oodles of critic love and although i was not on ILX then i'm sure it was adored here

*airplay. personally i fucking love that album, it was my #5 of 2012

Shellac album is only on two of these lists, speaking of rock music that this noise fan can tolerate. new Six Organs is too late in this dumb spin cycle to get counted but it rocks too.

chances of "Yellow & Green" producing some sort of rock radio hit were probably slim from the jump BUT whatever chance it might've had probably ended when they crashed their van in Europe a month after it came out, effectively shutting down the band for a year and a half. touring stopped (they didn't do a post-"Y&G" tour of America until late 2013!) and promotional efforts were scaled back considerably. again, it's not like you could say "that cost them a hit" but it certainly didn't help matters.

(it was my #1 album of '12, btw)

"board up the house" tho??

totally true about the auto accident. & its 1,000x better that they're alive to make new music sometime in the future than dead while their first radio hit surfaces.

Yeah, the Midnight album makes me smile. They were always a great band, but the way they glammed up the new songs in that sleazy Hanoi Rocks/Turbonegro way turned out to be a perfect fit.

modern rock music in the popular arena = country

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, December 5, 2014

there's a little truth to this, and shame on us as a community-of-nations for not nipping-this-in-the-bud earlier.

totally true about the auto accident. & its 1,000x better that they're alive to make new music sometime in the future than dead while their first radio hit surfaces.

― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, December 5, 2014 3:09 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This makes me sad in regards to the Exploding Hearts. Probably since I don't think they got anywhere near the radio either.