Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

11. Phosphorescent - Muchacho
12. Prefab Sprout - Crimson/Red
13. My Bloody Valentine - m b v
14. Holden - The Inheritors
15. Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
16. Factory Floor - Factory Floor
17. Charles Bradley - Victim Of Love
18. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
19. Laura Mvula - Sing To The Moon
20. Pet Shop Boys - Electric
21. Mavis Staples - One True Vine
22. Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle
23. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
24. Eleanor Friedberger - Personal Record
25. James Blake - Overgrown
26. Villagers - AwayLand
27. Disclosure - Settle
28. Manic Street Preachers - Rewind The Film
29. Jon Hopkins - Immunity
30. Primal Scream - More Light
31. Elvis Costello And The Roots - Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs
32. Glenn Jones - My Garden State
33. Billy Bragg - Tooth & Nail
34. Karen Gwyer - Needs Continuum
35. Midlake - Antiphon
36. Low - The Invisible Way
37. Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum
38. Kanye West - Yeezus
39. Roy Harper - Man & Myth
40. Black Sabbath - 13
41. Goldfrapp - Tales Of Us
42. Paul McCartney - New
43. Haim - Days Are Gone
44. Johnny Marr - The Messenger
45. These New Puritans - Fields Of Reeds
46. Foxygen - We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace & Magic
47. Julia Holter - Loud City Song
48. The Flaming Lips - The Terror
49. Tim Hecker - Virgins
50. Time Is A Mountain - Time Is A Mountain

That's surprisingly OK, bar all the old duffers.

Both Phosphorescent and Foxygen in the Mojo 50, eh? It's fair to say I can ignore that list, then!

xpost Yeah, very surprising.

first rate ignoring by Turrican there

wonder what other lists roy harper will end up on this year

kenny wheeker

That's surprisingly OK, bar all the old duffers.

― I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, November 26, 2013 2:01 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Mojo list is ok for rock, as long as you're not into r'n'b, rap, reggae, k-pop, Afropop, edm, country, etc. etc.

Not surprised by most of those omissions: there is dance music in there, they're never good on hip hop and R&B, and I'm not even sure what the big K-pop and Afropop albums are, but I am disappointed that Kacey Musgraves hasn't had any impact on the world of Mojo/Uncut/Q.

Laura Mvula is basically riding that one (admittedly awesome) song to acclaim, right? I remember the rest of the album as being monochromatic and dull.

i like that album a lot actually but never feel a need to return to it

The Harvard Crimson Top 10 Albums of 2013
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/11/26/best-2013-albums-yeezus-arctic-timberlake-daft/?page=single

^ one write-up contains the phrase "smooth, seductive underbelly"

3. "Pure Heroine," Lorde

As an American, I understand the harsh reality of never being able to be royal, but that’s not the only reason why I love Lorde. She is not just a one-hit wonder; Lorde’s debut "Pure Heroine" is the album that just keeps on givin’. Her voice is angelic and chilling all at the same time: the hypnotic beat against the backdrop of her soulful hymns feel like a rallying cry in "Glory and Gore" as she challenges, "You could try and take us / But we’re the gladiators." From her disdain for the vacuousness of modern pop in "Team" ("I’m kind of over gettin’ told to throw my hands up in the air / So there") to her soft and smoky runs in ¨Tennis Court," Lorde is only that much more impressive considering that she’s only 17. She is wise beyond her years, with an album that is so self-aware and sultry that it knocks on the doors of pop powerhouses like Ellie Goulding while teaching a good lesson to pop stars who grind for dollars like Miley Cyrus.

As an American, I understand the harsh reality of never being able to be royal
As an American, I understand the harsh reality of never being able to be royal,
As an American, I understand the harsh reality of never being able to be royal,
As an American, I understand the harsh reality of never being able to be royal,
As an American, I understand the harsh reality of never being able to be royal,

One might even call Chvrches’ instrumentation minimalist

what the fuck has happened to my school

they're grinding for dollars like Miley Cyrus

she works at the coffee shop too?

self-aware and sultry

One of my old singing buddies used to be a photographer for the Crimson, I should forward this to him and get his opinion

Kinda shocked to see Bill Callahan at #1 on the Mojo list, tbh, surprised he's gained that much traction with the older rock dudes. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic album and I'm happy to see that placement, just unexpected.

The prose is at least more readable than what my paper publishes.

It's too bad that the readability didn't translate into sensible points. Like, this is a very boring, few-chances-taken list, so it should be pretty easy to make a case for each of these albums, yet instead they range from completely incoherent (was the person writing about CHVRCHES high?) to paraphrasing Wikipedia (thank you for Janelle Monae's release chronology, I'm glad you've done your research) to come the fuck on (the byline for the Lorde blurb might as well be "ILX Strawman")

this is classic college radio picks: no R&B, all indie, swipe at obvious target (Cyrus).

famous indie album Yeezus

(not to mention Random Access Memories and The 20/20 Experience)

also good to know that The Electric Lady isn't R&B, I was confused

(I think there are enough stupid things about the writing in that list to make fun of; we don't need to invent shit)

the byline for the Lorde blurb might as well be "ILX Strawman"

Ha ha. My reaction too.

From my experience here there's a frightening number of college students for whom Monae is awesome because she's not R&B. For them JT is the acceptable face of pop; Daft Punk gets in on a pass for earlier work.

If I were to ask the kids at the radio station next door to come up with their favorite albums I'm pretty sure Arctic Monkeys, JT, Daft Punk, and Monae would figure (although lol I don't know about Lorde).

here's what Harvard rock radio looks like:

http://recordhospital.org/new/?cat=4

Top 20 Songs Played 09/17/12 – 09/24/12

Artist – “Song”

Foreign Objects – “Mammonism”
Holograms – “ABC City”
Carnivores – “Sense of Dread”
Obnox III – “Home”
June Paik – “Grenzwert”
Grass Widow – “Disappearing Industries”
Troubled Sleep – “Bald Spot”
Nude Beach – “Love Can’t Wait”
Moe Meguro – “School”
Trophy Wife – “Four Five”
Hop Along – “Tibetan Pop Stars”
Stripmines – “Reversal of Fortune”
Walls – “In Disguise”
Severance Package – “Miseducated”
Street Eaters – “Frigid Digits”
Opposite Sex – “Mary Lu”
Exusamwa – “Vulcan Formed Them”
Alaskas – “Walk on the Walls”
Potty Mouth – “Kids”
Dry Hump – “I am the Doorway”

ok lol

Are we letting ignorant college students define what is and isn't R&B now? Because Monae's album sure sounds like R&B to me.

Arctic Monkeys album of the year in Q mag. can't find the full list online.

Most of the huge Monae fans I know are.......black women who love r&b.

In fact, I'd say it's the people I know who like R&B but are outside of the genre's core demographic who tend to be most disdainful of her and reject her as "not real" (although I realize that's a separate group than the straw indie kids you guys are talking about).

Q Top 20:

1. Arctic Monkeys - AM
2. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
3. David Bowie - The Next Day
4. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
5. Jon Hopkins - Immunity
6. Manic Street Preachers - Rewind the Film
7. Cass McCombs - Big Wheel and Others
8. Bill Ryder-Jones - A Bad Wind Blows
9. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
10. Haim - Days Are Gone
11. Jagwar Ma - Howlin'
12. My Bloody Valentine - mbv
13. Steve Mason - Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time
14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
15. Foals - Holy Fire
16. Laura Mvula - Sing to the Moon
17. Matthew E White - Big Inner
18. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
19. Factory Floor - Factory Floor
20. Biffy Clyro - Opposites

here's what Harvard rock radio looks like:

Top 20 Songs Played 09/17/12 – 09/24/12

Dry Hump – “I am the Doorway”

― deX! (DJP), Tuesday, November 26, 2013

____________________________

ok lol

― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, November 26, 2013

don't scoff. dry hump's i am the doorway has replaced ten thousand men of harvard as the most-frequently performed harvard university fight song.

Lol @ the horror, the horror, people like a good artist... but for the WRONG reason. Mein gott.

for an album i don't hate, it's jon hopkins repeatedly inducing the most rage. really really demonstrates how little handle most rock critics have on dance music

A Bad Wind Blows <- who calls an album this?

I'm holding my breath for the follow-up anyway

holding out for the Wire/misc egghead lists, and the dance lists.

It's the follow-up to He Poos Clouds.

xp

Btw, the hip hop/R&B entries in the Q 50 (which I can't be arsed to type out in full) are Kanye, Janelle and Run the Jewels. The other dance/electronic albums are Disclosure, Boards of Canada, Pet Shop Boys, James Blake and Daniel Avery.

Who is Daniel Avery?

Finally, it's here!!!
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/26/zane-lowe-lists-100-favourite-records-2013-radio-1

lol emil.y

Avery makes solidly enjoyable, diverse, somewhat retro techno - shades of Underworld, Chemical Brothers and Orbital. It totally makes sense that it's a a crossover record.

Yeah, there's a definite Underworld feel to some of the tracks on the Daniel Avery, it's like very smudgy greyscale house music.