Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

The old guitarist left the band, I meant to say

Kind of can't believe that nobody has listed the Paramore album, but I guess The National are just THAT MUCH MORE INTERESTING. (cough.)

― maura, Wednesday, December 4, 2013 7:02 AM (14 minutes ago)

can't say what either might sound like, so my apologies x2

NME's list overall is surprisingly old. Only one debut, only three artists under 30.

― Deafening silence (DL), Wednesday, December 4, 2013 1:06 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

surely this isn't correct.

what about bands that have three 22-year-olds and one 60 year old?

i think that johnny marr has left the cribs now tbh

i like that national record a lot and it's definitely better than high violet (mostly because of the reinforced emphasis on groove i.e. their incredible drummer) but hoo boy @ its uniform placing here. alfred wrote a great review of it in spin though iirc

It's staggeringly competent, I'll give it that.

that's how I feel about the Vampire Weekend album

Oh yeah, totally. Lots of Solid B Albums this year.

what's your #1 maura?

marnie stern

she's just doing shit that nobody else is, and in this really impressive way that vaults over the heads of so many

i didn't hear it. everything she's done in the past has vaulted over my head, personally

I returned to that Marnie Stern album a ton this year. I think it would have gotten more critical love though if it hadn't been a step down from her previous album. That one was the high watermark.

i don't think it's a step down at all, and i love the way that kid millions' drumming loosens things up just enough

had no idea he played on her new one, I really need to check it out

I got the eponymous one a couple of years ago, and that totally vaulted over my head. I had no idea what I was meant to be getting from it at all.

Listening to Marnie's new one now and this is so much more to my liking than her previous ones. I think the edges are softer and the structures are more like traditional pop songs. Of course, it's entirely possible I'm misremembering what her previous albums sound like.

i liked one of her albums from several years ago and liked it as an art-pop piece. will prob check this one.

xp to monotony - I meant to say "in the NME Top 10"

I loved the first two Marnie albums so much -- partly because of their rough edges and rickety weirdness -- that the subsequent ones have seemed good-but-not-as-good to me. All a matter of what pushes your buttons, obviously, and regardless of which album is your fave, I think she's amazing.

Hm, I really liked the first MS record and sorted of faded back from the ones that followed. I liked her later live performances less, certainly. But I haven't heard this one at all.

Or basically, what tipsy mothra said.

I don't think her early LPs were as severe as they were often described, at least not once you adjusted to some of her tones. This Is It And I Am It was just awesome anthem after awesome anthem. But her self-titled LP is the one where she really opened up as a songwriter; that album just crushes me.

Chronicles of Marnia is sorta the easy-listening Marnie Stern album I didn't know I wanted but am glad to have

have you guys heard the Wire album? The best of their post-2008 run.

yeah it's really good, def in my top 20

Can't vouch for the quality but at least this one's a bit different to the other indie lists so far...

Gorilla vs Bear - albums
http://www.gorillavsbear.net/2013/12/04/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2013/

40 LAUREL HALO | Chance of Rain
39 LEE BANNON | Never/mind/the/darkness/of/it…
38 CFCF | Outside
37 YOUNG GALAXY | Ultramarine
36 DEATH GRIPS | Government Plates
35 SZA | S
34 TINASHE | Black Water
33 STILL CORNERS | Strange Pleasures
32 EMPRESS OF | Systems
31 TORO Y MOI | Anything In Return

30 3:33 | $.
29 DJ RASHAD | Double Cup
28 CLASSIXX | Hanging Gardens
27 DARKSIDE | Psychic
26 RICH HOMIE QUAN | Still Goin In / I Promise I Will Never Stop Going In
25 CUUSHE | Butterfly Case
24 ARIANA GRANDE | Yours Truly
23 QUASIMOTO | Yessir Whatever
22 DEAN BLUNT | The Redeemer
21 HAERTS | Hemiplegia + remixes

20 KNX. | Anthology
19 RECYCLE CULTURE | In Transit
18 CHARLI XCX | True Romance
17 THE KNIFE | Shaking the Habitual
16 POSTILJONEN | Skyer
15 VARIOUS | After Dark 2
14 WHITE DENIM | Corsicana Lemonade
13 ARCA | &&&&&
12 PURE BATHING CULTURE | Moon Tides
11 GROUPER | The Man Who Died In His Boat

10 FKA TWIGS | EP2
09 JAI PAUL | leaked demos
08 DIANA | Perpetual Surrender
07 BLUE HAWAII | Untogether
06 EJECTA | Dominae
05 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER | R Plus Seven
04 BURIAL | Truant / Rough Sleeper (2012)
03 JULIANNA BARWICK | Nepenthe
02 DANNY BROWN | Old
01 AUTRE NE VEUT | Anxiety

ban autre ne veut

Can't vouch for the quality

Think you can...

09 JAI PAUL | leaked demos

thats a pretty good list. the blue hawaii was super boring tho. can't wait for agor to release some of his techno stuff tho... shit's bangin

is that the first time the Grouper album has appeared?

Pure Bathing Culture <- wanna check this out based on name

was in a low placing on the Quietus list xp

GvsB typically sidesteps the indie blog trap by digging at least half a layer deeper than most of his colleagues.

Jai Paul! that's another name that, back in June, you would've confidently assumed would be on most of these lists. although obviously the record being an unsanctioned and disavowed leak could've hurt its reach in the long run, but at the time that just seemed to intensify the critical praise.

didn't they also discover that those leaks weren't actually Jai Paul or am I misremembering?

nah they just said that he didn't intentionally leak the album himself -- they were his demos tho

"jasmine" is amazing, otherwise i don't get why people care about that guy at all

the evolution of gvb's taste is pretty hilarious + corny

is it still one guy and his taste has developed or is it some kind of baby stereogum thing now where they staffed up with some non-indie fuxx?

pure bathing culture was quite nice live, lots of layered harmonies, but i have yet to check out their record.

God all these list blow. They're giving me dysentery.

Well you'll probably appreciate the inclusion of Diarrhea Planet on this list then:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/23-best-rock-records-2013

"Guitars are still awesome. Here’s why."

The Cuushe and Still Corners albums are sweet.

I don't think I get the Haim. It sounds like grade Z Stacy Q to me. What am I missing? And how come nobody is raving about After Dark 2?

ejecta put out an album? is it actually worth checking out? i'm not willing to put much faith in gvsb rec's

xp after dark 2 is #15 on that list and there's no haim to be found

Time Magazine - Top 10 Albums
http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/04/arts-and-entertainment/slide/top-10-albums/

1. Yeezus, Kanye West
2. Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend
3. mbv, My Bloody Valentine
4. Who Is William Onyeabor?, William Onyeabor
5. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, Neko Case
6. Electricity by Candlelight, Alex Chilton
7. Cut 4 Me, Kelela
8. The Electric Lady, Janelle Monáe
9. Mole City, Quasi
10. Matangi, M.I.A.