Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

Here's the complete Stereogum list, for archival purposes:

01. Deafheaven - Sunbather
02. Gorguts - Colored Sands
03. Inquisition - Obscure Verses For The Multiverse
04. Oranssi Pazuzu - Velonielu
05. Carcass - Surgical Steel
06. In Solitude - Sister
07. Windhand - Soma
08. SubRosa - More Constant Than The Gods
09. Inter Arma - Sky Burial
10. Grave Miasma - Odori Sepulcrorum
11. Power Trip - Manifest Decimation
12. Bölzer - Aura
13. Castevet - Obsian
14. A Pregnant Light - Domination Harmony
15. Aosoth - IV: An Arrow In Heart
16. Lycus - Tempest
17. Nails - Abandon All Life
18. Various Artists - SVN OKKLT Compilation
19. Anagnorisis - Beyond All Light
20. Altar Of Plagues - Teethed Glory & Injury
21. Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance
22. Kvelertak - Meir
23. Satan - Life Sentence
24. Vattnet Viskar - Sky Swallower
25. Wolvserpent - Perigaea Antahkarana
26. Imperium Dekadenz - Meadows Of Nostalgia
27. Agrimonia - Rites Of Separation
28. Cultes Des Ghoules - Henbane
29. Ruins Of Beverast - Blood Vaults: The Blazing Gospel Of Heinrich Kramer
30. TOAD - Endless Night
31. Noisem - Agony Defined
32. Fyrnask - Eldir Nótt
33. Gris - À L'âme Enflammée, L'âme Constellée...
34. Sadgiqacea - False Prism
35. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Mind Control
36. Cult of Fire — मृत्युकावीभत्सनृत्य
37. Woe - Withdrawal
38. VHOL - VHOL
39. Aksumite - Return
40. Hail Of Bullets - III: The Rommel Chronicles
41. Dressed In Streams - ST/Azad Hind
42. Vuyvr - Eiskalt
43. Yellow Eyes - Hammer Of Night
44. KEN Mode - Entrench
45. Cara Neir - Portals To A Better, Dead World
46. Svart Crown - Profane
47. Wormed - Exodromos
48. Pinkish Black - Razed To The Ground
49. Vastum - Patricidal Lust
50. Raspberry Bulbs - Deformed Worship

That's actually a pretty solid list, glad to see Inter Arma get a high placing.

Stereogum seems to have higher black metal representation than other lists. That's a big gap in my listening this year.

Really enjoyed NPR's list.

They seemed to carefully pick representatives from nearly every metal sub-genre which is fine. Just goes to show how much damn metal there is, given they only scratch the surface of each. While Windhand sort of checks the box, stoner-doom is kind of neglected.

The NPR list is really good, and it reads like they're actually fans of music.

yeah, NPR was good, the only one of these lists with the John Legend album on it, which got pretty roundly ignored despite being full of Kanye co-productions and interesting songwriting choices.

Man I couldn't really get into that John Legend album, it was patchy as hell. "Interesting songwriting choices" is otm.

NPR list is neat.

"Where are Arcade Fire and The National?" comments after the post are a delight.

WHINEY this isn't an attempt to zing u over clicks but your arrows don't work on any of your lists (i'm on chrome) and tbh they very rarely do in general

http://i.imgur.com/31Gtm3X.png

They seemed to carefully pick representatives from nearly every metal sub-genre which is fine.

Yeah, there's doom metal, black metal, noise-rock/metal, shoegaze black metal, ultra-noisy black metal...that's all of 'em! That's all there is to metal!

Pro tip for metal bands: If you want critical love, clean vocals, melodies, and memorable choruses are right fucking out.

if you want critical love from indie rock sites

Revolver et al still got love for clean hooks

Pro tip for metal bands: If you want critical love, clean vocals, melodies, and memorable choruses are right fucking out.

http://rsmg.pbsrc.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/geirbot.jpg~320x480

mildly impressed by NPR's efforts to find a physical copy of all of their top 50 to take a pic of

They just can't resist a bit of morose adult contemporary. I'd think Weekend - Jinx or Pop. 1280, Chelsea Wolfe or TV Ghost would fit their tastes better.

― Fastnbulbous, Tuesday, 10 December 2013 13:41 (4 hours ago) Permalink

I have at various times been morose, adult or contemporary, but never all at once.

oh man the floorplan record

fuuuuuuuuuck

yeah if i ever went to clubs anymore (as opposed to going to clubs v. rarely) this record would sound unbelievable.

Damn, this Ka album. Thanks Spin and Jody Rosen.

the floorplan album captures very accurately a certain period of time on the dancefloor when you're high but not so high that you're totally out of yourself, and you feel totally mechanistic - the music's like a suit and you have to move in certain ways to put it on. and "never grow old" is that moment when you come to, not necessarily to sobriety at all but that moment when you see your friends' faces around you and it turns out you were all feeling the same way and now it's time to come together

the Floorplan single "Phobia" is also face-melting

Alright, so far Ka and Floorplan have jumped up to the top of my "must hears" from list gathering.

Esp after what lex wrote about it. Setting aside all the shit I've ever given lex, that last sentence is, no lie, one of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read about music. Just, bam, I know exactly the feeling and now I want to hear what it sounds like.

I made it three tracks into the Ka album before I got bored.

Pro tip for metal bands: If you want critical love, clean vocals, melodies, and memorable choruses are right fucking out.

Although I approve of 90% of Stereogum's list, this is totally, painfully true. North American critics are really turning a blind eye to the melodic side of heavy metal, which contrary to what they might cover, is just as strong and vital as ever.

ka album seemed cool and vibey if not particularly original, i'll go back to it for sure

xp Yeah that line of Lex's made me wish I still went clubbing.

I think Ka is for people who love Mobb Deep and Liquid Swords and want that same mood but without imitating the sound. It has the same moral murk and shady reportage.

yeah that seems right on

Pro tip for metal bands: If you want critical love, clean vocals, melodies, and memorable choruses are right fucking out.

Although I approve of 90% of Stereogum's list, this is totally, painfully true. North American critics are really turning a blind eye to the melodic side of heavy metal, which contrary to what they might cover, is just as strong and vital as ever.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, December 10, 2013 4:20 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dude, Revolver has A Pale Horse Named Death, ASG, Black Sabbath, Volbeat, and STONE SOUR

You guys are looking at indie hipster websites and then complianing they have indie hipster tastes!

Vice list is pretty funny but loses marks for recycling several of its jokes from last year.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 10 December 2013 13:02 (8 hours ago) Permalink

they used to just repost the same exact thing every year iirc

the daft punk one is OTM

despite me effing with Robert Hood in general the Floorplan album disappeared into a void of technoish CD promos. I've fished it out bc of the enthusiasm upthread. IT'S ON (literally)

Erik Rohman isunkes • 2 hours ago −
Agreed. Any list omiting these two projects raises some doubt in my mind as to any common tastes with the writer of the article. Everyone has an opinion for sure, but for someone to sell this as an eclectic list and leave off both Reflector and Trouble Will Find Me is a bit confusing.

loooooooooooooooooooooooool

i mean, come on

oh I just got that, smh

"How can you claim to be "eclectic" and ignore these boring-ass white people bands?"

even the prose is a set of terrible Berninger lyrics.

I can't get a read on Pitchfork's indie debt to its readership anymore, but I hope neither of those albums land in their to 20.

Arcade Fire will be top ten for sure (I mean, it got 9.2 come on), the other one I have no idea.

Pro tip for metal bands: If you want critical love, clean vocals, melodies, and memorable choruses are right fucking out.

you guys sound like a cross between johnny fever & geir (no offence to jf intended)

lol, when I get paired with Geir there is offense, intended or not.

the trilogy (Daft Punk, National, Arcade Fire) will be in PFM's top fifteen.

hahaha

I just meant you do state that kinda thing about metal a lot and its why you went off it years ago

Kinda why im doing a rock/metal tracks poll for the 1st time. To prove it does still encompass that and it doesnt have to be just the Revolver type um 'mainstream' metal that does it.

Clean vox and singing have come back into the underground the past few years and got critical love. Uncle Acid/Ghost/In Solitude/Cauldron/The Devils Blood/Blood Ceremony and so on. Even Electric Wizard and Moss do it now! (and are still sounding great)

if anyones interested here's a playlist http://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/5h0uxOzYvaafpBbe6Sve2J

Plenty there non-metal fans would like I think.

give it a go jf and do let us know what you think (on the poll thread so not to annoy people here)

Texan-British Brooklyn transplant Devonté Hynes hasn't made the richest sounding R&B album of the year working under his new moniker Blood Orange — that accolade might go to the multi-million dollar, sonically-intimidating Random Access Memories by Daft Punk.

hahaha what

Clean vox and singing have come back into the underground the past few years and got critical love.

My own list has quite a bit of that, fwiw (culled from albums actually streamable on Rhapsody; I just posted a list on the metal thread of non-Rhapsodyable albums that would've also been in the running):

http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/post/top-25-metal-of-2013

xp you heard it here first!

hey chuck please nominate that stuff on the eoy metal poll!