it isn't auteurism, though, or if it is it's bullshit auteurism -- no one gives a shit about the writers, producers, or generally people involved unless they're well-known enough to misattribute things to (max martin, dr. luke) or celebrities (see: the instant reappraisal of "This Is What You Came For" when it "became" a Taylor Swift song). it's celebrity gossip, and not even particularly informed celebrity gossip.
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 17 December 2016 00:30 (seven years ago) link
idk people seem pretty invested in those celebrities' "genius"
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Saturday, 17 December 2016 00:47 (seven years ago) link
it's a mixture of things encouraged by music critics, celebrity gossip hacks and social affairs writers encroaching on each other's territory.
lots of music critics still subscribe to auteurism, yes, which means that pop singers are still divided into critically worthy/unworthy as whiney said.
celebrity journalists care about celebrities ofc.
writers whose primary beat is political or social care to the extent that an artist or a song is an avatar of whatever political issue is at stake - ie they care about eg beyoncé and taylor swift because that's their peg to talk about feminism; an obscure artist tackling the same issues is of limited use to them.
(the penny dropped re: the latter in a conversation with a friend and political journalist about "blurred lines" in its year, and i was like, look, the actual lyric is ambiguous and thicke has been respected by the predominantly female r&b audience for years now. she was like, as an activist you use what's in the headlines to make your point.)
anyway all of this - plus the demon SEO - combines for a situation where there are now only five artists of any ~relevance left. and let us not pretend there is any motivation or desire among any of these groups or their editors to change it, so y'know get used to it, or get used to not clicking to stave off the fatigue of it all.
― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:01 (seven years ago) link
ok but pursue this line of argument much farther and you've written that piece in the nation
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:15 (seven years ago) link
(i.e. I know or at least hope this isn't what you're going for, but "political journalists" and "social affairs writers" used in this context really do seem like euphemisms for "those damn SJWs")
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:19 (seven years ago) link
I think it's a point about alleged "critical music writing" being used in the service of an agenda more than an evaluation?
that is an interesting summary in my opinion, throws a lot of these EOY lists into a wider perspective that has more to do w/the specific media outlets and their motives/aesthetics/funding
I mean, I'm not a paid critic and haven't been published since the 90s but lex's breakdown makes sense to me as someone who reads a ton of music writing but is also involved in politics
― sleeve, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:21 (seven years ago) link
(re: the three areas blurring together)
― sleeve, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:23 (seven years ago) link
no, it's definitely not a criticism of music criticism becoming more woke or attuned to social justice, diverse representation etc. that's long overdue.
also it's a question of cumulative effect, i have read lots of extremely thoughtful pieces by both writers from the music critic end and the activist end that don't just seize on a big star for a lazy peg but do dig deep - but they get shared around a bit one day and then everyone moves on, and it barely dents the larger effect of something keeping kanye in the headlines every day.
― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:28 (seven years ago) link
Said The Gramophone's Best song 2016:
http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/best_songs_of_2016.php
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:29 (seven years ago) link
Sean always has some nice surprises in his top 100. Definitely recommend that one... there's the consensus picks + some more personal choices which is where it shines.
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:30 (seven years ago) link
Also it is one of the few lists where each selection gets a blurb. Most are lazy and just put a list.
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:31 (seven years ago) link
like, to be clear, i am firmly pro SJW, and writers from that perspective are very attuned to how things look from a non industry perspective, which is very valuable bc quite a lot of music writers are way too wrapped up in the industry. but at the same time they mostly don't - and nor is it their job to - pore over credits, dig deep into the tropes of a genre they only casually follow, even consider beyoncé's last two albums in the context of her entire career (side note: how many articles about the s/t and lemonade read as if the writer has never previously heard a beyoncé album?)
which brings me to another problem which is the 24-hour churn! good writers aren't being given the time (OR MONEY) to do the research, a lot of the time.
― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:33 (seven years ago) link
thanks moka!
― sean gramophone, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:40 (seven years ago) link
posting the RS electronic list
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-best-edm-and-electronic-albums-of-2016-w455395
And the records you didn't hear list
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/15-great-albums-you-didnt-hear-in-2016-w456193
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:47 (seven years ago) link
I'm not defending Blonde, but I bothered to listen to "Pink + White" and "Ivy" about 4 times and I can remember how they go even though I haven't listened to either since summer. And for me, "Nikes" is the one where I'm kinda baffled that anyone might consider it memorable.
― billstevejim, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:50 (seven years ago) link
― sean gramophone
No, thank you! Yours is honestly one of the lists I always look forward to each year. I'm only on the top 25 and I've already found several songs which I haven't seen anywhere else and are pretty good (Snowblink, World Provider, Sugarboy, Waclaw Zimpel, John K Sampson)
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:52 (seven years ago) link
I... really don't think it's the 24-hour churn. the only person I can speak for is myself, but the problem isn't that I have insufficient time, the problem is that I suck
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 17 December 2016 02:32 (seven years ago) link
if anything the nebulousness of album releases, and the cordoning off of where they are hearable when (and everyone thought US/UK releases were bad) has sort of, in my experience, paradoxically freed a lot of publications' strategy. they know they can get someone to write a quick 15-minute take and then another reviewer several days later, or a week or two of thinkpieces, or what have you
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 17 December 2016 02:34 (seven years ago) link
This is a personal list, and not published anywhere, but I'm curious what any other writer ILXors' equivalent lists would look like. These are the 10 best 2016 albums I actually paid for. (#s 1-5 are albums I pre-ordered, #6 I bought in a store in Helsinki, #s 7-10 were from Bandcamp.)
1) Metallica, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct2) Opeth, Sorceress3) Perturbator, The Uncanny Valley4) Amon Amarth, Jomsviking5) Gojira, Magma6) Nyrkkitappelu, Mitä Saisi Olla?7) Kurushimi, s/t8) Air, Astronoid9) Tommy ’86, Transhumanism10) Cønjuntø Vacíø, X ≠ X
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Saturday, 17 December 2016 03:48 (seven years ago) link
I really like that Kurushimi album. It's like a smoother Zu or something
― sushi and the banh mis (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 17 December 2016 07:59 (seven years ago) link
I'm definitely getting more out of these specialized lists. I sampled from everything from the didn't hear list (the Elephant9 album made my list last year) and I like most of it, esp Terrace Martin and Phony Ppl.
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 17 December 2016 14:19 (seven years ago) link
http://www.terrorizer.com/news/features-2/terrorizers-albums-year-2017-part-1/http://www.terrorizer.com/news/features-2/terrorizers-albums-year-2016-part-2/http://www.terrorizer.com/news/features-2/terrorizers-albums-year-2016-part-3/
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 17 December 2016 14:35 (seven years ago) link
yeah that RS "albums you didn't hear" list was good, lived up to its name
― sleeve, Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:05 (seven years ago) link
(thx Whiney/writers)
― sleeve, Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:06 (seven years ago) link
I was ready to get all pedantic and say pfft I know albums from that list but I didnt knew a single one. Is any of those worth the time?
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:16 (seven years ago) link
Also their electronic list is better than residentadvisor's!
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:19 (seven years ago) link
That Terrorizer Top 50 Albums of 2016 in full
50. TESTAMENT ‘Brotherhood Of The Snake’ NUCLEAR BLAST49. KRYPTS ‘Remnants Of Expansion’ DARK DESCENT48. SABATON ‘The Last Stand’ NUCLEAR BLAST47. THE WOUNDED KINGS ‘Visions In Bone’ SPINEFARM46. SLABDRAGGER ‘Rise Of The Dawncrusher’ HOLY ROAR45. HORSEBACK ‘Dead Ringers’ RELAPSE44. KVELERTAK ‘Nattesferd’ ROADRUNNER43. WARDRUNA ‘Rudaljod – Ragnarok’ SEASON OF MIST42- WRETCH ‘Wretch’ BAD OMEN41. KATATONIA ‘The Fall Of Hearts’ PEACEVILLE40. DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT ‘Transcendence’ HEVY DEVY/INSIDE OUT39. CONAN ‘Revengeance’ BLACK BOW38. DÄLEK ‘Asphalt For Eden’ PROFOUND LORE.37. BÖLZER ‘Hero’ IRON BONEHEAD36. GRAF ORLOCK ‘Crime Traveller’ VITRIOL35. ROTTING CHRIST ‘Rituals’ SEASON OF MIST34. INTERMENT ‘Scent Of The Buried’ PULVERISED33. INTER ARMA ‘Paradise Gallows’ RELAPSE32. DARKHER ‘Realms’ PROPHECY31. BOSSK ‘Audio Noir’ DEATHWISH30. GADGET ‘The Great Destroyer’ RELAPSE29. SWANS ‘The Glowing Man’ MUTE28. IHSAHN ‘Arktis’ CANDLELIGHT27. INQUISITION ‘Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith’ SEASON OF MIST26. DESTRÖYER 666 ‘Wildfire’ SEASON OF MIST25. ALCEST ‘Kodama’ PROPHECY24. PURSON ‘Desire’s Magic Theatre’ SPINEFARM23. THE BODY ‘No One Deserves Happiness’ THRILL JOCKEY22. BOSS KELOID ‘Herb Your Enthusiasm’ BLACK BOW21. GOJIRA ‘Magma’ ROADRUNNER20. WORMROT ‘Voices’ EARACHE19. URFAUST ‘Empty Space Meditation’ VÁN.18. GRAVES AT SEA ‘The Curse That Is’ RELAPSE17. ANAAL NATHRAKH ‘The Whole Of The Law’ METAL BLADE16. OPETH ‘Sorceress’ NUCLEAR BLAST15. VEKTOR ‘Terminal Redux’ EARACHE14. BLOOD INCANTATION ‘Starspawn’ DARK DESCENT13. DISCHARGE ‘End Of Days’ NUCLEAR BLAST12. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN ‘Dissociation’ PARTY SMASHER INC.11. DEATHSPELL OMEGA ‘The Synarchy Of Molten Bones’ NORMA EVANGELIUM DIABOLI
10. NAILS ‘You Will Never Be One of Us’ NUCLEAR BLAST9. ORANSSI PAZUZU ‘Värähtelijä’ SVART8. CULT OF LUNA AND JULIE CHRISTMAS ‘Mariner’ INDIE7. COBALT ‘Slow Forever’ PROFOUND LORE.6. SUBROSA ‘For This We Fought The Battle of The Ages’ PROFOUND LORE.5. 40 WATT SUN ‘Wider Than The Sky’ SVART4. TRAP THEM ‘Crown Feral’ PROSTHETIC3. OATHBREAKER ‘Rheia’ DEATHWISH2. DARKTHRONE ‘Arctic Thunder’ PEACEVILLE1. NEUROSIS ‘Fires Within Fires’ NEUROT
― Cosmic Slop, Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:20 (seven years ago) link
I like the Pinkyshinyultrablast LP from that RS list (the name sucks, obviously). Gonna need pretty high tolerance for very noisy tunes, though.
― afriendlypioneer, Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:21 (seven years ago) link
Thanks, Moka!
In the last few years I def pushed to get more big tent/festival stuff on there because, duh, we're a general interest publication; but I think "EDM" the big billion dollar network is going back to singles and Soundclouds since there's not much return in traditional album drops. So we had all kinds of weird stuff that ended up filling the spots that would usually be taken up by Jack U or w/e. I was planning on writing Equiknoxx for Albums You Didn't Hear, but there was plenty of room for us to wax about our passion picks
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:42 (seven years ago) link
Also, Moka, Jambinai is my GAYDH pick if you wanna check my second Sepultura 'Roots' reference this week
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Saturday, 17 December 2016 15:45 (seven years ago) link
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, December 17, 2016 2:32 AM (fifteen hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
ha, from the perspective of myself and my professional insecurities, i have missed out on like 90% of things i wanted to write about in 2015-16 purely through only formulating what i want to say and what argument i want to make a week after all the thinkpieces were published. (it's also weird, as someone who was formed by the internet in many ways, to realise how bad i am at social media in 2k16)
― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 18:05 (seven years ago) link
oh man i feel that lex
― maura, Saturday, 17 December 2016 18:08 (seven years ago) link
- no ready supply of gifs for every occasion- still don't know how to make emoji- would rather die than do a 20-tweet thread because the POINT IS TO BE CONCISE- still gives up on 90% of tweets because i can't say what i want to in 140 characters- essentially unable to be funny
let me just scurry back to tennis twitter, it's all i enjoy on there
― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 18:11 (seven years ago) link
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, December 17, 2016 10:16 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
The Terrace Martin record is really good, a great companion piece to To Pimp a Butterfly. Terrace was one of the driving forces behind that record's mutated L.A. Jazz and Velvet Portraits boasts a gentler, funkier version of that style (plus some extended instrumentals from TPAB).
The Phony Ppl record is great as well, some amazing songwriting. I voted for it in the ILX albums poll last year
― altony rightano (voodoo chili), Saturday, 17 December 2016 18:22 (seven years ago) link
Here's LargeUp's soca list. They go by carnival season not calendar year:
1. Voice, “Cheers to Life”2. Tron, RR Rhythm (feat. Salty, M1, Orlando Octave, Blaxx and Fantom DunDeal)3. Marz Ville feat. Snap Brandy, “Bang Bim”(Honorable Mention: Stiffy, “Tek Off Something”)4. Olatunji, “Oh Yay”5. Machel Montano, “Need It”6. Erphaan Alves, “Intentions”7. Angela Hunte, “Mon Bon Ami”8. Bunji Garlin, “Take Over Town”9. King Bubba FM, “Calling in Sick”10. Kew, “People”11. GBM Nutron, “Scene”12. Machel Montano, “Waiting on the Stage”13. Mason, “Dem Vincy”14. Ricky T feat. Eempey Slicker, “Freaky Girls”/Motto feat. Problem Child and Mr. Legz, “Bend Dong” (Remix)15. Machel Montano and Timaya, “Better Than Them”16. Marvay, “Know The Face”HONORABLE MENTION: Runtown featuring Machel Montano, Wizkid and Walshy Fire, “Bend Down Pause” (Remix)
― rob, Saturday, 17 December 2016 18:35 (seven years ago) link
― lex pretend, Saturday, 17 December 2016 01:33 (twenty hours ago) Permalink
Yeah, I wouldn't say the problem is "those damn SJWs" encroaching on traditional music writing, and more about the way in which the collapse of criticism as an industry and its increasing focus on clickbait content tends to result in all these previous areas of concern (music fandom, celebrity gossip, politics) drifting closer together, because there's no space for them to exist separately from one another, and everyone is looking to maximise eyeballs.
This development feels more entrenched than it perhaps is precisely because it's been embraced by the kinds of organs which also tend (or would otherwise tend) to be less hidebound in their approach to music writing who perhaps recognise it's the best or least worst way to facilitate interesting writing while maintaining an audience, the alternative being to retreat into the safe space of lavish retrospectives and reissue culture. And I think his trend has in fact resulted in some great writing, and that some sites have navigated the new landscape pretty well.
But while on the one hand the last few years have created some upside for writers, the flipside is that the need to find an angle on everything makes it a lot easier to talk about how Beyonce is empowering (insert) or to treat Kanye v T-Swift in exactly the same terms as Bernie v Shillary than it is to write (or rather get commissioned to write) about music where the battle lines aren't already drawn.
You can see this in the exceptions to the rule, too. We (or "we") might complain about an artist like Dawn Richard not getting enough coverage, but one way in which artists like Dawn are a beneficiary of this paradigm (though not enough to stop them from being a net loser overall) is that just about the only angle that works is "underappreciated, visionary genius that you should stop sleeping on" - just because there's a subconscious, reflexive awareness that writing, to be effective now, needs to embed some sort of moral exhortation.
― Tim F, Saturday, 17 December 2016 22:42 (seven years ago) link
Some fun stuff in the bottom 60 or so:
http://www.undertheradarmag.com/lists/under_the_radars_top_100_albums_of_2016/
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 17 December 2016 23:35 (seven years ago) link
Fuck Brumpxit its the 2016 Metal and Hard N' Heavy Rock Poll Results Thread (With spotify and bandcamp links)
― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, 18 December 2016 01:50 (seven years ago) link
dude crazy kudos to Rolling Stone for a "best you didn't hear" list that's actually (a) good stuff that I (b) didn't hear (save Haley Bonar). one of the best lists of the season so far....
― alpine static, Sunday, 18 December 2016 02:52 (seven years ago) link
Thanks for the recommendation, Whiney! I will listen to it tomorrow!
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Sunday, 18 December 2016 05:02 (seven years ago) link
My favorite albums of 2016.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 18 December 2016 05:28 (seven years ago) link
(Psst you know that Redemption is losted both at 11 & 13?)
― sushi and the banh mis (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 18 December 2016 08:22 (seven years ago) link
Caught -- thanks.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 18 December 2016 12:54 (seven years ago) link
Maybe I'm just getting older, but The Wire Rewind list looks pretty good to me this year.
― MikoMcha, Monday, 19 December 2016 08:04 (seven years ago) link
could someone post the genre-specific wire lists ?
― ANU (sisilafami), Monday, 19 December 2016 10:57 (seven years ago) link
the saidthegramophone list really is awesome(as per)
― nxd, Monday, 19 December 2016 11:13 (seven years ago) link
popjusticehttps://www.popjustice.com/articles/the-top-45-singles-of-2016/
― nxd, Monday, 19 December 2016 16:55 (seven years ago) link
The NorteñoBlog list is interesting, at least in part because most folks here (including me) will not have heard the majority of the norteño albums on it.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 19 December 2016 17:30 (seven years ago) link
popjustice albumshttp://www.clickhole.com/article/5-disney-princesses-reimagined-caucasian-698
― r|t|c, Monday, 19 December 2016 18:25 (seven years ago) link
lol
― forgive me fader for I have sinned (wins), Monday, 19 December 2016 18:29 (seven years ago) link