Year-End Critics' Polls '07

...Panda Bear's disc sounds to me like everything is on one flat plane...I often can't hear what Nick is talking about in terms of a disc or song's over-compression...

I'd say you just about nailed it even if you maybe don't think you did. The album doesn't have much space, at all, and does sound flat, like a wall, of noise (albeit, well-intentioned, noise). And I, too, love me some contemporary psychedelia. But this just sounds dynamically opaque.

xp How much do you need to know about dubstep to understand what's supposed to make Burial distinctive? I had the thing in my CD changer, playing in the background for a week, and it was totally beyond me. Some parts reminded me of Kate Bush I guess. (Maybe she's sampled?) But mostly, like I said above, the parts I liked okay reminded me of the gothy background music on that first Faithless album. Which is not an insult -- I like the first Faithless album a lot, though I get the idea serious dance critics dismiss it as cheese in retrospect. Anyway, even though I really missed Faithless's *songs,* the Burial thing was pleasant, when the tracks were alternating with other tracks off other albums; when I tried to play the album from start to end, I got bored quick. I got the idea it required some kind of microscope to look at it through that I don't own. But if people who *aren't* dubstep experts get it (and apparently lots of them do), maybe I just have a blind spot.

I think you're right about the absence of "songs". If only the sonics were enough to compensate for that lack on their own. For me, they're not.

I think you're right about the absence of "songs". If only the sonics were enough to compensate for that lack on their own. For me, they're not.

Is it bad that I feel this applies equally to Untrue and Person Pitch?

I guess the question is whether you want to know what distinguishes Burial from *other* dubstep or simply makes him distinctive on his own terms. Most (let's call it) genre-based dubstep is more stark, less lush. Some of it's better, some of it's worse than Burial -- I'm definitely not making any value judgments based on what I see as Burial's deviation from the generic dubstep template. I don't think "getting" Burial requires any sort of microscope; I'd guess that his approach towards sonics simply doesn't resonate with you, Chuck. If I recall correctly you weren't a fan of Radiohead's ambientish forays, right? Not saying Burial = Radiohead, but I can see how someone who wasn't swayed by Kid A wouldn't be swayed by Untrue either. I quite like Burial's music, but for better or for worse I have a real soft spot for mood music.

I actually thought Kid A was marginally less boring than most of the other Radiohead albums from the past few years (more rhythmic and Kraut-rocky, or something.) But yeah, I'm obviously not an atmospheric mood muzik (or Radiohead) fan in general, so maybe I'm just not the right demographic for this stuff. (If anything, to be honest, I kind of hoped Burial were dubbier!)

Kid A also had some, er, content. Or, at least the sonics were good/catchy/weird/interesting enough to provide an alternative for the lack of same.

If you want dubbier Burial, check its first, s/t disc (which I still prefer to its latest, more UK garage/speed garage leanings).

For dubbier, I'd check Soul Jazz's two <I>Box of Dub</i> compilations, which have a much rootsier feel. You also might like the Skull Disco compilation, <I>Soundboy Punishments</i> (which is really 90% Shackleton productions), recently reissued in the U.S. by Rough Trade.

dubsteppier, I mean(t).

whoops, sorry for that poor formatting.

Plus, I have this weird idea that albums are meant to be lived with, a little; sometimes it takes more than a few months (and maybe a couple hit singles) to figure out how good an album is.

Yeah, I noticed that of my top ten albums of the year (still subject to change), eight came out in the first the first half, and none came out later than September, and I got the feeling I wasn't quite comfortable including newer albums that I haven't had as much time to digest, even if I might end up valuing them more later on.

still always subject to change

I love that Soundboy Punishments disc. Is that, in your view, more dubsteppier than Burial?

BTW, while I'm not crazy about Soul Jazz's Box of Dub, Vol. I and II, Vol. I did contain one of Burial's best songs, Unite.

possibly both dubbier and dubsteppier.

Yeah, the first Burial album is DUBstep, whereas the second is dubSTEP.

If I'm voting for "I'm a Flirt (Shoreline)" how do I credit the artist? R. Kelly vs. Broken Social Scene? The Hood Internet? ABX?

Precedent created by votes for Freelance Hellraiser in 2002?

Is The Hood Internet the person who did the mashup? If so, I'd go with that. (I'd never heard of him/her until you mentioned it... I know the track thru youtube, where it's uncredited, at least the version I bookmarked is.)

Anyway, it seems like the person who did the mashup would be the logical 'artist,' no?

Just the man I was looking to talk to!

The Hood Internet is the mash-up project of two guys, ABX and DJ STV SLV. They're put up on the website www.thehoodinternet.com, but the link that you click to download the song mentions the individual mash-upper. Also the title of the post is ARTIST VS. ARTIST. Confusing.

ilx rap clique will definitely want to know about the hip-hop list at indie surfer:

15. Timbaland - Presents Shock Value
14. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
13. Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
12. Freeway - Free At Last
11. Cunninlynguists - Dirty Acres
10. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead
09. Talib Kweli - Eardrum
08. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
07. Common - Finding Forever
06. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
05. Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
04. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
03. Jay-Z - American Gangster
02. Kanye West - Graduation
01. M.I.A. - Kala

For what it's worth, I know nothing about dubstep and I really liked the album. I think some of my enjoyment came from listening for the vocals on Archangel (like a lot of the reviews referenced) and while I was appreciating that, the music grew on me. I still can't talk about it in any meaningful way outside of my own personal reflections.

Also, what is up with Mona Lisa and Mad Hatter never being a hit? I LOVED that song.

(My little sister's bat mitzvah is next year!)

I'll post altpress/punknews/amp magazine lists when they come out.

Other than the most obvious thing about putting someone who is questionably rap at number one on a list of best rap albums, there's nothing particularly wonky about that list, which isn't to say all the albums are great. If you took M.I.A. out, there would be nothing that screamed "rap list by indie dudes".

14. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
13. Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
11. Cunninlynguists - Dirty Acres
10. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead
09. Talib Kweli - Eardrum

Lots of backpack dudes who don't listen to indie like those people.

i thot "indie dudes" meant dudes who listened to indie rap

(Actually, I like the El-P album, and have been meaning to hear the Kweli, and liked Brother Ali when I saw him live.)

xp: Oh, that makes sense.

is there an interesting hip-hop albums list anywhere? (i.e. i'm too lazy to go looking for one.) unless i'm missing it the only hip-hop on this thread is the vibe singles list.

i liked that brother ali album. i listened to it twice!

(and i mostly thought m.i.a. was a funny rap #1. i haven't heard half the things on that list. including kanye, except the singles.)

There is considerably more hip-hop in those polls than ragas, opera, symphonic rock, Bulgarian traditional music, reggae or even rockabilly.

or even.

Fake Rockist Scientist. (xp)

(i'd like to see a best of '07 rockabilly list too, actually.)

Fake Rockist Scientist. (xp)

Hmph.

ZANG?

the last thing on earth I want to see is an '07 rockabilly list. OK, I'm lying--I'd find it fascinating, probably.

rockabilly bands have good names.

frantic frank and the flattops.

Crazy Joe & the Mad River Outlaws
The Taildraggers
Sue Moreno with Jussi Huhtakangas
Levi Dexter & The Rockats
Three Bad Jacks
Slim Jim Phantom & Eddie Angel
Buck Stevens
The Seatsniffers
The Vibro Champs
The Lucky Stars with Dave Stuckey
Charlie Thompson with the Lucky Stars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_fNnFTlNck

"NO wonder YouTube is so successful and risisng when it comes to music and radio is falling; it has what's really out there and what folks want really hear: rock-a-billy, surf...American styles essentially banned from commercial radio.

Let's hope the Internet does no go the same way as radio and televsion. Long Live YouTube!"

i told you they had good names. jussi huhtakangas!

feel free to share some choice year-end interweb blurbs:

Justice - Cross
"I hate hate hate dance music… or, at least, I did. Something about the crop of music to come out this year has given me a second look at music to which one shakes their booty. This was one of the albums to do so. There are points where it totally gets dark and evil, like “Stress,” but “D.A.N.C.E.” is such a boogie down, feel good song that i can’t help but get it on - much to the shagrin of my co-workers."

did anyone post ABC News top 50(!!!):

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/FallConcert/story?id=3999759&page=1

that list's not half bad!

THE SHAGRIN!!!

It's like a cross between Boogie Down Productions, Bjork, and the Slits with an Eastern twist.

Except their number 1 was actually released in 2006

never heard of rough trade's number one:

http://www.roughtrade.com/site/content.lasso?page=top100_2007.html

this page has too many lists:

http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2007/11/2007_online_bes.html

like four zillion lists.