Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

I'm a little surprised that "Music For the Quiet Hour" isn't on any lists

Shackleton & Pinch got totally shafted last year too iirc. Dunno how Shackleton would work in a club at all, ought to make more of an effort to go and see him, but he's my go-to producer for creepy midnight dog-walking music. That whole set is such a sprawling, mysterious labyrinth of a record, it's definitely paid off spending a lot of time with it.

Fucking hell, the comments on that Guardian thread

Is this for real?

Music is not just the preserve of the young, the trendy and the journalists. And undoubtedly - whatever an individuals personal preferences - there are many better releases this year than those listed, that have either been ignored or not considered "with it" enough for inclusion (or even bothering to listen to in most cases, I suspect.

As for the Morrissey quote: well this has been the case for at least 20 years: where are all the albums for the white, middle-aged, middle class, who like their artists to have some integrity and life-experience, and who like their music written and performed by those who can actually write and perform?

I expect to get ridiculed for this, but 3 of the best albums produced this year by British artists - all self-penned and performed; all appreciated by fans as a high mark in each band's career, and all thoroughly independent from modern commercialism are:

Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made
Anathema - Weather Systems
Big Big Train - English Electric Part 1

I don't expect any of these to figure in this top 40 - or pretty much any "top" listing of the year. Which is a shame.

These lists are pointless - take no notice!

where are all the albums for the white, middle-aged, middle class

where oh where

Dunno how Shackleton would work in a club at all

Really well. His live set is absolutely amazing. You wouldn't htink it would work in a club but live he just kills it every time

Basically you only need "It's Serious", "Landscapes" and "Playin' Me"

i don't necessarily disagree that there's a certain element of backgroundiness to the cooly g album but i totally disagree with this - if anything i think the album is stronger the more vocal-driven it is, ie "he said i said", "come into my room" etc

I'm not actually saying the rest of the album isn't great though quoting half my post may imply that - I probably should have said "these are the 'standout' tracks but the backgroundiness of the rest (including the vocal tracks) is something I still find really enjoyable/compelling/etc."

there were several pretty great dance albums in 2012. andy stott, michael mayer, voices from the lake, lindstrøm, vatican shadow, smallpeople, blondes. dunno why people didn't rally round them, they certainly should have.

cos people who like dance music listen to singles and mixes

do they?

We don't need to do this again.

lol, just trolling

We don't need to do this again.

don't worry, we won't! best to stick to waving around football scarfs emblazoned with the names of our favourite bands/vague musical causes.

nah best to carry on posting on a music messageboard about how even expressing an opinion about music is fundamentally worthless while studiously sticking to snark and failing to say a single fucking interesting thing ever yourself

http://www.ehow.com/way_5768019_microwave-popcorn-instructions.html

don't worry, we won't! best to stick to waving around football scarfs emblazoned with the names of our favourite bands/vague musical causes

This would actually be preferable to doing "Albums: Are they or aren't they irrelavent to dance music?" for the eight millionth time.

HARDZUNG

nah best to carry on posting on a music messageboard about how even expressing an opinion about music is fundamentally worthless while studiously sticking to snark and failing to say a single fucking interesting thing ever yourself

see i didn't say this at all, but i know it's difficult when someone interrupts the all-caps juvenile crowing.

This would actually be preferable to doing "Albums: Are they or aren't they irrelavent to dance music?" for the eight millionth time.

i didn't suggest we do this, matt.

see i didn't say this at all, but i know it's difficult when someone interrupts the all-caps juvenile crowing.

when your entire style is misrepresenting what others are doing it's not a good look to whine about being misrepresented yourself

there were several pretty great dance albums in 2012. andy stott, michael mayer, voices from the lake, lindstrøm, vatican shadow, smallpeople, blondes. dunno why people didn't rally round them, they certainly should have.

I've only heard the lindstrom out of these, and felt pretty neutral about it, I keep forgetting about the Smallpeople album, i WILL try that later today, I also remember your voices from the lake recommendation, i should try that too, never heard of blondes or vatican shadow

there's apparently (yet another) new STL album, not heard it yet tho....i'm kinda drowning in records this year

bought a couple double lps just for one track recently also:/

i was a bit confused by vatican shadow - it's the prurient guy, right? i listened to some stuff i downloaded and it sounded like someone treading on bubblewrap for about 5 minutes. i'm assuming that's not what it's supposed to be?

extra points for not saying an insect walking on a microphone

Think the thing about those albums, except Blondes/Lindstrom (and maybe Andy Stott, dunno haven't heard it), is that they aren't really going to hook in people who aren't particularly into dance music. I'd expect them to place in the RA and maybe FACT polls.

obv i am not saying that those albums are an entire representation of dance music in 2012, which we know is track/mix-driven, but in a thread focusing on albums i felt it would be pertinent to mention a few excellent electronic full-lengths that i could imagine others enjoying

the andy stott album is really amazing though, i say this as someone who had never cared about his stuff before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVvgWXX8RzU

i think vatican shadow has released more than one album this year, it seems that the one i've been enjoying (ghosts of chechnya) is his first totally techno one

andy stott - now he did one last year which i thought was okay if a bit one-trick-poneyish - like a study in sidechain compression. I reckon it would have sounded amazing on a big rig, but it didn't suit my morning commute so much. Is this album much different?

Same basic sound (a great one too imo) but the vocals totally give it another dimension

Think the thing about those albums, except Blondes/Lindstrom (and maybe Andy Stott, dunno haven't heard it), is that they aren't really going to hook in people who aren't particularly into dance music. I'd expect them to place in the RA and maybe FACT polls.

with say, michael mayer, most people i know seem way more excited about the RA mix than the album. i'm not talking about some cabal of hardcore dance heads or whatever either, just that i don't even know anyone who has mentioned mantasy or talked about it, whereas the RA mix had a huge buzz going from loads of people. and hardly surprising, a mayer mix is better than most albums.

similarly the dixon/ame boiler room is one of the things people have talked about most this year, in my anecdotal experience.

There's a pretty long history of Kompakt artist albums being a bit underwhelming that feeds into this a bit. The Mayer album is nice but it doesn't feel essential (or particularly danceable for most of it). I haven't actually heard the RA mix, I should rectify that immediately. The barely-listened to 12hr Mayer mix is still sitting on my desktop from the beginning of the year, chastening me.

I'm assuming anything called 'Ghosts of Chechnya' is going to be at the bleak and austere end of the spectrum?

that Voices From The Lake album is pretty terrific and I would cheerfully recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in techno, but I'm not kidding myself that that equals real-world crossover appeal

the Sigha album also, although that's only been out about a fortnight

I'm assuming anything called 'Ghosts of Chechnya' is going to be at the bleak and austere end of the spectrum?

― Matt DC, Thursday, 29 November 2012 13:12 (10 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's actually a banging set of hi-nrg turbo folk pop trash, arkan gave it four stars in the observer iirc

That guy is pretty big on bleak panicky terror in general - as dog latin said, he's also the guy behind Prurient who were a harsh noise meets coldwave synth thing. Don't know what the Ghosts of Chechnya is like exactly, but he's had a whole pile of releases over the last year or so in that series, all with record covers featuring portraits of soldiers etc from recent zones of conflict and track titles like Bin Laden's Corpse. Good times.

this Vatican Shadow album is incredible

I've been in a cave for a while, when did industrial lounge music start happening?

andy stott - now he did one last year which i thought was okay if a bit one-trick-poneyish - like a study in sidechain compression. I reckon it would have sounded amazing on a big rig, but it didn't suit my morning commute so much. Is this album much different?

― make like a steak and beef (dog latin), Thursday, November 29, 2012 5:00 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Same basic sound (a great one too imo) but the vocals totally give it another dimension

― Albert Crampus (NickB), Thursday, November 29, 2012 5:03 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd go a bit further than this and say that Luxury Problems could really appeal to people who weren't bothered with the two from last year (like lex). The vocals add a lot, but the whole album sprawls less and has more variety--it's a lot less relentless sonically.

it's actually a banging set of hi-nrg turbo folk pop trash, arkan gave it four stars in the observer iirc

― r|t|c, Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:28 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this sounds like the best thing ever

Mixtarum Metallum IV: The 20 Best of 2012
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/tools/full/165770

Neurosis - Honor Found in Decay
Liberteer - Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Black Breath - Sentenced to Life
God Seed - I Begin
Royal Thunder - CVI
The Secret - Agnus Dei
High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Evoken - Atra Mors
Martyrdöd - Paranoia
Conan - Monnos
Titan - Burn
Napalm Death - Utilitarian
Dordeduh - Dar de Duh
Witch Mountain - Cauldron of the Wild
Nachtmystium - Silencing Machine
Nihill - Verdonkermaan
Gaza - No Absolutes in Human Suffering
Ufomammut - Oro: Opus Primum & Opus Alter
AMENRA - Mass V

They won't rank them (even though they obviously have the numbers to have pulled out the top 20 as voted by staff) as if they love all 20 equally. Please.

this is exactly how communist Russia started

o do tell, dj mencap!

this Vatican Shadow album is incredible

I've been in a cave for a while, when did industrial lounge music start happening?

From the equivalent thread last year:

... Are they kidding with this Vatican Shadow track?

― OH NOES, Tuesday, December 6, 2011 3:09 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mean, I am not opposed to ambient but 10 minutes of unimaginative stasis as one of the best tracks of the year is just silly

― OH NOES, Tuesday, December 6, 2011 3:11 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahaha

(Apologies if I have usernames muddled up. Not sure why that stuck in my mind from last year, I think because that FACT end of year round up was when I got into him.)

Going back to that to see if I've changed my mind or not

ha yeah, it was the fact that this track starts with 4 and a half minutes of undifferentiated synth washes that made me cranky, not so much about the track itself but holding it up in isolation as one of the best tracks of 2011

the tracks on Ghosts of Chechnya get to the point much, much faster, with sound textures I find more appealing, than the homogenously pretty wash going through the beginning of "Whitewashed Compound Stealth Helicopter Crash"

I wasn't that sold on him but 'Tehran Oil Pipeline Destruction Plot' was a total party rock anthem.

Jazz critic Ted Gioia's top 100:
http://tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2012.html

I do like that Zita Swoon Group album though the concept (Belgian indie fuxxors jam with musicians from Burkina Faso) might not inspire confidence around these parts. Also good to see the Vijay Iyer and Eyvind Kang albums turn up on a list.

I still need to check that one out. Lots of non-jazz on his list--he's got Mickey Hart, David Byrne and others there.

Ugh, John Mayer, Galactic

There will be a P&J, by the way. Who will or won't vote in it, I don't know, but I'll be tabulating. I'm going to vote, myself, and my tabulation process will definitely be simpler if I don't have to reconcile my votes with anybody else's.