Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

The beats on the Lone album are definitely highly syncopated, but they don't strike me as particularly random

The time signatures of the drums/percussion seem to be absolutely random much of the time. That's probably not true, but they're more complex than I feel like bothering with. xp

you have got to be kidding

I don't even like "I Belong In Your Arms," but the Talabot remix is the best remix I've heard this year.

Feeling kinda bad for Animal Collective.

Is Sharon Von Etten making a lot of lists?

fewer than Grimes but more than like Kathleen Edwards

#ladies

I really live Sharon Von Etten, but I think the new one is mostly boring. I don't feel like she needs to be catering to the Paste crowd.

xxpost

Damn shame, as that Kathleen Edwards record is solid.

Animal Collective really blew it this time, huh? They haven't even enjoyed any of the post-breakthrough momentum that disappointing follow-ups often get (hello The xx).

Dude, MPP was "post-breakthrough" like three albums deep

idk, I think its fair to call MPP another level of breakthough, i mean like NPR audience level breakthrough

The beats on the Lone album are definitely highly syncopated, but they don't strike me as particularly random

It's cool, I'm not a rhythm ace. I just don't find that kind of madhouse dodging of 4/4 too enjoyable.

xp How so? It got way more attention and sales than any of their previous albums.

It's cool, I'm not a rhythm ace. I just don't find that kind of madhouse dodging of 4/4 too enjoyable.

THERE IS NO DODGING OF 4/4 ON THE ALBUM, EVERY SINGLE FUCKING SONG IS IN 4/4

Uncut sure loves the hell out of Ty Segall, with three of his albums in their list. I agree with Spin that Twins is the best one. When I first heard his name a few years ago, I that he was a rapper, lol.

AnCo "broke through" in like 2004. They used that momentum to break through higher and higher places (like NPR) over the course of two or three more albums over half a decade of work

The XX hit paydirt first time out and now are following up on it. The analogy doesn't work

Okay, DJP. Fine. Whatever. It still makes me squirm and want to put on, like, AC/DC or something so I know that up is up and down is down.

is whiney doing his leftfield/noisy shit list this year y/n?

ty segall name always makes me want to start a woozy britronica group called SEAGULL I THANK YOU.

cuz those kinds of names are popular these days.

xpost y

good man!

new sad borad description:

"Feeling kinda bad for Animal Collective."

xp Do I need to spell it out? The career paths are not the same but the situation of following a big-selling, widely acclaimed, NPR-wooing indie album with a muted, poorly received one three years later is similar. I'm not going to waste time arguing about what does and doesn't count as a breakthrough.

... Coexist wasn't poorly received, unless you are just looking at a small subset of the critical reaction?

You apparently had to spell it ot because I had no idea that you meant that. Neither one of those records was especially "poorly recieved" though

I mean, Coexist is currently rating a 79 on Metacritic, how does that translate to "poorly received"?

MPP reached a lot of people who were never going to be into Centipede Hz, I doubt anyone expected it to sell as well. What I find interesting is the critical abandonment as shown in these EOY lists.

because we have Grimes now...

<b>GRIMES</b>

i def got the impression that coexist had a lukewarm reception (not just here but among UK critics) but perhaps not

it had a lukewarm reception on ilx iirc

lol yeah, and then everyone else gave it an 8

That Spin list is pretty good. It's just occurred to me I have no idea what Japandroids sound like at all.

The strongest songs on that Santigold album were great but the record as an entirety was kind of an uninspiring 6/10 and I'm surprised enough people rated it highly enough to vote it into the top 10 in any list. I can't imagine it inspiring sufficient love or hate really.

I pretty much adore the entire Santigold album and don't get why people hate any of the songs on it.

It's not hate (as least not in my case). It's just..."oh, that's nice". Matt DC otm with uninspiring.

i don't get the (muted) enthusiasm for japandroids (there and elsewhere i've seen), i haven't been able to get into that album. i think it's retroactive praise for people who missed praising their first album.

every song being "oh that's nice" as opposed to controversial or hot --> long term critical success

Any Irish polls been announced yet? Be interesting to see how Frank O'Shane has gone down in the old country with his collection of loyalist ballads.

I had high expectations for the Japandroids LP. I'm psyched that people are into it because I think they deserve their success, but IMO the energy on the 2010 singles and the 2009 full-length seemed a lot more genuine.

or more natural, and less labored...

no one is liking the new titus andronicus album? did it get any chatter on ilx?

xp Like seandalai says: "I doubt anyone expected it to sell as well. What I find interesting is the critical abandonment as shown in these EOY lists." MPP was a P&J-winning album that got rave reviews across the board - CHz, without being an obvious dud, is hardly registering a mention. Something similar happened to TVOTR last year and I see it happening to a lesser extent with the xx. Metacritic doesn't tell you much because there are a lot of over-generous critics out there and if you're a certain kind of band you have to deliver a real turkey to get less than 70.

IMO CHz is way better than Dear Science.

SPIN has a section called "Worst New Music."

no, 'nine kinds of light' (?) would be the analogue.

Yes, exactly. Using P&J as a very rough measure of EOY consensus, Dear Science was #1 and Nine Types was #43.

Yeah I didn't really care about Dear Science or Nine Kinds of Light. I especially don't understand Dear Science getting P&J/SPIN "album of the year" back in the day.. While "Centipede Hz" I think is simply getting forgotten for being less-than-outstanding even though it's full of well executed ideas.

Any noteworthy singles/tracks lists floating around?

Popmatters started their 'best songs of 2012' list today.