Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22Justin+Beaver+or+whatever+his+name+is%22&oq=%22Justin+Beaver+or+whatever+his+name+is%22&gs_l=hp.3...84.1105.1.1831.3.3.0.0.0.1.458.1175.2-1j0j2.3.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.QY2WmRUZE_Y&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.d2k&fp=a990c85c38ccdf8e&bpcl=39967673&biw=1143&bih=702

top result is a tweet by former Cardiff City defender Spencer Prior

Does bieber or biber not just mean beaver in German anyway?

The sad thing is that so many of them honestly can't distinguish between Rihanna/Savages/Plan B/TNGHT. They're so estranged from music, and often at a surprisingly young age, that they have to take out their frustration on new artists and anyone who likes them. They can't keep up but they won't let go so the only option is to blame someone else: "I don't listen to modern music not because I'm growing older but because it's all terrible." These people seem to really dig solo albums by ex-members of Britpop bands.

At least those ex-members still have souls and sing their own songs.

This commenter on the Channel Orange article has clearly seen through your scheming:

It's not a bad album...
but I get the impression that it's number 1 for reasons other than musical.

xp Makes you realise that outside of the ILX/music critic bubble the world of "serious" music fans is, and always will be, Rockism Central.

Resident Advisor - Top 20 Albums
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1704

01. Voices from the Lake - Voices From the Lake [Prologue]
02. Actress - RIP [Honest Jon's]
03. John Talabot - fIN [Permanent Vacation]
04. Andy Stott - Luxury Problems [Modern Love]
05. Daphni - Jiaolong [Jiaolong]
06. Shackleton - Music for the Quiet Hour [Woe to the Septic Heart]
07. Vessel - Order of Noise [Tri Angle]
08. Shed - The Killer [50 Weapons]
09. Robert Hood - Motor: Nighttime World 3 [Music Man]
10. Barker & Baumecker - Transsektoral [Ostgut Ton]
11. Jam City - Classical Curves [Night Slugs]
12. Grimes - Visions [4AD]
13. Lee Gamble - Diversions 1994 - 1996 [PAN]
14. Recondite - On Acid [Acid Test]
15. Silent Servant - Negative Fascination [Hospital Productions]
16. Chromatics - Kill for Love [Italians Do It Better]
17. Ricardo Villalobos - Dependent and Happy [Perlon]
18. Smallpeople - Salty Days [Smallville]
19. Laurel Halo - Quarantine [Hyperdub]
20. Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line [Blackest Ever Black]

01. Voices from the Lake - Voices From the Lake [Prologue]
03. John Talabot - fIN [Permanent Vacation]
04. Andy Stott - Luxury Problems [Modern Love]
05. Daphni - Jiaolong [Jiaolong]
15. Silent Servant - Negative Fascination [Hospital Productions]
18. Smallpeople - Salty Days [Smallville]

^^AWESOME

I just don't understand that Voices From The Lake album. Also i vastly preferred Andy Stott's stuff from last year

the Shed album is kind of on the verge of really doing it for me but I can't fully commit. might give it another go later

AV Club pick their least essential albums of 2012, boo to their number one choice http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-least-essential-albums-of-2012,89882/2/

How the hell have I never heard Ian Brown singing Thriller before?

AV Club gave "least essential album" to A*Teens two years in a row so i view it as a mark of distinction.

I had no idea that Fear album existed and that thing w/ Praga Khan sounds incredible so they can have a pass for being smooth rong re: Farrah A

wtf this sounds nothing like Injected With A Poison, it's just some douchery. BOOOOOOOOOOO

That Robert Hood album is great as well although you don't read Resident Advisor for their album reviews really.

cosign on the Robert Hood

I need to give that Andy Stott album another go, I found it a bit dense and smokey when I first listened to it.

xp Makes you realise that outside of the ILX/music critic bubble the world of "serious" music fans is, and always will be, Rockism Central.

in a paper like the guardian's comments, definitely, but there are lots of music fans who are quite open minded without being ilx types or music critics. don't you guys have friends who you give tips to who like good things but seldom hunt them down themselves? a lot of my old friends are like this.

and of course, as ever, the pleased person or the person who politely agrees or enjoyed a piece, they don't even bother commenting.

been meaning to check that Robert Hood album out, I shall give it a go.

^^^ boring posts of our time

Actually there are quite a few positive comments (and ironic expressions of outrage) on that thread.

I dunno though the neanderthal lad-rock hanger on who thinks Ian Brown is god is still a significant and vocal demographic, they just don't have very much to latch onto now.

NPR listener top 50:

Mumford & Sons, Babel
Of Monsters And Men, My Head Is An Animal
Alabama Shakes, Boys And Girls
Jack White, Blunderbuss
Grizzly Bear, Shields
The Lumineers, The Lumineers
Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
Beach House, Bloom
The xx, Coexist
Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel...
fun., Some Nights
The Avett Brothers, The Carpenter
Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Regina Spektor, What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
Passion Pit, Gossamer
Andrew Bird, Break It Yourself
Cat Power, Sun
The Shins, Port Of Morrow
First Aid Kit, The Lion's Roar
Tame Impala, Lonerism
The Tallest Man On Earth, There's No Leaving Now
Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan
Alt-J, An Awesome Wave
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, M.A.A.D. city
Gotye, Making Mirrors
Grimes, Visions
Lana Del Rey, Born To Die
Kishi Bashi, 151a
David Byrne & St. Vincent, Love This Giant
Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
Sigur Ros, Valtari
Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas
Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
Father John Misty, Fear Fun
Amanda Palmer, Theatre Is Evil
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Here
Norah Jones, Little Broken Hearts
Purity Ring, Shrines
Bob Dylan, Tempest
The Mountain Goats, Transcendental Youth
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill
Best Coast, The Only Place
Santigold, Master Of My Make-Believe
The Walkmen, Heaven
Sleigh Bells, Reign Of Terror
Cloud Nothings, Attack On Memory
Bat For Lashes, The Haunted Man
Band Of Horses, Mirage Rock
M. Ward, A Wasteland Companion

fun list

I need to give that Andy Stott album another go, I found it a bit dense and smokey when I first listened to it.

I'm not 100% into it - some bits do feel like a drag but there's a few tracks where he switches things up and throws in an extra ingredient like a slight increase in tempo or something and those songs are just spellbinding for me.

Claro Intelecto should have made the list imo, that album sounded gorgeous in the summer and now it sounds perfect in the winter, such a spacious and detailed record.

I gave the Beach House album another listen today. I liked a lot of the songs, although after about 8 of them they do seem to melt into one. It does take its cues from the Cocteaus (although I did admittedly exaggerate their facsimiliousness (word?) upthread); I can see why people think she could be a male singer although that's not the impression I get. And I still couldn't make out more than a couple of lyrics on the whole album, the way the vocals are mixed.

and of course, as ever, the pleased person or the person who politely agrees or enjoyed a piece, they don't even bother commenting.

― Heterocyclic ring ring (LocalGarda), Friday, December 14, 2012 11:40 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is u+k esp in regard to all the tools on there giving it the big YOU'RE LOSING YOUR READERSHIP spiel. there may well be a stack of reasons why the paper is losing its readership but I doubt writing with earnest positivity about music enjoyed by young people is that high up the list

FWIW, I haven't checked the Guardian comments boxes because I like music.

yeah idk why I do it to myself other than that I have a problem

Sometimes its fun to watch strangers getting pointlessly butthurt about things.

new board description amirite

i'm endlessly entertained by the outraged thundering from guardian commenters ("HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME" <3 <3 <3 ) but it's also really nice to see the rare lovely, complimentary comment

i'm sure the guardian comments are hideous and rockist and all things evil, but i am surprised at a newspaper so happily being in conflict w/ the tastes and feelings of its readership (and yeah yeah, free interweb commentators are not the exact same thing as actual paying punters - but there must be a large degree of crossover.) i spoke to someone who works for the mirror group a little while ago, and they pointed out to me that there IS still a relatively large core of ppl over the age of forty who remain loyal to newsprint, and are likely to still buy papers for another 30 years or so - whereas, the readership under 30 is pretty much lost, gone, never to return. now you cld say it was...brave...to rep so hard for stuff that yr readers by and large disliked, or dismissed as pap (and we know that the traditional british left has always had a prob w/ popular culture, for all sorts of reasons) - but i can't really see the commercial sense in it, and i can't see such an agressively oppositional stance making many new converts, either. so it all looks a bit like journos talking to themselves and congratulating themselves on their free-thinking taste - which is not really a good look, imho

as a wire reading cafe oto-ing tosser i also despair at the lack of keiji haino on that list WHAT WERE THEY THINKING

But the Guardian's online readership, or a significant proportion of it, is under 30 and that's where the debate is going on. We don't know the age of most of the commenters. The number of people shaking their heads at the print version is probably relatively small, no one is going to stop buying the print version of the Guardian because its music section has plumped for Carly Rae Jespen over Dylan.

i'm sure you know more abt this than me, Matt - but then, why aren't more of the online readers endorsing this poll?

That's one of the most refreshing things about the Guardian's music policy. I don't think it necessarily neglects casual readers or ones more wedded to traditional rock but it's also really willing to take risks and follow its own path at the same time.

The difference always seems to be whether music articles are linked to the home page. Anything placed in the culture section will generally get an ok response, anything linked to the home page will have people who logged in to complain about immigration or Obama chipping in on Taylor Swift at the same time.

courtesy of our very own Herman G Neuname, lets all have a good laugh at the Kerrang! top 100 albums list.

101 FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS - MILITIA OF THE LOST
100 GREEN DAY iDOS!
99 FOZZY - SIN AND BONES
98 BLACKLISTERS - BLKLSTRS
97 WILLIAM CONTROL - SHITENIUM AMORIS
96 GALLOWS - GALLOWS
95 SET IT OFF - CINEMATICS
94 ENSLAVED - RIITIIR
93 NAPALM DEATH - UTILITARIAN
92 YOU SLUT! - MEDIUM BASTARD
91 THE GHOST INSIDE - GET WHAT YOU GIVE
90 LINKIN PARK - LIVING THINGS
89 SAINT VITUS - LILLIE:F-65
88 TORCHE - HARMONICRAFT
87 BURY TOMORROW - THE UNION OF CROWNS
86 YASHIN - WE CREATED A MONSTER
85 MESHUGGAH - KOLOSS
84 OFF! - OFF!
83 DON BROCO - PRIORITIES
82 WHITECHAPEL - SHITECHAPEL
81 THE WORD ALIVE - LIFE CYCLES
80 HIGH ON FIRE - DE VERMIS MYSTERIIS
79 THERAPY?- A BRIEF CRACK OF LIGHT
78 PERIPHERY - ii
77 MARILYN MANSON - BORN VILLAIN
76 ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD - LOST SONGS
75 FEED THE RHINO - THE BURNING SONS
74 DEAF HAVANA - FOOLS AND WORTHLESS LIARS
73 SLASH- APOCALYPTIC LOVE
72 NECRO DEATHMORT - THE COLONIAL SCRIPT
71 BRAD - UNITED WE STAND
70 WE ARE THE OCEAN - MAYBE TODAY, MAYBE TOMORROW
69 COHEED AND CAMBRIA - THE AFTERMAN:ASCENSION
68 YOUR DEMISE - THE GOLDEN AGE
67 MEMPHIS MAY FIRE - CHALLENGER
66 LOSTPROPHETS - WEAPONS
65 JOYCE MANOR -OF ALL THINGS I WILL SOON GROW TIRED
64 KISS - MONSTER
63 DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT - EPICLOUD
62 NACHTMYSTIUM - SILENCING MACHINE
61 SMASHING PUMPKINS - OCEANIA
60 METZ - METZ
59 SHINEDOWN - SYPHILIS
58 THE MARS VOLTA - NOCTOURNIQUET
57 NOW, NOW- THREADS
56 BLACK MOTH - THE KILLING JAR
55 SERJ TANKIAN - HARAKIRI
54 TONIGHT ALIVE - WHAT ARE YOU SO SCARED OF?
53 OF MICE & MEN - THE FLOOD
52 MUSE - THE 2ND LAW
51 SKYHARBOR - BLINDING WHITE NOISE - ILLUSION AND CHAOS

50 MARK LANEGAN BAND- BLUES FUNERAL
49 HALESTORM - THE STRANGE CASE OF
48 ALL TIME LOW -DON'T PANIC
47 TURBONEGRO - SEXUAL HARASSMENT
46 TITLE FIGHT - FLORAL GREEN
45 NEUROSIS - HONOR FOUND IN DECAY
44 ALCEST - Les Voyages De L'Âme
43 PILGRIM - MISERY WIZARD
42 MOTIONLESS IN SHITE - INFAMOUS
41 THE DARKNESS - SHIT CAKES
40 WOODS OF YPRES- WOODS 5:GREY SKIES & ELECTRIC LIGHT
39 ORANGE GOBLIN - A EULOGY FOR THE DAMNED
38 STEVE HARRIS - BRITISH LION
37 BLACK BREATH - SENTENCED TO LIFE
36 ARCHITECTS - DAYBREAKER
35 ROLO TOMASSI - ASTRAEA
34 MIXTAPES - EVEN ON THE WORST NIGHTS
33 THE CHARIOT- ONE WING
32 KILLING JOKE - MMXII
31 VISION OFDISORDER - THE CURSEDREMAIN CURSED
30 RUSH - CLOCKWORK ANGELS
29 LOSTALONE - I'M A UFO IN THIS CITY
28 AXEWOUND - VULTURES
27 RIVAL SONS - HEAD DOWN
26 DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL - EMPIRE OF LIGHT
25 STONE SOUR - HOUSE OF GOLD AND BONES PART 1
24 PARKWAY DRIVE - ATLAS
23 YOUNG GUNS - BONES
22 BILLY NO-TALENT - DEAD SILENCE
21 BARONESS - YELLOW & GREEN
20 EVERYTIME I DIE - EX LIVES
19 THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM - HANDWRITTEN
18 SOUNDGARDEN - KING ANIMAL
17 CANCER BATS - DEAD SET ON LIVING
16 GOJIRA - L'ENFANT SAUSAGE
15 LOWER THAN ATLANTIS - CHANGING TUNE
14 PAPA ROACH - THE CONNECTION
13 THE MENZINGERS - ON THE IMPOSSIBLE PAST
12 WINTERFYLLETH - THE THRENODY OF TRIUMPH
11 HAWK EYES - IDEAS
10 LAMB OF GOD- RESOLUTION
9 MOTION SHITTY SOUNDTRACK - GO
8 BLOOD SAUSAGE - FUNERAL BEACH
7 GREEN DAY - !UNO
6 CONVERGE - ALL WE LOVE WE LEAVE BEHIND
5 PIERCE THE VEIL - COLLIDE WITHTHE SKY
4 WHILE SHE SLEEPS- THIS IS THE SIX
3 ANATHEMA - WEATHER SYSTEMS
2 DEFTONES - KOI NO YOKAN
1 ENTER SHITARI - A FLASHFLOOD OF COLOUR

imo it's almost giving them too much credit to talk about graun commentators in terms of an oppositional discourse, you can go on p much any article about anything on there and find the same soulless misanthropic knobheads impotently gurning away

they say the same thing abt ilx

great point, really makes you think

It's always the dumbest voices which are the loudest. For all the outraged fossils in the Guardian comments section, there are probably 10 more who enjoyed and agreed with it to some extent.

ENTER SHITARI - see what you did there.

Amazing to think those guys started out playing at the same local venue I promote in and now they're topping the Kerrang list.

I suspect the thing that's most enraging the comments box crew is the Carly Rae/Usher double whammy at the top and being angry about mainstream pop and/or R&B isn't really something that's confined to older people.

I dunno, I think any poll trying to second-guess or consciously cater to the tastes of a readership as broad as the Guardian's would just end up kind of glom-in-the-middle or fail at its stated aim anyway. Especially in a year like 2012 without any real defining narrative. That way lies modern-era Village Voice cobblers.

it's the people who don't enjoy Call Me Maybe OR Guardian commentalists i feel sorry for greatly admire

the lower rungs of that Guardian poll are infinitely more interesting than the top 10.

good to see early 90s riot grrrl band Blood Sausage bouncing back and getting K! kudos

It's always the dumbest voices which are the loudest.

― besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Friday, 14 December 2012 12:39 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

http://i.imgur.com/yveQv.png

Gorblimey.

I'm trying to get my head round exactly how awful a Green Day album would have to be to only make #100 on a Kerrang! list.