Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

actually i didnt even read the list properly but im still happy to maintain that poptimists are the worst people

It's all pop music ya big dummy

Rate Your Music Top Albums of 2013

1 Gorguts  - Colored Sands
2 Boards of Canada  - Tomorrow's Harvest
3 Run the Jewels  - Run the Jewels
4 Sigur Rós  - Kveikur
5 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds  - Push the Sky Away
6 Tim Hecker  - Virgins
7 My Bloody Valentine  - m b v
8 Steven Wilson  - The Raven That Refused to Sing
9 Kurt Vile  - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
10 Jon Hopkins  - Immunity
11 Haken  - The Mountain
12 Dennis Johnson  - November (R. Andrew Lee)
13 Queens of the Stone Age  - ...Like Clockwork
14 Vampire Weekend  - Modern Vampires of the City
15 Inquisition  - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
16 Julia Holter  - Loud City Song
17 The National  - Trouble Will Find Me
18 Bill Callahan  - Dream River
19 Summoning  - Old Mornings Dawn
20 Anathema  - Universal
21 Deafheaven  - Sunbather
22 Danny Brown  - Old
23 Gris  - À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée...
24 Carcass  - Surgical Steel
25 Blood Ceremony  - The Eldritch Dark
26 The Drones  - I See Seaweed
27 Peter Brötzmann  - Long Story Short
28 Satan  - Life Sentence
29 Earthless  - From the Ages
30 Cult of Luna  - Vertikal
31 Arcade Fire  - Reflektor
32 DARKSIDE  - Psychic
33 Prefab Sprout  - Crimson/Red
34 Leprous  - Coal
35 David Bowie  - The Next Day
36 Riverside  - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
37 Clutch  - Earth Rocker
38 The Dillinger Escape Plan  - One of Us Is the Killer
39 Fire! Orchestra  - Exit!
40 The Ocean  - Pelagial
41 Kanye West  - Yeezus
42 The Kniφe  - Shaking the Habitual
43 Ulver With Tromsø Chamber Orchestra  - Messe I.X–VI.X
44 Neko Case  - The Worse Things Get…
45 Chelsea Wolfe  - Pain Is Beauty
46 Grateful Dead  - Sunshine Daydream: Veneta Oregon 8/27/72
47 Kayo Dot  - Hubardo
48 Roy Harper  - Man and Myth
49 The Field  - Cupid's Head
50 Orphaned Land  - All Is One
51 Nails  - Abandon All Life
52 Ulcerate  - Vermis
53 Janelle Monáe  - The Electric Lady
54 Soilwork  - The Living Infinite
55 Laura Marling  - Once I Was an Eagle
56 Alter Bridge  - Fortress
57 Persefone  - Spiritual Migration
58 Oranssi Pazuzu  - Valonielu
59 Forest Swords  - Engravings
60 Fuck Buttons  - Slow Focus
61 Omnium Gatherum  - Beyond
62 James Blake  - Overgrown
63 Eluvium  - Nightmare Ending
64 Stara Rzeka  - Cień chmury nad ukrytym polem
65 Alameda 3  - Późne królestwo
66 Enforcer  - Death by Fire
67 Wardruna  - Runaljod – Yggdrasil
68 Vàli  - Skogslandskap
69 Big Big Train  - English Electric (Part Two)
70 Primal Scream  - More Light
71 Goldfrapp  - Tales of Us
72 Matana Roberts  - Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
73 James Holden  - The Inheritors
74 The World Is a Beautiful Place… - Whenever, If Ever
75 In Vain  - Ænigma
76 Blindead  - Absence
77 Amorphis  - Circle
78 Oneohtrix Point Never  - R Plus Seven
79 Windhand  - Soma
80 Mazzy Star  - Seasons of Your Day
81 Scale the Summit  - The Migration
82 Melt-Banana  - Fetch
83 Thee Oh Sees  - Floating Coffin
84 Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge  - Twelve Reasons to Die
85 Altar of Plagues  - Teethed Glory and Injury
86 Fates Warning  - Darkness in a Different Light
87 Fuzz  - Fuzz
88 Enshine  - Origin
89 Àrsaidh  - Roots
90 Black Sabbath  - 13
91 Shade Empire  - Omega Arcane
92 Cass McCombs  - Big Wheel and Others
93 Tribulation  - The Formulas of Death
94 Progenie Terrestre Pura  - U.M.A.
95 Immolation  - Kingdom of Conspiracy
96 Touché Amoré  - Is Survived By
97 Richard Thompson  - Electric
98 Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle  - Perils From the Sea
99 Altars  - Paramnesia
100 Motörhead  - Aftershock

i think that popmatters list is surely trying to shade poptimism but fails completely because who cares

the ariana grande choice is the giveaway really

Where's the love for Dream River in these? Kinda thought it might be a consensus choice for top 10s.

Not a single mention for These New Puritans yet, which makes me sad. Likewise the low number of Holden mentions.

The Hopkins record is pleasant but I'm baffled that it's been picked-up as this crossover critical consensus.

London and Brighton indie shop staff not picking much hip hop or pop isn't really a surprise, is it? It's called demographics. Went in Sister Ray the other day and reminded myself why I don't like it. Rise in Bristol is my favourite indie shop by far.

I've not heard Dream River but I bet it's suffering from 3-in-a-row fatigue as far as Callahan's discography goes; he's just consistently good at what he does so another new album isn't going to make any waves.

The John Grant record is both really good and really awkward; something about his lyrics and phrasing occasionally puts me off but by and large I really like it.

Nice to see Matthew E White getting lots of props; it's a lovely record, really beautifully arranged and recorded.

Melt Yourself Down is awesome. Sons Of Kemet might be a little bit better, though.

Agree with everything Sick says here. I'm still waiting for my local to get me in a vinyl copy of the TNP album but they're taking ages. Is it out of print?

Hopkins album is unremarkable, 'nice', but a lot of the more piano-y bits were employed better on his collab with King Creosote and the rest, as mentioned before, does sound awfully reminiscent of mid-2000s minimal/micro house.

John Grant one has some awesome moments and I think the awkardness is part of it. That last song, Glacier, kills me whenever I hear it. Prob EOY songs for me that one.

Checked out Sons of Kemet on your recommendation and I think I like it. although part of me hears it as a sort of analogue of 'gypsy-punk' but for a hipster crowd.

My lack of enthusiasm for the Melt Yourself Down record is possibly due to having experienced the Ex with Brass Unbound absolutely burn the venue down with their fierce version of the post-punk grooves + jazz thing, which tbh most bands would pale in comparison to.

i think that popmatters list is surely trying to shade poptimism but fails completely because who cares

other thing about that popmatters list is that people were bitching about the lack of african-american artists on the rough trade list and well um

xpost Completely agree on Public Service Broadcasting. Went to see them the other night, and my companion said it was like a Mike Myers parody of hauntology.

although part of me hears it as a sort of analogue of 'gypsy-punk' but for a hipster crowd.

When you type things like this I honestly fear for you sometimes, dude.

I enjoy the Public Service Broadcasting record but in an entirely non-committal way. It sounds nice and I enjoy the tunes, but I'd never make any claims for it.

wtf is 'hauntology'?

It's the terrible corniness of the samples that really sinks Public Service Broadcasting for me. Gosh it's a Spitfire! This is the night mail crossing the border! I can't believe it's not butter! Keep calm and sound a bit like Delphic!

Oh god they don't sound like Delphic, don't be mean!

The Drift Record Shop's top 100 list. (They're in Totnes.)

http://thedriftrecordshop.net/collections/record-of-the-year

Jon Hopkins @#1! Some decent choices further down the list.

Good metal rankings on the RYM list, save for the absence of In Solitude. The usual Steven Wilson fetishism is, as always, present and accounted for. (And I'm willing to bet that Anathema live record does not deserve to be at #20.)

That Matthew E. White is good, but it came out August 2012. I wanted to love the These New Puritans but I just can't.

Uncut and MOJO lists snaked out Nov 23 last year so more tasteful lists for the elderly soon! Then Mojo Jr/Paste, The Fly, NME, Q, PopMatters metal (they do that better than pop), Magnet, FACT, Gorilla vs. Bear, SPIN, Filter, The Wire, Classic Rock, Clash, Drowned In Sound, Rolling Stone, Pop Matters 75, Stereogum, That's How Kids Die, AV Club, Crack, Quietus, The Guardian, Juno, Resident Advisor, Kerrang!, Terrorizer, Consequence Of Sound, Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes, The Liminal, Rock-A-Rolla, XLR8R, Louder Than War.

...ILX

Rate Your Music Top Albums of 2013
seems a bit premature to pull this in november when its in constant flux. also these RYM lists are always kind of weird looking because like half the userbase are metal/prog-heads and half are indie dudes

When you type things like this I honestly fear for you sometimes, dude.

?

Meaning the two references within - gypsy punk and hipster - don't sound, to me, to be anything at all to do with the music Sons of Kemet make and I've not seen them used in any other discourse about it at all. It's jazz with a Caribbean melodic flavour and interesting textures courtesy of two drummers and a tuba. There are vaguely rock / dance rhythms going on at times but that's it.

yeah, cool i get that i was prob being pretty reductive there and they're not the same thing. i think what i meant was i could see this kind of music being not far from the kind of stuff you'd see at a festival like boomtown fair, but it's removed enough from the hippier trappings of that scene to make it amenable to "ILX-world" discourse. It's not too different from, say, Youngblood Brass Band or what have you (yes,yes YBB aren't gypsy punk but they , but its references and touchstones are a lot trendier. don't get me wrong, i rather like SOK and i don't really even have a prob with Boomtown-y music so i shouldn't be picking holes.

The usual Steven Wilson fetishism is, as always, present and accounted for.

Except this Steven Wilson album really is that great, it's fantastic.

that Rate Your Music list is horrible as always, Haim, who will probaly win the ILM poll, can't even make the Top 100.

so i had to click on that link to see where Haim does place in 2013, was about to give up but finally found it at 659 place.

Haim are shite though

Except they aren't.

Rate Your Music is useful as a research and resource tool, but as a community it's the fucking worst.

Dont know about it's users or community or why its the fucking worst and its only really a useful guide but I expect its users go there as it seems to cover music ignored by critics elsewhere (ie metal and prog)

<i>music ignored by critics elsewhere (ie metal and prog)</i>

And all remains right with the world.

Except my ability to remember to convert to BBcode.

excellent discussion

surprised people maintained any goodwill toward that soggy nick cave record

The Matthew E White album got a January or February release over here, which is why it's making a lot of lists. Good album, gorgeous arrangements, shame about his lack of vocal presence.

The John Grant record stands or falls on how successful is he in fitting the rhythm of his lyrics around the electronic arrangements. The difference between the astonishing first song and the ponderous second lays this bare really. It would be merely a very good album were it not for the incredible two songs that bookend it, although there's good stuff throughout. You ha r to have a high tolerance for monomanaical breakup albums but it's sad for some significant other reasons as well.

New board description: "Haim are shite though. Except they aren't."

I find Matthew E White underwhelming as a singer too, even though the album's arranged and produced to perfection and presses all my 70s country-soul buttons. It slid from my Top 10 as the year wore on.

Nick Cave has delivered two of my favourite shows of the year but I still can't love that album. Three amazing songs - Jubilee Street, Higgs Boson Blues and the title track - along with too much midtempo solemnity and a couple of duds that would barely have been B-sides in the Dig Lazarus Dig phase.

If Haim win the ILM poll then every ilxor who votes for it needs to take a long hard look at themselves followed by this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellation

i don't particularly love the Haim record but people who seem really offended by it are weird, what's the big deal

I was thinking of putting something else at #1 just because while I think the HAIM album is good, I don't think it's quite album of the year material; but if people keep bitching about HAIM I might give them the #1 spot merely out of spite.

Sounding better to me this morning than it has lately, actually.

I hope there's a sketch about all this HAIM handwringing on SNL tonight.

haha one person comments and its ilm handwringing?

I meant in general, outside ILM but hey, I do find that the more specific and esoteric an SNL sketch is, the funnier it is.

I got the impression they were universally loved outside in the real world.

That Matthew E White album is nice but I'm surprised to see it ranking so high.

yeah there was a lot of corny indie fuxxor angst over it a couple of months ago but not much on ilx. until now. it's a pretty great album but i'll admit it strikes me as an odd choice for any individual's #1. totally makes sense as a consensus pick though.

re: hy-um

I thought it was corny indie fuxxors who liked it?

Plenty of people seem to love them but I just dont get it.

rate your music is like rockism central

arent most of these sites?