I think Song for Zula is wonderful but I'm not sure about the whole Phosphorescent album. Nice to see Run the Jewels so high - I guess that's the non-Yeezus consensus rap album.
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 2 December 2013 12:56 (ten years ago) link
SPIN's 50 Best Albums of 2013http://www.spin.com/articles/best-albums-2013/
slideshow hell but here's the top ten:
1 Kanye West, Yeezus (Def Jam)2 Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap (Self-Released)3 Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires in the City (XL)4 Haim, Days Are Gone (Columbia)5 Disclosure, Settle (Island)6 Tim Hecker, Virgins (Kranky)7 Boards of Canada, Tomorrow's Harvest (Warp)8 Ka, The Night's Gambit (Iron Works)9 The Knife, Shaking the Habitual (Mute)10 Kurt Vile, Wakin on a Pretty Daze (Matador)
― exciting vampire castle (NickB), Monday, 2 December 2013 13:55 (ten years ago) link
Ha ha Paste. Phosphorescent is the quintessential bland band for them, but with boobies (cover). OTOH I do really like the Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend albums, which are consistently rating. I'm also getting into the MBV a bit more. Not so much the Bowie.
Q Magazine's 50 Albums of 2013
1. Arctic Monkeys - AM2. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City3. David Bowie - The Next Day4. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories5. Jon Hopkins - Immunity6. Manic Street Preachers - Rewind the Film7. Cass McCombs - Big Wheel and Others8. Bill Ryder Jones - A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart9. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts10. Haim - Days Are Gone11. Jagwar Ma - Howlin'12. My Bloody Valentine - MBV13. Steve Mason - Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time14. Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork15. Foals - Holy Fire16. Laura Mvula - Sing to the Moon17. Matthew E White - Big Inner18. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle19. Factory Floor - S/T20. Biffy Clyro - Opposites21. Palma Violets - 18022. Suede - Bloodsports23. Disclosure - Settle24. Empire of the Sun - Ice on the Dune25. Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest26. Kanye West - Yeezus27. Bill Callahan - Dream River28. Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action29. Daniel Avery - Drone Logic30. Pet Shop Boys - Electric31. Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady32. Savages - Silence Yourself33. Parquet Courts - LIght Up Gold34. Prefab Sprout - Crimson Red35. Devendra Banhart - Mala36. Kurt Vile - Walkin on a Pretty Daze37. The National - Trouble Will Find Me38. Goldfrapp - Tales of Us39. Alunageorge - Body Music40. Run the Jewels - S/T41. Neon Neon - Praxis Makes Perfect42. These New Puritans - Field of Reeds43. The Knife - Shaking the Habitual44. Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt45. Sigur Ros Kveikur46. James Blake - Overgrown47. The Strokes - Comedown Machine48. Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum49. Primal Scream - More Light50. Mazzy Star - Seasons of Your Day
― Fastnbulbous, Monday, 2 December 2013 14:38 (ten years ago) link
the Arctic Monkeys record has some jams.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 December 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
PopMatters' The 75 Best Songs of 2013http://www.popmatters.com/feature/176773-the-75-best-songs-of-2013/
― Fastnbulbous, Monday, 2 December 2013 14:46 (ten years ago) link
Spin's list is up. Slideshow format unreadable/unworkable for me. Perhaps someone who can navigate it can post it here?
― Position Position, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:15 (ten years ago) link
used it fine on Firefox
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:17 (ten years ago) link
No way am I clicking 50 times to read the Spin list but nice to see Chance the Rapper so high - it was my #2 as well.
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:22 (ten years ago) link
turn off ad blocker to combat spin site problems
― tuostprophets (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:29 (ten years ago) link
Here's the whole Spin list:
1 Kanye West- Yeezus2 Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap3 Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City4 Haim - Days Are Gone5 Disclosure - Settle6 Tim Hecker - Virgins7 Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest8 Ka - The Night's Gambit9 Knife, The - Shaking the Habitual10 Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
11 M.I.A. - Matangi12 Brown, Danny - Old13 Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob14 Haxan Cloak - Excavation15 Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks16 Omar Souleyman - Wenu wenu17 Musgraves, Kacey - Same Trailer Different Park18 Mikal Cronin- MCII19 Daft Punk - Random Access Memories20 Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
21 El-P & Killer Mike - Run the Jewels22 Deafheaven - Sunbather23 Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven24 DJ Rashad - I Don't Give a Fuck EP25 Caitlin Rose - The Stand In26 Rhye - Woman27 Migos - Young Rich Niggas28 Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 229 Rudimental - Home30 2 Chainz - B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time
31 Earl Sweatshirt - Doris32 Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience [1 of 2]33 Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle34 Kvelertak - Meir35 Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose36 Kelela - Cut 4 Me37 Arcade Fire - Reflektor38 Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady39 My Bloody Valentine - m b v40 Bill Callahan - Dream River
41 Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light42 Holden - The Inheritors43 Death Grips - Government Plates44 William Tyler - Impossible Truth45 Superchunk - I Hate Music46 Pusha T - My Name Is My Name47 Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You48 Body/Head - Coming Apart 49 Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork50 Drake - Nothing Was the Same
― exciting vampire castle (NickB), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:33 (ten years ago) link
That Spin list is pretty good.
― Matt DC, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:34 (ten years ago) link
All the Yeezus love makes me want to vomit.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:35 (ten years ago) link
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2
― Legitimate space tale (LocalGarda), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:36 (ten years ago) link
I'm gonna post my AOTY 2013 essay because i'm starved for attention
http://www.spin.com/articles/kanye-west-yeezus-album-of-the-year-enter-the-void/
― tuostprophets (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:39 (ten years ago) link
Some nice stuff, a huge load of predictable rubbish, same as any EOY list. Chance The Rapper I would like to hear though, Sound Of 2014 longlist notwithstanding.
― Here he is with the classic "Poème Électronique." Good track (Marcello Carlin), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:40 (ten years ago) link
Glad to see Run the Jewels picking up steam. That album was good and they had a gnarly logo too.
― sweat pea (La Lechera), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:42 (ten years ago) link
*continues to wait for a list that features dawn richard, k michelle, fantasia, amel larrieux or ariana grande*
(spin gave kacey and ashley props but not brandy clark?!)
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:44 (ten years ago) link
i really have tried with chance the rapper and i guess i admire it but it's just not getting to me, siiiigh
the two 2013 albums i really WISH i loved are probs chance and paramore
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:45 (ten years ago) link
There isn't even a Brandy Clark browser marker in Oxford Circus HMV, nor in any other London record shops. I had to get my copy via Amazon - yes, the tax situation, yes, the workhouse deal, but WHERE'S THE ALTERNATIVE?
*coughs*
Remarkably fine and inventive record, the Brandy Clark album, and arrestingly performed.
― Here he is with the classic "Poème Électronique." Good track (Marcello Carlin), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:46 (ten years ago) link
I need to go back and give Chance another go. Didn't get very far last time cos the first song sounded like Randy Newman iirc.
― exciting vampire castle (NickB), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:46 (ten years ago) link
though i think the spin list probably has the lowest ratio of smh-worthy inclusions - vampire weekend obv, rhye wtf, justin timberlake lol, kelela siiiiigh, and what is disclosure doing so high, but that's about it. (i assume drake right at the bottom is a zing tbh)
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:47 (ten years ago) link
would place Ashley Monroe over Musgraves.
man I really tried to love the Neko Case album. It still sounds like her most leaden.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 December 2013 15:51 (ten years ago) link
Same Trailer Different Park is one of my favourites of the year but I couldn't get into the Brandy Clark album at all.
― Matt DC, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
the craftsmanship on the brandy clark blows me away, and i think very few songs hit as hard emotionally as "just like him" and "what'll keep me out of heaven" this year
i played "just like him" for my housemate and she pretty much had to leave the room to cry and play it on repeat by herself
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 15:57 (ten years ago) link
I am pretty much fine with the Spin list but BOOOOOOOO for Daft Punk ending up rated above Run The Jewels
― deX! (DJP), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:06 (ten years ago) link
Deafheaven are turning up on a lot of these lists now. I'm not totally sold on that one, but the very last seven or eight minutes of the album are just fucking great (and very pretty too) and are a really emotionally satisfying way of ending a fairly epic album, so I do come away with good feelings towards that record.
― exciting vampire castle (NickB), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:24 (ten years ago) link
what Al said about Neko...her worst album ever, one I wish I could love.
No need to say much more about Yeezus, except that it's not the best album of the year, he's not the best artist, and it's not his best album.
― Multiple Miggs (dandydonweiner), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:26 (ten years ago) link
I would be so much more on board with Yeezus if track 5 wasn't a massive momentum killer and track 7 wasn't full-on unlistenable; between those two I really can't have anything to do with the album as a whole, despite loving the first 4 tracks
― deX! (DJP), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:29 (ten years ago) link
well, that and his whole personality
― Multiple Miggs (dandydonweiner), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:29 (ten years ago) link
DJP otm
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:30 (ten years ago) link
Surprised Mount Moriah's Miracle Temple and the Lee Ranaldo and The Dust record didn't make any of the lists so far. Definitely both in my top ten for the year that I've discovered so far. Unknown Mortal Orchestra is another one that is seemingly underrated on these lists.
― scottishfinn, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:32 (ten years ago) link
Rolling Stonehttp://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2013-20131202
1 Vampire Weekend2 Kanye West3 Daft Punk4 Paul McCartney5 Arcade Fire6 QOTSA7 Lorde8 The National9 Arctic Monkeys10 John Fogerty
― exciting vampire castle (NickB), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:32 (ten years ago) link
djp otm about yeezus but after the stupidity of the praise lavished on the stupid MBDTF, i'm fine with it getting some props. hugely flawed album but it does feel like a vital release
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:33 (ten years ago) link
The first four tracks might be the best album of the year but I don't know how it could be anyone's top choice on a song-for-song basis. The idea of Yeezus >>>> the reality of Yeezus.
Surprised by McCartney and Fogerty over Bowie in RS.
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:34 (ten years ago) link
Weird. It's the first Neko solo album I actually do like.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:34 (ten years ago) link
The idea of Yeezus >>>> the reality of Yeezus.
kanye post-2005 summed up
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:35 (ten years ago) link
his personality doesn't automatically bother me; usually I find what he's doing musically to be compelling enough to make it worth my while to grapple with and parse through the grosser aspects of his artistic persona but "Blood on the Leaves" is just a visceral top-to-bottom NO
― deX! (DJP), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:36 (ten years ago) link
Jake Bugg at 12 on the RS list btw
― exciting vampire castle (NickB), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:36 (ten years ago) link
kanye's personality is fine, he's a good pop star
people really overreact to it, in both directions
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:37 (ten years ago) link
but "Blood on the Leaves" is just a visceral top-to-bottom NO;
Not really ready to let him off the hook for the "I'm In It" either. I'm sure that's exactly what Kanye wants me to do, too. But I don't think that makes him or his music more interesting or provoking.
Was surprised that DaftPunk wasn't higher in the SPIN poll, actually.
― Multiple Miggs (dandydonweiner), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:41 (ten years ago) link
Isn't this Kanye's fourth Spin AOTY?
DJP and dandy otm re: Blood on the Leaves and I'm In It. Can't listen to either of those.
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:42 (ten years ago) link
I'd make a crack about RS putting John Fogerty in the top 10, but Arctic Monkeys above it at #9 is actually way more egregious
― Evan R, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:43 (ten years ago) link
"I'm In It" is ignorable compared to the deathslog that precedes it and the wholly misconceived mistake that follows it.
― deX! (DJP), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:43 (ten years ago) link
I salute you for being able to ignore those lyrics. They leap out and punch me in the face "like a civil rights sign".
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:46 (ten years ago) link
yeezus' worst lyrics are probably on the songs i like. this is actually a pattern throughout kanye's career for me :/
― lex pretend, Monday, 2 December 2013 16:48 (ten years ago) link
thinking of the hampton spouse one and the croissants one
well quite honestly I've only listened to it recently because Rev mentioned on another thread that he liked it; aside from that I have intentionally not played anything past the first 4 tracks on the album since release day
― deX! (DJP), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:49 (ten years ago) link
also lex, I feel that the pattern you've identified has existed throughout Kanye's career because most of the time, all the way back to the beginning, dude has written terrible lyrics
― deX! (DJP), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:50 (ten years ago) link
The reason I found MBDTF so annoying is that the best and the worst bits were intermingled so I couldn't even create an edited highlights version. It's not that the album is patchy — every song is patchy, with the exception of Power.
― Deafening silence (DL), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:53 (ten years ago) link
Blood on the LEaves was the first thing I heard off Yeezus and I decided not to check out the rest of it on the basis of that.
― a beef supreme (dog latin), Monday, 2 December 2013 16:58 (ten years ago) link