Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

yeezus is a good album but i am disappointed that i somehow convinced myself that it wouldn't be hilariously overpraised come year-end :|

j. bruh I don't want u 2 sell out + fuk up yr hardman cred but if u can spare a little luv f/ some dreamy soft serenades then check my list

Haha I've just noticed that apparently everyone passed on the 1975 album.

have seen some critics talk about putting Yeezus at #1 on their year-end lists as an act of 'bravery' and i'm like wow Kanye actually convinced critics he's an underdog this time, amazing

Kanye's ability to write his own narrative and sell it to critics is remarkable - see also MBDTF: "This is a masterpiece!" "OK, it's a masterpiece."

v true. it fits in with what was touched on earlier, how the idea of [your ideal kanye] almost seems to replace the actual reality of kanye for many

i'm not really a fan of dismissing underperforming albums as flops but despite that being ludicrously commonplace nowadays it's telling that no one has lobbed that accusation at yeezus. because he's an ~artist

I like Daft Punk and VW but the Metacritic top six looks very drab in terms of new blood. Luckily some newer names taking up the rest of the list.

Drowned in Sound top tracks:
http://www.drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147252-dis-does-singles--our-teams-top-40-tracks-of-2013

some weird writing there

In these days of the digital download storm musical careers are never certain. The investment in musicians and their development is not so much there. Arguably it makes for a free for all where the bestest will rear their head, eventually. And then there is Foals, almost 10 years into their career, with their 3rd album and suddenly they just went and got their greatest hit to date. Who knew they had it in them to run the gauntlet and push themselves to the front of the British guitar queue? The key seems to be their syncopated bust a move rhythms featuring almost electronic sounds, awash with dreamy vocals and lyrics of entropy.

The writing on DiS is almost always dreadful. New design is awful too.

British guitar queue

those crazy anarchists nominating every song on The National album

This year I followed the Lex line when it came to voting for tracks and didn't include any that featured on my Top 10 albums, otherwise it would have been GMF, Get Lucky, Step/Ya Hey, etc. It's an artifical distinction but it did allow me to mention more stand-alone tracks, or highlights from less-than-great albums. I like most of the DiS list but it feels like there are no surprises when almost everything is drawn from an acclaimed album.

Alternative Press - 10 Essential albums of 2013
http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/10_essential_albums_of_2013

10. Jimmy Eat World - Damage
9. Bring Me the Horizon - Sepiternal
8. Fall Out Boy - Save Rock and Roll
7. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
6. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart
5. Panic! At The Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!
4. The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation
3. Touche Amore - Is Survived By
2. Paramore - Paramore
1. Twenty One Pilots - Vessel

we have a winner!

Frank Turner has been plucking away at his acoustic guitar since 2006, and this year quite a few more people caught on—including Interscope Records. Like his past work, the songs of Tape Deck Heart are about playing shows, drinking with friends and getting your heart broken, but it’s a little darker and more personal—and still just as poignant. Plus, who else used the word “fractious” in a song this year?

Drowninedsound is such a wasted opportunity given how prominent it is/was but the writing is usually appalling and as far as I'm aware no one outside the music industry takes it seriously at all. It's still after all these years a poorly cobbled-together fanzine with pretensions of being a proper music site.

Okay my jaw did drop a bit when I saw what DiS had put at #1. I don't know what I was expecting but certainly not THAT.

This year I followed the Lex line when it came to voting for tracks and didn't include any that featured on my Top 10 albums, otherwise it would have been GMF, Get Lucky, Step/Ya Hey, etc. It's an artifical distinction but it did allow me to mention more stand-alone tracks, or highlights from less-than-great albums. I like most of the DiS list but it feels like there are no surprises when almost everything is drawn from an acclaimed album.

― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, December 5, 2013 11:01 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it never feels more artificial as when i end up thinking things like "is the quadron album gonna make my list because if it isn't i have to put hey love in the tracks list"

Rolling Stone Songs:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-songs-of-2013-20131204

50 Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell - Blurred Lines
49 Lucius - Tempest
48 Caitlin Rose - I Was Cruel
47 Yo La Tengo - Ohm
46 Britney Spears - Work Bitch
45 Young Thug - Picachu
44 Prince - Breakfast Can Wait
43 Superchunk - Me and You and Jackie Mittoo
42 Vampire Weekend - Unbelievers
41 M.I.A. - Sexodus
40 Kevin Gates - Wylin'
39 Natalie Maines - Free Life
38 Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Day
37 J. Cole - Crooked Smile
36 TNGHT - Acrylics
35 Jim James - A New Life
34 Kings of Leon - Supersoaker
33 Kelly Rowland - Dirty Laundry
32 Katy B - 5 AM
31 Wavves - Demon to Lean On
30 Beck - Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard
29 Thundercat - Oh Sheit It's X
28 Ashley Monroe - Two Weeks Late
27 Lonely Island feat. Adam Levine - YOLO
26 Avicii - Wake Me Up
25 Washed Out - All I Know
24 The Julie Ruin - Oh Come On
23 Elvis Costello and the Roots - Walk Us Uptown
22 Ciara - Body Party
21 Jake Bugg - Broken
20 Kanye West - Blood on the Leaves
19 Jay Z - Picasso Baby
18 Katy Perry - Roar
17 Lady Gaga feat R. Kelly - Do What U Want
16 HAIM - The Wire
15 Eminem - Rap God
14 Miley Cyrus - We Can’t Stop
13 Big Sean Feat. Kendrick Lamar - Control
12 Tegan and Sara - Closer
11 Arcade Fire - Reflektor
10 Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
9 Drake - Started From the Bottom
8 James Blake - Retrograde
7 Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
6 Parquet Courts - Stoned and Starving
5 Disclosure - When a Fire Starts to Burn
4 Vampire Weekend - Hannah Hunt
3 Kanye West - Black Skinhead
2 Lorde - Royals
1 Daft Punk feat. Pharrell and Nile Rodgers - Get Lucky

We should discuss the art of the grudging #50 slot: Lorde for Complex, Blurred Lines for Rolling Stone, James Blake for NME. It always feels driven by a need to recognise something significant that nobody at the mag is crazy about.

Why do people rate Drake's Started From the Bottom so highly btw? idgi

disclosure's US PR must be incredibly strong

Do people really rate "black skinhead" higher than "on site"?

I rate maybe 5-6 songs on the RS list but none will be on my top ten

So many of these brands/bands I haven't even gotten to hear!

Lorde for Complex, Blurred Lines for Rolling Stone, James Blake for NME

...Shitfucker for the Quietus

I know that was #100 but go with me on this

There was no way the Quietus could fail to mention Shitfucker, the band who defined 2013.

There was no way the Quietus could fail to mention Shitfucker, the band who defiled 2013.

xp I tried to buy/listen again to the Quadron album this week, but it's been deleted pending a 2014 re-release. Nothing on ITunes, Amazon, Spotify...

More Guardian albums:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/05/best-albums-2013-30-to-21

xp I tried to buy/listen again to the Quadron album this week, but it's been deleted pending a 2014 re-release. Nothing on ITunes, Amazon, Spotify...

!!!!

how completely bizarre

“A beautiful reminder that we’re all doomed.”

It’s writing like this that got Fulham whacked 2-1 by Spurs last night.

Well at least they reviewed that entry.

Well Jai Paul was a leak and Sky Ferreira's not out in the UK yet so there are only two omissions but yes it looks bad.

I'm sure all the Guardian readers angry about Bangerz at #34 have heard it and have informed critiques.

I'm sure they're all intelligent and interesting people.

personally i think ignoring autre ne veut was a sound decision

i don't think it looks bad, it shows critics are still listening to music beyond what they have an advance copy or foreknowledge of.

Some people's inability to understand the difference between one reviewer's opinion and a poll of dozens of writers is an annual disappointment. It's not advanced maths.

I'm sure all the Guardian readers angry about Bangerz at #34 have heard it and have informed critiques.

i always wonder whether if they knew its placing genuinely wasn't some SEO-hungry diktat from on high but genuinely just the result of critics' votes, would that make them more or less angry

tbh though i think guardian commenters' EOY list outrage is never going to top the year beyoncé was at no. 4, that kind of high is impossible to replicate

Some people's inability to understand the difference between one reviewer's opinion and a poll of dozens of writers is an annual disappointment

it's always so patiently explained every year and that doesn't seem to permeate ANYONE's brain, quite remarkable

oh yeah, it's nice to see julia holter in there. she didn't make my top 10 but after several albums that i found admirable but impenetrable, it was reassuring to genuinely get into this one. yes i need pop hooks what of it

The problem is that some people are so utterly convinced there is no value in mainstream pop that the cynical clickbait theory makes more sense to them than the mundane truth that a bunch of people voted for Bangerz. Tbh if I was tasked with whipping up some SEO good times I'd try harder than putting Miley Cyrus at #34.

WHERE OH WHERE IS JAKE BUGG

kid at work just said "god this video's boring" re: Mr Bugg

Do people really rate "black skinhead" higher than "on site"?

― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, December 5, 2013 6:34 AM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i know, nobody really seems to love "Black Skinhead" but it being a nominal 'single' i guess has made it the default year-end list pick, even over "New Slaves," which surprised me.

the snubbing of 20/20 Experience and Magna Carta Holy Grail almost across the board is pretty fun to see

SPIN's 40 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2013
http://www.spin.com/articles/best-rap-albums-2013/

Black Skinhead came on my playlist in the office yesterday, and a colleague said "how is Kanye West so big? He's rubbish". I have to agree, by and large. His continued success baffles me, both critically and commercially.