Year-End Critics' Polls '07

http://www.thedirks.org/thegirls/erica-yawn-20030521.jpg

Afropop.org top 10

Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective “Wátina” (Cumbancha) (Belize)
Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni ba “Segu Blue” (Out There Records) (Mali)
Caetano Veloso “Cê” (Nonesuch) (Brazil)
Dee Dee Bridgewater “Red Earth” (Emarcy) (USA)
Erol Josué “Régléman” (High Times Records/Mi5 Productions) (Haiti)
Puerto Plata “Mujer de Cabaret” (iASO Records) (Dominican Republic)
Ricardo Lemvo “Isabela” (Mobiato Music) (Congo)
Sergio and Odair Assad “Jardim abandonado” (Nonesuch) (Brazil)
Vusi Mahlasela, “Guiding Star” (ATO Records) (South Africa)
Youssou N’Dour, "Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take)" (Nonesuch) (Senegal)

Largehearted Boy is keeping track of the year-end lists in this post:

http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2007/11/2007_online_bes.html

-- three handclaps, Saturday, November 17, 2007 12:44 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Link

So, who will Pitchfork pick for their album of the year?

My guess: In Rainbows.

(If that's wrong it will be Sound of Silver, Person Pitch, or Strawberry Jam.)

25. Joni Mitchell - Shine
26. Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men
27. Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart

a pissed jeans folkie sandwich. i think linda's going on my top 10. that's a good record.

these polls are pretty much interchangeable aren't they. why don't these rags just club together and give us one list and be done with it. nice to see alasdair roberts scrape through in the mojo poll though. i liked that album.

speaking of which…

2007's best albums

As voted by the Guardian's music writers

Friday December 7, 2007
The Guardian

1 LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
2 Radiohead: In Rainbows
3 The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
4 MIA: Kala
5 Klaxons: Myths of the Near Future
6 Kings of Leon: Because of the Times
7 Grinderman: Grinderman
8 Battles: Mirrored
9 PJ Harvey: White Chalk
10 Feist: The Reminder
11 Arctic Monkeys: Favourite Worst Nightmare
12 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
13 The Felice Brothers: Tonight at the Arizona
14 Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
15 Les Savy Fav: Let's Stay Friends
16 The Good, the Bad & the Queen: The Good, the Bad & the Queen
17 Britney Spears: Blackout
18 Bruce Springsteen: Magic
19 Josh Ritter: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
20 El-P: I'll Sleep When You're Dead

There's starting to be a disturbing lack of Hissing Fauna appreciation.

Just when you couldn't think it could get any worse, it's the Guardian music poll.

It was a bad year.

it was a great year. too many lists are ignoring apparat and mary timony, though

Yeah, that Mary Timony album is growing on me.

The Decibel list shows it was a great year, unfortunately other publications see fit to put Yoko Ono and Britney Spears on their lists.

metal is shit

^^^stfu, prejudice is the fucking worst

Great call dumbass.

x post

So, who will Pitchfork pick for their album of the year?

My guess: In Rainbows.

(If that's wrong it will be Sound of Silver, Person Pitch, or Strawberry Jam.)

i wouldn't be surprised at all if it's Sound of Silver. I could see Kala there, as well. (I haven't even heard either of these records).

For some reason I don't think they'll pick In Rainbows, nor will Strawberry Jam be it... the former seems too obvious, and the latter doesn't seem to have a huge consensus behind it. I don't know though, this is coming from someone who checks out 95% of any given year's albums a year or two after their release dates.

The top fifty I submitted to be totted-up for the Stylus poll;

1. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
2. Electrelane – No Shouts No Calls
3. Caribou – Andorra
4. Battles – Mirrored
5. Acoustic Ladyland – Skinny Grin
6. 65daysofstatic – The Destruction Of Small Ideas
7. LCD Soundsystem – The Sound Of Silver
8. Stars Of The Lid – And The Refinement Of Their Decline
9. Studio – West Coast
10. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
11. Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
12. !!! – Myth Takes
13. Six.By Seven – If Symptoms Persist Kill Your Dr
14. Working For A Nuclear Free City – Businessmen And Ghosts
15. Two Lone Swordsmen – Wrong Meeting 2
16. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
17. Bjork – Volta
18. Apparat – Walls
19. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime
20. Menomena – Friend And Foe
21. PJ Harvey – White Chalk
22. The Tuss – Rushup Edge
23. Von Sudenfed – Tromatic Reflexxions
24. Ulrich Schnauss – Goodbye
25. The Clientele – God Save The Clientele
26. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
27. L’imparfait Des Langues – Louis Sclavis
28. Do Make Say Think – You, You’re A History In Rust
29. Two Lone Swordsmen – Wrong Meeting
30. Ash – Twilight Of The Innocents
31. Strategy – Future Rock
32. The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters
33. Miracle Fortress – Five Roses
34. Super Furry Animals – Hey Venus!
35. Pharoahe Monch – Desire
36. Matthew Dear – Asa Breed
37. Fraud – Fraud
38. Floratone – Floratone
39. Siobhan Donaghy – Ghosts
40. Queens Of The Stone Age – Era Vulgaris
41. Radiohead – In Rainbows
42. Grinderman – Grinderman
43. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
44. Basquiat Strings – Basquiat Strings
45. Kanye West – Graduation
46. Rufus Wainwright – Release The Stars
47. Bill Callahan – Woke On A Whaleheart
48. The National – Boxer
49. Phosphorescent – Pride
50. The Good The Bad & The Queen – The Good The Bad & The Queen

Is it this Stars Of The Lid record THAT good, Nick?

The Clash Magazine Rock/Indie
1. Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
2. Cold War Kids - Robbers And Cowards
3. Arcade fire - Neon Bible
4. Jamie T - Panic Prevention
5. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
6. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
8. The Enemy - We'll Live And Die In These Towns
9. Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
10. Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation

Leftfield Albums
1. Benga - Diary Of An Afro Warrior
2. Battles - Mirrors
3. Apparat - Walls
4. New Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom
5. Skream - Skreamism III
6. MIA - Kala
7. Mum - Go Smear The Poison Ivy
8. Matthew Dear - As Breed
9. Tunng - Good Arrows - Full Time Hobby
10. Maps - We Can Create

Alternative Albums
1. Feist - The Reminder
2. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
3. Radical Face - Ghost
4. Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
5. Iron And Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
6. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apochrypha
7. Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
8. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
9. Richard Swift - Dressed Up For The Letdown
10. Carbon/Silicon - The Last Post

Their categories are pretty muddled. They should have just done a top 50. I'll be checking out Benga, Apparat and Carbon/Silicon this weekend.

That Rock/Indie one is frightful.

Here's the New York Post Drowned In Sound's:

1: LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
2: Battles – Mirrored
3: Panda Bear – Person Pitch
4: M.I.A. – Kala
5: Jamie T – Panic Prevention
6: Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
7: Liars – Liars
8: No Age – Weirdo Rippers
9: Radiohead – In Rainbows
10: HEALTH – Health
11: Deerhunter – Cryptograms
12: The National – Boxer
13: Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
14: Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass
15: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder
16: The Maccabees – Colour It In
17: Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
18: Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
19: Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
20: The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
21: Grinderman – Grinderman
22: Blonde Redhead – 23
23: PJ Harvey – White Chalk
24: Efterklang – Parades
25: Justice – Cross

26: Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil
27: Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
28: Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
29: Field Music – Tones Of Town
30: Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
31: The Cribs – Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever
32: !!! – Myth Takes
33: Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
34: Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
35: Electrelane – No Shouts, No Calls
36: Thurston Moore – Trees Outside The Academy
37: Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
38: Future of the Left – Curses
39: dälek – Abandoned Language
40: The Sea & Cake – Everybody
41: Mathew Sawyer and the Ghosts – Blue Birds Blood
42: Eugene McGuinness – The Early Learnings Of…
43: Von Südenfed – Tromatic Reflexxions
44: Prefuse 73 – Preparations
45: Pinback – Autumn Of The Seraphs
46: of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer
47: Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals
48: The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
49: Jen Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
50: Feist – The Reminder

Unsurprisingly, I didn't vote on that.

Or else it would have read:

1: LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
2: Battles – Mirrored
3: Panda Bear – Person Pitch
4: M.I.A. – Kala
5: Jamie T – Panic Prevention
6: Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
7: Liars – Liars
8: No Age – Weirdo Rippers
9: Radiohead – In Rainbows
10: HEALTH – Health
11: Deerhunter – Cryptograms
12: The National – Boxer
13: Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
14: Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass
15: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder
16: The Maccabees – Colour It In
17: Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
18: Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
19: Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
20: The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
21: Grinderman – Grinderman
22: Blonde Redhead – 23
23: PJ Harvey – White Chalk
24: Efterklang – Parades
25: Justice – Cross

26: Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil
27: Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
28: Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
29: Field Music – Tones Of Town
30: Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
31: The Cribs – Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever
32: !!! – Myth Takes
33: Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
34: Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
35: Electrelane – No Shouts, No Calls
36: Thurston Moore – Trees Outside The Academy
37: Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
38: Future of the Left – Curses
39: dälek – Abandoned Language
40: The Sea & Cake – Everybody
41: Mathew Sawyer and the Ghosts – Blue Birds Blood
42: Eugene McGuinness – The Early Learnings Of…
43: Von Südenfed – Tromatic Reflexxions
44: Prefuse 73 – Preparations
45: Pinback – Autumn Of The Seraphs
46: of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer
47: Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals
48: The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
49: Jen Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
50: Majik Most - You Got Jokes

Kinda surprised not to see Map of Africa anywhere. Didn't people like that?

Kinda surprised not to see Map of Africa anywhere.

This disc got panned almost everywhere I read reviews of it (for representative samples, see the Pitchfork and Stylus reviews). I liked some songs on it -- e.g., Map of Africa and Plastic Surgery -- but I totally see why the disc wasn't well-received overall.

15: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder

Did anyone talk about this one even a week after it came out? The first track was the only good one, the production was terrible, and it was such a step down from the first record; I have no desire to hear it again (except for the title track, which is brilliant.)

I'm kind of surprised that White Chalk is doing so well on many of these lists. It didn't do much for me, unfortunately; probably a first for any "real" PJH album.

Yeah, I have White Chalk and it isn't doing much for me either. "The Mountain" is nice, but after a few listens it just comes off as overblown and I need to wait a while before listening to it again. Decent album, but eh.

In ten years you will all come to appreciate Some Loud Thunder for the expectation-smashing masterpiece it is.

j/k

Vibe’s Top 44 Songs
44. Yung Bero ft. Junior, “Sexy Lady” (Epic)
43. Mims, “This Is Why I’m Hot” (Capitol)
42. Elliot Yamin, “Wait for You” (Hickory)
41. Plies, “100 Years” (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic)
40. Collie Buddz, “Come Around” (Columbia)
39. Omarion, “Ice Box” (Epic/Sony Urban)
38. Bone Thugs-N- Harmony ft. Akon, “I Tried” (Full Surface/Interscope)
37. Prodigy, “Mac 10 Handle” (Koch)
36. Chris Brown ft. T-Pain, “Kiss Kiss” (Jive/Zomba)
35. Alicia Keys, “No One” (J)
34. Lil Mama, “Lip Gloss” (Jive)
33. Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson & D.O.E., “The Way I Are” (Mosley Music/Blackground/Interscope)
32. Lil Wayne, “Feel Like Dyin’” (MP3)
31. Musiq Soulchild, “Teachme” (Atlantic)
30. Playaz Circle ft. Lil Wayne, “Duffle Bag Boy” (DTP/Def Jam)
29. Richie Spice, “Youth Dem Cold” (VP)
28. Lloyd ft. Lil Wayne, “You” (The Inc./Universal Motown)
27. M.I.A. ft. Bun B & Rich Boy, “Paper Planes (Remix)” (mixtapes)
26. Cassidy ft. Swizz Beatz, “My Drink N’ My 2 Step” (Full Suface/J)
25. Ciara, “Like a Boy” (LaFace/Zomba)
24. Gorilla Zoe, “Hood Figga” (Block/Bad Boy/Atlantic)
23. Hurricane Chris, “A Bay Bay” (Polo Grounds/J)
22. The Fixxers, “Can U Werk Wit Dat” (Interscope)
21. The-Dream, “Shawty Is a 10” (Def Jam)
20. Foxx ft. Lil Boosie and Webbie, “Wipe Me Down” (Trill/Asylum)
19. Justin Timberlake, “What Goes Around . . . Comes Around” (Jive)
18. Swizz Beatz ft. Lil Wayne, R. Kelly & Jadakiss, “It’s Me Bitches (Remix)” (Universal Motown)
17. Amy Winehouse, “Love Is a Losing Game” (Universal Republic)
16. Common ft. Lily Allen, “Drivin’ Me Wild” (G.O.O.D./Geffen)
15. Ne-Yo, “Because of You” (Def Jam)
14. DJ Unk ft. OutKast & Jim Jones, “Walk It Out (Remix)” (Big Oomp/Koch)
13. UGK ft. OutKast, “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)” (Jive)
12. R. Kelly ft. T.I. & T-Pain, “I’m a Flirt (Remix)” (Jive)
11. Keyshia Cole ft. Missy Elliott & Lil Kim, “Let It Go” (Imani/Geffen)
10. Robin Thicke, “Lost Without U” (Nu America/Star Trak/Interscope)
9. Rich Boy, “Throw Some D’s” (Zone 4/Interscope)
8. DJ Khaled ft. Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman & Lil Wayne, “We Takin’ Over” (Koch)
7. J. Holiday, “Bed” (Music Line/Capitol)
6. T-Pain ft. Yung Joc, “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” (Konvict/Jive)
5. Soulja Boy Tell’em, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” (Collipark/Interscope)
4. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z, “Umbrella” (Def Jam)
3. Kanye West ft. T-Pain, “Good Life” (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam)
2. 50 Cent, “I Get Money” (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
1. Fabolous ft. Ne-Yo, “Make Me Better” (Def Jam)

i like that fabolous/ne-yo song but thats a weeeeeeeiiiiiiird list

haha I don't care for that Fabolous/Ne-Yo song and yes, it is a weeeeird list

I have no strong opinion either way about the Fabolous/Ne-Yo song and that is a weeeeeeeeird list.

Why 44? Is that numerological?

i'm confused.

i feel like im looking at the results of a rigged ilm p&j poll here.

like i like the fabo song but i wouldn't but it anywhere near the top 30 out of the songs on this list. was there any, um, justification given?

"Best Collabo"

oh.

i like that weeeeeiiiiird list

Jazzwise's Albums of the Year

NEW RELEASES
1. Empirical, Emperical (Destin-e)
2. Maria Schneider, Sky Blue (ArtistShare)
3. EST, Live in Hamburg (ACT)
4. Michael Brecker, Pilgrimage (Emarcy)
5. Robert Wyatt, Comicopera (Domino)
6. Wynton Marsalis, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (Blue Note)
7. The Core, Blue Sky (Jazzaway)
8. Gwilym Simcock, Perception (Basho)
9. Vijay Iyer/Rudresh Mahanthappa, Raw (Pi)
10. Gilad Atzmon, Refuge (Enja)

REISSUES AND ARCHIVE
1. Miles Davis, The Complete On the Corner Sessions (Columbia)
2. Andrew Hill, Compulsion!!! (Blue Note)
3. Bennie Maupin, The Jewel in the Lotus (ECM)
4. Joe Harriott, Free Form (Gott)
5. v/a, Mike Taylor Remembered (Dusk Fire)
6. Noah Howard, The Black Ark (Bo' Weavil)
7. Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 64 (Blue Note)
8. John Handy, Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival (Jazz Beat)
9. Max Roach, We Insist! Freedom Now Suite (Candid)
TIE Duke Ellington, The Duke Box (Storyville)

I hate that Fabolous/Ne-Yo song but the Vibe list looks pretty reasonable to me in most other respects. it's funny to me though that they published a "top 77 Lil Wayne songs of 2007" but only had 44 songs for the whole year.

i'm not exactly sure how a list like that could do wrong. most acclaimed rap/r&b songs of the year + most popular rap/r&b songs of the year + a few "curveballs". anyone who follows rap is gonna like like 70-75% of that list probably. it's the placement that's a little suspect at best.

yeah Rev, "indifferent" is probably a more accurate representation of my feelings about it as well

9. Rich Boy, “Throw Some D’s” (Zone 4/Interscope)
7. J. Holiday, “Bed” (Music Line/Capitol)

13. UGK ft. OutKast, “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)” (Jive)
12. R. Kelly ft. T.I. & T-Pain, “I’m a Flirt (Remix)” (Jive)
9. Rich Boy, “Throw Some D’s” (Zone 4/Interscope)
7. J. Holiday, “Bed” (Music Line/Capitol)

there's a lot of '06 hits on that list (Throw Some D's, You, Ice Box, Lost Without U), but they're a print mag and probably had to make those lists in early November so I guess they gotta play catch up.

I dunno. I didn't hear "Throw Some D's" until it was too late to make my Stylus list and will be including it on my Idolator ballot this year and I'm pretty sure I didn't hear "You" until later. Fwiw, all those songs peaked on the Hot 100 this year.

"You" peaked Feb. 17th. (Seems like it should have been much later than that.) "Icebox" peaked March 10th. "Throw Some D's" and "Lost Without U" peaked March 31st.