2010 Magazine's Albums Of The Year Thread For Posting Lists and Discussion

sorry, i think some things are important

i'm not gonna get into it here cuz this is stuff i'm trying to work out in a piece that's on hold while i deadline-surf elsewhere today, but what do you mean by important, really?

sorry, i think some things are important

i'm sure i will come around when they are prying my guns from my cold dead hands

but what lex said: really?

and like, you're willing to bring this up wr2 dusted mag/indie fan critic who fails to pay proper respect to IMPORTANT THINGS, rather than ben chasny/rick bishop record that like 5K people are ever gonna hear, tops? we should all be talking about kanye records that you don't even like?

idgi contenderizer/lex, you are defending this writer when clearly she is upset that there were NO IMPORTANT ALBUMS THIS YEAR - which you say is critically wrongheaded!

The enemy of my enemy steez only gets you so far in music crit: just because she's not deej doesn't mean she is correct.

I think I'd hold with Dark Twisted Fantasy as "important" more than I would Merriweather Post Pavilion. One's the new album of one of the biggest pop stars in the world, the other is a record by a cult indie band that's deemed important because enough people in the right position say it is.

i'm not "defending" her tim, but she's not guilty of any more wrongheadedness than like three quarters of all other critics making EOY lists atm

i mean, i think the critical culture is kinda fucked atm, but it's not just her propagating it

"i'm in the middle of writing something on why there needs to be a moratorium on the word "important" because it's so awful & meaningless"

And "interesting" while we're at it.

"interesting" as a superlative doesn't carry the sort of weight that fuels several thousand words of year-end appraisal, though

Quite. Important is like a brick in the face. Interesting is like death by a thousand cuts.

idgi contenderizer/lex, you are defending this writer when clearly she is upset that there were NO IMPORTANT ALBUMS THIS YEAR - which you say is critically wrongheaded!

The enemy of my enemy steez only gets you so far in music crit: just because she's not deej doesn't mean she is correct.

― Tim F, Wednesday, December 15, 2010 1:57 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah, that's fair, but at this point i'd rather hear some indie-besotted "critic" mope about the lack of a consensus album (in light of unlistenable shit like MPP, even) than hear someone else bitch about same. we all have our threshholds, and i've hit mine.

okay, in all honesty, her list is boring as fuck, and her intro makes me wonder what planet she and i do not share, but w/e (enjoying "w/e" atm)

^^^yeah that

i have no interest in her list but seeing pitchfork writers pile on it is a bit "physician heal thyself"

(i know the writers in question aren't representative of their site's tedious narrow-mindedness but still)

Kelly's piece hits on something (sorry, Doran) interesting but then doesn't explore it far enough, and makes some massive assumptions. I hate this idea that we're all pretending to like certain records, as if The Suburbs is scientifically proven to be the weakest Arcade Fire album (hand on heart, it's my favourite of the three). There's some truth in her second paragraph but I could say the same thing about MPP, which she obviously considers unimpeachable genius. She's in no position to throw words like "dishonest" around - it's the same trap as deej's polarisation of subjective opinion and truth in the Kanye thread. I dislike it when a critic dismisses "critics" en masse, as if only they can see through the veil (lex being the honourable exception just because I'm used to it by now).

Boomkat's Top 28 Tracks of 2010 - part one

1. The Soft Moon 'Into The Depths'
2. Raime 'This Foundry Regis Version'
3. DJ Elmoe 'Whea Yo Ghost At Whea Yo Dead Man'
4. Joe 'Claptrap'
5. Hype Williams 'The Throning'
6. Antony Shakir 'Detroit State Of Mind'
7. Umberto 'Temple Room'
8. Mika Vanio 'It's A Muthang'
9. Keith Fullerton Whitman 'Generator 6'
10. Demdike Stare 'Hashashin Chant'
11. Pump 'The Wife Container'
12. Au Revoir Simone 'Tell Me' Villa Nah Remix
13. Dadawa 'Know How You Stand'
14. Cold Cave 'Stars Explode'

Boomkat's Top 28 Tracks of 2010 - part two

1. Airhead & James Blake 'Lock In The Lion'
2. BABE RAINBOW 'Care'
3. Rene Hell 'IV'
4. RAMADANMAN 'Tumble'
5. oOoOO 'Burnout Eyess'
6. Laurel Halo 'Embassy'
7. LA Vampires & Zola Jesus 'Bone Is Bloodstone'
8. IIBIIS ROOGE 'Skirling Birl'
9. Teengirl Fantasy 'Floor To Floor'
10. LUKID 'Boxing Club'
11. SILENT SERVANT 'Sampler Silent Servant' (Regis Edit)
12. PSYCHIC ILLS 'Mantis' (Juan Atkins Remix)
13. ACTRESS 'Purrple Splazsh'
14. RANGERS 'Airport Lights'

keep seeing oOoOOOooOOO or whatever their name is pop up in these lists - wish the ▲▲witch house▲▲ vote would go to white ring instead, soOoOOO much better

It's the same guy right? I like both of them on record (and fostercare, Jokers Of The Scene and Gatekeeper for that matter) but White Ring were utterly awful live.

i guess the creep/romy xx single is coming out too late to place in these lists - wondering if i should hold off on nominating it for the ilx poll. why would anyone release a single on 20 dec, gah

xp i'm sure they're different acts - hang on, when did you see white ring live? i saw them at the nest, i thought they were ok! even if coming out to set their stage up beforehand ruined their ~horror movie ghost~ mystique a bit

my problem is that i dislike it when critics speak to some universal "we" that they assume from out the vapour in order to validate (or contend with) their own tastes. like she is not she, but merely another node on the consensus-generating online readership chain. i'm not saying i don't like it when others agree with me, but i'm more than a little tired of contemporary deference to the rendered opinions of the info-cloud. fuck that. whatever world you imagine you inhabit is at best a tiny slice of reality as a whole, and more likely a figment of your own imagination. i'd rather share the music i like with my friends in the here and now than wait for some random blogger to tell me it's cool. [/toughguy]

re actress: how come no one keeps talking about "maze"?

dying to pick up that soft moon LP. singles so far have been devastating.

I saw them at The Ruby Lounge in Manchester during In The City. The music was amazing but the girl's vocals were so insanely out of tune (this is an open goal right here for witch house haters I guess) and grating.

It was fucking intense though. There was so much dry ice you couldn't see a foot in front of you and all the security at the front were freaking out because they reckoned they could hear someone screaming and being sick but couldn't find them.

I saw someone later in the evening who confirmed that they were stood next to someone who started screaming and vomiting.

Not that I use this as any kind of critical barometer you understand...

screaming & vomiting is hella critical barometer

i have no interest in her list but seeing pitchfork writers pile on it is a bit "physician heal thyself"

oh plz are you seriously suggesting that I have forfeited the right to have an opinion on this stuff lex?

dying to pick up that soft moon LP. singles so far have been devastating.

disc is solid, top-to-bottom

Top 20 from the Americana Music Association (not a crit list, based on airplay)

1) Various Artists, Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / New West
2) Rosanne Cash, The List / Manhattan
3) John Hiatt, The Open Road / New West
4) Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig / Nonesuch
5) Ray Wylie Hubbard, A Enlightenment B Endarkenment Hint There Is No C / Bordello/Thirty Tigers
6) Robert Earl Keen, The Rose Hotel / Lost Highway
7) Band Of Heathens, One Foot In The Ether / BOH Records
8) The Avett Brothers, I And Love And You / Columbia
9) Patty Griffin, Downtown Church / Credential
10) Reckless Kelly, Somewhere In Time / Yep Roc
11) John Mellencamp, No Better Than This, Rounder
12) Darrell Scott, A Crooked Road, Full Light
13) Merle Haggard, I Am What I Am, Vanguard
14) Alejandro Escovedo, Street Songs of Love, Fantasy
15) Willie Nelson, Country Music, Rounder
16) Lyle Lovett, Natural Forces, Curb/Lost Highway
17) Carrie Rodriguez, Love And Circumstance, Ninth Street Opus
18) Robert Plant, Band of Joy, Rounder
19) Paul Thorn, Pimps & Preachers, Perpetual Obscurity
20) Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust, Shout! Factory

Was hoping to see a token nod to Big Boi at number 20.

they reckoned they could hear someone screaming and being sick but couldn't find them.

if i thought i could hear screaming at a witch house gig i'd just assume it was the band!

she doesn't do much "singing" though does she? just lots of oo-ooo-oooos and howls and screams.

"they reckoned they could hear someone screaming and being sick but couldn't find them.

if i thought i could hear screaming at a witch house gig i'd just assume it was the band!

she doesn't do much "singing" though does she? just lots of oo-ooo-oooos and howls and screams."

Ah but there's good howling and screaming and bad howling and screaming though! It's like the bad versus good noise arguement...

Hey scott, since you asked about current Asian music, this will not lead you to an album list, or even an album, but you should go to youtube and search "tokyo ultra c" with the following song titles: Denpa Tsuushin, OSCA, Sounan & Shuraba,Zettaizetsumei, kimaru.

(Apologies, but not really, for being an obsessive fanboy. I don't really know about Asian music in general.)

Kerrang top 20 of 2010
20. Electric Wizard - Black Masses
19. Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns
18. Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life
17. Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy
16. Black Breath - Heavy Breathing
15. High On Fire - Snakes For The Divine
14.Grand Magus - Hammer Of The North
13. Trash Talk - Eyes & Nines
12. Jimmy Eat World - Invented
11. Alkaline Trio - This Addiction
10. Far - At Night We Live
9. Against Me - White Crosses
8. Melissa Auf Der Maur - Out Of Our Minds
7. My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys
6.Kvelertak - Kvelertak
5. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
4. Bring Me The Horizon - There Is A Hell,Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret
3. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
2. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
1. Deftones - Diamond Eyes

Top choices so far. Enjoyable lack of consenus I think:

Vibe, Spin, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, AV Club, Time, Dagbladet - Kanye
Rough Trade, Resident Advisor, Dots and Dashes - Caribou
Q & Gigwise - Arcade Fire
Uncut & About.com - Joanna Newsom
Mojo - John Grant
Piccadilly Records - Gil Scott-Heron
NME - These New Puritans
Kerrang! - Deftones
Popmatters - Janelle Monae
The Wire - Actress
The Fly - Foals
Paste - LCD Soundsystem
Gorilla vs Bear - Beach House
Music OMH - The National
Drowned in Sound - Emeralds
Quietus - Liars
Rock-a-Rolla - Swans
Decibel - Agalloch
La Quenelle Culturelle - Kings of Leon
Get Off the Coast - How to Dress Well
AMA - Crazy Heart OST
Classic Rock - Slash

auf der mer is still around? is the album worth listening to? she's like the indie rah digga

haa

she's like the indie rah digga

hahahahaha amazing

does that make courtney love the indie lil kim? i guess the scary plastic surgery fits

i've still got several albums to get through before i can even think about finalising my own EOY list - only just got round to diddy-dirty money, araabmuzik, san soda, keri hilson, mellowhype, natalie storm and r. kelly; got el debarge, the pretty reckless* and girlicious queued up for later today...

*yes, taylor momsen's band. the guardian interview w/her piqued my interest.

San Soda album is pretty good and very 90s throwback but probably not likely to trouble yr end of year list.

courtney as the indie kim makes perfect sense. og awesome records to huge drop off, crazy plastic surgery, far more respected lover dead from mysterious gun shots

constant bitching about younger rivals too

Really really shocked to see that Swans won't place on Pitchfork's Top 50.

I still don't get the massive love for that Deftones record. Its good, this band has a really high level of consistently good output, but this is nowhere near as inventive and engaging as they have been in the past.

well, probably people are comparing it to other records out this year and not other Deftones records

I get that, I just mean none of their older records made this kind of showing on lists, it just surprises me.

I get that, I just mean none of their older records made this kind of showing on lists, it just surprises me.

It's Kerrrang! though.

Its showed up pretty high on a couple other lists too. If it was just Kerrang! I wouldn't be thinking so much about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Pony

White Pony received mostly positive reviews, garnering an aggregate rating of 72 on Metacritic.[7] Alternative Press ranked the album the second best album of the year 2000 and, subsequently, in their September 2010 issue placed White Pony in their list of the “Top 10 Most Influential Albums of 2000.” UK rock magazine Kerrang! named White Pony their third best album of the year behind Queens of the Stone Age’s Rated R and At the Drive-In’s Relationship of Command.

Okay okay, nevermind.