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

“Gorgeous,” for instance, is W.E.B. Du Bois-relentless in dropping knowledge, evidenced as much by Kanye’s torrential rapping as by the mere presence of Raekwon.

I really need to pay more attention to the writing of Chet Benz.

sorry, Chet Betz.

is that black milk record worth checking? i never even knew dude dropped anything this year. and even though i love tronic, i find it very hard to be enthusiastic about him

Anthony is right re: me abbreviating dude's argument; he goes to ridiculous extremes shortly thereafter which no one in their right mind would defend (aside from allowing for subjective reactions). The main point I agreed with is that if you don't think the album sounds like Kanye slaved over it or you don't find the amount of work he put into it impressive, no amount of listens will change your mind.

Also, DJP, please relax gurl

I have no idea what this is in reference to...?

the music crit pen name of Chester Bennington (xpost)

just noticed that Cokemachineglow put Yellow Swans at #16 on their year-end list, thats a great f'ing album

is that black milk record worth checking? i never even knew dude dropped anything this year. and even though i love tronic, i find it very hard to be enthusiastic about him

it doesnt really hold a candle to Tronic (which i love) -- haven't listened to it a lot, though

did anyone post the new york times critic lists

caramanica
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/music/19caramanica.html?_r=1

pareles
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/music/19pareles.html

raitliff
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/music/19ratiliff.html

chinen
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/music/19ratiliff.html

Also, DJP, please relax gurl

I have no idea what this is in reference to...?

― Tina Tina Cheneuse (DJP), Friday, December 17, 2010 11:58 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

Any Owen + Lex synthesis. It's not gonna happen.

awww youd be a cute couple doe

lol

I recognize that intellectually

<3 you Lex
From across the room

Greg Kot:
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/12/top-albums-of-2010.html

Jim DeRogatis:
http://www.wbez.org/blog/jim-derogatis/reasons-living-20-best-albums-2010

Spoiler: Both picked Janelle Monae as their #1 album.

huh that's kind of interesting, esp. considering they're both chicago-based and write for local sources

ie i'm surprised at least one of them didn't go for kanye.

but on the other hand it's not surprising because they both suck

Perhaps only West could turn all the hatred directed at him into a song as thrilling, surreal and anthemic as “Runaway,” the centerpiece of an album that turns contradictions into strengths, a mix of classical opulence, grimy beats, boldness and vulnerability.

rubbing my eyes...a critic cogently praising this album without implying this album is either a culmination of his or the earth's previous efforts and tweets. it happened.

4. Robyn, “Body Talk” (Interscope): In an era when big, buoyant pop is king, from Katy Perry to Black Eyed Peas, this Swedish singer trumps them all. “Body Talk” caps her trilogy of releases this year with an affirmation that pop can be both smart and danceable.

get that: smart AND danceable!

the other body talk blurb is just as bad

14. Robyn, “Body Talk Pt. 2” (Konichiwa)

Lady Gaga is an amusing novelty; Swedish dance-pop diva Robyn is the real deal, so energizing, empowering, and sexy in a non-pandering way that even the obligatory Snoop Dogg cameo (in the simultaneously angry and exuberant, buoyant and bitchy “U Should Know Better”) can’t derail things on the second installment of her “Body Talk” trilogy.

how was that snoop dogg cameo obligatory? does he have a long history of appearing on swedish pop records that i somehow overlooked? and i'm not even gonna touch that first statement.

jeez

the thing ppl seem to not get about Gaga is that she is both an amusing novelty AND the real deal

if robyn is smart, give me all of the sarah palins of pop

Kot's Monae blurb seared my eyelashes.

can anyone vouch for the besnard lakes album that graces both Kot and DeRogatis's lists? i liked the first one alright

I liked it well enough. A. Begrand's a fan too.

I would buy Robyn as a purveyor of big buoyant pop if Body Talk took more cues from "Dream On" and "With Every Heartbeat" and if Robyn had a bigger voice. Like, I didn't dig Body Talk Part One for any sense of grandness or unfettered joy; I liked it because it was all inward and nerdy, and (more crucially) I didn't actually like it enough to keep up with Parts Two and Three.

as much as i love what robyn's done this year its gotten to the point that i want her to stop appearing in these lists because these writers are killing me

Besnard Lakes: I guess you don't want my word for it but I love it to pieces. His voice is amazing and it's beautiful, considered use of shoegaze and classic rock, not just clinical copyism.

part two is better!

xxp

Robyn finally won me over on Pt. 3 cuz someone gave her a Tiffany 12" from 1988 and apparently liked it. Stick that in your pipe, Greg Kot.

I guess you don't want my word for it but

??

happy to hear yr opinion -- sounds like i need to check out the album

the thing ppl seem to not get about Gaga is that she is both an amusing novelty AND the real deal

like most good pop, I'd say.

Yeah, exactly!

i wonder what kot thinks of Robyn is Here

hahaha omg

It was sexy in a non-pandering way.

it's like in the cokemachineglow list entry:

All Robyn does is consistently pump out these unbelievable Erasure-style pop songs and continue to receive heaps of praise from snarky online publications like this one, and she’s yet to crack the American mainstream—at least post-Robyn is Here (1995)

the Robyn is Here mention is so tacked on, as if the writer submitted it and his editor reminded him that, oh ya, Show me Love was kind of big 15 years ago

not to mention that Erasure has never had a US top ten

<3 you Lex
From across the room

lol ditto

robyn is another example of someone being given a whole lot too much credit for acting a touch meta and saying she's smart

not to mention that Erasure has never had a US top ten

huh, I thought both "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect" were bigger than they actually were

x-post

in the links for the NY Times critics above Ratliff was accidentally listed twice (under his own name and under Chinen). Here's Chinen's jazz heavy list. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/music/19chinen.html

I figured Deej and other would be commenting on the NY Time's Caramanica listing Drake and Rick Ross and Kanye for albums and listing Earl Sweatshirt under songs

x-post Oh, come on. She's definitely smart enough to have navigated the transition from assembly line teen pop star to critical darling, and then to turn a five year gap between records - supporting the same record, btw, which wasn't even commercially available in the US for most of those years - to her advantage and know just what kind of sound to come back with. It wouldn't be such a big deal if she weren't so business-savvy as she is pop-savvy.

Now, if you're asking what about her music specifically makes her smart, I dunno. Especially since she does dumb pretty brilliantly, too.

I figured Deej and other would be commenting on the NY Time's Caramanica listing Drake and Rick Ross and Kanye for albums and listing Earl Sweatshirt under songs

― curmudgeon, Friday, December 17, 2010 12:18 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

see: remixes thread

NY Times "popcast" on the EOY

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/popcast-top-10-albums-of-2010/?ref=music

there's already been a long of "oh why caramanica why are you on the drake bandwagon" handwringing on ILM this year

xpost to lex

by "a touch meta" are you referring to her newer version of show me love? because i think thats actually an example where being a touch meta works, and the song works as a really beautiful and original way of revisiting her past (kind of ironically, since most of her supporters these days would rather pretend that robyn didnt exist).

artists get too much credit for being a touch meta all the time (das racist? really?) but a reactionary, blanket aversion to anything that even flirts with meta is no good either

Self-awareness /= smart.

but self-awareness can be done in a smart way, no?

well, sure, but critics (inc. me) often assume self-awareness is one of the primal virtues.

the photos look great on that spread

― franz kaptcha (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, December 17, 2010 1:15 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Who knew Titus Andronicus was so good looking. complete opposite of how they sound