Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

(Nina Sky doesn't count because I don't think most of what they do is all that good)

Um I'm on my phone and can't post links but if you think Nikkiya is just standard r+b, er, wow

xpost Lex, I don't go into any hipster bars in East London. Can you recommend any real ale pubs in North London where I will hear the R&B you commend?

I listen to and like almost all of the artists in Lex's pro-camp (except I'd never be so nuts as to argue that Lyrica Anderson is more worthwhile than Miguel or Frank Ocean), but it seems like what's going on here is that critics/the masses/"hipsters" or whatever are drawn to singularlity, artists whose aesthetic or songwriting voices are so different or distinct from their peers that they can't help but stand out. I don't see why that's such a conspiracy.

― Evan R, Thursday, December 6, 2012 11:37 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this distinction is nonsense btw

i know thats what theyd like to think they perceive

wait, so now we're not even acknowledging that Frank Ocean/Miguel et al are even different from other R&B? Come on

Sadly the link to Jackin' Pop no longer seems to exist

{I}xpost Lex, I don't go into any hipster bars in East London. Can you recommend any real ale pubs in North London where I will hear the R&B you commend?{/i}

I once heard teedra moses in the library (I think it's called that?) next to high + i stn! Literally leapt out of my seat to ask the barmaid about it, she was a huge teedra fan and we bonded over it. I don't know about real ale though

there's definitely a gender angle to it, i think that's undeniable. it's much harder for female r&b singers to connect w/ a community that's largely male than it is for a male. the year everyone finally hopped on the-dream's nuts was the same year no critic gave a shit about electrik red, for instance. or, like, personally i don't see a huge distinction between the looniness of mariah carey and the looniness of r kelly (pre-trapped days) and yet r. kelly was approached critically for years despite mariah having some songs on the level of "ignition"

there's also a marketing angle to it. indie people immediately jumped on the weeknd in part because they were aiming for that audience (and for a few other reasons like that no one knew who he was) & miguel getting love from places like stereogum & w/e is in part because they specifically targeted a "hipper" audience (i.e. zombies interpolation + otehr less overt things). frank ocean speaks for itself, obviously.

wait, so now we're not even acknowledging that Frank Ocean/Miguel et al are even different from other R&B? Come on

Not radically so? No more so than some of the other names discussed? Idiosyncrasy and distinctiveness comes in many forms, not just the self-conscious and heavy-handed? But in any case I'm fucking sick of r+b getting praised because it's so fucking ~different~ to other r+b

In more "site throws up list" news, Drowned in Sound have revealed their 100-6:

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145819-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2012--100-51
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145822-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2012--50-26
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145829-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2012--25-6

Nice to see a placing for the "Lee Ronaldo" album.

i'm not the hugest dawn fan BUT she is doing something that is unique AND very in vogue right now & i think if she was a mysterious dude with a cool tumblr presence & slick marketing scheme instead of an ex-girl group singer that her music would be a very big deal right now

I hear Solange and Dawn Richard essaying the same kind of ethereal melancholy.

Nice to see a placing for the "Lee Ronaldo" album.

I prefer Lee Ronaldinho.

i'm not the hugest dawn fan BUT she is doing something that is unique AND very in vogue right now & i think if she was a mysterious dude with a cool tumblr presence & slick marketing scheme instead of an ex-girl group singer that her music would be a very big deal right now

this is kinda interesting to me cuz ime dawn richard (and d-dm) are probably the hippest r+b artists mentioned so far itt

apparently Killer Mike made the album I was hoping Big Boi would make this year

I hear Solange and Dawn Richard essaying the same kind of ethereal melancholy.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 December 2012 18:09 (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

http://i.pinger.pl/pgr288/bd175d5900092daa5012d83c

http://www.spin.com/articles/trend-of-the-year-alt-rb-2012-frank-ocean-weeknd-miguel

feel like we're just now turning up itt

Fucking hell DiS even the NME isn't desperate enough to throw a sympathy rep to 2012 Bloc Party.

#turnup

rlly looking forward to andy k & rtc ilx reaction posts

I've seen references to "this Lone album" and "that Lone album," but not in any of the lists. Does it have a title?

steve

it's "galaxy garden" fastnbulb

I really slept on this Nikkiya record then, mostly because Speak Her Sex was my least favourite think on Trunk Musik. It's really distinctive as well, who else is doing those orchestral soundtracky cut-ups?

xp: Here's a Spotify link: http://open.spotify.com/album/7fuV2dWa1XwIqAxYaMwc4I

rlly looking forward to andy k & rtc ilx reaction posts

Do How to Dress Well and Santigold get more mentions than Georgia Anne Muldrow and THEESatisfaction? If so, probably won't bother to read it.

omg Santigold did actually get namechecked

lolololololololol

i need to check out that whole theesatisfaction record

Idolator:

http://idolator.com/7316212/best-albums-2012-year

keeps crashing my browser or else i would tell you what was in it

i will say that he's not really exaggerating the crowd anticipation/reaction to frank's set at lolla

as andy feared its a v v myopic view of basically R&B as a genre since the 80s

imma
Commented on this photo:

Fiona Aplle it’s the only good artist on your list! the rest SUCK

Ok I didn't expect to see Loreen there.

"It's one of the most consistent and listenable albums of 2012" is very faint praise for your number one album of the year

Idolator top 10:

1. Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
2. Taylor Swift - Red
3. Jessie Ware - Devotioin
4. Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE
5. Loreen - Heal
6. Bright Light Bright Light - Make Me Believe In Love
7. Beach House - Blom
8. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city
9. Carly Rae Jepsen - Kiss
10. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...

blom

lol

the Lee Gamble album on the main Wire list is pretty cool. Collages of ambient breakdowns from mid 90s jungle tunes.

listening to Bright Light Bright Light right now and between this dude and Owl City, The Postal Service has so much to answer for

there's a Bright Light Bright Light now?

how does Bright Light Bright Light compare to Lights and Pretty Lights, or Ellie Goulding's "Lights"?

All of the lights.

ah yes that's the other one

There's also Brightblack Morning Light, who I think are supposed to be quite good? But I can't remember what they even sound like.

it bears mentioning that the gender balance on R&B radio is very male these days -- Trey Songz/Chris Brown/Usher/Miguel/etc. all commanding much more of the airwaves than pretty much any woman besides arguably Beyonce

a lot of u guys are being hella defensive. idgaf what R&B you like or dont, but surely you recognize that there is this thing called "cool," and some very good music is not very cool, and is overlooked because of it

― D-40, Thursday, December 6, 2012 11:55 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think the topic of the shifting nature of cool is an interesting one right now and demands a degree of nuance and flexibility that is impossible when the H word flattens everything into a mush of received opinion

the H word

hella?

can't believe i missed d-40 talking about hipsters for 80 posts today