TOP 10 NOW: \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\shawty got poll poll poll poll poll poll poll (part II: 2008 ALBUMS)/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

stars of bloghouse/frankendance/young(er) people getting dance wrong why is it hated?

What are they looking for?

knuckle-draggers of the world, unite and take over

xxxxxxpost

"What are they looking for?"

maybe it's not so much what they are looking for as what they have lost.

Maybe Bono asked them to look for something

i can only imagine that a ton of ilmers would be here freaking out about the way this list is going but are frozen in mid seizure.

― From Rax to Rich's (jjjusten), Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:59 PM (6 minutes ago)

yeah i cant say i have a solid opinion on this list so far other than it's...strange.

and they probably told him to fuck right off :D

xp

i can only imagine that a ton of ilmers would be here freaking out about the way this list is going but are frozen in mid seizure.

― jjjusten

i was being kinda snide earlier, but it's a damn good list, so far. leans a bit more toward the "only in the UK" than "only in america", but that's cool.

Maybe Bono asked them to look for something

was that something him?

and big props to musically for the enjoyable ride these polls have so far been

I was lol kidding. Love Crystal Castles, and the Zelda reference indeed is on the mark.

I dunno, this list doesn't seem very ILM-ish to me, but maybe I've just been stuck in my little corner of ILM and haven't been paying attention....

and yeah definitely big up to musically for the effort

What corner is that? Don't think I've seen you much on ILM. Thought you were more an ILE guy

The R&B and Pop threads basically.

i always seem to miss the boat for voting, but i would have given props the 'the black sea', depending suppose on how many votes i had to dispense.

re brainwasher: that's weird, cuz the list looks EXACTLY like ilm to me...

last one for today:

21 - Deerhunter - Microcastle
133 points, 14 votes
11 in P&J, 5 in p4k

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/927/micro2ke4.jpg

Woah, that's way lower than I expected! I thought Deerhunter 'd rank in the top ten for sure!

I was lol kidding. Love Crystal Castles, and the Zelda reference indeed is on the mark.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, February 13, 2009 1:11 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

never heard of them but love the cover

nice cover again. happy mondays.

the "who the hell are crystal castles?" business is the first thing on this thread that's really surprised me. like that's the most obscure pick so far???

i don't think any given album so far is un-ilm, but ambient droney stuff does seem rather overrepresented compared to its visible presence. and there's a weird lack of house and techno so far, though i'm not sure what the consensus albums even were this year (shed? trus'me?). also i suspect that the metal crew have done a better job of getting themselves organised for an effective assault on this poll. i can't even imagine the r&b or ringtone threads doing that.

i'm not unhappy with it, better this than the terrible pfork indie which filled every other 2008 year-end list, but i do feel a bit...distant from it, and i really hope the top 20 has more stuff i'm down with.

ie no more fucking elbow, seriously, god, so BORING.

better this than the terrible pfork indie which filled every other 2008 year-end list

lol this was an xpost, while i was typing that musically posted deerhunter. facedesk.

List so far for those not keeping up/who have bad memories:

50 - Boris – Smile
49 - Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
48 - School Of Seven Bells – Alpinisms
47 - Sébastien Tellier – Sexuality
46 - Fall, The - Imperial Wax Solvent
45 - Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
44 - Jay Reatard - Matador Singles 08
43 - Alex Moulton – Exodus
42 - Stephen Malkmus and Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
41 - Solange - Sol Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams
40 - Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
39 - Hold Steady, The - Stay Positive
38 - D. Lissvik - 7 Trx + Intermission
37 - Gas - Nah und Fern
36 - Glass Candy - B/E/A/T/B/O/X
35 - Half Man Half Biscuit - CSI: Ambleside
34 - Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You
33 - Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
32 - Luomo – Convivial
31 - El Guincho – Alegranza
30 - Quiet Village - Silent Movie
29 - Lau Nau – Nukkuu
28 - Fennesz - Black Sea
27 - Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
26 - Torche – Meanderthal
25 - Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster
24 - Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
23 - Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
22 - Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
21 - Deerhunter - Microcastle

haven't seen that particular take on the deerhunter cover art, but it sure tops the image of that demonic, glazed over indie type on the front of my copy.

i have actually heard deerhunter rather too much, and they're just so grey and bloodless and mediocre. it's nothing music. it's barely existence.

(I had to correct the Grouper album title in that round-up, I just couldn't live with it.)

xpost I'm pretty meh about Deerhunter too, although I did enjoy Atlas Sound at Primavera, though not sure if it was just his rambling 'tween song charm that did it.

also i suspect that the metal crew have done a better job of getting themselves organised for an effective assault on this poll.

― lex pretend

lol, metal cru = crimson permanent assurance

the "who the hell are crystal castles?" business is the first thing on this thread that's really surprised me. like that's the most obscure pick so far???

They are for those of us who voted the obscure stuff no-ones heard of before now ;)

but ambient droney stuff does seem rather overrepresented

What 'ambient droney stuff', Lex? Only thing really ambient, and somewhat droney, is Gas, but what else?

i found a round table singles panel i did last year, and deerhunter came up in it. these are some selected comments (only two are mine):

"it's...just there? it seems to aspire to competence and just about get there"
"psychedelic sounding in many different shades of grey"
"They're playing like they could go on forever but my ears are slowly fading them out"
"oh god it actually does sound interminable"
"a road to nowhere"
"i like motorik repetition but that needs something worth repeating"
"is this the exciting bit?! ...no, this is the i just discovered my pitch shifter bit"

yeah i forgot all about deerhunter, but i'm surprised it's so low too. definitely a highlight of 2008 for me; it was the first deerhunter rec i liked, and was my favorite for the middle part of the year until erykah and skeletal lamping (losing hope but fingers crossed) both hit me. i really liked the introspective stuff on here--songs like "calvary scars" and "little kids" were really affecting and were imo mature and thoughtful ways of expressing his unique desire to age (rather than the usual nostalgia-driven desire to regress to youth that so many ppl write about and drives lex up a wall). remember dude has marfan syndrome and is likely going to die at a really young age

First time I heard of Crystal Castles was when that nme cool list came out. But I dont think I've heard anything.

Deerhunter is something on paper i should like but... i just dont. Not heard this album. If its on spotify I'll give it a listen. Same with Crystal Castles I suppose.

but ambient droney stuff does seem rather overrepresented

What 'ambient droney stuff', Lex? Only thing really ambient, and somewhat droney, is Gas, but what else?

the stuff ive been singing the praises of that wasnt in the metal chart.

Also you will find that lots of the doom/drone guys tend to like any drone and lots of psych folk, esp finnish stuff. And the bands who do stuff in all those genres.

yeah this deerhunter is different than the first two btw, i didnt like them before either.

anyway that was it for today, tomorrow we'll count down the teens and then you can spend the weekend guessing the top 10...based on the projections I have read above some of you are going to be in for a rather large surprise. i feel that the winners of the trax and this have been a lot less clear-cut than the last couple of years, which is always nice.

anyway, teaser for #20...it's probably the most tolerable "indie" album I heard last year. coming from me that's like getting a 9.3 from p4k. and i imagine that lots of you who have been wtfing the list so far will find much of the upcoming stuff more relatable, so don't despair quite yet.

But you can't really call Grouper ambient/droney, now can you? I was just wondering if there really was a lot of drone/ambient on this list, or if it was just Lex's perception.

xxxpost

i'm mostly ok with the weirdness of the list so far cuz i'm pretty certain 7 of my votes will place in the top 20, which is good going - i do wonder whether the other 13 will be stuff i like but didn't vote for (maybe laura marling?), or the usual pfork indie shit that i'll have to get my hate on for

But but but Musically, I like the wtfing most of all! :)

Thanks again for doing this, have a great weekend

anyway, teaser for #20...it's probably the most tolerable "indie" album I heard last year

my most tolerable indie album was santogold...i'd be pretty pleased to see her at no 20, it's about where she belongs.

i think what i meant was that there's a distinct lack of songs so far - not that i place any sort of premium on them but the tendency towards droney ambience and abstract psych folk has meant that any album with actual songcraft on it has really leapt out so far.

Great weekend AFTER you give us #19 - #10 obv. (sorry, I already have weekend)

also i suspect that the metal crew have done a better job of getting themselves organised for an effective assault on this poll.

if anything i'd say the exact opposite, mostly lamenting the fact that harvey milk et al aren't probably going to make it. also, not the most centralized shared opinion types yer likely to find, TBH.

Droney ambience and abstract psych-folk are two different things to me - the phrasing "actual songcraft" makes me cringe, because to me that's exactly what Grouper does, for example - but I see your point Lex.

Maybe on that album, the other albums are pretty drone-y

if anything i'd say the exact opposite, mostly lamenting the fact that harvey milk et al aren't probably going to make it.

The biggest disappointment for me. Before the poll , i didnt think it would make it, but after Boris and Earth made it, whom Harvey Milk beat by a long way in the metal poll, I had my hopes raised, but dashed when Torche was posted.
Still, I've had a lot more of my list making it than I imagined. And there's still The Bug and Portishead to come hopefully.
Longshot after seeing Grouper and Lau Nau making it would be James Blackshaw, but I dont think there's anyway he could go top 20. Esp if the top 20 features more recognisable names now.

re crystal castles, the track that first got me.

a lot of the album is like that, moody, repetitive. some of it gets more electrodribbly

and some of it's more chiptuney and squawky

fingers crossed for Late Of The Pier at 20

for the record, i don't know grouper. but am keen to listen to it now. thanks guys.