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

street rap and neo-soul are huge blind spots for people not already into them, right?

and country and metal and grime and finnish psych and drone and and and...

eh, i'll admit that the only reason erykah and jeezy even placed at all was because they got sustained crit-hype over the year (more than any of their previous albums) - if an album from one of the genres you mentioned got the same level of crit-love they'd probably suffer the same fate

i think the thing w/ badu re this poll is that the most vocal backers of it are also pretty visible posters on the board so ppl thought it was gonna do way better than #6, whereas cut copy had only a decent thread but it hit in here where it did in tons of other polls

lex stop being a crybaby (go on, you CAN do it)

#6 is a perfectly fucking respectable placing for a mind-breakingly good (to a person, maybe later to a canon) contemporary classic album in an end of entire whole year poll featuring a gazillion other possible contenders.

That's how I felt at the time about Fever to Tell in 2003. Now, ask me the last time I listened to it.

i really like fever to tell but i think new amerykah may be working on just a few more levels to it

lol @ a chinchillas post in the ILM albums poll thread!

cut copy album is album of the year for me

street rap and neo-soul are huge blind spots for people not already into them, right?

probably, but then there's those of us who like erykah fine but don't love her. that album rarely really comes alive for me. it feels a little predictable. as far as kooky soul grrls go, i'll take kelis.

i don't even know what to say to the people who don't get it (apart from "try harder, losers")

but i don't want to have to try to get excited about something, you see. i don't really feel like there's something i'm missing about e.b., i'm kindly disposed toward her and i think it's a pretty good record. i just don't think she's ... that much fun? something like that.

the badu is the one album from '08 that i return to the most. i agree with lex that it's on another level. i don't think there was another album from '08 that felt so much like '08 like on this meta-level.

not every album has to be "fun"

top 5 predictions:

5 Juana Molina or Flying Lotus or 2562 or Jóhann Jóhannsson or James Blackshaw or The Notwist or Nomo or Opeth or Gang Gang Dance or Shearwater or Boring Iver

4 Hercules and Love Affair

3 Vampire Weekend

2 Lindstrom

1 Portishead

"Princes" is actually really cool

I wasn't meaning to compare Fever to Tell and New Amerykah directly as albums, but just as revelationary objects. Hopefully New Amerykah holds up better for you than Fever to Tell did for me. xxxxp

not every album has to be "fun"

no. but it helps.

back up, lex likes the yeah yeah yeahs?

How is that remotely a surprise?

Gang Gang Dance and Lindstrom both placing in the top five (assuming they do) is really something considering neither of them got anywhere near the hype of the rest of the top ten bar Air France. Well, outside ILM anyway.

what electrodribble is to come?

in re: fun, erykah always feels a little didactic to me. i'd like more of the second half of "master teacher," less of the first half.

ffs, it did better on pazz and jop than ilm. im not all that bummed, and otr #6 isnt really that bad, considering a lot of people probably didnt come across it? but like lex said, it's smoe next level/album of the decade type shit, and the fact that it's not #1 (considering what i voted for as #1 didnt have much of a chance) is a shame. but, like i predicted earlier, that's a ridiculous point-per-vote, and all of you who slept on are on some wack shit imo

xposts fandango wtf are you going on about

i don't even mind that hercules and love affair record.

but i just flat don't like that antony dude's singing at all. on anything.

also, it seemed like people really projected a lot of romantic disco type feelings onto that record, which only seemed sort of "okay" to me. lot of filler, couple killer tracks.

idk if you're making albums as smart, moving, powerful and absolutely packed with meaning and life as new amerykah, i'm not sitting there going "but where's the FUN??" at the end of it.

also it IS fun, in places.

Is 'fun' that much of a concern in a poll where Portishead is the overwhelming favourite?

I mean, I'm not saying there aren't people having the time of their life to 'Threads', but...

i just flat don't like that antony dude's singing at all. on anything.

cosign

but i just flat don't like that antony dude's singing at all. on anything.

also, it seemed like people really projected a lot of romantic disco type feelings onto that record, which only seemed sort of "okay" to me. lot of filler, couple killer tracks.

^^definitely agree with this (except i can take antony's voice far more on disco than on wibbly singer-songwritery delicacies) - "couple killer, lot of filler" sums it up though

Hah I'd agree with that as well except my four favourite tracks on the album are the ones with Antony on them.

but, like i predicted earlier, that's a ridiculous point-per-vote, and all of you who slept on are on some wack shit imo

15.3 points per vote. that's quite something.

Erykah placing 6th here is a fucking good result, if you ask me. There are tons of "next level/album of the decade" albums on this list (and shite ones as well). It's a matter of who you ask really. But acting like it's a crime against humanity that Erykah didn't get the top spot is stretching it. A lot.

Am liking the GGD album muchly

slept on *this obv

"honey" isn't exactly the most representative song off of that album

Haha, here we go

f you're making albums as smart, moving, powerful and absolutely packed with meaning and life as new amerykah, i'm not sitting there going "but where's the FUN??" at the end of it.

yeah, saying she's not fun is a little flippant i'll grant. i don't hear the powerful, moving, packed-with-life as much, is all. (my definition of "fun" is pretty broad and would include an album i thought was powerful, moving and packed with life.) i've just always found the neo-soul school, and erykah in particular, a little self-regarding and preachy for my tastes. still can make for some very nice music, but it often puts me off a little.

Louis have you got to the penultimate track yet? That one's the real killer.

idk how musically feels about this but i for one would really like to be able to assign points to places instead of going 20-1. i doubt everyone would take advantage of this but i certainly had two albums last year that i loved on a different level more than anything else; had it been a P&J-type point distribution, i would have given those two 30 points and the rest five (or whaever it works out to with 20 places)

It literally started just now, very promisingly too

true dat matt, but the video is really nice. (sorry 'bout the ad at the end. it was the first "official video" i could find)

i can't see what tricky posted, but if it's a video of honey, then yeah what matt dc said. it sounds corny to say but it's one of those albums that you can't pick a track out to rep for, it's a whole album experience

great as 'honey' is, of course

i'd really object to "preachy", certainly for this particular erykah album. actually it's pretty explicitly un-preachy - preachy implies that erykah's talking down to her audience, but that runs completely contrary to what she's saying. i had a mini-debate w/frank kogan about this - he called her "pious" which is sort of similar enough for me to c/p my reply -

"Pious" implies either a) a reverence which isn't present in the album at all, or b) a certain amount of lecturing, which just isn't the feeling I take from her commentary - when she talks about her people, about society, there's a generosity and compassion there which "pious" would preclude. See the line "To my girls on prescription pills" in 'Soldier' - a pious singer would castigate them for their behaviour. Erykah just sings, warmly and understandingly, "I know how you feel". Which isn't surprising - 'Me' is followed immediately by 'My People', and she pretty much explicitly states that she is her people. She's not above her characters, and just cuz she's kicking people in the ass and sharing her wisdom doesn't mean she's not including herself in that. Actually, putting 'Me' so near the start of the album is a statement of her intent not to be pious.

idk how musically feels about this but i for one would really like to be able to assign points to places instead of going 20-1. i doubt everyone would take advantage of this but i certainly had two albums last year that i loved on a different level more than anything else; had it been a P&J-type point distribution, i would have given those two 30 points and the rest five (or whaever it works out to with 20 places)

― Jewish Lager (k3vin k.), Monday, February 16, 2009 3:56 PM (32 seconds ago) Bookmark

im not a huge fan of this really at all - we'll all have too much influence i think

true dat matt, but the video is really nice. (sorry 'bout the ad at the end. it was the first "official video" i could find)

― tricky, Monday, February 16, 2009 9:57 PM (32 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's an awesome video and song, btw not ragging on honey in any way.

though lol i've always been a bit perplexed at 'honey''s inclusion - it's got a real bonus track gem feel to it. i see 'telephone' as the real (and perfect) closer.

i can't see what tricky posted, but if it's a video of honey, then yeah what matt dc said. it sounds corny to say but it's one of those albums that you can't pick a track out to rep for, it's a whole album experience

yeah, removing any of the trax from their context seems like doing them a disservice to me. still, don't think one can go too wrong w/a live youtube of 'soldier'...

she pretty much explicitly states that she is her people

well that gets into the self-regard i was talking about. don't know what kogan said about it, but i have a feeling i'd agree.

i do like a lot of the tracks and production on new amerykah, i'm not really down on it. just saying there are possible reasons for not loving it other than not liking/getting modern soul/r&b.

yeah i think "honey" actually is a bonus track and if it ended with "telephone" i'd be happy too. the thing about "honey" though is that it feels like a release after the non-stop intensity of the album.

This album has absolutely flown by (GGD), excellent stuff, although I think I narrowly prefer the last track to the penultimate one...solid all the way through

ggd's album getting the l0u1s jagg3r stamp of approval is a small silver lining in all of their gear getting burned up imo

The only thing I don't love about the entire GGD album is the very last chord, where it sounds like they're shutting down their laptop at the end.

though lol i've always been a bit perplexed at 'honey''s inclusion - it's got a real bonus track gem feel to it. i see 'telephone' as the real (and perfect) closer.

i think they're both perfect closers - 'telephone' is the ideal way to sign off new amerykah as statement, but 'real thang' and 'honey' make for a brilliant epilogue - like, she's led you on this mind-blowing and kinda intense trip through the album proper, made you think hard and feel deeply, and then she reminds you of how great really simple, relaxing positivity can be - like coming out of the cinema after some really intense film and just going to the park to lie around in the sun and drink wine with your friends.