Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

Haim are shite though

Except they aren't.

Rate Your Music is useful as a research and resource tool, but as a community it's the fucking worst.

Dont know about it's users or community or why its the fucking worst and its only really a useful guide but I expect its users go there as it seems to cover music ignored by critics elsewhere (ie metal and prog)

<i>music ignored by critics elsewhere (ie metal and prog)</i>

And all remains right with the world.

Except my ability to remember to convert to BBcode.

excellent discussion

surprised people maintained any goodwill toward that soggy nick cave record

The Matthew E White album got a January or February release over here, which is why it's making a lot of lists. Good album, gorgeous arrangements, shame about his lack of vocal presence.

The John Grant record stands or falls on how successful is he in fitting the rhythm of his lyrics around the electronic arrangements. The difference between the astonishing first song and the ponderous second lays this bare really. It would be merely a very good album were it not for the incredible two songs that bookend it, although there's good stuff throughout. You ha r to have a high tolerance for monomanaical breakup albums but it's sad for some significant other reasons as well.

New board description: "Haim are shite though. Except they aren't."

I find Matthew E White underwhelming as a singer too, even though the album's arranged and produced to perfection and presses all my 70s country-soul buttons. It slid from my Top 10 as the year wore on.

Nick Cave has delivered two of my favourite shows of the year but I still can't love that album. Three amazing songs - Jubilee Street, Higgs Boson Blues and the title track - along with too much midtempo solemnity and a couple of duds that would barely have been B-sides in the Dig Lazarus Dig phase.

If Haim win the ILM poll then every ilxor who votes for it needs to take a long hard look at themselves followed by this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellation

i don't particularly love the Haim record but people who seem really offended by it are weird, what's the big deal

I was thinking of putting something else at #1 just because while I think the HAIM album is good, I don't think it's quite album of the year material; but if people keep bitching about HAIM I might give them the #1 spot merely out of spite.

Sounding better to me this morning than it has lately, actually.

I hope there's a sketch about all this HAIM handwringing on SNL tonight.

haha one person comments and its ilm handwringing?

I meant in general, outside ILM but hey, I do find that the more specific and esoteric an SNL sketch is, the funnier it is.

I got the impression they were universally loved outside in the real world.

That Matthew E White album is nice but I'm surprised to see it ranking so high.

yeah there was a lot of corny indie fuxxor angst over it a couple of months ago but not much on ilx. until now. it's a pretty great album but i'll admit it strikes me as an odd choice for any individual's #1. totally makes sense as a consensus pick though.

re: hy-um

I thought it was corny indie fuxxors who liked it?

Plenty of people seem to love them but I just dont get it.

rate your music is like rockism central

arent most of these sites?

ilm is rate your rockism central

the RYM alltime chart is pretty metal free though is it not? Last time I saw it it was all beatles bowie radiohead etc. the same as everywhere else.

Last time I saw it it was all beatles bowie radiohead etc.

rate your music is like rockism central

― dyl, Saturday, November 23, 2013 12:13 PM (8 minutes ago)

some dude otm about haim, it's not for me at all but i can totally see why other people would love it and it's far from hateable

The Singles Jukebox' Top 25 of 2013 is better than RYM's Top 25 Singles of 2013

that melt-banana song is the shit.

oh good, that thread was a lot easier to read than I was expecting

Jazzwise Top 20 New Releases 2013
http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/news-ma ... itics-poll

01 Wayne Shorter Quartet – Without A Net (Blue Note)
02 Kenny Garrett – Pushing The World Away (Mack Avenue)
03 Stan Tracey – The Flying Pig (ReSteamed)
04 Sons Of Kemet – Burn (Naim)
05 Terri Lyne Carrington – Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue (Concord)
06 Rudresh Mahanthappa – Gamack (ACT)
07 Geri Allen – Grand River Crossings (Motema)
08 Kairos 4Tet – Everything We Hold (Naim)
09 Kenny Wheeker/Norma Winstone – Mirrors (Edition)
10= Cecile McLorin Salvant – WomanChild (Mack Avenue)
10= Ralph Alessi – Baida (ECM)
10= Jaimeo Brown – Transcedence (Motema)
13= Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow – Trios (ECM)
13= Liane Carroll - Ballads (Quiet Money)
15= Quercus - Quercus (ECM)
15= Dave Holland’s Prism - Prism (Dare2/Okeh)
17 Gregory Porter – Liquid Spirit (Blue Note)
18= Craig Taborn – Chants (ECM)
18= Wallace Roney – Understanding (High Note)

TSJ selection is still reliably great. Nevospitannyy, Pata Pata and Damaso in particular.

The Haim album is possibly my favourite of the year but I agree that it doesn't seem quite like AOTY material. Then again I don't think I've heard an album this year that immediately struck me as a legit classic like Kaleidoscope Dream or Let England Shake.

It occurred to me the other day that the ILM Top 10 albums could end up being almost entirely comprised of shiny pop-rock and pop-country.

I think it will be fascinating this year because there's so little consensus in the lists and the ones that are cropping up a lot so far aren't ILX favourites. From my own top 10 I can see Vampire Weekend, John Grant, Haim and Kacey doing well but I'm not sure what else will place.

I thought people liked that Disclosure album

I figure Haim, Kanye, Daft Punk are tpp 5 shoo ins

i'd've thought MBV would do well but coming out so early in the year probably hurts its chances.

i thought i liked the disclosure album but it didn't stick at all. "white noise" is in my hundred-strong trax of 2013 longlist though

Pretty sure the ILM list is going to be terrible this year. No consensus among the outliers that I can see, and another disappointing year from Finland.

I'm sorta shocked that no one's mentioned Paramore yet. That record was such a 2013 jam.

another disappointing year from Finland.

Stalin's words exactly iirc

I'm sorta shocked that no one's mentioned Paramore yet. That record was such a 2013 jam.

― peace on earth and mercy mild (how's life),

I listened to it for the 400th time yesterday afternoon after my local station played "Still Into You," finally a hit, at least here. I'm tempted to make it my #1 album, flaws and all.

I dunno, I've stopped using EOY as any sort of barometer of 'what's best' because I know this year won't jibe with my listening but it's always a great way for me to check out what I've missed, discover a few hidden gems and generally find out what's been happening in the curious world of music I don't listen to much.

Outlier consensus will probably be the Knife album or something.

I don't think you understand the outlier demographic. The Knife are not outliers. They're fucking massive.

pretty proud of our TSJ list – our best ever imo.

xpost yeah but they alienated a lot of people this year.

i guess it's the outlier stuff i'm most interested in. i've been on top of things quite a bit these last few years and i'm always amazed at how much i've missed come EOY time.