Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

There are one or two more to come in the Guardian list that didn't get reviewed - one's a mixtape.

I'd rather we were honest and owned up to what we didn't review – because no one covers everything.

LA Weekly - The 10 Best Metal Albums of 2013
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2013/12/best_metal_albums_2013.php

'black skinhead's been in a ton of ads plus that great scorsese trailer so it's got the highest profile (well, before the mystery of kim nipples at least). plus it has the added benefit of letting ppl think 'wow kanye's really breaking ground in new sounds for hip-hop/music/humanity' while actually giving them just another schaffel track to jam to. 20/20 snubbing is interesting since i think it's still the top selling album of the year right? then again there's fucking 'mirrors' somehow at #7 on rolling stone's list. pretty cool ciara made it though.

while actually giving them just another schaffel track to jam to.

i been sayin this while the blog narrative was "He """""sampled""""" Marilyn Manson"

the funniest thing about the Motorola ad with "Black Skinhead" in it is that 50% of the time i see it on TV they have "Little Green Bag" sync'd to the exact same visuals. so weird to think of those 2 songs being interchangeable in any context.

We should discuss the art of the grudging #50 slot: Lorde for Complex, Blurred Lines for Rolling Stone, James Blake for NME. It always feels driven by a need to recognise something significant that nobody at the mag is crazy about.

― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, December 5, 2013 6:24 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://www.spin.com/articles/best-albums-2013/?slide=1

One year at Stylus we failed to review our eventual AOTY at all, never mind things that placed further down.

One year at Stylus I put a flute in my Stosuy

We did that too.

Juno Plus - Best of 2013: Top 25 Albums
http://www.junodownload.com/plus/2013/12/05/best-of-2013-top-25-albums/

25. Egyptrixx – A/B til Infinity (Night Slugs)
24. Function – Incubation (Ostgut Ton)
23. Special Request – Soul Music (Houndstooth)
22. Prince Of Denmark – The Body (Giegling)
21. Luke Wyatt – Teen Hawk (Emotional Response)
20. Felix K – Flowers Of Destruction (Hidden Hawaii)
19. Streetwalker – Future Fusion (Cititrax)
18. Karen Gwyer – Needs Continuum (No Pain In Pop)
17. Donato Dozzy – Plays Bee Mask (Spectrum Spools)
16. KWC 92 – Dreams Of The Walled City (L.I.E.S.)
15. Tropic of Cancer – Restless Idylls (Blackest Ever Black)
14. Charles Manier – Charles Manier (Nation)
13. Rashad Becker - Traditional Music Of Notional Species Vol. I (PAN)
12. Miles - Faint Hearted (Modern Love)
11. The Haxan Cloak – Excavation (Tri Angle Records)
10. DVA Damas – Nightshade (Downwards America)
9. Holden – The Inheritors (Border Community)
8. Metasplice - Infratracts (Morphine Records)
7. Logos – Cold Mission (Keysound Recordings)
6. Maxmillion Dunbar – House of Woo (RVNG Intl)
5. Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven (Warp)
4. Huerco S. – Colonial Patterns (Software)
3. RP Boo – Legacy (Planet Mu)
2. Laurel Halo – Chance Of Rain (Hyperdub)
1. Stellar OM Source – Joy One Mile (RVNG Intl)

bought that stellar om source just now, i've meant to check it out a few times and it was 4 quid on bandcamp so WHY NOT

Need to spend more time with that, does have some amazing moments though.

Out of the rest of them I love the Karen Gwyer, Rashad Becker and Holden records, think the Dozzy, Function, Miles and Haxan Cloak ones are decent enough, still haven't quite clicked with the Laurel Halo, bit disappointed with the OPN, couldn't fucking stand the Tropic Of Cancer.

Really happy to see Stellar Om Source at #1, such a great album.

what is the Miles like?

i am spotify-binging on this list, seems close to my tastes. i did a play in august and it distracted me from buying or paying any attention to new music for the last 3 months, after buying a lot of new records in the first half of the year.

that rashad becker album is off the hook. it could be its own genre.

what is the Miles like?

bit more straightforward than any of the demdike stuff iirc, kind of dark clanky techno in the same sort of vein as sandwell district

feel like i should check out the haxan cloak at some point

i liked the stellar om source album when i listened but i couldn't hear what really made it special

nice to see a list headed by two female artists btw, even if one of them is laurel halo

haxan cloak is good. bit more straightforward than any of the demdike stuff iirc, kind of dark ambient dub in the same sort of vein as errr.... help me out here?

haxan cloak is basically getting all the attention that deaf center should have had in previous years

That RP Boo album is winning a lot of cool points but i'd argue it's not the most exciting footwork release of recent days. many of the tracks are reprised from other places and while he might be footwork's originator i find his stuff a bit too random and scattered to really enjoy much in 2013. 'double cup' is a much better example of where it's at right now. can't remember if there were many other footwork albums released this year?

i liked the stellar om source album when i listened but i couldn't hear what really made it special

It's just really good bleepy techno. Mind you I was similarly nonplussed by the Maximilion Dunbar album.

the last track on the haxan cloak album, "the drop", is really incredible. the rest kind of pales in comparison to it imo.

Yeah I think the Haxan Cloak is good screwfacing ambiance but not much more but that final track is fantastic./

Thinking about it, I wouldn't be all that surprised if Stellar Om Source won the Wire poll

assuming I don't hear anything else that supersedes it RP Boo is my #2 album of the year. just completely love his whole deal. didn't really get the impression it made a big splash tho 'communities' like Juno are p much totally unknown to me (much as their list is lookin good)

haxan cloak is basically getting all the attention that deaf center should have had in previous years

ah now i'm interested. those deaf centre records are incredible. only discovered them this year.

yeah, as far as creepy slowburn horror-movie-in-yr-head ambience goes, those guys are pretty untouchable

yeah, i love all that kind of thing. i think spotify actually recommended them to me after listening to bohren und der club of gore.

useful spotify recommendations? sounds a bit far-fetched

i know!

if guardian commenters ever got hold of that juno list, my god their servers would surely crash under the deluge of emails saying "better than jon hopkins? i think not"

The Boombox - 10 Best R&B Albums of 2013
http://theboombox.com/best-rb-albums-of-2013/

don't think those are ordered, but typed out -

John Legend, Love In The Future
K. Michelle, Rebellious Soul
Ciara, Ciara
Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio 2
Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
Tamar Braxton, Love And War
Janelle Monáe, The Electric Lady
Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines
Fantasia, Side Effects Of Me
The Weeknd, Kiss Land

fantastic to see k michelle and fantasia show up

xp I think you misunderstand Guardian commenters Nick. It's not that they love Jon Hopkins - the real grouches probably prefer Haxan Cloak - it's that they HATE mainstream pop made by young women.

ha well i don't disbelieve that tbh, certain strains of mainstream pop made by young men FOR young women too most likely

The worst people last year were the Swans fans. Really put me off that album by framing it as the weapon of choice for misogynists with a superiority complex.

some of the most enthusiasm i've seen for bangerz has come from vatican shadow, really need a remix to happen

it is interesting how myopic these people are, like they act like they're the only person in the universe capable of critical thought or discernment.

xpost to DL

xpost to DL, shame cos it's a great album.

it surprises me a little how narrow-minded Guardian music readers are, considering the paper's supposed progressive stance and the general remit of its editorial.

Liberals tend to as bad if not worse than conservatives about this sort of thing, i.e. "Why do you listen to such corporate crap, man? It's bought and sold to you and you accept it!"

In my experience, I progressive world view doesn't extend to a broad appreciation of music genres.

*I=A

i guess there is that.

Also, Alfred otm

it's just that most of the time only bored and/or angry people with an axe to grind bother to get involve. same in most places online.

xposts

of course it's not like that here

tbh this is a stance that's been drummed into the public by decades of rockist music journalism. we're not that many years removed from those attitudes coming from the critics themselves