Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

hahaha

"There's some lovely stuff on this Nils Frahm album though, although I prefer the synth/looped/prepared piano stuff to the straightforward piano pieces."

I've got the exact opposite take on Frahm. Whenever I hear him playing synths/loops/prepared piano I wish he'd stop mucking about and just play the piano (whereas, generally, I like synths/loops/prepared piano).

So annoying: every time I read the name Pond I think it's the great alt-rock band from the 90s.

me too!!

otm on pond though all of their (the recent one) recs have a couple of great tracks on em

musicOMH http://www.musicomh.com/features/lists/musicomhs-top-100-albums-2013-complete-list

1. John Grant – Pale Green Ghosts
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away
3. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
4. David Bowie – The Next Day
5. Arctic Monkeys – AM
6. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City
7. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
8. Savages – Silence Yourself
9. Jon Hopkins – Immunity
10. Kanye West – Yeezus
11. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
12. Queens Of The Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
13. Daughter – If You Leave
14. James Blake – Overgrown
15. Pet Shop Boys – Electric
16. My Bloody Valentine – m b v
17. Atoms For Peace – Amok
18. Matthew E White – The Big Inner
19. 65daysofstatic – Wild Light
20. Omar Souleyman – Wenu Wenu
21. Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
22. Low – The Invisible Way
23. Chvrches – The Bones Of What You Believe
24. Lorde – Pure Heroine
25. Summer Camp – Summer Camp
26. Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady
27. Manic Street Preachers – Rewind The Film
28. Six.by Seven – Love And Peace And Sympathy
29. Sigur Rós – Kveikur
30. Rokia Traoré – Beautiful Africa
31. Foals – Holy Fire
32. Boards Of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
33. These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds
34. Julia Holter – Loud City Song
35. Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer – Child Ballads
36. Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
37. Tim Hecker – Virgins
38. Hookworms – Pearl Mystic
39. The Icarus Line – Slave Vows
40. Willis Earl Beal – Nobody Knows
41. Caitlin Rose – The Stand In
42. Everything Everything – Arc
43. Tegan & Sara – Hertthrob
44. Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare
45. Haiku Salut – Tricolore
46. Kwes – ilp
47. Wayne Shorter Quartet – Without A Net
48. The Weeknd – Kiss Land
49. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba – Jama Ko
50. Keaton Henson – Birthdays
51. Sky Larkin – Motto
52. Thundercat – Apocalypse
53. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II
54. Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse
55. Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon
56. Laura Veirs – Warp And Weft
57. Marius Neset – Birds
58. Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks
59. Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides
60. Factory Floor – Factory Floor
61. The Field – Cupid’s Head
62. Eluvium – Nightmare Ending
63. Johnny Marr – The Messenger
64. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2
65. Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
66. Future Of The Left – How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident
67. Wooden Shjips – Back To Land
68. The Spook School – Dress Up In You
69. OMD – English Electric
70. Bill Frisell – Big Sur
71. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
72. Los Campesinos! – No Blues
73. MS MR – Secondhand Rapture
74. Ólöf Arnalds – Sudden Elevations
75. The Boxer Rebellion – Promises
76. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt
77. Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us
78. Melt Yourself Down – Melt Yourself Down
79. Iceage – You’re Nothing
80. Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle
81. Magic Arm – Images Rolling
82. The Haxan Cloak – Excavation
83. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven
84. Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd – Holding It Down
85. Villagers – Awayland
86. Postiljonen – Skyer
87. Bill Callahan – Dream River
88. Disclosure – Settle
89. Drenge – Drenge
90. Mikal Cronin – MCII
91. Money – The Shadow Of Heaven
92. Deafheaven – Sunbather
93. The Knife – Shaking The Habitual
94. Grumbling Fur – Glynnaestra
95. Katy Perry – Prism
96. James Holden – The Inheritors
97. Chelsea Wolfe – Pain Is Beauty
98. Jessy Lanza – Pull My Hair Back
99. King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath The Moon
100. Jenny Hval – Innocence Is Kinky

Unsurprisingly that's the list with the least personality thus far.

Sasha Frere-Jones' best albums of 2013, ordered by release date.

Legend/rating:
‡ I have lost sensation in my extremities.
† I feel funny.
* Something is up.

Atoms For Peace, “Amok” (XL). 2/26 *
My Bloody Valentine, “m b v” (MBV). 3/19 *
William Tyler, “Impossible Truth” (Merge). 3/19 *
The Haxan Cloak, “Excavation” (Tri Angle). 4/30 ‡
Xenia Rubinos, “Magic Trix” (Ba Da Bing). 4/30 *
William Basinski, “Nocturnes” (Label 2062). 5/20 †
Laura Marling, “Once I Was An Eagle” (Ribbon). 5/28 †
Old Apparatus, “Compendium” (Sullen Tone). 6/3 †
Queens of the Stone Age, “…Like Clockwork” (Matador/Pop Noire). 6/4 ‡
Jon Hopkins, “Immunity” (Domino). 6/4 †
Disclosure, “Settle” (Interscope). 6/11 †
Kanye West, “Yeezus” (Def Jam). 6/18 ‡
Daftside, “Random Access Memories Memories” (Darkside). 7/11 †
Pet Shop Boys, “Electric” (Kobalt). 7/16 †
Fuck Buttons, “Slow Focus” (ATP). 7/23 ‡
Blondes, “Swisher” (RVNG). 8/6 †
Dawn of Midi, “Dysnomia” (Thirsty Ear). 8/6 ‡
Earl Sweatshirt, “Doris” (Tan Cressida/Sony). 8/20 †
Julia Holter, “Loud City Song” (Domino). 8/20 *
King Krule, “6 Feet Beneath The Moon” (True Panther/XL). 8/27 ‡
Run The Jewels, “Run The Jewels” (Fool’s Gold). 9/17 *
Drake, “Nothing Was The Same” (Cash Money). 9/24 *
Lorde, “Pure Heroine” (Universal). 9/30 *
HAIM, “Days Are Gone” (Columbia). 9/30 *
Anna Calvi, “One Breath” (Domino). 10/7 †
Danny Brown, “Old” (Fool’s Gold). 10/8 †
Tim Hecker, “Virgins” (Kranky). 10/14 ‡
Four Tet, “Beautiful Rewind” (Temporary Residence). 10/15 †
Swans, “Not Here/Not Now” (Young God). 10/15 ‡
The Necks, “Open” (Fish Of Milk). 10/15 ‡
Noveller, “No Dreams” (Important Records). 10/22 *
Brandy Clark, “12 Stories” (Slate Creek). 10/22 †
Gardland, “Syndrome Syndrome” (RVNG). 10/29 †
Juana Molina, “Wed 21” (Crammed Discs). 10/29 *
YVETTE, “Process” (Godmode). 10/29 †
Sky Ferreira, “Night Time, My Time” (Capitol). 10/29 *
Son Lux, “Lanterns” (Joyful Noise). 10/29 †
Chris Forsyth, “Solar Motel” (Paradise of Bachelors). 10/29 *
M.I.A., “Matangi” (N.E.E.T./Interscope). 11/1 ‡
Various artists, “Saint Heron” (Saint). 11/11 †
Mutual Benefit, “Love’s Crushing Diamond” (Other). 12/3 †
David Van Tieghem x Ten, “FRKWYS Vol. 10: Fits & Starts” (FRKWYS/RVNG). 12/11 *

huh, a david van tieghem record, anyone heard?

http://rvng.bandcamp.com/album/frkwys-vol-10-david-van-tieghem-x-ten-fits-starts

Nice to see the Dawn of Midi album in there; just got hold of it and it's very special. If you like The Necks or very minimal electronic / postrock, you should investigate.

Never heard of them. Who are they?

I usually roll my eyes at The Quietus but that Grumbling Fur album they voted at #1 is really good. Kinda like if Delia & Gavin made a psychedelic rock album.

On first listen, Dawn of Midi is really nice! I'm also enjoying Old Apparatus, which I hadn't heard of before.

BEST SELLING ALBUMS IN THE UK 2013
http://www.gigwise.com/news/86817/Emeli-Sande%27s-album-is-the-UK%27s-best-selling-for-a-second-year

1) Emeli Sande - Our Version of Events
2) Michael Buble - To Be Loved
3) Les Miserables - Motion Picture Cast Recording
4) Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox
5) Rod Stewart - Time
6) Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg
7) Arctic Monkeys - AM
8) Bastille - Bad Blood
9) Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
10) Mumford & Sons - Babel

jfc

haha

dunno what i'm laughing at there. life perhaps.

haha@theuk

Seems a bit silly to call that in December when One Direction have just released a new one.

that's true. would've bumped mumford off the list too.

I had no idea Rod Stewart released an album in 2013.

*Frantically reworks personal top 10*

Bruno Mars

I had no idea Rod Stewart released an album in 2013.

Apparently...

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1, setting a new British record for the longest gap between chart-topping albums by an artist

37 years!

There was some OK stuff on that Rod Stewart album, I thought., particularly "Brighton Beach".

The Oneohtrix is definitely a slow burner but I'm really getting into it now.

Addendum to discussion 100 posts ago.

as always VICE aBSOLUTEY smash everyone elses lists:
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/the-vice-albums-of-the-year-2013?utm_source=vicetwitter

It was in the latest chunk of the FACT list:
http://www.factmag.com/2013/12/09/the-50-best-albums-of-2013/12/

xp

I had no idea Rod Stewart released an album in 2013.

Two! Don't forget the Christmas one.

These Vice entries are all uncannily otm

50: The theoretical position of the Bowie album if he'd released it five years after Reality, rather than ten – i.e. when the public’s indifference was tangible.

49: Act who would be several places higher had their heroic refusal to sell out to the Spotify bloodsuckers meant that practically no one got round to listening to their record.

45: The A$AP Ferg album strategically listed a few places higher than the A$AP Rocky record ('cus we know our shit).

29: Rapper who does things to girls that Robin Thicke wouldn't in a million years, yet has surfed the wave towards acclaim because all the nakedness in his videos is so haphazardly vulgar and genuinely worrying that no one could possibly cobble together a cogent and newspaper-friendly piece of thumbsuck op-ed about it.

18: Woman who can sing quite well. She’s successfully tilted for the on-trend nu-soul/future RnB market, and her success has largely been based on the fact that – so far – no one has spotted that deep down she's a classic Brit School jazz-hands archetype who's basically Jessie J with Dev Hynes’ phone number.

NME Readers Album of the Year

1. Foals – 'Holy Fire'
2. Arctic Monkeys – 'AM'
3. Queens of the Stone Age – '... Like Clockwork'

NME Readers Track of the Year

1. Foals – 'My Number'
2. Arctic Monkeys – 'Do I Wanna Know?'
3. Queens of the Stone Age – 'Smooth Sailing'

http://www.nme.com/news/foals/74330

xp - I actually LOLed at "NUMBER 1: some bloke humming transcendentally over distorted tape loops of concrete being laid (The Wire)"

Wait, he makes that same joke every year?

last few #1 albums in the Wire have been Laurel Halo, James Ferraro, Actress, Broadcast, The Bug, Robert Wyatt and Burial so that's not really that accurate tbh

as always, a handful of OTM zings disguise the fact that 75% of the vice piece is hoary rockcrit received wisdom, lazy anti-pop snobbery or just total nonsense

the thing is if vice really wanted to skewer EOY pretensions/bullshit they could probably do it quite well but it's not like they're any different to anyone else

Really? Which bits?

Pretty scary to see how irrelevant most of the 2012 names sound today: Django Django? Peaking Lights? Mac DeMarco?

lol lex just because you choose to listen to miley cyrus m8, chill out lmao

also the divide isn't between "records no one felt passionately about" and "records some people loved and others hated" - the latter ALWAYS make it into EOY lists - it's between "records that people heard because the band got their positioning and PR etc right" and "records that three people heard and loved but no one else even bothered to listen to"

DY i think your attempt at an insouciant posting style would work better with either the lol at the start or the lmao at the end but not both, bc that's a bit try-hard tbh

Pretty scary to see how irrelevant most of the 2012 names sound today: Django Django? Peaking Lights? Mac DeMarco?

wow you're easily scared

like to mix it up, shows much much im laughing innit

Vice list is pretty funny but loses marks for recycling several of its jokes from last year.

25: Miley Cyrus. Clearly no one actually listened to this sludge, but the staff must pretend they’ve been devouring it to justify a) the large photo of Cyrus fingering herself with a hammer / foam finger and b) a thinkpiece boxout called "Was 2013 The Year Pop Went Punk?" or "The Return Of The Spectacle" or some other such contrived horseshit.

this is basically on the level of the guardian commenters we've been correctly mocking

45: The A$AP Ferg album strategically listed a few places higher than the A$AP Rocky record ('cus we know our shit).

or because it's better?

29: Rapper who does things to girls that Robin Thicke wouldn't in a million years, yet has surfed the wave towards acclaim because all the nakedness in his videos is so haphazardly vulgar and genuinely worrying that no one could possibly cobble together a cogent and newspaper-friendly piece of thumbsuck op-ed about it.

everyone knows those scary, bad rappers are the most misogynistic scum of all yet somehow they avoid any criticism for it, oh wait // oh wait

26: At least one person in the office is dating a minor-league pop player. This is her / his album.

would be a better zing if it was "mates with" not "dating" but that might be a lil too on the nose

11: Ominous point in human history where people voting for Drake as a joke meets people voting for Drake because they are deadly serious. This is basically how the Nazis got power.

did anyone vote drake as a joke ever?

I know humour isn't your thing Lex but it's meant to be funny.

49: Act who would be several places higher had their heroic refusal to sell out to the Spotify bloodsuckers meant that practically no one got round to listening to their record.

Was this Future of the Left? Their album is GREAT and the story behind them having to pretty much fund and produce the other thing entirely themselves is something I keep meaning to read up about more.

I know humour isn't your thing Lex but it's meant to be funny.

but it's cliché after cliché! about three of them are funny.