Year-End Critics' Polls 2013

A great number one!

Lots of good writing there, including Tim F and katherine. The Blood on the Leaves write-up at least helps me understand why anyone rates that song. The Drake entry, on the other hand, leaves me none the wiser.

I like "Hold On, We're Going Home" fine, but I definitely did not foresee that as P4k's top track of the year.

it seems nice but inconsequential.

seems like just one verse and chorus looped a few times

'hannah hunt' & 'body party' that high are otm; i think that's a real solid top 10

ann powers' top 10 albums and trax: http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/16/250784345/ann-powers-top-10-albums-and-songs-of-2013?sc=tw&cc=share

npr's top 10 dance tracks

http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/14/248798978/top-10-dance-tracks-of-2013

beautiful swimmers - running over
disclosure - when a fire starts to burn
galcher lustwerk - put on
kmfh - dr crunch
joy orbison - big room tech house dj tool - tip!
la fleur - nightflow (kenny larkin drama mix)
laurel halo - chance of rain
levon vincent - rainstorm II
mind against - atlant
todd terje - strandbar (samba)

FACT: 100 best tracks, Part 1.

was all ready to laff as a npr dance tracks list but love that levon vincent and the la fleur's gonna be high on any year end list i make

Club Fonograma top 100 (mostly Spanish-language) songs:
http://www.clubfonograma.com/2013/12/club-fonogramas-best-songs-of-2013-25-01.html

http://www.stereogum.com/1595461/the-40-best-rap-albums-of-2013/list/

Burning Ambulance 25 Best Jazz Albums of 2013:

25. Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto
24. Tim Warfield, Eye of the Beholder
23. Tarbaby, Ballad of Sam Langford
22. Chris Potter, The Sirens
21. Jeremy Pelt, Water and Earth
20. David Ake, Bridges
19. Joel Harrison 19, Infinite Possibility
18. JD Allen, Grace
17. Miles Davis, Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
16. Melodic Art-Tet, Melodic Art-Tet
15. Various Artists, Long Story Short
14. Nicolas Masson/Roberto Pianca/Emanuele Maniscanco, Third Reel
13. Rich Halley 4, Crossing the Passes
12. Little Women, Lung
11. Dead Neanderthals, ...And It Ended Badly
10. William Parker, Wood Flute Songs
9. Dave Douglas Quintet, Time Travel
8. Michael Bates/Samuel Blaser Quintet, One From None
7. Aaron Parks, Arborescence
6. Matthew Shipp, Piano Sutras
5. Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
4. Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Slippery Rock
3. Ghost Train Orchestra, Book of Rhapsodies
2. Hush Point, Hush Point
1. Nick Hempton, Odd Man Out

Burning Ambulance 25 Best Metal Albums of 2013:

25. Atlantean Kodex, The White Goddess
24. Endless Boogie, Long Island
23. Motörhead, Aftershock
22. Hail of Bullets, III: The Rommel Chronicles
21. Utsu-P, Warufuzake
20. SubRosa, More Constant Than the Gods
19. Resolution15, Svaha
18. Nine Inch Nails, Hesitation Marks
17. Hedvig Mollestad Trio, All of Them Witches
16. Nohome, Nohome
15. Lost Soul, Genesis: XX Years of Chaoz
14. Wolvserpent, Perigaea Antahkarana
13. Wormed, Exodromos
12. Distaste, Black Age of Nihil
11. The Gates of Slumber, Stormcrow
10. Rhapsody of Fire, Dark Wings of Steel
9. Suffocation, Pinnacle of Bedlam
8. Deicide, In the Minds of Evil
7. Immolation, Kingdom of Conspiracy
6. Fueled by Fire, Trapped in Perdition
5. Earthless, From the Ages
4. Ihsahn, Das Seelenbrechen
3. Attila, About That Life
2. Amon Amarth, Deceiver of the Gods
1. Black Sabbath, 13

Noz's top 50 rap traxxx: http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=7417

top 10:

1. Kanye West – “New Slaves” (Kanye & The Gang)
2. Future – “Sh!t” (Mike Will Made It)
3. Chance The Rapper – “Juice” (Nate Fox)
4. Young Thug – “Stoner” (Dun Deal)
5. Earl Sweatshirt f/ Casey Veggies & Vince Staples – “Hive” (Randomblackdude & Matt Martians)
6. Rocko f/ Future & Rick Ross – “UONEO” (Childish Major)
7. Starlito – “Money Cacti” (DJ Dahi “Money Trees“)
8. Rich Kidz f/ SD – “Grammy” (London On The Track)
9. Ka – “Peace Akhi” (Ka)
10. Lil Durk – “Dis Ain’t What U Want” (Paris Bueller)

so this is the year that online outlets decided to make a major expansion of genre-specific lists, right? or did i just miss all the metal/rap/etc lists in previous years?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-14e_qNHTTzs/UUyXrsljWAI/AAAAAAAAMsY/xJv0Xmrw_e8/s1600/14_Joe_Satriani_Unstoppable_Momentum.jpg

Total Guitar's top 20 albums of 2013
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/total-guitars-top-20-albums-of-2013-589937

20 Alkaline Trio – My Shame Is True
19 Joe Satriani – Unstoppable Momentum
18 Alice In Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
17 Biffy Clyro – Opposites
16 Deap Vally – Sistrionix
15 Tesseract – Altered State
14 The Artistocrats – Culture Clash
13 The National – Trouble Will Find Me
12 The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars
11 Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
10 City And Colour – The Hurry And The Harm
09 Jimmy Eat World – Damage
08 Clutch – Earth Rocker
07 Karnivool – Asymmetry
06 Jon Gomm – Secrets Nobody Keeps
05 Dream Theater – Dream Theater
04 Soilwork – The Living Infinite
03 Avenged Sevenfold – Hail To The King
02 Russian Circles - Memorial
01 Alter Bridge – Fortress

so mark tremonti really brought the noise in 2013 who knew

A Closer Listen - Ambient Top Ten
http://acloserlisten.com/2013/12/17/acl-2013-top-ten-ambient/

Barn Owl ~ V (Thrill Jockey)
Ben Fleury-Steiner ~ Clearings (Rural Colours)
Federico Durand ~ El Idioma De Las Luciérnagas (Desire Path)
Field Rotation ~ Fatalist: The Repetition of History (Denovali)
Kreng ~ …And Then In the Morning (Sonic Pieces)
Loscil ~ City Hospital (Wist Records)
Raising Holy Sparks ~ For Fran, Etched in Glass & Water (Fallow Field)
Ruhe ~ Organs/Easing (Unknown Tone Records/Cotton Goods)
Wixel ~ Revox Tapes (Jordskred)
woodworkings ~ day breaks the morning shapes we speak (Own Records)

Other Music Top 30 Albums: http://othermusic.com/2013december16update.html

Has anyone done a "best film scores of 2013" list?

I dunno but Upstream Color and Room 237 were both really good. Oh and GTA!

Lots of good things on that Other Music list. Express Rising sounds p interesting.

And the Molly Drake album had totally passed me by. Anyone heard that? Nick Drake's mum playing the piano...

lol guitar mag lists are the best

Has anyone done a "best film scores of 2013" list?

PopMatters: http://www.popmatters.com/column/176673-the-best-film-scores-of-2013/
Indiewire: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-15-best-film-scores-of-2013-20131205

yeah that express rising is great. mikal cronin's like a less extreme version of vampire weekend on these lists for me where it's someone whose work i enjoyed in the past despite obv potential criticisms but the latest release just did zero for me and i'm apparently the only one who felt the falloff.

cannot fathom the fact of anyone not dying at the feet of "weight"

yay whiney!

SPIN's 20 Best Avant Albums of 2013
http://www.spin.com/articles/20-best-avant-noise-jazz-etc-albums-of-2013/

rip big man etc

also, tiny mixed apes have started their countdown...

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2013-favorite-50-albums-of-2013

this galcher thing - seeing it popping up everywhere. the music is sort of interesting but the singing and lyrics.

god.

re the Spin avant list, how am I just hearing about this BiS Kaidan thing now? sounds like a genius idea

There's some great stuff on it but it's not exactly 'genius', the anti-idol thing's not particularly new.

I've not read anything about that Galcher mix that's made me want to listen to it, but that's the same with a lot of these dance lists. That's possibly me being more disconnected from club culture now but the writing just makes them all sound so dull. Contrast with the Spin avant list where virtually everything sounds interesting even if in practice I might end up hating half of it.

#7
BiS-Kaidan, BiS-Kaidan (Avex Trax)

The real life Ciccone Youth, the dream of noise-as-pop: It ain't gonna be realized by Perfect Pussy's warmed-over Hüskerisms, folks. Live from the land of the rising Bad Moon, come the six members of real life J-pop idols BiS teaming with 30-year harsh noise institution Hijokaidan. Together it's the brightest, most beaming, sugar-coated double-rainbow melodies majestically rising from the most impenetrable, howling, feedbacky soup (with the occasional shriek for good measure). The absolute, natural, bulldozer-through-the-arena-wall end-point of the line that goes through White Light/White Heat, Daydream Nation, and Nevermind.

god bless u whiney

People, help me see the light. What am I missing with that Drake song that Pitchfork had as their #1? Because if I'm not mistaken, that song blows.

What does it mean that when I look over that Pitchfork list, there's quite a bit of music I like? I honestly have the feeling that whenever I look over their weekly picks and "best new music" categories during the year I struggle to find things.

Of course, maybe I'm just imaging things and should read Pfork more often?

Actually, looking over the Pitchfork list again, it becomes pretty clear how it weak a year it was for indie guitar music...

It's been a weak decade for indie guitar music

it's been a weak "since 1995" for indie guitar music

Indie guitar music is just weak

hit it with a shovel

hit it again, it's not dead yet

rip

Yeah, indie guitar music sux. Not like that great Drake song that won pitchfork. LOL, i'm kidding, that song blows.

Let it go.

People, people...indie guitar music has been lame for a while AND that Drake song is no big.

Some of the records on Pitchfork's honorable mentions list (outside the top 50) are pretty surprising:

http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9292-albums-of-the-year-honorable-mention/1/

Particularly Hecker, Ka, Death Grips and Cronin. Would assume all would make the top 50.