Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Nice to see Popcaan (dancehall), Jorge Drexler (Uruguayan pop-singer-songwriter), and Noura Mint Seymali Mauritanian Afro-psychedelic-desert) in that NPR list

in general or on that album? bc for previous albums i wouldn't say that but you're dead is pretttaayyyy jazz-fusion indebted, and I really don't think I'm the only person to say so. if those specific examples aren't proper in yr book, that's fine, I suppose.

You're not the only person who's only reference points to jazz fusion are On The Corner and Weather Report. Reducing the album to aiming at OTC and ending up in bland Weather Report territory is just wrong. What I'm hearing is that as someone who's just not into jazz fusion and has no clue as to what FlyLo is referencing, it all kind of blends into a gray stonery wash for you. That's valid enough I guess.

I'll let Ellison speak for himself:

I don't want to make a record that Miles Davis could make, though; I wanted to make something that only I could make. I really want to go as far into my own ideas as possible. There's all these people out there trying to sound the same, trying to sound like the other guy, so I wanted to do the most “me” thing that I can do right now.

Thundercat and I listened to a lot of metal in the beginning of making this album, believe it or not, just trying to approach things from a different space. I listened to a lot of Soft Machine, but I also listened to fucking Slayer. I got really into Brendon Small's stuff, and he got me into Mastodon and Gojira. That shit was tight.

...i do like some jazz fusion, although mostly just the miles records that are sometimes categorized under that umbrella and some mahavishnu orchestra stuff, admittedly i have never done deep dives into chick corea's back catalog or attempted to have the definitive understanding of what the pat matheny group was really trying to convey through the use of synth. i don't even DISlike the bloody new flylo album, despite liking cosmogramma and until the quiet comes a bit more.

but ok, i bow down in everlasting reverence to yr supreme knowledge, i have been fully dunked on & I wish you peace and happiness.

*waits on response that more or less equates to LOL U STILL DON'T GET IT DUMMY*

At what point am I allowed to go into excruciating detail about the many ways that the LDR album is steaming garbage and how everyone supporting it is wrong?

Swear to god, my first reaction was, "Los Del Rio has a new album?"

http://www.incendiarymag.com/annualreview/theex/incendiary_2014_round

Incendiary top 20 LPs

1. Einstürzende Neubauten – Lament (Sony BMG)
2. Gut und Irmler – 500m (Monika)
3. Anjou – Anjou (Kranky)
4. Klara Lewis – Ett (Editions Mego)
5. Andrea Belfi - Natura Morta (Morr Music)
6. EMA – The Future’s Void (City Slang)
7. Keel Her – Keel Her (Critical Heights)
8. DNMF – DNMF (Moving Furniture)
9. Ought – More Than Any Other Day (Constellation)
10. Vashti Bunyan – Heartleap (Fat Cat)
11. King Champion Sounds – Songs For The Golden Hour (Louder Than War)
12. Space Siren – If You Scream Like That Your Monkey Won’t Come (Subroutine)
13. Sleaford Mods – Divide and Exit (Harbinger Sound)
14. Lia Ices – Ices
15. Hauschka – Abandoned City (City Slang)
16. David Thomas Broughton and Juice - Sliding the Same Way (Song By Toad)
17. Scott Walker and Sunn O))) – Scott O))) (4AD)
18. Islaja – Suu (Monika)
19. Naïve Set –Reclining Nude (Subroutine)
20. Perfect Pussy – Say Yes to Love (Captured Tracks)

11 Hon. Mentions

1. Dean Blunt - Black Metal (Rough Trade)
2. Christina Vantzou – No 2 (Kranky)
3. Loscil – Sea Island (Kranky)
4. Hallo Venray – Show (Excelsior)
5. Beginners – September Sunburn (Excelsior)
6. Chasing Rainbows – Make Love Caravan (Excelsior)
7. Nouveau Vélo – Nouveau Vélo (Subroutine)
8. Jozef van Wissem – It Is Time For You To Return (Crammed Discs)
9. Madensuyu – Stabat Mater (Suyu Makinese)
10. Tycho – Awake (Ghostly International)
11. The Homesick – TwstYr Wrsts (Subroutine)
12. Shivers - Shivers (Miasmah)

Best Reissues /Comps

1. All those bloody Hyperdub 10 Compilations – Patchy but incredible, the amount of things they do
2. Koen Holtcamp – Motion – Selected Works (Thrill Jockey)
3. Local Customs - Cavern Sound (Numero Group)
4. Ariel Kalma - An Evolutionary Music (Original Recordings 1972-1979) (RVNG)
5. Hailu Mergia and the Walias – Tche Belew (Analog Africa)
6. Johnny Sedes – Mamá Calunga (Fonseca)
7. Killed By Deathrock (Sacred Bones)
8. André de Saint-Obin - Sound On Sound (Korm Plastics)
9. Mick Ness – The Joy of Pop (Out of Print Records)
10. Aby Ngana Diop - Thiossanou Ngewel (Analog Africa)

Nice to see the Koen Holtcamp at #2.

^ keeps crashing my browser so i couldn't tell you what was in it. kozelek's face is in the main graphic though - did spin really go there?

― sosmix klopp (NickB), Monday, December 8, 2014 8:46 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...they did. WODSMC got #43.

Islaja, nice - haven't warmed to that record as much as the earlier ones, it is very different, but I like it

I only know half that list, looking forward to investigation

Yeah, same sentiments here, esp with the comps where I've only *heard of* Holtcamp and Hailu

7. Killed By Deathrock (Sacred Bones)

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

this album is so fucking great, like every single minute of it is glorious

Sorry to insult yr knowledge Slothro, I just thought your original comment about Flying Lotus was a bit too dismissive and veering toward dickish. Not interested in pushing yr buttons.

How about Brownout's latin jazz approach to Sabbath? NPR list reminded me of that, it's pretty fun, no deep knowledge needed.

no worries, i can get carried away w/ zings or crankiness too easily on here *fistbump*

never heard of brownout but the NPR blurb does seem intriguing, will investigate

Drowned in Sound's 40 Favorite Songs of 2014
http://www.drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148547-drowned-in-sounds-40-favourite-songs-of-2014

A friend sent me a Youtube clip of Brownout doing "The Wizard" last summer and I totally spaced on checking out the rest. It's a testament probably to Bill Ward's jazz roots that the songs fit into Brownout's style pretty naturally. Some creative arrangements make it a cut above just novelty.

The thing I find interesting/fascinating about EOY song lists is that for half of my favorite albums, that's how I find out what the single(s) was/were; for example, I assumed "Love Is To Die" was the single off of the Warpaint album and was slightly thrown to see "Disco/Very" popping up along with a video.

Here's the entire Spin song list:

100 CFCF - Windswept 
99 Slipknot - Skeptic
98 Vince Staples - Hands Up 
97 The Black Keys - Turn Blue 
96 Candy Hearts - I Miss You 
95 Ga-In (가인) feat. Bumkey - Fxxk You 
94 Travis Scott feat. Young Thug - Skyfall (Chopped Not Slopped) 
93 Ten Walls - Walking With Elephants 
92 Ariel Pink - Sexual Athletics
91 Toni Braxton & Babyface - The D Word 
90 Perfect Pussy - Interference Fits
89 The Chemical Brothers feat. Miguel & Lorde - This Is Not a Game
88 OG Maco - U Guessed It
87 Vic Mensa - Down on My Luck
86 Drake - 0 to 100 / The Catch Up
85 Soft Pink Truth - Black Metal
84 Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
83 Claptone - Control
82 Eric Paslay - Friday Night
81 Sharon Van Etten - Your Love Is Killing Me
80 Usher - Good Kisser
79 Speedy Ortiz - American Horror
78 Agalloch - Celestial Effigy
77 Future feat. André 3000 - Benz Friends
76 Kacey Musgraves - Love Is a Liar
75 Sophie - Hard
74 Young Thug - Danny Glover
73 Ty Dolla $ign feat. B.o.B. - Paranoid
72 Kiesza - Hideaway
71 Nicki Minaj - Lookin Ass
70 Todd Terje feat. Bryan Ferry - Johnny and Mary
69 Rick Ross feat. Big Sean & Kanye West - Sanctified
68 Protomartyr - Maidenhead
67 Falls - Please
66 Maddie & Tae - Girl in a Country Song
65 Lone - 2 Is 8
64 Jessie Ware - Tough Love
63 Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg - Wiggle
62 Ty Segall - The Singer
61 Homeboy Sandman - Problems
60 YG feat. Drake - Who Do You Love?
59 Oliver - Light Years Away
58 Beyoncé - Partition
57 Lil B - No Black Person Is Ugly
56 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Kelly
55 Wussy - Teenage Wasteland
54 Grimes feat. Blood Diamonds - Go
53 Ought - Habit
52 Robyn & Röyksopp - Do It Again
51 Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Problem
49 Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
48 The War on Drugs - Suffering
47 Miranda Lambert - Platinum
46 ScHoolboy Q - Man of the Year
45 Hamilton Leithauser - Alexandra
44 Mark McGuire - The Instinct
43 Sun Kil Moon - War on Drugs: Suck My Cock
42 Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
41 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Warning
40 DeJ Loaf - Try Me
39 Porter Robinson - Sad Machine
38 Sylvan Esso - Coffee
37 Tokyo Police Club - Argentina (Parts I - II & III)
36 Beyoncé feat. Nicki Minaj - Flawless (Remix)
35 The Knocks - Classic
34 Various Artists (Rookie Magazine) - Go Forth - Feminist Warriors
33 Ryn Weaver - OctaHate
32 The New Pornographers - Another Drug Deal of the Heart
31 DJ Snake & Lil Jon - Turn Down For What
30 The Drums - I Can't Pretend
29 Lana Del Rey - West Coast
28 Drake - Trophies
27 Spoon - Inside Out
26 Betty Who - Runaways
25 Kira Isabella - Quarterback
24 Charli XCX - Boom Clap
23 Cloud Nothings - I'm Not Part of Me
22 Future feat. Pusha T - Pharrell & Casino - Move That Dope
21 Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne - Rather Be
20 How to Dress Well - Repeat Pleasure
19 Swans - Screen Shot
18 Foxygen - How Can You Really
17 Michael Jackson - Love Never Felt So Good (Original Version)
16 Katy Perry - Birthday
15 FKA Twigs - Two Weeks
14 Kendrick Lamar - i
13 tUnE-yArDs - Water Fountain
12 Tinashe feat. ScHoolboy Q - 2 On
11 Caribou - Can't Do Without You
10 Jenny Lewis - She's Not Me
9 Childbirth - I Only Fucked You As a Joke
8 Sia - Chandelier
7 Beyoncé - XO
6 Run the Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)
5 Parquet Courts - Instant Disassembly
4 QT - Hey QT
3 Nicki Minaj - Anaconda
2 iLoveMakonnen - Tuesday
1 Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You)

Didn't expect the Future Islands LP to do so well - thought it would be one of those cases where people only care about that one hit.

Which 'begs' the question, which song is the biggest example of that this year (song in numerous lists, album it's from on very few if any)?

93 Ten Walls - Walking With Elephants

i ate a whole tray of roast shallots for dinner yesterday; today on my run in i was basically playing this tune the whole way

About 251 results (0.13 seconds) for "guffstep", fair play

re: spin, def a 'something for everyone' kinda list, i expect any consensus exercises for tracks (e.g. pazz and jop singles list) will basically look like a hybrid of this and whatever p4k puts out

actually 'something for everyone except ppl who like shake it off'

Nice to see Anjou in that Incendiary list. Also - I'm reminded that I never sought out that Vashti Bunyan album.

<i>Which 'begs' the question, which song is the biggest example of that this year (song in numerous lists, album it's from on very few if any)?</i>
Rather Be?

new vashti is beautiful

It is so much better than her last album, more of a belated but worthy follow up to Another Diamond Day imo.

Ought album to me sounded like Talking Heads w/o the proto-dancepunk, i.e. the best part

7. Killed By Deathrock (Sacred Bones)

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

this album is so fucking great, like every single minute of it is glorious

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, December 8, 2014

began listening to this today on spotify cuz of this endorsement. loving it, so far.

I honestly think that if you have even the slightest affinity to gothy post-punk, you owe it to yourself to play Killed By Deathrock on endless repeat for at least a week.

and then argue with Dan and I over which songs are the best. Because Dan is wrong.

No, I am not. You're the one who can't tell Bauhaus pastiche from Sisters of Mercy pastiche!

But the Sisters are pretty much Bauhaus meets Joy Division.

waht

I'm kidding.

oh, I can't stay mad while listening to Screaming For Emily

yeah, the second half of that comp is so damn good.

http://www.tabsout.com/tabs-out-top-200-tapes-of-2014/

Xpost you deathrockers should check out the 13th Chime stuff Sacred Bones put out a couple years ago

I have none of those cassettes.

I have 1!

I honestly think that if you have even the slightest affinity to gothy post-punk, you owe it to yourself to play Killed By Deathrock on endless repeat for at least a week.

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, December 8, 2014 4:54 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i cant guarantee endless repeat or a whole week but i like that sort of stuff & am trying it now, v good

No Blue Tapes? Feh.

xp

I'm just glad Sungod made a list

Has anyone played a track/album from these end of year lists that they hadn't otherwise heard and found something amazing?

Not amazing, but I did decide to finally listen to Benji...as much of it as I could stand.

Has anyone played a track/album from these end of year lists that they hadn't otherwise heard and found something amazing?

yes, especially the Textura list

Has anyone played a track/album from these end of year lists that they hadn't otherwise heard and found something amazing?
--djh

best examples of this for me are tinashe and sturgill simpson, although i heard OF them before they made the lists just didn't try till then

I'm digging the Syd Arthur album from DeRo's list.

i had listened to an angel olsen record a few years ago, kind of intrigued but not drawn enough to it, and trying the one one as it shows up on lists, i'm at least hearing something i didn't hear on the older one