GAPDY poll

phoenix

― max, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:40 PM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

phoenix

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:52 PM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

phoenix

― plaxico (I know, right?), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 2:11 PM (9 hours ago) Bookmark

phoenix

A>Y>P*>D>G

* tho their previous record killed this one

phoenix - i just listened to this one more than any of the others. it's really solid and good for just about any occasion.
yyys - also solid, good pop record, "zero" is a transcendent single imo
grizzbear - i really like this record and think that ppl completely missed the point of it. if it was a record from the 60s everyone would venerate it, but because it's from now it gets hated for being "too indie"
dps - this record is ok but rise above was much much better; i think they actually need some kind of framework like the black flag thing because otherwise they have too many ideas and it just kind of falls apart.
anco - i gave this a ton of chances but i never liked these guys and probably never will

dp - amazing album, took a long time to get into, it was worth the work. feel like a i 'know' this album now. listened to 50+ times.
phoenix - empty music. drummer is ace though. really want to like it cuz the vibes are so nice but it just leaves me cold. listened to about 20 times.
yyys - never really paid it much attention, singles were good. have heard most of it 3 or 4 times.
anco - bought sung tongs lp and gave it away. after spotify run through this isn't any better. the bits that are meant to be momentous or meaningful don't do anything for me.
grizzly bear - a friend of a friend was recording with this guy apparently. that's as much as i know about him. so no comment.

i heard grizzly bear is a chill bro

Kinda furry imo.

* tho their previous record killed this one

definitely agree, even if i'm voting for WAP

Best to worst ranking:

1. YYYs – Best album by consistently great band.

2. AnCo – Solid album by consistently interesting (if not always great) band. Possibly their third or fourth best album, though.

3. Phoenix – Singles are pleasantly inoffensive. Don’t get the “top 5 of 2009” hype. Haven’t heard the album.

4. Dirty Projectors – lex is right. Interesting ideas, poor execution.

5. Grizzlies – Anything I’ve heard from Veckatimest makes me want to shoot myself in the face.

Voted YYYs.

YYY, P >>>> major drop off >>> AnCo >>> falls of a cliff >>> DPs, GB

the critical narrative around DPs praising them for their engagement with r&b is possibly the most infuriating of the year, given that 90% of the time it comes from critics or commentators who have a 10% engagement - if that - with r&b themselves

i blame you lot for making it 'cool' to reference rnb in reviews, blurbs etc. aside from the cheesy breakdown in stillness is the move i don't hear any rnb on this album. the melismatic vocal stuff doesn't sound anything like an rnb singer to me.

what is this about poor execution? the playing is flawless throughout. totally inspiring in places, the guitar solo on no intention, the drum rolls on temecula sunrise, the close harmonies the girls hit, the clunky, syncopated rhythms, use of hocket to break melodies up. this album was a total breath of fresh air after not really feeling any songy guitar indie whatever music for a while. also like how they never sound like they're trying too hard, or like they're trying to manipulate you into feeling something <- pretty sure this is why i don't get on with the phoenix + anco albums.

YYY - It's Blitz!. Although it waves in the middle, helluva finish. One of my favorite records of the year, by a band I found insufferable in 2003.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca. Interesting bits that don't cohere.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Blah Blah. I listen to the seven-minute track on my work computer a lot. The rest is a mash of Radiohead, Hot Chip vocals, and "Kids Incorporated" perk-pop.

The rest.

kinda think "don't cohere" is a big part of the point

Even if it is, so what?

The DPs album reminds me of the first TVOTR record in the sense that I admire the ambition and intellect and I know something interesting is going on but - aside from Stillness and Two Doves - it's not something I ever want to listen to. They're a band I've mentally bookmarked in the hope that their next record will pull it all together in a more satisfying way.

that's how i feel about their earlier output, for me this is the album that put it together in a wholly pleasurable way

Well, the other possibility is that this in fact their Dear Science/Merriweather Post Pavilion and I just don't like what they're gunning for, but I'm an optimist.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYIIIIIEEEEE...

grizz - veck - heard the first album, bored me senseless
anco - merri pavvi - took a while to sink in, now i love it, its like D.I. meets the beach boys (yeah i know BB is a lazy comparison sue me)
phoenix - wolf - dissapointed with this esp. after the previous album which was my most played of that year, has its moments but i havent bothered with it since i first listened to it
dirty pro - bitte - hated the black flag cover album, but what ive heard from this sounds lovely
yyy - blitz - still havent given this a proper listen, 'hysteric' and 'zero' are among their best though

best albums by each band IMO

grizz - ????
anco - hollindagain
phoenix - its never been like that
dirty pro - getty address
yyy - ????

phoenix - wolf - dissapointed with this esp. after the previous album which was my most played of that year, has its moments but i havent bothered with it since i first listened to it

^^this but i just can't figure out why i really don't care that much abt this any more than i can figure why i loved the previous one. it is a mystery

Dear Science,

I'd love to tailgate with you at Merriweather Post Pavilion before your trip to Veckatimest. It's blitz time!

Sincerely,

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

lol waiting for someone, anyone other than me to stick up for grizz bear

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper932/stills/416f0a6c4b9b1-75-1.jpg

it's a completely weird position to be in because all the stuff you guys are saying about vecky is the exact stuff i did say about yellow house

what is this about poor execution? the playing is flawless throughout. totally inspiring in places, the guitar solo on no intention, the drum rolls on temecula sunrise, the close harmonies the girls hit, the clunky, syncopated rhythms, use of hocket to break melodies up. this album was a total breath of fresh air after not really feeling any songy guitar indie whatever music for a while. also like how they never sound like they're trying too hard, or like they're trying to manipulate you into feeling something <- pretty sure this is why i don't get on with the phoenix + anco albums.

― Crackle Box, Friday, January 22, 2010 7:14 AM (3 hours ago)

by "poor execution" i'm almost certain they mean they just don't like their style/hate dave's voice. they're pretty objectively fantastic musicians

yeah, this is a retarded thing to say

how do u ppl live w/yourselves is what i want 2 know

<3

the phoenix album tries to do a bit of baba o'reilly-ish symphonic rock but its the breakfast club shuffle of lisztomania that works best.

what is this about poor execution? the playing is flawless throughout. totally inspiring in places, the guitar solo on no intention, the drum rolls on temecula sunrise, the close harmonies the girls hit, the clunky, syncopated rhythms, use of hocket to break melodies up. this album was a total breath of fresh air after not really feeling any songy guitar indie whatever music for a while. also like how they never sound like they're trying too hard, or like they're trying to manipulate you into feeling something <- pretty sure this is why i don't get on with the phoenix + anco albums.

― Crackle Box, Friday, January 22, 2010 6:14 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's how i feel about their earlier output, for me this is the album that put it together in a wholly pleasurable way

― samosa gibreel, Friday, January 22, 2010 8:16 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otfm

Suggest Ban Permalink

lol waiting for someone, anyone other than me to stick up for grizz bear

― call all destroyer, Friday, January 22, 2010 10:09 AM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark

i love grizzly bear!

didn't like veck as much as yellow house tho

but Anco and GrizzBear were the only two GAPDY albums to make my Top 100 of 2009 (#19 and #84, respectively)

i didn't know they would be your kinda thing whiney--but i'm glad!

i don't really understand how the xx didn't get stuck in this acronym, but DAPYG for me

the phoenix album tries to do a bit of baba o'reilly-ish symphonic rock but its the breakfast club shuffle of lisztomania that works best.

― Michael B, Friday, January 22, 2010 9:46 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark

i literally laughed at "breakfast club shuffle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc5Sm4iRtxs

the xx are really aesthetically different from the others, if you don't get that idk what to tell u

they're all pretty aesthetically different from each other

dave's voice

this is the #1 reason why bitte orca sux

it's love it or hate it i guess, it's one of my favorite voices in indie

it's not in the acronym because when everyones top 5 was all GAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDYGAPDY the xx were like down in the 8s and 9s, as pazz would attest

fuckin Neko had to go an ruin my perfect joke

i'm gonna lol if the ilx results are the same as pazz

would bet ANYTHING that anco win

gapdy have not received the jagger vote, sunn o))) have, go figure

B2W:
1.Phoenix - Twitchy, polished imitations of urgency that managed to become my second favorite record of the year. May one day investigate if its pleasures (and/or lyrics) signify anything at all beyond the standard ennui-anthem mode of "Girlfriend".
2.YYY - Sags in the middle, but the bookends make up for any muddle. The fact that Karen O.'s voice used to irritate, but breaks my heart on "Soft Shock" and maybe elsewhere warrants further consideration.
3.Dirty Projectors - Interesting ideas, interesting craft, but lacks...I don't know - insight, genius, exuberant stupidity, charisma, vulgarity, humor, purpose...
4.Animal Collective - Pretty. Interesting even. Just not that interesting, and not even that pretty.
5.Grizzly Bear - There are three kinds of albums: those I like, and I care about because pleasure will make a man do that; those I don't like, but I care about because someone's taste and intelligence convinces me maybe I should; and those I don't like and don't care about. Guess which one this is?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Dirty > Phoenix > AnCo > YYYs > Grizzly

YYYs = Anco > Phoenix > Dirty > all other music ever made > Grizzly.