2010 Magazine's Albums Of The Year Thread For Posting Lists and Discussion

I am listening to "Helicopter" by Deerhunter and sort of wonder exactly what the distinction between these guys and Owl City is

okay the chorus is much better but, um, the verses are kind of cloying

they're supposed to be a "pop" band too.

yeah the new Deerhunter album is more pop, you'd probably like their earlier albums more? I don't know, I find them listenable but pretty boring overall.

pretty much all this points out is that lists by committee (ie lists made by combining a bunch of lists from individual critics) are inevitably going to be safe and boring (duh) and that the individual critic lists are going to be more interesting on their own because they allow for personal tastes/idiosyncracies

― congratulations (n/a), Friday, December 10, 2010 10:43 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah but you can at least cultivate a group of critics who overlap in more interesting ways than 'what other critics are covering.' i mean, downbeat's list is unlikely to include sleigh bells right? will the source feel obligated to include the national? these are extreme examples, & as much crap as ive given FACT for just incorporating pitchfork values to dance music, at least they serve an audience that doesnt have that attention otherwise, like, they have a reason to exist

pitchfork used to publish the individual lists tho didnt they? i thought it was just recently they stopped doing it

"Bloodbuzz Ohio" by The National starts out with some really nice drums and then drowns them in wannabe Coldplay. Sorry guys, but I heard Editors first.

xpost we should really talk about that in depth as no one ever brings that crucial detail up in these threads year after year

pitchfork should publish the individual lists, i want to know what those guys think!!

so neither Deerhunter nor The National appears to be outright offensive but I can't really envision the universal itch they apparently scratch given their presence on so many of these lists

Exactly.

xpost well what im saying is that it's weird ppl would bring that up year after year, when pitchfork published individual lists in 2007 at least.. i mean how many years do you mean by 'year after year'

like, as much as I am not a fan of Joanna Newsom, I at least understand what makes her stand out; these guys seem to be the definition of "band you've heard before only with sharper publicists"

(lol ITT DJP answers his own questions)

arent the national fairly popular w indie fans? & ive been seeing the name 'deerhunter' on critics lists forever

by 'popular w/ indie fans' i mean in the sense that, like, they'll sell way more records than whatever indie buzz artist is big this yr

The National isn't really a "jumps out at you on first listen" kind of band, they have a boring sound but some of their songs are really strong and they grow on you after a while. That being said, their new album is not as good as their last two and I think a lot of the votes for it are just residual good feelings for Boxer and Alligator.

they're essentially indie rock comfort food

which isn't a put-down

I think you need to listen to more than just "Helicopter" to get a feel for what Deerhunter does. In fact, I'm not sure why that particular track is getting so much attention (outside of it being the "single") because I can think of 4-5 better tracks on the new album. Try "Desire Lines" for a good taste of the band's talent.

I can see The National growing on me, but not in a "best of the year" way. (Deerhunter does have more potential in that regard even if my first impression of that song was more negative.)

Listening to "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire and I would likely have more time for them if they had a different singer.

title track of the Foals album is surprisingly enjoyable tho!

lol and of course Four Tet

they're essentially indie rock comfort food

― congratulations (n/a), Friday, December 10, 2010 11:57 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'll agree with this sentiment and will add that if you actually need this in your life, recheck your priorities imho.

I like the Foals album a lot. And Whiney, you are dangerously close to climbing back up on your self-righteous soapbox.

Indie rock comfort food:

"what a day. i wish i could settle into my ikea couch while some boring, bearded people could croon insipid, flavorless pseudo-intellectual pap at me to simultaneously reinforce my feelings of smugness and remind me of my place of white privilege."

***holding tongue***

flocka flocka bow bow bow

Oh for the love of god just shut the fuck up. No one actually cares what you have to say and you have never once been funny.

quiet everyone, the twitter rock critic is going to teach us about "white privilege"

Is there any way one of the coders can add a feature so that Whiney and Deej can't ever post on the same thread again?

in fairness to deej he had nothing to do with this current iteration of Whiney cluelessness

the content of my 'post' was 'im saying nothing' fyi

first time for everything

lol, i'm sorry i'm being such a troll on this thread this morning, i'll stop

the latest turn of this thread is like a morning cup of coffee

i feel like i can start my day now

anyway

as much as i love the deadboy remix of "fireworks" the "official girl" remix is pretty dreadful as matt attests

it's funny that it seems like everyone agreed in the kanye thread this was a record w/ no singles, and yet here we are & every list is putting "power" or "runaway" (this one is esp rmde to me) in their top 10s

i'll big up fact for "shut it down" tho, that's a jam (altho as is typical w/ a small percentage of r&b nowadays, the leaked version was better than the one that ended up on the album)

has that hot chip album made a lot of lists, im too lazy to look. Sort of craptacular that.

it's their best album!

i think runaway makes more sense as a single to vote for! its weird in line w/ the rest of the album, and def feels less generic, for all its flaws, than 'pwer'

if youre the kind of person who likes the album then 'runaway' is def the kind of song you would be feeling, is what im saying

^^^ this rings true

remind me of my place of white privilege

i don't really like the nat'l much. but why, exactly, do you say their music "reinforces its audiences' notions about white privilege"?

i think mainly i dislike it cuz it ain't really my bag.

oh, sorry, didn't see your "i'm being a troll" post above.

xp to myself, i guess.

i feel like everyone just anointed "runaway" after the vmas but it's really one of the least exciting songs on the CD

w/ "power" i at least grasp the bigness of it, even if i don't think the song is really all that

Yeah, "Power" feels so much more like a single to me that "Runaway".

TIME

Top 10 Albums

* Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
* Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
* LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
* The National, High Violet
* Drake, Thank Me Later
* Sufjan Stevens, Age of Adz
* The Black Keys, Brothers
* Yeasayer, Odd Blood
* Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
* Beach House, Teen Dream

a bold stance

I can see why people would be going apeshit for Beach House but really this is not my bag at all.

Basically I would play this if I wanted to psych myself up into a stabbing fury, only I would then run out and stab Beach House.