Year-End Critics' Polls '08

agree w/this!! worst thing about so many indie lists is the tiny nod they give to other genres...

I do like the genre magazine lists because they dig deeper than most, though I also appreciate the lists from bloggers and others that are diverse, when it seems that they honestly like and listen to all that stuff.

Thanks for The Wire list NickB.

Other lists show Matmos and Excepter love, go ILX!

In defence of the NME, the blurbs for the albums are much longer than the past few years.

AMG Pop (alphabetical)

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Black Milk - Tronic
Brian Blade Fellowship - Season of Changes
Anthony Braxton - Beyond Quantum
Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
Buena Vista Social Club - At Carnegie Hall
Calexico - Carried to Dust
Los Campesinos - Hold on Now, Youngster…
James Carter - Present Tense
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Elvis Costello & the Imposters - Momofuku
Rodney Crowell - Sex and Gasoline
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Raheem DeVaughn - Love Behind the Melody
Lila Downs - Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra
Duffy - Rockferry
The Fireman - Electric Arguments
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Jazzanova - Of All the Things
Kelley Polar - I Need You to Hold on While the Sky Is Falling
The Kills - Midnight Boom
B.B. King - One Kind Favor
Solange Knowles - Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Femi Kuti - Day by Day
Leila - Blood, Looms and Blooms
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin’
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Madlib - WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis - Two Men with the Blues
The New Year - The New Year
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
No Age - Nouns
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Osborne - Osborne
Portishead - Third
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Steve Reid Ensemble - Daxaar
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Robyn - Robyn (US Bonus Track)
Santogold - Santogold
Stereolab - Chemical Chords
George Strait - Troubadour
Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless
Taylor Swift - Fearless
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
Paul Weller - 22 Dreams

Blimey, at long last a list without freaking Dig Lazarus Bastard Dig in it!

Rolling Stone's Top 50 albums: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24958695/albums_of_the_year/31

I'll type up the singles list shortly (not on website, as far as I can tell)

"JOCKSON Browne"????

Spicoli?

JOCKSON Browne = after consumption of Tennent's Super

Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singles

1. Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
2. Santogold, "L.E.S. Artistes"
3. MGMT, "Time to Pretend"
4. Blitzen Trapper, "Furr"
5. Lil Wayne, "Lollipop"
6. Beck, "Gamma Ray"
7. Estelle ft. Kanye West, "American Boy"
8. My Morning Jacket, "I'm Amazed"
9. Coldplay, "Viva La Vida"
10. T.I., "No Matter What"
11. Rihanna, "Disturbia"
12. TV on the Radio, "Golden Age"
13. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, "Magick"
14. The BPA ft. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal, "Toe Jam"
15. Al Green, "Lay It Down"
16. Young Jeezy, "My President"
17. The Killers, "Spaceman"
18. Kid Rock, "All Summer Long"
19. Guns N' Roses, "Better"
20. Katy Perry, "I Kissed a Girl"

I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the rest, honestly.

^^AMG: Finally Deerhoof!

The BPA ft. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal, "Toe Jam"

This is made up, right?

Rong.

terrible song, good video

i'd like to see one list that just ignores all artists who've been around 15 years or more. yeah that's facile but a little 'yeah yeah they've still got it but there's too much new decent stuff to bother much with them right now' statement wouldn't go amiss

― Yentl vs Predator (blueski), Wednesday, 10 December 2008 15:11 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

The NME list is made for you then.

They still put Spz, Cave, Verve, Primal Scream in tho

Rolling Stone : 12 | Guns n' Roses: Chinese Democracy

They had this ranking all gift-wrapped and ready to go by September, didn't they?

Steve your rule would have knocked Pulp out of the reckoning by the time they released This Is Hardcore.

The Wire has plenty of obscure titles as usual. The tricky part is figuring out which ones are any fun. Will investigate Jeck, Hospitals, Butcher, Caretaker, Ikeda, Dusk + Blackdown for starters.

I remember getting that David'n'Dizzee single and thinking it sucked, but if not for its mention here would have totally forgotten

The best music of 2008 by The A.V. Club staff
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/change/the_best_music_of_2008_by_the_a_v__club_staff

Steve your rule would have knocked Pulp out of the reckoning by the time they released This Is Hardcore

different time, different game

different goalposts

in '82 you could kick a jarvis

I can't go on, I'll go on:

21. Vampire Weekend, "One (Blake's Got a New Face)"
22. Jay-Z and T.I., "Swagga Like Us"
23. The Black Keys, "I Got Mine"
24. Lykke Li, "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
25. Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"
26. The Rapture, "No Sex for Ben"
27. The Ting Tings, "Shut Up and Let Me Go"
28. Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil Wayne, "Let It Rock"
29. Pink, "So What"
30. Weezer, "Pork and Beans"

31. Conor Oberst, "Moab"
32. N.E.R.D., "Everybody Nose"
33. The Raveonettes, "Ally, Walk with Me"
34. Gnarls Barkley, "Run"
35. Kaiser Chiefs, "Addicted to Drugs"
36. Usher ft. Beyonce & Lil Wayne, "Love in This Club Pt. 2"
37. Bob Dylan, "Someday Baby" [alt. take from Tell Tale Signs]
38. Jamey Johnson, "High Cost of Living"
39. The Academy Is . . . , "About a Girl"
40. Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire"

41. Duffy, "Warwick Avenue"
42. The Raconteurs, "Salute Your Solution"
43. Erykah Badu, "The Healer"
44. Panic at the Disco, "Nine in the Afternoon"
45. Foals, "Cassius"
46. Taylor Swift, "Fifteen"
47. Janelle Monae, "Many Moons"
48. John Mellencamp, "Troubled Land"
49. Jonas Brothers, "Video Girl"
50. Jackson Browne, "Time the Conqueror"

51. Ashlee Simpson, "Rule Breaker"
52. Lee Ann Womack, "Last Call"
53. AC/DC, "Big Jack"
54. Cat Power, "I Believe in You"
55. Sigur Ros, "Gobbledigook"
56. The Hold Steady, "Constructive Summer"
57. Charles Hamilton, "Brooklyn Girls"
58. Jazmine Sullivan, "Bust Your Windows"
59. Low vs. Diamond, "Don't Forget Sister"
60. Ne-Yo, "Closer"

61. Robyn, "Cobrastyle"
62. The Gaslight Anthem, "The '59 Sound"
63. LCD Soundsystem, "Big Ideas"
64. She and Him, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here"
65. The Virgins, "Rich Kids"
66. Jenny Lewis, "Acid Tongue"
67. M.I.A., "Shells"
68. Fall Out Boy, "I Don't Care"
69. Missy Elliott, "Ching-a-Ling"
70. Busy Signal, "Tic Toc"

71. Phantom Planet, "Do the Panic"
72. Sam Sparro, "Black and Gold"
73. Ciara ft. Ludacris, "High Price"
74. Ra Ra Riot, "Dying Is Fine"
75. Flo Rida ft. T-Pain, "Low"
76. The Roots, "Rising Down"
77. Hercules and Love Affair, "Blind"
78. Love as Laughter, "Holly"
79. Kid Cudi, "Day 'n' Nite"
80. Mudcrutch, "Crystal River"

81. The Knux, "Cappuccino"
82. Santogold & Diplo, "Icarus"
83. Get 'Em Mamis, "Cold Summer"
84. Lil Wayne, "A Milli"
85. M83, "Kim & Jessie"
86. The Rumble Strips, "Cowboy"
87. Friendly Fires, "Jump in the Pool"
88. Bon Iver, "Skinny Love"
89. Old Crow Medicine Show, "Alabama High-Test"
90. Busta Rhymes, "Don't Touch Me (Throw da Water on 'Em)"

91. O'Neal McKnight, "Check Your Coat"
92. White Denim, "Shake Shake Shake"
93. Madonna, "Candy Shop"
94. Los Campesinos, "Miserabilia"
95. Lucinda Williams, "Real Love"
96. Little Joy, "Brand New Start"
97. Sheryl Crow, "Now That You're Gone"
98. Teyana Taylor, "Google Me"
99. The Enemy, "You're Not Alone"
100. Will.i.am, "Yes We Can"

Steve your rule would have knocked Pulp out of the reckoning by the time they released This Is Hardcore

this would not be a problem

73. Ciara ft. Ludacris, "High Price"

ayyy, thumbs up for this

and here, I'll do it for you:

5. Lil Wayne, "Lollipop"
84. Lil Wayne, "A Milli"

93. Madonna, "Candy Shop"

this is so fucking bad but i do like 'Give It 2 Me'

this is probably the best singles list you'll see (despite the many glaring atrocities)

hahahaha I seriously doubt that

I always like Baltimore City Paper's lists, and not just when I contribute to them: http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=17187. This one is local albums: http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=17188.

I was bummed that only 3 things I voted for ended up in them (Erykah Badu in the former, 410 Pharaohs and E Major in the latter), but yeah, those lists came out pretty respectable.

Fastnbulbous - The Dusk + Blackdown album is really good, very strong opening and closing runs.

You know, despite the fact that I'd probably swap those places, I can't really fault them too hugely for putting "Lollipop" over "A milli". "Lollipop" is one those odd songs that managed to take bits and pieces from everything that was hot at that moment, and put them together in such a way that it sounded like none of its sources.

91. O'Neal McKnight, "Check Your Coat"

d-_-b

Hold up.

28. Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil Wayne, "Let It Rock"
84. Lil Wayne, "A Milli"

yeah that RS list is half dope radio shit that most other rock mags turn their noses up at, and half horrible blog shit that even most of the people that liked it rightfully forgot a week after they downloaded it.

you're forgetting all the token rock album tracks

well half of the non-obvious Rolling Stone stuff, i should say

it's cool that some obscure Baltimore rap benefitted from the blog bias @ #83, though

haha thank you (xpost)

3. The Hospitals - Hairdryer Peace

great album, seriously it deserves to be this high up

WIRE Critical Beats list:

Louis Guillaume - Soulpoint
Joker & Rustie - Play Doe
King Midas Sound - Cool Out
DJ Koze - I Want To Sleep
Martyn - Vancouver/Natural Selection
Peverelist - Infinity Is Now/Junktion
Rustie - Zig Zag
Trim - Soulfood vol 3
Scuba - Twitch
Shackleton - Soundboy's Suicide Note
Shackleton - Death Is Not Final
Skream - Skreamizm vol 4
Tobias - I Can't Fight The Feeling
Villalobos - Vasco
Villalobos - Enfants

i would love a little 'play' button beside all of those

WIRE Electronica list

Benge - Twenty Sytems
Blevin Blectum - Gular Flutter
Bochum Welt - ROB
Byetone - Death of a Typographer
Lawrence English - Kiri No Oto
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Koen Holtkamp - Field Rituals
Machinefabrik - Dauw
Matmos - Supreme Balloon
Move D - Drone
Theo Parrish - Sound Sculptures
Max Richter - 24 Postcards
Schlammpeitziger - Schwingstelle Fur Rauschabzug
snd - 4,5,6
Tape - Luminarium

Yes Steve, me too! x-post

WIRE Avant Rock list:

Aufgehoben - Khora
Burning Star Core - Challenger
Birchville Cat Motel - Four Freckle Constellation
Black Mountain - In The Future
Dead C - Secret Earth
Eat Skull - Sick to Death
Fabulous Diamonds - s/t
Growing - All The Way
Hair Police - Certainty of Swarms
Hospitals - Hairdryer Peace
Hototogisu - Under the Rose
Religious Knives - Remains
Scorces - I Turn Into You
Alexander Tucker - Portal
Valet - Naked Acid

If anyone particularly wants any of the others (outer limits, global, hip hop, jazz, modern composition, dub etc), give us a shout and I'll try and do it later.

that RS