Year-End Critics' Polls '08

the metro area fabric mix bored me as well - actually some of the mixes on the RA list are real head-scratchers. didn't think a great deal of the efdemin one either - my own favourite techno mixes of 08 were probably fuse presents deetron, ellen allien's boogybytes vol 4 and the robert hood fabric which made the RA list. the marcel dettmann one at no 1 was...ok, i guess? i have absolutely no idea what makes it the best mix of the year though.

The Pfork singles lists are usually pretty good for discovering a new song or two, IMHO

Eiene Kliene Nacht Musik is #50 in Au Magazine, #33 in Clash Magazine, and #1 in Culturdeluxe. Listening to it now, Krautrocking goodness.

The Torygraph albums list was unexciting, but their Best Films Of 2008 list is wtf enough to deserve linking to:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3776706/Best-films-of-2008-films-review-of-the-year.html

I'm curious about that Shed record but there doesn't seem to be a thread about it.

There's no thread on it but there's a bit of discussion on the dance bobbins thread. It doesn't merit much of a thread because it's difficult to say much about it, but it is very good indeed - reminds me a bit of Selected Ambient Works-era Aphex Twin (both of them) and late period LFO but refracted through a minimal prism.

i never got into the shed album, though i do love 'etrange' or whatever the only track with any actual character is called near the end

i mean i kept hearing how it was like a "journey" or whatever but it wasn't a very exciting one.

It's a bit too drifty and ambient to be a journey, I don't know why people say that. Most of the tracks just hang there a bit, which I'm fine with but I didn't really think it would be your thing.

yeah i don't dislike it or anything but it's just strange that it seemed to be the consensus techno album of the year (anja motherfucking schneider, people - plus i thought catz'n'dogz, the mole and akiko kiyama were far more inventive & effective than shed)

I was a bit non plussed on the shed record but it gets better with a few listens.

no fennesz (assuming its a dealine thing) and one vampire weekend on the wire list is a bit of a shock

wire 2008 rewind
01. The Bug - London Zoo [Ninja Tune]
02. Philip Jeck - Sand [Touch]
03. The Hospitals - Hairdryer Peace [no label]
04. John Butcher - Resonant Spaces [Confront]
05. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna [Social Registry]
06. The Advisory Circle - Other Channels [Ghost Box]
07. Evangelista - Hello, Voyager [Constellation]
08. William S. Burroughs - Real English Tea Made Here [Audio Research Editions]
09. The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent [Sanctuary]
10. The Caretaker - Persistent Repetition of Phrases [Install]
11. Kevin Drumm - Imperial Distortion [Hospital Productions]
12. Ryoji Ikeda - Test Pattern [Raster-Noton]
13. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!! [Mute]
14. Eric Chenaux - Sloppy Ground [Constellation]
15. Kasai Allstars - In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy By Magic [Crammed Discs]
16. Autechre - Quaristice [Warp]
17. Dusk + Blackdown - Margins Music [Keysound]
18. Luomo - Convivial [Huume]
19. Bill Dixon - 17 Musicians In Search Of A Sound: Darfur [AUM Fidelity]
20. Stephan Mathieu - Radioland [Die Schachtel]
21. Lukas Ligeti - Afrikan Machinery [Tzadik]
22. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair [DFA]
23. Group Inerane - Guitar From Agadez (Music of Niger) [Sublime Frequencies]
24. Jandek - Glasgow Sunday 2005 [Corwood]
25. Robert Ashley - Concrete [Lovely Music]
26. Tricky - Knowle West Boy [Domino]
27. Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me [Audika]
28. Scorces - I Turn Into You [Not Not Fun]
29. Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull [Southern Lord]
30. Terry Riley - The Last Camel In Paris [Elision Fields]
31. Malcom Goldstein - A Sounding of Sources [New World]
32. Christina Carter - Masque Femine [Many Breaths]
33. Stereo Image - s/t [Frog Man Jake]
34. Harvey Milk - Life... the Best Game In Town [Hydra Head]
35. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend [XL]
36. Emeralds - Solar Bridge [Hanson]
37. Maryanne Amacher - Sound Characters 2 [Tzadik]
38. Portishead - Third [Universal]
39. Toumani Diabate - The Mande Variations [World Circuit]
40. Jakob Ullmann - Voice, Books and FIRE 3 [Editions RZ]
41. David Grubbs - An Optimist Notes the Dust [Drag City]
42. Vajra - Live [PSF]
43. Murcof - The Versailles Sessions [Leaf]
44. Josephine Foster - This Coming Gladness [Bo' Weavil]
45. Peter Rehber - Works for GV 2004-2008 [Editions Mego]
46. Alva Noto - Unitxt [Raster-Noton]
47. Mark Stewart - Edit [Crippled Dick Hot Wax]
48. Sick Alps - US EZ [Siltbreeze]
49. Ellen Fullman & Monique Buzzarté - Fluctuations [Deep Listening]
50. Sao Paulo Underground - The Principle Of Intrusive Relationships [esthetics]

Avant Rock
Aufgehoben - Khora [Holy Mountain]
Burning Star Core - Challenger [Plastic/Hospital]
Birchville Cat Motel - Four Freckle Constellations [Conspiracy]
Black Mountain - In the Future [Jagjaguwar]
The Dead C - Secret Earth [Ba Da Bing]
Eat Skull - Sick To Death [Siltbreeze]
Fabulous Diamonds - Fabulous Diamonds [Siltbreeze]
Growing - All The Way [Social Registry]
Hair Police - Certainty Of Swarms [No Fun Productions]
The Hospitals - Hairdryer Peace [no label]
Hototogisu - Under the Rose [Blossoming Noise]
Religious Knives - Remains [No Fun Productions]
Scorces - I Turn Into You [Not Not Fun]
Alexander Tucker - Portal [ATP]
Valet - Naked Acid [Kranky]

Critical Beats
Louis Guillaume - Soulpoint [SD Records]
Joker & Rustie - Play Doe [Kapsize 12"]
King Midas Sound - Cool Out [Hyperdub 12"]
DJ Koze - I Want To Sleep [International Records Recordings 12"]
Martyn - Vancouver/Natural Selection [3024 12"]
Peverelist - Infinity Is Now/Junktion [Punch Drunk 12"]
Rustie - Zig Zag [Wireblock 12"]
Trim - Soulfood Vol. 3 [no label]
Scuba - Twitch (Jamie Vex'd Remix) [Hotflush 12"]
Shackleton - Death Is Not Final [Skull Disco 12"]
Shackleton - Soundboy's Suicide Note [Skull Disco 12"]
Skream - Skreamizm Vol. 4 [Tempa 2x12"]
Tobias - I Can't Fight The Feeling EP [Wagon Repair 12"]
Ricardo Villalobos - Vasco [Perlon 12"]
Ricardo Villalobos - Enfants [Si Es Drum 12"]

Electronica
Benge - Twenty Systems 1968-1988 [Expanding]
Blevin Blectum - Gular Flutter [Aagoo]
Bochum Welt - ROB [Rephlex]
Byetone - Death Of A Typographer [Raster-Noton]
Lawrence English - Kiri No Oto [Touch]
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles [Warp]
Koen Holtkamp - Field Rituals [Type]
Machinefabriek - Dauw [Dekorder]
Matmos - Supreme Balloon [Matador]
Move D - Drøne [Modern Love]
Theo Parrish - Sound Sculptures Vol. 1 [Sound Signature]
Max Richter - 24 Postcards In Full Colour [Fat Cat]
Schlammpeitziger - Schingstelle Für Rauschabzug [Sonig]
snd - 4, 5, 6 [snd]
Tape - Luminarium [Hapna]

Global
Les Amazones De Guinee - Wamato [Sterns]
Ammasu Akapoma Group - The Music Of Ammasu: Brong Ahasu, Ghana 1976 [Country & Eastern]
Balla Et Ses Balladins - The Syliphone Years [Sterns]
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay - Pujo [Felmay]
Zerfu Demissie - Akotet [Terp]
Frank Denyer - Music For Shakuhachi [Another Timbre]
Group Inerane - Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger) [Sublime Frequencies]
Kasai Allstars - In the 7th Moon... [Crammed]
Seant Kuti & Fela's Egypt 80 - Many Things [Tot Ou Tard]
Melingo - Maldito Tango [Naïve]
Rail Band - Mansa [Sterns]
Sam Shalabi - Eid [Alien8]
Amadou Sodia - Ca Va Se Savoir [Sterns]
Terakaft - AKh Issudar [IRL]
Umalali - The Garifuni Women's Project [Cumbancha]

Hiphop
Clipse presents Re-Up Gang - Clipse Presents Re-Up Gang [Koch]
Cool Kids - Winterfresh [no label]
Peedi Crakk - Welcome to Crakk's House [no label]
Giggs - Walk In Da Park [SN1]
Charles Hamilton - It's Charles Hamilton [no label]
Alicia Keys - Teenage Love Affair [J-Records]
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III [Cash Money/Universal]
Madlib - Madvillany 2 [Madlib]
MIA featuring Jay-Z
Boyz (Remix) [no label]
9th Wonder & Buckshot - The Formula [Duck Down]
Proton - Read & Purple Mixtape Volume 1 [no label]
Guilty Simpson - Ode to the Ghetto [Stones Throw]
TI featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil Wayne - Swagga Like Us [Grand Hustle]
Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing [no label]
Yo! Majesty - Futuristically Speaking...Never Be Afraid [Domino]

Jazz & Improv
Michael Adkins Quartet - Rotator [HatOLOGY]
Butcher/Muller/va der Schyff - Way Out Northwest [Drip Audio]
Charles/Grydeland/Wallumrød/Zach - Dans Les Arbres [ECM]
Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra - Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra [Thrill Jockey]
Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton - Phases Of The Night [Intakt]
Mary Halvorson Trio - Dragon's Head [Firehouse 12]
Mazen Kerbaj/Birgit Uhler/Sharif Sehnaoui - 3:1 [Creative Sources]
K-Space - Infinity [Ad Hoc]
Ingrid Laubrock - Sleepthief [Intakt]
Chris McGregor Septet - Up To Earch [Fledg'ling]
Mike Osbourne - Force Of Nature [Reel Recordings]
William Parker - Double Sunrise Over Neptune [AUM Fidelity]
Howard Riley - Three Is One [ASC]
Franz Paul Schubert & Gunter 'Baby' Sommer - Hic Sunt Leones [Jazz Haus]
Seymour Wright - Seymor Wright Of Derby [no label]

Modern Composition
Robert Ashley - Concrete [Lovely Music]
Carrier Band - Voice Coil [Deep Listening]
Gloria Coates - Symphony No 15 [Naxos]
Anthony Coleman - Lapidation [New World]
Frank Denyer - Silenced Voices [Mode]
James Dillon - The Soadie Waste [NMC]
Ron George - The Floating Bubble [Innova]
Malcolm Goldstein - A Sounding Of Sources [New World]
Mauricio Kagel - Acustica [Zig Zag Territories]
Annea Lockwood - A Sound Map Of The Danube [Lovely Music]
Olivier Messiaen - Organ Works [Delphian]
Eliane Radigue - Chry-Ptus [Schoolmap]
Eliane Radigue - Naldjorlak [Shiiin]
'Blue' Gene Tyranny - The Somewhere Songs/The Invention Of Memory [Mutable]
Jakob Ullmann - Voice, Books and FIRE 3 [Edition RZ]

Outer Limits
AFCGT - AFCGT [no label]
Astral Social Club - Model Town In A Field Of Mud [Textile]
John Baker - The John Baker Tapes Vols 1 & 2 [Trunk]
Excepter - Debt Dept [Paw Tracks]
Ron Geesin - Biting The Hand: BBC Radio Broadcasts 1969-1975 [Hux]
G*Park - Reuters [Tochnit Aleph]
Russell Haswell - Second Live Salvage [Editions Mego]
The Hub - Boundary Layer [Tzadik]
Kikuri - Pulverised Purple [Victo]
Jacob Kirkegaard - Labyrinthitis [Touch]
Richard Skelton - Marking Time [Preservation]
sh*t and Shine - Küss Mich, Meine Liebe [Load]
Howard Steltzer - Bond Inlets [Intransitive]
Volcano The Bear - Amidst The Noise and Twigs [Beta-Lactam Ring]
Zeitkratzer - Electronics [Zeitkratzer]

Dub Top 10
Jimmy Radway & The Fe Me Time Allstars - Dub I [Pressure Sounds]
Johnny Osbourne - Truth & Rights [Heartbeat/Studio One]
Augustus Pablo - The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story [Shanachie]
Deadbeat - Roots & Wire [Wagon Repair]
Culture - Culture & The Deejays At Joe Gibbs 1977-79 [17 North Parade]
Gussie P - Roots & Dub Vol 1 [Sip A Cup]
Henry & Louis - Increments [2 Kings]
Pale Rider - Listen Keenly [Cassava Outernational]
Vibronics - UK Dub Story [Scoops]
The Might Diamonds - The Mighty Diamonds Inna De Yard [Inna De Yard]

Size Matters Top 10
Little Claw - Why Not [Physical Sewer 7"]
Screw - Bans Of The River [Shagrat 10"]
Billy Childish & The Musicians Of the British Empire Vs Halo Of Flies [Amphetamine Reptile 7"]
Elisa Ambrogio & Karl Bauer - Yankee Psychic Hygene [Spirit of Orr 7"]
Zaimph - Bird Of Prey [Arbor 7"]
United Light - Untitled [Alt Vinyl 8"]
Martin Creed - Ooh [Smart Guy/White Columns]
Lightning Strike Lightning - The Moon [L'Animaux Tryst 7"]
Zola Jesus - Poor Sons [Die Stasi 7"]
Anals - Commando Of Love [Sweet Rot 7"]

Compilations
African Scream Contests: Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds From 70s Benin & Togo [Analog Africa]
An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music: Fith A-Chronology [Sub Rosa]
An England Story: The Culture Of The MC In The UK 1984-2008 [Soul Jazz]
Art Of Field Recording Vol 1 [Dust To Digital]
Bollywood Steel Guitar [Sublime Frequencies]
Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels [Numero Group]
Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics 1977-1985 [Strut]
Discovered: A Collection Of Daft Punk Samples [Rapster]
Dreams Come True: Classic First Wave Electro 1982-1987 [Domino]
Dubstep Allstars Vol 6: Mixed By Appleblim [Tempa]
Fabric 39: Robert Hood [Fabric]
Give Me Love: Songs Of The Brokenhearted Bahgdad 1925-1929 [Honest Jon's]
Last Kind Words 1926-1953 [Mississippi]
Life Is A Problem [Mississippi]
Living Is Hard: West African Music In Britain 1927-1929 [Honest Jon's]
Love, Peace & Poetry: Chilean Psychedelic Music [Normal]
Mary Anne Hobbs Presents Evangeline [Planet Mu]
Messthetics Greatest Hiss: Classics Of UK Cassette Culture DIY 1979-1982 [Hyped to Death]
Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump [Strut]
Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-1979 [Soundway]
Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk in 1970s Nigeria [Soundway]
Oh, Run Into Me, But Don't Hurt Me: Female Blues Singers Rarities 1923-1930 [Sub Rosa]
Rough Trade Shops: Counter Culture 07 [Counter Culture]
Shadow Music Of Thailand [Sublime Frequencies]
Sleeping Bag Records: Greatest 12" Mixes [Sleeping Bag/Acrobat]
Sprigs of Time: 78s From the EMI Archive [Honest Jon's]
Steppa's Delight [Soul Jazz]
The Very Best Of Hugh Tracey [SWP]
Victrola Favorites: Artifacts From Bygone Days [Dust To Digital]
Wierd Compilation Vol 2: Analogue Electronic Music 2008 [Wierd]

Reissues
23 Skidoo - Seven Songs [LTM]
808 State - Quadrastate [ZTT]
A Guy Called Gerald - Black Secret Technology [A Guy Called Gerald Music]
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 1985-1992 [R&S]
Arabian Prince - Innovative Life: The Anthology 1984-1989 [Stones Throw]
Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Les Stances A Sophie [Soul Jazz]
Kevin Ayers - Songs For Insane Times: Anthology 1969-1980 [Island]
Basic Channel - BCD2 [Basic Channel]
Jorge Ben - Jorge Ben (1969) [Dusty Groove]
The Blue Notes - The Ogun Collection [Ogun]
Anthony Braxton - Complete Arista Recordings [Mosaic]
Anne Briggs - Anne Briggs [Water]
Burzum - Anthology [Candlelight]
Ornette Coleman - The Croydon Concert [Free Factory]
Shirly & Dolly Collins - The Harvest Years [EMI]
Kid Creole - Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1974-1983 [Strut]
Dredd Foole - Kissing the Contemporary Bliss [Family Vineyard]
Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting [DGM/Panegyric]
Gas - Nah Und Fern [Kompakt]
Harry Pussy - You'll Never Play This Town Again: Live Etc. 1997 [Load]
Thomas Leer - Contradictions [Cherry Red]
Liquid Liquid - Slip In And Out Of Phenomenon [Domino]
Loop - Heaven's End [Reactor]
Ewan MacColl/Charles Parker/Peggy Seeger - Radio Ballads [Topic]
Chris McGregor Group - Very Urgent [Fledg'ling]
Model 500 - Classics [R&S]
Grachan Moncur III - Evolution [Blue Note]
Conlon Nancarrow - Studies For Player Piano [Other Minds]
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou - The Voudon Effect: Funk & Sata From Benin's Obscure Labels 1973-1975 [Analog Africa]
Mike Osbourne Trio - The Willisau Concert [Ogun]
Evan Parker - Conic Sections [Psi]
Bernard Parmegiani - L'Oeuvre Musicale [INA]
Washington Phillips - What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? [Mississippi]
Pole - 1 2 3 [~scape]
Ragga Twins - Ragga Twins Step Out [Soul Jazz]
Skullflower - IIIrd Gatekeeper [Crucial Blast]
Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective [Illegal Art]
Sun Ra - Some Blues But Not The Kind That's Blue [Atavistic]
Sir Victor Uwaifo - Guitar Boy Superstar 1970-1976 [Soundway]
Yoshi Wada - Off The Wall/Lament For The Rise And Fall Of the Elephantine Crocodile [EM/Omega Point]
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue [Columbia Legacy]
Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom/Old Rottenhat/Schleep [Domino]

I hope you didn't type out...

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/148094-2008-pitchfork-readers-poll

this isn't a critics' poll but whatever. basically it sucks.

there were so few options in that poll that basically people were just voting for what order they wanted those 25 records to appear in on the list

yeah, i wonder how much it cost to get a slot on the ballot

The Q one is the best list. As always.
(Or, well, as always since Select disappeared)

that's interesting, geir hongro. what kind of music do you like?

jesus, was there an album that came out this year that didn't get a mention from Wire?

You'd think the Wire would have learned to spell Mike Osborne's name correctly by now.

the wire hip-hop choices are...weird.

I doubt whether the voters in that poll were in the plural case.

From P-fork's "Blind" blurb by Mark Pytlik:

"2008 was a weird year for dance singles. With a few notable exceptions, techno basically spent it on snooze, electro sounded limp and uninspired, and house failed to build on French touch with much of anything fresh. Indie rock did a pretty decent job of integrating dance music into the full-band aesthetic, while a few mainstream cheesemongers helped make up some of those losses (the otherwise awful Sam Sparro scored with "Black & Gold", and it says a lot that one of the year's best dance tracks -- "Pjanoo" -- came from Eric fucking Prydz), but it was hardly robust. Disco, however, avoided that malaise."

God I wish someone told me earlier that indie and Sam Sparro were doing more interesting things with dance music than house and techno this year. So much catching up.

Blind's an odd choice (partly because in a year so supposedly weak for house and techno this ends up #1 regardless) - pretty good as a song but the remixes are better

i accidentally read some of that. the beyonce blurb wins by percentage of wrong sentences in one paragraph (100%). and who knew there were so many shitty indie bands in the world? IGNORE.

thou dost protest every fucking day even more tiresomely than the day before methinks

also: same as every other fucking list! godddd critical consensus is a downer these days.

less than half the top 20 is indie-rock type stuff and it's mostly decent (what i've heard).

"Blind" at #1 makes this the second year that a track featuring Antony is PFM's top single.

If you take out Fleet Foxes, Deerhunter and M83 that isn't a bad top ten. Actually the Deerhunter one is okay but just bafflingly high.

the M83 is great you menk

i think that was a cool choice for no. 1 tho def a weird blurb -- those blanket statements always sound weird to me

flipping thru the bottom 50 yesterday it struck me how similar a lot of the songs sound, even across diff genres -- like the tough alliance song doesnt sound too far off from the fleet foxes song (slow ambient + with acoustic guitar) -- a bunch of diff songs on the list had that same vibe.

"mopey" is the adjective you're looking for, i think

(slow ambient + with acoustic guitar) -- a bunch of diff songs on the list had that same vibe

If you take out Fleet Foxes, Deerhunter and M83 that isn't a bad top ten

i like most of the top 10 but the idea that those tracks are the BEST of 08 is baffling. my perennial beef as ever is that this indie-centric list is paid undue attention by people when it shouldn't be treated as a barometer of anything other than mopey indie, and the stuff in it is dragged into the critical centre. it doesn't reflect my year at all, thank fuck.

it doesn't have to reflect your year. it's their list, not yours.

also: same as every other fucking list! godddd critical consensus is a downer these days.

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 17:14 (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

It's certainly weird that critical consensus consists of critics reaching a consensus about things, totally.

The only song in that top 10 that I think could be described as "mopey" is Portishead, ffs.

you dont expect him to have heard the songs surely? ;)

i like most of the top 10 but the idea that those tracks are the BEST of 08 is baffling

feel the same way about the Vibe list. many ok to good tracks but most of them wouldn't get in my own 100.

the beyonce blurb wins by percentage of wrong sentences in one paragraph (100%).

lol

Knowing what ta Pfork list is going to look like in general, their list isn't bad at all.

i was glad to see "happy house" and "wearing my rolex" so high though i did notice that two writers listed "can't believe it" #1 but it didn't make the top 100 ~*~*curious*~*~

It's weird to say that the pfork list looks like all the others; that's really not the case. Still there aren't too many things blowing me away as I go through it. I guess it's just that since they're less indie-centric than ever the kneejerk indie haters sound particularly retarded.

i did notice that two writers listed "can't believe it" #1 but it didn't make the top 100 ~*~*curious*~*~

the pop songs on the list puzzled me too - "love in this club", "single ladies" and "live your life"?

yah i found that really sorta random! esp love in this club -- single ladies is more understandable i think

those songs are awesome.

The 11-20 on the Pfork list is much better than the top 10.

xp: "Live Your Life" is great. I thought most, if not all, of us agreed on this.

Single Ladies is super great.

love in this club is not that awesome

i like single ladies and live your life a lot but i didn't expect pitchfork writers to be rallying around either to be quite honest - "love in this club" is lazy/borderline reprehensible and has aged so awfully that it's not even funny

I CAN BREAK THESE CUFFS