Year-End Critics' Polls '08

black devil disco club is getting no mentions anywhere compared to thier last one

Speaking of Anthony Hamilton, his guest spot and a number of other tracks on the new Mint Condition are ace.

Already picked up the Franco because of Christgau's A+ and its predictably wonderful. Have to get that T.I. and Raphael Saadiq.

The Roots and The Magnetic Fields aren't doing much for me, but maybe I'm just not a fan of the way they sound. I love a few tracks each off Orchestra Baobab and Robert Forster. They play as wholes in the background so far...

black devil disco club is getting no mentions anywhere compared to thier last one

cuz it's kinda dull compared to their last one :(

Saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire last night. M.I.A.'s all over the soundtrack--a song with A.R. Rahman, "Paper Planes," and the DFA remix of "Paper Planes."

NY Times critics lists(Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica, Ben Ratliff,Nate Chinen) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21cara.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

By JON CARAMANICA
1. JAMEY JOHNSON “That Lonesome Song” (Mercury Nashville). The second album from this stoic country singer documents a series of battles — with a woman, with alcohol and drugs, with a stubborn self. The scars and the bruises, they speak for themselves, as do the words that often seem to give out, exhausted and apologetic, halfway through.

2. THE COOL KIDS “The Bake Sale” (C.A.K.E./Chocolate Industries). All memory is invention, anyway, so why shouldn’t the most precise evocation of hip-hop’s late-1980s New York golden age come from a pair of Chicago kids in their early 20s? This debut is more than tribute, though; the rapper Mikey Rocks has calm swagger, and Chuck Inglish’s beats move in multiple directions without sacrificing crispness.

3. THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM “The ’59 Sound” (SideOneDummy). The characters in this band’s Springsteen-influenced punk songs can’t be saved; years of atrophying in dead-end towns have rendered them helpless, resigned to their fates. But with his optimistic, wooly shouts, the singer Brian Fallon makes them sound like heroes, not cautionary tales.

4. TAYLOR SWIFT “Fearless” (Big Machine). Teenage subject matter notwithstanding, there’s nothing naïve about this young singer’s music; her second album is every bit as elegantly designed as her 2006 debut. Ms. Swift is one of pop’s finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults.

5. LIL WAYNE “Tha Carter III” (Cash Money/Universal Motown). So underwhelming, so imperfect: The flaws of Lil Wayne’s sixth solo album seem so glaring because for the last two years, as he decimated the mixtape circuit with colorful, undulating rhymes, he has batted almost 1.000. Still, there’s nothing wrong with .750.

6. BON IVER “For Emma, Forever Ago” (Jagjaguwar). Bon Iver singer Justin Vernon’s croon is high-pitched and spooky; his arrangements are spare and hushed. But the small and sometimes cryptic songs on this band’s debut are deceptively tough, marching forward inexorably toward something that sounds a lot like bliss.

7. DARIUS RUCKER “Learn To Live” (Capitol Nashville). More like Hootie and the Albatrosses: Shed of the bar-band dead weight, Mr. Rucker has looked within and discovered a country classicist with a keen pop ear. And then there’s that voice, robust and honeyed and not at all, it turns out, a relic.

8. YOUNG JEEZY “The Recession” (Def Jam). This Atlanta rapper has sneered and preached and boasted and mourned. But he has never, before now, seethed. This is a harsh, captivating album about hopelessness, and Jeezy spits out unsparing observations as if they tasted bad.

9. THE ACADEMY IS ... “Fast Times at Barrington High” (Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen). Five years after promised, emo finally became power-pop this year, just in time for no one to care. That’s a shame for this Chicago band, which has a slick, acidic frontman, William Beckett, and a cache of indestructible songwriting and production by S*A*M and Sluggo that even the Jonas Brothers would kill for.

10. PLIES “Da REAList” (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic). On this, one of two great albums he released this year, Plies is staunchly literal, more of a conversationalist than a rapper. But why bother with metaphor, imagery and cadence when straight talk can be this rich?

Top Songs

SHAWTY LO, FEATURING LUDACRIS, YOUNG JEEZY, PLIES AND LIL WAYNE “Dey Know (Remix)” (Asylum)

NE-YO “Closer” (Def Jam)

LIL WAYNE “A Milli” (Cash Money/Universal Motown)

DEMI LOVATO AND JOE JONAS “This Is Me” (Hollywood)

D-BLOCK “It’s Like That” (Koch)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21ratl.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print Ben Ratliff has Metallica #1, then some jazz (Bennie Maupin & others) and indie (F'd up & others) and Hercules & L A.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21pare.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print Pareles has TVOTR #1 and also includes Toumani Diabete's solo instrumental kora cd, Erykah Badu, country singer Jamey Johnson, and Laura Marling

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21chin.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print Nate Chinen has Lil Wayne #1, then Argentinean jazz pianist Guillermo Klein, Bon Iver, West African jazz guitarist Lionel Louke, another vote for Jamey Johnson, plus more jazz, Al Green, TVOTR, and No Age

7. DARIUS RUCKER “Learn To Live” (Capitol Nashville). More like Hootie and the Albatrosses: Shed of the bar-band dead weight, Mr. Rucker has looked within and discovered a country classicist with a keen pop ear. And then there’s that voice, robust and honeyed and not at all, it turns out, a relic.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still haven't check out the cd and missed him on those country tv award show. I'm skeptical. Plus Caramanica lists the Gaslight Anthem who I just don't get---Hold Steady fans who listen to old Jersey barband rock and add little exciting to it.

been reading good shit about that academy is...

yeah idolator loves them, i didn't like their old stuff so i'm not exactly looking to get into them. maybe it's my loss.
fwiw i'm a hold steady fan and i don't particularly like the gaslight anthem

also no sign of fleet fuxors on slate or from what i can see frmo NYT

Xgau did a just bust of Plies in Dec.Guide, but I'm amazed he put *all* that other stuff (even Conor Oberst, even Hayes Carll?!)before Steinski. Second only to Charlie Parker's Bird In Time 1940-1947 on my ballots--true, some of it is dated, but the peaks are so high and sharp, that the valleys seem no bigger, no deeper than those you'd find between yr own lovehandles (or mine anyway,in case yours are gross)

Talking 'bout the Steinski being a little dated in spots, def. not Bird.

Jon Caramaburana's taste is like the exact opposite of mine.

Caramaburana

i put that in as filler meaning to check his name and then forgot to check it

You don't like rap or country? Or emo or freak-folk or barband indie?

I'm no fan of Ann Powers' writing but I wonder about this Christgau comment about Ann and some of her 2008 faves (who he praises elsewhere and she mentions they had Thanksgiving together )in Slate: Like more female than male critics, Ann has always favored the kind of unabashed emotionality I've been panning as melodrama for 40 years;

I wonder what support he has for that argument?

I mean Christgau praises Ann elsewhere.

H'mm--melodrama has its place ("melo"="music"), when well done. In music, and in music reviewing. But I did 'preciate that, despite being buddies with Marcus and even Marsh, xgau cast a cool, though not cold eye on icons like Elvis (P. and C.),Jerry Lee, Neil, etc.

So I guess the handy qualifier would be "*the kind of* unabashed emotionality"-eh who cares

The National Public Radio music website and "all songs considered" concert series is so indie-wuss rock insular. Thanksfully there were a comments on their board taking them to task

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97939029&sc=nl&cc=asc-20081208#commentBlock

December 8, 2008 - It was an impressively bearded year — a year when many bands seemed to retreat to the woods, literally and figuratively, to make quieter, more personal recordings. 2008 was less about innovation and more about getting back to basics: solid songwriting, with simple guitar lines, percussion, and stunning harmonies. While bigger, more established bands like Coldplay and My Morning Jacket returned with bold, anthemic albums, debut CDs from new, smaller acts were the most memorable.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen talks with Carrie Brownstein (Monitor Mix blogger), Stephen Thompson (editor for Song of the Day), and Robin Hilton (All Songs producer and host of Second Stage) about the year in music. What were the biggest surprises of 2008? What were the best new bands, or the best songs? Listen and let us know what you think by joining the NPR online community, and sharing your comments below.

I never thought it possible that I could actively dislike Carrie Brownstein; thanks to this blog, she's done it.

She writes about about her current indie faves and her older '90s ones with the same drab approach. And like the rest of the folks involved with the NPR site she mostly tries to pretend that anyone could ever be interested in anything but her little insular rock world.

If only I would proofread my posts and get rid of the typos.

Listening to that npr roundtable discussion is painful. They're all so smug. If NPR has the likes of Christgau and Banning Eyre and Ken Tucker and others on the radio why weren't they invited to participate and offer their thoughts on genres that the others were not interested in.

haven't been there lately, but they have had some good concerts on there, like Martha Wainwright (that one's downloadable)The best thing about the reviews is that you can check the excerpts vs. the comments; excerpts can be misleading of course, but that makes it more intriguing (or sometimes unintentional musical comedy, the best kind, of course)

Resident Advisor's Top 30 Tracks is up: http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature-read.aspx?id=999

30. Sebo K - Diva [Mobilee]
29. Melchior Productions Ltd - Who Can Find Me (I Can't) [Cadenza]
28. Seth Troxler - Love Never Sleeps [Crosstown Rebels]
27. Donnacha Costello - Trust [Minimise]
26. dOP - I'm Just a Man [Eklo]
25. Portable - Release [Perlon]
24. Martyn - Natural Selection [3024]
23. Syclops - Where's Jason's K [DFA]
22. Appleblim & Peverelist - Over Here [Skull Disco]
21. DJ Koze - Zouzou [Kompakt]
20. Invisible Conga People – Cable Dazed [Italians Do It Better]
19. Move D & Benjamin Brunn - Honey [Smallville]
18. Appleblim & Peverelist - Circling [Skull Disco]
17. Stimming - Una Pena [Diynamic]
16. Dave Aju - Crazy Place [Circus Company]
15. The Juan Maclean - Happy House [DFA]
14. Ricardo Villalobos - Enfants (Chants) [Sei Es Drum]
13. Sound Stream - "Live" Goes On [Sound Stream]
12. tobias. - I Can't Fight the Feeling [Wagon Repair]
11. My My - Everybody's Talkin' [Playhouse]
10. Lawrence - Miles [Dial]
09. SIS - Nesrib [Cécille]
08. Move D - Drøne [Modern Love]
07. Omar-S - Psychotic Photosynthesis [FXHE]
06. Hercules & Love Affair - Blind [DFA]
05. Johnny D - Orbitalife [Oslo]
04. The Mole - Baby You're the One [Wagon Repair]
03. Shackleton - Death Is Not Final [Skull Disco]
02. Ricardo Villalobos - Minimoonstar [Perlon]
01. DJ Koze - I Want to Sleep [IRR]

Jon Caramaburana's taste is like the exact opposite of mine.

Caramanica's list confirmed to me that he and Tom Breihan have v. similar tastes.

I never thought it possible that I could actively dislike Carrie Brownstein; thanks to this blog, she's done it.

i don't know somehow her being into earnest indie beard boys is no big surprise. in general i try to avoid reading what musicians i like have to say about musicians they like, cuz it's so often disappointing. (it's even worse when some indie rocker talks about that one hip-hop album they love, or when a rapper starts going on about john mayer or whatever.) there are obvious exceptions, yr j0hn d. types who are music dudes and total music geeks at the same time. but it doesn't seem that common.

this exercise makes me hate all music, or at least wonder what the fuck is up with my ears, or how much these dumb fucks are getting paid. the Cool Kids might very well be the worst 'rap' duo that have ever become wildly popular-- they're a terrible group who act like assholes (i've done hospitality and shit for them) and their fans don't know shit about shit.

also, TV on the Radio? should i listen to it? i love Tunde's voice, but 'Cookie Mountain' sort of made me throw up in my mouth a little, so i just ignored the newest stuff.

also, my radar for dance music has obviously left the contemporary scene. i know, like, 6 of the RA records, and only one of them made my top 10. two of them in my top 20.

this exercise makes me hate all music, or at least wonder what the fuck is up with my ears, or how much these dumb fucks are getting paid. the Cool Kids might very well be the worst 'rap' duo that have ever become wildly popular-- they're a terrible group who act like assholes (i've done hospitality and shit for them) and their fans don't know shit about shit.

i have never done hospitality for the Cool Kids but co-sign

i mean jesus christ those dudes are terrible and every retro comparison they get is an insult to the '80s

Dear Science and Cookie Mountain are sonically different to my ears so maybe you'll like it more. But maybe you won't.

(i've done hospitality and shit for them)

http://www.geargeek.net/images/moar-cat.jpg

become wildly popular-

uh?

let's not get into the whole fucking multi-platinum mainstream 'wildly popular' and magazine editor/RSS feed 'wildly popular' and just acknowledge that there are way too many people being enthusiastic about the Cool Kids

Muzzle Of Bees
http://www.muzzleofbees.com/2008/12/22/muzzle-of-bees-best-albums-of-2008/

Boomkat
http://www.boomkat.com/charts.cfm?id=432

Once again one of the most interesting top 100 lists around. Anyone know The Fun Years?

01 The Fun Years - Baby, It's Cold Inside
02 Portishead - Third
03 Stephan Mathiew - Radioland
04 Gas - Nah Und Fern
05 Newworldaquarium - The Dead Bears
06 Machinefabriek - Dauw
07 The Caretaker - Persistent Repetition Of Phrases
08 Richard Skelton - Marking Time
09 Kevin Drumm - Imperial Distortion
10 Fennesz - Black Sea
11 Claro Intelecto - Metanarrative
12 Andy Stott - Unknown Exception
13 Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
14 Ø (Mika Vainio) - Oleva
15 Mountains - Mountains Mountains Mountains LP
16 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
17 Jacaszek - Treny
18 Shed - Shedding The Past
19 Emearlds - Solar Bridge
20 SND - 4, 5, 6

let's not get into the whole fucking multi-platinum mainstream 'wildly popular' and magazine editor/RSS feed 'wildly popular' and just acknowledge that there are way too many people being enthusiastic about the Cool Kids

― shiroiblappinhoes (some dude), Monday, December 22, 2008 11:06 AM Bookmark

one is too many

Anyone know The Fun Years?

It's a blend of Fennesz, Stars of the Lid, Gas and the likes. And it's pretty great too, but considering how most of the music in that vain is great to me, not groundbreaking, number one-like great. But it's still great.

x-post
I think the Cool Kids are harmless. Yea, yea they not ATCQ and yea Mr. Hospitality they acted like jerks (as if there aren't millions of musicians/rappers who do that) but it just doesn't seem worth the effort or the energy to spend your time hatin' on them

"They're assholes" is really not a good criticism of someone's music. (I have no opinion of the Cool Kids at all.)

Yeah but "barely rapping over refried Clipse beats" is.

are people getting return emails after submitting P&J ballots yet?

yeah mine came w/ a jamba juice coupon too

the fun years are GREBT

sorta minimalist textural electronic music. it's easy to put it on and forget it's on, but it's really nice.

fRoots Magazine poll http://www.frootsmag.com/content/critpoll/

New Album Of 2008 winners
1. Jim Moray Low Culture (NIAG)
2. Toumani Diabate The Mandé Variations (World Circuit)
3. Rokia Traore Tchamantché (Nonesuch/Tama)
4. Umalali The Garifuna Women’s Project (Cumbancha)
5. Kasai Allstars Congotronics 3: In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic (Crammed)
6. Bellowhead Matachin (Navigator)
7. Issa Bagayogo Mali Koura (Six Degrees)
8. Eliza Carthy Dreams Of Breathing Underwater (Topic)
9. Taksim Trio Taksim Trio (Doublemoon)
10. Natacha Atlas & The Mazeeka Ensemble Ana Hina (World Village)

The Next 10:
11=Dub Colossus A Town Called Addis (Real World)
Mary Hampton My Mother’s Children (Navigator)
Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80 Many Things (Tôt Ou Tard)
Rajery, Ballaké Sissoko & Driss El Maloumi 3MA (Contre-Jour)
15=Buika Niña De Fuego (Warner Spain Classics & Jazz)
Spiers & Boden Vagabond (Navigator)
17=Lila Downs Shake Away (EMI)
Melingo Maldito Tango (Mañana)
Warsaw Village Band Infinity (Jaro)
Mariza Terra (EMI Portugal)
Runners Up (alphabetically): Amadou & Mariam Welcome To Mali (Because); Les Amazones De Guinée Wamato (Stern’s); Saban Bajramovic with Mostar Sevdah Reunion Saban (Snail); Debashish Bhattacharya Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar Odyssey (Riverboat); Blue Blokes 3 Stubble (Fledg’ling); Carolina Chocolate Drops Heritage (DixieFrog); Chumbawamba The Boy Bands Have Won (No Masters); Mercan Dede 800 (Doublemoon); DeVotchKa A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti); Chris Foster Outsiders (Green Man); Mor Karbasi The Beauty & The Sea (Mintaka); Kries Kocijani (Kopito); Jackie Oates The Violet Hour (Chudleigh Roots); Ivo Papasov Dance Of The Falcon (World Village); Karine Polwart Fairest Floo’er (Hegri Music); Rupa & The April Fishes Extraordinary Rendition (Cumbancha); Terakaft Akh Issudar (Tapsit/IRL); Riccardo Tesi Presente Remoto (Felmay); Huong Thanh & Nguyen Lê Fragile Beauty (ACT); Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet (Nettwerk).

Jim Moray's a Bristol, UK folk/indie guy who uses drum machine beats and has Bristol rapper Bubbz on one track I heard on his myspace page

But he sounds more conventionally Brit-pop-folkie on other tracks.

That Diabate solo instrumental cd is like a classical album--it's real nice I just prefer him with a band and percussion and vocals. I don't think Nonesuch is releasing the Rokia Traore or the new Amadou & mariam in the US until 2009.

Congotronics 3 seems to reach more different audiences than some of the others above--the indie folks who like Konono plus the various whirled music listeners

That Slate.com chat above between Christgau, Jody Rosen, and Ann Powers just keeps going. I think they're up to day 9 or something. Christgau went for the Franco compilation that the fRoots (FolkRoots once upon a time) folks named #one reissue. There are so many Franco reissues out there (and I already have a few) so I never got this one