Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Wire readers OTM

Wire readers need to like FKA twigs more IMO

and owen pallett could have been given a few bumps up.

that poll was dumb - you got to vote for one album out of their top 50 (don't think twigs made their main list either)

i cba voting in it this year

Pazz & Jop Top 50, with Consensus Watch placings in brackets.

1 (77=) D'Angelo, Black Messiah
2 (5) Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2
3 (3) The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream
4 (4) St. Vincent, St. Vincent
5 (1) FKA Twigs, Lp1
6 (40=) Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
7 (21=) Taylor Swift, 1989
8 (7) Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire for No Witness
9 (20) Spoon, They Want My Soul
10 (33=) Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues
11 (45=) Ex Hex, Rips
12 (77=) Miranda Lambert, Platinum
13 (8) Flying Lotus, You're Dead!
14 (33=) Azealia Banks, Broke With Expensive Taste
15 (11) Sharon Van Etten, Are We There
16 (15) Beck, Morning Phase
17 (6) Aphex Twin, Syro
18 (14) Sun Kil Moon, Benji
19 (10) Swans, To Be Kind
20 (33=) Parquet Courts, Sunbathing Animal
21 (2) Caribou, Our Love
22 (18) Lana Del Rey, Ultraviolence
23 (91=) New Pornographers, Brill Bruisers
24 (-) Wussy, Attica!
25 (33=) YG, My Krazy Life
26 (27=) Jenny Lewis, The Voyager
27 (27=) Ty Segall, Manipulator
28 (16) Perfume Genius, Too Bright
29 (73=) tUnE-yArDs, Nikki Nack
30 (12=) Future Islands, Singles
31 (77=) Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems
32 (9) Todd Terje, It's Album Time
33 (129=) Rosanne Cash, The River & the Thread
34 (154=) Charli XCX, Sucker
35 (12=) Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Piñata
36 (60=) Protomartyr, Under Color of Official Right
37 (30=) Cloud Nothings, Here and Nowhere Else
38 (222=) Lydia Loveless, Somewhere Else
39 (129=) TV on the Radio, Seeds
40 (19) Grouper, Ruins
41 (91=) EMA, The Future's Void
42 (23=) Real Estate, Atlas
43 (-) Bob Dylan, The Basement Tapes Complete: the Bootleg Series Vol. 11
44 (23=) Jack White, Lazaretto
45 (114=) Rich Gang, Tha Tour Part 1
46 (60=) Owen Pallett, In Conflict
47 (222=) Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
48 (26) Alvvays, Alvvays
49 (100=) White Lung, Deep Fantasy
50 (21=) Shabazz Palaces, Lese Majesty

Biggest gainers in P&J: Wussy & Bob Dylan, which weren't placed in any other group polls.

Biggest losers in P&J:
Mac DeMarco - Salad Days (17 in Consensus Watch, 54 in P&J)
Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers (25 C, 77 P&J)
Wild Beasts - Present Tense (30= C, 131 P&J)
Scott Walker & Sun O))) - Soused (30= C, 58 P&J)

that run the jewels album is kind of dreadful, non?

No.

Rock-A-Rolla

1 Goat - Commune
2 Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
3 YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend
4 Earth - Primitive And Deadly
5 Swans - To Be Kind
6 Old Man Gloom - The Ape Of God
7 Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
8 Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
9 Einsturzende Neubauten - Lament
10 Scott Walker + Sunn0))) - Soused
11 Tombs - Savage Gold
12 Electric Wizard - Time To Die
13 Melvins - Hold It In
14 Boris - Noise
15 Eyehategod - Eyehategod
16 Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
17 Nothing - Guilty Of Everything
18 Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burdon
19 Music Blues - Things Haven't Gone Well
20 The Austerity Program - Beyond Calculation
21 Solstafir - Otta
22 Tetema - Geocidal
23 Watter - This World
24 Serpentine Path - Emanations
25 Today Is The Day - Animal Mother
26 Knifeworld - The Unravelling
27 Mono - The Last Dawn/Rays Of Darkness
28 Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
29 Menace Ruine - Venus Armata
31 Obake - Mutations
32 Full Of Hell & Merzbow
33 Martyrdod - Elddop
34 Broughton's Rules - Anechoic Horizon
35 Trans Am - Volume X
36 Ought - More Than Any Other Day
37 ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - IX
38 Okkultokrati - Night Jerks
39 Witch Mountain - Mobile Of Angels
40 Sunn0))) & Ulver - Terrestrials
41 Philm - Fire From The Evening Sun
42 Ides Of Gemini - Old World New Wave
43 Kayodot - Coffins On Io
44 Hark - Crystalline
45 Black Bananas - Electric Brick Wall
46 Bohren & Dr Club Of Gore - Piano Nights
47 Floor - Oblation
48 Thomas Koner - Tiento De Las Nieves
49 Supersilent - 12
50 Origamibiro - Odham's Standard

Not bad, there's plenty of surprises. I only guessed 10 of the top 20, and 19 overall. I need to investigate Music Blues, Knifeworld and some others.

I think I can guess at most of what would be in Rock-A-Rolla's top 20: YOB, Godflesh, Swans, Earth, Goat, Secret Chiefs 3, Electric Wizard, Wovenhand, Shellac, Aphex Twin, Einsturzende Neubauten, Floor, Boris, Bong, Alcest, Baptists, Helms Alee, SBTRKT, Liars, Sunn0))) & Scott Walker.

Maybe top 50: Crippled Black Phoenix, Tombs, Lantlos, Thou, Sólstafir, Melvins, Mogwai, Cynic, Ides Of Gemini, Indian, Obake, Gridlink, Giant Squid, Black Moth, The Atlas Moth, Nadja, Midnight Masses, Eyehategod, Nothing, Pallbearer, Opeth, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Moab, John Garcia, Protomartyr, Gold Codes, Carla Bozulich, Have A Nice Life, Conan, Esben And The Witch, Horseback, Fucked Up, Woods Of Desolation, Comet Control, Motorpsycho, The Soft Pink Truth, Trans Am...
― Fastnbulbous, Friday, December 26, 2014 1:13 PM

It looks like another great issue BTW, and can be purchased digitally for just $4.99 - http://pocketmags.com/viewmagazine.aspx?catid=1037&category=Music&subcatid=230&subcategory=Rock&title=Rock-A-Rolla&titleid=768

Thank you! :D

A bunch of albums on there making my ballot, a couple of them v high up!

do we have a final version of the consensus watch?

By a more convoluted methodology, here's the consensus ranking from acclaimedmusic.net

1 The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
2 FKA twigs - LP1
3 St. Vincent - St. Vincent
4 Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2
5 Sun Kil Moon - Benji
6 Caribou - Our Love
7 Swans - To Be Kind
8 Aphex Twin - Syro
9 Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
10 Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
11 Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
12 Future Islands - Singles
13 Beck - Morning Phase
14 Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
15 Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
16 Spoon - They Want My Soul
17 Perfume Genius - Too Bright
18 Todd Terje - It's Album Time
19 Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
20 Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
21 Wild Beasts - Present Tense
22 Taylor Swift - 1989
23 alt-J - This is All Yours
24 Ty Segall - Manipulator
25 Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
26 Real Estate - Atlas
27 Ariel Pink - pom pom
28 Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - Soused
29 Grouper - Ruins
30 Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
31 Lykke Li - I Never Learn
32 Sleaford Mods - Divide and Exit
33 Jack White - Lazaretto
34 Metronomy - Love Letters
35 Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
36 Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers
37 The Bug - Angels & Devils
38 Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
39 Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
40 Owen Pallett - In Conflict
41 Temples - Sun Structures
42 Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
43 Arca - Xen
44 East India Youth - Total Strife Forever
45 Warpaint - Warpaint
46 Ought - More Than Any Other Day
47 First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
48 Ben Frost - A U R O R A
49 Alvvays - Alvvays
50 tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack
51 Neneh Cherry - Blank Project
52 La Roux - Trouble in Paradise
53 YG - My Krazy Life
54 Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste
55 The Black Keys - Turn Blue
56 Interpol - El Pintor
57 Royal Blood - Royal Blood
58 Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
59 Jungle - Jungle
60 Kate Tempest - Everybody Down
61 Jessie Ware - Tough Love
62 Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems
63 Robert Plant - lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar
64 How to Dress Well - "What is This Heart?"
65 Young Fathers - Dead
66 Mogwai - The Rave Tapes
67 Actress - Ghettoville
68 Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
69 Liars - Mess
70 SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
71 Banks - Goddess
72 Dean Blunt - Black Metal
73 YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
74 EMA - The Future's Void
75 Manic Street Preachers - Futurology
76 Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
77 Chet Faker - Built on Glass
78 The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
79 Strand of Oaks - Heal
80 Goat - Commune
81 Ex Hex - Rips
82 Behemoth - The Satanist
83 Avi Buffalo - At Best Cuckold
84 Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Right
85 Kindness - Otherness
86 Morrissey - World Peace is None of Your Business
87 Elbow - The Take Off and Landing of Everything
88 The Antlers - Familiars
89 Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast
90 Kelis - Food
91 Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
92 Clark - Clark
93 S O H N - Tremors
94 TV on the Radio - Seeds
95 Merchandise - After the End
96 White Lung - Deep Fantasy
97 Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams
98 D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Black Messiah
99 Shellac - Dude Incredible
100 Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye

god help me, i added that singles playlist to my listening collection.

A couple more:

http://thefirenote.com/2014/12/18/the-blazing-top-50-albums-of-2014-2/
http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/uncut-editors-diary/the-154-best-albums-of-2014-a-very-personal-list

Not critics but what.cd's users poll:

1 - Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2
2 - Aphex Twin - Syro
3 - Swans - To Be Kind
4 - St. Vincent - St. Vincent
5 - Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
6 - D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah
7 - The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
8 - FKA Twigs - LP1
9 - Spoon - They Want My Soul
10 - Caribou - Our Love
11 - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
12 - Todd Terje - It's Album Time
13 - Sun Kil Moon - Benji
14 - Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
15 - Future Islands - Singles
16 - Grouper - Ruins
17 - Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
18 - Beck - Morning Phase
19 - Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers
20 - Real Estate - Atlas
21 - Jack White - Lazaretto
22 - alt-J (∆) - This Is All Yours
23 - Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
24 - Ben Frost - A U R O R A
25 - Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
26 - tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack
27 - Taylor Swift - 1989
28 - BADBADNOTGOOD - III
29 - Ty Segall - Manipulator
30 - Ariel Pink - pom pom
31 - The Antlers - Familiars
32 - Perfume Genius - Too Bright
33 - Iceage - Plowing Into the Field of Love
34 - Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
35 - Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
36 - Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams
37 - Warpaint - Warpaint
38 - Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
39 - Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - Soused
40 - Clark - Clark
41 - A Winged Victory for the Sullen - ATOMOS
42 - Death from Above 1979 - The Physical World
43 - Death Grips - niggas on the moon
44 - Kiasmos - Kiasmos
45 - Wild Beasts - Present Tense
46 - Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
47 - White Lung - Deep Fantasy
49 - Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
50 - The Black Keys - Turn Blue
51 - Clipping - CLPPNG
52 - Ought - More Than Any Other Day
53 - Behemoth - The Satanist
54 - ODESZA - In Return
55 - The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
56 - Alvvays - Alvvays
57 - A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Sea When Absent
58 - Jungle - Jungle
59 - Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
60 - Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
61 - Ex Hex - Rips
62 - Tycho - Awake
63 - Wye Oak - Shriek
64 - Arca - Xen
65 - Röyksopp - The Inevitable End
66 - TV on the Radio - Seeds
67 - Goat - Commune
68 - Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
69 - Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
70 - The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
71 - Trust - Joyland
72 - Phantogram - Voices
73 - Owen Pallett - In Conflict
74 - Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
75 - Fire! Orchestra - Enter
76 - Nothing - Guilty of Everything
77 - Liars - Mess
78 - La Dispute - Rooms of the House
79 - Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE
80 - Pink Floyd - The Endless River
81 - First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
82 - Leon Vynehall - Music for the Uninvited
83 - RATKING - So It Goes
84 - ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron
85 - HTRK - Psychic 9-5 Club
86 - How to Dress Well - "What Is This Heart?"
87 - Sohn - Tremors
88 - Alex G - DSU
89 - Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
90 - Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
91 - Slow Magic - How to Run Away
92 - The Body - I Shall Die Here
93 - Glass Animals - Zaba
94 - Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
95 - iamamiwhoami - Blue
96 - Millie & Andrea - Drop the Vowels
97 - Objekt - Flatland
98 - Christian Löffler - Young Alaska
99 - Thou - Heathen
100 - Perfect Pussy - Say Yes to Love

that should read 'users poll', not sure what happened