What will be the consensus pick for 2010's indie rock album of the year?

Last year we had Merriweather Post Pavillion, which was the obvious consensus pick by a wide margin. This year there really isn't an obvious pick. What big indie records have come out that got a lot of acclaim? The Suburbs? The new Deerhunter? (Not a big enough appeal?)

my guess is it will be The Suburbs

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/score/metascore/year?sort=desc

"shortlist" here

...Crime in Stereo?

HOOM?

The Suburbs is my guess, but I'm still pretty high on the Yeasayer album. January might as well have been a decade ago in critic world, though.

It's not gonna be The Suburbs. The general feeling I get is that people think it's aiight but disappointing.

I bet it'll be High Violet (shudder) or Sleigh Bells.

High Violet really? Even the National fans I know think that's totally weak.

Sleigh Bells would be kind of awesome, actually!

urgh forgot about Sleigh Bells....Best Coast possibly?

sleigh bells a good call. that or the other S band of the moment. but then i've never heard the suburbs or liked the national, so this isn't really my area. it's someone else's area.

It will probably be something that comes out in December. Short attention spans and all, y'know.

there is absolutely nothing coming out in december.

well, there is, but all of the "big ones" have been released already, going by the "coming soon" sheets.

'the monitor'

unless radiohead drops a new one....

for me it's Ariel Pink. probably not a wide enough exposure to win this thread question tho

dale earnhardt jr. jr.

Dead Weather?

Sleigh Bells, Titus Andronicus, and Best Coast are all confined pretty firmly to the indie rock niche as of now, but Arcade Fire and, to a lesser extent, The National are much bigger and to an extent transcend that niche. A lot of trad rock critics will vote for Arcade Fire in the P&J, and maybe for The National, but probably not for the other three.

This Is Happening

LCD Soundsystem also belongs somewhere in there -- above the first three, below Arcade Fire, maybe a little below but definitely somewhere around The National. Vampire Weekend too. I'd need to see current sales figures to have any idea where to place them with any confidence beyond "above Sleigh Bells, Titus Andronicus, and Best Coast."

Fang Island

lol no

feelin' sad for vampire weekend here

poor lil' ezra

Yeah Suburbs is gonna be it for sure. Might take the whole Pazz & Jop enchilada imho

i like fang island...sorry. haha. but yes, no way in hell.

I love Contra a lot but discussion here has led me to believe I am, in fact, the only person in America who does and the fact that I do means I don't actually understand what makes Vampire Weekend great (ie, apparently it isn't tight songwriting)

Contra seemed like a 2009 album even when it was released.

I love it, tho.

Suburbs is gonna be in the 6, 7, 8, 9 area of every indie AND mainstream music critic who doesn't bother listening to stuff like Rick Ross. They pad the bottom half of their list with stuff they think is ok that fits into their wheelhouse. and there's a loooot of critics that think like that. It's gonna add up.

i love it too. I despise arcade fire...

i totally love 'contra' as well but it feels like it came out two yrs ago or something

was the ariel pink record NOT really big? guess this is some 'but no one i know voted for him' but that makes more sense 2 me than anything else mentioned itt

like Big Boi will get a lot of #1 votes, but Arcade Fire will get exponentially more bottom-of-list "i didn't really listen to that many records this year" votes from all the bottom-feeding ex-bloggers and former alt-weekly ppl

I'm not a rabid Arcade Fire fan by any means (prefer Neon Bible to Funeral for sure), but The Suburbs will probably be in my top 10. I listened to it quite a lot for a while this year and still think it's a really well put together album, if not slightly overlong. The great tracks are really great.

Yeah, I'm def not saying it doesn't have its true believers too!

The audience for the Arcade Fire record is just so much broader than the audience for something like Sleigh Bells or even Vampire Weekend.

Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard....i have no taste.

it includes people who watch SNL as well as those who listen to NPR

xp

get a late pass you guys, everybody knows the indie album to beat this year is The Music of Belief by Dolphins Into the Future

Yeah, that's not even going to displace Salem in an albums ranking.

you say you're down with Dolphins Into the Future
I say bitch you're alone

<3 aero's DITF crusade

dream on as I used to sing, perhaps you missed the first week scans

the Arcade Fire, The Suburbs, 156,000
the National, High Violet, 51,000
Dolphins Into the Future, The Music of Belief, 3,000,000

can't argue w/numbers you guys

Frightened Rabbit Winter of Mixed Drinks

is that really the frightened rabbit album title? because I have got to give it up for winter of mixed drinks if so

if only there were some way to search for information online, I could find out

yeah but it's got song titles like "The Loneliness and the Scream"

gtfo imo

if they had called it "the loneliness of the mixed drink" I would ride for them

"The Loneliness and the Scream"

this is actually my government name

basically my year-end campaign is extremely pro-mixed drink

if only there were some way to search for information online, I could find out

you could try using a truffle pig:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JJS1nankc_k/R8rpqiEFYfI/AAAAAAAAAUc/TyMlJsWLCOw/s320/truffle+pig.jpg

the loneliness and the christ why isn't this day over yet

underrated tuomas posts i have made

anyway i think whiney is otm about 'the suburbs' i think -- will be #1 album overall in p&j, followed by vampire weekend, the national & prob sleigh bells

my personal indie rock album of the year is totally 'the monitor'

i keep forgetting that that newsom album exists tho

also, what is gonna be this year's album that all the old voters shoot up the list? i guess last year was neko case?

The National

Mountain Man

i like her more now knowing that he's gonna drape it all over those knockers.

ahah wrong thread!

lol I was wondering

I was gonna say, I literally have no idea what you're on about dude

the new i love you but i've chosen darkness

go False Priest go!!!

Joanna Newsom is the answer

i like her more now knowing that he's gonna drape it all over those knockers.

I honestly thought this was meant for the comment about Neko Case and the "old voters" who would "shoot up" the list.

haha.

the drums

I'd be okay with it being The Drums, but it won't be.

Weren't The Drums massively hyped up by indie blogs and then nothing really came of it?

i think that was the soft pack.

Tame Impala

I don't see Suburbs being the pick, because I'm the kind of old guy who really, really loved Funeral and for that matter still does, and bought Suburbs the day it came out. And then was instantly bored of it. I cannot remember one thing about it. I recycled the poster it came with. I would vote for Sleigh Bells.

No The Drums were massively hyped up around the time the album came out in the UK, but by the time it finally came out in the States (only a few weeks ago actually!) - no one cared anymore. I've been spending more time with it lately and I really love it. Oddly enough the big "hit", "Let's Go Surfing", is about the least interesting thing the band is doing on this album imho. There's just this whole breezy post-punk sort of vibe that winds through the album that I really love and "Surfing" sort of ruins it a little (not that I don't love the song, mind, I'd just rather it was a stand-alone single or something). I really love the production, its retro in a way I just didn't hear enough of this year.

I agree, i love it too.

We Tried...so good!

Hmm Broken Social Scene may get some love.

After loathing the Drums for a while, I'm coming around to some of their stuff.

I would say Suburbs is a possibility, though maybe Contra if people's memories run that long.

And no, not BSS. kshighway is surely the barometer here, and he hated it iirc.

i'd guess ariel pink but i haven't really been following TRENDS to have a good idea of just how wide its reach was

Are the drums that band with the really vile song with the whistling? One of the worst things i've ever heard.

that's them!

And that's the song I mentioned as being off from the vibe of the rest of the album. Seriously, don't dismiss them on the basis of that song alone.

That song is so bad I don't want to ever hear them again!

I hear you, but I'm saying that song isn't very representative of what they have to offer.

Contra. loved it when it first came out. love it even more now

i don't even know if i like the ariel pink but damn it's something!

i like her more now knowing that he's gonna drape it all over those knockers.

I honestly thought that was some oblique reference to Joanna Newsom and Andy Samberg.

guess the new superchunk isn't the right answer, but dammit, it is super!

Although they wont top many indie lists I think the most ubiquitous artists will be Wild Nothing, Ariel Pink and Big Boi.
The Suburbs by Arcade Fire might indeed end up garnering the most attention. A lazy album but probably the safest and most congruent choice for the lazy indie crowd.

I know you're speaking in generalities, but I'm hardly lazy about finding music. I'm borderline reactionary about it, actually. If other people are talking about something, I take it upon myself to find something better. That said, I think The Suburbs is really good and I feel no shame in repping for it.

recent SWANS album in a better world than this one

http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/catbirdseat_sufjanbeat.jpg

Ok, Johnny, let me correct myself. What I meant is that it is a safe choice, one which the indie crowd will find acceptable enough. I didn't meant to say people who like the album are lazy, just that I think it's a lazy choice. The people who should have heard it already did, it might be an honest choice but it's passionless, I feel few people will be genuinely excited about the choice. It's not worth fighting for. But then, I didn't like it and I always like to rep for esoteric albums in my top 10.

It's not an album like say, Person Pitch or In Rainboiws which were pretty much the most predictable and lazy choices for 2007 but ones that inspired comments from the people several months and years after they were released. I dont think many music enthusiasts will be eager to talk about 'the suburbs' come next year.

but its about albums people liked in that particular year, not the following.

That almost looks like zombie Britt there, what an awful picture.

BITCH HOUSE

xpost: Forget I said that, let's leave it at months, then (although Person Pitch was released in January and many people still talked about for the whole year) my problem with it is that I'm not sure many people have actually liked 'the suburbs'. It's a 'meh' sort of album. It's ok if you like it it's ok if you don't. It just is.

the social network

I mean... I'll ramble on: Person Pitch you could pinpoint as an important influence on the chillwave/home studio scene, it certainly is one of the most focused aesthetics you will find in this particular scene and a good entry album for newcomers. In Rainbows was not really responsible for the 'pay-what-you-want' internet model but it brought it to the spotlight. These are albums that feel important to many people. These are real consensus sort of albums.

The Suburbs wants to feel important but really, it's not.

So the question is: Is there an album that feels important this year?

i seriously can't remember the last indie rock album i cared about, but the Ariel Pink album is awesome and in my top five of the year. so i think it should be that.

well maybe I was right after all

Is LCD Soundsystem not eligible??

someone said lcd upthread

I really think S**** is gonna come back and bite ppl in the ass...

gonna be ariel

ugh, sleigh bells? really? not that i find much of worth in any of these picks but that is some grating shit

i say ariel too. and i don't really have my finger on the pulse of this stuff but seems like the caribou record was pretty well-received too, no?

whatever the consensus pick is, rest assured that it will be hated by 80% of us...

lcd wins

lcd would only be the pick if ppl liked this album better than sound of silver--does anyone like this album better than sound of silver?

Yeah I'll rep for Ariel Pink as well. I think it needs more songs like 'Can't Hear My Eyes' or 'Round and Round' to really seduce everyone around tho.

Maybe it's a bit too willfuly strange. It would fare better globally if it toned it down a bit.

• lcd
• sleigh bells
• ariel pink

lcd would only be the pick if ppl liked this album better than sound of silver--does anyone like this album better than sound of silver?

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, October 19, 2010 7:19 PM (13 minutes ago)

yeah, their albums keep getting better and better.

gave a little more thought to this tonight and now I'm sure of it, Dolphins Into the Future sweeps all the polls

everybody get ready to feel dumb 'cause it's all about Dolphins Into the Future

. . . since big boi doesn't qualify as "indie," i guess.

― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, October 19, 2010 9:31 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

i would say that this is a far "guess"

fair**

Hey, has anyone heard the Dolphins Into the Future record?

i've heard some raps from jasper the fucking dolphins

dunno about dolphins into the future tho

I thought there were no Dolphins Into the Future? Weren't they all killed in The Cove?

man you guys don't know about these dolphins but I can't really blame you, you're all down here in the present just struggling away

but I know some dolphins could show you a better way

i think the real answer is there is no big consensus indie rock album this year. there hasn't been one every other year for the past little while. seemed like fleet foxes/portishead/tvotr/vw in 2008 all shared some spotlight but pretty much all of them (besides maybe vw in hindsight) are pretty inconsequential. same goes for 2006, y's and return to cookie mountain, arctic monkeys -- wasnt that big of a deal & no glaring consensus. whereas person pitch & mpp & funeral, or illinois you could see from a mile away.

Well according to the RYM community, the following are the most and best rated albums of 2010 so far (only counting albums with at least 900 rates):

1. The National - High Violet
2. Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
3. Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid
4. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
5. Beach House - Teen Dream
6. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
7. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
8. The Black Keys - Brothers
9. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
10. Alcest - Écailles de lune
11. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
12. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

The average ratings for top albums being 3.79 for the National and 3.57 for Ariel Pink out of 5.

Not gonna lie, I also still like the Surfer Blood record a lot.

yeah that is a great fucking record

I saw (well, heard) them at the treasure island fest this weekend and they sounded like the wedding present. does their album sound like the wedding present too?

beach house

man, smh @ any legitimate pop critic who rides for Ariel Pink in 2010. Dude's made the same record like 7 times but "the narrative" has changed

like the indie rock version of everyone thinking Bun B is a genius all of a sudden in 2005

come on dude if you can't hear the difference b/w the new record and the last 6 you've got some shit in your ears

and i fuckin HATE that record

Got a feeling it'll end up being the Janelle Monae album and not any one indie rock album.

some shit in your ears

warm diarrhea iirc

RYM put a damper on my putative "What will be the consensus pick for 2010's Indian rock album of the year?" thread.

© Pete Waterman 1994

hmm i like surfer blood alot too.

man, smh @ any legitimate pop critic who rides for Ariel Pink in 2010

Got a feeling that I really don't fucking care.

^ THIS (in excelsis deo)

that ariel pink record has some jams on it

The only solution to this query is to everybody vote. Here's my top 12, which includes indie label metal, which probably doesn't count.

Cathedral--The Guessing Game (Nuclear Blast)
WASP--Babylon (Demolition ‘09)
Sleigh Bells--Treats (Mom + Pop)
Frightened Rabbit--The Winter of Mixed Drinks (Fatcat)
Drive-By Truckers--The Big To-Do (New West)
Vampire Weekend--Contra (XL)
LCD Soundsystem--This is Happening (DFA/Virgin/EMI)
The Like--Release Me (Downtown)
New Pornographers--Together
Art Museums--Rough Frame
Ludicra--The Tenant
Grong Grong--To Hell 'n' Back (Memorandum '09 REISSUE)

Possibly relevant: I haven't heard the Arcade Fire, although the dadrock station's been playing the shit out of it and those songs aren't so great, and I really liked their last two. Also, I hope Ariel Pink doesn't win, cos I kind of hated that album. Also, does LCD count since they have major label distribution?

New Pornographers--Together

still totally dig this album. think it's gotten a bit of a bad rap. people look for what's "hot" or "new," but this band is still gr8.

First 3 or 4 songs, especially.

not the popular view, but i kind of prefer the middle of the disc iirc.

Funstyle - Liz Phair.

Or not.

Yeah, let's not.

xpost "revolution's a lie" is the fucking jam

elsewhere, i feel more disconnected to "indie rock" this year than ever before.

i lol'd

oh shit, NO AGE

not the consensus pick, i guess, though

that new pornographers album is terrible and there is no bigger np's stan than me.

Flying Lotus is going to get a lot of votes. Still think it's LCD Soundsystem overall though.

well, now that sufjan has dropped

^^^ no way, not this year.

Yeah that Blood Surfer album is pure ear candy. I don't believe enough people have heard it, though. Or maybe it's just not that interesting of a record to write about. Either way it seems to have been forgotten.

Surfer Blood?

Surprised to see only a couple people have mentioned Beach House.

it's because they're kind of boring

the only pitchfork approved thing in my top 10 this year is prolly marnie stern

ok my top ten for the year, not that it matters:
phosphorescent - heres to taking it easy
wild nothing - gemini
frightened rabbit - winter of mixed drinks
tallest man on earth - the wild hunt
radio dept - clinging to a scheme
tame impala - innerspeaker
delta spirit - history from below
the drums - self titled
mountain man - made the harbor
peter wolf crier - inter be

ha Chris I hadn't even heard of 9 of those bands before this thread

i also kind of like the Perfume Genius album...

phosphorescent - heres to taking it easy
wild nothing - gemini
frightened rabbit - winter of mixed drinks
tame impala - innerspeaker
the drums - self titled

I can get with any of these. Don't get the Tallest Man On Earth love, listened to a KEXP Live Performance and he reminded me too much of Dave Matthews.

urgh you may have just killed my love for Tallest Man!

add Surfer Blood to my list too.

so glad i'm not a legitimate pop music critic

i don't know how to feel about ariel pink, onna those dudes ppl kept telling me to check out and i never got around to it, so i don't know if this is different or what....don't really know if i like it or not but he's def...a weirdo

yeah im not to keen on the ariel pink, i keep trying to give it a thumbs up...but i end up giving it a thumbs middle.

and i agree he is a strange cat.

my friend was trying to me that ariel pink was like the frank zappa of the 21st century or something ... which is an intriguing idea. but i dunno, i've listened to this new one, and yeah, can't quite figure out whether i enjoy it or not.

i love the singles, and his one-song homage to the alan parsons project on this new disc is great.

overall, my feelings about it vary. sometimes i think it's the best record of the year. sometimes i think it's a "thumbs middle."

ehh he does a lot of genre pastiche like zappa but i dunno...zappa at his best was on some next level shit...plus pink has a lot of shambling indie lo-fi in him and that's the antithesis of zappa to me, who was a pro's pro

yeah i don't really get where he's coming from...i guesss he's like the yacht rock version of early guided by voices, but more into drugs than alcohol...or something

this is kind of a stupid statement but i wonder if people love him because he was at one time on paw tracks.

i wonder if people love him because he was at one time on paw tracks

nah

i guesss he's like the yacht rock version of early guided by voices, but more into drugs than alcohol

otm

at least that's what i get out of it

"Round and Round" is my song of the year

Thats the first description of him that has made me actually want to hear one of his records.

i guesss he's like the yacht rock version of early guided by voices, but more into drugs than alcohol
see that sounds pretty good. off to listen again!

Haha, I'm not the only one then!

i've actually taken this off my ipod.

"Round and Round" is my song of the year

I'd be right with you if this was 1984.

Ratt rocks.

if that's ratt, it's a much older, more self-aware, wiser ratt.

ratt did rock, tho.

rockin the strip joints

I liked Ariel Pink's older stuff too though, so I dunno. your mileage may vary.

i also kind of like the Perfume Genius album...

― Str8 Drapin It (chrisv2010), Friday, October 22, 2010 7:20 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

^ this! Love this album, even started a thread here about it iirc.

i like what i've heard (that first single was heartbreaking). but no-one would seriously suggest this is going to be the consensus pick for 2010's indie rock album of the year, right?

Quite obvious it'll be "The Suburbs" this year.
Crime In Stereo has a higher Metacritic score though (and some other acts like Janelle Montae, but they aren't "indie rock").

Quite obvious it'll be "The Suburbs" this year.

no, it won't be.

Deerhunter might have the requisite combination of name recognition, general agreement that it's good, and 'depth' for a handful of AOTY nods. not sure enough people agree on the other big names this year.

deerhunter might be it, actually. they've been heavily praised before, but they're still in that "hip, rising" band phase (in a way, say, the arcade fire aren't).

I love Deerhunter, but they're still way too niche. Arcade Fire was just on the cover of Spin and has a much wider appeal -- they'll get more votes, you can count on it

unfortunately, har mar superstar didn't put out a record this year, and now we're left with all this squabbling.

lol

The answer is so obviously Teen Dream. What the fuck. Record deserves the stature of Funeral.

VW in a v strong no 2

VW is a v strong no 2

I think markers will be the consensus pick for 2010's indie rock poster of the year.

He either posted too much or just enough in the metal thread.

He's at a metal show tonight so that should be an auto-disqualification.

Seriously I think it'll be HOOM

The Canon choice always has some kind of crossover appeal. And it is just this year that Arcade Fire have gotten that appeal. Sure "The Neon Bible" was also close, but it didn't top the Billboard chart.

the shins topped the billboard chart recently, too, but that album barely appeared in year-end lists. this arcade fire disc will do better, but that's a band that's past it's peak hipster appeal.

He's at a metal show tonight so that should be an auto-disqualification.

fyi, metal shows have more indie ppl per square foot now than indie shows, which are mainly attended by members of the bands' families

there were indie ppl there! there were metal ppl there! good show!

i hope you're happy, abandoning needy acts like deerhunter and joanna newsom.

indie bands need to eat, too.

when I went to go look into Newsom tickets, they'd sold out, and Deerhunter had already played Boston when I went to go look into tickets to see them

but yeah, I basically was way less lazy in snagging tickets for the Torche/Kylesa/HoF show, so my sincere apologies to Newsom and Deerhunter

deerhunter and joanna newsom post here as "lex pretend" and "whiney g. weingarten," respectively, so i'm sure they'll read your apology.

:-D :-D

the shins topped the billboard chart recently, too, but that album barely appeared in year-end lists. this arcade fire disc will do better, but that's a band that's past it's peak hipster appeal.

The indie year canon consists of a bit more than hipster fanzines though.

I wasn't aware of Deerhunter at all, but listened on Spotify yesterday, and, yes, it is a good album. But I would think they are more likely to top the year-end critics charts in a couple more albums when they are more established.

Dunno, the crits tend to go for the 'new artists' and the first album that gets any kind of general visibility.

The hippest critics do, others wait a bit more. The Critics also include Q and similar mind you.

Deerhunter/Bradford Cox have been building pretty steadily. Microcastle/Weird Era just missed out on top 10 in Pazz & Jop and the Atlas Sound album was well-reviewed. They may still be a bit under the radar for a consensus pick but no more so than, say, Beach House or Ariel Pink.

they're probably more well-known than Beach House and Ariel Pink

hold steady

The Canon choice always has some kind of crossover appeal. And it is just this year that Arcade Fire have gotten that appeal. Sure "The Neon Bible" was also close, but it didn't top the Billboard chart.

It debuted at #2, behind Notorious B.I.G.'s greatest hits.

Hold Steady album was forgotten an hour after it was released

true, i dislike that band anyways.

i love that band, but no way was it -- or, say, the new pornographers' disc -- going to be the "consensus pick for 2010s indie rock album of the year."

the answer is that, maybe deerhunter aside, there won't be a "consensus pick" this year.

Yes there will be, as the earlier lists start to pop up, there will ineitably be those that follow suit, thinking, "ah, so THAT is the one we'll rally around this year".

And, remember, Q tend to be among the first, so they sort of set the standard... :P

this ain't gonna be it, but lately i'm feeling like grinderman 2 would be an awesome choice for the top-spot on a lot of year-end lists. it's v. good! and i didn't even like the first disc -- or nick cave, really.

I would expect that Q will give it to Arcade Fire, Gorrilaz or The National with Paul Weller, Plan B, Joanna Newsom, Laura Marling, Vampire Weekend, Corrine Bailey Rae, Rumer and I Am Kloot doing well as well.

NME will have the likes of Sleigh Bells, Everything Everything, Warpaint, LCD Soundsystem and Janelle Monae in their top ten I'd have thought.

for me - ariel pink

for the rest of the world - whatever

gorillaz would be a good choice, too.

a little surprised but I think the Sandwitches Duck Duck Goose 12" has overtaken Dolphins Into the Future as the consensus pick - the momentum of the Sandwitches record has been dizzying to watch

x-post

on paper the Gorillaz appealled to me (soul singers, Clash members, etc.) but the actual songs I have heard have not wowed me.

the first year-end list i've seen is from the famous rough trade shop. it's an interesting list, though it suggests nothing to me, except to keep your eye on the gil scott-heron disc, which could be a sentimenal (and deserving) choice in a lot of places.

("suggests nothing in terms of what will be reflected in other lists," is what i meant)

largehearted boy usually keeps a list of lists . . . ill try to remember to post it here when he starts it up, if he hasnt already

this was last years http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2009/11/2009_yearend_on_1.html

eh, i'm pretty sure there will be a new thread started for that. this one has a slightly more narrow focus.

yeah i know i started it. anyway, when the new list comes out ill post it here

i see that now! very clever.

I was going to post about Caribou earlier, but figured that someone would already have mentioned it if it was a contender (I don't really follow indie rock hypedom). I'm glad to see that RT at least share my excellent taste.

it's no "consensus pick," but that Charlotte Gainsbourg disc RT has at no. 7 is great, too.

that these new puritans album they have at #3 slays

i've never heard of this john grant or his debut disc. the emusic samples sound outstanding! like the 70s soft-rock acts i remember and loved.

what is the ILM consensus indie album of the year? i can't even really begin to guess what'll be at/near the top of the board's year-end poll list in a couple months.

lcd?

Thought it'd be Ezra and the boys.

nah.

Better than Ezra have a new album?

it was good voting with you waaaahhhooow

markers I think your posting personality is 'manic pixie dream critic'

Halcyon digest have to be that album, anyways, it's clearly better than all the other indie releases

The Fly also have put out their EOY list

http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3172289350&frmid=7238&msgid=1108894&cmd=show

i'm glad it's been settled that Foals have made the best album of the year

ugh that midlake album was horseshit.

i like the midlake album but it's certainly not superlative in any way

It wasn't "horseshit", but it was a huge letdown after the last one.

it was good voting with you waaaahhhooow

― markers, Sunday, November 14, 2010 9:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

hahahahaha

that these new puritans album they have at #4 slays

true jon, true.

Maybe there'll be no consensus pick?

Like, in a lot of previous years there haven't been just one, but rather a handful

In 2008, it was Fleet Foxes and TV On The Radio and Vampire Weekend
In 2007, it was Radiohead and Arcade Fire
In 2006, it was TV On The Radio and Arctic Monkeys
In 2005, the indie critics tended to go for Sufjan Stevens or Anthony & The Johnsons even though neither is really typically indie.
In 2004, it was Arcade Fire and Franz Ferdinand.

It was only last year, in recent years, that Animal Collective seemed to be the ever dominant consensus pick.

yeah, that's my guess (no consensus pick).

Probably guess Panda Bear's Tomboy if it ever gets a release before December, this year generally blows for big ones tho.

tomboy doesnt actually exist

it was made up by some zlist indie mp3 blogger solely so that they could ride the hitwave

hitswave, rather

I would just like to say that Arcade Fire are fucking terrible

good point Shakey

arcade fire's consensus brutally shattered

tomboy doesnt actually exist

it was made up by some zlist indie mp3 blogger solely so that they could ride the hitwave

that's correct.

in unrelated news, i would like to announce a new animal collective album, arriving in 5 days, called tuneless meanderings.

i agree with shakey on the arcade fire assesment

well played chrisv2010

markers, i'd like to echo the thoughts of shakey mo collier and chrisv2010

Arcade Fire not having a good day itt

I like Arcade Fire.

i like arcade fire but they're not particularly special

The Suburbs is awful because of Win Butler.

would be much improved w/better vocals

forget the vocals, would be improved with BETTER LYRICS

yeah i think soto was right about how foolish all "THE KIDS!!" stuff is

That's exactly what I mean. I was in an Urban Outfitters on the weekend (lawlz, right?) and Arcade Fire and Win started singing the stupid BUSINESSMEN THEY DRINK MY BLOOD line, and I almost puked in my mouth a little bit.

"kids" is some grups-kinda shit

Win Butler's blood is delicious btw

When someone says something almost made them puke in their mouth a little bit, it almost makes me puke in my mouth a little bit.

yeah, that has to stop

i never throw up in my mouth

when did this turn into an Arcade Fire zombie thread?

john grant was in the czars. I don't care for his album much; and the czars were always very frustrating to me, never as great as they should have been. but it's ok. he has an amazing voice.

u ppl listen to lyrics? what the hell

When someone says something almost made them puke in their mouth a little bit, it almost makes me puke in my mouth a little bit.

― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Monday, November 15, 2010 8:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

NO I'm serious, there was like throat spasms and acid reflux when I heard that line.

u ppl listen to lyrics? what the hell

sometimes. not arcade fire's lyrics, tho (aside from a few songs on the first disc).

"sometimes" otm

u ppl listen to lyrics? what the hell

Not me, Dr. (Or rarely, at least.)

the czars were always very frustrating to me, never as great as they should have been

Their "Song to the Siren" cover is among the best of the many covers of that song, though. I agree that Grant's album is kind of a snooze.

Yeah, lyrics. pffft.

I agree that Grant's album is kind of a snooze.

i'm torn on it. on the one hand, it has the vibe and texture i love (70s singer-songwriter, big walls of vocal harmony). otoh, except for a few tracks, there are very few hooks and the choruses don't deliver the payoffs i'd want. but so far it's going a long way with me based on the vibe (and that sigourney weaver song).

I'm a lyrics guy. I don't really understand NOT listening to lyrics. Do you watch movies with the sound off?

morbz does it reminds him of going to movies when he was a teenager

music is a lot more about vibe than movies though xpost

despite the repeat factor, I still think this is LCD Soundsystem.

i was thinking about that lcd album this morning and came to the conclusion that, while not bad, it's completely useless. a shadow of past triumphs if ever such a thing has existed.

^it's BY FAR my fave of theirs. but i'm weird like that.

Ioannis, you're not alone in that assessment.

agreed rev.

it just feels like there's no reason to listen to it. murphy's done pretty much everything on that album before, better.

exactly. i found it boring after a few listens.

you both crazeee

ps: POW! POW POW POW POW!

Watching him LCD live – a performance which got overwhelmingly positive press down here – made me hate him briefly. But I love the album. At the risk of alluding to comments from another thread, but This is Happening is to LCD what Graduation is to Kanye.

I can understand why Rev thinks it's redundant.

But I love Graduation though. It may have been a victory lap, but at least he took his sound in a different direction while he was at it, which is more than can be said for My Mans Jams Murphy.

"Home" and "Dance Yrself Clean" are excellent retreads though.

My favorite bookends of the year too.

I've on the road a lot this year, especially in the last month, & this album really clicked for me during moments of travel exhilaration/exhaustion ("Home" especially). I like it lots more than the debut.

My fav indie album of the year is Contra, though; again, being on the road, especially overseas doing things I always dreamed I'd do & then ~this is happening~.

Contra's the best of the three or so indie albums I've heard this year, but still not nearly as good as their first.

winter of mixed drinks.

I'm a lyrics guy. I don't really understand NOT listening to lyrics. Do you watch movies with the sound off?

No, because dialogue is absolutely integral to my appreciation of film. I get substantially more out of films when I know what's going on in the narrative.

Song lyrics, on the other hand, are not integral to my appreciation of music, because music-listening for me is less of an intellectual experience and relies more on my visceral reactions to moods and textures and melodies. That's one of the things I love about music, in fact, the way it can insinuate itself into your brain without you having to actually think.

Of course, some lyrics do pop out more than others, and when I notice good ones, they can certainly deepen my appreciation for a song. But actively paying attention to lyrics just feels like a chore to me, especially because I listen to music most often while doing other brain-work (like reading) and so I would have to actually carve out additional time to try to pick up on the words.

nice new name, jaymc

i don't really care about lyrics either. unless they are REALLY good or REALLY bad. and by bad i mean like bad poetry sung badly and its noticeable and makes me want to kill. and how many people write great lyrics nowadays anyway? like five people probably. and i don't even listen to those five people. but they are probably out there. i don't treat music sung in english any differently from music sung in other languages. i'm a sound guy though. last time i really cared about lyrics i was 16.

(talking about new music. i love lots of songwriters from the past. and love hearing stuff i haven't heard from the past. actually not true. the 16 thing. i did pay attention to the lyrics on that lifter puller comp i got years ago. first time in a long time that i got high on words in rock. maybe the last time too)

i was actually checking on here to see if anybody mentioned anything that sounded interesting or made me curious. couldn't find anything. love you all though. ta ta!

unless they are REALLY good or REALLY bad.

Yeah, I'm with you on that.

Your prob is prob that you are listening to rock. XP

used to be a big lyrics guy when i was heavily into Red House Painters, im lucky to be alive today.

i still like a good lyric here and there but am on the same boat as Jay.

"Your prob is prob that you are listening to rock."

my problem is this is an indie rock thread. plenty of modern non-indie rock songs i have enjoyed lyrically. but yeah i wasn't clear about that. its not like i don't HEAR lyrics or don't like songwriting. i love songs and songwriting. and, it goes without saying, rap has been more interesting to me lyrically for, like, the last, um, forever almost. since i stopped reading punk rock lyric sheets. 1984? something like that. rap and then would come country probably. indie rock would be very low on my list.

i kinda like pissed jeans lyrics

i was gonna post some arcade fire lyrics but then i looked at some and i got sad and wanted to die. so i won't.

contra, which yeah seems dated but in a way that i like it a lot more than most anything else from now. also it has major edge on the debut i think.

contra's lyrics are (for the most part) great, for example.

opening line of the first song excepted, that is just awful.

but going through the lyric sheet definitely made me appreciate the album on an entirely different level

"horchata"'s lyrics are hilarious; u mad.

*looks psychotic in a balaklava*

the song as a whole is not bad just that first line... so clumsy

yeah, VW have really good lyrics every now and again, i just wish the dude's voice didn't annoy me so much half the time i listen to them. (but i'm listening to Bowie's Diamond Dogs right now, so who am i to complain about... anything?)

don't really like vampire weekend as much as the blue bells, but they have a certain peppy flair. they have yet to write their "i'm falling" or their "cath".

the kids dont stand a chance

they have a certain peppy flair

Read this as "preppy flair."

lol so did I

I used to have this hardline thing about how lyrics didn't matter at all. It was very college of me. I've since softened a lot. I think there are particular artists where obviously the lyrics are extremely important, although I maintain that lyrics are generally secondary to music and that good lyrics are neither necessary nor sufficient to good music.

Yes, one of my favorite bands, has atrocious lyrics. Although admittedly the atrocious lyrics sung in Jon Anderson's absurd but beautiful voice are part of the fun.

and if roddy frame is reading this you know i love you best boo

preppy nerds. nice shorts, poindexter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_3ypXq6Ou0&feature=related

^now there was a lyricist.

xp

if vampire weekend wrote a song as good as this i would be their love slave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9yspuNnW0E&feature=related

vampire weekend doesn't want love-slaves. they want cosmopolitan cocktails.

vampy weeks record is great - def in my top 10 - but i feel like it has these built-in limitations as a 'critical darling' that will prevent it from being 'album of the year'

i also really like the beach fossils s/t but no im p alone on that one

yea that beach fossils is good too (i'm no VW fan, tbh).

why does this thread offend me so?

^^^^^^^^^^^^ poll this question immediately

vampy weeks record is great - def in my top 10 - but i feel like it has these built-in limitations as a 'critical darling' that will prevent it from being 'album of the year'

Animal Collective want a word with you.

insist that they bathe before you meet with them.

I guess it's kinda corny but over the years I've become much more attuned to place in my appreciation of music, so that if I hear a band in the "right" context (which has nothing to do with the band's intention as far as I know) it's like a burning glass, bringing together my love of that place & the music I'm falling for, and intensifying each. During 2010 this happened with me with VW twice, firstly with the debut last winter & then with Contra over the summer. & this is def. corny but I think the band is speaking for me, you know? detached but observant multiworld people; doesn't speak the language, holds no currency, you know: so inarticulate I know but I get the impression lots of you live this way too, between cultures, & I don't have anyone else to help me figure out how to make sense of this peculiar way of living, so rock will have to do (prob. should read some novels also/instead, goodness knows I'd have the time on planes to do it; & should find a different thread for this anyway).

otm.

I think the band is speaking for me, you know?

Not corny at all, Euler -- and it also explains why it leaves others cold. That Contra means so much to me when the first album didn't at all also speaks to your point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_osEoo84U&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm1p3jl-7b4&feature=fvsr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n27MTAPoy2A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLp_bk0ftsg

play all of these @ once & u will a) love this thread b) 'get' indie rock in 2k10

peace

lamp otm

doesn't speak the language, holds no currency

I lol'd

the rather obvious Graceland-isms that dot the album irritate my wife, apparently

i also really like the beach fossils s/t but no im p alone on that one

i like this rec but it does suffer from being a bit monochromatic, sound-wise

I would expect that Q will give it to Arcade Fire, Gorrilaz or The National with Paul Weller, Plan B, Joanna Newsom, Laura Marling, Vampire Weekend, Corrine Bailey Rae, Rumer and I Am Kloot doing well as well.
― Mitchell Stirling, Sunday, 14 November 2010 12:16 (1 week ago) Bookmark

Those came in at #1, #8 and #7. The next lot at #9, #3, #46, #4, #5, #22, #n/a and #39. Pretty good guess work.

Is there a separate thread for EOY lists, I have several in my back pocket or are they going in here still?

Yeah, start a separate EOY list thread

Surprised noone has mentioned the Horrors record, that might be a good bet for the UK at least.

^because its from 2009

Halfway Through 2010: Favorite Albums of the Year (So Far)

Deerhunter

Someone usually starts a EOY lists thread

xxp oops my mistake, sorry!

The consensus is there is no consensus.

Top choices so far. Enjoyable lack of consenus I think:

Vibe, Spin, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, AV Club, Time, Dagbladet - Kanye
Rough Trade, Resident Advisor, Dots and Dashes - Caribou
Q & Gigwise - Arcade Fire
Uncut & About.com - Joanna Newsom
Mojo - John Grant
Piccadilly Records - Gil Scott-Heron
NME - These New Puritans
Kerrang! - Deftones
Popmatters - Janelle Monae
The Wire - Actress
The Fly - Foals
Paste - LCD Soundsystem
Gorilla vs Bear - Beach House
Music OMH - The National
Drowned in Sound - Emeralds
Quietus - Liars
Rock-a-Rolla - Swans
Decibel - Agalloch
La Quenelle Culturelle - Kings of Leon
Get Off the Coast - How to Dress Well
AMA - Crazy Heart OST
Classic Rock - Slash

― The baby boomers have defined everything once and for all (Dorianlynskey)

It is more like which is represented in most Top 5s.

Like, for instance, Mojo always has some old comeback guy on top who will never ever appear in the other polls, at least not that high, so you have to study a bit further down their list to find the more obvious picks.

we have finally achieved parity in indie rock

what do I win?