Year-End Critics' Polls 2011

Too bad the old thread is stuck in the Sandbox, I guess? Couldn't find anything in the ILM archives.

Anyway, let's post more of these.

You mean our own top ten lists?

Brainwashed.com

2011 Readers Poll - The Results

Top 10:

1. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
2. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - s/t
3. Grouper - Alien Observer
4. Earth - Angels of Darkness...
5. Grouper - Dream Loss
6. Current 93 - Honeysuckle Aeons
7. Tim Hecker - Dropped Pianos
8. Colin Stetson - Judges
9. Barn Owl - Lost in the Glare
10. Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Floodplain

Top EP/Single: Andy Stott - Passed Me By

Top Vault/Reissue: Can - Tago Mago

Top Boxed Set: Demdike Stare - Tryptych

well yeah I'd love to see yours too, Soto! and we'll need a P&J thread too. good for individual ballots.

The Silent Ballet

The Top 100 Releases of 2011

Top 10 Albums:

1. Grails - Deep Politics
2. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - s/t
3. Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
4. Dakota Suite and Emanuele Errante - The North Green Down
5. FareWell Poetry - Hoping for the Invisible to Ignite
6. The Field - Looping State of Mind
7. Petrels - Haeligewielle
8. *shels - Plains of the Purple Buffalo
9. Jacaszek - Glimmer
10. Sun Glitters - Everything Could Be Fine

^ that Jacaszek album is way underrated! awesome.

OK. Well, here's my list:

1. Pistol Annies – Hell on Heels
2. DJ Quik – The Book of David
3. Destroyer – Kaputt
4. Britney Spears – Femme Fatale
5. Serengeti – Family and Friends
6. Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck
7. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’
8. Marsha Ambrosious – Late Nights and Early Mornings
9. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
10. Diddy Dirty Money – Last Train to Paris
11. Lady Gaga – Born This Way
12. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
13. Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra
14. Poly Styrene – Generation Indigo
15. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
16. Katy B – On a Mission
17. Bil Callahan – Apocalypse
18. R. Kelly – Love Letter
19. Wire – Red Barked Trees
20. Paul Simon – So Beautiful or So What
21. Beyonce – 4
22. Tom Waits – Bad For Me
23. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
24. Holy Ghost – Holy Ghost!
25. Nicholas Jaar – Space is Only Noise
26. Miranda Lambert – Four The Record
27. El Debarge – Second Chance
28. Jill Scott – The Light of the Sun
29. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See
30. Drive-by Truckers – Go-Go Boots

Top 100 albums by that awful tin-ear no-nothing chin-stroking shitbag, Mr. Weingart3n:

cleaning out my closet: the top 100 records of 2011

1. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
2. Liturgy – Aesthetica
3. Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres
4. The Men - Leave Home
5. Horseback – Impale Golden Horn
6. Pistol Annies - Pistol Annies
7. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
8. All Pigs Must Die - God Is War
9. Factory Floor – “A Wooden Box”/“R E A L L O V E”/“Two Different Ways” 12-inches
10. Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal - Chamber Music

Soto i like yr list, it's a lot more singer/songwriter-heavy than my listening usually skews, so lots to explore!

TRAX http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/14617464612/my-top-121-tracks-of-2011

ALBUMS http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/14614655894/my-top-50-albums-of-2011

ALL NUMBERS IN CONSTANT FLUX

Didn't notice it but I did include more R&B than usual.

xpost

My Top 10--dwarfed, as always, by the size of every other list out there. (List envy?)

ALL NUMBERS IN CONSTANT FLUX

Year's over, man. You gotta set that shit in stone.

five lists

Unperson's lists for the Wire and other publications are interesting—though not usually my cup o tea w/r/t metal choices

Simon Reynolds

11 for '11

Metronomy, The English Riviera
Rustie, Glass Swords
Oneohtrix Point Never, Replica
James Ferraro, Far Side Virtual
Woebot, Chunks
Maria Minerva, Tallinn At Dawn
Ekoplekz, Intrusive Incidentalz Vol 1
KWJAZ, s/t
The Horrorist, Joyless Pleasure
Ursula Bogner, Sonne = Black Box
Moon Wiring Club, Clutch It Like A Gonk

plus, a bunch of trax and more albums, at the link above

Terrorizer Top 40 Albums

1 Mastodon - The Hunter
2 Autopsy- Macabre Eternal
3 Trap Them - Darker Handicraft
4 Devin Townsend - Ghost / Deconstruction
5 Amebix - Sonic Mass
6 Altar of Plagues - Mammal
7 Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
8 Blood Ceremony - Living With the Ancients
9 Necros Christos - Doom of the Occult
10 In Solitude - The World. The Flesh. The Devil
11 Today Is The Day - Pain Is A Warning
12 Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
13 40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
14 The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
15 Solstafir - Svartir Sandar
16 Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
17 Tombs - Path of Totality
18 Machine Head - Unto the Locust
19 Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations
20 Vallenfyre - A Fragile King
21 Ancient Vvisdom - A Godlike Inferno
22 Opeth - Heritage
23 Craft - Void
24 Sonne Adam - Transformation
25 Brutal Truth - End Time
26 Disma - Towards The Megalith
27 Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore
28 Yob - Atma
29 All Pigs Must Die - God is War
30 Cave In - White Silence
31 Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
32 Will Haven - Voir Dire
33 Decapitated - Carnival is Forever
34 Obscura - Omnivium
35 Rwake - Rest
36 Morbus Chron - Sleepers in the Rift
37 Maim - Deceased To Exist
38 Absu - Abzu
39 Esoteric - Paragon of Dissonance
40 Shining - VII: Fodd Forlorare

Kerrang Albums Of The Year
101 Black Veil Brides - Set The World On Fire
100 Rise To Remain - City Of Vultures
99 The Treatment - This Might Hurt
98 Dropkick Murphys - Going Out In Style
97 Young Legionnaire - Crisis Works
96 RAMESSES - Possessed By The Rise Of Magik
95 Loutallica - Lulu
94 Cave In - White Silence
93 Bastions - Hospital Corners
92 All Time Low - Dirty Work
91 Death Cab For Cutie - Codes And Keys
90 The Subways - Money And Celebrity
89 Scale The Summit - The Collective
88 Trivium - In Waves
87 Iceage - New Brigade
86 OPETH - Heritage
85 Asking Alexandria - Reckless & Relentless
84 Arbouretum - The Gathering
83 Yellowcard - When You're Through Thinking Say Yes
82 This Is Hell - Black Mass
81 Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
80 Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
79 Mike Patton - The Solitude Of Prime Numbers
78 Kids In Glass Houses - In Gold Blood
77 I Am The Avalanche - Avalanche United
76 Goes Cube - In Tides And Drifts
75 OFF! - First Four EP's
74 The Icarus Line - Wildlife
73 Rival Sons - Pressure And Time
72 Retox - Ugly Animals
71 Procession - Destroyers Of The Faith
70 My Ruin - A Southern Revelation
69 FEN - EPOCH
68 Animals As Leaders - Weightless
67 ALTAR OF PLAGUES - MAMMAL
66 The Blackout - hope
65 unearth - Darkness In The Light
64 Sucioperro - The Heart String And How To Pull It
63 IN SOLITUDE - THE WORLD, THE FLESH, THE DEVIL
62 SKELETONWITCH - Forever Abomination
61 Chuck Ragan - Covering Ground
60 Times Of Grace - Hymn Of A Broken Man
59 Black Spiders - Sons Of The North
58 Thursday - No Devolucion
57 *Shels - Plains Of The Purple Buffalo
56 The Black Keys - El Camino
55 We Are The Ocean - Go Now And Live
54 Slaves To Gravity - Underwater Outerspace
53 PRIMORDIAL - REDEMPTION AT THE PURITANS HAND
52 Funeral For A Friend - Welcome Home Armageddon
51 EARTH - ANGELS OF DARKNESS, DEMONS OF LIGHT 1
50 Heights - Dead Ends
49 Bury Your Dead - Mosh N' Roll
48 Deaf Havana - Fools And Worthless Liars
47 BLOOD CEREMONY - LIVING WITH THE ANCIENTS
46 The Swellers - Good For Me
45 Social Distortion - Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes
44 The Computers - This Is The Computers
43 Hell - Human Remains
42 Japanese Voyeurs - Yolk
41 The Answer - Revival
40 Rival Schools - Pedals
39 Blink-182 - Neighborhoods
38 Tellison - The Wages Of Fear
37 Hyro Da Hero - Birth, School,Work,Death
36 Cerebral Ballzy - S/t
35 Exit Ten - Give Me Infinity
34 Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth
33 J Mascis - Several Shades Of Why
32 Evanescence - Eveanescence
31 Touche Amore - Parting The Sea between Brightness And Me
30 Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole
29 City And Colour - Little Hell
28 WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM - CELESTIAL LINEAGE
27 Arcane Roots - Left Fire
26 Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
25 Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
24 Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows - D.R.U.G.S.
23 La Dispute - Wildlife
22 TRAP THEM - DARKER HANDCRAFT
21 Taking Back Sunday - S/t
20 Twin Atlantic - Free
19 New Found Glory - Radiosurgery
18 Defeater - Empty Days And Sleepless Nights
17 Cage The Elephant - Thank You, Happy Birthday
16 Thrice - Major/Minor
15 The King Blues - Punk & Poetry
14 Mariachi El Bronx - II
13 Korn - The Path Of Totality
12 Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
11 Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
10 Will Haven - Voir Dire
9 The James Cleaver Quintet - That Was Then, This Is Now
8 The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
7 The Wonder Years - Suburbia
6 You Me At Six - Sinners Never Sleep
5 Rise Against - Endgame
4 Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
3 Machine Head - Unto The Locust
2 Letlive - Fake History
1 Mastodon - The Hunter

Metal Hammer Top 50 albums of 2011

50 Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
49 Primus - Green Naugahyde
48 Arabrot - Solar Anus
47 Hammers Of Misfortune - 17th Street
46 Cerebral Ballzy - S/T
45 YOB - Atma
44 TessaracT - One
43 Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
42 Vallenfyre - A Fragile King
41 Times Of Grace - Hymns Of A Broken Man
40 The Dwarves - The Dwarves Are Born Again
39 Anvil - Juggernaut Of Justice
38 Ken Mode - Venerable
37 Altar Of Plagues - Mammal
36 Blood Ceremony - Living With The Ancients
35 Will Haven - Voir Dire
34 Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination
33 Wormrot - Dirge
32 Nightwish - Imaginaerum
31 Devin Townsend - Ghost
30 Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events
29 Solstafir - Svartir Sandar
28 Foo Fighters - Wasted Light
27 Trivium - In Waves
26 Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
25 In Solitude - The World,The Flesh,The Devil
24 The Damned Things - Ironiclast
23 Pentagram - Last Rites
22 Autopsy - Macabre Eternal
21 Steel Panther - Balls Out
20 Motorhead - The World Is Yours
19 Black Stone Cherry - Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea
18 Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno
17 Primordial - Redemption At The Puritan's Hand
16 Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
15 Devildriver - Beast
14 Amebix - Sonic Mass
13 The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
12 Gentleman's Pistols - At Her Majesty's Pleasure
11 Evile - Five Serpents Teeth
10 Graveyard - Nuclear Blast
9 Skindred - Union Black
8 Black Spiders - Sons Of The North
7 Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
6 Hell - Human Remains
5 Megadeth - Thirt3en
4 Opeth - Heritage
3 Anthrax - Worship Music
2 Machine Head - Unto The Locust
1 MASTODON - THE HUNTER

DECIBEL EOY List:

1. Tombs - Path of Totality
2. Opeth- Heritage
3. Mastodon - The Hunter
4. In Solitude - The World. The Flesh. The Devil.
5. Brutal Truth- End Time
6. Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
7. YOB - Atma
8. 40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
9. Inquisition - Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual.......
10. Junius - Reports From The Threshold of Death
11. Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
12. Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
13. Exhumed - All Guts, No glory
14. False - False
15. Autopsy - Macabre Eternal
16. Revocation - Chaos of Forms
17. Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
18. Obscura - Omnivium
19. Drugs of Faith - Corroded
20. Subrosa - No Help for the Mighty Ones
21. Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All
22. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
23. Atriarch - Forever the End
24. Disma - Towards the Megalith
25. Moab - Ab Ovo
26. Gridlink - Orphan
27. Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination
28. Vallenfyre - A Fragile King
29. Crowbar - Sever the Wicked Hand
30. Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings
31. Machine Head - Unto the Locust
32. ABSU - Abzu
33. Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations
34. Origin - Entity
35. Darkest Era - The Last Caress of Light
36. Deafheaven - Roads to Judah
37. Hammers of Misfortune - 17th Street
38. Krallice - Diotima
39. Rwake - Rest
40. Graf Orlock - Doom Box

Rock-A-Rolla Top 50 Albums

01 The Book Of Knots - Garden Of Fainting Stars (Ipecac)
02 Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Rock Action)
03 Earth - Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light 1 (Southern Lord)
04 Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)
05 Boris - Attention Please (Sargent House)
06 Obake - Obake (Rarenoise)
07 Black Cobra - Invernal (Southern Lord)
08 Barn Owl - Lost In The Glare (Thrill Jockey)
09 Loss - Despond (Profound Lore)
10 Wooden Shjips - West (Thrill Jockey)
11 Mike Patton - The Solitude Of Prime Numbers (Ipecac)
12 Grails - Deep Politics (Temporary Residence Ltd)
13 Tombs - Path Of Totality (Relapse)
14 Alva Noto - Univrs (Raster-Noton)
15 Asva - Presences Of Absences (Important)
16 Enablers - Blown Realms And Stalled Explosions (Exile On Mainstream)
17 Hexvessel - Dawnbearer (Svart)
18 Today Is The Day - Pain Is A Warning (Black Market Activities/Good Fight Music)
19 Bloodiest - Descent (Relapse)
20 Killl - Killl (Fysisk Format)
21 Fire! With Jim O' Rourke - Unreleased? (Rune Grammofon)
22 Boris - Heavy Rocks (Sargent House)
23 Remember Remember - The Quickening (Rock Action)
24 Hella - Tripper (Sargent House)
25 Årabrot - Solar Anus (Fysisk Format)
26 The Atlas Moth - An Ache For The Distance (Profound Lore)
27 Mamiffer - Mare Decendrii (Sige/Conspiracy)
28 Gridlink - Orphan (Hydra Head)
29 Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (Temporary Residence/Bella Union)
30 Circle - Infektio (Conspiracy)
31 YOB - Atma (Profound Lore)
32 Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones - Metamanoir (Denovali)
33 Blut Aus Nord - 777: The Desanctification (Debemur Morto)
34 A Storm Of Light - As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade (Profound Lore)
39 Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraisoufo - The Ripper At The Heaven Gates Of Dark (Riot Season)
40 Amebix - Sonic Mass (Easy Action)
41 Mika Vainio - Life (...It Eats You Up) (Editions Mego)
42 Birds Of Passage - Winter Lady (Denovalii)
43 Rwake - Rest (Relapse)
44 Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel (Gizeh)
45 Zombi - Escape Velocity (Relapse)
46 Terra Tenebrosa - The Tunnels (Trust No One)
47 Raoul Sinier - Guilty Cloaks (Ad Noiseam)
48 Ovo - Cor Cordium (Supernatural Cat)
49 Rising - To Solemn Ash (Exile On Mainstream)
50 Skullflower - Fucked on A Pile Of Corpses (Cold Spring)

sure, why not:

01 deaf centre - owl splinters (type)
02 teams vs star slinger - s/t (mexican summer)
03 hatchback - zeus and apollo (lo recordings)
04 philip marshall - casse-tête (tapeworm)
05 ken seeno - an invisible surfer on an invisible wave (nna tapes)
06 dawn richard - the prelude to a tell tale heart (self-released)
07 time wharp - later. (wonder beard)
08 death grips - exmilitary (self-released)
09 chris watson - el tren fantasma (touch)
10 main attrakionz - 808s and dark grapes II (mishka)

11 soft metals - s/t (captured tracks)
12 borden, ferraro, godin, halo + lopatin - FRKWYS vol. 7 (RVNG international)
13 julia kent - green + grey (important)
14 tim hecker - ravedeath, 1979 (kranky)
15 pedro magina - ninteen hundred and eighty five (nnf tapes)
16 quicksails - a fantasy in seasons (nna tapes)
17 ben fleury-steiner - the places that find you (low point)
18 spaceghostpurpp - blvckland rvdix 66.6 (1991) (self-released)
19 moritz von oswald trio - horizontal structures (honest jon's)
20 peaking lights - 936 (not not fun)

21 zodiac free arts club - floating world (permanent vacation)
22 v/a - the hidden tapes (minimal wave)
23 wet wings - glory glory (atelier ciseaux)
24 universal swimsuit - i dream of floating... (self-released)
25 kendrick lamar - section.80 (top dawg)
26 com truise - galactic melt (ghostly international)
27 africa hitech - 93 million miles (warp)
28 natural snow buildings - waves of the random sea (blackest rainbow)
29 golden retriever - light cones (root strata)
30 rene hell - the terminal symphony (type)

In the list of the bold, the one in all-caps is king xp

List relevant to the stuff i write about - top 15 foreign-language pop songs of the year:

1.2NE1 - I Am The Best
2. Yelle - Comme Un Enfant
3. 3Ball MTY - Intentalo
4. Iza Lach - Nie Wiecej
5. Jennifer Rostock - Mein Mikrofon
6. Lollipop F - Dance
7. Atiye Deniz - Budur
8. Frida Gold - Wovon Sollen Wir Traumen
9. Hyuna - Bubble Pop!
10. Serebro - Mama Lyuba
11. Anastasia Vinnikova - Moya Belarus
12. Mirami - Miramimania
13. Nyusha - Bolno
14. Kasia Nosowska - Nomada
15. Van Ness Wu ft Ryan Tedder - Is This All?

My end of year compilation:

1. wells moffat - the copper top
2. tim hecker - sketch 8
3. a winged victory for the sullen - we played some open chords
4. nils frahm - familiar
5. king creosote & jon hopkins - aurora boring alias
6. jacaszek - dare-gale
7. mogwai - does this always happen?
8. remember remember - white castle
9. british sea power - cleaning out the rooms
10. king creosote & jon hopkins - bats in the attics
11. james blake - limit to your love
12. the streets - lock the locks
13. matt eliott - dust flesh and bones
14. piano magic - the way of the birds
15. british sea power - baby
16. wells moffat - let's stop here

Obviously publishing lists is what critics do, and if it's out on the web it's out on the web, but it would be <cool if this thread turned into everyone just posting their EOY ballot in advance.

Yours,

Mr. Poll Police

3. 3Ball MTY - Intentalo

I think this has the potential to be looked back on as a big deal, if it opens the way for more tribal guarachero hits (or possibly other newish Mexican or Latin American dance pop songs). It's a lot newer than it might appear to be. In my opinion tribal isn't just a sub-genre of cumbia, although I can understand people thinking of it that way.

At the very least I'd be happy to hear more music that sounds like this around Albuquerque, and less banda. (Sorry Matt.)

Obviously publishing lists is what critics do, and if it's out on the web it's out on the web, but it would be <cool if this thread turned into everyone just posting their EOY ballot in advance.

yeah fair enough im not sure ill even post my list on my site and figured here was a good enough place. also my ilx ballot will probably look slightly different so

yikes, didn't really mean spam the thread with 4-5 poll results from metal publications we've seen lists from already—in bold even!

i was trying to post lists we hadnt seen in the Sandbox

Okayafrica’s Top 11 Music Videos of 2011

Art Melody “L’ébène Est Dans Le Noir”

Nneka “My Home”

Just A Band “Kichwateli”

Tinariwen & TV On The Radio “Tenere Taqqim Tossam”

Spoek Mathambo “Control”

Blitz The Ambassador “Native Sun”

Lexxus Legal ft. Leslyman “Fauchés”

Buraka Som Sistema “Hangover (BaBaBa)”

Mo Kolours “Biddies”

Die Antwoord “Fok Julle Naaiers”

Ruffest “Siyabenzela”

my 2011 faves. same as my pazz&jop ballot:

http://skotrok.blogspot.com/2011/12/till-world-ends-top-ten-albums-of-2011.html

some other records that i played a lot in 2011. (old stuff)

http://skotrok.blogspot.com/2011/12/some-2011-favorites-that-didnt-come-out.html

Seriously Pitchfork readers?!? Childish Gambino the most underrated album of the year? One of the worst albums lists yet too.

lol pitchfork reader polls are always hilarious and illuminating

3 radiohead songs in the top 50 tracks!

At this point I'm thinking even Stereogum readers are less ridiculous.

no i think that's childish gambino fan central

Ha, I guess I shouldn't used that site as a benchmark since I probably haven't visited it in 6 months now.

http://stereogum.com/908652/the-gummy-awards-your-top-20-indie-rock-crushes-of-2011/the-gummy-awards/

i hope his next album has an "only rapper with an emmy AND a gummy" boast

Think I posted mine in the Sandbox, but WTH:

http://charlieframe.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/my-top-40-albums-of-2011/

1 When Saints Go Machine – Konkylie
2 Jon Hopkins & King Creosote - Diamond Mine
3 Panda Bear – Tomboy
4 Console – Herself
5 Perc – Wicker And Steel
6 Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
7 Death Grips – Exmilitary
8 Various Artists – Bangs & Works Vol.II
9 Art Department – The Drawing Board
10 Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise

http://infobeautiful2.s3.amazonaws.com/top21_albums_550_2.png

Scott- I liked your 2011 essay. Have you ever seen the movie "The Gleaners & I" by Agnes Varda? You might like it - about modern-day foragers in France.

http://www.fastnbulbous.com/lucky11.htm

Top 100 with blurbs for top 13, and genre lists. Here's also my mixes:
Fast 'n' Bulbous Best of 2011 Part 1 [1GB] & Part 2 [902MB], expires Jan. 5.

I love how Pfork readers "best" and "most overrated" albums of the year lists are basically identical

they usually are in readers polls for some reason

this guy links to a bunch of eoy lists (but not several I just sent to him...afropop.org and others)

http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2011/11/2011_yearend_on.html

instead of "the 99%" and "the 1%" in music, it's just one set of 50% that listens to popular stuff and the other 50% thinking that stuff is soooo overrated

99% listens, 1% pays for it

My P&J top 10:

1. Cauldron – Burning Fortune (Earache)
2. Gentlemans Pistols – At Her Majesty’s Pleasure (Rise Above)
3. Nazareth – Big Dogz (Eagle)
4. Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres (Constellation)
5. Randy Montana – Randy Montana (Mercury)
6. John Waite – Rough and Tumble (Frontiers/No Brakes)
7. Carl Marshall – Love Who You Wanna Love (CDS ’10)
8. Blood Ceremony – Living With The Ancients (Rise Above)
9. Them Bird Things – Wildlike Wonder (Playground Music Finland ‘10)
10. Vektor – Outer Isolation (Heavy Artillery)

Posted my top 100 here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/chuck-eddy/my-100-favorite-albums-of-2011/10150668450949338

x-post-
Carl Wilson in Slate(I'd say the emphasis on a "big one" is still relevant)
On that note, it’s worth remembering that chart pop, as diverting a zeitgeist barometer as it can be, is now simply another niche. A big one, but still a specialized sector.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_music_club/features/2011/music_club_2011/best_music_2011_bon_iver_is_unlistenable_.html

carl's posts on there are really good. really liked the last one.

xhuxk, is your list of 100 available anywhere else that doesn't require having a Facebook account?

Not yet (and as somebody who didn't have a fb account until a few months ago, I know how annoying that is), but I'll say so if that changes. Just didn't want to clog up this thread with such a long list.

Scratch that; I just posted it here:

XHUXK'S TOP 100+ ALBUMS OF 2010!

Thanks. Yeah, there's a local vegan restaurant (I'm back to vegan at the moment for (my usual) health reasons) which links to its menu but to see it requires that you log in to Facebook. That's demanding a lot of commitment from their customers.

ayo scott your 2011 albums post is so excellent, for real

ann powers is an amazing writer/thinker obv, but the 'pop music is just another niche' was something i've been thinking a lot when i read her coverage, like i kind of feel like it's being beamed in from a world that exists only in the abstract. like, i don't feel like the existing community of fans that listen to exclusively charting ish is really all that big

(any more)

or i should say, listening to a large percentage of the stuff that is charting; there are probably lots of people who still just listen to charting music, but not MOST music that charts

kind of feel that it's gone the other way in the last couple of years (would've said the same thing a few years ago)

rlly? i feel like historically there were lots of people who just liked whatever was on TRL, but now everyone's sorta more adrift

i def get the feeling that the chart pop community has strengthened and expanded recently - cf online stan culture, the nature of increasingly personality-driven pop, cross-pollination between fanbases etc

i feel like it's more of a cult thing tho -- like, it's solidified online into a 'community' and that community has grown, but that community is also fairly restricted & niche-ish, rather than broad and disconnected like it used to be

isn't the nature of pop stardom to create cults around its stars and creations?

well, i get the impression it's becoming far less restricted/niche-ish among a generation of teenage pop fans for whom classroom culture and online culture must constantly blend

isn't the nature of pop stardom to create cults around its stars and creations?

― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, January 4, 2012 5:51 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

we're talking about, like, constellations of artists. i'm suggesting that while there are people who are like 'top 40 fans,' that is a niche group now, rather than a very general and large group, and while the niche might be growing, it's still small compared w/ the peak TRL era or w/e

well, i get the impression it's becoming far less restricted/niche-ish among a generation of teenage pop fans for whom classroom culture and online culture must constantly blend

― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Wednesday, January 4, 2012 5:56 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

but those people aren't into just top 40 artists, they're into a few charting artists, and a few other artists who have a similar style; a wiz khalifa fan in my theory would be more likely to listen to mac miller even tho his singles aren't top 40 than they would ... i dunno .. hot chelle rae

that the kind of top 40 covered by Ann isn't the kind of music listened to by 'just folks,' it's the kind listened to by a niche of top 40 listeners who define themselves as 'top 40 listeners'

idk i'm spitballin

when you get on the internet do you stop being "just folks"?

i don't think it has to do w/ whether or not you're on the internet, it has to do w/ where you spend your time when you're on it. if you're reading blogs that cover Top 40 Music or gossip blogs centered around straight-up popular ppl (as opposed to, like, genre-specific gossip blogs) then you might be identifying as a 'top 40 fan who listens to top 40 music.' there's more self-definition involved when u have to choose what channels you receive your info from.

whereas it used to be u just sorta experienced pop music w/out trying. the 10-CD people, I suspect, have much more RANDOM experiences with music now -- that they might suddenly become aware of something not-top 40 that they dig, and they just sorta go w/ it, because Top 40 is now competing with other channels for their attentions

i always thought npr employed ann powers on some project bootstrap ish tbh

there's still a huge amount of ppl who consider top 40 to be pretty much all of music, or 'real' music. i think once you even get to a point where you know who ann powers is, you're less likely to be exposed to all the normals who love music but aren't really 'into' music (no better or worse than any other fan of music). i've got a few friends who exclusively listen to top 40, 'nostalgic' top 40 (mariah/janet/tlc), and a few passing trends shared between friends (stuff like mika and sara bareilles and all that, and of course disney soundtracks). it's music for driving, for computer speakers in the background, for clubs. i think this is still how most people digest music, they just don't write in blogs about it.

oh god this whole post sounds like a condescending anthropological study, sorry

I don't think that's actually true though. Now they have facebook feeds and twitter and read a wide variety of websites -- not music blogs or ann powers, but like, gossip blogs that also post music. and they come across all kinds of music that way.

deej have you heard of 'kids'

btw carl wilson linked to something i wrote in that slate piece! cool!

idk what you mean

i dunno it just seems odd that you seem to be denying the existence of the gigantic tween top 40 fanbase that is totally controlling the music industry even more than usual lately, like most of what you're saying seems to be true but mainly for people 18 & over

thought you were talking about mgmt

doesn't stop at tweens tho

this is a really dumb permutation of this particular argument

i dunno it just seems odd that you seem to be denying the existence of the gigantic tween top 40 fanbase that is totally controlling the music industry even more than usual lately, like most of what you're saying seems to be true but mainly for people 18 & over

― we bought a zoo in a hopeless place (some dude), Wednesday, January 4, 2012 7:38 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ahh good pt. yeah i dunno i'm just sorta spitballin
do u think the tween top 40 fanbase likes alla the same shit tho? i'm only somewhat familiar w/ the stuff ann powers covers, also, this was a kneejerk impression i got; it just seemed like her coverage felt kinda detached & anthropological at times or something ? idk. i'm curious how you think the nature of the tween market is, b/c you probably have a better idea than i

my feeling is that in the last couple years there has been a shift of pop (as in popular music) moving more toward pop (as in the genre) -- like first it just seemed like Gaga was the kind of singular, lightening rod act in a role usually occupied by a rapper or a rock band, but now there's this whole increasingly strong web of pop stars that are POP pop but also kind of serving as surrogates for the genres that used to produce major stars. like in the early Britney/BSB era, they were so far removed from R&B and hip hop that there was no sense that whether they sold records had any effect on who else sold records. but now you've got like Bruno Mars and LMFAO taking up the room on the top 10 and the pop stations that used to be occupied by urban crossover hits, the same way that Maroon 5 and OneRepublic etc. have been more popular on the singles charts than any ROCK rock band for years and years.

also top 40 is VERY homogenous right now, it's mostly variations on four-on-the-floor dance pop broken up by the occasional Adele song, so i don't know why it'd be strange to consider that there are millions and millions of people who all like pretty much that whole set of music and little else.

granted i haven't read the ann powers thing so i can't speak to that part of your post

Which explains the popularity of "Pumped Up Kicks" -- a novelty in the context you've drawn.

hmm u make a convincing argument

Yeah if anything there's probably more unity - in terms of lots and lots of people listening to the same songs, albeit not necessarily buying - in pop music than there has been at any time in the last ten years.

I can go to an R&B club, a gay club, a bogan suburban pub, a teenbait top 40 club and a teenbait "commercial dance" club and hear much the same music in all of them.

I kind of agree with D on this - I had very similar thoughts about Powers the other day, that her whole style tells you exactly who she's writing for. The focus on backstory and half-complete sociological musings versus actually saying anything about the music itself, the insertion of anecdotes about parenting and/or shopping at Whole Foods to ground the music-listening in a particular socio-cultural worldview...she is so completely and perfectly NPR, and so perfectly suited to people who buy 10 CDs a year, that they might as well have grown her in a vat.

isnt the argument that pop/top 40 is narrowing its aesthetic a point of favor deej's amorphous feeling that pop itself is becoming genrefied/more niche?

i mean i really do wonder how many people exist for whom 'top 40' is the boundaries of their musical xp other than yeah, v v young ppl. and even then. but i really have no idea where to even find that data, except to say that both nominal and relative # of people who are 'top 40 listeners' for ex is still decreasing? but im not on v solid ground arguing abt this stuff since have zero rl engagement w/ it

you should def keep arguing about it tho

wellllllllll

is he arguing or discussing

The focus on backstory and half-complete sociological musings versus actually saying anything about the music itself, the insertion of anecdotes about parenting and/or shopping at Whole Foods to ground the music-listening in a particular socio-cultural worldview...she is so completely and perfectly NPR, and so perfectly suited to people who buy 10 CDs a year, that they might as well have grown her in a vat.

I disagree with most of this, in part because being a generalist is what writing for a daily newspaper requires -- in 1988 and 2012.

To me it's marvelous that within the confines of a daily newspaper Powers can recommend tuneYARDS, Pistol Annies, Taylor Swift, and have a reasonable discussion about Adele.

we've all, including myself, made snarky remarks over the years about the NPR Tone but insofar as such a thing exists then Ann Powers' voice is a sharp, catholic approximate.

The "grown her in a vat" thing is probably excessively snarky, since I like Ann as a person. But I have long been totally anti generalist music criticism. People who have something to say about everything have nothing to say about anything, is my view.

that's nonsense!

that's really stupid

yeah i mean i don't mind the shopping at whole foods thing, or that she's writing to a generalist audience, i guess it's more that I don't get a sense of what she likes as much as a sense of what she thinks she needs to cover, all of which she's vaguely enthusiastic about, and as a result the coverage is of a fairly rote series of artists I guess? idk I guess I'd just like to see some more personality in it or something

idk I'm probably being unfair. at a certain pt. the job is covering what people are likely to care about. although i'm not sure that explains the tuneyards thing which is p niche right?

fwiw i always find her writing very insightful, this 'critique' is really about some small beans stuff

I argue twice a week with our daily newspaper's film critic, whom I like very much as a guy, but whose opinions I usually dismiss, and it's no secret. But I don't forget for a moment that in this climate -- when the J. Hobermans are losing sinecures all over the place -- the impossible tightrope a film/music critic must walk at a daily or weekly publication. How long can you inveigh against crap before readers turn on you and you get fired?

and I'm not hinting that these critics dilute their opinions or lie about them; it's just that keeping an open ear/eye on what the public consumes is a large part of the job.

I'm not the biggest Ann Powers fan, but can't the insertion of anecdotes about parenting and/or shopping at Whole Foods simply be a means of engaging the reader? If they're good parenting anecdotes--funny, observant, related to the music under discussion, however tangentially (unless they're really good parenting anecdotes, and then I don't even need that)--then great. Truthfully, I'd rather read that than close analysis of the artist's mindset.

I argue twice a week with our daily newspaper's film critic, whom I like very much as a guy, but whose opinions I usually dismiss, and it's no secret. But I don't forget for a moment that in this climate -- when the J. Hobermans are losing sinecures all over the place -- the impossible tightrope a film/music critic must walk at a daily or weekly publication. How long can you inveigh against crap before readers turn on you and you get fired?

― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, January 4, 2012 8:33 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh yeah i mean no question & im certainly not saying she sucks or should be fired

i guess it's this sense that her engagement w/ the pop charts maybe feels a little bit like fronting? like what does she *really* want to be reviewing? and I almost would rather (and i recognize this might threaten job security) know what she just sorta naturally was drawn to

obv i'm making a bunch of assumptions here abt what she 'likes' and 'really likes' but maybe what i'd like to read about & what her paper and her audience more generally want to read about are all difft things

bleh. i mean, i could be entirely misreading her, too.

i think that last part is a really safe assumption to make

No, she really does love chart pop!

i think that last part is a really safe assumption to make

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, January 4, 2012 8:39 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

how abt sharing your ideas instead of sniping, some dude jr.?

cuz i'm watching basketball right now

I've met her twice at EMP and have known her voice since the publication of the Big Orange SPIN Book on alternative rock and she's never been shy about her populist tendencies (her husband's tastes run closer to the other end, although he likes a lot of country).

I love when you two snipe at each other tbh

also i have no idea what article you guys are talking about, so that's another issue

yah i think maybe that's just what i'm bumping up against -- i feel like the way populism enters into my ideas of music is probably v different than hers

i shared lots of ideas itt just now, leave me out of this

in that SPIN guide she wrote about John Cale and Pearl Jam.

among others; I'm just trying to suggest her breadth in 1994.

but yeah i keep trying to find what powers article we're talking about and i guess the wilson slate piece is part of a back-and-forth w/ several people and there are multiple powers pieces in the series, don't know if there's one in particular that kicked this off (xpost)

i was speaking more from a general experience w/ her writing. I think it might just come down to, I have trouble imagining what a reader of ann powers would get from reading someone who puts "top 40" as a central part of their perspective. I guess. that it feels, i dunno, obsequious to an artificial structure, and that i get the feeling that at some point anything that is *that* successful gets treated w/ a geniality that ... idk maybe i'm a bitter person ha but sometimes i like when a person meets a 'system' like the charts and then you find out where they collide and where they coincide and i don't get as much of a friction from her writing

i think that's how i'd put it

haha i just reread and that's very abstract

i suspect only lamp could possibly decode me there

I'm coming from the same place as D on this - more of a general response to her work (as I perceive it; back in '94 I was mostly reading like Forced Exposure and The Wire and Metal Maniacs and totally ignoring Rolling Stone and Spin) than to any particular article. Though that whole Slate music critics' roundtable presents such a narrow idea of what's going on in the world that reading it drives me kinda batshit.

^^^ooh yeah thats a good pt ... it felt very uninvolving to me, like i almost wish that the writers had each found a corner of the world that they really enjoyed this year & talked about it, instead of like, "here's the common ground music we were all supposed to care about" because, like, i don't really care to read what the foremost thinkers in music crit have decided about katy perry! I'd rather just hear Nitsuh tell me what he really liked listening to this year, and explain why, and maybe it would be more like the TV show Check Please! except with music instead of restaurants, so everyone tries out each other's favorite thing & then they discuss from their perspective

It wasn't describing the world -- it wasn't a CIA memo -- it was describing how their choices for best albums related to other developments.

OK, deej's point is a fair one, and it reminds me of the problems with "round tables" in general: it's impossible to control the ebb and flow once it starts.

yeah i mean you can't really gripe that a multi-perspective 'year in review' is too broad and centrist, that's the whole point

there has to be a common ground to talk about but i'd rather it be about interesting corners of the music world than the pop charts entirely

i'm sure all of them were very interested in talking about the weeknd, that's more 'interesting' than katy perry, right

well no, but one of nitsuh's fav rap records was kendrick lamar, and i think it would be really interesting to see ann powers tackle that, and i'm much more interested in reading a person that smart engaging w/ something i find interesting (and i just used that example b/c its in my wheelhouse but this could easily apply to stuff i haven't heard as well)

i mean, i guess it could easily be katy perry too, if ann felt very strongly about katy perry; i just didn't get the feeling we were reading about what the critics really liked, just what they were obligated to cover

yes it would be very fascinating if everyone talked about blog rap mo- zzzzzzzzzzz

kendrick is 'blog rap' to you, really?

everything is blog rap now -- i just mean rap that isn't fully in mainstream pop culture

im just saying i'd rather get the feeling that the critics were talking about something they were really interested in instead of centering around this idea of 'pop' as if pop music right now is the only music a big smart critic would talk about

of course in the real world this would likely end up w/ them just covering indie instead i guess so maybe ur right

but in my world, it's like, one dude suggests a jazz cd, someone suggests a hip-hop one, another a mainstream pop etc. and they all discuss those. i dunno, just thought it'd be more interesting to me than, like, well, let's tackle the pop charts.

a lot of stuff in that slate series is not very 'pop' or popular, and i don't get much of a sense that anybody is writing about pop music more than before because it's the thing to do. lots of critics still write exclusively about underground/niche stuff and always will, and people that can write about top 40 without being completely dismissive and condescending will save the others the trouble of coming down off their perches.

in one of them, powers writes about azealia banks and shabazz palaces, if you're dying to see her engage with rap that isn't on the pop charts that she's enthusiastic about

those arent rap lol

Though that whole Slate music critics' roundtable presents such a narrow idea of what's going on in the world that reading it drives me kinda batshit

haha srsly although as some dude points out the format tends to make discussions both disjointed and scleratic and so its hard to find a way to engage with the discussion, its this uncomfortable feeling of hearing someone talking abt a book you just read on the subway or s.thing

oh i didn't realise deej was getting at, like, a referendum on ann powers specifically. i love her writing and think she's easily one of the smartest critics out there, and i actually get way more of a sense of her own character and tastes than i usually do. how is her generalism any more "fronting" than, say, nitsuh's relentless reasonableness and unwillingness to really go in on an act you can tell he dislikes?

this ann powers piece on "authenticity" and "character" in pop is one of the smartest things i read last year, gonna submit it to the da capo book - http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/10/26/141735626/whos-still-jenny-from-the-block-an-examination-of-autobiography-in-pop - and it's definitely not a bland, generalist move to just go ahead and use jennifer lopez and tom waits as your examples in the same column w/o justifying yourself to r*ckist readers.

i wish more writers used quotidian anecdotes tbh (even though whole foods sucks) - it helps root your assessments in your own personal listening experience, which is how it should be, rather than pretending they exist in some vacuum of objectivity. kat stevens does this really well on the jukebox.

maybe i get more of a sense of her tastes b/c i know she's a massive tori amos stan? there aren't many of us left. (taking notice of tori amos in 2012 is itself hardly a pandering move.)

im just saying i'd rather get the feeling that the critics were talking about something they were really interested in instead of centering around this idea of 'pop' as if pop music right now is the only music a big smart critic would talk about

oh LOL at this, this is exactly what happens but the critics who centre around "pop" are few and far between. compared to the legion of critics who blindly follow ~buzz~ (whether indie or otherwise tbh, cf your own "critics must talk about x because it's in The Conversation), powers comes off like a total maverick.

how is her generalism any more "fronting" than, say, nitsuh's relentless reasonableness and unwillingness to really go in on an act you can tell he dislikes?

haha. i can't say i haven't seen this sometimes from him too -- i never claimed ann powers was the only critic i've disagreed with!

thanks for the links tho i'll check it out

oh LOL at this, this is exactly what happens but the critics who centre around "pop" are few and far between. compared to the legion of critics who blindly follow ~buzz~ (whether indie or otherwise tbh, cf your own "critics must talk about x because it's in The Conversation), powers comes off like a total maverick.

― all i see is angels in my eyes (lex pretend), Thursday, January 5, 2012 2:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i feel like she's just shifting the buzz towards yet another received wisdom, though, this time in favor of crowds rather than critics, so I don't really see it as an 'improvement' on people who only follow buzz at the end of the day, even if my particularly tastes are closer on that spectrum

i'd rather see how someone contrasts with a system, where the rough edges are as much as where they go with the flow; to me it's the tension between those two that makes writing exciting (& I certainly don't think Ann doesn't do that ever, or something; I guess I really just meant that sometimes I wish there was a little less "ahh genial acceptance of what is popular" & a lil more ... fight. or like, that her taste didnt seem quite as tied to pop

this is a criticism only as it relates to my relationship to her writing; it doesn't mean i think she's doing a bad job, it's just that it limits my level of interest

and again this is on a small scale, because I still read her stuff, and I think she's a great critic the same way I do Nitsuh

i don't see any genial acceptance of anything in her writing - she was one of the few critics to go against the odd future buzz early on, and she quite obviously highlights acts she's fond of within her generalist remit, so i do get a sense of her own taste constellation. (she's great on female singer-songwriters, for instance.) why is her taste being tied to pop any better or worse than if it was tied to rap or indie?

this is something that all outlets' lead writers have to do to an extent - they have to cover the biggest albums/artists out. what i hate is when they do that while obviously holding their nose, and just end up regurgitating snark at easy targets (or withholding vitriol from hyped acts). with powers i get the impression she genuinely enjoys what she bigs up, and doesn't really follow any received wisdom. if you've got examples that demonstrate otherwise feel free to link, i don't religiously read her work (though she ranks high on "writers whose links i'll click on twitter if i see them")

odd future aren't a charting pop act so that's not really what I'm talking about.

why is her taste being tied to pop any better or worse than if it was tied to rap or indie?

And clearly it's got to be one of the three, because pop, rap and indie make up all the music in the world.

I understand the emphasis on covering pop, rap, and indie, but yes it was kinda frustrating reading this roundtable and not seeing any token outliers mentioned (and I would be ok with one of them saying "hey this is not as buzzed about but i like...) --metal, afropop, mainstream rock, regional thug rap, southern soul, jazz...Nabisco mentioned briefly Austra but that's kinda Pitchforky

"hey this is not as buzzed about but i like...)"

exactly

The Voice had a similar interesting roundtable but with the same problem. One writer mentioned liking Korean pop but then went back to talking about Drake on and on and on.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/columns/sotc_roundtable/

http://www.frootsmag.com/content/critpoll/

1. June Tabor & Oysterband Ragged Kingdom (Topic)
2. Fatoumata Diawara Fatou (World Circuit)
3. Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down (Nonesuch)
4. Juju (Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara) In Trance (Real World)
5. Gillian Welch The Harrow And The Harvest (Acony/Warner Bros)
6. Jackie Oates Saturnine (ECC)
7= Aurelio Laru Beya (Real World)
Mary Hampton Folly (Teaspoon)
Aziz Sahmaoui University Of Gnawa (General Pattern)
10= Tinariwen Tassili (V2/Anti)
Abigail Washburn City Of Refuge (Rounder)

The title of that Ry Cooder album always makes me think it's a Captain Beefheart tribute compilation.

my top 50 :

http://falcaodanoite.blogspot.com/2011/12/compras-2.html

^^ introduction blurb in portuguese, but it's not that important all in all.

http://africasacountry.com/2011/12/22/10-albums/#more-39216

Weird list of last.fm most listened to:
http://www.last.fm/bestof/2011/artists?limit=100

Peter Gabriel! Alkaline Trio! Mogwai!

where's New Order? Don't tell me ILM is out of touch with the real world?????

Wow, I've heard of barely any of the 'most listened to artists first scrobbled in 2011'.

lol @ Wugazi

20. Mange Makers

comedy, avant-garde, derp

11,332 listeners

^ please let me never hear this ever

He posts quite a bit here iirc

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/126s/61692077.gif

Nyan Cat

nyan cat, brutal black metal, nyan

lol http://www.last.fm/tag/brutal%20black%20metal

For posterity:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6680059147_5bff4966b1.jpg

This list is amazing. Britain's answer to Smoove B:
http://www.last.fm/music/Starboy+Nathan

2011: the year nu-crabcore broke:
http://www.last.fm/music/Design+The+Skyline

is there a rolling last.fm thread this year?

pop, fun fun fun fun, legend

I've never even heard of Natalia Kills or Christina Perri.

is there a thread for best mix/ mixtape/mix album in general of 2011? couln't find one

christina perri had the song about the jar of hearts that 'broke' on so you think you can dance

very musical-theatric

"jar of hearts" is seriously one of the worst songs i've ever heard but the follow-up was surprisingly tolerable. she's definitely not so famous that anyone should worry about not having heard of her, though.

So how do they end up in the Last.fm top 10 then? (Which I guess is a way of asking, what are Last.fm's biases?)

I don't know if there are biases, just the number of times people listen to these songs on a device that scrobbles (or tracks) each listen.

"Jar Of Hearts" was a big adult contempo hit, was #55 on the year-end Hot 100 list, so i mean...it was a popular mainstream song, it just i guess had a bigger impact on whatever lastfm's demo is than w/ other audiences. (xpost)

xp Right: but do Last.fm users skew to a particular demographic? (I'm guessing they're disproportionately young and British.)

well i mean there HAS to be some demographic skewing, whether we can summarize it in 2 or 3 words or not.

Like, it is also kind of amazing to me that someone like James Blake could be in the Last.fm top 20. But maybe it shouldn't be, I dunno.

I guess I just remember looking at Audioscrobbler/Last.fm charts five years ago and it was all Coldplay/Muse/Green Day/RHCP.

Yeah I misread your post jaymc, I think overall it definitely skews young, but afaik its distributed pretty widely around the world - I notice users from lots of different places.

xp OK so I guess that is still essentially true of its weekly chart: Beatles, Radiohead, Adele, Rihanna, etc. So now I'm just confused how some seemingly less-popular acts make the year-end rankings.

E.g., the only artist in this week's Top 100 that I haven't heard of is Avicii, down at #78.

well i mean, the overwhelming majority of people listening to music on earth do not 'scrobble,' so of course you're gonna get statistical hiccups like The Strokes being the 7th most popular artist of 2011. not much we can really do or say about that beyond making the obvious jokes and generalizations.

it's possible that those lesser-known artists on the yearly list each have REALLY dedicated cults that just listen to their favorite acts more consistently over the course of the whole year than people who listen to less music or use lastfm less or something.

well i mean, the overwhelming majority of people listening to music on earth do not 'scrobble,' so of course you're gonna get statistical hiccups like The Strokes being the 7th most popular artist of 2011. not much we can really do or say about that beyond making the obvious jokes and generalizations.

Yeah, I get this. Like I said, I was mostly confused b/c when I've glanced at Last.fm charts in the past (which I guess were just the weekly ones), it was mostly full of mainstream and big indie artists.

Strokes at #7 isn't that shocking to me. James Blake and the Vaccines (whoever they are) in the top 20 is.

it's possible that those lesser-known artists on the yearly list each have REALLY dedicated cults that just listen to their favorite acts more consistently over the course of the whole year than people who listen to less music or use lastfm less or something.

Possibly?

Actually, is it possible that Last.fm's Top Artists of the Year only counts tracks released in 2011? That would explain the absence of some of the classic-rock artists that routinely show up in the weekly charts.

i dunno if you asked me "who had a good year among music fans on the internet in 2011," James Blake's name would come up a LOT faster than The Strokes

i think you're EXACTLY right about that list being only people who released music in 2011 (whether the figures only count their new music or all their music, i have no idea)

James Blake had a bigger year among music critics/nerds on the Internet, but I am not so sure about the broader pool of "fans."

i dunno, this is a worldwide list! he had pop hits in a few countries!

afaict the strokes didn't really have a top 10 hit anywhere last year

he had pop hits in a few countries!

OK, I guess I didn't realize quite how popular he was in the UK/Europe. #1 album in Flanders, huh.

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-Dean-s-List-Christgau-s-Best-of-2011/ba-p/6657

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/Dad-Rock-Makes-a-Stand/ba-p/6659

Christgau's year-end essay

"sleeper hit" isn't really the right description for an album that debuted at #1 with 300k copies sold, stayed there for a week and then returned a few weeks later

is there a thread for best mix/ mixtape/mix album in general of 2011? couln't find one

― Sébastien, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:20 (Yesterday) Bookmark

It's this http://dismagazine.com/disco/mixes/14817/nguzunguzu-the-perfect-lullaby/

2 albums by Wussy in the Christgau top 10. I think I listened to one song of theirs once. Maybe I should give them more listening time.

afaict the only fans Wussy has on earth are Christgau and his disciples

Yep.

Predictable from me I know, but I like checking out the various African releases he includes. Usually he has some in his top 20, but this year they seem further down. He and Jon Pareles from the NY Times give love to afropop.

Plastic People of the Universe put out an album recently?

I was not aware of that either

The Plastic People record on his list came out in mid-2010. I wonder if it's placement has to do with Havel's passing.

That sounds like something Christgau would do, though it could just be that he heard it late and liked it a lot.

Havel's death might have brought them to mind and he checked out their latest. Who knows.

there are over a dozen 2010 records that he presumably first heard in 2011 peppered throughout the list, all with "'10" noted in parentheses

He's written about the Plastic People a fair amount over the years as well (so whenever he became aware of it, it's not surprising it would make his list)

Nice year-end show here:
http://radio.maximumrocknroll.com/mrrradio1278/

Been a loyal listener ever since they introduced me to Kitchen's Floor.

James Delingpole's Records of the Year 2011

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know (Virgin)
Kate Bush – Director’s Cut (Fish People)
Seasick Steve – You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks (Play It Again Sam)
Jack Cheshire – Copenhagen (Safety First)
David J Roch – Skin & Bones (Dram Music)
Paul Kalkbrenner – Ich Wieder (Rough Trade)
Cashier No. 9 – To The Death Of Fun (Bella Union)
Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow (Fish People)
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (Island)
Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi – Rome (Parlophone)
The Pierces – You & I (Polydor)
Other Lives – Tamer Animals (Play It Sam)

http://jamesdelingpole.com/images/logo.png

Christgau has the 2010 Extra Lens album on his list but not he 2011 Mountain Goats one. Weird.

All critics of ILM, please apply your critical faculties to voting in the end-of-year poll! If you've already done a 2011 list for somewhere else it's double-easy: just check which of your choices have been nominated and send off a ballot.

ann powers agrees with me now ...

Congrats. But what did she say or write that prompted this?

Check her fb

ah, now I get it

She is arguing that over the years now the media has gotten worse and only covers tiny subset of pop stars;

Yeah a trend her coverage has been more or less emblematic of since ... this thread

That’s not fair to her entirely ofc, I don’t think she didn’t cover interesting or niche or whatever stuff (I only followed so closely) — But it was def an underlying uhh ... dynamic I feel like I was trying to get at in this thread

She’s gotten more into roots Americana stuff since moving to Nashville ( but she’s missing out on less hyped southern soul, zydeco, blues, brass band , whatever Americana)