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

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?