2013 Album of the Year Voting Thread - Voting ends Sunday 1/19

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omgkitty said:
I really want to talk about The Quietus' picks for their 100 albums of the year. Should I do it here or make a thread? Don't want to make a thread if there's no interest, but fuck their list is just so damn annoying, I need to vent about it.

http://thequietus.com/articles/13960-albums-of-the-year-2013
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They really really overrated the Don Christian and Suede albums IMO, but not the worst I've seen. Also A$AP Rocky over Ferg this year is a grave injustice, and so high that's ridiculous. Their hip-hop tastes are so one-note it's quite sad. Don't really agree with much of their top twenty either.
 
There's plenty more out there worth hearing than what's listed here, but I felt like focusing on my favourites. Been a good year I think.

01 | Italians Do It Better | After Dark 2
02 | Tennis | Small Sound
03 | The Field | Cupid's Head
04 | Sky Ferreira | Night Time, My Time
05 | Action Bronson & Party Supplies | Blue Chips 2
06 | Waxahatchee | Cerulean Salt
07 | Omar S | Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself
08 | Minks | Tides End
09| Darkside | Psychic
10 | Disclosure | Settle
11 | inc. | No World
12 | My Bloody Valentine | m b v
13 | Thee Oh Sees | Floating Coffin
14 | FaltyDL | Hardcourage
15 | Chance The Rapper | Acid Rap

Interesting how my tastes have changed since I got out of college. Five years ago this sort of list would have been nothing but rock with a touch of hip-hop.
 
HiResDes said:
They really really overrated the Don Christian and Suede albums IMO, but not the worst I've seen. Also A$AP Rocky over Ferg this year is a grave injustice, and so high that's ridiculous. Their hip-hop tastes are so one-note it's quite sad. Don't really agree with much of their top twenty either.
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Whoa Suede? They have been shit for a decade+ and their latest album is no exception.
 
HiResDes said:
They really really overrated the Don Christian and Suede albums IMO, but not the worst I've seen. Also A$AP Rocky over Ferg this year is a grave injustice, and so high that's ridiculous. Their hip-hop tastes are so one-note it's quite sad. Don't really agree with much of their top twenty either.
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I just love how they specifically say they're pretentious in their forward, after they specify what makes humans different from animals. I mean fuck, this is a damn best of year end list. I honestly can't help but feel they overlook a lot of music for the sole purpose that it is popular. Anyone who gives shit to Pitchfork for their tastes has never read The Quietus. I applaud them for listening and reviewing different things, but fuck some of their choices are eclectic just for the fuck of it. Hell, they put Factory Floor at number 4. I really like that album, probably a hell of a lot more than most people, but it's not in my top 5 for the year, and probably not the top 10 either.
 
I agree with you there though, Vampire Weekend sucks.

wfVhN.gif
 
01 | Daft Punk | Random Access Memories
"Contact"

02 | David Bowie | The Next Day
"I'd Rather be High"

03 | Shuggie Otis | Inspiration Information / Wings of Love
Funk Soul Pop
"Aht Uh Mi Head"

04 | Charles Bradley | Victim of Love
Funk Soul Pop
"You Put The Flame on It"

05 | Quadron | Avalanche
Soul / Lo fi / Pop
"LFT (Looking for Trouble)"

06 | Pearl Jam | Lightning Bolt
"Sirens"

07 | Sigur Ros | Kveikur
"Stormr"

08 | Various Artists | Django Soundtrack
"Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable)"

09 | Valerie June | Pushin' Against a Stone
Rock Roots
"Workin' Woman Blues"

10 | Talib Kweli | Prisoner of Conscious
Hip Hop
"It Only Gets Better"



Best find from yester-year:

00 | Dark Sun Riders feat. Brother J | Seeds of Evolution
G funk era raps
"Soulful Ascension"

In closing: Year of the returns for me it seems.
 
Gotta post 10 or your entries won't be counted. Great shout to Bowie though. Noel was right, his album had no right being so great at this stage.
 
I don't see how it's possible to think VW outright sucks... They're definitely one of the most overhyped bands of the last several years and are generally pretty mediocre. But the album does have a couple good songs. Nowhere near list-worthy, but it's alright to listen to if its on.
 
omgkitty said:
I just love how they specifically say they're pretentious in their forward, after they specify what makes humans different from animals. I mean fuck, this is a damn best of year end list. I honestly can't help but feel they overlook a lot of music for the sole purpose that it is popular. Anyone who gives shit to Pitchfork for their tastes has never read The Quietus. I applaud them for listening and reviewing different things, but fuck some of their choices are eclectic just for the fuck of it. Hell, they put Factory Floor at number 4. I really like that album, probably a hell of a lot more than most people, but it's not in my top 5 for the year, and probably not the top 10 either.
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I'm still not really sure what it is that's so annoying to you about their list. Of course it won't have most of the "popular" albums on it, that's not their forte nor is it what their audience is particularly interested in; I wouldn't flip open a new issue of the Wire and expect to see a review for Reflektor or whatever.

All that stuff - outsider techno, noise, drone, ambient, the big "experimental" umbrella, etc - has as much of a place being mentioned as anything else. Some people, myself included, spend a significant amount of time listening to music in that spectrum and a big year-end list is pretty neat to read through because so much is easily overlooked or forgotten due to the minimal (if any) exposure these releases get. If something makes that kind of noticeable impact on a person during the year, I'm interested in reading why and hearing it for myself.

As for the scattered dance, pop or hip-hop appearances, that's another fairly common detour. A guy can only handle so many harsh synths and dour atmospherics before you've gotta mix things up a little and listen to some beats and fun lyrics. It isn't so much willful pretension as simple reality. And I mean, different things resonate in different ways for everyone. idk anything about Factory Floor, but if they agree it's rad enough to be at the top like that, then so what? How boring if all these rankings were just minor variations on each other.
 
Gotta post 10 or your entries won't be counted. Great shout to Bowie though. Noel was right, his album had no right being so great at this stage.
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It almost knocked out Daft Punk for me, but I feel their album is some straight up "Dark Side of the Moon" material.

Just my opinion.
 
Cosmic Bus said:
I'm still not really sure what it is that's so annoying to you about their list. Of course it won't have most of the "popular" albums on it, that's not their forte nor is it what their audience is particularly interested in; I wouldn't flip open a new issue of the Wire and expect to see a review for Reflektor or whatever.

All that stuff - outsider techno, noise, drone, ambient, the big "experimental" umbrella, etc - has as much of a place being mentioned as anything else. Some people, myself included, spend a significant amount of time listening to music in that spectrum and a big year-end list is pretty neat to read through because so much is easily overlooked or forgotten due to the minimal (if any) exposure these releases get. If something makes that kind of noticeable impact on a person during the year, I'm interested in reading why and hearing it for myself.

As for the scattered dance, pop or hip-hop appearances, that's another fairly common detour. A guy can only handle so many harsh synths and dour atmospherics before you've gotta mix things up a little and listen to some beats and fun lyrics. It isn't so much willful pretension as simple reality. And I mean, different things resonate in different ways for everyone. idk anything about Factory Floor, but if they agree it's rad enough to be at the top like that, then so what? How boring if all these rankings were just minor variations on each other.
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I agree with what you're saying, but they go through and review all the same albums as everyone else, plus the obscure stuff. They go through and shit on Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Deerhunter, Daft Punk, The National etc.....For a site with only 4 people, why even bother reviewing it in the first place? Now I know they're a website that reviews music, and that's their job, but if you see someone like Pitchfork, they review an album once, shit on it, and move on. They took a huge fucking dump all over Chidlish Gambino's first record, and they're not going to bother reviewing the new one. Why? Because they don't need to. If you have a site that fits a core, niche audience, then review for your audience. Don't review all these things you think are mediocre and below your "refined tastes". Also, for a site that does review ambient and drone and all that stuff, the fact that Tim Hecker didn't make the list is a travesty. That album is gorgeous.
 
omgkitty said:
I agree with what you're saying, but they go through and review all the same albums as everyone else, plus the obscure stuff. They go through and shit on Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Deerhunter, Daft Punk, The National etc.....For a site with only 4 people, why even bother reviewing it in the first place? Now I know they're a website that reviews music, and that's their job, but if you see someone like Pitchfork, they review an album once, shit on it, and move on. They took a huge fucking dump all over Chidlish Gambino's first record, and they're not going to bother reviewing the new one. Why? Because they don't need to. If you have a site that fits a core, niche audience, then review for your audience. Don't review all these things you think are mediocre and below your "refined tastes". Also, for a site that does review ambient and drone and all that stuff, the fact that Tim Hecker didn't make the list is a travesty. That album is gorgeous.
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Yeah, and I can agree that reviewing behavior is immature, albeit good for an occasional laugh -- I'm not a regular reader of the site, but if I were to check it and come across them savaging Daft Punk, I would admittedly stop and get some chuckles out of it. On a regular basis, though? Certainly feeding an attitude of wankery that you're rightfully taking issue with. Ultimately, this doesn't have any effect on the list itself, however, and I could only take issue with it if there were, like, a separate "worst shit of the year" post or something.

Re: Hecker, I know opinions are somewhat split on the album. It's pretty, for sure, but never elicits any real emotion or response from me. Dude is good at what he does, but it kinda felt like just going through the motions at this point. Different strokes and all.
 
omgkitty said:
I agree with what you're saying, but they go through and review all the same albums as everyone else, plus the obscure stuff. They go through and shit on Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Deerhunter, Daft Punk, The National etc.....For a site with only 4 people, why even bother reviewing it in the first place? Now I know they're a website that reviews music, and that's their job, but if you see someone like Pitchfork, they review an album once, shit on it, and move on. They took a huge fucking dump all over Chidlish Gambino's first record, and they're not going to bother reviewing the new one. Why? Because they don't need to. If you have a site that fits a core, niche audience, then review for your audience. Don't review all these things you think are mediocre and below your "refined tastes". Also, for a site that does review ambient and drone and all that stuff, the fact that Tim Hecker didn't make the list is a travesty. That album is gorgeous.
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I agree with your general Queitus dislike, but disagree with this. Of Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Deerhunter, Daft Punk, and The National, I only like one of their releases this year (VW), and the rest were mediocre as hell. If I did a top 100 Arcade Fire would probably make it and the others definitely wouldn't. But you know what? I will totally still listen to them in the future. I will totally still post dope singles to my blog. And if I ran a fully fledged music site I would totally still review their future albums in full when they drop.

The easiest way to explain it would be that I hated, hated hated hated Vampire Weekend up until Modern Vampires of the City. Like those first two records made me want to run my head through a machine press. But I kept listening, because an album only takes two hours max to run through (I got time, man) and I'm always down for someone to impress me. And VW impressed the hell out of me this year. That's a cool feeling to have. An artist surprising you with a record is one of the best feelings you can get in music.

All of that being said Quietus always came off as try-hards and poseurs. Same with Coke Machine Glow. I was way into both back in the day before I woke up and stopped being a little dipshit.

Fjordson said:
09| Darkside | Psychic
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Yo whoever was bumping this in Plug last night, you're doing God's work. I've been on Psychic all day and it's going to make its way onto my list. I don't think FKA twigs will, even though it's pretty dope. Charli and like...Quasimoto, Oneohtrix Point Never, Toro...all still might as well. Just need to think it through some more.
 
1. Queens of the Stoneage : ....Like Clockwork
2. Local Natives : Hummingbird
3. Janelle Monae: The Electric Lady
4. Arctic Monkeys: AM
5. The National : Trouble Will Find Me
6. Alter Bridge : Fortress
7. Justin Timberlake : 20/20 Complete Experience
8. David Bowie : The Next Day
9. Lorde Pure : Heroine
10. John Legend : Love In The Future
11. Haim : Day Are Gone
12. Alice In Chains : The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
13. Vampire Weekend : Modern Vampires In The City
14. Mayer Hawthorne : Where Does This Door Go
15. Nick Cave : Push The Sky Away
16. Arcade Fire : Reflektor
17. The Civil Wars : The Civil Wars
18. Katie Melua : Ketevan
19. Killer Mike & El-P : Run The Jewels
20. The Dillinger Escape Plan : One Of Us Is The Killer
21. Sting : The Last ship
22. Drake Nothing Was The Same
 
The new Deerhunter is great, no idea why everyone seems to be overlooking it.

I mean I'll be the first to admit most of my list is pretty pleb, but I can't help that I reflexively like things.
 
1. Random Access Memories | Daft Punk
2. Bankrupt! | Phoenix
3. MMLP2 | Eminem
4. Free the Universe | Major Lazer
5. The Golden Age | Woodkid
6. Weapon | Skinny Puppy
7. Yeezus | Kanye West
8. Nothing Was the Same | Drake
9. Bitter Rivals | Sleigh Bells
10. Knock Madness | Hopsin
 
equippedwithtowel said:
The new Deerhunter is great, no idea why everyone seems to be overlooking it.

I mean I'll be the first to admit most of my list is pretty pleb, but I can't help that I reflexively like things.
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I was really into Monomania when it came out. I didn't actually start really getting into Deerhunter until earlier this year and I racked up over 1000 plays on Last.fm for them in about a month. When Monomania leaked, I played the hell out of it for a few weeks and then completely stopped. Tried going back to it recently, and I still like it, but it no longer clicks with me.

I've had a real issue with that lately. There's a lot of albums I've really enjoyed this year, that I spent a whole lot of time with, listening to them over and over for days on end, and for whatever reason they just don't resonate with me as much now. Makes putting my list together much harder. I try to listen to newer stuff, but find myself going back to something like Chromatics or Joy Division because it just resonates with me more right now. I have to be in the mood for something, and sometimes a certain album just feels right to me in that moment.

I really need to go back and listen to Psychic by Darkside again and see how I feel about it. I really got into that album on a deep personal level where it was all I was listening to for close to a month, and I thought for sure it would be my album of the year. At one point though I had to stop because I started to realize that I had attached these feelings of jealousy and deceit towards it that I was feeling whenever I listened to it. I was going through a rough time the entire time I was listening to it, and I don't know if I can go back without feeling that again.
 
It's my least favorite Deerhunter album, and I kind of wish Bradford would just stick to his Atlas Sound thing from now on
 
HiResDes said:
It's my least favorite Deerhunter album, and I kind of wish Bradford would just stick to his Atlas Sound thing from now on
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Parallax was really fucking good, and I also loved Lockett Pundt's Spooky Action at a Distance, so I don't think I'd be too torn up over them doing more solo stuff.
 
12| Kanye West | Yeezus
11| Tyler The Creator | Wolf
10| RAC | Don't Talk To
9| Justin Timberlake | The 20/20 Experience
8| Local Natives | Hummingbird
7| Chance the Rapper | Acid Rap
6| Arctic Monkeys | AM
5| Toro Y Moi | Anything In Return
4| Daft Punk | Random Access Memories
3| Childish Gambino | Because the Internet
2| Vampire Weekend | Modern Vampires of the City
1| Phoenix | Bankrupt
 
Let's see . .

01 | The National | Trouble Will Find Me
02 | Chance The Rapper | Acid Rap
03 | Arcade Fire | Reflektor
04 | Kanye West | Yeezus
05 | Vampire Weekend | Modern Vampires of the City
06 | Danny Brown | Old
07 | Los Campesinos! | No Blues
08 | Drake | Nothing Was The Same
09 | Phosphorescent | Muchacho
10 | HAIM | Days Are Gone
 
omgkitty said:
I was really into Monomania when it came out. I didn't actually start really getting into Deerhunter until earlier this year and I racked up over 1000 plays on Last.fm for them in about a month. When Monomania leaked, I played the hell out of it for a few weeks and then completely stopped. Tried going back to it recently, and I still like it, but it no longer clicks with me.

I've had a real issue with that lately. There's a lot of albums I've really enjoyed this year, that I spent a whole lot of time with, listening to them over and over for days on end, and for whatever reason they just don't resonate with me as much now. Makes putting my list together much harder. I try to listen to newer stuff, but find myself going back to something like Chromatics or Joy Division because it just resonates with me more right now. I have to be in the mood for something, and sometimes a certain album just feels right to me in that moment.

I really need to go back and listen to Psychic by Darkside again and see how I feel about it. I really got into that album on a deep personal level where it was all I was listening to for close to a month, and I thought for sure it would be my album of the year. At one point though I had to stop because I started to realize that I had attached these feelings of jealousy and deceit towards it that I was feeling whenever I listened to it. I was going through a rough time the entire time I was listening to it, and I don't know if I can go back without feeling that again.
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Are you me?

Pretty much parallels the year I've been having.

The main reason I push MVOTC that much is it pretty much got s weird period of positive emotions attached to it, so it's way more listenable to me than many other great albums this year. Same with Yeezus tbh, summer albums tend to get a unfair boost - I for one blame canadian winters.
 
The National and Justin Timberlake might be getting a little sentimental boost from me but for the most part I try to examine albums "objectively". My most played albums of the year are not necessarily the highest placers.
 
1. KANYE WEST_YEEZUS
Yeezus.png


2. PUSHA T_MY NAME IS MY NAME
pusha-t-mnimn-cover-1.jpg


3. DAFT PUNK_RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES
daft-punk-random-access-memories-cover.jpg


4. FLUME_FLUME DELUXE EDITION
Flume-Flume-Deluxe-Edition-album-artwork.jpg


5. CHILDISH GAMBINO_BECAUSE THE INTERNET
e31nc2i.gif


6. GESAFFELSTEIN_ALEPH
Gesaffelstein+Aleph+Artwork+FINAL+555x555.jpg


7. DANNY BROWN_OLD
danny-brown-old.jpg


8. 2 CHAINZ_BOATS 2
2-chainz-boats-2.jpg


9. DISCLOSURE_SETTLE
disclosure-settle-artwork-4.16.jpg


10. KID CUDI_INDICUD
indicud.jpg


11. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE_20/20 EXPERIENCE: PART 1

12. RL GRIME_HIGH BEAMS EP

13. THE NINETYS_THE NINETYS EP

14. KEYS N KRATES_ SOLOW EP

15. MEEK MILL_DREAMCHASERS 3

16. A$AP FERG_TRAP LORD

17. MURAMASA_MURAMASA

18. MR CARMACK_BANG, VOL.3

19. EIGHTH SUPPLY_BORDERLINES EP

20. BIG SEAN_HALL OF FAME
 
01 | Run the Jewels | Run the Jewels
02 | Kanye West | Yeezus
03 | CHVRCHES | The Bones of What You Believe
04 | Data Romance | Other
05 | Aivi & Surasshu | The Black Box
06 | Danny Brown | Old
07 | Chance the Rapper | Acid Rap
08 | Daft Punk | Random Access Memories
09 | Death Grips | Government Plates
10 | Ellie Goulding | Halcyon Days


Quick list, may change after giving some of the albums listed in here a try or if I remember something.
 
01 | Kanye West - Yeezus
02 | My Bloody Valentine - mbv
03 | Haim - Days Are Gone
04 | Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
05 | M.I.A - Matangi
06 | The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
07 | Phoenix - Bankrupt!
08 | Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
09 | Savages - Silence Yourself
10 | Smith Westerns - Soft Will
 
Big ups to Thursday War. Didn't expect to see Mr Carmack's dopeness here. Gotta work that into my list. He's been posting some amazing shit to soundcloud lately.
 
01 | Baths | Obsidian
02 | Sky Ferreira | Night Time, My Time
03 | James Blake | Overgriwn
04 | Kanye West | Yeezus
05 | Vampire Weekend | Modern Vampires of the City
06 | The Field | Cupid's Head
07 | Bonobo | The North Borders
08 | Jon Hopkins | Immunity
09 | Ryan Hemsworth | Guilt Trips
10 | Emancipator | Dusk to Dawn
 
01. Baths - Obsidian
02. CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe In
03. Woodkid - The Golden Age
04. Toro Y Moi - Anything In Return
05. Kanye West - Yeezus
06. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
07. Disclosure - Settle
08. Keep Shelly in Athens - At Home
09. Trentemoller - Lost
10. Mum - Smilewound
11. Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
12. M.I.A. - Matangi
13. James Blake - Overgrown
14. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
15. How To Destroy Angels - Welcome oblivion
16. Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
17. Glasser - Interiors
18. Empire Of The Sun - Ice On The Dune
19. Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus
20. The Weeknd - Kissland
21. NEEON - Neeonovum
22. Danny Brown - Old
23. Radical Face - The Family Tree: The Branches
24. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
25. Gesaffelstein - Aleph
 
i think its just one of those things people put on their top 10s just because they see other people putting it on their top 10s, theres probably a lot of people putting james holden, ohneotrix point never, tim hecker etc. on their lists without having listened to the full albums.
these lists should really be a balance between personal enjoyment and analysis of significance to music and culture as a whole (genre pushing, etc)
 
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