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irreduciblekoan

Lots of albums that get released at the very end of the year get put on the EOY lists for the next year by publications. So if NME would have put the new Big Boi album on their "Best Albums of 2012" list, they'll just end up putting the Big Boi album on their "Best Albums of 2013&quo...

irreduciblekoan

Sigh... I guess it was too much to ask for Death Grips, Dan Deacon and Nas to do well. Great reviews, but now mostly forgotten.

irreduciblekoan

Man, Django Django, Bill Fay, and Sharon van Etten are going to perform surprisingly well on the spreadsheet. Since I loved all three, it's a pleasant surprise.

irreduciblekoan

Yep, my favorite time of the year! Though perhaps a mixed blessing for Henrik, Harold and the others who do all the spreadsheet work. An early THANK YOU for their efforts!

irreduciblekoan

Couldn't resist, I listened to the Kendrick Lamar "Good Kid m.A.A.d city" leak. Wow! Hip-hop album of the year.

irreduciblekoan

The new Godspeed You! Black Emperor is indeed excellent. "We Drift Like Worried Fire" is one of my tracks of the year, 20 epic, ever-changing but coherent minutes.

irreduciblekoan

Funny you say that, Jirin. It's actually my least favorite song on the album too. Of course, that speaks more for the quality of the rest of the songs than any weakness of that one.

I also wasn't a big fan of Runaway, the most famous My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy single

irreduciblekoan

Wow, Grizzly Bear. Shot straight into my top 3 of the year (MAYBE number 1, but I still need a few more listens). It will be a classic.

irreduciblekoan

Dylan IS back (again). Just spun Tempest for my first time, and my initial response was very positive. No idea how it will reward repeat listens, but I am once again stunned by how sharp that man's songwriting remains after recording for almost 50 years.

irreduciblekoan

FACT magazine's 100 Best Albums of the 1990s, starting today with 100-81: http://www.factmag.com/2012/09/03/the-1 ... 0s-100-81/

irreduciblekoan

Wow, Nas. I'll have to listen to that now.

Also, the new Animal Collective is a wonderful album, but I fear that it won't get the reviews it deserves. It's a grower. I predict low Mega-Critic rank, but good EOY performance.

irreduciblekoan

Ah, ok. I wasn't sure how the packaging attributed the artists. That explains it then.

irreduciblekoan

Thanks for all that work/speculation, Harold! Fantastic post. Random question, but would Watch The Throne be under Kanye West and Jay-Z (in other words, on the pages of both of them), or under a separate artist entry for The Throne? It would make a difference because that would be one more album to ...

irreduciblekoan

Good time to ask for donations. I'd gladly chip in.

irreduciblekoan

Re: Are You Experienced? For the intents and purposes of forum polls I guess the U.S., or 1997 re-issue, versions would be what most people mean when they mention that album. I personally prefer the UK album (for me, the tracks flow a little more and the inclusion of Red House is essential). What I ...

irreduciblekoan

Thank you, as always!

Two new entries into the top 10. Two instant classics. It was quite the two weeks. I wasn't sure if Frank Ocean would have enough reviews in time to make it on, and I'm glad he did.

irreduciblekoan

Have fallen in love yesterday with both Dirty Projector's Swing Lo Magellan and Ty Segall's Slaughterhouse. The former could even be a modern classic; I may enjoy it more than Bitte Orca.

Been reading wonderful things about Channel Orange, and my brother loves it. Will need to check it out soon.

irreduciblekoan

They both have their pros and cons. I prefer Any Decent Music's formula. It's "tougher" and more logical (to me). They also use somewhat better sources in the few cases that ADM uses a source Metacritic doesn't use and vice versa. Three exceptions to that last point are FACT mag, XLR8R and...

irreduciblekoan

I might get blasted for this, but does anyone else think Call Me Maybe is kinda sorta the greatest pop song in recent memory? It has proven to be divisive song when some friends and I are talking about mainstream pop, but I agree with it! Radio is so boring these days will all those David Guetta/Ca...

irreduciblekoan

Great story, HRS. And I for one am glad that you ditched art for awhile to learn English if only to have your awesome insight (and excellent writing skills) in this forum. I agree with you completely with the last paragraph. Yes, there IS always someone new to discover, someone creating in the corne...

irreduciblekoan

The first two albums I've ever owned (not my dad's collection, but the first ones he actually bought for me) were Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The rest is history. Now I own about a thousand albums, mixed between vinyl, CDs, DVD-Audios and digital files. My collecti...

irreduciblekoan

Fiona Apple's The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do is streaming at NPR. Album of the year. The kids don't stand a chance. :music-listening: I just finished my first spin and I totally agree. This album deserves all the ...

irreduciblekoan

Michel wrote:Alt-J (aka ∆) - An Awesome Wave is really good.

I agree completely. Excellent debut. It really needs to get more widely reviewed.

irreduciblekoan

After thinking on it, I'm gonna have to agree with John. I'm not so sure this would be eligible for AM because it is indeed more of a compilation or anthology than it is a unified work of art meant for front-to-end listening. It actually wouldn't be the first time Rolling Stone has placed an ineligi...

irreduciblekoan

The new Liars, WIXIW, just blew my mind. I mean, there is so much complexity, depth, beauty and personality in those 43 minutes. Easily their best album since Drum's Not Dead. It will take at least three spins to fully digest it all and see how well it stands up, but could be a classic.

irreduciblekoan

I think 2011 would be the correct year to use. It isn't when the music was recorded, but when it is released. Dylan's Bootleg Series for example. I'm not convinced it will get into the top 3000 with just its ratings and RS listing, though. Maybe as a bubbler.

irreduciblekoan

In celebration of Dylan's birthday, and in contribution to the topic, here's one of my top 20 Dylan tunes.

irreduciblekoan

HRS, I noticed you said you heard The Walkmen album. I didn't know that leaked! I must search that out now. Does anyone else think Spiritualized is a little underrated this year? I think Sweet Heart Sweet Light is easily his best work since Ladies and Gentlemen and a 2012 standout up there with Jack...

irreduciblekoan

I love spoken word songs too, but they need to be done well. The "lyrics" (so to speak) need to be extra good. I'm a writer myself so when an artist makes a conscious effort to talk rather than sing, they better make sure the words are interesting. Cave, Waits and Heron did/do a great job ...

irreduciblekoan

In the past two weeks El-P has singlehandedly injected some life into the year with two productions: his own solo album and Killer Mike's album. Just heard them both today. I liked Death Grips but didn't think it was as great as the reviews made it out to be. But these two... they backed up their hy...

irreduciblekoan

I do the same thing as VanillaFire. Whether Wilson preferred mono because of his hearing impairment or some other reason, the fact is he himself mixed the albums in mono, so it's those versions which are definitive no matter our personal preferences. If given the choice I always go mono before 1969 ...

irreduciblekoan

Yep, as Jirin says, you never know what will come out later, and there are, I'm sure, many albums I've missed or skipped that I probably would like, even love. That happens at the end of every year when I use the AM spreadsheet and some individual lists. I go through the top 75 and some of my most t...

irreduciblekoan

Wow, very surprised Bird rose up so much. Suddenly over 80 now. I remember it disappointing me but I'd only heard it twice. Time to return to it.

irreduciblekoan

Well, well, with school done last week I was able to finally catch up on some 2012 music. Here are all the albums I've heard so far (note: I use the Scaruffi school of rating, so 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, etc): Screaming Females: Ugly (9/10) - Maybe because I'm a sucker for that '80s Dinosaur Jr/Sonic Youth g...

irreduciblekoan

So would that mean the albums spreadsheet would also need to go through one more update to remove the sources now considered ineligible?

irreduciblekoan

Thanks, as always! This month--well, last month--was especially busy. 3 new entries of scores 80 and over. I'm surprised at how "low" Death Grips are. I'm guessing non-US critics weren't quite as taken by it.

irreduciblekoan

I beg to differ John, I think old versions should still be included. All lists are valid, and if an album or song made it at one point, it deserves note. Just like Pitchfork's 1999 Best of the '90s list is still, rightfully, included as well as their 2003 revision. Lots of great albums dropped out i...

irreduciblekoan

Thanks for the responses, everybody. It has been interesting to read some of the defenses of AM's system and I'm starting to warm to it a little more. Each has its pros and cons. And anyway, it would be boring if both sites did things exactly the same way. Gotta have your own flavor. However, my mai...

irreduciblekoan

Well, I see that the numbers are against me. Still, I'm reading all of the responses and can't help but remain steadfast to my view that it is no problem at all for an all-time list to be biased against newer releases. Also, 37 films from the new millennia is quite a lot. We're only 12 years into th...

irreduciblekoan

I guess it depends on if you want to be more reverential to the past or not. I'm not gonna say that one is objectively better than the other. To someone like me who places much importance on factors like "influence" and "test of time" his method appeals, but there is something th...

irreduciblekoan

Still, don't take any of this as overt criticism. I love your work and it is the best music site I've found. My suggestion is merely to make the best even better, but even if you disagree, it is still the best. Cheers.

irreduciblekoan

That's fine if you don't agree. A few thoughts on what you've said though. "Why should new albums have it tougher to reach the top echelons?" I am a firm believer of letting hindsight and time be the main factor in what are true classics. A great album from 2009 is just that, one of 2009's...

irreduciblekoan

I know that a site facelift is a lot to ask, and the main part of me isn't hoping to change your mind, Henrik, but a small part of me hopes that the logic at least makes sense to you. I was comparing your methodology to They Shoot Pictures, and while both of you basically do the same thing, I much p...

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