Acclaimed Music Forums

With 13 ballots counted, here are the results.

Scoring for this game is a little different, slightly similar to Henrik's formula it's done with a win/loss formula based on each voter rating each album higher or lower than each other album. Wins against albums that did well count more than wins against albums that did less well. The idea is that a non-vote neither counts for nor against an album.

The biggest gap is between #13 and #14, so more detailed presentation will start at #13.

#30: Tracey Thorn
Record: 0-25-4
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Miguel (5)

#29: Florence + The Machine - High As Hope
Record: 3-25-1
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: madzong (2), bonnielaurel (4)

#28: Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
Record: 2-21-6
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Miguel (2), madzong (5)

#27: Chvrches - Love Is Dead
Record: 3-20-6
Votes: 13
Biggest fans: madzong (1), bonnielaurel (2)

#26: Avantdale Bowling Club - Avantdale Bowling Club
Record: 5-20-4
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Jackson (3), spiritualized (5)

#25: Poppy - Am I A Girl?
Record: 3-19-7
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Moonbeam (4)

#24: Ashley Monroe - Sparrow
Record: 3-18-8
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Miguel (7)

#23: Hailu Mergia - Lala Belu
Record: 7-19-3
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: Rob (8)

#22: Trust Fund - Bringing The Backline
Record: 7-19-3
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: Romain (7)

#21: Titus Andronicus - A Productive Cough
Record: 7-15-7
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Jirin (2)

Hello Jirin, thanks a lot... but can you explain the three numbers?

Wins, losses, ties in the 29 head to head matches with the other albums.

Jirin wrote:Wins, losses, ties in the 29 head to head matches with the other albums.

Oh, the ties... thanks.

Wow, I thought Avantdale Bowling Club would be a contender for a top 3 finish!

Moonbeam wrote:Wow, I thought Avantdale Bowling Club would be a contender for a top 3 finish!

When you look all the other proposal, with half of them being women singing pop or folk melodies, Avantdale Bowling Club is really quite different Not what is being sought this year anyway.

Have to admit I was surprised the Tracy Thorn album came last. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea but I was still shocked nonetheless.

Just so I have this straight... 30 people submitted album nominations, but only 13 actually voted?

Brad wrote:Just so I have this straight... 30 people submitted album nominations, but only 13 actually voted?

That will always happen, I think. I've been guilty of it in the past - sometimes life gets in the way!

Yeah I know - rhetorical question - just gotta call folks out every so often!

It's just easier to ask people to write down the name of an album they love than it is to ask them to listen to 30 albums.

#20: Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It
Record: 9-16-4
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: spiritualized (2), Jackson (4), DaveC (5)

#19: Ben Perani - How Do I Talk To My Brother?
Record: 4-13-12
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Miguel (4)

#18: Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
Record: 7-12-10
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Brad (1)

#17: Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death In Meatspace
Record: 13-15-1
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: DaveC (1), Romain (5)

#16: Gaz Coombes - World's Strongest Man
Record: 8-12-9
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Romain (3)

#15: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex And Food
Record: 13-12-14
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: madzong (3)

#14: Soccer Mommy - Clean
Record: 12-10-7
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: acroamor (2)

Do you have a point formula, Jirin? It’s not pure W/L based on the countdown so far. Is it something like ELO or RPI that you use? Whatever it is could be a game changer for future polls!

I have though about adopting an SRS-like metric for games like this, but I never tested it out.

Jirin wrote: #18: Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
Record: 7-12-10
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Brad (1)

and I'm not even the nominator!

I only managed to listen to 18 of the albums, but my number 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 are still in the running. Very pleasantly surprised!

My 4, 5 and 6 are still in the running too. Chvrches got my number one vote even though it wasn't my nomination - I guess I'm a sucker for dream-pop!

The albums I ranked 19 thru' 29 have all shown up, but the album I ranked dead last hasn't! I guess I missed something there.

Brad wrote:

Jirin wrote: #18: Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
Record: 7-12-10
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Brad (1)

and I'm not even the nominator!

Haha, my bad. I only listened to three of the albums, so I didn’t think it was enough to vote. I would have voted this 1, Ruins 2 and High as Hope 3. I also didn’t even realize this ended up being in the game because I said it would be fine if it wasn’t included since it did pretty well on EOY lists.

DaveC wrote:The albums I ranked 19 thru' 29 have all shown up, but the album I ranked dead last hasn't! I guess I missed something there.

The album I voted as my least favourite has also not turned up. I wonder if it's the same one...

My 3 least favorites are all yet to appear.

Seems like i'm more compatible here then with the 90s lists. All but one of my top ten have yet to appear (I liked Avantdale Bowling Club and women singing folk/pop )

Moonbeam wrote:Do you have a point formula, Jirin? It’s not pure W/L based on the countdown so far. Is it something like ELO or RPI that you use? Whatever it is could be a game changer for future polls!

I have though about adopting an SRS-like metric for games like this, but I never tested it out.

Every round, the album with least points gets eliminated, then points are recalculated with 1 point for win against albums still in and 0.5 points for win against albums already out.

#13 Superorganism - Superorganism

Record: 13-8-8
Votes: 10
Biggest fans: Romain (1)

AllMusic review excerpt: Coming off like the Go! Team's wacky kid siblings, a Shibuya-kei Ratatat, or the house band on a 2010s reboot of Pee-wee's Playhouse, the album is stacked from end to end with goofy samples, bubbling hip-hop beats, wobbly synths, fat basslines, and hooky guitars.

#12 Jenny Wilson - EXORCISM

Record: 16-8-5
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Moonbeam (1)

Guardian review excerpt: The opening track on Jenny Wilson’s fifth album is called Rapin*. It’s a stark, shocking title for a stark, shocking song: the lyrics describe the night the Swedish musician was sexually assaulted. But Rapin* isn’t just monumentally disturbing, it’s also strangely upbeat. In it, Wilson says she had been clubbing before the attack, and she carries the earlier part of the evening into the song too, as whirring synths and crisp, insistent beats coalesce into an irresistible groove. The guilty confusion that comes from bopping along to such subject matter soon solidifies into wonder at Wilson’s ability to maintain this discomfort.

#11 Tirzah - Devotion

Record: 15-9-5
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Jackson (2), Jirin (5)

AllMusic review excerpt: On her first full-length for Domino, Tirzah still doesn't sound like anyone else -- even if if she doesn't sound the way she used to. She and Levi trade busy rhythms for a set of impressionistic songs that use little more than her voice, unusual keyboards, and the occasional beat to capture different states of being in love with frank originality. Despite these changes, what Tirzah's previous work and Devotion share is a quiet yet unmistakable confidence.

#10 Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita

Record: 17-6-6
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Jirin (1), Rob (3), Moonbeam (5)

AllMusic review excerpt: A seven-year gap between albums could be career suicide for many acts, but Kazuashita proves that in this case, it was a rebirth. The importance of taking a break to return better than ever echoes throughout the band's sixth album, from its hopeful title (a Japanese play on words that means "peace tomorrow," inspired by the name of one of their friends' children) to its sanctuary-like sounds.

#9 Against All Logic - 2012-2017

Record: 18-8-3
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel (3), rumpdoll (4), spiritualized (4), Brad (5), Jackson (5)

AllMusic review excerpt: Flying way under the radar of Jaar's enamored critics, the project issued several springy house tracks before 2012/2017, a collection of 11 songs that arrived almost completely unannounced in early 2018. While not totally divorced from the style Jaar became best-known for on his solo albums, A.A.L. tends toward lovingly warped dancefloor scorchers and deals in tones of optimism, romance, joy, and nostalgia, all a far cry from the staid abstractions that Jaar often dips into.

Wow, I thought Tirzah and AAL would appear higher. Those were two of the higher-profile nominees. No idea what to expect the rest of the way!

Glad EXORCISM ended up in the top half! That's a life-defining album for me.

Brad wrote:Just so I have this straight... 30 people submitted album nominations, but only 13 actually voted?

I had started listening to the albums for the poll but prioritized the 1990s poll... got to the 150th album on the last day of submission ! I feel we sometimes have too many games going on at the same time (though that specific issue is a yearly one, as it makes sense for both games to happen on January).

Nassim wrote:

Brad wrote:Just so I have this straight... 30 people submitted album nominations, but only 13 actually voted?

I had started listening to the albums for the poll but prioritized the 1990s poll... got to the 150th album on the last day of submission ! I feel we sometimes have too many games going on at the same time (though that specific issue is a yearly one, as it makes sense for both games to happen on January).

No problem Nassim!... I was really just clowning around. I too feel overwhelmed with listening "requirements" on this site at certain times. It does get confusing!

I quite liked the Gang Gang Dance album, "Lotus" in particular.

#8 Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg

Record: 16-9-4
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Miguel (1), Jirin (3), Brad (3), Romain (4)

AllMusic excerpt: Babelsberg may be a place that exists -- it's a small town in Germany, to the southwest of Berlin -- but Gruff Rhys uses it as a fantastical construct on his 2018 album of the same name. Conceptual pop is Rhys' forte and while he arranges this, his fifth solo album, around a loose idea of how humanity may wind up burrowing to hell while attempting to build a tower to heaven, the distinguishing characteristic of the album is its lush, enveloping sound.

#7 The Go! Team - Semicircle

Record: 21-8-0
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: madzong (4)

AllMusic excerpt: After The Scene Between's indie pop leanings, Semicircle shifts back to the classic GT sound with equal parts funk, hip-hop, shoegaze, indie pop, and schoolyard chants represented. To this Parton adds some marching band swagger, with many songs boasting mighty horn sections and stomping beats.

#6 Haley Heynderickx - I Need To Start A Garden

Record: 22-5-2
Votes: 13
Biggest fans: acroamor (1), rumpdoll (3), Miguel (3), Jirin (4), Rob (4)

AllMusic excerpt: Following a 2016 EP that was met with critical acclaim, particularly in her native Pacific Northwest, Portland-based singer/songwriter Haley Heynderickx makes her full-length debut two years later with I Need to Start a Garden. Counting folk musicians such as John Fahey, Jackson C. Frank, Leo Kottke, and Townes Van Zandt among her influences, she presents an idiosyncratic indie folk that combines familiar elements like warm melodies, deft fingerpicking, and mostly acoustic instrumentation with more unusual aspects.

#5 First Aid Kit - Ruins

Record: 22-6-1
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel (1), Rob (2)

AllMusic excerpt: The resulting Ruins takes on heavy-hearted subject matter inspired by working through the personal aftermath. Still, fans of Stay Gold will find a familiar bright, assertive sound, with Klara and Johanna's trademark tandem vocals bringing a certain air of resiliency to an unexpectedly lively set of songs.

#4 The Limiñanas - Shadow People

Record: 23-4-2
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Romain (2), spiritualized (3), Brad (4)

AllMusic excerpt: On their 2018 album Shadow People, French duo the Limiñanas don't budge an inch from the formula they honed to a knife edge on all the albums that preceded it. Starting in 2010, Lionel and Marie Limiñana mapped out territory that hit the sweet spot where the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Velvet Underground, sultry French pop, and Italian soundtrack music all meet to smoke cigarettes and look hard. The basic template is the same here, and like everything else they do, the fun is in the precision with which they deliver their songs and the occasional deviation that snaps the listener to life.

Hurrah, This is the top 3 I was wishing for.

DaveC wrote:Hurrah, This is the top 3 I was wishing for.

Well, my top six have all been placed now. What three are left? (To save me going back to work it all out)

Happy for the top 3 - I had them all among my top 6. Wish EXORCISM had crashed the party, but the top 3 are all worthy!

My favorite song in this last batch (that I heard) was "Fireworks" by First Aid Kit - what an amazing song! The rest of the album was a bit too country for me, but "Fireworks" is incredible.

#7 The Go Team - Semicircle
#4 The Limiñanas - Shadow People

I really liked these two bands and had never heard of either of them

madzong wrote:#7 The Go Team - Semicircle
#4 The Limiñanas - Shadow People
I really liked these two bands and had never heard of either of them

Thunder Lightning Strike by The Go! Team is one of my favorite albums of the 00s, check it out.
I want to thank the nominators for The Limiñanas, Halye Heynderickx and SUPERORGANISM, all of which I never heard of and liked very much.
So now we have a top 3 with three women that make very different music. Is it silly that i'm a bit proud that the suisse artist I brought up, with only a few thousand last.fm listenings, made it to the top 3?

rumpdoll wrote:Is it silly that i'm a bit proud that the suisse artist I brought up, with only a few thousand last.fm listenings, made it to the top 3?

Not at all. Kudos for picking up on that gem.

rumpdoll wrote:. Is it silly that i'm a bit proud that the suisse artist I brought up, with only a few thousand last.fm listenings, made it to the top 3?

I really liked it too, but it is so obscure I couldn't even rate the album on RYM - it just wasn't there

rumpdoll wrote: Thunder Lightning Strike by The Go! Team is one of my favorite albums of the 00s, check it out.

Thanks for the rec! It's on my all-time list now.

rumpdoll wrote:

madzong wrote:#7 The Go Team - Semicircle
#4 The Limiñanas - Shadow People
I really liked these two bands and had never heard of either of them

Thunder Lightning Strike by The Go! Team is one of my favorite albums of the 00s, check it out.
I want to thank the nominators for The Limiñanas, Halye Heynderickx and SUPERORGANISM, all of which I never heard of and liked very much.

Thanks for the recommendation! I agree - I also liked SUPERORGANISM - that was another new find for me as well

madzong wrote:

DaveC wrote:Hurrah, This is the top 3 I was wishing for.

Well, my top six have all been placed now. What three are left? (To save me going back to work it all out)

In random order, Emilie Zoe, Kadhja Bonet, and Anna von Hausswolff.

Jirin wrote:

madzong wrote:

DaveC wrote:Hurrah, This is the top 3 I was wishing for.

Well, my top six have all been placed now. What three are left? (To save me going back to work it all out)

In random order, Emilie Zoe, Kadhja Bonet, and Anna von Hausswolff.

Oh man, that means Anna is not top I however really coulnd't get into Kadhja. Emilie however is a fine, fine artist.

spiritualized wrote:

Jirin wrote:

madzong wrote: Well, my top six have all been placed now. What three are left? (To save me going back to work it all out)

In random order, Emilie Zoe, Kadhja Bonet, and Anna von Hausswolff.

Oh man, that means Anna is not top I however really coulnd't get into Kadhja. Emilie however is a fine, fine artist.

I literally used dice to determine the order I listed them, don’t assume random means scrambled.

A fifth place for First Aid Kit is a good result. My numbers 5, 9 and 17 are left.

And the grand finale...

#3 Emilie Zoe - The Very Start

Record: 25-3-1
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: rumpdoll (2), DaveC (4)

Can not find any reviews in English.

#2 Anna Von Hausswolff - Dead Magic

Record: 27-1-1
Votes: 13
Biggest fans: Jackson (1), spiritualized (1), Brad (2), Moonbeam (3), acroamor (3), DaveC (3), bonnielaurel (5), rumpoll (5), Rob (5)

AllMusic excerpt: Dead Magic was recorded in nine days with her band, strings (arranged by Ulfur Hansson) and producer Randall Dunn. Her instrument of choice was a 20th century pipe organ in Marmor Kirken, Copenhagen's "Marble Church." This date contains only five tracks -- two are well over 10-minutes long. Von Hausswolff was cryptic about the set's inspirations, introducing it with a quote from the late Swedish poet Walter Ljungquist: "Take the fate of a human being, a thin pathetic line that contours and encircles an infinite and unknown silence.

And the winner, which ended up taking it over Dead Magic because it won their head to head matchup 7-4...

#1 Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen

Record: 26-1-2
Votes: 11
Biggest fans: rumpdoll (1), Rob (1), DaveC (2), Moonbeam (2)

Allmusic excerpt: Like The Visitor, Kadhja Bonet's 2016 debut, follow-up Childqueen mixes folk and soul to spellbinding effect, provoking numerous flattering comparisons yet without possibly being mistaken for any one of them. Illustrated with billowing strings and dancing woodwinds over a delightfully warped rhythm section, it's another adventure stroll through the enchanted landscape of Bonet's mind.

I've been wondering if the 1-2 ordering here was going to be controversial. Dead Magic got nine top five ratings, but four of them rated Childqueen higher and two of them didn't rate Childqueen.

The full list of ratings for top two: Voter / Dead Magic rating / Childqueen rating
Jirin / 10 / 13
rumpdoll / 5 / 1
bonnielaurel / 5 / 9
DaveC / 3 / 2
Rob / 5 / 1
Moonbeam / 3 / 2
acroamor / 3 / Unrated
Brad / 2 / 15
madzong / 28/ 19
Jackson / 1 / Unrated
Miguel / 23 / 9
spiritualized / 1 / 30
Romain / 14 / 6

And if anyone's wondering, Emilie Zoe got three 6th place ratings and only one under 20.

Jirin wrote:I've been wondering if the 1-2 ordering here was going to be controversial. Dead Magic got nine top five ratings, but four of them rated Childqueen higher and two of them didn't rate Childqueen.

The full list of ratings for top two: Voter / Dead Magic rating / Childqueen rating
Jirin / 10 / 13
rumpdoll / 5 / 1
bonnielaurel / 5 / 9
DaveC / 3 / 2
Rob / 5 / 1
Moonbeam / 3 / 2
acroamor / 3 / Unrated
Brad / 2 / 15
madzong / 28/ 19
Jackson / 1 / Unrated
Miguel / 23 / 9
spiritualized / 1 / 30
Romain / 14 / 6

And if anyone's wondering, Emilie Zoe got three 6th place ratings and only one under 20.

Haha ! According to my votes, I wasn't much of a fan of the top two placed albums! Oh well...

Yay, respect for the Childqueen!

I felt a little guilty for taking an album that sounds a bit as a shoe-in for AM, but it was the one that fit the nomination criteria and my tastes the best. Not the most surprising winner, but there you go. It was actually the first time here that I voted my own nomination as #1.

It's great to see a complete unknown quantity as Emilie Zoe making the third place - this is one of the few games in which that could happen I think. I had her album more halfway through my list, as I found that it wasn't always captivating, but an artist to watch nonetheless.

Hailu Mergia and Jenny Wilson were the best discoveries for me here, but I also want to note how weird it is that the Gang Gang Dance album flew under the radar.

Rob wrote: It's great to see a complete unknown quantity as Emilie Zoe making the third place - this is one of the few games in which that could happen I think. I had her album more halfway through my list, as I found that it wasn't always captivating, but an artist to watch nonetheless.

And it's why I hope we can do a game with only real Unnaclaimed album and songs one day.

Jirin wrote: #4 The Limiñanas - Shadow People
Record: 23-4-2
Votes: 12
Biggest fans: Romain (2), spiritualized (3), Brad (4)

AllMusic excerpt: On their 2018 album Shadow People, French duo the Limiñanas don't budge an inch from the formula they honed to a knife edge on all the albums that preceded it. Starting in 2010, Lionel and Marie Limiñana mapped out territory that hit the sweet spot where the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Velvet Underground, sultry French pop, and Italian soundtrack music all meet to smoke cigarettes and look hard. The basic template is the same here, and like everything else they do, the fun is in the precision with which they deliver their songs and the occasional deviation that snaps the listener to life.

That's pretty nice! I wasn't able to vote because lack of time and also because I thought I hadn't heard enough of the other nominations yet. So even though the nominator didn't vote, this still ended up at a very respectable position!

The Limiñanas were a new discovery for me as well. Happened to hear the album in a record shop and asked what it was. Glad I did.

Jirin wrote:I've been wondering if the 1-2 ordering here was going to be controversial.

The full list of ratings for top two: Voter / Dead Magic rating / Childqueen rating
spiritualized / 1 / 30

It certainly was controversial for at least one voter!

This was a great poll with interesting results and a fun scoring system. It would be interesting to apply this scoring system to some of our other polls and games.