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Author: nosepail
Date: 12-16-11 08:33
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/8727-the-top-50-albums-of-2011/5/
1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
2. Destroyer - Kaputt
3. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
4. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
5. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
6. Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
7. tUnE-yArDs: w h o k i l l
8. Drake - Take Care
9. Real Estate - Days
10. The Weeknd - House of Baloons.
Solid list 2-5. This means, however, I have to give that crappy Bon Iver record a few more spins, to confirm I truly dislike it.
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Author: breno
Date: 12-16-11 10:06
I was going to do the same thing this morning and see if I could decipher the appeal of the thing.
The top three choices are interesting, though. I'm assuming that with Bon Iver sounding like '80s vintage Chicago over large chunks of his album, Destroyer going for that ol' Double & Sade vibe and M83 continuing to mine John Hughes soundtracks for inspiration, this means that Top 40 radio circa 1985 is now the coolest era in music history. Wonder if this means we'll quit seeing "that dated '80s production sound" used as the dismissive descriptor of choice amongst the cognoscenti?
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Author: nosepail
Date: 12-16-11 11:08
I think even 50 is a serious stretch. There are not 50 albums from this year that anyone will give a rats ass about in 20 years.
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Author: zwirnm
Date: 12-16-11 15:02
It seems like a huge overlap between the lists I'm seeing on P4k, NYT, NPR All Songs, etc. When I'm listening to their various podcasts on the best-of for the years, I hear a lot of overlap. At that stage, it's the random outliers that start to jump out - like Girls, for instance, on the P4k list. The NYT really likes the Paul Simon record. Everyone, it seems, likes Drake and Bon Iver and TuNe-YaRdS or however she spells her name. And, of course, Adele.
Personally, the Wild Flag is my funnest, favoritest, newest stuff of the year.
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Author: erikalbany
Date: 12-16-11 16:49
Telekinesis at #35 on the UTR list is the first one that resonates with me (i.e. 1-34 don't). If Bon Iver and M83 are the best of the year on this many lists, then it was a shit year for music, IMO.
I bought the M83 and regret it. The Bon Iver doesn't resonate for me at all. I haven't really gotten around to giving the PJ Harvey more spins in order to perhaps hear the appeal there.
Memory Tapes at #58 is also something I liked a bit.
Having been disappointed by a good portion of new music this year, I spent my time rediscovering electronica from 2009-2010, listening to some non-mainstream hip-hop, and anything on Labrador Records (Sweden; "indie," for lack of a desire to find a better term).
Post Edited (12-16-11 16:50)
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Author: totaji
Date: 12-16-11 17:04
I think both Kaputt and Bon Iver have only a reflection here and there of 80's music. They are way too off beat and weird to have ever been Big 80's Pop albums.
Something about the mind wants to classify them in that way, but they really aren't that straight.
It's like the old Interpol/Joy Division argument. Really, Interpol didn't sound like JD, but there were a few little things that made people want to put them together.
Nosepails comment about 50 good albums is appropriate. The reality is that maybe the 50th album on the list might be the most influential. Who knows?
One more thing about Bon Iver, its sort of an odd album that he put the worst song as the 1st in my opinion. Every time I put it on I skip it.
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Author: Jermoe
Date: 12-16-11 22:02
I'm not knocking M83 or their ilk, but I was (and remain) the target audience for this type of sound back when it was new-ish (see Japan, New Musik, OMD, Alphaville, Furniture, et al.), and they do a pretty nice job of finding cooler/more interesting reference points than Maroon 5 or The Killers.
Try this: listen to M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, then listen to any randomly selected album from Cherry Red's or 4AD's catalog from 1980-85.
M83's "Raconte-Moi Une Histoire" is pretty damn good, though. And it made me gay, gay, gay, I say.
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Author: Delvin
Date: 12-16-11 22:12
> ... this means that Top 40 radio circa 1985 is now the coolest era in music history. Wonder if
> this means we'll quit seeing "that dated '80s production sound" used as the dismissive
> descriptor of choice amongst the cognoscenti?
Only until those cognoscenti decide it's not cool anymore. (Give 'em about six months.)
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