Impy's Annual Best-of-the-Year Point Distribution Tally Nonsense - Please Participate

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You know what pisses me off about end of year lists? It just makes me realise there is still a load of good music I haven't heard off, it's depressing and a good thing at the same time.

Every year I seem to have 2 or 3 (sometimes 5 or 6) albums that I learn about from others' year end lists that piss me off because they would have been ranked extremely high up on mine. While it's a great way to find music you didn't know about or skipped over, it's annoying to catch onto something late as well.
 
Popmatters ran a "Best Metal Albums of 2008" list today. Though I only have 2 of the albums in the list, it still looks like a surprisingly good list based on names I've heard my friends throw around. Who knew that Popmatters knew so much about metal?

The Best Metal Albums of 2008 < Columns | PopMatters

Many of those listed just didn't sell well, at least for me. I think of the top sellers for me was the new Testament (Formation Of Damnation). Didn't see it on the list :shrug: (Nor have I heard any of the list/Testament either)
 
Best of

1 Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (9.2)
2 The Verve - Forth (8.8)
3 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (8.7)
4 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (8.6)
5 The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia... (8.2)
6 Coldplay - Viva La Vida (8.1)

Other good albums

7 The Killers - Day & Age (7.2)
8 Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights of America (7.1)
9 Gary Moore - Bad for You Baby (6.9)
10 Coldplay - Prospekt's March (6.9)
11 Vermillion Lies - What's In The Box? (6.8)

And everything else

12 Razorlight - Slipway Fires (6.6)
13 Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads (5.7)
14 R.E.M. - Accelerate (5.0)
15 The Charlatans - You Cross My Path (5.0)
16 The Cure - 4:13 Dream (4.8)
17 Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (4.7)
18 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy (3.6)

You work for Pitchfork?



:tongue:
 
With Radiohead being a pommy band and all, the official year of the release of In Rainbows should be and has to be recognised as 2007.

Now, Radiohead is a special case since they made their album officially available for download in October 2007 (or so). But what is the reasoning for determining if an album is a contender for the Best of 2008 list or not?

The reason I'm asking is that I just discovered a great album (I think, at the moment, after a few listens) by a Dutch artist. In advance of its physical release, it's being streamed online. It seems that it'll be available in the shops on 15 December, but I'm not sure of it. In any case, its official release party is early January.
So is this a 2008 album or not?
And how can I judge if (and if so, where) it belongs on my Best Of 2008 list if I only could listen to it for a few days?

:scratch:
 
Every year I seem to have 2 or 3 (sometimes 5 or 6) albums that I learn about from others' year end lists that piss me off because they would have been ranked extremely high up on mine. While it's a great way to find music you didn't know about or skipped over, it's annoying to catch onto something late as well.

It also means I start on a backlog of album buying for the new year, so I end up putting off early releases just to catch up with last years grrrrr.

On the worst album cover front, the Deerhunter- Microcastles one I really hate, it weirds me out and it's not even the skull eye thing, it's the weird peachy pink colour that offends me:yuck:
 
The 20 Worst Album Covers of 2008 | Pitchfork

:laugh:

Even though I actually like some of the covers they chose, the comments are still pretty damn funny.

On half of these I just felt like they came up with a good joke, without actually making a criticism.

Best one was under the James Taylor album cover: "http://menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/" :laugh:

They also failed to make the connection between the Taylor and the Vanilla Ice below it, where they could have said ("Look up, Ice. That's what you're gonna look like in 20 years.")

A couple unfairly maligned: Islands (retro but cool) and Elbow.
 
On the worst album cover front, the Deerhunter- Microcastles one I really hate, it weirds me out and it's not even the skull eye thing, it's the weird peachy pink colour that offends me:yuck:

Agreed. For some reason they have a different cover up on iTunes that's a little generic but not nearly as bad as the final cover.
 
Too high? :(

I just didn't want them below that Charlatans album, but you're right, it's pretty uninteresting overall


Sounds a bit better live though

"Uninteresting" describes Reveal and Around The Sun far better than Accelerate. :yes:
 
* Girl Talk: Feed the Animals
Can't include this with all the original material, but one of the year's more entertaining listens. Still, not much more than a nostalgia trip.

Yeah, after listening to this a few times today, I was tempted to change my top ten to add it, but then I kinda came to the same realization, that it's mostly entertaining for hearing all the songs I know so well put together.
 
The best albums I have heard this year are "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" and "Fleet Foxes." The latter sounds like the album that Ryan Adams has always wanted to make but never has. Speaking of Adams, my choices for the two most disappointing albums of the year are "Cardinology" and "4:13 Dream."
 
2008 was a great year musically

Here goes:

1.Dear Science
2.Whatever Happens Will Happen Today
3.Viva La Vida
4.Remind Me In Three Days
5.Accelerate
6.Hard Candy
7.Funplex
8.Black Ice
9.Electronic Arguments
10.Chinese Democracy
 
The reason I'm asking is that I just discovered a great album (I think, at the moment, after a few listens) by a Dutch artist. In advance of its physical release, it's being streamed online. It seems that it'll be available in the shops on 15 December, but I'm not sure of it. In any case, its official release party is early January.
So is this a 2008 album or not?

I saw the album in question (Ze Willen Wel Je Hond Aaien Maar Niet Met Je Praten by Roosbeef, should anyone be interested in slightly weird Dutch music) in the shops today. It already has a (c) 2009 copyright. So it's a 2009 album! :D
Problem averted. :)
 
And oh, the worst album I bought this year was a boxset: The Complete Motown Singles Volume 4: 1964 (originally released in 2006 or so).
Why, you might ask?

Well, I found this one in a used record store and as I heard some good things about it, I bought it. That boxset (6CDs) has contains what the title says. All the singles (including B-sides) released by Motown and its subsidiaries (like Tamla, Gordy, Mel-O-Dy, etc.) in 1964. So not just the hits (Dancing In The Street, Live Wire, You Beat Me To The Punch, Where Did Our Love Go, etc.) but also the songs that were only regional hits, or no hits at all (Devil With The Blue Dress, Baby Don't You Do It, Needle In A Haystack).

Yep, these are all arguments why this boxset is great. But it's my worst purchase this year, as I now want all the other volumes too. :shifty: So since July I've been looking online to see if I can get the others for a reasonable price. And even then it's quite a bit of money. But I want to get the collection complete. Apparently, it'll be a 14-volume boxset overall (there at volume 11A at the moment). I currently have 6 volumes. And still want more...

Oh! My bank account. :sad:


:reject:
 
Best of

1 Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (9.2)
2 The Verve - Forth (8.8)
3 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (8.7)
4 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (8.6)
5 Girl Talk - Feed the Animals (8.3)
6 The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia... (8.2)
7 Coldplay - Viva La Vida (8.1)
8 Adrian Crowley - Long Distance Swimmer (7.7)

Other good albums

9 The Killers - Day & Age (7.2)
10 Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights of America (7.1)
11 Gary Moore - Bad for You Baby (6.9)
12 Coldplay - Prospekt's March (6.9)
13 Vermillion Lies - What's In The Box? (6.8)

And everything else

14 Razorlight - Slipway Fires (6.6)
15 Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads (5.7)
16 R.E.M. - Accelerate (5.0)
17 The Charlatans - You Cross My Path (5.0)
18 The Cure - 4:13 Dream (4.8)
19 Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (4.7)
20 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy (3.6)

Added a couple more albums I've heard in the last few days
 
Fuck it, I'll do it live:

1. Dear Science, by TV on the Radio
2. 808s and Heartbreak by Kanye West
3. Intimacy by Bloc Party
4. Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 by Bob Dylan
5. Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket
6. Weezer (The Red Album) by Weezer
7. The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow
8. Flight of the Conchords by Flight of the Conchords
9. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
10. Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie
 
Props for the Dylan, YLB. I meant to start a thread for it months ago because it really deserves more attention.

I can't remember the last time something with that much brilliance on it was released.
 
Props for the Dylan, YLB. I meant to start a thread for it months ago because it really deserves more attention.

I can't remember the last time something with that much brilliance on it was released.

I'm just getting my feet wet on recent Dylan and it was the perfect starter kit. These bootlegs can keep on coming.
 
You know, with that recent release, you can almost compile my mix of Oh Mercy (entitled "Mo' Mercy", natch). You take Series of Dreams, God Knows, and Born in Time from Tell-Tale Signs, but my preferred version of Dignity isn't on there. The stripped-down version on disc 1 is too slight, and the one on disc 2 is too bouncy. I also think the version on Greatest Hits Vol. 3 is overproduced. However, there was a 3-disc compilation from 2005 called Dylan that features the absolute best take, a version I thought only available to bootleggers (I've had a compliation of the Oh Mercy sessions for years). You can do an mp3 search or just buy the single track from iTunes. Believe me, it's well worth $1.00.

I think if you throw all that shit in with the original 10 songs (removing the subpar When Teardrops Fall if you like), you have an album as good as, if not better than Love & Theft or Time Out of Mind.

Anyway, I'd love to continue a Tell-Tale Signs discussion, because there is a LOT to talk about on that thing. What a wealth of riches.
 
Interesting. I really dig Modern Times and have heard snippets of other albums, but that's about it.
 
And to make it easy, Rolling Stone, NME, and Spin:

Rolling Stone
50 No Age - Nouns
49 Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
48 Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
47 Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
46 The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High
45 Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
44 The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
43 Nas - Untitled
42 David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
41 AC/DC - Black Ice
40 Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
39 Taylor Swift - Fearless
38 Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
37 Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
36 The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
35 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
34 Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
33 Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
32 Jamey Johnson - The Lonesome Song
31 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
30 Duffy - Rockferry
29 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
28 The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days...
27 Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
26 Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
25 The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
24 Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
23 Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
22 Jackson Browne - Time the Conquerer
21 Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
20 Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
19 Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part 1 (4th World War)
18 Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
17 B.B. King - One Kind Favor
16 Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
15 The Black Keys - Attack & Release
14 Ryan Adams And The Cardinals - Cardinology
13 Blitzen Trapper - Furr
12 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
11 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
10 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
09 Metallica - Death Magnetic
08 Beck - Modern Guilt
07 Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
06 Santogold - Santogold
05 John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom
04 My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
03 Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
02 Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs:The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
01 TV on the Radio - Dear Science


NME
50 Heartbreak - Lies
49 Bloc Party - Intimacy
48 Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
47 The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
46 Blood Red Shoes - Box Of Secrets
45 Black Keys - The Attack & Release
44 Lykke Li - Youth Novels
43 Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
42 School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
41 These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid
40 The Kills - Midnight Boom
39 Chairlift - Does You Inspire You
38 Beck - Modern Guilt
37 Primal Scream - Beautiful Future
36 Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
35 Cass Mccombs - Dropping The Writ
34 Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
33 Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
32 Mogwai - The Hawk Is howling
31 Coldplay - Viva La Vida
30 Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
29 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
28 British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
27 Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
26 Verve - The Forth
25 Portishead - Third
24 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
23 Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head
22 Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
21 Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
20 Spiritualized - Songs in A and E
19 Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
18 Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
17 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
16 Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
15 Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of Understatement
14 Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
13 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
12 Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
11 Neon Neon - Stainless Style
10 Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
09 Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
08 Mystery Jets - Twenty One
07 Santogold - Santogold
06 Metronomy - Nights Out
05 Foals - Antidotes
04 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
03 Glasvegas - Glasvegas
02 TV On The Radio - Dear Science
01 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular


SPIN
40 Chairlift - Does You Inspire You
39 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
38 Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
37 Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
36 Lykke Li - Youth Novels
35 The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely
34 Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
33 El Guincho - Alegranza
32 The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
31 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
30 Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
29 Nas & DJ Green Lantern - The ****** Tape
28 Metallica - Death Magnetic
27 The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed
26 R.E.M. - Accelerate
25 Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
24 Duffy - Rockferry
23 Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks
22 Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
21 Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
20 Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
19 Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
18 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
17 The Roots - Rising Down
16 My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
15 Beck - Modern Guilt
14 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
13 No Age - Nouns
12 Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Pt. 1: 4th World War
11 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
10 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
09 Coldplay - Viva La Vida
08 Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
07 Deerhunter - Microcastle
06 Santogold - Santogold
05 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
04 Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
03 Portishead - Third
02 Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
01 TV On The Radio - Dear Science



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