B&C Best of 2017 - Discussion Thread

[cobl04]

This is Happening has a ridiculous amount of all-timers, no doubt - Dance Yrself Clean, All I Want, You Wanted a Hit, Home - but it's nowhere near as consistent as American Dream. There's nothing on American Dream anywhere near as much of a chore as Somebody's Calling Me, none as dumb as Drunk Girls, nor do any of its tracks outstay their welcomes, like One Touch or Pow Pow.

 

[lazarus]

You forgot I Can Change.

 

[cobl04]

Never been that high on that song. Great lyrics and an affecting chorus with strong vocals (not his strong suit lol) but it's a bit of a slog. Still an 8/10 but not an all-timer for me.

 

[Axver]

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f221/lcd-soundsystem-one-thread-is-never-enough-213344.html

 

[gump]

https://www.npr.org/sections/allson...sidered-listeners-100-favorite-albums-of-2017

The wisdom of the crowds is somewhat better than the wisdom of Pitchfork (some obvious clunkers on that list, though).

 

[lazarus]

JUSTICE 4 FJM!!

Top 10, baby.

Also, shocked that Bjork is only a few slots above Shuttlecock. Not that 64 is an impressive placement.

 

[cobl04]

Shame he's not around to comment on it, as he's disappeared so far up his own arse he's become a singularity.

 

[Axver]

I'm surprised U2 even made that list.

 

[LemonMelon]

400 million 40,000 listeners can't be wrong.

 

[Joey788]

Am I the only one who finds it really weird when publications refer to bands like Arcade Fire and LCD as “legacy acts”? Sure they’ve been around a while but I feel that titles applies much more to the U2s or Foo Fighters of the world, not artists with less than a half dozen albums to their name.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, if you've been releasing albums for less than 15 years can't really call you "legacy". That's the equivalent of when U2 put out Zooropa.

Are you sure for Arcade Fire they didn't say "tarnishing their legacy"?

 

[cobl04]

Bullshit. They both very obviously have huge legacies.

 

[lazarus]

You're misunderstanding me. I'm reading "Legacy Act" as a pejorative, like an act is coasting on its former glories. I don't feel LCD fits that label, and Arcade Fire, even with one shit album, doesn't either.

 

[cobl04]

ohhhhh. my bad.

 

[lazarus]

Friggin'.

 

[djerdap]

Sleep Well Beast is my favourite of the year, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here. Dark Side of the Gym is definitely the best song I've heard in quite some time, and there are plenty of others on the record that are close contenders. It ends on such a strong note, and the title track represents the band at their most experimental and oddly sinister - a side of theirs I hope they explore further.

I was pleasantly surprised at how consistent and rewarding Mogwai's Every Country's Sun continues to be. Like with The National, its final four tracks represent a mighty final act to the record.

American Dream may have some of my favourite tracks of the year, such as How Do You Sleep, I Used To or Oh Baby (all being constantly on my playlist for the past few months), but it's inconsistent, oddly sequenced, and overlong, making it the weakest LCD album in my book.

As far as newer artists go, The Underside of Power by Algiers is very good. Just the amount of rebellious energy this year needs.

Nine Inch Nails had a big comeback with the two EPs (Not the Actual Events is 2016 though), which I boldly submit have some of Reznor's most fascinating work. She's Gone Away, Burning Bright and This Isn't the Place rank among some of his best tracks, and actually break some new ground for the band. The first of those belongs now to cinematic/TV history due to its placement on Twin Peaks.

Speaking of which, easily my favourite soundtrack of the year. Badalamenti's emotionally raw contributions are supported by some great work by Chromatics, Johnny Jewel, Eddie Vedder, The Veils etc.

As far as disappointments go... didn't care that much for the new QOTSA and Cut Copy records, even though they had some great individual songs.

I'm sure I'll catch up on a lot I've missed. Checking the new Big Thief and Gang of Youths albums.

 

[iron yuppie]

Are we going to do a formal poll this year?

 

[Joey788]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. I hope so!

 

[lazarus]

I hate to sound so instantly hyperbolic or to feed Cobbler's ego, but this Gang of Youths album might wind up being my #1. Yes it's long, but it was only the last song that started sounding redundant, and even then the energy hasn't flagged.

 

[cobl04]

I'm very happy it's getting the recognition here it deserves, just frustrated it took so long. The last track is maybe my favourite, Say Yes to Life, although the one before it, Our Time is Short, is completely superfluous.

 

[LemonMelon]

I think the album is great, it just needs a 20 minute trim. Also, probably alone on this, but the lyrics didn't grab me like that. Any time I tried to focus on the content it was just OK.

The War on Drugs' album was the same way in that regard. I'M GOING DOWN A TWISTED HIGHWAY DRIVING INTO THE HEART OF THE WORLD x 66 minutes

 

[cobl04]

What would you cut, out of interest?

I'd trim Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane, Achilles Come Down (christ this song drags on), get rid of Le réel and Our Time is Short. And you could probably tighten up several other songs, like Heart is a Muscle, Let Me Down Easy, Deepest Sighs.

Lyrically it's remarkable, in my eyes, but you have to have read his back story and listened to their earlier work for the power to really hit you. Otherwise the lyrics can sound a little generic (if very verbose) at times.

 

[BoMac]

Keep your hands off Let Me Down Easy. That's an early favourite of mine.

 

[lazarus]

What would you cut, out of interest?

I'd trim Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane, Achilles Come Down (christ this song drags on), get rid of Le réel and Our Time is Short. And you could probably tighten up several other songs, like Heart is a Muscle, Let Me Down Easy, Deepest Sighs.

And you call yourself a fan?

 

[cobl04]

Here we go.

I love the album dearly as it is, and you fucks wouldn't know about it without me, so suck it.

Achilles Come Down comes to a natural conclusion at about the 5:45 mark and doesn't need the next 90 seconds, which is just a retread of what came before. Our Time is Short is boring. If I was making changes, they are the only ones I'd actually make. But I was just going along with LM's "cut 20 minutes" thing.

 

[LemonMelon]

I need to listen to it again to pick out specific tracks. I'm just the kind of guy that thinks fairly uniform albums, no matter how good they are, are better off at 50 minutes than 70 minutes. Keep the extra stuff for something else.

Obviously there are many, many great 70+ minute albums, but there's usually some unique ideas lyrically (TPAB, Teens of Denial) or musically (The White Album, Sign O The Times) that justify the extra time. In this album's case (and The War on Drugs), I got the idea after about 45-50 minutes.

 

[gump]

Are we going to do a formal poll this year?

Yes, in January once people have had a chance to catch up with music over the holidays.

 

[cobl04]

I need to listen to it again to pick out specific tracks. I'm just the kind of guy that thinks fairly uniform albums, no matter how good they are, are better off at 50 minutes than 70 minutes. Keep the extra stuff for something else.

Obviously there are many, many great 70+ minute albums, but there's usually some unique ideas lyrically (TPAB, Teens of Denial) or musically (The White Album, Sign O The Times) that justify the extra time. In this album's case (and The War on Drugs), I got the idea after about 45-50 minutes.

Teens of Denial absolutely does not fall into this category. I could cut half an hour from that album without batting an eyelid. Has some great highs, and points to a very promising future, but come on.

 

[LemonMelon]

Teens of Denial absolutely does not fall into this category. I could cut half an hour from that album without batting an eyelid. Has some great highs, and points to a very promising future, but come on.

I'm sure you could, but you shouldn't.

Will Toledo could write better lyrics in his sleep than David Le'aupepe. Teens of Denial has such a strong narrative push (peaking with Cosmic Hero and The Ballad of the Costa Concordia) that it works almost like a novel as well as an album, and each track has something unique and revelatory to offer in terms of building Toledo as a personality. Same with TPAB and Kendrick. You learn so much about these people as you listen to their music.

I don't really know why Gang of Youths' album is almost 80 minutes long. It's not telling a story and the variety isn't quite there. It's all very GOOD in terms of quality, so that's fine, but I'm not really sure what every single track adds.

 

[cobl04]

That's a very ignorant thing to say, given you've clearly not looked into his back story. As I've said, the lyrics carry significantly more weight when you know what's behind them. Variety, I can cop that, but "not telling a story" is just straight up bullshit. On a surface level, as I've said, it may seem a bit generic or wishy-washy at first, but it really isn't. I like Teens of Denial a great deal, but good lyrics doesn't carry an album all the way.