Is it too early to start an "Al*** of the Year" thread?

depends what year, really.....

Mike

On the Yellow Brick Road and happy

Arf

P

Is it me, or has it been a very thin year? - lots of stuff has been hyped to buggery, but I can't think of much that has actually delivered. Can't even think of anything I might nominate ..... [Has it got to be Elephant? Surely there must be something better?]

throb

Its been a great year for music although if "Elephant" is even in your personal running I can imagine how it must look quite bleak.

Today I've been enjoying The Deadly Snakes "Ode to Joy" which not AoTY material but is still comfortably better than Elephant in the retro garage rock stakes and Polysics' "Neu" which, if nothing else, is undoubtedly the best japanese electro-noise-punk-pop record of the year.

Off the top of my head worthy albums this year -- M. Ward "Transfiguarion of Vincent", Throwing Muses, Grandaddy, Dizee Rascal, "Pig Lib", "AT Dawn" (or was that last year?), Pretty Girls Make Graves, Manitoba, Out Hud, Boyracer, Magnolia Electric Co., Calexico, The Panthers, Young Liars, Broken Social Scene.

I also have high hopes for The Shins, Menomona, the new Books album and The Wrens currently stuck in post strike hell.

Matthew

Pretentions aside though....

What's the best sounding (from an emotional POV) album that you've heard this year?

Just one?

P

P,

Some of us are like Matthew in finding a lot of good music this year. In such cases it can look pretty arbitrary to insist on "just one".

Your implication that Matthew is being pretentious by listing some of this year's better releases (most of which I know and consider very good also), is difficult to square with your apparent eagerness to find out about what's good this year.

Frankly, I doubt you're that interested.

This wouldn't be the first thread on this forum to degenerate into the following tired and predictable cycle:

Old fart: Contemporary music all sucks. Only classic rock reissues are worth mentioning.

Music lover: What about the releases this year by A,B,C,D, ... etc.?

Old fart: I'm not interested in that pretentious twaddle (but of course I haven't heard it).

Again. Pretentions aside though...

Anyone care to name just one?

Frankly EJT I'd prefer you kept your cliquey opinions to your obviously lovely self.

P

Calexico - Feast of Wire
Grandaddy - Sumday
Mohave 3 - Spoon and Rafter
The Shins - Chutes too Narrow

Now, I need to hear from anybody who has bought The Shins on vinyl. Especially the limited edition colored vinyl. I have gone through 3 copies. Two pink ones, think peptol bismol, and one white one. A friend who also has a white one. There is also a red one that another friend has yet to listen too.
Anways, every single one has starting about 2/3 of the way through the second side, a 'thwack thwack' in rapid succession lasting for the rest of the album and extremely noticeable on the last, quiet song. A pressing flaw?

Hey! That's 4!

Can't you read?

P

quote:

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Originally posted by Matthew Robinson:
Today I've been enjoying The Deadly Snakes "Ode to Joy" which not AoTY material but is still comfortably better than Elephant in the retro garage rock stakes

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I listened to this several times over the weekend and came to the same conclusion.

I also listened to the Wrens. To me it's a big disappointment (just not my thing- others clearly love it). The Shins new one is a winner.

P, if you like slow, folky, traditional acoustic stuff, I highly rate Po Girl's S/T album. If you don't like it, you can section it into triangles and dip it in your chili for all I care.

[This message was edited by Ludwig on MONDAY 03 November 2003 at 21:05.]

Can I list two albums I regard as worthy in my opinion ?

1. Rickie Lee Jones - The evening of my best day.

It's a truly wonderful album, gets better and better with every play.

2. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense Re-Issue

Now with the track listing the same as the film - a much more complete issue rather than a "Best of the movie"

Yes!

Thanks

P

Still almost two months to go, but as of now The Evening Of My Best Day by Rickie Lee Jones gets my vote. One of the best albums of all-time, by anyone. That's what I think.

Of course it is too early to decide.

Kylie's new album isn't out for a couple of weeks, so how can anyone tell?

DS

ITC - Pulse - Surface Tensions

For Anyone But P

Some favorites so far, in no particular order:

Sole Selling Live Water
The Black Keys Thickfreakness
Eels Shootenanny!
King Geedorah Take Me To Your Leader
Midival Punditz Midival Punditz
Songs: Ohia Magnolia Electric Co. (Alan Ball: I was wrong and you were right about this.)
Wire PF456 Redux
The New Pornographers Electric Version
Sixtoo Antagonist Survival Kit
Non-Prophets Hope

Quite a few others more-or-less arbitrarily omitted.

Maxwellspeed: yes, I have the red Shins LP. It plays through o.k. Guess I got lucky.

For P

quote:

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just one?

---

Arf!

Eric

Struggling to come up with much of a list but..

Regard the End by Willard Grant Conspiracy has it goin' on. A keeper


red

Hmm - difficult since my tastes this year have been almost "bottom feeder" or psy-trance...

I'd say it's a tossup between:
Permission to land - Darkness (simply 'cos alhough it's far from the best music out there, it always makes me grin and sorts me out)
GMS Remixes - Various (remixes by GMS - pure class psy-trance mayhem).

Other than that, like a lot of you, I've found it a fairly thin year. I need to get the latest Eels album at some point

__________________________
Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had.

Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People

I have returned to this one again and again - I think its great.
Simon

Come on lets save this for January chaps

Keep 'em coming I say.

So Greeny?

P

quote:

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Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People

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On first play this was a huge disappointment - and I'd even managed to locate a copy on vinyl -but I'll give it another go. Don't expect it to be in my top 10 however.

Dave

Actually if I had to choose just the one LP this year that I keep going back to (amongst the other 350 or so LPs I've bought this year) it would have to be Wire - PF456 Redux (sorry Eric)

I make no bones about the fact that I'm a nostalgia wallowing old fart but if you were around in 77/78 and liked Wire then take a listen to this and be transported back 25 years to a time when maybe you were in a band or everyone you knew was in a band or just wanted to be in a band. They were great times and the fact that Wire are still going at all is amazing really and so is this album.

As far as it being a lean year for new stuff I don't agree.

Anyone else notice how much good old fashioned guitar based stuff's being played on national radio this year? The Coral , Kings of Leon , The Stripes , the Yeahyeahyeahs etc etc Electric Six doing Gay Bar FFS!? Great!

I find it really encouraging.

I've got something to put in you indeed.

Excellent

P

The Coral, Kings of Leon, The Strokes, The Yeahyeahyeahs and of course the White Stripes are for me exactly the reason why think it's been such a thin year.

All recieved tremendous press coverage, glowing reviews, together with the ultimate accolade of threads of their very own here on this forum, but all, to my ears sound like weak retreads of other older and far more substantial artists .... yet being the mug I am, of course I bought a few of them.

Although old, I do try to ward off fartdom, and sometimes lie awake at night wondering if the time has finally come when I don't connect with any new music, and would be better off browsing nice bits of ham in M&S. It might not bother some people, but for me it's a continual worry .

There's undoubtedly always going to be good stuff on the fringes, but I think an 'Album of The Year' has to be something that has had an impact on a fair number of people. Reissues surely don't count, and good though Gay Bar may be, it's a single [and have you heard the album?]. Maybe David's right, and we need to wait for Kylie.

throb

Ludwig said "I also listened to the Wrens. To me it's a big disappointment (just not my thing- others clearly love it)"

It arrived this morning and hit the spot on the first play. Definitely my sort of thing.

"I highly rate Po Girl's S/T album"

I looked it up and ordered it. Sounds like my sort of thing.

Eric -- You have excellent taste!

Matthew

Throb

Whatever.

Wallow on or lighten up.

But as for waiting for the new album from a media puppet?

Nah. I'm not going there.

Keep music live!

P