So here it is, the gospel according to Jamesinbrasil. After a year of painstaking research, which has led to a list not that dissimilar to other blogs and publications, these are my favourite records of the year:
1) LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
2) MIA - Kala
3) Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
4) Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
5) Battles - Mirrored
And in my usual, "here's everything I thought was any good and in no particular order" way are the rest:
Modeselektor - Happy Birthday
Justice - †
DJ Medhi - Lucky Boy
Bjork - Volta
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Devandra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain
Feist - The Reminder
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Yoko Ono - Yes I'm A Witch
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
Boyz Noize - Oi Oi Oi
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release
Tinariwen - Aman Inam: Water is Life
Grinderman - Grinderman
Dizzee Rascal - Maths and English
Burial - Untrue
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Liars - Liars
Fiery Furnaces - Widow City
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36
Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm
Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
!!! - Myth Takes
CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn
Supermayer - Save The World
Horrors - Strange House
V/a - Brasil 70
Bonde Do Role - With Lasers
Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
Bangers & Cash - EP
Digitalism - Idealism
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy
Field - From Here We Go Sublime
Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
Deerhunter - Cyptograms
Grizzly Bear - Friend EP
LCD Soundsystem - Fabric 36
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Menomena - Friend and Foe
Hot Chip - DJ Kicks
Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound
Lupe Fiasco - Cool
Wu Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
Italians Do It Better
Om - Pilgrimage
Patrick Watson - Close To Paradise
Ghostface - The Big Doe Rehab
Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel
Miracle Fortress - Five Roses
Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck
Matthew Dear - Asa Breed
Ruarri Joseph - Tales of Grime & Grit
Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions
Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
Chromatics - Night Drive
V/a - What's Happening In Pernambuco?
There's 63 albums there, so it must have been a fantastic year. Those top 5 are all superb albums, brimming with originality and tremendous songs, which is what it's all about really. So what do you think I missed? And what were your favourites? Comment away...
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7 comments:
I'm shocked and a little bit disgusted that Patrick Wolf is in your Top 5! He's pants.
Errr, no he's not he's great. It's proper pop the way I like it. what about the other 60 odd?
I've only heard 1 of your top 5 all the way through. Battles I would probably like if I investigated further, the last Beirut record was ok, but I don't really get MIA and find Patrick Wolf mannered and irritated. What does "proper pop" mean?
I'll be doing my own list, which will feature at least 4 albums not on your list that should be. I have more trad taste than you though.
Question - you have so much music, but how can you possibly listen to it "properly" (as in "Proper" Pop)? How can you take the time to delve into a record and get to know it, let it grow on you, seek out its subtlest pleasures? I can't see how this would be possible even if you confined yourself to only the albums on your second list, and from Last FM I know that your listening ranges pretty far and wide. So do you trust your critical faculties so much that you're prepared to judge a record on a couple of listens? Or is it based on all those Ipod hours Last FM doesn't cover? Just curious...
Okay, I'll admit that proper pop is a tainted label, as it is usually used by pretentious people to justify liking something commercial that they think they are too cool to like. However, I don't know how else to describe it succinctly. What I mean is that his brand of pop does the things I like commercial pop music to do: it's catchy, singalong, flamboyant, soulful, full of character and original. Not many people can get away with it. He is the kind of musician that for everyone who loves him there are 5 who hate him, but isn't that the way it's supposed to be? At least he's not 'alright'.
As for your second (and very valid) question, this is supposed to be a list of everything I found interesting in the year. I don't know them all intimately, most I have heard only two or three times (I did re-listen to everything before putting it on the list to make sure it was worthy). I wasn't saying that they are all brilliant. The point I was trying to make was that there is a lot of really good music around if you do some digging (and most of these don't take much exploration to find), and in this list, hopefully people will be able to find something new and interesting they haven't heard before. That's the only real justification in the lists, or else they are just exercises in ego-massage.
The reason I created the top 5 was because I wanted to highlight that these were the records that really stood out and that I have got to know intimately. I don't worry about the intimacy and getting to know albums, I trust time to bring them to the fore. You can't rush the process.
Ok, I understand that point, and lists are definitely exercises in ego masage, which is part of the fun.
But you listen to more new music almost daily, right? And discover old stuff you had missed. So the time you're going to have to listen to stuff is always decreasing. And trusting in the process won't change that. This is true for me too, and I listen to a lot less music than you, I'm sure...
Its an old point, but I do sometimes miss the days of my youth when I would listen almost exclusively to a single album for weeks after I bought it. That never happens anymore. I have this hunger for moving on..
Well sometimes I find it tiring to choose. There's just so much. Whenever I feel like this, I know it's time to listen to an old (or new) favourite. So this is how I know the process works, because if it's a good album it will pop into my head, and if it doesn't make the grade, then it won't. But I try not to worry about it too much, I don't think it stands up to too much analysis. It's an emotional, non-logical thing.
supeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer*
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