I think we had something similar to this last year where people would post albums they do mind seeing at a #1 slot and in turn albums that they don't mind seeing at #1 slots on lists--then they would state why they feel this way. I thought it be a good idea to do this again for 2006 albums and it would create some interesting conversations.

Don't Mind...

'Sno Angel Like You - Howe Gelb
The Knife - Silent Shout
Beirut - Gulag Orkestra
Destroyer's Rubies
Black Cadillac - Rosanne Cash
Boys and Girls in America - Hold Steady
Donuts - J. Dilla
Fishscale - Ghostface Killah
Modern Times - Bob Dylan
Ys - Joanna Newsome
Orphans - Tom Waits
Drums Not Dead - Liars
The Drift - Scott Walker
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Neko Case
Return to the Sea - Islands
Bang Bang Rock and Roll - Art Brut
Seeger Sessions - Bruce Springsteen
IANAOYAIWBYA - Yo La Tengo
The Greatest - Cat Power
Wolfmother
Scale - Herbert
Savanne - Ali Farka Toure
Pink - Boris

Do Mind

Whatever People Say I am - Arctic Monkeys
The Body, The Blood, The Machine - Thermals
Return to Cookie Mountain - TV on the Radio
Broken Boy Soldier - Raconteurs
St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
Living With War - Neil Young
The Life Pursuit - B&S
Everything All the Time - Band of Horses
Show Your Bones - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Eraser - Thom Yorke
Food and Liquor - Lupe Fiasco

Bottom Line -

There's a lot of titles in the Do Mind category I personally like better than some in the Don't Mind Category...but I do believe all the titles in my Don't Mind Category were singular releases - either top two in their sub-genre, or simply unique...

My Do Mind Category is filled with albums for which I feel superior albums in same genre were released this year, or which I simply feel are so far from great it's silly they are being mentioned.

I have to say that so far, the extensive love for Arctic Monkeys, Raconteurs, and Gnarls Barkley in particular has surprised me because I always hope critics can distinguish between an album and a single which clearly we are seeing, they cannot.

Can't give a lot of love to TV on the Radio either...I really like it, but it's got so many flaws and structually flat moments, it just isn't number one material when albums like 'Sno Angel, Silent Shout, or Boys & Girls that nail virtually every moment are out there. Haven't seen much of The Thermals on the top ten lists so far, but I am in the majority that thinks this is perfectly just...the music is consistently good, but never great, and the fascist religious right meets soylent green story line is more silly than provocative to me, and I'm an obsessive SF fan.

Don't Mind:

TV On the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain. Whether you like it or not, it is original. It has pop hooks (Wolf Like Me, Province, A Method) and it rocks in equal measure.

The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America. Like Gnarls, this has the ability to appeal to the hipsters and the popsters. It's cool even though it shouldn't be.

Joanna Newsom - Ys. Let's be honest, no one's making music with this orchestration. Sure some people drop the strings, chellos, timpanis, etc., but for the most part it's just to add some heft to the music. Van Dyke has done a wonderful job. He's bringing classic-back, them other brothers don't know where it's at

Do Mind:

Bob Dylan - Modern Times. I love Dylan, don't get me wrong, but he's been coasting on cred for a long time now. Sure, you may think this album is interesting, but it's hardly spectacular.

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time. Hey, I like this album a lot. But I also like Shins and MMJ better, and both bands do a better job than Band of Horses. It's too similar to its influences.

Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor. "Hey that Kanye album was pretty big, why don't I make one just like it?!"

Ali Farka Toure - Savane. Yeah, I get it, he's a talented guy and this is/was his swan song. It seems like people call it great because they feel obligated. Do you really think his guitar sounds that good? Pls explain. Plus the album hardly varies from song to song.

In all honesty, the Hold Steady album is great, fantastic even, but I think something needs to be really special/different to be a #1. The Hold Steady aren't doing anything new, they're just making damn good music. Meanwhile, TV on the Radio, regardless of whatever hiccups it may have in the middle of the record, is original, surprising, and in my opinion plumbs much further depths in terms of modern music.

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
In all honesty, the Hold Steady album is great, fantastic even, but I think something needs to be really special/different to be a #1. The Hold Steady aren't doing anything new, they're just making damn good music.

I'd definitely say the Hold Steady are doing something special. While I wouldn't say they're doing something 100% original, certainly they're doing something that nobody else is doing in rock in 2006. Let's face it, if you heard a brand new Hold Steady song, you're certainly not going to mistake it for the work of another artist. I'm not sure how many other bands (even ones on my top 20 list) I could say that about.

The only album I truly do mind is Ys by Joanna Newsom. I'm not going to get into why again, because I've already explained it like three times in the "Best of 2006" discussion.

Actually I'm pretty sure you mention it everyday.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
Actually I'm pretty sure you mention it everyday.

And more power to PRG for that

I don't mind any album at #1 on year-end lists. Why would or should anyone mind? If an album gives someone joy, more power to them.

I do mind if people who claim they love music can't pick a few albums to enjoy this year or any year. I'd rather hear them praise an album I may not like than hear them whine whine whine that they can't find new music to like. Guess they don't like music as much as they claim.

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
I don't mind any album at #1 on year-end lists. Why would or should anyone mind? If an album gives someone joy, more power to them.

I do mind if people who claim they love music can't pick a few albums to enjoy this year or any year. I'd rather hear them praise an album I may not like than hear them whine whine whine that they can't find new music to like. Guess they don't like music as much as they claim.

Well said, crazed. I had written something similar to this, but a little saucier, and not quite as coherent. I erased it. I don't see much changing around the forums; a few people would rather bitch and moan about Band So-and-so than actually find and enjoy new music. A little disagreement is fine, and the quick, good-natured quips (PRG) are OK (and tired! get new material!)…but these lengthy posts and threads on how much people dislike certain bands are pretty ri-goddamn-diculous.

I've said it before: everybody here is pretty similar when it comes to taste in music. A few people will have "out there" top 20s—pE likes power-pop, RL and modestryan like lap-pop, LT likes jazz, crazed owns every album ever recorded—but really, for the most part, we all listen to the same shit. Why some people resort to belittling other folks' tastes I can only assume is to desperately stake claim, loudly, to a modicum of individuality.

That is all.

Oh, and indie rock sucks.

Did you just call me a prick?

No worries, good points made. I just answered what the thread was asking...but yeah, when you put it that way. Hey, I like people having their own tastes, but wouldn't we all be a little disappointed or shocked if such-and-such an album was #1 by consensus?

You're right though, there's no point in criticizing someone's taste as a means of promoting my own. Sure, I have the best taste in music, but I don't need to go rubbing it in.

quote:

wouldn't we all be a little disappointed or shocked if such-and-such an album was #1 by consensus?

You shouldn't be; it's been made #1 by consensus. Obviously enough people included it to make it so. I'm shocked The Hold Steady (my own #1) is in position to win, personally, because it's not as uniting across indie circles as a Sufjan or a TV on the Radio, both of whom are more defined by their musical style than their lyrical narrative.

I'd have to give a big "no thanks" to The Decemberists and Band of Horses at the top. Gross.

However, I would be ecstatic to see Joanna Newsom and Subtle at or very close to the top. That would be most excellent!!

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:

quote:

wouldn't we all be a little disappointed or shocked if such-and-such an album was #1 by consensus?

You shouldn't be; it's been made #1 by consensus. Obviously enough people included it to make it so.

I know Leland, but wouldn't you be disappointed if the metacritic forum "family" voted Fergie as the #1 album of the year? Sure, lots of actual people might even believe that, but come on, don't you think you might be a little shocked/saddened? You are right however, that it's wrong to criticize people for their tastes in art, it's subjective and we all like what we like.

If someone tells me that MacDonalds was their favorite food, who am I to tell them they're an idiot...I just have to keep that thought to myself.... but if MacDonalds was voted "best food in the world", I'd be disappointed/shocked/saddened. *single tear rolling down my cheek*

quote:

Originally posted by Musicalifragilistic:
I know Leland, but wouldn't you be disappointed if the metacritic forum "family" voted Fergie as the #1 album of the year?

That would be Fergalicious.

quote:

Originally posted by Musicalifragilistic:

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:

quote:

wouldn't we all be a little disappointed or shocked if such-and-such an album was #1 by consensus?

You shouldn't be; it's been made #1 by consensus. Obviously enough people included it to make it so.

I know Leland, but wouldn't you be disappointed if the metacritic forum "family" voted Fergie as the #1 album of the year? Sure, lots of actual people might even believe that, but come on, don't you think you might be a little shocked/saddened? You are right however, that it's wrong to criticize people for their tastes in art, it's subjective and we all like what we like.

If someone tells me that MacDonalds was their favorite food, who am I to tell them they're an idiot...I just have to keep that thought to myself.... but if MacDonalds was voted "best food in the world", I'd be disappointed/shocked/saddened. *single tear rolling down my cheek*

And if Fergie made #1 you'd find a new forum to read, in much the same way you moved away from Rolling Stone when you realized how horribly out of touch they were. You'll seek and find inclusion elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
And if Fergie made #1 you'd find a new forum to read, in much the same way you moved away from Rolling Stone when you realized how horribly out of touch they were. You'll seek and find inclusion elsewhere.

For all the RS dissing around here, their Top 10 list was actually pretty good. RHCP at #2 was a little generous, but the rest was full of pretty good albums.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
And if Fergie made #1 you'd find a new forum to read, in much the same way you moved away from Rolling Stone when you realized how horribly out of touch they were. You'll seek and find inclusion elsewhere.

For all the RS dissing around here, their Top 10 list was actually pretty good. RHCP at #2 was a little generous, but the rest was full of pretty good albums.

Yeah, pretty surprising. But a single list can't erase an entire year's worth of vacuous reporting.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
And if Fergie made #1 you'd find a new forum to read, in much the same way you moved away from Rolling Stone when you realized how horribly out of touch they were. You'll seek and find inclusion elsewhere.

Haha, you've got me pegged. I subscribed to Rollingstone for about 4 or 5 years, before I knew how bad they sucked. I used to think Peter Travers was the most "right on" movie critic of all time. No more RS for me, not for about 5 years now.

Yeah, I used to subscribe to Maxim magazine as well, when it first came out...man I was lame...probably still am, and I'll only realise it in two or three years, looking back. Maybe I am doomed to be lame all of my life, only realising a couple years, after the fact, that I was oh so wrong. Live and learn, I guess.

I'm with leland on this whole topic. I prefer not to belittle anybody's lists, whatever my motivation. If a majority of people put Fergie or any other stinker at the top of their lists, so be it. Do I agree? No. Do I care? No. I'll just seek out the opinions of people who share my tastes (which is why I'm here).

quote:

Originally posted by Platypus Quest:
I'd have to give a big "no thanks" to The Decemberists and Band of Horses at the top. Gross.

However, I would be ecstatic to see Joanna Newsom and Subtle at or very close to the top. That would be most excellent!!

Of course, The Decemberists are at the top of my list, and Joanna Newsom makes me convulse every time I hear her.

So there.