Put me in for Fuck Buttons, if no one else is doing it.

quote:

Originally posted by crob3888:
Senator_Colin: Skeletal Lamping (love this record, btw)

Fantastic! Hopefully my write-up will do justice to this buffoonish piece of work.

I can't tell if they have been claimed yet or not, but I would be willing to do a blurb for The Department of Eagles and/or Shearwater. I believe they are both currently sitting in our top 20 list.

quote:

Originally posted by crob3888:
The Walkmen

That will essentially cover around 20 albums on our list, if not a little more.

Thanks for all the eagerness to contribute guys! Hope to hear back from all of you soon.

I'd like to do The Walkmen.

No, ahem...;-) Correct that, I'd like to do a write up of You and Me by The Walkmen.

I'll take Frightened Rabbit or Bon Iver.

I can do folk albums if anyone wants me to.

Awesome guys, I'm liking all of the responses and enthusiasm we are getting on this! I've already received at least one write-up, which was extremely well-done, so I hope everybody is working hard on ideas for their write-ups!

Newly updated list of who is doing what:

Me: The Hold Steady, TV on the Radio
Turenne: Q-Tip
LoS: Girl Talk, Lil Wayne
Bushn: Portishead
Senator_Colin: Skeletal Lamping
FKA: Kanye West, Okkervil River
RL: Rural Alberta Advantage
Bafe: Crystal Castles
Theelfpat: Wolf Parade, Born Ruffians, Santogold
Santa Ate a Poisoned Egg: M83
Petrolfire: Cut Copy, Vampire Weekend, Beach House, TV on The Radio
Elitist_Pretentious: Fleet Foxes, Frightened Rabbit
Joymonger: Fuck Buttons
Shad'Cracker: Shearwater, Department of Eagles
Outis in a manger: The Walkmen
Chamberk: Bon Iver (I assume when you said "or" you meant you wanted me to choose one or the other, but I'd love to get a write-up for Frightened Rabbit if you are willing)
Dr. Awesome: Anything in particular you want do do? Perhaps you'd be willing to write for The Mountain Goats, Blitzen Trapper, The Tallest Man on Earth, Sun Kil Moon, Plants & Animals, or Calexico? It's up to you.


And, thanks to FKA for yesterday's post of the rest of the top 50, anybody who wants to claim any of the following albums will be more than welcome to them. Remember, we are trying to get write-ups for the entire top 40 list, so if any of you out there who have already claimed an album or two want to try your hand at these, it will be greatly appreciated. I may pick up a bit of the slack myself, but I want to get as much variety as possible, so anybody who hasn't claimed an album yet and is reading this, I'd encourage you to try your hand at it! It'll be fun, so help us out! Plus you get to have your name next to an album you love, and get to represent all of our collective love for whatever album it happens to be. Anyways, here's the rest of the top 50 that hasn't been claimed:


4 Deerhunter
6 Dodos
20 No Age
21 Hercules & Love Affair
22 Why? - Alopecia 181
23 Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances 174
27 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid 151
28 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! 151
29 British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music? 146
30 Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster... 142
31 Blitzen Trapper - Furr 141
33 Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust 137
34 Beck - Modern Guilt 135
36 Deerhoof - Offend Maggie 135
37 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular 132
39 The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride 114
40 The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave 111
41 Sun Kil Moon - April 109
42 The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound 108
43 Drive-By Truckers - Brighter than Creation's Light 107
44 Flying Lotus - Los Angeles 105
45 Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line 104
46 Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash 102
47 Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue 100
48 Calexico - Carried to Dust 97
49 Fennesz - Black Sea 97
50 My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges 96

Thats a lot of great albums on that list, so if you haven't yet decided you want to do a write-up, I'd strongly encourage it for the sake of all of us here at metacritic. Through many we are one.

But, if anybody who has already committed to an album wants to add one or two more to their plate, they are welcome to do that as well.

And lastly, I just want to encourage everybody to remember to take this responsibility seriously, but at the same time, make sure to have fun with it!

"25. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (471)

Even if Jeff Tweedy did not start Sky Blue Sky sober and both his parents did not die, I really would've hoped he had this album in him. In his own words, "The next album should always be better than the last." Some critics and fans didn't think so, but this album is straight-forward pure pop and you can FEEL it in the way the musicians play off each other. "Either Way" starts off by inviting the listener in, to drop their bag of worries at the doorstep and to just relax. Heck, some days all you need is a blue sky to help you get through the day. The album is full of soft melodies and old-fashioned guitar solos, and boy, does Nels Cline work those fingers! "Impossible Germany" is the favoured piece here, but I love his work on "Side With The Seeds," as I lose track of time by song's end - every listen! Tweedy and Co. also loosen up with "Walken" and "Hate It Here" and end with what could be a love song for his parents with "On And On And On." It is Tweedy's voice, though, that carries this album song to song, and, in time, Sky Blue Sky will be remembered as a classic!" ~jayman

that was awesome

I will do The Tallest Man on Earth and Sun Kil Moon. Thanks!

damn i'm listening Sky blue Sky now because of that review.

If we're going that far, I can grab Mountain Goats, too.

I'll also do No Age and Blitzen Trapper.

I can't believe no one has asked to write about Deerhunter yet. If no one else really wants to do it, I will gladly contribute that one as well. But if you really do want to do it, just post here and crob will give it to you instead.

quote:

Originally posted by Away in a Chamber (k):
If we're going that far, I can grab Mountain Goats, too.

Ooh, good choice. And I'm glad you are writing for them.

Ok guys, so here's an updated list of who is doing what write-ups:

Me: The Hold Steady, TV on the Radio, Gaslight Anthem, Los Campesinos, Beck
Turenne: Q-Tip
LoS: Girl Talk, Lil Wayne
Bushn: Portishead
Senator_Colin: Skeletal Lamping
FKA: Kanye West, Okkervil River, No Age, Blitzen Trapper
RL: Rural Alberta Advantage
Bafe: Crystal Castles
Theelfpat: Wolf Parade, Born Ruffians, Santogold
Santa Ate a Poisoned Egg: M83
Petrolfire: Cut Copy, Vampire Weekend, Beach House, TV on The Radio
Elitist_Pretentious: Fleet Foxes, Frightened Rabbit
Joymonger: Fuck Buttons
Shad'Cracker: Shearwater, Department of Eagles
Outis in a manger: The Walkmen
Chamberk: Bon Iver, Mountain Goats
Dr. Awesome: Tallest Man on Earth, Sun Kil Moon


Albums that still need love:
4 Deerhunter (how has nobody claimed this???)
6 Dodos (how has nobody offered for this?)
21 Hercules & Love Affair
22 Why? - Alopecia
23 Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
27 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
28 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
29 British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
33 Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
36 Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
37 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

That's only 11 albums that weren't in the most recent Top 40 post! We're doing great guys, but either some people with only one album are going to have to pick up an extra or two, or new contributors are going to be necessary. There's a lot of quality albums to be written for!

Other than that, hope everybody has a safe and happy holidays.

RANKED

1. Frightened Rabbit-The Midnight Organ Fight- Scott Hutchison, lead singer of the Scottish indie rock combo describes "The Midnight Organ Fight" as "relationshipy" and "intense". It is definitely those two things, but it is also poignant and harrowing. It depicts the most emotionally draining demise of a courtship since Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend." Hutchison's voice is sentient and emotionally wrought as if he is singing through a quivering lip. The lyrics are at times fairly explicit and admittedly hyperbolic (especially on the lead-off track "Modern Leper" when he compares an on-again off-again relationship to leprosy) but it always has the feel of truth. While some critics have labeled the album a throwback to the "Rock-n-Whine" music of the 80s with The Cure and The Smith's exercising personal demons through overly downbeat musical sentiments, Frightened Rabbit never delve too deeply into despair. "Keep Yourself Warm," which was probably not a hit because of the explicit nature of its content and chorus, may be the only rock song in memory that is actually against one-night stands. "The Twist" tells the story of a lover willing to accept a relationship is over even though he sees the signs "Let's pretend I'm attractive and then you won't mind." "My Backwards Walk" is utterly claustrophobic showing a narrator looking to "erase the memory of her" and simply cannot do it. "Midnight Organ Fight" has it's share of despair but it also has a universal honesty and frankness that is rare in contemporary pop today. It is a cathartic triumph and the best album of the year.



2. Amadou & Mariam-Welcome to Mali-Amadou and Mariam are a musical duo from Mali composed of married couple Mariam Doumbia and Amadou Bagayoko. The interesting thing about the couple is the fact that they are both blind and met while at the Mali Institute and connected over their shared love of music. One of the most remarkable things about "Welcome to Mali" is how inclusive it is of both World and International Music. Clearly, the couple have an affinity for the music of their home land, but the inclusion of "rock guitars, Syrian violins, Indian tablas," show a musical palette as inclusive as any in popular music. "Sabali," with its synth bleeps and computerized vocals wouldn't be out of place on an Atlas Sound album. Elsewhere, the Damon Albarn (yeah... from Blur and Gorillaz) produced "Ce N' est Pas Bon" which sounds like a fairly traditional African chant hymn with guitars and American drums. "I Follow You" is painfully beautiful opening with pianos and violins and leading to an ode between husband and wife about unyielding love. Richard and Linda Thompson they aren't. "Mali" is wonderfully sung and performed from beginning to end and hopefully opens up minds to experiencing World Music.



3.Why?-Alopecia- The lyrical magnum opus of the year. Alopecia brims with weird puns, non sequitur, verbal gaffes and enough quotable lines to keep a t-shirt company in business for years. One of my favorites from "Fatalist Palmistry": "I sleep on my back because it's good for the spine and coffin rehearsal" (which sounds much more sardonically humorous coming from lead singer Yoni Wolf) apes the albums primary focus: death but through a prism of ironic detachment. Though the beats and music largely imply this album is a somber affair Wolf's tone throughout drives home the albums keen satirical stance. "These Few Presidents" has a bouncy groove and an abstract narrative about rumpled dollar bills, wasps in shoes and lightening striking kites. "A Sky for Shoeing Horses Under" contains the albums catchiest chorus and one of the records funniest lines: "I only played chess once in my life and...well, I lost." Alopecia is a wildly imaginative record, full of witty wordplay inventive musical gestures.



4. Marnie Stern-This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That- According to popular legend Marnie Stern's career was birthed after she first listened to defunct indie rock trio Sleater-Kinney. Stern was highly inspired by the groups unique mixture of pop and guitar-heavy rock. Stern, who is based in New York City, sounds on much of "This is it..." like the euphoria of that initial introduction has yet to wear off. "This is it..." is a record that is utterly joyous in its love of the process of creating music. Stern, bassist John-Reed Thompson and drummer Zach Hill create a cryptic sonic universe where no moment goes to waste. Stern and crew are always either riffing, harmonizing or unleashing crescendos. The record just never lets up. One of the remarkable things about "This is it..." is its keen understanding of Pop sensibilities while also remaining true to the sound of guitar driven alternative. There are moments on here that are catchier than anything on a Kelly Clarkson album but more riff heavy than a Metallica album. The way she strikes that balance is truly one-of-a-kind.



5. Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago-To put it simply: Musician (Justin Vernon) splits from his former band (De Yarmond Edison, who would go on to relocate to North Carolina and reform as Megafaun). Musician is exiled in a log cabin in frigid Wisconsin for four months. Musician finds his musical voice in the form of a saddened falsetto wail. Musician composes a mostly acoustic album filled with songs about regret and failed relationships. Musician becomes a critical darling. For Emma, Forever Ago is one of the most naked and introspective albums of the year and evidence of what can be done with desire rather than studio trickery. This entire album was recorded in a cabin with one musician and modest equipment. However, it embodies what all music desires to by creating an emotion in its listener and inspiring them to act upon it. Songs like "Re:Stacks," "Skinny Love," and "Flume" are not just brilliantly performs odes to longing, they reflect a certain universal feeling for loneliness.



6. Fucked Up-The Chemistry of Common Life-I'll say this much for the band Fucked Up, they have gone about as far as they could in embodying their Hardcore Rock idols of the mid-eighties. They have the fairly self explanatory band name, an album title that references a James F. W. Johnston book about hallucinogenic drugs and a law suit against a commercial music peddler (They sued Rolling Stone Magazine for implying their band supported Camel cigarettes, hey who wouldn't?). But while they get no points for originality (Black Flag are still the quintessential American hardcore band) they do get points for creating music that is truly in the spirit of its predecessors. "Son the Father" could have been long-winded at over six-and-a-half minutes but with the great thrashing drums and back and forth riffage it sounds as if it was recorded in a indie rock club. However, the band doesn't just want to mosh, "Golden Seal" is an instrumental piece likened to Brian Eno's most ethereal work, and "No Epiphany" should keep the frequenters of The Metro in Chicago head banging well into the new year.



7. Girl Talk-Feed the Animals-With so many artists this year looking to replicate the sound of a previous generation it makes sense that an "artists" like Gregg Gillis i.e. Girl Talk would find an audience. Instead of just aping the sounds of his youth he simply samples everything in a traditional DJ-esque mash-up. This cut-and-paste approach is, to me enjoyable and that's why he made it to the list, but this album was the hardest to critique since I'm enjoying it because of the samples he is using as opposed to the music he is making and that was a huge conflict for me. On "Shut the Club Down," when he mixes Rod Stewart's "Young Turks," Micheal Sembello's "Maniac" and Ray J's ""Sexy Can I" the combination makes for a highly effective mix. The very next song mixes The Band's "The Weight" with Yung Joc's "It's Going Down" and creates a kind of country rap that works so well that it's a wonder those two genres have not connected on record more. If nothing else, "Feed the Animals" proves that all genres of music could be made accessible to the average listener and his refusal to see bounds in the music styles could be a sign as to where music could eventually be heading. "Feed the Animals" is an immensely listenable album both for the treasure trove of re-appropriated samples for the listener to identify and for the effective way they come together to create something different. I tried my best to talk myself out of including it on the list since it was just a collection of samples, some coming at a rate of four every five seconds, and there was no music actually created by Gillis. But in the end, I just popped it in again, and bobbed my head to the sounds of my youth.



8. Q-tip-The Renaissance-A lot has changed since Jonathan "Q-Tip" Davis last made an impact on the music scene with Amplified from a decade ago. One, is that many of today's young record buyers (or is it "music downloaders") have much shorter attention spans and comeback's are hard to make. Tell a 16-year-old Q-Tip was in A Tribe Called Quest and they might look at you like you were from a retirement community. Nevertheless, the best way to make a comeback is to ignore your previous successes and simply look to make a confident, well-rounded album and that is what Q-Tip did. Much like Jarvis Cocker two year's ago, whose self-titled solo album was the comeback of the decade in my opinion, he accentuated his strengths and stayed true to his artistic vision. I think in the music business they call it "getting back to basics." "Won't Trade" rides its Ruby Andrews sample and Tip's laid-back vocal delivery, "Getting Up" may be one of the most infectious tracks he has made as a solo artist, and "You" carries a neo-soul vibe that suits Q-Tip's career-long balancing act between the rough edges of Hip-Hop and the experimentation of Jazz. In another artist's hands an album title like The Renaissance could be read as pretentious, but coming from Q-Tip it simply prompts the question: "What took so long?"



9. Sigur Ros-Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust-On their fifth studio album Sigur Ros are back to the form that made 2002's () album such a memorable dream pop gem. Here, (The title translates to With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly") their ambient harmonies and lyrics sung completely in their native Icelandic language converge to create some of the most melodic sounds of the year. "Ara Batur" is the album's best track, building patiently on its opening pianos and becoming a powerful symphony of voices by the end of its nine minute running time. It requires a patient listener, but it delivers. "Vio Spilum Endalaust" is perhaps the albums most "rocking" moment and the point were the influence of producer Flood, who has worked with U2 and PJ Harvey, is most clearly seen and "Með suð í eyrum" is a moody dream pop gem. The title and album cover imply a more adventurous sound (The cover incidentally containing more butt shots than Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy) and that is certainly the case. In fact, it is also Sigur Ros's most accessible album to date.



10. Los Campesinos!-We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed-The year's most prolific band released two stellar outings this year. Hold on Now, Youngster... and We Are Beautiful... which expands the bands musical pallatte by adding several elements. Remaining true to their name (which is Spanish for "The Peasants") the band, which is composed of six members, worked non-stop for days to record this record in two weeks. Consequently, it has a impatient, frenetic pace that suits its tales of boredom and girl-trouble perfectly. The last band to work at a clip like that was Husker Du, one of the greatest indie bands of all-time. Los Campesinos are not there yet, but they're off to a good start with a unique sound that seems to mesh The Mekons with Wire. The title track is energetic speed-punk with a nihilistic edge. The slacker anthem “Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown” features the great line: “My life was saved by a packet of 19-cigarettes carried in my left pocket.” “Ways to Make it Through the Wall” is power pop worthy of New Pornographers and the experimental “Between an Erupting Earth and an Exploding Sky” suggests the band has not exhausted all of their musical influences.



HONORABLE MENTIONS

-GHENGIS TRON-BOARD UP THE HOUSE

-GZA-PRO TOOLS

-WILD BEASTS-LIMBO, PANTO

-ATLAS SOUND-LET THE BLIND LEAD THOSE WHO CAN SEE BUT CANNOT FEEL

-TV ON THE RADIO-DEAR, SCIENCE

oh, titus andronicus for me please!

i started making a top 25 list with commentary for every album. i didn't quite finish as i was getting quite tired of writing, so the last few i wrote are pretty short and crappy. anyway, if you like any of those enough to use them, let me know and i'll go back and edit it since i haven't done much of that. you're welcome to cut some stuff out of them too if you like, just let me see it before you post it. and no biggie at all if you don't use any of them; i know i kinda suck at writing anyway, but maybe someone will enjoy reading some of them them. that'd be nice.
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/kalibtweli/2008__with_commentary_

and i just read cmg's writeup for health/disco on their top 50 albums of 08 list to find that they say pretty much exactly what i was trying to, only way more eloquently.

quote:

i started making a top 25 list with commentary for every album. i didn't quite finish as i was getting quite tired of writing, so the last few i wrote are pretty short and crappy. anyway, if you like any of those enough to use them, let me know and i'll go back and edit it since i haven't done much of that. you're welcome to cut some stuff out of them too if you like, just let me see it before you post it. and no biggie at all if you don't use any of them; i know i kinda suck at writing anyway, but maybe someone will enjoy reading some of them them. that'd be nice.

I like what you have for Sigur Ros. If you don't mind editing it to your liking, it'd be a great addition to our final list.

Also, you don't suck at writing. It takes time, you have some really great stuff here. Granted, some stuff that's not so great, but, hey, who's grading?

I can't believe no one has picked up the Dodos yet! I'll do that one too.