My current top 30 favorite albums.

1. Keren Ann Keren Ann
2. White Stripes Icky Thump
3. Lucky Soul Great Unwanted
4. Locksley Don't Make Me Wait
5. Future Conditional We Don't Just Disappear
6. Ryan Adams Easy Tiger
7. The Red Button She's About To Cross My Mind
8. Wilco Sky Blue Sky
9. Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles Diamonds in the Dark
10. Herman Dune Giant
11. Blanche Little Amber Bottles
12. Candie Payne I Wish I Could Have Loved You More
13. Findlay Brown Separated by the Sea
14. Monit Mardie Clocks
15. The Bird and the Bee The Bird and the Bee
16. The Time Flys Rebels of Babylon
17. Sarah Shannon City Morning Song
18. Mary Weiss Dangerous Game
19. Chico Mann Manifest Tone Vol. 1
20. Husky Rescue Ghost Is Not Real
21. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Living with the Living
22. The Brigadier View From the Bath
23. Antibalas Security
24. The Ike Reilly Assassination We Belong to the Staggering Evening
25. The Peaces Is Are Was Were
26. Julie Dorion Woke Myself Up
27. PG Six Slightly Sorry
28. Redlands Palomino Company Take Me Home
29. Pinki Martini Hey Eugene
30. Len Price 3 Rentacrowd

The list doesn't include anything I picked up since late July. Yep, I'm lazy.

Wow crazed. You're list is so unheard by me that it almost seems contrarian, even though I'm guessing a lot of those bands and artist are not. Very interesting.

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:

10. Herman Dune Giant

its good to see some Herman Dune love, they are a GREAT band. Too bad Andre left them...

but Giant was 2006 no?

quote:

Originally posted by ajar:

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:

10. Herman Dune Giant

its good to see some Herman Dune love, they are a GREAT band. Too bad Andre left them...

but Giant was 2006 no?

My copy on Source Records has 2007. I've seen AMG list two 2006 editions: on Source Etc and EMI/Capitol. Not sure if there are any track differences in the three editions.

What would you recommend among the best pre-Giant Dune albums? I loved the vocals, lyrics, flow and rhythm of the "Giant" album.

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:

What would you recommend among the best pre-Giant Dune albums? I loved the vocals, lyrics, flow and rhythm of the "Giant" album.

its strange because Giant was quite a departure from there more lo-fi usual sound, it was the first time they had budget for some studio time, the previous album Not on top is in mono!! but for me its there best ( i see you have Julie Doiron on yr list, she's on that record), its one of my best ever album
Switzerland Heritage, Mash Concrete Metal Mushroom, Mas Cambios are also very good but definetly start with Not on Top

Both songwriters, David Ivar and Andre have recorded tons of solo album on cdr there is also some gems in there (specially Andre's stuff) alto its sometimes very lo-fi.

Just heard some samples of Not On Top and I'm sold (and found me a copy online too). Much thanks, ajar, for the recommendations.

Update

01. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, Of Montreal
02. †, Justice
03. Kala, M.I.A.
04. Night Falls Over Kortedala, Jens Lekman (just added)
05. Icky Thump, The White Stripes
06. The Magic Position, Patrick Wolf
07. Yearbook 1, Studio (just added)
08. Neon Bible, The Arcade Fire
09. Friend Opportunity, Deerhoof
10. Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective
11. Random Spirit Lover, Sunset Rubdown (just added)
12. The Reminder, Feist
13. Boxer, The National
14. Wincing the Night Away, The Shins
15. Scribble Mural Comic Journal, A Sunny Day in Glasgow
16. Tears of the Valedictorian, Frog Eyes
17. Chromophobia, Gui Boratto
18. Person Pitch, Panda Bear
19. From Here We Go Sublime, The Field
20. Spiderman of the Rings, Dan Deacon

I finally got a chance to listen to Yearbook 1 by Studio after wanting to listen to it for months now (it was SO hard to find online for download) and it's defiantly completely terrific. I also got around to listening to the new Sunset Rubdown. I was very hesitant at first, since I wasn't wowed by their last album (it was still good though), but this one is 100% better. As for Jens Lekman's new album, it's like Pixies, The Smiths, and Scott Walker (from the 60s) all rolled into one. WAY better than his last year’s compliation (which I glued to my old apartments bedroom wall). As you can see, I've enjoyed these three albums so much for the past few days that they have charted on my top 20 .

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BAfé,

I've made a few changes since I last posted my list, so here it is again with selected comments:

1 – Thee Stranded Horse – Churning Strides
2 – Stendeck – Faces
3 – Black Moth Super Rainbow – Dandelion Gum
4 – The Snake the Cross the Crown – Cotton Teeth
5 – Centro-matic – Operation Motorcide EP
6 – National Lights – The Dead Will Walk Dear
7 – Windmill – Puddle City Racing Lights
8 – Iron and Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
9 – Future Conditional – We Don’t Just Disappear
10 – Lost in the Trees – Time Taunts Me EP
11 – Radical Face – Ghost
12 – New Ruins – The Sound They Make
13 – Hayward Williams – Another Sailor’s Dream
14 – J. Tillman – Cancer and Delirium
15 – Jacob Golden – Revenge Songs
16 – Elephant Micah – Alsatian Sunlight EP
17 – Miracle Fortress – Five Roses
18 – Explosions in the Sky – All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
19 – Efterklang – Under Giant Trees EP
20 – Gui Boratto – Chromophobia
21 – Thee More Shallows – Book of Bad Breaks
22 – Storyboards – Stagger & Sway
23 – Popnoname – The White Album
24 – Justice – Cross
25 – Hotel Alexis – Goliath, I’m On Your Side
26 – Tunng – Good Arrows
27 – Or, the Whale – Light Poles and Pines
28 – Polyethylene – What Goes On Inside Houses
29 – 65daysofstatic – The Destruction of Small Ideals
30 – Let’s Go Sailing – The Chaos In Order
31 – Pantha du Prince – This Bliss
32 – Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
33 – Lisa Knapp – Wild & Undaunted
34 – Findlay Brown – Separated by the Sea
35 – Magnolia Electric Co – The Black Ram
36 – National – Boxer
37 – Dolorean – You Can’t Win
38 – Sadies – New Seasons
39 – Among Wolves – Among Wolves
40 – Port Royal – Afraid to Dance
41 – Christ. – Blue Shift Emissions
42 – Erik Mongrain – Fates
43 – Saturna – Some Delicious Enemy
44 – Ted Leo – Living with the Living
45 – Minus Story – My Ion Truss

There are about 8 albums I really liked after a couple listens that I've yet to rank, and several have the potential to go really high. They include:
--Will Stratton - What the Night Said
--Jason Molina - Shohola
--Nancy Elizabeth - Battle and Victory
--Moon & Nightspirit - Rego Rejtem
--Patrick Park - Everyone's In Everyone
--Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
--Jenny Owen Youngs - Batten the Hatches


Stendeck is an album I still need to listen to more, but I'm 90% sure it will be in my top 5. It's an electronic album that pulls out all the stops; it is not restrained or minimalist.

The Storyboards album really impressed me the last time I listened to it. Impressive songwriting and I like the singer. It's basically indie-pop but with an edge that distinguishes it from all the fluffy, anemic twee that seems to be rampant these days.

I'm really close to moving Radical Face up about 5 spots, but I haven't listened to the 5 in front of it for a while, so I'm waiting until I get that chance.


Or, the Whale made a pretty great bootstomping roots album, though there's as much pop as traditionalism in there. The first song, "Call and Response" is a great song about the hurricane and New Orleans.

My top 5:

1. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
3. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
4. Battles - Mirrored
5. National - Boxer

Oh and the latest from Bloc Party is just goddam awful.

01. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover (9.8)
02. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (9.4)
03. New Pornographers - Challengers (9.0)
04. The National – Boxer (8.8)
05. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (8.7)

06. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (8.6)
07. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (8.6)
08. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime (8.6)
09. Panda Bear – Person Pitch (8.5)
10. Menomena – Friend And Foe (8.5)

11. Deerhunter – Cryptograms (8.4)
12. Dan Deacon – Spiderman Of The Rings (8.4)
13. Bowerbirds - Hymns For A Dark Horse (8.1)
14. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (8.1)
15. Liars – Liars (8.0)

16. Caribou - Andorra (8.0)
17. John Vanderslice - Emerald City (8.0)
18. M.I.A. - Kala (7.9)
19. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (7.8)
20. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (7.8)

Need more time:

Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring – These Are Our Songs, We Wrote Them For You
Low – Drums And Guns
The Go! Team - Proof Of Youth
Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
The World On Higher Downs - Land Patterns

A suggestion:

We should all submit our year-end lists before the most influential magazines do. I think in the past two years, the cut-off date has been mid-January. Why not change that to late-December?

I think that would make our collective year-end list a little more original.

quote:

Originally posted by The_Sprawl:
A suggestion:

We should all submit our year-end lists before the most influential magazines do. I think in the past two years, the cut-off date has been mid-January. Why not change that to late-December?

I think that would make our collective year-end list a little more original.

I second this suggestion.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:

quote:

Originally posted by The_Sprawl:
A suggestion:

We should all submit our year-end lists before the most influential magazines do. I think in the past two years, the cut-off date has been mid-January. Why not change that to late-December?

I think that would make our collective year-end list a little more original.

I second this suggestion.

I'm not sure that gives me enough time to catch up on anything important I might have missed. :/

quote:

Originally posted by The_Sprawl:
A suggestion:

We should all submit our year-end lists before the most influential magazines do. I think in the past two years, the cut-off date has been mid-January. Why not change that to late-December?

The main reason we haven't done this in the past is because many people see an influx of albums around the holidays, either as gifts or buying them with gift cards. If people want to try and look cool by mimicking "professional" lists, that's their problem.

I think that would make our collective year-end list a little more original.

I can put up my list now. It probably wouldn't be my best list, but it wouldn't change dramatically, since I have 20 albums. Why don't we post them now? Cut off day is tomorrow. That'll make us even cooler than everybody else. It won't matter if we miss some or drive newcomers away beause we will be the "GOLDEN GODS of COOL!"

Take from that whatever you wish. Sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by PRG:

quote:

Originally posted by The_Sprawl:
A suggestion:

We should all submit our year-end lists before the most influential magazines do. I think in the past two years, the cut-off date has been mid-January. Why not change that to late-December?

The main reason we haven't done this in the past is because many people see an influx of albums around the holidays, either as gifts or buying them with gift cards. If people want to try and look cool by mimicking "professional" lists, that's their problem.

Agree. mid-January is the norm here. I like the x-mas break and slow start of Jan. to relax and complete my list....no rush.

quote:

Agree. mid-January is the norm here. I like the x-mas break and slow start of Jan. to relax and complete my list....no rush.

That's the kind of bourgeois thinking that drags down this site!

Just kidding pal, don't be offended.

But really, does it take you that long to choose your 20 fav.s of the year....

It doesn't take me that long (I think my list last year was mid-December) but I don't see why we should rush at all.

All this talk of moving the cut-off date is fine and great but I think we should continue it here, where I just finished posting a response.

C'mon the main goal of this is that Metacritic has to influence pitchork's 2007 year end list, thats all. If the MC community loves a particular album pitchfork will rise that album in the top 10. WE ARE THE FUTURE DOMINATORS