OT: Last.fm's top tracks, albums, artists of 2008
by FuturePants on Dec 4, 2008 9:19 AM CST
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PrintIf you guys don't know, last.fm is a pretty cool community site that can be compared to Pandora, I guess, where you can listen to music, track events, interact, etc. etc. Anyways, they released their best of list for this year based solely on popularity on their site, and the interesting thing is how greatly it differs from stuff like The Grammys, which is nothing but a popularity contest anyways. The downside is the lists are a little irritating to go through one-by-one, so here are the lists transcribed:
Albums
10. Sigur Ros: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
9. Jack Johnson: Sleep Through the Static
8. Hot Chip: Made in the Dark
7. Death Cab: Narrow Stairs
6. The Kooks: Konk
5. The Ting Tings: We Started Nothing
4. NIN: Ghosts I-V
3. Portishead: Third
2. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
1. Coldplay: Viva La Vida
Artists
10. Santogold
9. Does It Offend You, Yeah?
8. Bon Iver
7. Foals
6. The Last Shadow Puppets
5. Katy Perry
4. Fleet Foxes
3. Sara Bareilles
2. Ting Tings
1. MGMT
Tracks
10. Kids (MGMT)
9. Strawberry Swing (Coldplay)
8. 42 (Coldplay)
7. I Kissed a Girl (Katy Perry)
6. Cemetaries of London (Coldplay)
5. Life in Technicolor (Coldplay)
4. Electric Feel (MGMT)
3. Time to Pretend (MGMT)
2. Violet Hill (Coldplay)
1. Viva La Vida (Coldplay)
On our music site, we have show reviews and/or album reviews for almost every single band and album mentioned here, and it's all some pretty good stuff, so I'm pleased as punch with the last.fm community.
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Grammys
Actually some pretty decent nominations this year. Radiohead, Lil Wayne, MIA. Not that I’ll watch it, but it’s better than most years, anyway.
"You’re the only here who contributes schtick only." - brettgardner
To be honest
I don’t even look at the grammy nominations anymore. Thinking about the Grammys always reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer gets nominated for a Grammy and he says “Awwwww. A Grammy! That’s not even a real award!” Then on the bottom of the screen text scrolled by which said, “The views and opinions expressed by Homer Simpson do not reflect those of the writers of ‘The Simpsons’ who do not feel that a Grammy is an award at all.”
And I hate to say it, but I said the Grammys was nothing more than a thinly veiled popularity contest, and your exemplary nominees are exactly that – very popular. They are good, but I have no doubt they are nominated because of popularity.
Plus, I mean hell, Feist WON a Grammy in 2007 for “Best New Artist.” Her latest album, The Reminder was her third album, I believe. Feist = Edinson Volquez of the Grammys. Embarrassing.
they did the same thing this year
The Jonas Brothers had released 2 previous albums and are nominated for “Best New Artist,” while Katy Perry had a #1 single and released her first album, but isn’t nominated.
I still remember
the first year the “metal” category had an award. I was FURIOUS when Jethro Tull won it. What a joke.
Since then, I just can’t take it seriously.
"You got a guy coming up there who can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat." - Tom Grieve on Richie Sexson, 5.8.2008
"I’ve been a Rangers fan all my life and I can tell you there’s been plenty of fucking crying in baseball…" - WhipSmart, 6.3.08
"When it comes to Jeff Mathis, the story ends with us putting one in his earhole." - AJM, 7.7.08
Yeah
I think pretty much everyone was like, “Jethro Tull as best metal band? You mean, that band with the flute?!”
Jethro Tull was better than 97% of the metal ever put out
Nah, noob.
by Brian Thomas on Dec 4, 2008 11:36 AM CST up reply actions
Maybe
But that doesn’t mean they should win a grammy for best metal band. Radiohead is better than all country music ever written. Does that mean In Rainbows should win country record of the year? Of course not.
Agreed.
I don’t think anyone’s arguing that Jethro Tull sucks. The only argument (as far as I can tell) is that it’s a shame that it won for a genre it isn’t affiliated with.
"Please. What the hell do you know about starting a sports-related website and then deciding to leave it to work on other things and then? How dare you, sir." -- Michael Schur, aka FireJoeMorgan's Ken Tremendous, to Will Leitch
x
No, they’re really, really, REALLY not.
Meaning, Radiohead is not better than all country? If that’s what you think, fair enough, but they really are. I don’t think Radiohead is the best band ever, but man, country music is pretty much the worst….maybe just a tiny bit better than heavy metal/death metal/etc.
...
Seriously, you’d put someone like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, etc. as “just a tiny bit better than heavy metal”?
Wow.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 2:24 PM CST up reply actions
When considered as a whole?
Absolutely. No question. Country music is overall terrible. Terrible. A couple of guys raise country to just barely above worst music ever.
You are apparently a country music fan.
And that’s perfectly fine. Legends like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson rule. They are excellent. When taken as a whole, country music is an abomination and should be completely eliminated from radio/tv/consciousness, if possible. It’s horrendous.
I’m not saying country is bad because it is annoying. I’m saying that country is bad because it is bad music. When most of the country stars are ultra big because either 1) they sing about America, or 2) they simply have a good voice, something is terribly wrong with the filter people use to pick out who is a good artist and who is not. Country fans have lost any sort of filter to weed out the bad.
bad music?
That’s just your taste. I could name almost any genre of pop music and say that it sucks, because I think 99% of all pop genres suck. (I include all popular genres, country, hip hop in that broad term when I say pop music.) Don’t confuse your tastes with an objective measurement of quality.
Compared to Beethoven and Mozart all that shit sucks.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
What does
a defensively challenged shortstop have to do with this?
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Country Music
It sucks because most of the artists don’t have real names, don’t have write their own songs, and every record coming out of Nashville is recorded by the same session players over and over and over and over. It has no soul.
by Black Francis on Dec 4, 2008 5:01 PM CST up reply actions
It's out there, you dip. You have to search for it.
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 4, 2008 11:19 PM CST up reply actions
huh?
What’s out there? Good country? Yeah, I know that some good country is still made. What I’m talking about is what comes from Nashville. The mainstream shit.
by Black Francis on Dec 5, 2008 12:09 AM CST up reply actions
You could make the same argument about alternative rock music...
or any other type of music, period.
And that’s why the argument is so awful.
And for the record, I like just about every musical genre. That doesn’t mean that 95% of what’s produced in that genre isn’t pure dog turds.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 2:39 PM CST up reply actions
x
You can make that argument for other types of music, but I’m not. I’m saying country is terrible, and the best of the best aren’t enough to elevate the rest. That is not an argument that can be applied to other types of music, and I’m not arguing with you at all. I’m stating fact: country sucks.
Well
Locomotive Breath is a hell of lot closer to Shout at the Devil than OK Computer is to Oceanfront Property.
And Radiohead is not better than Johnny Cash, sir.
Nah, noob.
I love Radiohead...
but that’s bold. Wilco and Ryan Adams, to name a couple, are pretty goddamn good.
by John Fountain on Dec 4, 2008 4:28 PM CST up reply actions
And your definition of country is...
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 4, 2008 11:20 PM CST up reply actions
x
Well country does not include self-proclaimed alternative country bands. By definition, alt country is an alternative to country.
And if you have listened to eiter of those bands, they are hardly country music. At the beginning, like with AM and to a small extent, Being There, Wilco had some much stronger influences, but throw in A Ghost is Born and that had all completely evaporated by that point.
I don't think
He’s calling Wilco’s entire body of work country. But those two albums you mentioned are very much country. I think you can say the same thing for artists like Neil Young and Bob Dylan. They have country albums. Those three artists are pretty good examples why I don’t say I hate country music, despite not really being into the genre whatsoever.
I had a paper route when I was a kid. I was supposed to go to 2,000 houses. Or two dumpsters.
I also love Bright Eyes and Cat Power
But I would not classify them as country. Those two and Wilco, Ryan Adams et al have some country influenced stuff, for sure. But country artists? That is a bit of a stretch.
Silly.
Don’t you think you’re just trying to avoid getting caught in an excessively broad statement?
by brettgardner on Dec 5, 2008 12:55 PM CST up reply actions
?
As in I hate country (this is very true), but I like good bands that have country influences (also very true), but aren’t country artists (also true)? Maybe I don’t understand what you mean.
You
Said that all country music sucks, then you keep narrowing the definition of “country” to basically encompass only the music you dislike. It’s rather circular.
x
No, I keep saying over and over that bands like Wilco are not country. Because Wilco isn’t country. They aren’t even alt.country anymore. How is it circular to say “Country sux, Wilco rulez.”?
I wouldn't say Wilco is Country
I wouldn’t even say Uncle Tupelo was country.
by Black Francis on Dec 5, 2008 3:18 PM CST up reply actions
Your interpretation of country might be different from another person's interpretation.
Why is yours the standard, is my question?
And you keep talking about Wilco. I’m not asking for a review, chum… I’m asking what your definition of country is…
Does it have to have banjos in it? Do the songs have to be about trains, or drinking, or prison, or dogs?
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 5, 2008 8:54 PM CST up reply actions
You forgot
mom, and getting jilted by your lover. It brings to mind the most stereotypical verse even written in a country song, from David Allan Coe’s “You Don’t Have to Call Me Darlin’”:
I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison,
and I went to pick her up in the rain.
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
she got runned over by a danged ole train…
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
ugh.
You like friggin’ Connor Oberst, the most annoying indie “IT” kid since Ryan Adams and you have the NERVE to say all country sucks?
Man, I hate indie hipsters.
There is nothing wrong with Ryan Adams
Nothing at all.
by vfn on Dec 6, 2008 3:45 PM CST up reply actions
Wilco
is not a country artist. But I’d say A.M. and Being There are country albums.
I had a paper route when I was a kid. I was supposed to go to 2,000 houses. Or two dumpsters.
Jesus Etc. is a country song, in my opinion, because it incorporates country arrangements and elements.
The use of the steel guitar, fiddle… and that Wurlitzer-type piano… it certainly has a traditional “country” vibe to it than say, I’m The Man Who Loves You… another song on the same album…
And then when I listen to Handshake Drugs, I think… you know, Alabama could have performed this same song, and it would have been considered country… because Alabama was a country band… even though their sound was more “electric” than the typical country of the 80s…
In conclusion… Wilco can be country when they want to be.
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 6, 2008 11:08 AM CST up reply actions
Wilco is the shit
You just listed my three favorite songs of theirs. Maybe I should go out and buy some Brooks & Dunn.
I had a paper route when I was a kid. I was supposed to go to 2,000 houses. Or two dumpsters.
-1
" He throws it where he wants it, his breaking ball kept getting better and better and of course God gave him that special arm. He's great." ~ Neftali Feliz on Derek Holland.
Really?
I’d be interested to hear some of what you would consider to be his best material, then, because I can’t say I’ve listened to a single song of his that I’ve liked.
by Joey Matschulat on Dec 4, 2008 8:23 PM CST up reply actions
Phone home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltZzYsz18J8
"Obama is a Christian - He's always been a Christian...But.........what if he is[a Muslim]? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that's not America." Colin Powell on Obama/Muslim assertions.
Oldie but goodie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeRDK2m_sgs
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 4, 2008 8:52 PM CST up reply actions
At least I know I'm not missing anything
Although the beat to the second is catchy, I guess.
by Joey Matschulat on Dec 4, 2008 9:48 PM CST up reply actions
Ok
That’s the worst music in the world.
by Black Francis on Dec 4, 2008 10:55 PM CST up reply actions
To each his own
I listen to it all.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 4, 2008 10:56 PM CST up reply actions
The thing with Wayne...
It’s very hard to tie to just one song.
But there are a few things.
A – how he approaches different tracks. Check out Dying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuyEgvCVYd8
Probably better than anything off of Carter III. He takes this ultra-minimalistic approach and the result is just so chill.
Here’s a completely different approach on a track, for I’m Me. The references and wordplay are just insane. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mc6-pOM-0M
Wayne’s not someone to listen to for a narrative rap, but he’s got some incredible punchlines, drops some references that you just would not expect, and as mentioned before, his wordplay.
Another example for some of his references: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkroznq1Bb0 “Stunt Hard”. Among other things, there are 2 pro wrestling references in 3 lines.
LIl Wayne??
You’re joking, right?
This is why critics are a joke. Borat practically won an Oscar.
Critics are just their to push a (left wing) political agenda today.
I like Lil Wayne
Tha Carter III was pretty good, but his performance on SNL this last fall was pretty mediocre, at best.
Thanks for doing this
MGMT, Portishead, Hot Chip and Sigur Ros are 4 of my favorite bands. I’ll have to look into some of these others …
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 4, 2008 10:15 AM CST reply actions
Bon Iver
Is my favorite from that list (or at least tied with Portishead). Give it a shot, he finds some amazing harmonies.
Also, this a rediculous Bon Iver clip filmed in an apartment complex in Paris.
"LSB: We’re all-scaploading, all the time." -AJM
by BAC on Dec 4, 2008 1:02 PM CST up reply actions
Sigur Ros is incredible
anyone who hasn’t bought/seen their DVD Heima, needs to do so. It’s an amazing piece of visual work.
"Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds."
Could you elaborate on that?
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 4, 2008 11:18 AM CST up reply actions
I got lucky and found an HD rip online
It’s since been taken down. I’ll give you this youtube as a reference:
"Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds."
They are really cool.
Have always loved their sound.
by Black Francis on Dec 4, 2008 5:03 PM CST up reply actions
Further Resources to Learn About This Stuff, in Part
If interested, below are some of our album reviews (sort of full 2008 list here, our host deleted a ton of content last month and the site is still a little wonky) which also appear on the last.fm list, if curious to learn more about each record. (The embedded MP3s from DBF are not still active on these reviews, unfortunately, we pull them after about a month.)
Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Yourself Into
The Ting Tings – We Started Nothing
Sigur Ros – Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Portishead – Third
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of Understatement
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes are pretty hyped right now. Luckily they are also pretty damn good. Worth a listen.
by ghostofErikThompson on Dec 4, 2008 11:08 AM CST up reply actions
Yeah, I haven’t had a chance to check them out but I really like Fleet Foxes. Their EP is also very good.
LOL!
I am very much into music, but I guess I am slipping on the new “good” stuff.
From those lists, I know exactly who 3 artists are:
1) Jack Johnson – pretty good, but pretty boring after awhile
2) Katy Perry – I really like her song, and it seems to make the women-folk get all tingly when it comes on at the bar/club. In fact, that makes it a bit better!
3) Coldplay – A bit of a beating for me to listen to over and over again.
I guess that site is not representative of the style of music I choose to listen to, and a lot of what I listen to shouldn’t be listened to by most of the general public anyway. Thank God they invented IPod’s and the internet!
I miss 1989. I miss 1996. Please make me miss another season in 2008.
If it's any consolation
Coldplay is the only atist up there I even recognize offhand. So you’re far from the most pop-culturally deprived guy here. ;)
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
Yeah, I don't either...
…looking back at my links, the only reviews on the linked posts that I personally wrote is Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, which I was not at all impressed with. I gave it a fairly mediocre score, and since completing my review, I haven’t listened to even one song off the record since. (For reference, when reviewing any album, I give it at least a dozen complete listen throughs). That should tell you I did not like it all that much.
I don't either
A lot of my friends just love them. And when I say I just think they’re ok, I’m practically accused of being blasphemous. And then they tell me that I “just need to see Coldplay live.” Um…no thanks. Even if someone GAVE me tickets, I’m not sure I’d go.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Football is like having a fling once a week. Baseball is a relationship." - oc
by The Best Micah on Dec 5, 2008 5:15 PM CST up reply actions
Fair Enough
Though I would not classify Lightspeed Champion as very appealing to black people in general, but that is more of a guess than substantiated opinion. And most of Bloc Party is white dudes!
heh
that site never gets old
But BE WARNED, talking about Indie Music with white people is perhaps the most dangerous subject you touch upon. One false move and you will lose their respect and admiration forever.
"LSB: We’re all-scaploading, all the time." -AJM
Is there such a thing
as Dependent music? What is Indie independent of/from? It seems very dependent on the same things other genres are to me.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
They're so noble
it must hurt. I’m just jerking your chain.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
I am probably one of those people
I loooove discovering new bands and when I find something I like, I want to share with my friends…but then when the act gets too big, I often start to lose interest.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Football is like having a fling once a week. Baseball is a relationship." - oc
by The Best Micah on Dec 5, 2008 5:20 PM CST up reply actions
I'll never understand that
IMO, Good music is good music — no matter how many people agree or disagree.
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
+1
“Universal truth is not measured in mass appeal.” – Immortal Technique
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 6, 2008 11:35 AM CST up reply actions
Because usually...
…when an artist begins to grow with popularity, that artist’s style becomes a bit more commercial than the style I liked when I discovered them.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Football is like having a fling once a week. Baseball is a relationship." - oc
by The Best Micah on Dec 6, 2008 1:27 PM CST up reply actions
Hmm
That’s a pretty broad statement. I think very few good bands change their style. If they changed, they probably weren’t all that good in the first place….but whatever, to each their own.
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
I'm not saying all style changes are bad
Just that I’ve seen a few bad ones.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Football is like having a fling once a week. Baseball is a relationship." - oc
by The Best Micah on Dec 6, 2008 2:28 PM CST up reply actions
Lil Wayne
“You think your shit don’t stink but you are Mrs. P-U.”
Funny.
BTW, anybody listen to the new Kanye Album?
"Obama is a Christian - He's always been a Christian...But.........what if he is[a Muslim]? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that's not America." Colin Powell on Obama/Muslim assertions.
I like it more every time I listen through it.
It’s not something I’d buy from him every year, but as a one-off experimentation it really works.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 2:25 PM CST up reply actions
Yep.
" He throws it where he wants it, his breaking ball kept getting better and better and of course God gave him that special arm. He's great." ~ Neftali Feliz on Derek Holland.
Jesus.
Music really sucks a fat dick right now. There’s no way the Beatles or Stones sounded this bad to my grandparents’ generation.
Yeah...
I know it is partially old man syndrome talking here, but music since like ’94 has been absolute ass.
by ghostofErikThompson on Dec 4, 2008 2:19 PM CST up reply actions
It's hard to compare anything to the Beatles or Rolling Stones...
…but there is some really fantastic music out there right now. I’m going to guess you just aren’t familiar with the indy scene if you are saying it all sucks a fat dick, because the last 5 years have seen some impressive albums.
I haven't the time or energy
to listen to all the new stuff out there. I hear lots of stuff I like on Pandora but I don’t really pay attention to who it is.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
do you even try to listen to new music?
""If they'd have told me you can make the team but you've got to shine the shoes, I'd have been there shining shoes." -Bradley
I've heard
At least something from all those bands listed. If that’s the best there is to offer, I’ll pass.
Like
Songs. I’m not going to list out every song I’ve ever heard. If I listen to something and it sucks, I’m not going to listen to 20 different songs to try to change my mind.
x
I really am more curious than anything as to what you have listened to that has been so bad. If you listened and hated it, that’s cool with me. This list is nothing more than the most popular songs on last.fm; it’s not a judgment or opinion whatsoever. (My thoughts on country music, however, are my own!)
I thought
what you were saying about country music was fact?
I’m stating fact: country sucks.
Btw, I hate country also.
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
hmmm
(My thoughts on country music, however, are my own!)
You have trouble keeping your argument straight.
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
Well
you just made your entire blog irrelevant in my eyes. Congrats!
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
It's just a joke...
…and differing opinions are more than welcome on the site. But, I’m pretty sure we will somehow manage to struggle on without you. Somehow….
I'm sure you will
with that witty sense of humor you have.
Booyahbam!
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
you saw 20 different bond movies
you really can’t judge a band by a song. at least, you can see how you might get a bad song from an otherwise good band
""If they'd have told me you can make the team but you've got to shine the shoes, I'd have been there shining shoes." -Bradley
i gotta call b.s. on this
every single band listed? I listen to a lot of indie music and i haven’t heard of every single band. Obviously, you can listen to every single band but the amount of effort that would take would almost guarantee that you were into the indie music scene.
to say that you’ve listened to a song from every single band means you actually listen to a lot of indie music but you don’t like any of it. really?
""If they'd have told me you can make the team but you've got to shine the shoes, I'd have been there shining shoes." -Bradley
What?
I was talking about the bands listed above…that’s only 10, and one of them is Coldplay. I don’t see how that’s impossible.
Fun Game
An interesting game to play is to pick your favorite album from every year you have been alive. Find further info and some helpful links here. Here is my list:
1979 – ?
1980 – Pink Floyd: The Wall
1981 – The Rolling Stones: Tattoo You
1982 – ?
1983 – Michael Jackson: Thriller
1984 – U2: The Unforgettable Fire
1985 – ?
1986 – ?
1987 – U2: The Joshua Tree
1988 – ?
1989 – Don Henley: The End of Innocence
1990 – ?
1991 – U2: Achtung Baby
1992 – Pearl Jam: 10
1993 – Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
1994 – Jeff Buckley: Grace
1995 – Oasis: What’s the Story (Morning Glory)
1996 – Phish: Billy Breathes
1997 – Radiohead: OK Computer
1998 – Lonelyland: Lonelyland (original release)
1999 – Wilco: Summerteeth
2000 – Phish: Farmhouse
2001 – The Strokes: Is This It?
2002 – Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2003 – The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
2004 – The Arcade Fire: Funeral (very full of awesome releases)
2005 – Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (wow, extremely tough choice on this year)
2006 – The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
2007 – The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
I compiled the years which I have a favorite; you will notice several years in the 80s which have no answer…I generally think 80s music sucks.
I'll play:
1982 – Devo – Oh, No! It’s Devo
1983 – Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues
1984 – Echo and the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain or The Replacements – Let It Be
1985 – Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
1986 – Sonic Youth – Evol
1987 – The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me
1988 – The Pixies – Surfer Rosa or R.E.M. – Green
1989 – The Pixies – Doolittle – Or The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
1990 – Happy Mondays – Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches
1991 – (GREAT goddamned year for music) My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
1992 – Arrested Development – 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of… or Pavement – Slanted & Enchanted
1993 – The Breeders – Last Splash
1994 – (Another fantastic year) Blur – Parklife
1995 – Pulp – Different Class
1996 – Weezer – Pinkerton
1997 – Shockingly not OK Computer, instead: The Verve – Urban Hymns
1998 – Massive Attack – Mezzanine
1999 – The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
2000 – Radiohead – Kid A (with special mention for The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic which I listened to probably more than Kid A and love but Kid A is the better album)
2001 – The Strokes – Is This It? or Radiohead – Amnesiac or Ladytron – 604
2002 – Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (w/The Specialist)
2003 – The Rapture – Echoes
2004 – The Arcade Fire: Funeral (Best of decade?)
2005 – Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary
2006 – The Knife – Silent Shout or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
2007 – The National – Boxer
2008 – MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
by ghostofErikThompson on Dec 4, 2008 3:23 PM CST up reply actions
Why not?
1981: The Police – Ghost in the Machine
1982: Michael Jackson – Thriller
1983: The Police – Synchronicity
1984: Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
1985: The Replacements – Tim
1986: Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill
1987: The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me
1988: Slick Rick – The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
1989: Bob Mould – Workbook
1990: Social Distortion – S/T
1991: Nirvana – Nevermind
1992: R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
1993: E – Broken Toy Shop
1994: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
1995: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – E. 1999 Eternal
1996: Johnny Cash – Unchained
1997: Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape
1998: Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty
1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
2000: Deltron 3030 – S/T
2001: Daft Punk – Discovery
2002: Johnny Cash – American IV: The Man Comes Around
2003: Blue October – History for Sale
2004: Murs and 9th Wonder – Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition
2005: Slug and Murs – Felt 2: A Tribute to Lisa Monet
2006: Willie Nelson – Songbird
2007: Tom McRae – King of Cards
2008: Al Green – Lay It Down
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 3:35 PM CST up reply actions
If you like History For Sale
…You’d probably like their album immediately before that, which was (dare I say it) an indy release, Consent to Treatment. I think it’s a better album and from what I’ve heard of Blue October, their best.
For a while...
I was really into Blue October.
Not so much anymore, but I think H4S was basically the peak of what they wanted to do, and haven’t done as well sense.
And actually, Consent was Universal.
The Answers, that album’s prior, is completely independent.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 3:58 PM CST up reply actions
Okay.
That’s way too much effort. Except for a very few records, I have no idea precisely what year a lot of stuff was released. Like Bee Thousand is one of my favorite records ever. I’d have to go to Wikipedia or something to look it up. Son Volt’s debut? I don’t remember…I don’t even remember the name of it. The cover is a microphone. Listened to it a million billion times. When did Rattle and Hum come out? Raise by Swervedriver? Loveless by My Bloody Valentine? What if some of them came out during the SAME YEAR that a Pixies record came out? That would be tragic.
I cannot participate.
by Black Francis on Dec 4, 2008 5:16 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah...
Each year between like 86-94 had about 10 albums that I wanted to name.
Loveless came out in 1991 and was my favorite album of that year, but man, that was a GREAT year for music. Massive Attack – Blue Lines, A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory , R.E.M. – Out of Time, The Pixies – Trompe le Monde, Blur – Leisure…
I love music from that era.
by ghostofErikThompson on Dec 4, 2008 5:30 PM CST up reply actions
I think...
…Lush put out a record that year too. But even though Loveless is great I don’t any of those could take Trompe le Monde in a fight.
I’m biased, though.
by Black Francis on Dec 4, 2008 5:58 PM CST up reply actions
Except for a very few records, I have no idea precisely what year a lot of stuff was released.
Which is why you use the helpful link about album releases from multiple lists found here.
But yes, it is a bit of effort to read through a good chunk of albums which were released in any given year and pick your favorite.
I'm not going to base my favorites...
….on the favorites of others. They used to have giant books at record stores that would give you that information. Huge, huge books. But I don’t have one of those.
It would be an interesting project but to do it right I’d have to sink hours into it that I don’t have.
by Black Francis on Dec 5, 2008 9:24 AM CST up reply actions
Well, this list explains it
Your lack of knowledge/respect for country. This guy here is one of those johnny-come-lately indie fans, who likes all the indie bands that the critics write about and doesnt know much else, but tries to pass themselves off as hardcore indiefied. I mean come on. Bloc Party, Wilco, Radiohead, The Shins, The Arcade Fire, The Decemberists…. these are indie act that are about as close to mainstream as indie gets. “Safe Indie”, if you will.
My friends and I are all early 30-somethings that grew up listening to alt rock in HS and were abandoned by popular music in the late 90s in college when “popular” music meant stupid pop princesses, girl/boy bands, and lame commercialfied “alternative” rock, so we all fled to indie. I know a lot of indie listeners, and even a few annoying indie hipsters, hang out at an indie hipster bar from time to time, and you know whats’ funny? Nearly every single indie fan I know LIKES at least old-school country music.
And its also hilarious how this guy also excludes “alt country” from his consideration as “country music”. You can’t just pick and choose, junior.
You want to share what some of your "authentic"
indie favorites are from the “real” indie era?
I don’t see why it has to be so mutually exclusive. I listen to some of those bands that you’ve listed, but hate others (The Shins, Decemberists).
Can you get down on some Blur or Pinback? You wouldn’t ever see their stuff played on mainstream radios today, I don’t think. But I don’t follow radio.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 6, 2008 11:39 AM CST up reply actions
The only true indie bands are the ones who sell demos out of their car trunks.
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 6, 2008 12:03 PM CST up reply actions
Ok
That’s a pretty strict definition, but I agree.
Blur or Pinback for you?
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by inactive lsb user on Dec 6, 2008 12:11 PM CST up reply actions
The last three indie albums I truly gave a damn about:
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 6, 2008 1:06 PM CST up reply actions
Songbird
If you’re one of the many who gets frustrated with Itunes or any other lame music players, I suggest you try Songbird.
It has a lot of addons that are really cool, and if you have a last.fm account you can use it through songbird.
It also has a built in web browser which i use sometimes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXWLfIgc0nA
I like MediaMonkey a LOT
But I’ll give this a shot.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 3:37 PM CST up reply actions
Already uninstalled it
It’s got some nice features, but several things about it annoy me.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 4:48 PM CST up reply actions
Nah
The inability to delete something from the hard drive when you remove it from the playlist, the fact that the song currently playing doesn’t show up in the bar when you have another window on top, just some of the stuff that I’ve gotten very used to using MM.
by vfn on Dec 4, 2008 4:52 PM CST up reply actions
yea that stuff doesnt bother me.
But yea ive heard good things about mediamonkey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXWLfIgc0nA
on the topic of music
i’m watching the Rush R30 dvd on palladia, man its freaking awesome.
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg
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