“Time,” “New York,” And The “Observer” Come To A Consensus

These are awful lists. Who could possibly think that Vampire Weekend is the best of anything?

Damnit, I was holding my breath hoping we’d make it through all three top tens without any mention of MGMT and then The Guardian totally blew it.

@tim_loves_cats: Apparently the same people who enjoy Girl Talk?

I love Portishead and the Portishead record.

Also, was I the only slightly disappointed by both Tha Carter III and Speakerboxx/The Love Below? I still like them, but I had high expectations, I reckon.

@Lucas Jensen: the only ONE

Didn’t the MGMT record come out in 2007?

But do people really like that Portishead record, or do they just like Portishead?

This is what I’ve been thinking but haven’t been able to articulate ever since the album came out.

@2ironic4u: I’m glad I don’t know many of those people very well. I was also hoping for MGMT-less list season, guess that’s blown.

PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIKE MUSIC THE SAME AS I DO HAVE COOTIES!!!!111!!ONE!!!1

Is the Bon Iver album really THAT good, or is it just an easy choice for all of these critics?

I’m shocked that TIME put Weezy at #1; I still consider the magazine to be sort of stodgy.

@Varina: If Josh Tyrangiel was behind it, he’s surprised me now and again in terms of what they cover.

@Varina: I like the Bon Iver record, but I also enjoy scrapple from time to time.

“Tha Carter III is this year’s Speakerboxx/The Love Below, maybe; the only album to hit the sweet spot of critical acclaim and mass availability (Amadou and Mariam has the former but not the latter; Kanye has the latter but not the former”

Sorry,I’m probably missing something obvious, but this comment totally confuses me. How does Kanye not have critical acclaim if he’s the seventh most acclaimed album (out of, I dunno, several thousand possible albums) on those lists? (And are you saying that Amadou & Mariam’s album is *less* available than, say, Girl Talk or Portishead or Bon Iver? I dunno; maybe it is — I’m guessing they’re all pretty easy to find on line, though I could be wrong.)

(If you’re saying reviews of Kanye’s album are somewhat mixed — I haven’t been reading them, and haven’t actually heard the thing, so I wouldn’t know — well, weren’t Lil Wayne’s reviews mixed, too?)

@Chuck Eddy: [idolator.com]

@Michaelangelo Matos: best comment ever

I’m happy that Girl Talk got props in Time magazine of all places but on the same token he hasn’t really brought anything new to the table as far as mashups ‘n’ plunderphonics go. It’s John Oswald on Jello Shots. That’s not to say that GT isn’t a fun listen though.

As what these three lists reflect, it appears that 2008 was a rather weak year for pop and even indie music. Here’s hoping that our dismal national times will bring the best music out of many artists as what happened in the past (1930s, 60′s, late 70′s, early 90′s).

You know, considering all the critics who called REM’s Accelerate a “return to form” (and the number of year-end lists that band appeared on up through 1998 or so), I’m surprised it hasn’t been on very many of these lists (especially the Observer top 50). Has there been a critical reappraisal?

Somehow, using “mass consciousness” and “Girl Talk” in the same sentence strikes me as a wee bit of hyperbole. Still don’t get what that act does that M/A/R/R/S didn’t do better two decades ago. (Or Steinski, whose ’08 best-of I’m surprised I’m not seeing on more lists.) And I *hope* to hell nobody is listing the Girl Talk record in their top 10 since it offers “important cultural implications for the future of copyright law.” But if people really think it’s as fun as they say, go for it, I guess. (Me, I listed DJ P and Z-Trip’s *Uneasy Listening Against the Grain Vol. 1* in my Top 10 seven years ago, back before this silly schtick had been done to death, so who am I to argue, right? Hell, Stars on 45 got there first.)

(And er, Buchanan and Goodman or whoever got there *first* first. Etc. Anyway, right, that doesn’t matter if people think Girl Talk does what he does well — just like if he was part of any other decades-old genre. All I’m saying is that if somebody’s going to vote for a novelty record in their top 10 — and it’s great if they do; I’ve done it many times — they might consider being honest with themself that that’s what they’re doing, and not pretend that they’re making some kind of Big Political Statement, is all.)

“But do people really like that Portishead record, or do they just like Portishead?”

Couldn’t you say that about every Portishead record?

@Chris N.: Well, if you like Portishead records than you like Portishead, no? I think it’s a question that doesn’t exactly hold up under the microscope.

@Cam/ron: Agreed, but with far less trepidation. Granted, Feed the Animals deosn’t touch As Heard on Radio Soulwax Vol. 2, but the fact that the mainstream non-music press is paying attention to this genre is inherently a good thing.

First off, most acts that bring a new sound to the mainstream are neither the originators nor the best at it. This applies to the entire history of popular music from Elvis through Nirvana; get over it.

Secondly, Girl Talk’s achievement of crossing over, perhaps not in sales so much as in mass consciousness, has important cultural implications for the future of copyright law. Anyone who loves any sort of sample-based music, or even appropriation-based art of any medium, and doesn’t wish to see it litigated out of existence should be happy about the rise of Girl Talk hype, whether they like listening to the album or not.

I like the Portishead record, and listen to it a lot. I’m in the middle of my own top 10 list-making right now and trying to figure out if Portishead (really good, listen to it a lot) should be higher or lower than Erykah Badu (probably a little better, but only listen to it once every three months or so.)

Also, I like Portishead and was waiting for that record to come out ever since they started dropping hints and grammatically challenged Myspace bulletins two years ago.

@DJorn: I’m speaking from listening to such mash-up/sample-heavy dance music for the past eight years. GT releases great party music but I wouldn’t say that his cross-over is a giant leap for sample-based music. Public Enemy, De La Soul and the Beastie Boys’s sample-drenched work already made that cross-over 20 years ago and then there is DJ Shadow’s “Endtroducing,” which garnered high acclaim and hype about being an original album built entirely from samples, 12 years ago.

@MrStarhead: Accelerate was only a return to Monster form. If it had been more like Automatic for the People it would have cleaned up.

The appearance of the Kanye record on so many lists is a bit of a surprise. I do think it’s very good, but it only ranks as a great record if you listen to it in the context that it’s hip-hop superstar Kanye West.

@tigerpop: Ah, but Around the Sun was supposed to be the return to the Automatic for the People sound, and it absolutely tanked.