Idolator

I'm stunned by all the Neon Bible apologists that these year-end lists are turning up.

Very hip, guys. The kids'll like this.

Also -- and I am a longtime Jack White fan -- Icky Thump, the album, wasn't nearly that good. I mean, fourth for the year? No way.

It's definitely missing my Top 10, a first for me where the Stripes are concerned.

Amy Winehouse at #13? What kind of motherfuckery is that?

Also, on a Chicago related note, huzzah for Office coming in at #68. Sadly, no 1900s.

Neon Bible belongs up where Favorite Worst Nightmare sits...namely among the year's massive disappointments.

By making this a top 100 list, they successfully avoided a lot of blogger-bashing by simply not leaving any album that vaguely fits their demographic offthe list.

Oh and Good Lord, did Sky Blue Sky ever suck. What the hell is it doing in the top 10?

A list without Phosphorescent is no list for me.

Miranda Lambert is this year's version of the hipster's mainstream token slot on their "Best Of" lists. I am calling it the Justin Timberlake position. Marie McKee of Lone Justice did Lambert's act 20 years ago, without the Garth Brooks warmovers.

@AllCommenters, including the ones surely to come...

Yes, there are lots of scratchin'-my-head choices and calls on that list.

dennisobell, thank you for saying this. It needed to be said, and should have been said by others 5 months ago.

graeffufighting, re: Amy -- is 13 too high or too low [both "number"-wise, not "toward-the-top"-wise] for you? Just curious, because I could write the same words, and I would definitely mean "too low", i.e., should be closer to the top.

somesound-mostlyfury, I actually loved Favourite Worst Nightmare and think it deserves to be a lot higher.

And agreed, Neon Bible may win some sort of prize for "most undeserved hype and over-ration, eva!!!" or some such fuckery. I think these year-end lists will cause some embarrassment to some writers who have already forgotten about that record and haven't heard it since the spring.

And Maura, huzzah! on the love for Miranda, which needs to be expressed as often as you [and I] can find an excuse to express it.

Actually, I'm a bit surprised that another record besides The Clientele's came out.

Are they sure??

@Rabi: Seriously, Lone Justice trumps Miranda any day.

OMG, thanks for the reminder that some TERRIBLE records came out this year. 2007, the year I was disappointed by everyone except Spoon.

as much as i love sharon jones, nicole willis and the soul investigators cut the absolute dopest r&b record of the year and the fact that it has shown up just about nowhere bums me out.

also, the national is one of those bands that i know are popular, i just have no idea with whom. are they huge in the midwest or something? not trying to sound like a pompous coastal dude, i really just haven't got a clue.

@SomeSound-MostlyFury: Word. BoH's Cease to Begin should be in its place.

Ongiara and New Magnetic Wonder continue to get way less attention than they should.

So does this mean that, since 2000, there are 700 'top' indie rock records, all full of top-ness?

I'd subscribe to any mag, even People, if they published, just once, a '100 Shittiest Albums of the Year.' Plenty of those get made.

@DHMBIB: too high. I think that Winehouse is amazingly talented/gifted as a singer, but I don't find the songwriting on her record to be that good. I think the success of her record has to do with the fact that she's playing a style of music that hasn't been massively popular in a while. She apes it pretty well, but I don't think she brings enough to the table in terms of adding something new.

Plus, all of her songs fall into two categories: 1) I am so, so fucked up or 2) I gotta man, and don't you dare try to mess with him. Not that every album I listen to needs to be obtuse, but for me, the record got repetitive after a while.

However, I do share some of your enthusiasm about "FWN". It's not best-of list material, but is definitely underrated.

This list is essentially every indie rock album that came out this year, arranged in random order. And the token Miranda Lambert/Kanye West placements is just insulting. I like the New Pornographers just fine, but the new record, kinda just ok. Certainly not going to end up on a best of list. The criteria seems to have been "Did it come out this year? Then throw it on!"

Wow, Paste hates hiphop even more than I do.

@therichgirlsareweeping:
My point was that Lone Justice is better than Lambert.

I wasn't certain if it would have been more appropriate to post: "No Roisin Murphy, no credibility," or just to comment on how underwhelmed I was by the albums in the top 10, that is, if I had even heard them, so I guess I'll do both.

And the love for The National just mystifies me.

This is actually the first year ever I can't even fill Top 3 slots, let alone a Top 10! 100? Are they insane? There's really a year-end great record released every 3.6 days?

I think I may have been on vacation or something when the "Neon Bible" backlash happened, cause I still think that it's a terrific album (same with "Icky Thump," though that may be rebound love since I really disliked "Get Behind Me Satan").

More importantly, this list has shown that I've really spent a disporportionate amount of time this year reading about new music instead of listening to new music. Almost every band on the list is familiar to me, but I can't say I've heard actual songs from more than half of them (and as far as entire albums... whew). Maybe that makes me the target demo. Good for me, I guess...

Ok, so let's just eliminate the shitty records on this list, leaving us with a top 13, which is fine. 13 is a good number of records to listen to, in a year, and remain honest.

If you want 15 or 16 I'd add Japancakes' album-length cover of MBV's Loveless, as well as Lou Barlow's Mirror The Eye EP and maybe Life Without Buildings' Live at the Annandale Hotel.

13. The Good, The Bad & The Queen, The Good, The Bad & The Queen
12. Menomena, Friend and Foe
11. Liars, Liars
10. Deerhunter, Cryptograms
9. Prince, Planet Earth
8. The Clientele, God Save The Clientele
7. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights
6. Peter Bjorn & John, Writer's Block
5. PJ Harvey, White Chalk
4. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
3. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
1. Radiohead, In Rainbows

Would you really need more than those (excluding hip hop, on which Paste seems to need some help)?

@extracrispy: This explains my first thought when I saw the list - where's Jay-Z???

Re: the National. I went to see them with a girl 7 years younger than me on her recommendation (I'm 33). She was gushing. She thought it was the greatest thing ever. I kept on asking her if she's ever heard Joy Division. I gave her my copy of '24 Hour Party People'. She still says she can't get through it because the Tony Wilson references are over her head.

How did I get so old?
How is that the best album of the year?
Why is there no Kanye in the top 10?

Okkervil River. A much better album than most of the 75 ahead of it. Well, at least they're on the list I guess.

I'd never really been interested in The National before, and it's not the type of music that I normally get into, but I do think Boxer is one of the best rock albums of the year. I think the awesome drumming has something to do with it. And regarding the comparisons of The National to Joy Division and/or Interpol, I think that's solely because of the guy's voice. Musically they're not that similar.

Where's Traffic and Weather? A Weekend in the City? Fucking Grinderman? Instead we get Challengers, Planet Earth and La Cucaracha??? I call shenanigans!

@aluberalles: Agreed on all counts.

Also, didn't Writer's Block come out in July 2006?

The National sounds like Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark

The National sounds like Cactus World News if Robert Goulet was their singer

@amyk: i can't really see the national/joy division comparison except in the lead singers' baritone voices...

The National sounds like James Taylor songs covered by Edwyn Collins

@Jfrankparnell: genius x2

oops, x3 now. ;)

@katie_a_princess: I don't hear it either. They remind me more of Tindersticks.

One more: Did Jarvis come out in '07?

...and i am ever so sorry, but why the fuck is pj below volta? unfor-fuckingivable. i hate to be like that, but it is the truth, listen to those records and try and tell me that white chalk is not more engaging than volta.

@righteousmaelstrom: and i second your roisin murphy bit.

Biggest disappointments: Icky Thump, and Interpol's Antics part 2, and by far the worst was - A Weekend in the City. Bloc Party's follow up was horrendous on all counts. WS really breaks my heart cause I'm a total Jack White fanboy.

I don't get the hating of National. The Boxer is the tits and I never really dug them before.

@katie_a_princess: Exactly. The lyrical approach/instrumentation/ delivery (also, everything else that isn't the range that Matt happens to sing in) are different as well. Also, I love "Boxer" but always feel like I'm doing my Post-Punk Appreciation 202 Coursework instead of experiencing a piece of art within minutes of putting on Joy Division.

As for the rest of the list, I'm not going to pick it apart beyond the woeful ommission of Marnie Stern. Honestly, it seems mostly to consist of bands I consider myself a fan of but who dropped utterly forgettable stuff this year.

The National sounds like Leonard Cohen's retarded half-bother if he fronted the Quadratics (the band formed by seventh graders in the movie Welcome to the Dollhouse)

@aluberalles: I second that. They're not the kind of stuff i usually like at all, but since i heard it it's all i want to listen to.

The National-haters in this comments thread sound like Comic Book Guy writing for Pitchfork.

@dennisobell: Totes.

Also, i think this list shows just how ridiculous it is to complain about year-end lists. They put 100 albums on here and still people found omissions to complain about. Can't please anybody.

The National sounds like the Pitchfork writers if they formed a band with Amy Tan, Dan Barry, Stephen King, and the owner of Fat Moose Comics at the Morris County Mall circa 1983.

The National sounds like Don Ho fronting the Shaggs

I take that back: Don Ho Fronting the Shaggs would be good

45 comments, sweet Pavlov on a stick. Maura and Jess, please resist the urge to make this site nothing but fake sex tapes and questionable lists, no matter how tempting.

What's that? Oh, sorry:

YOU SUCK, LIST! BE IN A DIFFERENT ORDER!

@Jfrankparnell: [slow clap]

@tigerpop: They wish they were tindersticks. Until they release two flawless 70 minute+ orchestral masterpieces in a row they can never be tindersticks.

Putting 100 songs on a year-end best-of list is like having about 35+ football bowl games -- it's going include a looooot of iffy representatives.

So, clearly, we need a year-end playoff.

First up: The National vs. Stars

This last part is rather true.

Some years back I would have thought very highly of the National. Then I got TIRED of this whole damn approach and everyone who used it, and the National bore me. As for the drummer, perhaps he'll have the fate of the original drummer for My Life Story, who ended up replacing Boris Williams in the Cure and as a result is actually still employed.

(Last part referring to Lucas's post two up.)

@Lucas Jensen: Agreed. Alligator was better anyway.

@Rabi: Dude. I was agreeing with you!

Oh come on, comparing The National to Tindersticks is just MEAN.

@SAShepherd: Well, I meant to say "albums," 100 songs might almost be doable...

@SAShepherd: I could totally go for a 64-album tournament (no play-in game). Call it December Disorder or January...hm...something starting in J. Idolator, please do this so we can vote on it.

Thanks to those who understand that Tindersticks and the National need not be uttered in the same sentence, nor considered in the same league, genre, or art.

The National sounds like CW McCall fronting Dramarama

@ddb4: We did this with 90s albums and Radiohead songs. The technology was lacking, but it was done.

[www.merryswankster.com]

@Jfrankparnell:

Did The National steal your basketball or something?

they sold me some bad weed at the U2 show

I bought a headache

They did steal a basketball, but it wasn't mine, it was Adrian Borland's

wait a second--there's only 50 albums listed in the magazine

At least they didn't pepper the list with 15 shitty Atlanta/Decatur/Athens bands who played the Paste Festival for free two years ago. And did Levon Helm's "Dirt Farmer" come out too late to make the list?

...THE FAWK? Spoon at 29? Kanye at 15? Look, just because you sample Daft Punk, it doesn't make up for the rest of a shitty album.

Plus 1990s nowhere in sight. Cobra Starship's newest is great too. *Shrug* Guess that's why nobody I talk to knows what I listen to.

Top 100's are obsolete anyway.

Yes I'm bitter now.

Very hip? Please. This is the most tired predictable list imaginable. Bor-ing.

Clarification - the Joy Division reference was because my friend kept on commenting on his voice. 'His voice is so good.' Therefore the Joy Division education was necessary.

Yes, I understand the National is not like Joy Division. Their music is different. But I still don't *love* them.

Has there ever been a top (fill in a number) list that has made everyone happy? I think they did a fine job, keeping in mind who their demo is.