Like the ones I’ve heard so will give a couple of the top placing albums a go.
Loads of nice album covers on that list
Haven’t heard the number 1 album, somethign for later.
This is a nice thread because it’s getting me on to lots of cool music websites that I never usually look at
Not so much in keeping with the other lists here, but my favourite of the last couple of years is Matthew Schnipper’s Deep Voices. Not ranked or anything, just a playlist of 100 great / weird / interesting songs.
He’s a journalist I started following when he worked at Pitchfork, and he does this as a semi regular newsletter. Always loads of interesting stuff. Kind of in the middle of a P4K, Wire, RA triangle.
Got a long car journey tomorrow, really looking forward to getting into this one.
The Ways of Exile EPs of the year rundown. I know the internet has been clamoring for this.
(Yes, it’s my blog)
Know:42
Listened to:28
Feels like a personal record for a Quietus list. To be fair being based in Poland means many of the eastern European or even more international names are known to me then was the case when I lived in the UK.
Agreed, I’m surprised seeing some of confused responses to her topping many of these lists, this feels like Beyoncé at her peak. Weirdly I felt Lemonade was a little overrated, some great tracks but it felt disjointed, it covered an impressive range of styles all tied together by the album’s narrative, but it was essentially a greatest hits collection. Renaissance’s pacing and transitions are immaculate, definitely her most cohesive album.
The RA review felt a little gatekeeper-y to me, either asking that the privileged artist stay away from the queer ballroom scene, or that the references didn’t go hard enough. I can’t think of a recent major artist who has gone so far with this genre of dance (feel free to correct me) and I believe Renaissance shows she’s given it a lot of love and respect.
it reminded me a lot of Flesh Tone by Kelis. i’m not close to being an expert on dance though so probably a completely different genre
I agree to a certain extent, but it’s a bit like what DJ Sprinkles was getting at in ‘Madonna Free Zone’, in that it borrows very heavily from an underground culture as a bit of a creative device.
It’s very well done, but I can understand why people might find that problematic. It’s not really for me to say whether that’s right or wrong, and I really do like the album, but I don’t think it’s gatekeepery to highlight that for people who’s history is in the ballrooms it might feel a bit frivolous.
Anyway… sorry… it’s an interesting and very old debate about the mainstream taking inspiration from the underground.
Didn’t mean for this to sound preachy btw. Just think it’s an interesting debate. And that’s why I like these lists, good for debate. Makes me think about some of these albums differently.
Going thru this now and already found a couple of things that sound up my street.
Huh, that will be why I wasn’t asked to write a top 10 piece, I only had Kendrick in mine
Beyoncé owning these lists now.
Yeah very hard to see her losing AOTY list now