Best Of 2010 - The preamble

[reebty]

Yeah, fair enough, I walked into that one. Why did I even bring that shit up? But now I don't know if I'm being roasted or if you just think I'm a racist.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Meanwhile, I feel like people only ever bring up whether or not they're attracted to an artist as a point in their overall judgement of that artist's merit when that artist also happens to be female.

I mean, people might think Justin Timberlake is good-looking, or they might not, but they won't use "and plus he's also unattractive" as a reason why his music isn't good. But they'll do it to a Taylor Swift or a Miley Cyrus or whoever in a heartbeat.

Just sayin, that shit is weird.

[reebty]

I'm not seeing a whole lot of merit in that post of mine. The black stuff was just me saying douchebaggery is douchebaggery and the race card shouldn't enter into it, but has to some degree. Maybe an obvious point not worth making. But at the same time, I was criticising Kanye for dissing Taylor after I'd just done the same thing. I'm not going to say I've never said anything sexist in my entire life and my mother is a woman and so on, but yeah, I fucked up.

[ellaguru]

I'm always confused when people talk about physical attractiveness in regard to their attitude toward somebody's music, but it's possible that this is as much because I don't just watch videos or TV performances or whatever (and hence have no idea what anybody looks like until long after I've come up with my opinion of what they sound like) as it is because I am some sort of wonderful post-everything person who sees the beauty in everyone.

[davy]

While of course I agree that an artist's physical appearance has zero to do with his or her artistic merit, I think you guys are being a little disingenuous jumping all over the reebster. His post deserved to be called into question, certainly, but as for the righteousness--it's not like this isn't the same board that supported a 13-page thread about Jenny Lewis's breasts.

[nonotyet]

Meanwhile, I feel like people only ever bring up whether or not they're attracted to an artist as a point in their overall judgement of that artist's merit when that artist also happens to be female.

I mean, people might think Justin Timberlake is good-looking, or they might not, but they won't use "and plus he's also unattractive" as a reason why his music isn't good. But they'll do it to a Taylor Swift or a Miley Cyrus or whoever in a heartbeat.

Just sayin, that shit is weird.

I think there are examples of this for both genders, just that maybe you yourself don't come across them very often. edit: and yes, it does happen more to female artists--it's terrible either way.  I have a coworker who refuses to listen to Rick Ross because he "sounds fat."

xpost

[Antero]

Now that you put it that way, though, he really sort of does.

[davy]

While we're on the subject, does this list strike anyone else as a little backhanded?

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/134255-the-best-female-artists-of-2010

It is, of course, written by a guy.

[dieblucasdie]

Wait so since reebty doesn't think Taylor Swift is teh hawt, does this vindicate "You Belong with Me"?  Neko Case wears short skirts; she wears t-shirts

[dieblucasdie]

Also, re: Kanye taking the stage to point out that the "Single Ladies" video is way better than whatever Taylor won for. It's basically a low-stakes version of his "George Bush doesn't care about black people" comment.  Was it an improper forum?  Sure.  Was it kind of a dick move?  OK.  Was he wrong?  Nooooot reeeeeally.

[Trousers and Pat]

Completely disregarding all conversation I'd just like to add a few more that I've been into lately

Ultralyd- Inertiadrome this is a rhythm monster. Big pounding bass and drums with noises. A late contender for a high spot on my list. 

Jar moff- leaving EP My favorite free download of the year, certainly. One long track of strung-together creepy beats and synth jams.

Jailbreak- The Rocker Heather Leigh and Chris Corsano, this one is two long tracks of wild noisy free-rock. But it's exciting in a way that reminds me why I used to be so into this kind of stuff, which is something I'd forgotten for a little while.

Slowly coming to terms with the fact that I won't hear the new tomokawa in time for it to be on my list...

[Ignatius]

To me, that gesture was very much about Kanye's ego & need to be seen/remembered on a big stage and very little about the content of his complaint. So it seems disingenuous to bring up its correctness as a mitigating factor.

xpost

[Greg Nog]

I don't even think it's about his need to be seen so much as a total inability to remember that actions have consequences.  So I'd agree that it's ego, yes, but just sort of big dumb blind toddler ego ("I REALLY NEED TO TELL PEOPLE THIS THING I THOUGHT RIGHT NOW") more than anything else.

[DanielBurns11]

So I finally compiled a list, which I will look at in about 48 hours and yell 'WTF were you thinking putting x over y?!?!?!', but here goes.

28. Wolvhammer - The Black Marketeers of World War III
27. Johnny Whitney - Acoustic Mixtape Vol. 1
26. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 2
25. Emarosa - Emarosa
24. Azure Ray - Drawing Down the Moon
23. Regina Spektor - Live in London
22. Earl Sweatshirt - Earl
21. Vampire Weekend - Contra
20. Spoon - Transference
19. How To Destroy Angels - How To Destroy Angels
18. Bison BC - Dark Ages
17. Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
16. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 1
15. Scout Niblett - The Calcination of Scout Niblett
14. The Extra Lens - Undercard
13. Matt & Kim - Sidewalks
12. Minus the Bear - Omni
11. Jesu - Dethroned
10. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
 9. Kaki King - Junior
 8. Bars of Gold - Of Gold
 7. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
 6. Sleigh Bells - Treats
 5. Pale Sketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed
 4. Against Me! - White Crosses
 3. M.I.A. - MAYA
 2. The National - High Violet
 1. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

A mix with a standout track from each album is forthcoming, whenever I get bored enough.

EDIT: Oh God, I've already had to edit to change the position of an album...

[Nick Ink]

I know we do this all the time, but I haven't heard a single note from any of those albums Daniel!

[Andrew_TSKS]

While of course I agree that an artist's physical appearance has zero to do with his or her artistic merit, I think you guys are being a little disingenuous jumping all over the reebster. His post deserved to be called into question, certainly, but as for the righteousness--it's not like this isn't the same board that supported a 13-page thread about Jenny Lewis's breasts.

But like, Jenny Lewis's boobs were an entirely different subject than whether Rilo Kiley is a good band. Her boobs may be awesome (or not, depending on who you ask I guess), but I wouldn't bring that up in a discussion about her music. Totally separate issues.

[DanielBurns11]

I know we do this all the time, but I haven't heard a single note from any of those albums Daniel!

Ha! I'm sure the same will be true of your list for me. Well, if you listen to the mix, you're in for a surprise then.

EDIT: And yes, skimming through your list again, I haven't heard a note. After reading your blurbs though, that may change soon.

Also, just got done reading this thread, and initially w/r/t all this Taylor Swift stuff I was like 'kyle otm!', but it has turned out to be an interesting read guys.

Also nice to see tsks on the Robyn bandwagon with me.

EDIT 2: Also the Dead Weather album definitely belong in there somewhere, but I haven't spent enough time with it to know where yet.

[Antero]

Wait so since reebty doesn't think Taylor Swift is teh hawt, does this vindicate "You Belong with Me"?  Neko Case wears short skirts; she wears t-shirts

Every time someone mentions Neko Case, the first thing that happens is my brain starts going, "I'm a man-an-an, man-an-an, ee-trrrr"

[sashwap]

Has anyone seen NPR's 50 best-of-the-year list?  It's actually much more diverse and interesting than I was expecting.  I unexpectedly discovered some cool stuff listening to the tracks they've posted (Khaira Arby, Rita Indiana, and a couple of others.)  It's worth a look-see.

http://www.npr.org/series/131413130/npr-music-s-50-favorite-albums-of-2010

And Capstan Shafts in the "sadly slept on" category at the bottom.

it is really sad that capstan shafts album didn't catch on. it is a phenomenal indie pop record, but i guess it's not really in line with the current indie rock trends.

[DanielBurns11]

Here's the mix: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XA2YY0P3

[kyle]

So I totally forgot that Future Islands - In Evening Air came out this year. It will probably be either number one or number two.

Check em out on the youtube yall.

[reebty]

Like the George Bush thing, I find the truthfulness of Kanye's comment irrelevant. In both cases, it wasn't the time or the place to bring it up. That's what blogs are for.

Ima let him finish, but reebty had one of the best Taylor Swift related lapses of judgment of all time.

[dieblucasdie]

I don't know, part of what I liked about both instances was, "Oh hai, I'm going to completely fuck up your carefully-structured, inoffensive, market-tested media event and spit a bit of truth."  Sure, it had more to do with Nog's angry-toddler thing than with any kind of punk-rock anarchism, but still appreciate it whenever something like that happens.  Wu-tang is for the children, after all.

[Ignatius]

It was more fun when the Beastie Boys did it, though.

[dieblucasdie]

I mean, yeah, moreso with the Katrina thing than with the Taylor Swift thing, as having a SHOCKING MOMENT like that is pretty much part of the structure of lesser awards shows now.