December 11, 2008
The list parade continues, this one from the other side of the pond. NME's top 50 includes folks you'd expect it to include (Verve, Oasis, Spiritualized, and other British bands), but it also has surprises. So far it's the first we've seen that charts Scarlett Johansson (brave). They also give deserved respect to Fucked Up. It's interesting what a label change will do: When Fucked Up released the truly awesome Hidden World in 2006, the mainstream media didn't give a shit, but with their move from Jade Tree to Matador for their second full-length, it's suddenly OK to like the kids. Asides aside, the top 10 is where things get strange, at least to the ears of this Yankee ... though no. 1 and no. 2 belong to bands who live in that American city called Brooklyn.
Continue reading NME's Top 50 of 2008...
Posted at 5:37 PM by brandon in
latest by matt
We like to play hide-the-ball when it comes to the top spot of these year-end lists, but after Rolling Stone's top albums of 2008 rundown -- and SPIN's very own during the year of Cookie Mountain -- there's no surprise (but maybe a little nostalgia) to this shit here. TV On The Radio put out an album this year, and it is good, but their swelling stature and base of deferential enthusiasts is making the band start to fulfill some of those "America's Radiohead" tags in more ways than one. Of course, there are outliers: no Skeletal Lamping, a love of the UK ladies (Kate Nash, Duffy), Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's first inclusion, and a big yes to Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (yay) and Black Kids and Chinese Democracy (lol).
Continue reading SPIN's Top 40 Albums of '08...
Posted at 11:08 AM by amrit in
Tags: TV On The Radio
latest by deode043
Yesterday we gave you Rolling Stone's top 50 albums of '08. Here, they break it down to singles and expand the list to 100. This assures extra room for as many "feat. Lil Wayne"'s as possible. It marks '08 as an election year via will.i.am's "Yes We Can" (the the cringe-worthy video is likely why it's only at no. 100). Also, Axl continues proving Dr. Pepper wrong. There are a couple big surprises in the top five, one by a band from the west coast (Portland) and one from the east (Brooklyn). Any guesses? That woman in the above picture makes a good showing, too.
Continue reading Rolling Stone's 100 Best Singles Of 2008...
Posted at 10:55 AM by brandon in
latest by Michael
December 10, 2008
RS's list is an interesting and at times odd mix of fogies and new blood, with a few representatives from each camp who don't seem like they really belong here. For instance, it's the second list in two days that shows kindness towards Chinese Democracy. The Jonas Brothers also did quite well. Outside of that, you'll recognize names from the Gummys, and the Magnetic Fields' Distortion received a deserved nod.
Things become a little strange in the top 20, Axl and Lars, but the top spot goes to a band that's been quietly placing high on just about all the year-end lists we've seen so far.
Continue reading Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums Of 2008...
Posted at 1:40 PM by brandon in
latest by phan
December 9, 2008
Those of you who feel Stereogum readers' 2008 Best Album picks are too mainstream will not find consolation in our local daily's Top 10 list. Not that you'd expect or want the New York Post to put Department Of Eagles on top, but calling Chinese Democracy the fifth best album of 2008 is sort of a slap in the face to 2008. The paper's rationale for Partie Traumatic at #4 is that Black Kids "[lived] up to the hype as "the next big thing." That's a slap in the face to hype. Only in New York, kids...
Continue reading NYPost's Best Of '08: Chinese Democracy Worth The Wait...
Posted at 1:25 PM by Scott in ,
Tags: Black Kids | Coldplay | Guns N' Roses
latest by brad
November 26, 2008
I subscribed to Uncut for almost a decade (we finally parted ways this summer, though I still have every CD) and while many issues went unread in recent years, I got to know their editors' tastes pretty well. Unlike NME, which is obsessed with hyping the next Oasis, Uncut has a predilection for bands they deem authentically, unquestionably American, which means lots of coverage of nu-folkies like Fleet Foxes and bar bands like Hold Steady, but never hip-hop. So with that in mind, I don't see many surprises on the mag's year-end list. Mojo, on the other hand, threw a few welcome curveballs in their Top 50, including Flying Lotus, The Week That Was, and a handful of LPs I've never heard of. And for those keeping score, the only band who has received countdown kudos in every rock monthly we've looked at so far is TV On The Radio.
WEEKEND UPDATE: All fifty from Uncut's list have now been posted. Only knew the top twenty when this entry was published...
Continue reading Uncut's Top 50 & Mojo's Top 50 of 2008...
Posted at 2:29 PM by Scott in
latest by Billy
November 25, 2008
Paste's pasty top 50 created a commotion and folks got bent out of shape over Blender's 33 (a Jesus homage?), but for my devalued American buck, nothing's as strange as what you'll find topping Q's end-of-the-year list. Which is why they get the "Shit List" designation. (That's not the only reason.) Actually, they forgot to list album #45: Maybe once we discover what that is, everything else will make sense.
Continue reading Q's Top 50 Of 2008...
Posted at 5:48 PM by brandon in ,
latest by phans
November 22, 2008
Paste's year end list raised some eyebrows yesterday, and we expect this countdown to do the same, despite its predictable top spot. Blender's 33 favorites share ten with Paste's 50, but represent a more diverse array of styles, for better (Ponytail, Erykah Badu) or worse (that's Katy Perry above, not Zooey Deschanel). Thanks to reader JTO3 for transcribing the list from a copy of the Dec/Jan issue he made sure to point out was given to him as a gift.
Continue reading Blender's Top 33 Of 2008...
Posted at 12:34 PM by Scott in
latest by phans
