haha yeah, I can relate to that, a few of my mates are into metal and they occasionally come out with some excellent obscure quote. It seems to be an absurdly quotable genre! And though I say I don't listen to metal, I would happily admit to enjoying some of it. I'm certain my tastes would probably be very outmoded within the metal community, but I still think early Machine Head (up until and including The Burning Red) and some of Pantera's stuff are fantastic!
I think your final paragraph is spot on. However, there are a few online British publications that are worthwhile. The Quietus and Drowned In Sound are both excellent.
Shouldn't this have been awarded the 'shit list'? OK, some albums in there are good but I literally lold at Muse being so high. Then there's White Lies, U2, Green Day, Mika, The Prodigy...
I can't believe how ridiculous people are being about this! No, I don't listen to metal but I'm not going to begrudge the appearance of posts about metal music on Stereogum. In fact, I welcome it, it's quite interesting to see lists (or other news) about music that is really 'alternative' (I'd be the first to admit that the Indie music I like should no longer be referred to as alternative), and it's refreshing to see a list that isn't composed of the usual suspects.
People who are outraged at this or think it has no place here must be complete dickheads; save it for the fucking playground. Honestly, the amount of posts about metal on the blog account for probably less than 10% of its output, and you don't even have to read it.
NB. Some of the names/titles are funny. I count 3 references to God(s); 5 to blood and about 11 to death/types of death/death related things or words.
Very good point! Or as Pete Doherty memorably put it on that record: "There's no more distressing sight than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap."
On the whole though I was pretty shocked by this list due to some ridiculous omissions, not because I would have liked them to be on there personally (I don't actually own any of the albums I shall mention), but because the NME should have stuck to their guns and put them on there: Coldplay's 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' was awarded first place in there best albums of 2002 list and is absent; likewise Franz Ferdinand's debut was awarded the same accolade in 2004 and is also nowhere to be seen; MGMT's Oracular Spectacular #1 in 2008 barely squeezed in at #100 of the decade. It feels too much like the NME are trying to rewrite their allegiances with this list and it smacks of falseness in my opinion.
The video complements the song perfectly! Funny stuff. The Crystal Antlers cover is nice too, seems to be equally inspired by the melody from the Them cover of the same song.
I'm gonna go ahead and say it's because the Amazon Editors like the YYYs and Phoenix albums better than AC and Grizzly Bear albums. When did people forget that taste in music is subjective?
I think it's laughable that people are dismissing this as a terrible film before they've even seen it, based largely on their opinions of an album that inspired the script. I love Arcade Fire and Funeral, and I'll probably enjoy the film. Yeah, the album is histrionic, much like most of the dissenters' remarks on this comments page (some prime examples: "I hate the faux indie handmade logotype, I hate the soundtrack, I hate the CGI"; "just another fey, faux-cathartic piece of shit to add to the pile. Hey, sounds a lot like Funeral!"). That doesn't mean it is a 'fake' album, just as it doesn't mean yours are fake opinions.
Pretty bad list. Why do some music journalists insist on placing older recording artsist on pedestals? I like classic Dylan and while I haven't heard Love and Theft, I do own Modern Times and it is balls; Led Zeppelin were great, Raising Sands is a pleasant easy listening sort of record, not 6th best album of the decade! Fair enough, Smile probably deserves to be on there, perhaps not so high. But the fact that Uncut believes that four of the top ten albums of the 2000s were produced by musicians at their creative peak in the 60s and 70s is just ridiculous, and really isn't fair to the better emergent artists of this decade.
However, I do love music lists.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading their list and passages about the albums, and I thought they did a good job with the placings. However, Pitchfork seem to be overdoing the lists these days. Everytime they do one, it seems to make all the previous ones obsolete because the placement (or non-placement as the case may be) of the albums changes so much. Albums like CYHSY's debut and Brian Wilson's Smile, which both got 9/10 and placed in their respective end of year lists ( the latter as high as #5!), didn't even make the top 200 of the decade. Others like Daft Punk's Discovery (I love it personally, just so you know before berating me), which got a 6.4 first time round and didn't make the end of year list, comes in at #3 of the decade. It all seems strange to me, and makes me distrust any of Pitchfork's ratings and lists.
Yeah, I know that reviews are only written by one journalist and it's only that one person's opinion, but you'd hope (if not expect) that there would be some consensus made between at least a few of the publication's journalists before they hand out ratings.
I was quite excited about these guys after hearing 'Let's Go Surfing'. So much so that I actually bought a promo copy of their 'Summertime!' EP, which hasn't yet been released here in the UK. It really didn't do anything for me unfortunately. Though I'm impressed with the way that they meld surf-pop and new wave, because it doesn't sound at all forced.
I think that 'Hearing Damage' evolved out of 'Everything in it's Right Place'. I remember reading early lyrics of the latter which included that subject matter.
The first minute of 'Out On The Water' sounds an awful lot like The Walkmen; bright, scratchy guitar chords, funereal brass and plodding percussion alternating between shakers and resonant tom-toms. It isn't helped by the fact that The Walkmen have a song called 'On The Water' either. Fortunately it seems to develop into something more original as the song progresses.
Looks quite similar to U2's most recent album art, albeit a bit less zen and a bit more emotive. Seems to actually have a narrative too, when considered with the album title at least, instead of the completely literal approach that U2 took.
And you my #1 admirer, where would I be without your swooning as I reel off snarky comments wantonly, grooming me all the while, and occasionally shampooing my man-merkin?
Comments