not sure if luomo will make it, but the rest are definitely still to come

fuck hot chip, mgmt

Yeah, I suppose I was thinking of hard electronic - things that were more hyped in Lonely End than stuff that landed more in P4K circles, like Cut Copy and company.

I don't think we'll see Luomo. Would have expected to see Lindstrøm by now, but it's still possible. H&LA is a lock for the top 50 (I would guess in the 20s maybe?). Black Dog in the 40s or maybe even 30s would be pretty cool.

Hot Chip will be interesting because it's a bad album and most of the vocal people seemed to agree on that. But a lot of people heard it and I'm sure it showed up on a lot of lists.

I figured thats what you meant, just noting the few that you guys hadnt mentioned.

I am really surprised that no one thought of the Melchior Productions Ltd. album. It was just one of those late 2007 releases that fell through the cracks, even though it got 2 endorsements from p4k (Scott P and P.Sherburne) Anyone who has an interest in the progression of dance music must give this album a chance. Some of the trippiest, most innovative and yet still functional, albums ive heard in a while. It kills the newest Villalobos, and honestly for innovation I didnt hear a better dance album in 2008.

Villalobos Fabric Mix turned out to be #101 or something last year. Wish I hadn't taken it off my list at the final hour.

Have you heard Vasco yet undo? It's decent, doesn't really evolve his sound much from the Fabric mix, but good nonetheless.

How about Melchior, am I the only one who heard this album?

i'll check it out.

I enjoy it a lot.

10 votes for it in the poll but I think it may have just barely missed the cut.

I'll definitely check it out BG.

On a similar underrated note, have you heard Wighnomy Brothers' Metawuffmischfelge? Not sure if I've mentioned it on this board. By far the best mix I heard this year. Really incredible selection of music. So many techno mixes feel narrow and flat to me, but this has an amazing sound palette and I really can't get sick of it.

Vasco is great, but probably won't place.

Luomo will end up somewhere in the bottom 50, with Lindstrøm ahead of it, and The Black Dog will likely rank highest thanks to many top ten votes from hardcore Lonely End followers/LoPP posters, but I don't think it had enough support from outside of those specialist groups to outdo the consensus indie rock albums that dominate the list submissions.

And of course P4k dance shit like Cut Copy and H&LA will do very well, higher than any actual "electronica" releases.

“This album is so crazy I just don't know what to say at this point. Squelchy.” - avec

#80.




Matmos - Supreme Balloon
(815 Points, 20 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "That throwback spirit is underscored by the album's sequencing. Supreme Balloon comes split into two discernible sides, the former a collection of five "pop" numbers that includes the futzed-up circuitry of opener "Rainbow Flag", the punchy, almost-techno of the sprightly "Polychords", and the carbonated, 8-bit harp glissandos of "Exciter Lamp" (which features, weirdly and wonderfully, a brief passage from "O Canada"). Side two begins with the album's obvious centerpiece; clocking in at over 23 minutes long, the eponymously-titled "Supreme Balloon" is a chasm-wide, slow burning bit of analog psychedelia that conjures up very obvious comparisons to Vangelis and Tangerine Dream in their mid-70s heyday. A bubbling drone piece called "Cloudhopper" acts as the closer, and we're done." (7.5)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: "The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast" (#91 of 2006)

Ranked Highest By: Bruegel (#7)

Amazon Link

And I completely forgot about that one.

Good album, but it faded on me a bit.

“Let me start by saying that if this isn't the token SOMB metal album of the year then I'll be amazed.” - James D

#79.




Torche - Meanderthal
(822 Points, 17 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "The hard left turn-- and perhaps the breaking point with "true" metal dudes-- comes with "Across the Shields", a tune that could find a nice home on modern rock radio. Musically, the group finds a comfortable middle ground between their speed trials and more turgid pace, allowing Steve Brooks' militant holler-- usually more reminiscent of Helmet's Page Hamilton-- to take on a melodic bent that could bring to mind anyone from Dave Grohl to Jawbox's J. Robbins. There's even an honest-to-goodness hook: "I am your armor," Brooks sings as the guitars descend. The moment stands out due to producer (and Converge guitarist) Kurt Ballou; the crisp sheen he lends to Torche's sound makes everything stand out and shimmer.

Torche follow that breakthrough with a second half that contains a quick and clean 30-second instrumental ("Little Champion"), more catchy hit-and-run slabs ("Sundown", "Without a Sound"), and a thunderous one-two punch ("Amnesian", "Meanderthal") to finish an album that shows Torche spreading their wings and exploring new territory while still creating their heaviest music yet. It's a fitting send-off to an absolutely killer rock record-- one that's likely to appeal to listeners into any stripe of heavy music from the past 20 years." (8.2)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Greg Kot (#2)

Also Ranked By: Fradom (#3), Pookie (#4)

Amazon Link

“This is the level of passion that should be in all music. It's messy, loud, fast, and angry. And it makes me totally happy.” - scarymuppet

#78.




Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
(833 Points, 11 Votes, Two #1 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "Of course, none of these highfalutin' shout-outs will grab your ear as powerfully as the demonic E Street Band arrangements, rife with constant builds and breakneck rhythms. Nearly every track here starts innocently, usually with a straightforward eighth-note strum or folksy melody unaware of the beating it's about to go through. Whereas a band like Arcade Fire likes to gradually crescendo to enhance the dramatic oomph, Titus can't enjoy that luxury-- not when Stickles is already screaming by the second lyric. Fortunately the band finds unconventional ways to heighten its music, like "Arms Against Atrophy", which waits three-quarters of its duration to unveil a killer, song-altering guitar riff, or the outro on "Upon Viewing Brughel's 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'", when the band corrals a maelstrom of stop-start solos into a steady, almost rockabilly groove.

Three-minute war cry "Titus Andronicus" best encapsulates Airing's pathos, and serves as a fitting primer for an otherwise hefty and (initially) inscrutable album. Bemoaning the creativity-crushing effects of his environs ("I'll write my masterpiece some other day"), Stickles imagines a conformist nightmare of no sex, no booze, and no cigarettes, blurting "fuck everything, fuck me" in between two verses just for effect. As Airing's most memorable moment, the song's taunting chorus maxim "Your life is over!" becomes to these guys what "In the name of love!" was for early U2. On a lyric sheet, Titus Andronicus may appear to espouse the sort of wrist-cutting histrionics emo's typically lambasted for, but the magic lies in the band's oddly enthusiastic grass roots delivery. They've studied their philosophy and found that life actually is pointless, so why not go down swinging? " (8.5)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: liquidheaven, without_opinion (#1)

Also Ranked By: scarymuppet (#4), 100% Vegetable Juice (#5)

Amazon Link

]Greg Kot voted?!

For Torche?

“This album basically jumps out of the speakers and slaps you in the face with how good it is.” - Johnny's Shack

#77.




Max Tundra - Parallex Error Beheads You
(849 Points, 18 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "Now, after six years spent programming on archaic Amiga music software, Max Tundra gives us the follow-up, Parallax Error Beheads You. At first listen, this set of pop songs may seem more cluttered and frantic than its predecessor; much like the string of remixes Jacobs has done in the meantime, the music here is peppier and more tightly wound, and more melodically serpentine than ever. Give it a few listens, though, and you begin to feel like someone is sneaking in while you sleep and removing twists and turns from the songs, or straightening out the rhythms.

The old line about literature is that a good book teaches you how to read it; in this case, a record might be teaching you how to listen to it. What starts out tricky and overwhelming quickly organizes itself in your head and becomes a joy to follow, to the point where you can delight in all the detail Jacobs packs in: The way he lets harmonies unravel and then step neatly back into focus, or how he executes chord changes by shifting the whole song down a few steps, like someone putting a thumb on a spinning record. What programmer spends six years on 10 songs without making sure every one of those details works?" (8.5)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: frankie say relax, Drinky(#2)

Amazon Link

Really swell record.

good run so far today...

need to listen to that Titus Andronicus record.

“Doubt that Convivial being significantly more interesting than Paper Tigers is the sort of thing P4k is interested in at this point.” - Pavement Ist Rad

#76.




Luomo - Convival
(853 Points, 16 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "So it's with a sense of relief bordering on exhilaration that I come to the fourth Luomo album to discover a substantial rewiring of this particular aesthetic. While retaining the voluptuous shimmer characteristic of all Ripatti's work as Luomo, this album distances itself from the stutters and glitches he previously used to imply conflict and self-contradiction (puncturing house's habitual self-assurance). Instead, Convivial parades an immaculately structured, insectile busyness: clean and clearly etched, each sound placed with infinite care and burnished to a hyperreal sheen. If Vocalcity was murky and enveloping and The Present Lover gaseous and giddy, then Convivial is more like the rush of pure oxygen, offering a sound that is so sharp and so vivid it sears as much as it energizes.

It's also Ripatti's most unabashed foray into "pop" territory. Where previously the producer mostly oscillated between simple refrains and rigorously fractured vocal cut-ups (occasionally leaving his anonymous divas to wander in a confusing hall of mirrors), Convivial ushers in an array of guest vocalists whose contributions resemble (to a greater or lesser extent) "proper songs," filled with the coherent emotional arcs of complete verses and choruses. " (8.5)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: James Iha (#3)

Amazon Link

Yet another really swell record.

Yeah, we're blowing our load early here. Top 20 is really gonna suck, huh?

usually does.

Wow, there really haven't been too many shitty records so far.

Good placement for Convival. Addictive record.

"my head wants to explode from the thought that kanye listens to okkervil river" - brobee

#75.




Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
(856 Points, 18 Votes)

US Chart Position: #42

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "Sheff wants to look beyond common pop song notions to discover something truer and more essential, no matter how disillusioning it may be, which is the central, enthralling contradiction for Okkervil River: Even as they ruthlessly deconstruct pop music, they make great pop music. The darker Sheff gets, the more honest he sounds and the more absorbing the song. By that equation, the stand-out on The Stand Ins is "Pop Lie", an exquisitely bleak dismantling of singer-songwriter pretensions. The pop singer lies in his songs, "and you're lying when you sing along!" (Hey, Hold Steady...) It's not hard to imagine a venue full of excited fans singing along, although it's difficult to determine whether he would view their participation as a bitter irony or a sincerely funny cosmic joke. Or if he would just smile and enjoy the moment, knowing that any listener can take that pop lie and make it true." (8.0)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: "Black Sheep Boy" (#15 of 2005), "The Stage Names" (#37 of 2007)

Ranked Highest By: liquidheaven (#3)

Also Ranked By: suckeredyou (#5)

Amazon Link

I screwed up this year, I should have put all my electronic records in the top ten and the rest of my picks at the bottom. I opted to do an actual list rather than put things high just for high placement on the eoy list. never again.

that's always a temptation. Then again, sometimes the two coincide without necessarily any effort put into it.

Whether Paul took it upon himself to tab Jim and Greg's lists or Greg sent a pm to Paul, I am impressed.

“speaking of not talking about gender... i'll take the one on the right with the big cans, thanks.” - simakos

#74.




Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
(862 Points, 15 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "The band's lyrics are just as purposefully passive. In his intro to Rhino's superlative box set, One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found, critic Gene Sculatti locates the enduring popularity of 60s girl group music in its effect: "This music was, like a moving symphony or free-floating jazz jam, mainly about a feel, a sound. It had words, yes, but they were never intended to get in the way of the overall impact of the record." Punk credentials aside, Vivian Girls are clearly simpatico to that gentler era's agenda. According to the band, the album is somewhat conceptual, its 10 tracks evenly split between love and heartbreak. "No", an angry thrash-and-bash propelled by a single lyric (guess!) is easy to place. But the LP is rarely so transparent, and Vivian Girls mainly get their message across with a murky wall of noise. Try to pry the lyrics of cacophonous openers "All the Time" and “Such a Joke" from their shoegazery feedback, thudding bass, and tambourine rattle and you'll be missing the point." (8.5)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Jim DeRogatis, Greg Kot (#3)

Also Ranked By: Slap Nutz, Plate (#5)

Amazon Link

They published properly formatted lists and I thought, "why not?"

^That's cool, man.

Simakos, classy as always.

Bought that Vivian Girls LP yesterday. Really good record, wish I had checked it out sooner.

When I think DeRo I thnk Slap Nutz. Kindred spirits.

and we can blame both of them Vivian Girls.

Really wish VG had placed top 50 so Dan could have written a blurb about blowing loads into their asses.

Oh, well.

*sigh*

...the obligatory Montana bagging on Okkervil River post.

“ Fuck Buttons is the stupidest f**king band name I've heard in ages” - Slap Nutz

#73.




Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
(862 Points, 18 Votes, One #1 Vote)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "The album begins with "Sweet Love For Planet Earth", whose sparkly synths and pulsing drone bring to mind Gang Gang Dance's starry-eyed explorations. The patient power of that track courses through the rest of this seamless record. It's in the drum circles and chants of "Ribs Out", the chopping drift of "Okay, Let's Talk About Magic", and the blown-out metal vocals of "Race You To My Bedroom/Spirit Rise", which seem to make time melt away. Throughout, Fuck Buttons stick religiously to simple ideas, but mix them in surprising ways. When you expect a scream to burst forward, a synth figure slides in, or a bass rumbles up from the background. Still, the duo's signature is devout repetition. And by the time the loops of album closer "Colours Move" finally dissolve, Street Horrrsing has become one big loop itself-- an unbroken sonic circle. " (8.6)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Culle (#1)

Also Ranked By: castaña (#2)

Amazon Link

I didn't like those last three at all.

As soon as I saw the Okkervil record I wondered how long it would be before Montana responded to it with the lol emoticon. That being said, they are an awful band.

edit: at Fuck Buttons

Seems like a pretty low showing for Okkervil. Maybe he won't even bother making fun of it.

“As much as their music might otherwise interest me, I can't get past the screaming vocals. Or in band-appropriate caps: I CAN'T GET PAST THE SCREAMING VOCALS.” - yancy

#72.




Genghis Tron - Board Up The House
(872 Points, 14 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: " Overtaken by the same sort of cabin fever that sacked Singerman's pen, guitarist Hamilton Jordan and keyboardist Michael Sochynsky are doing the unthinkable this time out: they're writing conventional(-ish) songs. With verses and choruses and codas, even. Hard to believe, but from the House's first blow, the frenzied clutter of Dead Mountain Mouth gets packed into something much more focused, even refined. It's a sort of distilled clatter that forgoes the few dozen weedles of "The Folding Road" or the electro-grind mish-mash of Cloak of Love standout "Arms", for a handful of fat, gnarled riffs, some mega-huge Kurt Ballou guitar sounds, and a whole lotta order.

Sure, "The Feast" is still a wild Agoraphobic Nosebleeder, getting by on the strength of the epileptic fits that won these guys the love of Relapse. But often the new, slightly more restrained Tron is capable of melding its poles-– the coarse grinds and the smooth electronics-– in much more convincing, cohesive ways. Take, for instance, the methodical beatdown of "City on a Hill", a track that relies on dynamic building blocks (blastbeat, keyboard patch, blastbeat and keyboard, keyboard patch, sputtering outro) over sheer force to achieve the same end result. " (7.0)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Diesel, James D(#2)

Amazon Link

Obviously Paul puts a lot of work into this list so I'll defer to how he wants to do it, but I disagree with this. They made no effort to participate, so there's no reason to include their lists. Jim and Greg do not participate in the board, and the link between the board and the radio show on a day-to-day content basis is slim and has gotten weaker and weaker each year that the board has been around.

The poll is intended to measure the tastes of the board participants, not arbitary third parties.

placed higher than Chinese Democracy.

i lold

This is way off. This forum doesn't exist without their show. They are much more of a part of the forum than those with Portishead in their top five, while having three total forum posts. Many of the year end voters simply don't participate here, yet their lists are counted.

“16 songs of pure bliss, except for a few bad ones like, 'Xxzxcuzx Me'” - Kicker of Elves

#71.




Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
(894 Points, 14 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: #47

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "They don't stay in one place for too long, but the body of the album can be distilled to an essence of the glassy, ten-lane stare of Last Exit with Ed Banger's egg-frying EQ. Well, except when it sounds more like "Alice Practice" ("Xxzcuzx Me" and "Knights" are a bit interchangeable in their diminishing returns). Whether it's a thank you or challenge to everyone they've worked with, Crystal Castles opens up endless remix possibilities. Though hardly minimal, there's plenty to easily pick apart and work with-- "Good Time" is a veritable toybox with undulating octaves, an almost Eastern-sounding riff and tweaked nice-guy vocals which combine the Knife and New Order. Even if you can't really make out the words, the call-and-response chant of "Courtship Dating" glows amidst fizzy synths and Triple 6 drum clicks. And "Crimewave (Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH)", is a collaboration with the LA noisemongers that builds from now-retro electroclash to a clattering mix of drums.

Just when you think you've gotten your paragraph-long blurb ready for the internet's approval, the last two tracks offer a bait and switch; the mad dash of "Black Panther" is probably what nu-rave was supposed to sound like (the Goth! Team?), and then the record ends on a disquietingly beautiful shoegaze comedown played on an acoustic guitar of all things ("Tell Me What to Swallow"). That they play such hide and seek musically should've come as no surprise anyway; despite the fact that there's literally an Atari game named "Crystal Castles", they named themselves after a She-Ra playset, which is like finding out LeBron James chose to wear uniform number at #23 as a tribute to his favorite Jimmy Eat World song. Then again, it's fitting for a record that draws so much of its power from unpredictability." (7.8)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Kicker of Elves (#2)

Also Ranked By: Man Is Matter (#3), Culle, BigUps (#5)

Amazon Link

I'm inclined to agree - about Kot and DeRo anyhow.

It's their show for which this board was established. Therefore, they're not arbitrary third parties.

If you say Jim DeRogatis' name three times in a thread he shows up. He doesn't post anything, but someone will find his handle viewing the topic.

If you say his name four times, you get banned for life.

i still think the synth in "courtship dating" sounds like that 50 Cent/JT song "Ayo Technology" or whatever the hell it was called

Given that this end of the list contains most of my favourite music from this year, I have no idea how the upper echelons are going to pan out.

“i finally got to this whole thing today. drank too many cups of coffee and listened to it all morning. great record.” - ladytron: the tv series

#70




The Bug - London Zoo
(896 Points, 21 Votes)

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Pitchfork Review: "Martin's latest Bug album, London Zoo, is very much in keeping with that permutation, which stands out amidst the recent wave of dubstep in a way that makes Burial's Untrue sound like Music for Airports. But it also takes the Bug's work into a somewhat cleaner, less abrasive area-- it streamlines the sound, shaves away the distortion, and draws most of its impact from the rhythms themselves. Of course, "less abrasive" doesn't necessarily mean it hit any less hard: Martin knows how and when to drop a heavy beat directly on top of you, and there's a carefully crafted tension throughout this record, no matter how sparse or dense that beat actually is.

Sparseness and density tend to work in tandem on London Zoo's strongest tracks: Bass hits at machine-gun intervals, leaving deep, tube-station echoes disintegrating in its wake and giving a number of these tracks a simultaneous sensation of freeness and claustrophobia. Reverberating, distorted voices and spare synth melodies close in on you even as they recede into the distance, and the rhythms are so pervasive and locked in that after a while you start hearing the spaces in between as much as you're hearing the beats themselves." (8.6)

Artist's Previous Rankings on Our Albums Lists: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Bleep Blop (#3)

Also Ranked By: The Good Dr Bill (#5)

Amazon Link