EOY Albums Spreadsheet: Update thread

[Nick]

Beautiful...I have no right to ask you this, since you've already done such a great job...but any readings on Nick Cave, The National and My Bloody Valentine?

Hmmmmm let's consult the stats!

Nick Cave (currently 89)-

1. The Boatman's Call- 540
2. Push the Sky Away- 650
3. Abattoir Blues/ The Lyre of Orpheus- 694
4. Tender Prey- 700
5. The Good Son- 807
6. Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!- 1019
7. Let Love In- 1265
8. From Her to Eternity- 1291
9. The Firstborn Is Dead- 1446

1. The Mercy Seat- 601
2. Jubilee Street- 1200
3. Into My Arms- 1542
4. Where the Wild Roses Grow (split with Kylie Minogue)- 1695
5. The Ship Song- 2061
6. Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!- 2564
7. In the Ghetto- BU
8. From Her to Eternity- BU
9. The Weeping Song- BU

Matched up with...

Frank Sinatra (currently 72)-

1. Songs for Swingin' Lovers!- 246
2. In the Wee Small Hours- 247
3. Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely- 644
4. Come Fly With Me- 943
5. September of My Years- 1091
6. Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim (split with Antonio Carlos Jobim)- 1229
7. A Swingin' Affair!- 1312
8. Nice 'N' Easy- 1756
9. Come Dance With Me!- 1800

1. I've Got You Under My Skin- 680
2. One for My Baby- 1177
3. My Way- 1735
4. Strangers in the Night- 2227
5. All or Nothing- 2506
6. I've Got the World On a String- BU
7. When Your Lover Has Gone- BU
8. Witchcraft- BU
9. It Was a Very Good Year- BU

Matching these two artists up seems to suggest Nick Cave will at least place at number 72 on the all time artists list. I'm not so sure they'll have the power to beat the number 71 artist, Steely Dan, but it is possible.

The National (currently 163)-

1. High Violet- 404
2. Boxer- 423
3. Trouble Will Find Me- 550
4. Alligator- 676
5. n/a
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

1. Bloodbuzz Ohio- 599
2. Mr. November- 1881
3. Fake Empire- 2571
4. Mistaken for Strangers- 2812
5. Graceless- BU
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

Matched up with...

Elliott Smith (138)-

1. Either/Or- 417
2. XO- 561
3. Figure 8- 966
4. From a Basement on the Hill- 1121
5. Roman Candle- BU
6. Elliott Smith- BU
7. New Moon- BU
8. n/a
9. n/a

1. Miss Misery- 1063
2. Waltz #2- 1090
3. Between the Bars- 1161
4. Needle in the Hay- 2034
5. Ballad of Big Nothing- BU
6. Pretty (Ugly Before)- BU
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

Matching these two artists up seems to suggest The National will at least place at number 138 on the all time artists list.

My Bloody Valentine (currently 117)-

1. Loveless- 74
2. Isn't Anything- 550
3. m b v- 800
4. n/a
5. n/a
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

1. You Made Me Realise- 553
2. Soon- 612
3. Only Shallow- 634
4. To Here Knows When- 2730
5. Swallow- BU
6. When You Sleep- BU
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

Matched up with...

Primal Scream (currently 97)-

1. Screamadelica- 88
2. XTRMNTR- 485
3. Vanishing Point- 1450
4. Give Out But Don't Give Up- BU
5. n/a
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

1. Loaded- 349
2. Higher Than the Sun- 664
3. Swastika Eyes- 1469
4. Movin' On Up- 1740
5. Come Together- 1750
6. Rock- 1782
7. Kowalski- 1975
8. Velocity Girl- BU
9. Jailbird- BU

Matching these two artists up seems to suggest My Bloody Valentine will at least place at number 97 on the all time artists list. I'm not so sure they'll have the power to beat the number 96 artist, Sam Cooke, but it is possible.

[irreduciblekoan]

A quick post re: Arcade Fire.

I really don't get the hindsight lukewarm opinion of The Suburbs in this forum. While quite a few of you have criticized it for being too saccharine and "safe," I first heard, and still hear, a very ambitious, detailed and, at various points, surprisingly adventurous record. Critics in 2010 likened the album to the Talking Heads and Sonic Youth and I definitely see those points of comparison. The trick, I think, is to listen to The Suburbs closely and not just to let the melodies and polish do the talking. When listening in detail, I hear washes of white noise, electronic tones and post-rock guitar tones. And the lyrics are too melancholy and high-concept for me to knock the songs as "lazy" and "commercial." Which brings me to why I still think The Suburbs is better than Reflektor: the songwriting was so much better and more adventurous on The Suburbs. Some of the lyrics on Reflektor are absolutely terrible. Also, Reflektor has two songs that I would argue are the worst in AC's career, and I routinely skip them. They are "Normal Person" and "You Already Know." Meanwhile, no parts of Reflektor contain the sheer beauty of many sections of Funeral or songs on The Suburbs such as "Half Light 1" and "Sprawl 1". And I never skip any songs on The Suburbs.

A person said here that they foresee The Suburbs dropping and maybe Reflektor overtaking it on AM. On the contrary, I think The Suburbs will remain in the top 200 and may actually continue rising, as I predict that it will fare moderately well on some all-time lists and extremely well on decade lists. Granted, I think Reflektor will also fare well on decade lists, but I don't think as much as The Suburbs will. In a few years I see myself returning to The Suburbs more often than to Reflektor.

I agree that Neon Bible is their weakest by far, but I still think it has its unique strengths and tone. I don't agree that Arcade Fire ever played it safe or took it easy on any of their albums.

[Nick]

Arctic Monkeys (currently 212)-

1. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not- 201
2. AM- 700
3. Favourite Worst Nightmare- 1702
4. Humbug- 1950
5. Suck It And See- BU
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

1. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor- 246
2. Do I Wanna Know?- 700
3. A Certain Romance- 2142
4. Fake Tales of San Francisco- BU
5. When the Sun Goes Down- BU
6. Brianstorm- BU
7. Fluorescent Adolescent- BU
8. Cornerstone- BU
9. n/a

Matched up with...

Morrissey (currently 179)-

1. Vauxhall and I- 772
2. You Are the Quarry- 942
3. Viva Hate- 1333
4. Your Arsenal- 1383
5. Ringleader of the Tormentors- BU
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

1. Everyday Is Like Sunday- 638
2. First of the Gang to Die- 778
3. Suedehead- 900
4. Irish Blood English Heart- 2305
5. Last of the Famous International Playboys- BU
6. n/a
7. n/a
8. n/a
9. n/a

Matching these two artists up seems to suggest Arctic Monkeys will at least place at number 179 on the all time artists list.

[Nick]

Final Predictions RE: Artist Rankings-

Kanye West: ~39
Arcade Fire: ~46
Daft Punk: ~76
Vampire Weekend: ~142
Nick Cave: ~72
The National: ~138
My Bloody Valentine: ~97
Arctic Monkeys: ~179

[Nick]

Re: Arcade Fire

This is how I'd rank their albums-

1. Funeral
2. The Suburbs
3. Reflektor
4. Neon Bible

"Funeral" is pretty much flawless and is one of the single greatest albums ever made, hands down, no questions asked whatsoever. The only real thing I could nitpick over it is that "Une Année Sans Lumière" and "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)" are good songs on an album full of exceptional songs. But 2 good songs on an album full of 8 of the most beautiful songs ever isn't going to bring an album down. That being said, "Funeral" is in my top 15 albums of all time.

"The Suburbs" is awesome and just outside of my top 100 albums of all time, but I'm going to nitpick over it here. "The Suburbs" is just a little too long for my liking, and didn't need to be 16 songs long. A couple songs could have been cut and the album would probably have been better off. I really enjoy the change in sound Arcade Fire made on "The Suburbs" too. If they tried to make an album as grandiose sounding as "Funeral" or "Neon Bible" they'd have started to become a parody of themselves. Instead they created something a bit more scaled back in terms of sound (though certainly not in terms of themes, lyrics, or length). I also really like how they created a album focusing on the themes of childhood, nostalgia, and suburbia without ever becoming saccharine or falling back into worn cliches (such as white picket fence imagery). Overall an incredible album, but the length does tend to make it drag a little in the middle.

"Reflektor" is my album of the year, which is great, but it's also my lowest ranked album of the year since 1981, which isn't so great. Nevertheless, "Reflektor" is another great album by the band, but here's my chance to nitpick over it. Lyrically, the album is very impressive, with great imagery and strong themes of love and reality vs illusion scattered throughout the album. However, I think that the "down on your knees, begging us please" rhyme in "We Exist" is pretty weak and overdone. Not a huge deal though. Next, "You Already Know" is a fine song and all, but it doesn't really fit in with the album, making the album lose a bit of its cohesion. "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)", "It's Never Over (Hey Orpheus)" and "Porno" are all 6 minute long songs that could have lost a minute and I wouldn't have minded, especially "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)", which takes a while to really get going in the beginning (if you're going to make me wait 3 whole minutes for the chorus, the payoff had better be great). Finally, the last half of "Supersymmetry", while sounding interesting at times and serving as a agent to further the theme of reflections on the album (as the second part of "Supersymmetry" could certainly be seen as a reflection of the first part), doesn't really deserve a full 5 to 6 minutes of length, and only really needed to be a minute or 2 long at most. That being said, despite being almost 10 minutes long than "The Suburbs", "Reflektor" doesn't really drag as much as its predecessor did.

"Neon Bible" is (in my opinion, and in the opinions of many apparently) the weakest studio album Arcade Fire have put out. However, "Neon Bible" is still in my top 5 albums of 2007 and in my top 200 albums of all time, so it's not like being the weakest Arcade Fire album is such a terrible thing to be. But despite its greatness, there are some obvious flaws in the album which I'd like to address. First off, the album doesn't quite reach the levels of emotional intimacy that "Funeral" reached, possibly due to that fact that its themes of politics and religion stand in stark contrast to the themes of love and death that permeated "Funeral". Secondly, there are a couple songs on "Neon Bible" which aren't all that great. "Ocean of Noise" (despite its beautiful title and the great piano lead outro of the song) would be a suitable B-side, but isn't really worthy of being an album track. And "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" is good, but I feel as if another album track, "The Well and the Lighthouse", did the whole "two songs in one" idea a bit better than it. Still though, the worst Arcade Fire album is light years ahead of most artists absolute best work, so it's not a huge deal if there are a couple things I could nitpick over.

[irreduciblekoan]

I really enjoy the change in sound Arcade Fire made on "The Suburbs" too. If they tried to make an album as grandiose sounding as "Funeral" or "Neon Bible" they'd have started to become a parody of themselves. Instead they created something a bit more scaled back in terms of sound (though certainly not in terms of themes, lyrics, or length).

Agreed. And we must not forget that there were a few songs on The Suburbs (the ones I can remember are "Half Light II" and "Sprawl II") that directly looked forward to the electronic elements of Reflektor. So I cannot understand anybody who says The Suburbs wasn't Arcade Fire evolving and moving their sound forward, and who says Reflektor was the first time since Funeral where they became adventurous. In fact, when I first heard the song "Reflektor" my main thought was "ah, so they are expanding upon their electro experiments from The Suburbs!" It wasn't unexpected to me.

I agree with most of your post, Nick, which is why I find it interesting how we differ on Reflektor. I didn't mind the lengths of the songs at all. In fact, my least favorite songs on that album were the shorter ones. As I said before, "Normal Person" and "You Already Know." On the other hand, I absolutely love the development of the longer songs. I wouldn't cut out one second from them. Eh, well maybe "Supersymmetry," but I tend to forgive excessive lengths when it's the last track of a good album, since I don't want the album to end! And "Eurydice" may be my favorite track.

[Harold]

Updated with:

USA/Canada: The Agit Reader, Passion of the Weiss
Rest of the World: Fluctuat [France], The Yers [France], Plattentests [Germany], KindaMuzik [Netherlands], De Morgen [Belgium]

The gap between #1 and the rest of the pack widens; the gaps between #'s 2, 3, and 4 narrow.

[Rocky Raccoon]

A quick post re: Arcade Fire.

I really don't get the hindsight lukewarm opinion of The Suburbs in this forum. While quite a few of you have criticized it for being too saccharine and "safe," I first heard, and still hear, a very ambitious, detailed and, at various points, surprisingly adventurous record. Critics in 2010 likened the album to the Talking Heads and Sonic Youth and I definitely see those points of comparison. The trick, I think, is to listen to The Suburbs closely and not just to let the melodies and polish do the talking. When listening in detail, I hear washes of white noise, electronic tones and post-rock guitar tones. And the lyrics are too melancholy and high-concept for me to knock the songs as "lazy" and "commercial." Which brings me to why I still think The Suburbs is better than Reflektor: the songwriting was so much better and more adventurous on The Suburbs. Some of the lyrics on Reflektor are absolutely terrible. Also, Reflektor has two songs that I would argue are the worst in AC's career, and I routinely skip them. They are "Normal Person" and "You Already Know." Meanwhile, no parts of Reflektor contain the sheer beauty of many sections of Funeral or songs on The Suburbs such as "Half Light 1" and "Sprawl 1". And I never skip any songs on The Suburbs.

A person said here that they foresee The Suburbs dropping and maybe Reflektor overtaking it on AM. On the contrary, I think The Suburbs will remain in the top 200 and may actually continue rising, as I predict that it will fare moderately well on some all-time lists and extremely well on decade lists. Granted, I think Reflektor will also fare well on decade lists, but I don't think as much as The Suburbs will. In a few years I see myself returning to The Suburbs more often than to Reflektor.

I agree that Neon Bible is their weakest by far, but I still think it has its unique strengths and tone. I don't agree that Arcade Fire ever played it safe or took it easy on any of their albums.

Great post. Agree for the most part.

[Jonathon]

I find it kind of ironic that Haim is finding more critical success in the U.S., when Days Are Gone is something of a hit in the UK, and barely qualifies as a successful indie album in America.

[irreduciblekoan]

I'm just glad that These New Puritans is getting so much love outside of the US, enough to garner a top 25 showing overall. It's one of my favorite albums of the year and, predictably, the attention from the US is pitiful.

[Otisredding]

To Harold


a)

I found these duplicate albums in the spreadsheet:

Akkord
Manel
Recondite
Sleaford Mods
Special Request
Tomahawk


b)
Senior i el cor brutal: White space before the name of the artist

[Ulysses]

To take opposition on the whole Arcade Fire debate (if that's even what it is), I do consider Neon Bible to be their greatest album. I have enjoyed Funeral and The Suburbs with nothing but the greatest of admiration, and while Reflektor didn't instantaneously win me over, I have since found it to be a grower. Some one mentioned the more politically charged lyrics that Neon Bible possesses, opposite the more intimate and emotional lyrics of the others (my description), and while this is true to a degree, I also find that this is one of the things that makes me enjoy it more. It's interessting to me, because when it comes to literature, political themes don't draw my attention that much, but in song lyrics they tend to do (The Clash is probably my favorite band, for instance). Actually, I don't think the topics that drive Neon Bible differ that much from their other albums, but while Funeral and The Suburbs placed the focus on more intimate relationships, Neon Bible was much larger. Also I think the music on Neon Bible is just god damn beautiful. The verse in Keep the Car Running that starts out "If some night I don't come home..." with all the subtle yet massive build up, and those strings, I think it's phenomenal. And it's in this that I find the album's greatest strength as opposed to their other albums: none of the other albums had this terrifying tension between almost unbearably beautiful music and angst-ridden lyrics (Funeral did posses a similar element, but not as grand). I actually find it sort of sublime (as an artistic and philosophical term), and it hits me really hard. None of their other albums does this for me (as said, Funeral comes closest). Also I just love the song writing. It's easily their most straight album. Not much experimentation with neither sound nor song structure or anything as compared to the other ones. For me, it's the songs that matter in the end, and in my subjective opinion, the individual songs has never been better on an Arcade Fire album.

Obviously this is all me. In many ways, I do see and can even sympathize with why Neon Bible is esteemed the least within their discography, but I just thought I would put in my 50 cents for it, seeing it sorta is one of my all-time favorite albums.

[Harold]

To Harold
a)
I found these duplicate albums in the spreadsheet:
Akkord
Manel
Recondite
Sleaford Mods
Special Request
Tomahawk
b)
Senior i el cor brutal: White space before the name of the artist

Thanks for picking up on these, Otisredding!

[Harold]

Updated with duplicate entries corrected and:

Rest of the World: SWQW [France]

[Romain]

Hello Harold, can I ask you why the Tsugi list is not include?
Thanks.

[Harold]

Hello Harold, can I ask you why the Tsugi list is not include?
Thanks.

Because I forgot. It'll be in the next update. Can you please verify that it's a staff critics' list (i.e., made by at least three writers)? (I added a similar question to the Tsugi thread itself, but wanted to repeat it here as well.) Thanks!

[Romain]

Hello Harold, can I ask you why the Tsugi list is not include?
Thanks.

Because I forgot. It'll be in the next update. Can you please verify that it's a staff critics' list (i.e., made by at least three writers)? (I added a similar question to the Tsugi thread itself, but wanted to repeat it here as well.) Thanks!

OK
It's a (good) paper mag! Yes it's a staff critic's list.

[Harold]

Updated with:

Rest of the World: Dagbladet [Norway], Dagsavisen [Norway], Club Fonograma [Intl / Latin] [Mexico], Super 45 [Chile], Tsugi [France]

Also corrected another error: I had erroneously assigned a ranking for Burial's Rival Dealer to Truant/Rough Sleeper. I fixed that, and also added a notation that the latter was a 2012 release.

[Harold]

Henrik, we have a potentially huge problem - I just tried to upload another update, with the BBC and Kerrang! lists added, and received this message:

"The file is too big, maximum allowed size is 5 MiB."

I'm going to email the spreadsheet to you - please try to adjust it so that it can be posted. Keep in mind there are still a few lists (notably Pazz & Jop) to be added. Thanks!

In the meantime, here's the updated top 200 albums. Welcome to the top ten, Disclosure!

1 / West, Kanye / Yeezus
2 / Vampire Weekend / Modern Vampires of the City
3 / Arcade Fire / Reflektor
4 / Daft Punk / Random Access Memories
5 / National, The / Trouble Will Find Me
6 / Cave, Nick and The Bad Seeds / Push the Sky Away
7 / Arctic Monkeys / AM
8 / My Bloody Valentine / m b v
9 / Blake, James / Overgrown
10 / Disclosure / Settle
11 / Knife, The / Shaking the Habitual
12 / Bowie, David / The Next Day
13 / Haim / Days Are Gone
14 / Savages / Silence Yourself
15 / Hopkins, Jon / Immunity
16 / Vile, Kurt / Wakin on a Pretty Daze
17 / Monae, Janelle / The Electric Lady
18 / Holter, Julia / Loud City Song
19 / Queens of the Stone Age / …Like Clockwork
20 / Boards of Canada / Tomorrow's Harvest
21 / Callahan, Bill / Dream River
22 / Chvrches / The Bones of What You Believe
23 / Deafheaven / Sunbather
24 / Brown, Danny / Old
25 / These New Puritans / Field of Reeds
26 / Grant, John / Pale Green Ghosts
27 / Chance the Rapper / Acid Rap
28 / Marling, Laura / Once I Was an Eagle
29 / Foals / Holy Fire
30 / Deerhunter / Monomania
31 / Earl Sweatshirt / Doris
32 / Oneohtrix Point Never / R Plus Seven
33 / Lorde / Pure Heroine
34 / Darkside / Psychic
35 / Holden / The Inheritors
36 / Factory Floor / Factory Floor
37 / Hecker, Tim / Virgins
38 / Phosphorescent / Muchacho
39 / Run the Jewels [El-P & Killer Mike] / Run the Jewels
40 / Rhye / Woman
41 / King Krule / 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
42 / Parquet Courts / Light Up Gold [2012]
43 / Fuck Buttons / Slow Focus
44 / Case, Neko / The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
45 / Drake / Nothing Was the Same
46 / Timberlake, Justin / The 20/20 Experience [1 of 2]
47 / Foxygen / We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
48 / Atoms for Peace / Amok
49 / Forest Swords / Engravings
50 / Jagwar Ma / Howlin
51 / Autre Ne Veut / Anxiety
52 / Avery, Daniel / Drone Logic
53 / Cronin, Mikal / MCII
54 / Moderat / II
55 / Prefab Sprout / Crimson/Red
56 / Haxan Cloak, The / Excavation
57 / Daughter / If You Leave
58 / Yo La Tengo / Fade
59 / Waxahatchee / Cerulean Salt
60 / M.I.A. / Matangi
61 / Pusha T / My Name is My Name
62 / DJ Koze / Amygdala
63 / Pet Shop Boys / Electric
64 / Hookworms / Pearl Mystic
65 / Frightened Rabbit / Pedestrian Verse
66 / Unknown Mortal Orchestra / II
67 / Ferreira, Sky / Night Time, My Time
68 / Blood Orange / Cupid Deluxe
69 / Wilson, Jonathan / Fanfare
70 / Flaming Lips, The / The Terror
71 / Nine Inch Nails / Hesitation Marks
72 / Blunt, Dean / The Redeemer
73 / DJ Rashad / Double Cup
74 / Isbell, Jason / Southeastern
75 / Primal Scream / More Light
76 / London Grammar / If You Wait
77 / Musgraves, Kacey / Same Trailer Different Park
78 / Sigur Ros / Kveikur
79 / Phoenix / Bankrupt!
80 / Thundercat / Apocalypse
81 / Manic Street Preachers / Rewind the Film
82 / White, Matthew E. / Big Inner [2012]
83 / Kelela / Cut 4 Me
84 / Halo, Laurel / Chance of Rain
85 / Wolfe, Chelsea / Pain is Beauty
86 / Tegan and Sara / Heartthrob
87 / Suede / Bloodsports
88 / Future of the Left / How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident
89 / Triangulo de amor bizarro / Victoria mistica
90 / A$AP Rocky / Long.Live.A$AP
91 / Biffy Clyro / Opposites
92 / Mvula, Laura / Sing to the Moon
93 / AlunaGeorge / Body Music
94 / Villagers / {Awayland}
95 / Lanza, Jessy / Pull My Hair Back
96 / Mount Kimbie / Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
97 / Carcass / Surgical Steel
98 / Local Natives / Hummingbird
99 / Ka / The Night's Gambit
100 / Iceage / You're Nothing
101 / Paramore / Paramore
102 / Okkervil River / The Silver Gymnasium
103 / Rose, Caitlin / The Stand In
104 / Majical Cloudz / Impersonator
105 / Roberts, Matana / Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
106 / Special Request / Soul Music
107 / Stetson, Colin / New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
108 / Youth Lagoon / Wondrous Bughouse
109 / McCombs, Cass / Big Wheel and Others
110 / Volcano Choir / Repave
111 / Low / The Invisible Way
112 / Woodkid / The Golden Age
113 / Stromae / Racine carree
114 / Goldfrapp / Tales of Us
115 / Thee Oh Sees / Floating Coffin
116 / Mason, Steve / Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time
117 / Eminem / The Marshall Mathers LP 2
118 / Hval, Jenny / Innocence is Kinky
119 / La Femme / Psycho Tropical Berlin
120 / Barwick, Julianna / Nepenthe
121 / John Wizards / John Wizards
122 / McCartney, Paul / New
123 / Friedberger, Eleanor / Personal Record
124 / MGMT / MGMT
125 / Logos / Cold Mission
126 / Pearl Jam / Lightning Bolt
127 / Suuns / Images Du Futur
128 / Palma Violets / 180
129 / Gorguts / Colored Sands
130 / Bargeld, Blixa & Teho Teardo / Still Smiling
131 / Calvi, Anna / One Breath
132 / Valerie June / Pushin' Against a Stone
133 / Mockasin, Connan / Caramel
134 / Zomby / With Love
135 / bRUNA / Thence
136 / Speedy Ortiz / Major Arcana
137 / Le Bon, Cate / Mug Museum
138 / Timberlake, Justin / The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2
139 / Grouper / The Man Who Died in His Boat
140 / Franz Ferdinand / Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
141 / Oso Leone / Mokragora
142 / MONEY / The Shadow of Heaven
143 / 65daysofstatic / Wild Light
144 / Animic / Hannibal
145 / Beyonce / Beyonce
146 / Grumbling Fur / Glynnaestra
147 / Girls Names / The New Life
148 / Mazzy Star / Seasons of Your Day
149 / Bombino / Nomad
150 / Bring Me the Horizon / Sempiternal
151 / Flume / Flume
152 / Rodriguez, Mala / Bruja
153 / Za! / Wanananai
154 / Becker, Rashad / Traditional Music of Notional Species, Vol. 1
155 / Pharmakon / Abandon
156 / Beal, Willis Earl / Nobody Knows
157 / Midlake / Antiphon
158 / Floorplan / Paradise
159 / Frahm, Nils / Spaces
160 / Pissed Jeans / Honeys
161 / Typhoon / White Lighter
162 / Bradley, Charles / Victim of Love
163 / Wilson, Steven / The Raven That Refused to Sing
164 / Drones, The / I See Seaweed
165 / Four Tet / Beautiful Rewind
166 / Kvelertak / Meir
167 / Strokes, The / Comedown Machine
168 / Public Service Broadcasting / Inform - Educate - Entertain
169 / Tocotronic / Wie wir lieben wollen
170 / Monroe, Ashley / Like a Rose
171 / Superchunk / I Hate Music
172 / Fire! Orchestra / Exit!
173 / Obel, Agnes / Aventine
174 / BFlecha / ßeta
175 / Costello, Elvis & The Roots / Wise Up Ghost
176 / Bonobo / The North Borders
177 / Toro Y Moi / Anything in Return
178 / Joanna Gruesome / Weird Sister
179 / Los Campesinos! / No Blues
180 / Braids / Flourish//Perish
181 / Bulat, Basia / Tall Tall Shadow
182 / Gardner, Jacco / Cabinet of Curiosities
183 / Cut Copy / Free Your Mind
184 / Pony Bravo / De palmas y caceria
185 / Weeknd, The / Kiss Land
186 / Cult of Luna / Vertikal
187 / Murry, John / The Graceless Age [2012]
188 / Iron & Wine / Ghost on Ghost
189 / Kouyate, Bassekou & Ngoniba / Jama Ko
190 / Smith Westerns / Soft Will
191 / Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge / Twelve Reasons to Die
192 / Balago / Darder
193 / Dillinger Escape Plan, The / One of Us is the Killer
194 / RP Boo / Legacy
195 / Drenge / Drenge
196 / Diane, Alela / About Farewell
197 / Baths / Obsidian
198 / Delorean / Apar
199 / Traore, Rokia / Beautiful Africa
200 / Staples, Mavis / One True Vine

[Harold]

OK, I have no idea what happened to the spreadsheet earlier, but somehow it was being read as several times larger than it actually is. Let's try this again.

[Harold]

The entire last half hour has been incredibly bizarre. After I received the error message, I went into my Excel directory to look at the file size - and it actually said the spreadsheet file was 19,656 KB! I have no idea what the hell happened there, but the reading is now back to normal. Maybe Henrik will be able to figure this one out. In any case, all's well that ends well.

[Henrik]

The file size gets much smaller if you don't use any of the sort buttons during the last session. I need to re-open the spreadsheet, press enter somewhere and save again every time before I upload the songs spreadsheet.

Anyway, I changed the maximum file size to unlimited, so this shouldn't be a problem anymore, although it is of course better for all of us if the files are kept to a minimum size.

[Harold]

The file size gets much smaller if you don't use any of the sort buttons during the last session. I need to re-open the spreadsheet, press enter somewhere and save again every time before I upload the songs spreadsheet.

Anyway, I changed the maximum file size to unlimited, so this shouldn't be a problem anymore, although it is of course better for all of us if the files are kept to a minimum size.

As I said in my last email to you, that's exactly what happened - I forgot to perform that last step after entering the Kerrang! list. First time I've forgotten to do that, too. I've been spending too much time on this!

[DaveC]

To take opposition on the whole Arcade Fire debate (if that's even what it is), I do consider Neon Bible to be their greatest album. I have enjoyed Funeral and The Suburbs with nothing but the greatest of admiration, and while Reflektor didn't instantaneously win me over, I have since found it to be a grower. Some one mentioned the more politically charged lyrics that Neon Bible possesses, opposite the more intimate and emotional lyrics of the others (my description), and while this is true to a degree, I also find that this is one of the things that makes me enjoy it more. It's interessting to me, because when it comes to literature, political themes don't draw my attention that much, but in song lyrics they tend to do (The Clash is probably my favorite band, for instance). Actually, I don't think the topics that drive Neon Bible differ that much from their other albums, but while Funeral and The Suburbs placed the focus on more intimate relationships, Neon Bible was much larger. Also I think the music on Neon Bible is just god damn beautiful. The verse in Keep the Car Running that starts out "If some night I don't come home..." with all the subtle yet massive build up, and those strings, I think it's phenomenal. And it's in this that I find the album's greatest strength as opposed to their other albums: none of the other albums had this terrifying tension between almost unbearably beautiful music and angst-ridden lyrics (Funeral did posses a similar element, but not as grand). I actually find it sort of sublime (as an artistic and philosophical term), and it hits me really hard. None of their other albums does this for me (as said, Funeral comes closest). Also I just love the song writing. It's easily their most straight album. Not much experimentation with neither sound nor song structure or anything as compared to the other ones. For me, it's the songs that matter in the end, and in my subjective opinion, the individual songs has never been better on an Arcade Fire album.

Obviously this is all me. In many ways, I do see and can even sympathize with why Neon Bible is esteemed the least within their discography, but I just thought I would put in my 50 cents for it, seeing it sorta is one of my all-time favorite albums.

I completely agree with this. Saves me having to attempt to express the same opinion in my own words.

[Harold]

Updated with:

Rest of the World: PopNews [France], Screenagers [Poland]

[Harold]

Updated with:

USA/Canada: Village Voice Pazz & Jop [top 100]
UK/Ireland: Terrorizer

[Harold]

Updated (possibly for the final time) with:

UK/Ireland: Time Out
Rest of the World: Heaven [Netherlands], Porcys [Poland]

As always, this has been an enormous amount of work, but fascinating and fun. Grateful thanks, again, to everyone who's helped by posting lists here. I couldn't do this without all of you.

[Harold]

The top 200 albums of 2013, according to the AM EOY spreadsheet:

1 / Kanye West / Yeezus
2 / Vampire Weekend / Modern Vampires of the City
3 / Arcade Fire / Reflektor
4 / Daft Punk / Random Access Memories
5 / Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds / Push the Sky Away
6 / The National / Trouble Will Find Me
7 / My Bloody Valentine / m b v
8 / Arctic Monkeys / AM
9 / James Blake / Overgrown
10 / Disclosure / Settle
11 / David Bowie / The Next Day
12 / The Knife / Shaking the Habitual
13 / Haim / Days Are Gone
14 / Savages / Silence Yourself
15 / Jon Hopkins / Immunity
16 / Kurt Vile / Wakin on a Pretty Daze
17 / Julia Holter / Loud City Song
18 / Janelle Monae / The Electric Lady
19 / Boards of Canada / Tomorrow's Harvest
20 / Queens of the Stone Age / …Like Clockwork
21 / Bill Callahan / Dream River
22 / Chvrches / The Bones of What You Believe
23 / Deafheaven / Sunbather
24 / Danny Brown / Old
25 / Chance the Rapper / Acid Rap
26 / These New Puritans / Field of Reeds
27 / Laura Marling / Once I Was an Eagle
28 / John Grant / Pale Green Ghosts
29 / Earl Sweatshirt / Doris
30 / Deerhunter / Monomania
31 / Oneohtrix Point Never / R Plus Seven
32 / Foals / Holy Fire
33 / Lorde / Pure Heroine
34 / Darkside / Psychic
35 / Holden / The Inheritors
36 / Tim Hecker / Virgins
37 / Parquet Courts / Light Up Gold [2012]
38 / King Krule / 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
39 / Factory Floor / Factory Floor
40 / Run the Jewels [El-P & Killer Mike] / Run the Jewels
41 / Phosphorescent / Muchacho
42 / Rhye / Woman
43 / Fuck Buttons / Slow Focus
44 / Neko Case / The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
45 / Drake / Nothing Was the Same
46 / Justin Timberlake / The 20/20 Experience [1 of 2]
47 / Atoms for Peace / Amok
48 / Forest Swords / Engravings
49 / Jagwar Ma / Howlin
50 / Foxygen / We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
51 / Autre Ne Veut / Anxiety
52 / Mikal Cronin / MCII
53 / Daniel Avery / Drone Logic
54 / Prefab Sprout / Crimson/Red
55 / The Haxan Cloak / Excavation
56 / Moderat / II
57 / Yo La Tengo / Fade
58 / Waxahatchee / Cerulean Salt
59 / M.I.A. / Matangi
60 / Daughter / If You Leave
61 / Pusha T / My Name is My Name
62 / DJ Koze / Amygdala
63 / Jonathan Wilson / Fanfare
64 / Hookworms / Pearl Mystic
65 / Pet Shop Boys / Electric
66 / Sky Ferreira / Night Time, My Time
67 / Unknown Mortal Orchestra / II
68 / Jason Isbell / Southeastern
69 / Blood Orange / Cupid Deluxe
70 / Kelela / Cut 4 Me
71 / Frightened Rabbit / Pedestrian Verse
72 / DJ Rashad / Double Cup
73 / The Flaming Lips / The Terror
74 / Nine Inch Nails / Hesitation Marks
75 / Carcass / Surgical Steel
76 / Kacey Musgraves / Same Trailer Different Park
77 / Dean Blunt / The Redeemer
78 / Thundercat / Apocalypse
79 / Tegan and Sara / Heartthrob
80 / Primal Scream / More Light
81 / London Grammar / If You Wait
82 / AlunaGeorge / Body Music
83 / Laura Mvula / Sing to the Moon
84 / Sigur Ros / Kveikur
85 / Phoenix / Bankrupt!
86 / Manic Street Preachers / Rewind the Film
87 / Matthew E. White / Big Inner [2012]
88 / Laurel Halo / Chance of Rain
89 / Chelsea Wolfe / Pain is Beauty
90 / Suede / Bloodsports
91 / Future of the Left / How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident
92 / Triangulo de amor bizarro / Victoria mistica
93 / A$AP Rocky / Long.Live.A$AP
94 / Jessy Lanza / Pull My Hair Back
95 / Biffy Clyro / Opposites
96 / Matana Roberts / Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
97 / Paramore / Paramore
98 / Ka / The Night's Gambit
99 / Villagers / {Awayland}
100 / Mount Kimbie / Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
101 / Majical Cloudz / Impersonator
102 / Local Natives / Hummingbird
103 / Iceage / You're Nothing
104 / Low / The Invisible Way
105 / Okkervil River / The Silver Gymnasium
106 / Caitlin Rose / The Stand In
107 / Thee Oh Sees / Floating Coffin
108 / Special Request / Soul Music
109 / Eminem / The Marshall Mathers LP 2
110 / Colin Stetson / New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
111 / Beyonce / Beyonce
112 / Youth Lagoon / Wondrous Bughouse
113 / Cass McCombs / Big Wheel and Others
114 / Volcano Choir / Repave
115 / Gorguts / Colored Sands
116 / Paul McCartney / New
117 / Woodkid / The Golden Age
118 / Stromae / Racine carree
119 / Goldfrapp / Tales of Us
120 / Steve Mason / Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time
121 / Connan Mockasin / Caramel
122 / Valerie June / Pushin' Against a Stone
123 / Jenny Hval / Innocence is Kinky
124 / La Femme / Psycho Tropical Berlin
125 / Julianna Barwick / Nepenthe
126 / John Wizards / John Wizards
127 / Eleanor Friedberger / Personal Record
128 / MGMT / MGMT
129 / Logos / Cold Mission
130 / Speedy Ortiz / Major Arcana
131 / Pearl Jam / Lightning Bolt
132 / Suuns / Images Du Futur
133 / Palma Violets / 180
134 / Blixa Bargeld & Teho Teardo / Still Smiling
135 / Anna Calvi / One Breath
136 / Ashley Monroe / Like a Rose
137 / Bombino / Nomad
138 / Kvelertak / Meir
139 / Zomby / With Love
140 / Fire! Orchestra / Exit!
141 / bRUNA / Thence
142 / Grumbling Fur / Glynnaestra
143 / Superchunk / I Hate Music
144 / In Solitude / Sister
145 / Cate Le Bon / Mug Museum
146 / Justin Timberlake / The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2
147 / Midlake / Antiphon
148 / Grouper / The Man Who Died in His Boat
149 / Franz Ferdinand / Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
150 / Alela Diane / About Farewell
151 / Oso Leone / Mokragora
152 / MONEY / The Shadow of Heaven
153 / 65daysofstatic / Wild Light
154 / Animic / Hannibal
155 / Pissed Jeans / Honeys
156 / Elvis Costello & The Roots / Wise Up Ghost
157 / Steven Wilson / The Raven That Refused to Sing
158 / The Dillinger Escape Plan / One of Us is the Killer
159 / Jacco Gardner / Cabinet of Curiosities
160 / Girls Names / The New Life
161 / Cult of Luna / Vertikal
162 / Mazzy Star / Seasons of Your Day
163 / Bring Me the Horizon / Sempiternal
164 / Braids / Flourish//Perish
165 / Flume / Flume
166 / Mala Rodriguez / Bruja
167 / Za! / Wanananai
168 / Rashad Becker / Traditional Music of Notional Species, Vol. 1
169 / Pharmakon / Abandon
170 / Willis Earl Beal / Nobody Knows
171 / Toro Y Moi / Anything in Return
172 / Floorplan / Paradise
173 / Nils Frahm / Spaces
174 / Typhoon / White Lighter
175 / Charles Bradley / Victim of Love
176 / Clutch / Earth Rocker
177 / The Drones / I See Seaweed
178 / Four Tet / Beautiful Rewind
179 / The Strokes / Comedown Machine
180 / Public Service Broadcasting / Inform - Educate - Entertain
181 / Tocotronic / Wie wir lieben wollen
182 / Rokia Traore / Beautiful Africa
183 / Rudimental / Home
184 / Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge / Twelve Reasons to Die
185 / Darkthrone / The Underground Resistance
186 / Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoniba / Jama Ko
187 / Agnes Obel / Aventine
188 / Roy Harper / Man & Myth
189 / BFlecha / ßeta
190 / Patty Griffin / American Kid
191 / Nails / Abandon All Life
192 / Bonobo / The North Borders
193 / San Fermin / San Fermin
194 / Joanna Gruesome / Weird Sister
195 / Los Campesinos! / No Blues
196 / Mavis Staples / One True Vine
197 / Basia Bulat / Tall Tall Shadow
198 / Cut Copy / Free Your Mind
199 / Charli XCX / True Romance
200 / Pantha du Prince & The Bell Laboratory / Elements of Light

[Future Critic]

As always, this has been an enormous amount of work, but fascinating and fun. Grateful thanks, again, to everyone who's helped by posting lists here. I couldn't do this without all of you.

Thank you!! This is a tremendous service that you provide for all of us. I use your lists (as well as OtisRedding's) to determine which albums to buy (and songs, as well) - and I'm seldom let down. I can't imagine how much work this is, but you should know that it is very appreciated.

[Henrik]

Updated (possibly for the final time) with:

UK/Ireland: Time Out
Rest of the World: Heaven [Netherlands], Porcys [Poland]

As always, this has been an enormous amount of work, but fascinating and fun. Grateful thanks, again, to everyone who's helped by posting lists here. I couldn't do this without all of you.

Yes, thank you Harold!!!!!!!!!

However, do you really think that this might be your last update? I haven't asked around for songs lists like you have done for albums, I've just been hoping that people would post whatever lists they find. Maybe that assumption was wrong, as there are still several lists I am waiting for. I need to go back and see if there are some sources that publish a songs list as well, but only the album list has been posted so far in the critics' lists forum.

[paulC]

Thank you Harold!
As Future Critic said, these lists are my guide to listen to new music and I'm never disapointed.

[underdog]

Thanks! I love this website

[Romain]

"Album Rock" and "Plugged Magazine" lists are not yet in the final list. Which ones still lack?

[Harold]

"Album Rock" and "Plugged Magazine" lists are not yet in the final list. Which ones still lack?

Album Rock fell just short of the minimum number of links. Plugged doesn't seem to have a dedicated website outside of its Facebook and Twitter pages, so I didn't include it. However, if these are both fairly well established print magazines, I can certainly include them. Let me know. Thanks!

[Romain]

Hello Harold! Plugged Magazine is a print magazine and you are wright for AlbumRock (Ok next year probably).

[Harold]

Updated once again:

Rest of the World: Plugged [France]

One very significant change near the top. With apologies to Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner:

EZRA KOENIG: Who are you?
WIN BUTLER: The new Number Two.
EK: Who is Number One?
KANYE WEST: Still me, motherf---ers!!!

[Ulysses]

So Kanye and Arcade Fire are determined to lead the decade in music, it seems. I still believe MVotC will be 2013's #1 sooner or later. It's not my favorite album fo all time, but honestly, in terms of lyrics, composition, production, creativity, the whole deal, this album is as great as any I've ever heard. Easily the most masterful album of the year. In the decade as a whole as of yet, only Dark Twisted Fantasy comes close, in my opinion.

[Harold]

Updated with a newly discovered list:

Rest of the World: Visions [Germany]

[Jonathon]

So Kanye and Arcade Fire are determined to lead the decade in music, it seems. I still believe MVotC will be 2013's #1 sooner or later. It's not my favorite album fo all time, but honestly, in terms of lyrics, composition, production, creativity, the whole deal, this album is as great as any I've ever heard. Easily the most masterful album of the year. In the decade as a whole as of yet, only Dark Twisted Fantasy comes close, in my opinion.

It's probably too early to say. In 2003, it looked like OutKast was destined to rule the decade, and then they dropped off the face of the Earth.

The fact that Arcade Fire and Kanye have been going strong for more or less 10 years, makes it hard for me to believe that they can keep it up for the rest of the decade. Even Radiohead eventually petered out with a slightly less impressive album in 2011. Sure they qualify as safe bets, but I'd look to artists like Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamaar, and maybe even The National (who seem almost incapable of making an album that ranks outside of the top 10 of the year) as dark horses with potential.

[Ulysses]

Hmm, The National sorta bewildered me this year, or, that means, their acclaim did. I've gone through practically the entire spectrum of feelings concerning the album. I think it sounds great, and the song writing holds up as good as any album this year, but where High Violet had intriguing lyrics, lush on great, weird imagery, TWFM redefines their style with lyrics like "I'm going through an awkward phase" and "You can't imagine how i hate this"… Hughe step down on that front. And thing is, the same can sorta be said about the music. My problem is that it seems like the band took absolutely no chances at all. The result is an undeniably pleasant album, which severely lacks something to call its own.

My point is that I personaly can't imagine (in case the band keeps playing safe like this) that critics will keep on crediting them as more than they really are, unless of course the band returns to their High Violet tone (or at least just a more imaginative one). Then again, I do enjoy TWFM a lot these days, and it still is the sound of a mature band who knows their way around song writing, so i might be wrong… but in terms of progressing artistically, I think they've stalled too early in their game. But lots of people (and critics!) seem to love it, so what the hell do I know...

[Jonathon]

Hmm, The National sorta bewildered me this year, or, that means, their acclaim did. I've gone through practically the entire spectrum of feelings concerning the album. I think it sounds great, and the song writing holds up as good as any album this year, but where High Violet had intriguing lyrics, lush on great, weird imagery, TWFM redefines their style with lyrics like "I'm going through an awkward phase" and "You can't imagine how i hate this"… Hughe step down on that front. And thing is, the same can sorta be said about the music. My problem is that it seems like the band took absolutely no chances at all. The result is an undeniably pleasant album, which severely lacks something to call its own.

My point is that I personaly can't imagine (in case the band keeps playing safe like this) that critics will keep on crediting them as more than they really are, unless of course the band returns to their High Violet tone (or at least just a more imaginative one). Then again, I do enjoy TWFM a lot these days, and it still is the sound of a mature band who knows their way around song writing, so i might be wrong… but in terms of progressing artistically, I think they've stalled too early in their game. But lots of people (and critics!) seem to love it, so what the hell do I know...

Trouble Will Find Me feels a bit like Wilco's A Ghost is Born to me. A sort of hushed, assured, very good but not great album, that got the rub off of following a true classic. A Ghost is Born I believe initially ranked 420-450 on the all time list, and has gradually dropped to the high 700s, with no sign of the plummet stopping.

I sort of see a similar ranking trajectory for Trouble Will Find Me. A high initial ranking (probably #2 of artist) that will inevitably drop to #4 of artist.