Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

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Jirin
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Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

A lot of people tend to be feeling more and more that the critics are getting it wrong, so now it's our turn to get it right. This game is simple: Every participant nominates one album, then we rank those albums the way we do in the decade polls.

Album eligibility: Anything released in 2012 that is not in the top 50 in Otisredding's lists. Although, if there is an album that is fairly new and is obviously going to make the top 50, then it is also not eligible. (Use your judgment) If an album was released somewhere else before 2012 and released in your country in 2012, go with the release that first got it attention.

Player eligibility: Anybody can nominate an album, but if you do you are promising two things: 1. You will submit a final list, and 2. You will make your best effort to hear as many of the nominated albums as possible. Nobody expects everybody to hear every album, since we're all busy. But, just make the best effort you can make with the amount of time you have.

Nominations will be accepted until the end of November, then you will have all of December to listen to the nominated albums.
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Miguel
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Miguel »

Image

The Explorers ClubGrand Hotel

“While there's an undeniable, late-‘60s sunshine pop vibe to many of the arrangements here, from the vocal harmonies to the horn sections, The Explorers Club nevertheless seems to have simultaneously inched along a little further on the calendar and widened their target. More than anything, Grand Hotel seems concerned with offering up tunes that could have been hits on early-‘70s AM radio. It's like one of those Have a Nice Day collections of songs by ‘70s one-hit wonders, except that all the tracks are by the same artist.”

James Allen (allmusic.com)

“In terms of mixing emotional ballads with exciting pop hits, there hasn’t been a better album this year than Grand Hotel. Four years later, The Explorers Club have matched their criminally overlooked debut Freedom Wind, a feat impressive to longtime fans as well as the new ones Grand Hotel is bound to earn.”

Mike Mineo (obscuresound.com)

“Grand Hotel is remarkable not just as a present day artistic piece, but also as homage to what many people consider the greatest music ever made. It’s incredible how perfected each element—from the instrumentation to the timbres to the melodies and harmonies—is. One must also respect the band for daring to go against the trends of the current music scene in order to craft what they wanted to hear. Grand Hotel may not appeal to those who know nothing of its influences, but for anyone who can appreciate its scope and ambition (as well as any nostalgic “baby boomers”), it’s a true gem.”

Jordan Blum (adequacy.net)

Spotify

Some of the best songs, available on YouTube:
Run, Run, Run
Grand Hotel
It’s No Use
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HRS
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by HRS »

I nominate Wadada Leo Smith's Ten Freedom Summers

Image

The album has received glowing reviews by those who actually took time to review it, but, as a sprawling piece of jazz music clocking over four and a half hours, spread in four discs, and because of the current relations between its genre and contemporary end of the year lists, it has been a rather quiet reception; It will sure be left aside by the major lists.

Since I live in Brazil, I can't access Spotify, so I ain't sure if it's available there.

This is Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: 381 Days.
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Stephan
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Stephan »

Just to make sure, albums ranked 51-100 are eligible, right?
Brad
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Brad »

Image

LOWER DENS - Nootropics

It's currently #57, but it's my favorite not in the top 50 so I went with it...

BTW Jirin, I had planned on starting the MA4 nomination process in December... do you think it would interfere with this or cause general confusion? I can hold off until late in the month if necessary. Otherwise I'll probably kick MA4 off around Dec. 3rd (nominations).

Thanks!
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Romain
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Romain »

Holy cow, I had never seen the otisredding charts.

I knew I did not have the same tastes as the critics but not so much.

I proposed :

King Tuff - King Tuff
Image

http://www.metacritic.com/music/king-tuff/king-tuff
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16667-king-tuff/

A twelve perfect rock'n'roll songs album with some gems :

King Tuff - Losers Wall (song of the year for me, an instant classic like Lonely Boy next year)
King Tuff - Keep On Movin
The whole album
Jirin
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

Stephan wrote:Just to make sure, albums ranked 51-100 are eligible, right?
Correct.

I nominate:

Jenny Scheinmen - Mischief and Mayhem.
sonofsamiam
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by sonofsamiam »

HRS wrote:I nominate Wadada Leo Smith's Ten Freedom Summers

Image

The album has received glowing reviews by those who actually took time to review it, but, as a sprawling piece of jazz music clocking over four and a half hours, spread in four discs, and because of the current relations between its genre and contemporary end of the year lists, it has been a rather quiet reception; It will sure be left aside by the major lists.

Since I live in Brazil, I can't access Spotify, so I ain't sure if it's available there.

This is Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: 381 Days.
Great choice, HRS -- this is now my album of the year, only Bish Bosch is left with having a chance.

I hope the length doesn't put people off listening to it.
Jackson
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jackson »

This is one year where I feel the critics did a fantastic job overall, at least based on OtisRedding's list: Swans, Tame Impala, Flying Lotus, Andy Stott, Liars, and Actress all placing high? It's about time some of these acts got more attention.

That being said, my nominee is Peaking Lights - Lucifer. It just sneaks in to the top 100 of the main list, but will be in my top 10. This group is on quite a run with this and 936, one of my top 5 albums of 2011. I just love the hazy, almost child-like atmosphere of nostalgia they create, best exemplified in the video to last year's Hey Sparrow (Link).

Here's Beautiful Son from Lucifer. This album came out around the time of the fantastic film Moonrise Kingdom this summer, and for some reason, I thought that the two complemented each other very well.
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

To list the nominations so far:

The Explorer's Club - Run Run Run (Miguel)
Wadada Leo Smith - Ten Freedom Summers (HRS)
Lower Dens - Nootropics (Brad)
King Tuff - King Tuff (Romain)
Jenny Scheinmen - Mischief and Mayhem (Jirin)
Peaking Lights - Lucifer (Jackson)

You officially have nine more days to nominate an album, but slightly late nominations will be accepted.
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nicolas
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by nicolas »

My nomination is Ondatrópica - Ondatrópica

Image

A big collective project around the music of Colombia, with old and young musicians : salsa, funk, dub, cumbia, afrobeat, hip hop, and even a Black Sabbath cover !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktZlYU0RnoI
Jirin
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

Nicolas's nomination brings the total number of entries to 7, nominations officially go for five more days.
Gillingham
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Gillingham »

I would like to participate, but coming weeks I don't have enough time to listen to everybody's picks. Especially if I want to legally listen to them.
Last edited by Gillingham on Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stephan
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Stephan »

I'll go ahead and be predictable: The Tallest Man On Earth - There's No Leaving Now.
Jirin
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

Gillingham wrote:I would like to participate, but coming weeks I don't have enough time to listen to everybody's picks. Especially if I want to legally listen to them.
It's okay if you don't have time to listen to all of them, so long as you make reasonable effort in the time you have available to you to hear as many as possible. I'm hoping to use a nonparametric algorithm which makes it so not listening to an album won't help or hurt it at all.

I'm really liking both Wadada Leo Smith and Peaking Lights. This just goes to show, if you want a good recommendation from someone, ask them what they like, don't ask for a recommendation. Because you're far more likely to like the album somebody loves than the album somebody thinks you'll love.
Jirin
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

To clarify, that thing I said in the original post was mostly intended to prevent a lot of lurkers from coming in, dropping an album name and disappearing, it wasn't intended to dissuade legitimately busy regulars from participating. Don't worry Gillingham, I won't hound you to listen to more albums. ;)
Jirin
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

Last day to make a nomination, but slightly late nominations will be accepted. Only eight nominations so far, hopefully we'll pick up a couple more before nominations close.
Rodneyontheblock
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/John%2 ... 0reminisce
Is it too late to nominate? If not I nominate Waiting and Waiting by John Mark Nelson. I guess you can listen to it on iTunes.
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Moonbeam
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Moonbeam »

I'll nominate kin by iamamiwhoami. I'm amazed it hasn't found much acclaim.
Ddiamondd
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Ddiamondd »

While there's no shortage of great records lurking outside the top 50 - Bob Mould, Hot Chip, Death Grips, Jens Lekman, Torche and Schoolboy Q to name but a handful - I'm going to take this opportunity to put forward a record I don't think many boarders here will have come across, my personal #15 as it currently stands:

Claro Intelecto - Reform Club
While Andy Stott has been lapping up plaudits, I feel fellow Mancunian techno producer Mark Stewart, aka Claro Intelecto, probably made the better album. One very much built for late nights and long solo journeys, packing an emotional resonance that often eludes contemporary techno. It holds a rating of 87% on Metacritic, although only six critics covered it (including Beats Per Minute, who I write for). Deeply engrossing and richly detailed, I can see it appealing to electronic music fans across the board, especially those digging the aforementioned Luxury Problems or Actress this year, but also fans of Autechre and some of Richard D James' side-projects, most notably Polygon Window. Give it a go, hope you enjoy!

(p.s. for anyone wondering if I've signed up solely to plug this record, I was a semi-regular on the old boards and have been lured back by EOY season, haha)
John
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by John »

I'll nominate Alt-J- An Awesome Wave. Surprised it isn't on Otisredding's list.
Gillingham
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Gillingham »

Ddiamondd wrote: Claro Intelecto - Reform Club

While Andy Stott has been lapping up plaudits, I feel fellow Mancunian techno producer Mark Stewart, aka Claro Intelecto, probably made the better album. One very much built for late nights and long solo journeys, packing an emotional resonance that often eludes contemporary techno. It holds a rating of 87% on Metacritic, although only six critics covered it (including Beats Per Minute, who I write for). Deeply engrossing and richly detailed, I can see it appealing to electronic music fans across the board, especially those digging the aforementioned Luxury Problems or Actress this year, but also fans of Autechre and some of Richard D James' side-projects, most notably Polygon Window. Give it a go, hope you enjoy!

(p.s. for anyone wondering if I've signed up solely to plug this record, I was a semi-regular on the old boards and have been lured back by EOY season, haha)
That definitely sounds like something I could like a lot. I'll go and listen to it.
Gillingham
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Gillingham »

Jirin wrote:To clarify, that thing I said in the original post was mostly intended to prevent a lot of lurkers from coming in, dropping an album name and disappearing, it wasn't intended to dissuade legitimately busy regulars from participating. Don't worry Gillingham, I won't hound you to listen to more albums. ;)
Thanks for clarifying Jirin.

Still, I'm afraid I won't participate, because I won't be around between Christmas en New Year, so even listening to a couple of the nominated albums (which I all haven't heard before) will be difficult.
Hope to be around next year. Like the idea a lot. Good luck all.
Brad
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Brad »

Jirin - What do you think about me saving a spot in the MA4 competition for the winner here?
Jirin
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Re: Best Moderately Acclaimed Album of 2012

Post by Jirin »

Up to you, I think that'd be pretty cool.
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