Collaborative Diary: 2010 - Music Diaries - Forums : Best Ever Albums

Repo
BeA Sunflower

Location: Forest Park

Purplepash wrote:

I've listened to them all now so here is my initial ranking of all 65. I will be listening to a few of them again so there will be some fine tuning between now and the closing date. Just give me a 24 hrs heads up or let me know if a custom chart would be easier.

I've got to say this was a worthwhile experience. I found a few great albums I may not have heard otherwise, and listened to some albums from genres I hadn't heard before, including a couple I hadn't even heard of before. There was a real mixed bag of genres represented in these 65 albums. Had a lot of fun broadening my musical experience.

Nice list! Just going through it I realized how difficult this will be to compile my own list. Agree with a lot of your picks. Thanks for taking the lead on this. Going to get my ass in gear now. Still have about 5-6 to listen to but mine is nearing completion as well.

mickilennial
The Most Trusted Name in News

Gender: Female
Age: 35
Location: Detroit

I'm kind of semi-active, so I'm just suggesting things when I see them. More of a follower than a participant in this listmaking.

dihansse

Gender: Male
Age: 60

A bit later than promised but here is my list so far of albums in four categories:

category 1: the first 19 are albums which are effectively in my personal top chart of 2010 (some of which I have added because of this collaborative diary). And again: The National is outdoing them all.
1 46. High Violet by The National (Komorebi-D, Purplepash)
2 54. The Soft Pack by The Soft Pack (dihansse)
3 3. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire (dihansse, Komorebi-D)
4 29. The Final Frontier by Iron Maiden (dihansse)
5 12. Our Cubehouse Still Rocks by Boston Spaceships (dihansse)
6 44. The Wörld Is Yours by Mötorhead (dihansse)
7 57. Majesty Shredding by Superchunk (dihansse)
8 45. Unsilent Death by Nails (Tha1ChiefRocka)
9 14. Theory Of Everything by Children Collide (Purplepash)
10 34. Queen Of Denmark by John Grant (Tilly)
11 60. The Monitor by Titus Andronicus (AfterHours)
12 21. I Will Be by Dum Dum Girls (Jimmy Dread)
13 19. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter (Komorebi-D, Tha1ChiefRocka)
14 28. Grinderman 2 by Grinderman (Purplepash)
15 65. Public Strain by Women (Tap)
16 53. The Soft Moon by The Soft Moon (AfterHours)
17 64. Gemini by Wild Nothing (baystateoftheart)
18 1. Allo Darlin' by Allo Darlin' (Jimmy Dread, Rhyner)
19 61. Melted by Ty Segall (Purplepash)

Category 2: the next 19 albums I appreciate and like to rank but are not going to make it to my personal top chart of 2010 (I suppose I could add them but I don't want have a distinctive rule for my albums of 2010 compared to my other year charts)
20 22. Rush To Relax by Eddy Current Suppression Ring (Purplepash)
21 30. The Guitar Song by Jamey Johnson (Tilly)
22 50. Epic by Sharon Van Etten (Tilly)
23 7. Teen Dream by Beach House (baystateoftheart, Komorebi-D)
24 52. Treats by Sleigh Bells (Rhyner)
25 41. This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem (Purplepash)
26 17. Sea Of Cowards by The Dead Weather (Rhyner)
27 43. Steal Your Face by Mi Ami (AfterHours)
28 40. I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling (Rhyner)
29 49. Heartland by Owen Pallett (baystateoftheart)
30 8. Swazi Soul by Bholoja (Luigii)
31 38. The Outsiders Are Back by Kings Go Forth (Jimmy Dread)
32 11. Satan Worshipping Doom by Bongripper (Skinny)
33 59. Patagonian Rats by Tera Melos (Tha1ChiefRocka)
34 26. I'm New Here by Gil Scott-Heron (baystateoftheart)
35 2. Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (Jimmy Dread)
36 36. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (AfterHours, baystateoftheart, Komorebi-D)
37 13. Broken Bells by Broken Bells (Rhyner)
38 47. Retold by Nest (Tha1ChiefRocka)

These 38 album are also in this custom chart:
Collaborative Diary 2010 by dihansse

Category 3: Then 15 albums which I have listened to but which are really not my cup of tea: btw it strikes me that this year is full of bleepy electronic albums with a very high new age level: I'm really not a fan of the Oneotrix Jefre Autechre Baths. And I tried Joanne Newsom again but there's something about her voice which puts me off:
33. Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom (AfterHours, baystateoftheart)
27. Lucky Shiner by Gold Panda (Jimmy Dread)
20. Da Track Genious by DJ Nate (Skinny)
5. Oversteps by Autechre (Tap)
6. Cerulean by Baths (Tilly)
48. Returnal by Oneohtrix Point Never (Luigii)
32. Love Is A Stream by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (Skinny, Tha1ChiefRocka)
24. Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus (baystateoftheart)
18. Liumin by Deepchord Presents Echospace (Tha1ChiefRocka)
35. I Love You, Please Love Me Too by Joseph Hammer (Tap)
25. God Was Like, No by The Fun Years (Luigii, Skinny)
63. Be My Thrill by The Weepies (Rhyner)
31. The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monáe (AfterHours)
42. Incarcerated by Lil Boosie (Skinny)
9. Dunya by Bibi Tanga & The Selenites (Luigii)

As you can see I have not ranked them (the numbers are the original numbers given by Baystate). I will think of selecting the 5 lowest ranked to give them -1 points but I have the idea I'm not really qualified to do this (as I have no connection with them).

Category 4: And then the 12 albums I still have to listen to. I have listened to some of them before but need to give them a relisten.
4. Before Today by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (Tilly)
10. K.R.I.T. Wuz Here by Big K.R.I.T. (baystateoftheart)
15. Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 by Chuck Person (Luigii)
16. Untitled by Dälek (AfterHours)
23. New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh by Erykah Badu (Skinny)
37. Ullakkopalo by Kemialliset Ystävät (Tap)
39. Aphrodite by Kylie Minogue (Luigii)
51. Tsumanne by Shinsei Kamattechan (Tha1ChiefRocka)
55. Renaissance Gangster by Starlito (Skinny)
56. The Age Of Adz by Sufjan Stevens (Luigii, Rhyner)
58. Wireless by T++ (Tap)
62. Jahtarian Dubbers Vol. 2 by Various Artists (Jimmy Dread)

So I still would like to have some time to finish them. I also have that other Get To Know a Top 10 thing in April.

baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

Tilly wanted to leave a month between the end of this diary and the start of the 2018 album tournament, so if we go by that, it leaves us the rest of April and all of May to work with. Let’s leave the final two weeks of May for discussing and revising the draft list we get from voting. So that would put the deadline for submitting final lists at May 18. How does that sound?

Also 65 is such a daunting number. I’m still at 43. If we do something like this again, let’s cut it to three nominees per person to start.
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Repo
BeA Sunflower

Location: Forest Park

baystateoftheart wrote:

Tilly wanted to leave a month between the end of this diary and the start of the 2018 album tournament, so if we go by that, it leaves us the rest of April and all of May to work with. Let’s leave the final two weeks of May for discussing and revising the draft list we get from voting. So that would put the deadline for submitting final lists at May 18. How does that sound?

Also 65 is such a daunting number. I’m still at 43. If we do something like this again, let’s cut it to three nominees per person to start.

Perfect. Agreed.

dihansse

Gender: Male
Age: 60

Tilly wrote:

baystateoftheart wrote:

Tilly wanted to leave a month between the end of this diary and the start of the 2018 album tournament, so if we go by that, it leaves us the rest of April and all of May to work with. Let’s leave the final two weeks of May for discussing and revising the draft list we get from voting. So that would put the deadline for submitting final lists at May 18. How does that sound?

Also 65 is such a daunting number. I’m still at 43. If we do something like this again, let’s cut it to three nominees per person to start.

Perfect. Agreed.

And for me as well. And I've made some additional progress today.

Rhyner
soft silly music is meaningful magical

Gender: Male
Age: 36
Location: Utah

baystateoftheart wrote:

@Rhyner & Purplepash

Impressive! As of now will you be giving all, none, or some of your bottom five a -1?

Probably none. Even though I dislike those albums, I think it's enough to positively support the albums I do like. There's no need to suppress those I don't.

dihansse

Gender: Male
Age: 60

And finally I succeeded in listening to all the albums and ended up with 43 records I liked enough to rank them:

1 46. High Violet by The National (Komorebi-D, Purplepash)
2 54. The Soft Pack by The Soft Pack (dihansse)
3 3. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire (dihansse, Komorebi-D)
4 29. The Final Frontier by Iron Maiden (dihansse)
5 12. Our Cubehouse Still Rocks by Boston Spaceships (dihansse)
6 44. The Wörld Is Yours by Mötorhead (dihansse)
7 57. Majesty Shredding by Superchunk (dihansse)
8 45. Unsilent Death by Nails (Tha1ChiefRocka)
9 14. Theory Of Everything by Children Collide (Purplepash)
10 34. Queen Of Denmark by John Grant (Tilly)
11 60. The Monitor by Titus Andronicus (AfterHours)
12 21. I Will Be by Dum Dum Girls (Jimmy Dread)
13 19. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter (Komorebi-D, Tha1ChiefRocka)
14 28. Grinderman 2 by Grinderman (Purplepash)
15 65. Public Strain by Women (Tap)
16 53. The Soft Moon by The Soft Moon (AfterHours)
17 64. Gemini by Wild Nothing (baystateoftheart)
18 1. Allo Darlin' by Allo Darlin' (Jimmy Dread, Rhyner)
19 61. Melted by Ty Segall (Purplepash)
20 22. Rush To Relax by Eddy Current Suppression Ring (Purplepash)
21 30. The Guitar Song by Jamey Johnson (Tilly)
22 50. Epic by Sharon Van Etten (Tilly)
23 56. The Age Of Adz by Sufjan Stevens (Luigii, Rhyner)
24 4. Before Today by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (Tilly)
25 7. Teen Dream by Beach House (baystateoftheart, Komorebi-D)
26 52. Treats by Sleigh Bells (Rhyner)
27 41. This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem (Purplepash)
28 17. Sea Of Cowards by The Dead Weather (Rhyner)
29 43. Steal Your Face by Mi Ami (AfterHours)
30 51. Tsumanne by Shinsei Kamattechan (Tha1ChiefRocka)
31 40. I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling (Rhyner)
32 49. Heartland by Owen Pallett (baystateoftheart)
33 8. Swazi Soul by Bholoja (Luigii)
34 38. The Outsiders Are Back by Kings Go Forth (Jimmy Dread)
35 11. Satan Worshipping Doom by Bongripper (Skinny)
36 59. Patagonian Rats by Tera Melos (Tha1ChiefRocka)
37 62. Jahtarian Dubbers Vol. 2 by Various Artists (Jimmy Dread)
38 26. I'm New Here by Gil Scott-Heron (baystateoftheart)
39 2. Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (Jimmy Dread)
40 36. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (AfterHours, baystateoftheart, Komorebi-D)
41 13. Broken Bells by Broken Bells (Rhyner)
42 47. Retold by Nest (Tha1ChiefRocka)
43 58. Wireless by T++ (Tap)

And you can find them in the following chart:
Collaborative Diary 2010 by dihansse

This means that 22 albums didn't make it to this list but I'm still a bit doubtful if I should add negative scores.

baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

Wow, another completed list!

dihansse, do you want to keep your list at 43 albums even though it means your #1 album will receive 43 points instead of the maximum 50?
_________________
Add me on RYM

Repo
BeA Sunflower

Location: Forest Park

Skinny wrote:

Incarcerated by Lil Boosie

Boosie will forever be a man out of time. Berated by purists upon his early '00s breakout for the pitch of his voice, the simplicity of his lyrics, and - let's be real - for being too damn Southern, critical and national praise eluded him. That he was loved in his hood, and those surrounding it, with a fervour usually reserved for Tupac or Jesus, may seem inconsequential, but goes a long way to highlighting the inherent misunderstanding of the man and his music in other parts of America and the world. A couple of minor hits in collaboration with perfect foil Webbie (more on him later) followed in the middle of that decade, but his albums and mixtapes were where he showcased his depth as an artist, balancing out songs about stereotypical rapper indulgences with tales of poverty, loyalty and casualty set in Baton Rouge. He had the voice of a cartoon mouse, but the heart of a lion. However, his career stalled repeatedly as he struggled to keep himself out of legal trouble, most famously beating a charge of first-degree murder. (The great L.A.-based hip-hop writer Jeff Weiss neatly chronicled his case at the time, pointing out the lack of evidence and trumped up nature of some of the other charges against him, if anybody is interested in further reading on the matter.)

This is where Incarcerated comes in; recorded in the days immediately prior to being locked up for a then unknown period of time, the album is a masterpiece of strength in the face of adversity, a furious, paranoid, heart-wrenching monster of a record, obsessed with pride, betrayal, and the systemic railroading of young black men. Released while Boosie was actually incarcerated, it is the culmination of his work up until the point of its release, an album that is so consistently strong it feels almost like a greatest hits, albeit one delivered with a previously unheard level of intensity, born out of frustration and desperation. The beats, largely handled by BJ (me neither), are excellent - what BJ lacks in originality, he makes up for in competence, successfully recreating the crisp, synthetic bounce of Mannie Fresh or the bluesy swing of Pimp C, depending on what a given track demands, and providing clear and memorable melodies to perfectly match Boosie's nasally whine and effortless hooks. That reliable partner in crime Webbie shows up on numerous occasions is certainly welcome, as his marble-mouthed growl always works in beautiful contrast to Boosie's, and the fact that he throws in a potentially career-best verse on 'Betrayed' is a greatly appreciated bonus.

But, in 2010, it felt strangely old school. For all its brilliance, sonically the album hadn't really progressed a great deal since his debut, a full decade earlier - sharper and more hi-def, certainly, but still a few steps behind the bruising Lex Luger productions that helped make Waka Flocka a star, or even the twinkling Zaytoven synths over which Gucci was turning himself into rap's cleverest court jester. On top of that, the album's sequencing followed a pattern as laid out by 50 Cent back in the first half of the 2000s, with a graphic sex rap and a slight ghetto love ballad thrown into the album's back half for reasons that are surely, in part, commercial. And then there's the fact that Boosie simply seemed antiquated in comparison to what else was going on in hip-hop, from Odd Future's internet-savvy anarchy, to Kanye's rapper-as-auteur/conducter maximalism, to Roc Marciano's arty, lo-fi revivalism; suffice to say, all three of those artists have had a much greater impact on today's rap landscape than Boosie, even if his influence can be seen on artists as disparate and distinct as YG, 03 Greedo, Kodak Black, Mozzy, and YoungBoy NBA. By the time Boosie got out of prison, his style appeared even more quaint - in 2000, his rapping was considered quickfire and melodic, but in a post-Young Thug and post-Migos world, it sounds borderline rigid.

And so, what we have here is an album both of and outside its time, a record that Boosie felt he had to make, with uncertainty over his future and a whole lot to say, and he made it in the only way he knew how. It is his best, most complete record, and it could never have been made by anybody else. It isn't perfect, but neither is its creator. It is, however, one of the finest hip-hop albums ever made, and a true Southern classic that never was.

"Betrayed" is killer!