It's already July, which means that the obligatory look back at the first half of the year is well underway. Drowned in Sound and the Irish Times put their two cents in recently, and each list is comprised of just about all the bands you would expect. Both agree on Animal Collective, Fever Ray, and Dirty Projectors, and both throw in some personal favorites. The Irish Times seems to include more of a stylistic range with folks like Mulatu Astatke and Hudson Mohawke, while Drowned in Sound is more indie-centric (Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs both make it, as well as the gimmicky Danananananaykroyd). The "I can't believe they forgot ___!" and "Why the hell would ___ make it?" backlash is inevitable, so feel free to air your grievances in the comments. [Via: LHB]
Drowned in Sound's list: St. Vincent Actor Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion Fever Ray Fever Ray Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca Metric Fantasies Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer The Veils Sun Gangs Andrew Bird Noble Beast School of Seven Bells Alpinisms Moderat Moderat Cursive Mama, I'm Swollen Soap&Skin Lovetune for Vacuum Sonic Youth The Eternal The Horrors Primary Colours Handsome Furs Face Control My Latest Novel Deaths and Entrances Future of the Left Travels With Myself And Another Danananananaykroyd Hey Everyone The Decemberists The Hazards of Love Various Dark Was the Night Patrick Wolf The Bachelor
Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion” (Domino) The Juan Maclean “The Future Will Come” (DFA) Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest” (Warp) DM Stith “Heavy Ghost” (Asthmatic Kitty) Hudson Mohawke “Polyfolk Dance” (Warp) Micachu & The Shapes “Jewellery” (Rough Trade) Fever Ray “Fever Ray” (Rabid) Adrian Crowley “Season of the Sparks” (Tin Angel) Here We Go Magic “Here We Go Magic” (Western Vinyl) The Pains of Being Pure At Heart “The Pains of Being Pure At Heart” (Fortuna Pop) White Denim “Fits” (Full Time Hobby) Toddla T “Skanky Skanky” (1965) Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca” (Domino) Dorian Concept “When Planets Collide” (Kindred Spirits) Bibio “Ambivalence Avenue” (Warp) Sa-Ra Creative Partners “Nuclear Evolution: The Age Of Love” (Ubiquity) Raphael Saadiq “The Way I See It” (Columbia) Cymbals Eat Guitars “Why There Are Mountains” (CEG) Yonlu “A Society In Which No Tear Is Shed Is Inconceivably Mediocre” (Luaka Bop) Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics “Inspiration Information” (Strut) Hypnotic Brass Ensemble “Hypnotic Brass Ensemble” (Honest Jons) Holy Roman Army “How The Light Gets In” (Collapsed Adult) Speech Debelle “Speech Therapy” (Big Dada) The Horrors “Primary Colours’ (XL) Antony & The Johnsons “The Crying Light” (Rough Trade)
July 6, 2009 at 8:36 a.m.
Steve
As far as I'm concerned, the list is 1.) Antony & The Johnsons, 2-100.) A bunch of other stuff that isn't Antony & The Johnsons. The Dirty Projectors certainly gave it their best shot (I think their next album will finally put them over the top), and Grizzly Bear seems to have done a fine job of fooling everyone again, but Antony's album just runs circles around everything else. I don't see anything coming up on the horizon to knock it out of the top spot, either.
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Drowned in Sound's list:
St. Vincent Actor
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion
Fever Ray Fever Ray
Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca
Metric Fantasies
Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer
The Veils Sun Gangs
Andrew Bird Noble Beast
School of Seven Bells Alpinisms
Moderat Moderat
Cursive Mama, I'm Swollen
Soap&Skin Lovetune for Vacuum
Sonic Youth The Eternal
The Horrors Primary Colours
Handsome Furs Face Control
My Latest Novel Deaths and Entrances
Future of the Left Travels With Myself And Another
Danananananaykroyd Hey Everyone
The Decemberists The Hazards of Love
Various Dark Was the Night
Patrick Wolf The Bachelor