Hokeyboy

While I was appreciative of the fact they simply didn't repeat "Oracular Spectacular", the album was still a massive disappointment to me.

Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs", on the other hand, managed to exceed expectations. Still a great album.

Those were the only 2 albums I bought from the list, although I've listened to Paul Weller, Interpol, and Gorillaz.

Hiro11

I've heard about a third of those. It was a pretty unremakable year for music for me. Of the one's I've heard, I'd say the following albums have no business being on any annual best of list:

3. Beach House - Teen Dream - which is so sleepy as to be comatose
8. Salem - King Night - this band has one idea that gets old after about three songs
10. The Drums - The Drums - oh so ironic and oh so hipster cool. the best parts of this were already released on "Summertime!"
27. Best Coast - Crazy for You - to be frank, this album irritates the shit out of me. Cloying melodies, derivative sonics and the worst fucking lyrics ever written.
31. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles - I could tolerate their first album, but they've decended into irritating blip-fest territory with this on
40. Sleigh Bells - Treats - great first song, shitty annoying everything else.
49. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast - hugely overrated echo-y surf pop seemed to be a mini trend this year.
61. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma - glitchy, unlistenable garbage if you ask m. Who listens to this stuff?

The following albums belong on the list and some should be ranked much higher:
11. The National - High Violet - probably their high point. Gets better with each listen and has now put this band in my personal pantheon.
21. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid - pure genius, probably album of the year for me. Just oozing with outrageous talent and ambition. Catchy too.
23. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today - so bizarre and yet so compelling. It's campy, cheesy and fun.
24. Vampire Weekend - Contra - gets annoying after about twenty listens, but works for those twenty.
38. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty - this guy simply cannot make a bad album. Bring back Outkast!
65. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 1 - Robyn's been killing it all year. Two great mini-albums already, another one on the way. "Dancing on My Own" is single of the year for me.
66. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach - The best album they've done, which is saying something because I love their other two albums.
72. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts - combines two sounds I love: Flying Nun echo and reverb with stripped down garage punk. I love love love this album, should be ranked higher.

I've heard several of the other albums but don't feel strongly one way or the other about them...

Notable ommissions:
Gold Panda- made the electronica album of the year, if you ask me.
Fucked Up - it's a two song EP, but Year of the Ox was the best song I heard this year
The-Dream - this guy is easily as great as Kanye and he gets very little credit as a legitamate artist. This album is wall-to-wall superb.
Mark Ronson - I love his new album
Girl Talk - I can't stop listening to it.
Black Mountain - easily one of my favorite albums of the year
Dungen - extremely interesting and chop-filled Scandinavian prog
The Sword - easily their best album. Like Black Mountain, they're a bit derivative but who cares, it fucking rocks.
Tame Impala - a more psychedelic version of Built to Spill - huge, catchy guitar epics drowning in atmospherics.
Wavves - finally delivered a trash-pop classic

DRG

I love this album but I'm shocked to see it on this list, as it doesn't seem to fit in with NME's normal tastes at all.

DeanoBKN

I don't know 1 single album on that list. My taste in music must be pretty shitty.

Dan1boy

I totally agree. I find most of NME's drivel so pretentious and fad-oriented towards, obviously, impressionable British youth that I can hardly relate as someone in his late 30's who is very hip on new music.

With that long winded manifesto being said, NME's list is simply subjective. We all know MGMT's last album sucked. Surfer Blood is overrated (and soon forgotten) dumpster pop and The Drums make one want to scratch out their own eyes with a spatula.

For those wondering, my favorite band is Placebo.

Jacoby Ellsbury

Nope, I may recognize a song if I heard it though

Giles

and it's really not a long album, but I agree it's no where as good as their debut album.

Mike86

2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
24. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Only two off that list that I own. I've heard of about probably ten or so of the other artists on that list, but I swear lists like this are just put together so people can act like: I have really obscure taste in music so that must make us interesting and cool..

Giles

I am really surprised I am Kloot's 'Sky at Night' is not on the list, since alot of the English music press raved about it and IMO merit it.

the latest Divine Comedy album was a real surprise

Giles

I must say I think there's been far more better dance music this year than indie:

Fake Blood / People Move On – Wax On
Friendly Fires – Bugged Out
Five Years of Dirtybird
Chemical Brothers - Further
Juan MacLean – DJKicks
Swedish House Mafia – Until One
Simian Mobile Disco – Is Fixed
Ost & Kjex – Cajun Lunch
Hot Chip – One Night Stand
Martyn – Fabric 50
Surgeon - Fabric 53

have yet to listen to the Magnetic Man album

I've liked other LCD Soundsystem albums, but this years release seemed way too pretentious and songs dragging on far too long for my taste.

atlantamoi

Eh. You do sound like an old fart (and this is coming from someone who is 45). You could have said the same thing 25 years ago only to realize that the "fads" had so much influence you can still hear the echoes today. I wouldn't champion every album on this list, but there are fantastic recordings there.

Hiro11

Just listened to that Glasser album. It's fantastic, but didn't it come out in 2009?

rexinnih

First thing I thought. Heard of maybe half of them. Ok, that's a stretch.

CreatureX

These albums made my top 10 list!

Rypro 525

the only "name" that sounds familiar is Sufjan Stevens and thats only because there have been threads here about him/them on here

Sessa17

Why do you listen to "most" of the bands mentioned if you find them "pretentious"? Also what exactly makes them "pretentious"? Seriously, I'd really like to know. Also, since most of the bands on that list are not British what makes it so "obvious" that they are targeted to "British youth"


Never mind, this clearly explains everything.

kstublen

The only ones I own on the list are Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Vampire Weekend, Big Boi, and Janelle Monae. I've heard of some of the rest, but there's a lot on there I've never even heard of before.

Poink

While the NME practically has a policy about hyping hot new bands to death, but most of the artists on the list have been around for a while.

A lot of them at least had the majority of the past decade under their belt (Interpol, Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire, The National), some back to the mid 90's (Belle and Sebastian, Les Savy Fav), etc. All of these bands I've mentioned make exceptional rock music (well, B&S are more pop/folk) that even my 61 year old mother enjoys (dead serious). I don't know what's so "obscure" or "pretentious" about rock bands. :shurg:

Zola Jesus is probably the only thing on the list that's actually obscure, seeing that this time last year she was playing shows opening for my fellow artists in the Chicago noise scene (which is actually, truly 'obscure') with 30 people in the audience.

Also, if the number of people who don't know who Paul Weller is says anything, then the world is in a much worse state than I previously thought.

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Mike86

A bit dramatic much?

RagingBull80

I was curious about that post as well.

So these bands are new and you don't listen to them or haven't heard of them...but there are people who do listen to them and have heard of them...that means they must be pretentious-hipster-douche-bags?

atlantamoi

Agree. I like the majority of the music on that list (and happy to see some things I should go check out). I have a mortgage, get my haircut at Great Clips, go to bed at 8pm, take my daughter to chemo treatments every Monday, love watching college football, wear Levi's pretty much everyday (purchased with coupons found on Slickdeals.net) and admit to liking Starbucks. And as mentioned previously, I'm closer to death than my birth . I just have this thing about enjoying music sometimes that isn't always in the mainstream, hipster status be damned. BTW, the last time I went to a "hipster" show (St. Vincent), I met some of the kindest people. Musically, this is my favorite time of the year. These year end "best of" lists are fantastic for catching up on music I just didn't have time to seek out the past 12 months.

jrsl76

Well, I will say I love the Zola Jesus, Warpaint, Sleigh Bells and Belle & Sebastian albums.

wendersfan

Not really, in this case.

Mike86

I think the world will be just fine not knowing who a particular artist is, that's just me though

I know some of his work after looking him up but I guess he's just someone who I hear the song but don't necessarily recognize the artist..

cdollaz

I do want to hear the Warpaint release. I saw them a couple of months ago and they seemed OK.