With lists like these -
NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2012
Dear jebus, who the hell is working at NPR these days? The elderly? Zombies? Romney staffers?
Nope, it's folks who have - in general - no real music collection, no real impetus to have any, much lest a vast knonwledge of music, & who likely frown upon a physical good over a digital one - y'know, like this complete douchenozzle.
With the exception of Neneh Cherry & The Thing's "Cherry Thing" and Ty Segall's "Twins", this list has to be a joke. Has to be.
Iris Dement? C'mon. I. MEAN. C'MON.
The (m'fn!) Alabama Shakes? What??!? I'm from Alabama, and trust me, no one there is proud of this band. NO ONE.
Simon Rattle & The Berlin Philharmonic? A recording of Bach? Really? Really. It's 2012. The worst hip-hop music deserves more attention than this.
and, PINK? What did you ask your 7 year old daughter to pick her favorite?
Kill me.
(These opinions are soley those of one Mr. Adam Reach. Despite the rant, he loves cats, Slayer, and Diet Dr. Pepper. CTD, Ltd and Saki do not share these opinions, they're merely, his.)
Well, with all due respect for running one of the best record stores in Chicago, this post comes off sounding a bit boorish.
ReplyDeleteSo there's nothing of value on NPR's list besides Neneh Cherry's project and the Ty Segall LP? So Sharon von Etten's "Tramp" is really no good? Many people seem to be labouring under the misguided impression that it's a great album. I guess, too, that Frank Ocean and Miguel and Killer Mike (whose lyrics a Romney staffer would probably not be that into, your assertions to the contrary) didn't make anything of value in 2012. Nor did Dan Deacon or Flying Lotus or Dirty Projectors or Swans, apparently. Like or not like any of those records (I like them all at least somewhat), but you can't pretend that a lot of very knowledgeable music critics and fans didn't go to bat for all of them.
There are quite a few albums on NPR's list I also *haven't* seen on other lists or have even heard of before, and that's a strength of it, to my mind. I've tried out samples of several selections, from Pallbearer's doom metal to the sample from "Ten Freedom Summers," and so far I like what I'm hearing from these albums I hadn't previously known about. That means I'm now pretty likely to buy them, and I'd imagine other NPR listeners will be picking up some good new releases, too.
Phil Mole'
Have you actually listened to all of NPR's picks enough to know whether or not they're any good. You obviously don't like classical music - so OK, fine, that's your right. Guess what? Lots of other people do. And NPR never said this was a *rock* list, they called it a list of their favorite *albums,* period. Maybe you also don't like R & B or jazz or world music, for all I know, but others do, and may find that the albums here by Cafe Tacuba or the Debo Band or Miguel are all really good, because they are.
It doesn't come off well to be taking such a beligerent swipe at a list that just happens to reflect different musical tastes and priorities in list making than yours does.
One other thing - on Iris DeMent. She's a world class songwriter, and she released her first album of new material in years this year, and it's pretty strong, so it shouldn't be too surprising to find people happy about that. I wonder if you are aware that your own Carrot Top recording artist Megan Reilly covered an older Iris song on her fabulous 2012 album "The Well" this year - an album that is being unjustly neglected on year-end lists in my opinion. But maybe your own artist isn't even hip by your standards? Hey, that's your call, too - but once again, save the manufactured and misplaced outrage that others just happen to have different tastes than your own.
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