25. Iron And Wine, The Shepherd's Dog
24. James Murphy & Pat Mahoney, FabricLive 36
23. Fall Out Boy, Infinity On High
22. Bat For Lashes, Fur And Gold
21. Grinderman, Grinderman
20. Rilo Kiley, Under The Blacklight
19. Against Me!, New Wave
18. Ted Leo, Living With The Living
17. Low, Drums And Guns
16. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
15. Les Savy Fav, Let's Stay Friends
14. PJ Harvey, White Chalk
13. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
12. Jesu, Conqueror
11. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
10. Bloc Party, A Weekend In The City
9. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
8. Tegan And Sara, The Con
7. Amy Winehouse, Back To Black
6. M.I.A., Kala
5. Band Of Horses, Cease To Begin
4. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
3. Radiohead, In Rainbows
2. The National, Boxer
1. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Good list. One of the better ones I've seen. 13 of their top 16 are in my top 30.
Still don't get why so many people think Neon Bible is the best album of the year. I'd put it in my top 30, but it just seems like they're too deliberately targeting the sort of person I was when I was 16, in the same way Picaresque does. (16 year old me would have nothing but the Decemberists and Arcade Fire as his #1 from 2004-2007).
i agree that this is a boring list. no country? no black artists except m.i.a.? typical critics list. we all know who will do well before these lists even come out.
wait a minute now, a 'typical' critics list would consist of all the artists whose albums have had a lot of buzz over the last year.
James Murphy & Pat Mahoney, Bat for Lashes, Against Me, Low, Jesu, and others have all been off the radar for me. It's a generally good list, although the Rilo Kiley and Bloc Party records were pretty much universally dismissed as dissapointing.
I have a bad feeling that Deerhoof will be shunned again this year. Their record was released very early in the year and was kind of short. Not the type of epic statement some critics like, but it was still great.
Jess, the lead singer of Bloc Party is black. That still only makes one black artist on that list, though, as I don't think anyone else would consider M.I.A. to be black.
Are you suggesting they pick which albums to include based on the race of the performers?
Usually critics' lists at the end of the year all pick the same rap album to put at the top of the list. And mainstays on the top of every critic's all time list are What's Going On, Are You Experienced/Electric Ladyland, It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Stevie Wonder's big three, Thriller, a handful of Prince albums, and Otis Blue.
But statistically, a few years just aren't going to have many critically acclaimed albums by black artists. When one of those years comes along it's really lame to go around accusing every critic of racism who doesn't hand-pick a few non-white throw ins.
Heck, how many American based lists are there this year that don't include Graduation? This might be the first I've seen that doesn't.
Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, Jesu, Conqueror, Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Bloc Party, A Weekend In The City, Wilco, Sky Blue Sky Should be at the top prayer to bring someone back in your life
