[minho]

Love your Lemonade writeup and I'd say its the perfect position for it. Just listened to it again in full today and its still as powerful as the first time, so i'm glad she did that!

[Kang.]

i'm tired of wanting more
i think i'm finally worn
for you have a way of promising things
and i've been a forest fire
i am a forest fire
and i am the fire and i am the forest
and i am a witness watching it
i stand in a valley watching it
and you are not there at all

3. Mitski - Puberty 2

---

Discovering the indie rock scene was a very liberating step in my own musical discovery process – just the realization that there was so much more out there than the kind of stuff I'd been hearing on the radio in my mom's car all my life up to that point, and I feel like that's been the case for a lot of others as well. But over time with that came the realization that this was also quite the white boii's zone, and figuring out that others who did not come from a similar background to my own may not have had such an easy time diving into this whole new world. But things change over time, and as I sit here on my computer on December 21st I can truly say it makes me happy to confirm the best indie rock record of the year comes from a half-Japanese half-American 26-year-old world wide woman by the name of Mitski Miyawaki – and that actually it's not even close.

Of course Puberty 2 isn't good -because- of its artist's demographics, and most of its subject matter should be relatable stuff for any young adult: what it means to be happy over the long-term, navigating the little unspoken rules in relationships that always end up tripping you up in the end, and so on. But a lot of the best moments do come from her reflections on feeling like an outsider, and it makes for some powerful moments. As a whole I love how she strikes the balance between the two ends of individuality and conformity. I love that the lo-fi recording approach brings about just as many moments where it feels like she's there strumming in the room with you as there are parts that sound like the inside of a vacuum cleaner, in the best possible way. It's an album about toeing those kinds of balances, about flying juust close or far enough from the sun that you're able to get up and do it all again the next day. And I just love it, I love it so much.

[Kang.]

dollar days, survival sex
honour stretching tails to necks
i’m falling down
it’s nothing to me
it’s nothing to see
if i'll never see the english evergreens i’m running to
it’s nothing to me

2. David Bowie - Blackstar

---

Is not to say that the music takes second place to anything. If you asked me what I thought of Blackstar after I waited up to listen to it on its release date... well I probably would've told you I wasn't sure if I quite -got- it, but that I was looking forward to getting to know it better as time went on. Probably also that at a minimum it was his boldest (and most concise!) work in who knows how many decades – it's always hard to recreate to that initial reaction, but I feel like that much was clear from around the start. It's harder though to recreate this initial reaction almost a year after the fact, because as we know, two days after the album drop, the man went and left us. Everything changed.

Well, the music didn't change, but the conversation around it did. No matter how much we might try to or say we do, we don't listen to music out of context, but that's normal and fine. It's something you can tell Bowie was very conscious of as he made the album that he knew would be his final gift to the world. It sounds like the work of someone trying to get a message out before it was too late, because it is. It was certainly a left turn musically, full of skittering drum beats and sad saxophone runs and lyrics just hazy enough to be cryptic both with and without the obvious context. But at the same time it's not hard to find instances of him having fun with us. Its maker knew he was going to die, but even at its slowest crawl never does Blackstar sound anything less than alive.

Which is how it should be; after all it was a gift, and gifts tend to be things designed to make you happy. With this one he kicked off a weekend of fans all over the world listening to his music old and new, one last celebration before the inevitable shifted its context forever. After years of knowing I should, it was what finally got me hungry enough to dive into one of the best discographies ever, something I'm still happy to be working through a year later. And in what it will be remembered for most, it set into motion the events that would lead up to the coolest death since Jesus Christ, hands down absolutely not a contest. These things all matter, and he knew that; it was part of the plan. Seven songs, all great; now they just have a story attached to them, and it's a good one. Even legends die, but as we saw the weekend of January 8th as David Bowie left us on his own terms, legends don't have to stop growing.

[Tom Vercetti]

Yeah the Bon Iver Haters™ club sure is vocal on ATRL. With that said, I enjoyed 22, A Million for what it was. Puberty 2, Lemonade, Blackstar, I mean just awesome albums throughout. They each had something to say and accomplished it.

I know what your #1 is and cannot wait for the reveal~

[t.A.T.u.]

not a fan of any of these albums

[Kang.]

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here we go, now here we go
ain't no water, how a flower gon' grow?
ain't no change, then how we gon' change?
no umbrella, we stuck in the rain
dark clouds hanging all over our head
no sunshine and them showers be lead
lighting up squares and them dots be red
now ya best friend gets shot in the head
damn

1. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

---

Ayye, sup guys! Don't you love being right? Say going on record multiple times that a certain something would be the best album of the year based off the strength of three singles, then after its creator rush-releases it #PopEmergency style, finding it to be everything you ever dreamed it would be and more? I know I do!

Dreams, nightmares, so on - it's all relative of course, just check the "Downward Spiral" lyric sheet for proof. And while we're being relative, maybe I shouldn't be in gloating mode, or even happy at all that the album in question was released. Because Atrocity Exhibition is very seemingly not the work of a healthy, well-adjusted person, and the music and lyrics clash together in such a convincing way that I can only hope he's drawing on past experiences as opposed to present. Though if we're speculating, I could probably pull together enough evidence that that is in fact the case. Obviously this is the product of a hyperactive mind, but it also clearly took an eye for detail, a sly ass whimsical streak, and the vision to cobble a whole mess of sounds together into something brave, compelling and singular. I doubt it's something you could string together if your brain wasn't on its A-game.

Nothing else sounds like this, but dozens of listens on I'm still struggling to describe what this even sounds like. There's a general mood that mostly remains throughout, but song-to-song what's gonna happen is anyone's guess. From a spaghetti western-styled opener painting a picture of rock bottom, to a totally squawkless follow-up telling us how we got there, to Earl Sweatshirt ethering Kendrick Lamar with a glockenspiel, to a song called "White Lines" held together by a few Disney-esque flutes and little else, to a Kelela feature that would low-key sound at home on one of her own projects, into that beautiful cluster**** of a lead single, into a more relaxing weed advertisement than anything on Blond(e), back into OutKast-quoting sonic anarchy, back into.. nothing. There's a lot going on. And though it's sure not for everyone, I feel comfortable saying there should be something on it for almost everyone, + as is the point of this countdown I extend the recommendation to check at least a part of it out it you haven't already.

So it's a beautiful mess of an album, but it's not a mess at all. There's such beauty in its disorder, so many scraps of melody hidden away inside Danny's freakish warbles. It's in this spot because even as it challenged me, it's what I wrung the most joy and excitement out of listening to all year long. But all the while, nothing else did quite as good a job mirroring the organized chaos of the world we live in either. Ain't it funny how that happens.

[madonnas]

As a proud Bon Iver hater, I'm disappointed.
The rest of the set? Very good! Could switch around the order tho.
Blackstar is a good album to end on. I don't like Tis a Pity She's a ***** (the only weak one tho) because its like that YG song but by a respected white legend.

[AshleeSimpsonFan]

Bon Iver + David Bowie Nice set!

[bluth]

as an OBIH u know how i feel but the rest of the top five is really excellent. the #1 took me by surprise but then again i'm not sure if it should have. but yeah really great top five + top picks for each one. i loved ur write up for blackstar (all were great for that matter), just excited to see the songs!

[minho]

Blackstar and Puberty 2 - two solid albums for sure! Love what you had to say about them.

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't heard your #1 album yet (heard OF it but not listened), however it sounds like something I'd be into so i'm going to give it a go. I listened to Aint It Funny and I like it already.

Great albums list overall, as expected.

[Kang.]

Thx for the commentary as always <3
+ I was off to bed right after that last one went up so let me get to commenting on yalls

Originally posted by madonnas

As a proud Bon Iver hater, I'm disappointed.
The rest of the set? Very good! Could switch around the order tho.
Blackstar is a good album to end on. I don't like Tis a Pity She's a ***** (the only weak one tho) because its like that YG song but by a respected white legend.

I feel like with that one the lyrics are too vague for anyone to really know if it's problematic? like it's named after some artifact from 400 years ago (as I learned) but who knows what the **** he's singing about, to me something like Crack Baby is much more insensitive in practice but eh there's only so much I can pretend to be bothered by

Wyd tho, is YG not a respected legend anymore lol

Originally posted by minho

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't heard your #1 album yet (heard OF it but not listened), however it sounds like something I'd be into so i'm going to give it a go. I listened to Aint It Funny and I like it already.

Great albums list overall, as expected.

Glad to hear it. Yeah what I was trying to get across was that the music is so abrasive from any objective standpoint but at least for me it's also really easy to listen to (omg Yeezus its impact ). I definitely think there's stuff on it you'd enjoy, lmk if u do!

-

n I have some work to do still on the songs list but we're getting there, let me try to have the first set up by sometime tonight

[AlexisNeiers]

AAAAHHHH, MY ****ING FAVES

[AlexisNeiers]

Side A of Old>Atrocity Ehxibition>Side B of Old>XXX

[Jackson]

22 A Million is great My fave Bon Iver album probably.

Lemonade

[Superpower]

Very solid #1
Lemonade and Bon Iver

[Kang.]

Originally posted by Jackson

22 A Million is great My fave Bon Iver album probably.

Ya I definitely think it is mine too by now, **** what the haters have to say.

Originally posted by AlexisNeiers

Side A of Old>Atrocity Ehxibition>Side B of Old>XXX

I feel like Old is hard to gauge as a whole cuz of the 1/2 split even though I love it all but holy **** is XXX overrated by some Glad someone knows the swag

[Tom Vercetti]

Love Atrocity and it was such a crazy first listen. Nothing else from the year was like it.

But I won't take any XXX slander tho, that's better than Old, and his essential.

[AlexisNeiers]

Originally posted by Kang.

I feel like Old is hard to gauge as a whole cuz of the 1/2 split even though I love it all but holy **** is XXX overrated by some Glad someone knows the swag

Yeah, Side B drags it down a biT. I don't really care about tracks 14-17, though Dip, Kush Coma and Float On are goat. And I wish this masterpiece was on the album Oh my god, right? .

[Kang.]

Ok well we're not gonna be talking **** about Handstand in any thread of mine, not today at least

[Eeveelution]

A great top 4. I need more time with Atrocity Exhibition but it was good on first listen.