All right everyone, the time has finally come and the End Of Year polls are opening up.

Albums Lists are due Saturday, December 20. There aren't any exceptions to that. You've got about three weeks, so there shouldn't be any problems with people not having enough notice. Also, let me know when you submit your list if you are interested in writing blurbs for the top 40 albums.

I haven't completely decided on the timeline for the results threads, but I think the album results will be done over a few days the week of New Year's.

Just to go through the guidelines again:

-You can vote for as few as five 2008 albums or as many as fifty 2008 albums in a NUMBERED list.

-2008 Albums include:
1. LPs of all-new material
2. Live albums (not ones being re-issued or of all old material)
3. Label compilations (of recent stuff)
4. Artist remix/b-sides/unreleased compilations of all or mostly 2008 material
5. (New this year) Albums released between December 2007 and December 2, 2008. Anything after that should be considered a 2009 release.

-To submit your list, either post it in the thread or PM it to me. Any list posted in this thread in countdown form will be considered a final list. If you need to make a change once your list is submitted, you can only swap one album out to replace with another (otherwise I would have to retabulate everything and I just don't have time for that). Also, if you can please format your numbered countdown as ARTIST - RELEASE NAME, that will really help me out when tabbing them.

-2007 vs. 2008 eligibility is broken down as follows--if you can make a case for it being 2008, you can vote for it. So that includes albums released in your country for the first time in 2008, albums that didn't receive wide exposure
until 2008, or albums that were released in Dec. 2007 and didn't have enough time to sink in before voting last year.

-Finally, nothing that was on our Top 100 Albums of 2007 list is eligible. You can not, under any circumstances vote for anything that made the top 100 albums last year. Just so you know, these 100 albums are:

1 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
2 Radiohead - In Rainbows
3 National, The - Boxer
4 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
6 Panda Bear - Person Pitch
7 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
8 Kanye West - Graduation
9 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
10 Burial - Untrue
11 M.I.A. - Kala
12 Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer
13 Battles - Mirrored
14 Vampire Weekend - Blue CD-R
15 Feist - The Reminder
16 Caribou - Andorra
17 White Stripes, The - Icky Thump
18 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
19 Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
20 Field, The - From Here We Go Sublime
21 New Pornographers, The - Challengers
22 Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
23 Deerhunter - Crptograms
24 Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
25 Stars Of The Lid - And Their Refinement Of The Decline
26 Josh Ritter - The Historical Consequences of Josh Ritter
27 Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
28 King Khan and the Shrines - What Is?!
29 Good, The Bad & The Queen, The - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
30 Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog
31 Liars - Liars
32 Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
33 Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
34 Klaxons - Myths of The Near Future
35 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
36 Besnard Lakes, The - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horses
37 Okkervil River - The Stage Names
38 Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde
39 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
40 Shins, The - Wincing The Night Away
41 Kevin Drew - Spirit If…
42 Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
43 Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
44 Blonde Redhead - 23
45 Menomena - Friend Or Foe
46 Justice - †
47 Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
48 Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus!
49 Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
50 Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone
51 Beirut - The Flying Cup
52 High On Fire - Death Is This Communion
53 Witchcraft - The Alchemist
54 Field Music - Tones Of Town
55 Baroness - The Red Album
56 Wolves In The Throne Room - Two Hunters
57 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living With The Living
58 Ween - La Cucaracha
59 Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
60 Jay-Z - American Gangster
61 Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky
62 Studio - Yearbook 1
63 Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
64 Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance
65 Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb
66 Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
67 Jesu - Conqueror
68 White Rainbow - Prism of Enternal Now
69 Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy
70 Boxcutter - Glyphic
71 Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
72 Eluvium - Copia
73 Clientele, The - God Save The Clientele
74 Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain
75 Fiery Furnaces, The - Window City
76 PJ Harvey - White Chalk
77 Neurosis - Given To The Rising
78 Twilight Sad, The - 14 Autumns & 15 Winters
79 Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss
80 Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
81 Om - Pilgrimage
82 Queens Of The Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
83 Bill Callahan - Woke On A Whaleheart
84 Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
85 Radical Face - Ghost
86 Durrty Goodz - Axiom EP
87 Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
88 !!! - Myth Takes
89 Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
90 Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
91 Stars - In Our Bedroom, After The War
92 Between The Buried And Me - Colors
93 Bruce Springsteen - Magic
94 Grinderman - Grinderman
95 Freeway - Free At Last
96 Mark Sultan - The Sultanic Verses
97 Melt-Banana - Bambi's Dilemma
98 UGK - Underground Kingz
99 Aliens, The - Astronomy For Dogs
100 Dungen - Tio Bitar


Also, one last thing I just want to remind everyone about. If there is an album that you're really passionate about but not many others know of it, don't wait until we start the countdown to complain about it not being higher. Use this thread to make sure that everyone else is made aware of it before it is too late to vote.

1. TV on the radio - Dear Science
2. Bar Kokhba - Lucifer, book of angels no. 10
3. Fennesz - Black sea
4. Blank Dogs - on two sides
5. Black devil disco club - eight oh eight
6. Nik Baertsch's Ronin - Holon
7. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - lie down in the light
8. Crystal Castles - s/t
9. Gang Gang Dance - Sain Dymphna
10. Earth - the bees made honey in the lion's skull

3-4 renders that list to be something I am happy to see posted in this thread.

yeah, that Blank Dogs album is very nice.

Does anyone know of a list or a place listing albums that didn't make the cut for 2007, or might have been late Decemeber releases in 2007.

Maybe someone even has a list.

- Greg

Starting on my draft now. I got through my whole list of 2008 albums and it's pretty slight, I was able to definitively list about 40 but there might be 25 of them that I really like through and through. Oh well still plenty of time to hear more. Happy to see that B'P'B is going to get a lot of love this year, and I'm not even that big a fan. Just a really good record.

so apparently if the X-Mas deadline happens from Imogen Heap, her new record will be voted for 2009. The same goes for the looming Soundscape album, which has taken 10 years to come out. All that is supposedly needed is finished artwork.

Yes, let's keep this mentality going. If anyone wants an up of all his 2008-eligible singles, I'll be happy to oblige.

1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
2. Dr. Dog - Fate
3. Tilly and the Wall - O
4. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
5. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
6. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
7. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
8. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
9. Hold Steady - Stay Positive
10. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

11. Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
12. Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
13. Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come Easy Go
14. R.E.M. - Acclerate
15. Black Crowes - Warpaint
16. Steve Winwood - Nine Lives
17. John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom
18. Loudon Wainwright - Recovery
19. Rachael Yamagata - Loose Ends
20. Beck - Modern Guilt

How are these? I really enjoyed the songs Loudon did on Knocked Up, but I haven't heard anything else. And for Marianne, I checked out Kissin' Time, really enjoyed it, and forgot about her soon after.

they are both bangin i would say, great covers from a rock legend and a folk masterpiece respectively

marianne is slightly better than loudon

1. Sun Kil Moon - April
2. Weezer - Red Album
3. Christopher Bissonnette - In Between Words
4. Sans Serif - Tones For LaMonte
5. Kevin Drumm - Imperial Distortion
6. Eluder - The Most Beautiful Blue
7. Black Dog - Radio Scarecrow
8. Steve Roach - A Deeper Silence
9. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
10. Move D. and Benjamin Brunn - Songs from the Beehive
11. Matmos - Supreme Balloon
12. Portishead - Third
13. Windy and Carl - Songs for the Broken Hearted
14. Emeralds - Solar Bridge

Who the fuck are you?

yep. I wonder how Black Dog will do? I know a few people name dropped it throughout the year, Move D as well. It'd make my last half of the year (in boarding terms) to see either of those place.

nice.

fucking nice.

I believe he calls himself spin_spin_Capote, recently seen blowing Justice.

For once, can we skip this?

200 post limit. Get it done.

Every year people show up with 1-50 posts that no one knows. They only show up to vote in the year end threads or to pimp some band they have connections/relations with. It skews the real results of the SOMB polling.

Take one in the ass. Get it done.

Do you own the fucking board?

It doesn't skew the results because they either vote for the same fucking albums that everyone else does or ones that are so obscure that they have no chance of placing. Oh no, last year all these noobs came and voted for "In Rainbows." Well, too bad because so did the rest of the board. You take out all those <200 posters and you're going to get the same results (or you run the risk of them spamming the crap out of the board to "earn" their vote). So, no poll tax here.


Seriously, unless I have good reason to believe there are offbeat shenanigans being pulled, I have no reason to think that there has been any voter fraud. I don't know why you specifically get so upset about the legitimacy of the voting process considering you are always pissed about the results and usually disown them after #93 is posted. I'm the one who has to stare at these spreadsheets for three weeks and even I don't take the results to heart as much as you do.

I agree with both sentiments here.

Montana: stop being a dick. Your problem is with the system. Why lash out at people who just want to get their voice heard on the internet?

That said, 100 post limit would be a good idea*. Could be combined in an either/or fashion with a time limit. In this case, I think spin is fine, being that he has been registered since 07.

Regardless, the time to discuss this was a few weeks ago and definitely not now, so let's not bring it up again.


*edit: a limit simply to make it more difficult to have second and third accounts posting lists and whathaveyou. Outside of that, I really couldn't give a fuck.

Who are you?

montana you are distracting viewers from my rock hard list

Haven't heard anything about any of these. Brief descriptions would be wonderful.

Awesome to see the Move D / Benjamin Brunn. I'm sure it'll show up on a handful of lists, but probably not enough to place. Here's hoping though.

1. Oneida - Preteen Weaponry
2. Aidan Baker & Tim Hecker - Fantasma Parastasie
3. The Durutti Column - Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness
4. Nadja - Skin Turns To Glass
5. Motorpsycho - Little Lucid Moments
6. Encomiast - Bathed In Sunlight
7. Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
8. Windy & Carl - Songs For The Broken Hearted
9. Tv On The Radio - Dear Science
10. Lightsway - Summer Interlude
11. Ben Reynolds - Two Wings
12. Mount Eerie - Dawn
13. LSD Pond - LSD Pond
14. Bitcrush - Epilogue In Waves
15. Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh
16. Natural Snow Buildings - Laurie Bird
17. Fuzz Against Junk - Netti Netti
18. Collections Of Colonies Of Bees - Flocks
19. Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
20. Kemialliset Ystävät - Harmaa Laguuni
21. Paul Metzger - Gedanken Splitter
22. Glory Fckn Sun - Spectra
23. School Of The Seven Bells - Alpinisms
24. {{{Sunset}}} - The Glowing City
25. Bardo Pond - Batholith
26. Torche - Meanderthal
27. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
28. Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Recurring Dream and Apocalypse of Darkness
29. Shit And Shine - Cherry
30. Suishou No Fune - Prayer for Chibi
31. Conifer - Crown Fire
32. Cloudland Canyon - Lie In Light

yeah i think Black Dog has a better chance of placing, it seemed to garner more attention across the board. with good reason too, it's the more groove/dancey of the two. The Move D is a very subtle rave of the mind thing more or less. a pleasurable listen but not sure how many people took to it considering all the different electronic music that came out.

Bissonnette's second long player on Kranky records is a record of mostly thick and staticy drones. If any ambient record this season just sounded plain terrific on a stereo it was this one. The layers here are easy to lose yourself in. Out of the three here I'd probably recommend this one to check out.

Hypnos put out the Sans Serif album on their sub label. It's a limited release. Very subtle thin and metallic drones that evolve and shift effortlessly. A lot of work went into this one. He didn't just tape down a couple piano keys for 28 minutes (ala Emeralds, though they do this effectively) the music is constantly changing. Don't expect this to get any attention at all really but it's of good quality.

Eluder is the latest edition to Infraction Records lineup. The cover picture is of someone who has just dived underwater, with only the trail of the person's foot disappearing. The music apparently sets out to capture an aqueous theme and does it successfully. It's all about the escape here.

this happened on rateyourmusic.com last year, except instead all these douches just registering multiple accounts just to vote In Rainbows up, they also intentionally looked at every record that was rated close to IR and gave those record a .5-star rating instead to intentionally lower it's rating to put IR #1. Tons of new accounts were created just for this.

Fucking childish.

I will admit, the 1st year I voted (2 years ago I recall) I didn't have many posts as I was mostly a lurker then. That being said, many people vote for those obscure bands VERY WELL KNOWING THEY WILL NOT PLACE. I mean if I was going to vote for albums that I thought had a chance to place only, I might only vote for 10 or less records every year; but that would take a lot of the fun out of it, and I very well would be lying on what I felt were my favorite or the 10+ best records I heard that year.

If that were the case, I don't think I'd even vote.

Fuck anyone who doesn't vote for Imperial Distortion.

BGwaves, check out that Emeralds record.

Man, I am listening to Second right now. On the last track where he is experimenting with some ambient synth drone sculpture shit. Dude has come a long way to arrive at the massiveness heard on Imperial Distortion! I mean, fuck!!!

What does the rest of the Sound Opinions Message Board think about all this?!!

if any record in the ambient genre this year would be considered challenging music it would be imperial distortion. I had to give a lot of time to this one and it wasn't forgiving to me. a mysterious record that could be considered a classic/watershed of ambient music down the road (LOL at this statement ok). Or maybe I'm flat out wrong but at least I know you agree with me for now.

The Emeralds record is almost the exact opposite. Just plain sonic candy. Those layers of smooth analog synths just sound so blissful. Good for an easy fix straight to the mainline.

Yup. And multiple accounts per user.

Montana did you give the Sun Kil Moon album a try? You might like it, I don't know. Great songwriting and spacious production. Bits of Neil Young, Nick Drake, Cohen and Co all over this one. I can't tell if it's too pussy for you or not but you may like it.

^
there he is!

that'll be $16.07

I ate at PePe's tonight

Fuck me then.

I haven't even heard it.

I guess this is what list time is for, really.

Ha, I'm just joshin'. I like you.

Still, whatever, it's really long. Only to be listened to at night. Maybe take some drugs, I don't know.

All that I really care about is that a few people vote for EVANGELISTA - HELLO, VOYAGER.

Kevin Drumm does nothing for me. Sorry Paves

Did you hear the new one.

It's not harsh noise.

I need at least another year for that Evangelista record to sink in for me

List time for me generally shows me that I don't give enough albums a fair multiple/serious listen by this time to be able to compile a respectable/credible list. I'll be sticking just to singles this year.

I listened to Sheer Hellish Miasma for about two minutes once. I guess I'm not ready for sonic evil in its purest form or whatever K-Drumm is pushing.

I know, it's "difficult."

Pretty much the Ys of our generation.

I've got it downloaded may have listened to it once, but I'll be honest that sheer hellish miasma turned me off to really giving him a chance. I guess I'll give it another listen tonight.

Imperial teen Distortion is a gentle hellish miasma

New one is much closer to "ambient" than "noise." It's still super evil, though.

You're voting for Hello, Voyager, it's cool.

When it comes to voting time, I just go with whatever is doing it for me right at that moment. Respectability and credibility can look after themselves.

it's not that it's all that difficult really, it's just that I'm being difficult with it. I like it but haven't spent as much time as it's worth with it yet. I'll take it along with me to work and listen to it further.

not that it matters, I've already voted

Listening to Imperial Distortion now