EWB's Favourite 102 Artists for 2009!

[DFF]

Fucking epic group. And yay Wintersun <3

[Rich]

I would be undoubtedly perturbed to find myself living in such a “utopia”. I feel that such a society would be airing on a population filled with Machiavellian individuals who no doubt would be deceitful, callous and hypocritical. All acting in such a way that society itself would crumble due to their actions due to it suffocating under its own pompous, contemptuous attitudes.

If this is an attempt to parody my writing style, then you need to brush up a bit. "Airing on a population"? "[D]ue to their actions due to it"? Good Lord, man -- that is not English sentence construction.

I'm not sure what exactly about The Fall or their fans makes you think that a realisation of, like, The Fall Programme (the very existence of this is dubious, which is one of the main reasons why I think it should be obvious that I was joking in part) would lead to a society that was "deceitful, callous and hypocritical." I think that any discussions of MES' politics begins with a reference to the fetishisation of the working-class in a way that is anti-bourgeois but also non-Communist.

I wouldn’t be so cavalier to think so much of my own tastes and persuasions that the world would be superior should all my peers be exactly the same as myself. As the British statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon stated, “Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety."

This is an interesting issue, and one that I was thinking about yesterday and which prompted me to make the above comment. In his interview on "The Culture Show", the Standard Bint who was struggling to make something presentable of the spectacle asked MES if he thought that The Fall were "the best band in the world." To which MES replied, "yes."

There seems to be an idea that one doesn't say a thing like that. It seems like that unease should be a product of "British" modesty, and maybe it is in part. But I think it's maybe more to do with the ascent of liberalism and individualism in all facets of life -- the "democratisation" of culture in which there's "something for everyone." That's a noble principle to a degree. Obviously a world in which all bands were xeroxes of The Fall (which is something slightly different than we were originally talking about, but I think that the two things are related) would exhibit certain cultural limitations. A lot of genres would fall by the wayside (although quite a multiplicity would continue), and the themes dealt with by artists would also narrow.

But aren't there aspects of musical production and articulation which it's virtuous to get imperious about? I have no problem with saying that, yes, I would like to see all bands take up social and political issues at least partially in their songs (as MES does even if in a slightly circumlocutionary way). And, yes, I would like to see all bands exhibit the hardcore suspicion about the music industry and the media more generally (as MES does). I'd like all bands to be as funny and knockabout as The Fall are (or can be.) Fuck, ideally I'd like to see all music labels adopt parecon, as G8WC has. (And even that might only be a starting point...) I am comfortable with the implications of this -- i.e. that there would be no more Arctic Monkeys, no more Warner Brothers, no more Radio One, etc.. That would be fine.

I think that this brings us back to what a Fall Republic would look like. It most definitely would not be "liberal" in the most specific sense of the term. And, again... good thing in my eyes. The language of prescription can never just be sloughed off -- even an opposition to imperiousness is a statement in favour of liberalism.

I mean, even the Argentinian political theorist Ernesto Laclau knew that. Winkz.

I believe you have missed the crux of my argument this is that living in a world with “no more Arctic Monkeys, no more Warner Brothers, no more Radio One, etc…” would in effect make a society as you suppose unworkable as you design it.

A human fallacy is that we all have our own individual scale of like to dislike, being human we place everything we encounter or experience on this scale. While we can not safely give a definitive list of everything above or below everything else on the list we can group these in to more generalised categories, for instance:

Favourites

Really Like

Like

Ambivalent

Dislike

Really Dislike

Utter Disdain

This arbitrary construct allows us to perceive the world we live in such that we know where we fit in and we know what we desire in life and so forth.

If we for instance eliminated everything from society that we placed in the bottom 3 categories we, as humans, we automatically start to re-rank everything and begin to place things we experience in to the bottom 3 categories because as humans we desire an order of things and we need to be able to point at something and say we hate it, almost as a direct consequence of our need to give order and meaning to the way we feel about things. Creating a construct where we can say these our very favourite things we have experienced against the things we dislike most about life.

This leads me to point out I do not intend a discussion of free speech, communism or a “big brother society”, its just I would like to say that while I may not appreciate the artistry or the existence of “no more Arctic Monkeys, no more Warner Brothers, no more Radio One, etc…” in a pure sense, I appreciate that they are requisite to show me the beauty and pure enjoyment that can be gleamed from my favourite experiences, etc… So by being part of the “Fall Republic” you would fall in to the trap of either beginning to dislike things you didn’t before or due to the idea of entropy, you wouldn’t like the Fall as much as you wouldn’t be able to have an equal and opposite hatred for the eliminated items.

EDIT:

By the way guys, while i do try and make a point I have tried to make it in the wankiest, long winded fashion possible... but I did get a little distracted

[Jimmy]

Yeah, that'll be the best updated 10 for me, I think. Cobra Starship, QOTSA, Artic Monkeys and Eminem are four I all really like. There's a really good mix of artists in this list for sure.

[Draevyn]

How in the hell did Kiss get on there. Did someone feel bad for Buddy and let him vote a bunch of times?

[MalaCloudy Black]

Manson, QOTSA, Libertines, Nirvana, only ones out of the recent crop I could even claim to give a fraction of a shit about. Manson hasn't had a good album in almost 7 years and even then that's debateable because if you ask Manson fans, Golden Age of Grotesque wasn't good (though I thought it was alright) - QOTSA's okay, I like Lullabies to Paralyze. The Libertines I have an album or two and they're not bad. Nirvana's okay.

[Draevyn]

Golden Age Of Grotesque had some good songs on it but after Holywood it was hard to get to that level again. Holywood was probably the best album he's ever had by a long shot.

[Hobo]

Townes Van Zandt being on this list makes me proud of you EWB.

[YI]

I'm a bit behind on commenting, so here goes;

Limp Bizkit - Honestly didn't care for them at the time, but their songs have epic 'drunken factor'. Also, you can fit "Rollin'" to ANY SONG in a club environment, awesome fun. But yeah, I have no real want to download any of their songs.

Animal Collective - A giant meh from me. I liked the Panda Bear solo album, but Animal Collective, just not for me.

The Lucksmiths - I had a few albums but lost them over time/transferring computers over the years, only have "Naturaliste" now. Good band, really nice.

Taking Back Sunday - A bit of a guilty pleasure. Since Fred left they've apparently went off the ball live (his intensity in contrast to the singer's gay mic swinging, was part of what made it work when I saw them), but having seen Fred's new band he's lost that intensity too. I was actually really, really surprised by the new album, much better than it had any right to be (as was the one before it)...okay...fuck it...I LIKE TAKING BACK SUNDAY!

BRIGHT EYES - I first really listened Bright Eyes when he released those two albums at the same time. "Digital Ash..." I fucking hated and I wasn't much bigger on "I'm Wide Awake..." but largely in part to "First Day Of My Life" being played everywhere I warmed to him. "Cassadaga" is the favourite thing I've heard by him due to the fact I can actually make it all the way through without wanting to cut my ears off, he has some fucking shit songs. "The Calender Hung Itself" is absolutely godly.

LUPE FIASCO - A couple of years back (I think) when everyone was bumming Lupe I really tried to get into him. That "Kick, Push" song were canny, but I just never really got the hype. I mean, he's good, I prefer him to the vast majority of other rap acts...just not my thing I guess.

MODEST MOUSE - If the new one was a couple of songs shorter, it'd be my favourite but "The Moon & Antarctica" pips it. I remember when "Float On" was released (with it's weird and wonderful video) and it was near constantly played, I used to adore it. Good times.

ALKALINE TRIO - LOOOVE Alk3. "Agony & Irony" was fucking AWFUL. Like, absolutely awful. I adore all their other albums. Funny how their best songs all seem to be 'b-sides'/compilation songs, "Jaked On Green Beers", "Old School Reasons", "Warbrain"...one of the bands that changed my life, no lie.

ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD - Some angry folk. I will somewhat disagree with what metalman said about them, yes they do have songs that are clearly MILES BETTER than others, but for me the two full albums they've put together are both absolutely fabulous, the 'dips' kind of come in good places and refresh you for what's the come. One of those bands that seem to have an endless supply of fan-dabi-dozi songs, just delving into EP's and split CD's it's ridiculous; "Unicron", "El Principito", "Growing Up", "Love Song", "Jesus Saves (God Hates Us All)", "Fly My Ass", "I Am So Mad At You", "Lady Killer", "Another Beer" and their cover of "2 Headed Boy" are all beyond fucking awesome.

TOWNES VAN ZANDT - Already said unfortunately I know nothing about him.

BOB DYLAN - I have only heard the '3 obvious ones' ("Blonde On Blonde", "Blood On The Tracks" and "Freewheelin'") so according to pricks like metalman "I can't comment on Bob Dylan".

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - Only heard singles, not really 'exciting' enough for me. :/

PENDULUM - Fuck me, the singer's a prick. And they use the exact same drumbeat in like 90% of their songs...but sod it, they're fucking fun. I actually listened to "In Silico" randomly a few weeks ago and it's nowhere as bad as I originally wrote it off to be...the singer is a fucking huuuge prick though. I'd see a DJ set...but not a live show, purely because I'd want to murder the singer.

COHEED & CAMBRIA - They're alright, have some wicked songs. But can't hold my attention for a full album. I do enjoy drunk impressions of the singer.

MARILYN MANSON - His versions of other peoples songs are alright...besides that...eugh, never get away with him.

RYAN ADAMS - Ryan Adams as a musician I have nothing against. In all honesty, I've never really listened to any of his stuff. But Ryan Adams, the man, is my arch nemesis.

SUNSET RUBDOWN - I much prefer Wolf Parade. I downloaded "Shut Up I Am Dreaming" when it came out and hated it, so just ignored them since then, but I downloaded "Random Spirit Lover" upon request in my 24-Hour Project thing thread, and actually really enjoyed it, so not really sure where I stand on them now.

COBRA STARSHIP - A bit of a guilty pleasure if I'm to be honest. I mean honestly, I hate them, they're like half a step away from Brokencyde...but...christ, they have some catchy fucking songs; "One Day, Robots Will Cry" (Sounds like it's lifted from the awesome part of "Hot Fuss"), "Kiss My Sass", "Damn You Look Good and I'm Drunk", "The City Is At War" and "Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We're Famous"...actually, that's about the extent that I like, but yeah...Midtown were mint.

EMINEM - "The Marshall Mathers LP"....nuff said.

THE FALL - I actually don't know any Fall songs...but fuck I really think I should, because I recognised the name/the bloke/album names...but christ...I cannot remember a song.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - Haven't been able to stomach the most recent offerings, but fuck me they have some epic singles.

DREAM THEATER - NAUGHTY DREAM THEATER!!! STOP TRYING TO BE FUCKING METAL!!! STOP IT!! STOP IT NOW!!! Dream Theater were epic because they were virtuosic and and CHEESY AS HELL! I want more "Dance Of Eternity" (HONKY TONK SOLO!)/"The Spirit Carries On" and less shit like the last two albums.

THE LIBERTINES - It's weird, at the time I didn't really like them (I remember LOVING "Don't Look Back Into The Sun" though which is still my favourite 'Tines song). I proper bum them now. Basically I befriended a massive Libertines fan...it kind of became 'our thing' to drunkenly sing Libertines songs. I now bum them/Babyshambles...Pete Doherty's solo album and Dirty Pretty Things, I don't.

SAY ANYTHING - Very hit and miss. New album continues that trend fabulously.

ARCTIC MONKEYS - First album was epic (still a couple of guff tracks, needed "Choo Choo" on there), 2nd was moderate...new one can die in a fire.

JUDAS PRIEST - Never really looked into, just presume they're not going to be my sort of thing.

KISS - eugh...I actually looked at their singles to see if there was a song I liked...I actually don't even know any of them from name alone.

WINTERSUN - lol, power metal. I listened on youtube...they seem the sort of band I'd download something by, listen one and basically never again.

NIRVANA - Quite like them, not going to listen to them often though.

GUNS N' Roses - Eugh...doesn't help most Guns N' Roses fanboys are the biggest cunts in the fucking universe...OFFENCE if you are one.

[GA!]

As far as discussions in this thread go, it was George Orwell who said: "Never use a long word where a short one will do."

Just saying.

[Rich]

As far as discussions in this thread go, it was George Orwell who said: "Never use a long word where a short one will do."

Just saying.

I u GA

(short enough?)

[GA!]

As far as discussions in this thread go, it was George Orwell who said: "Never use a long word where a short one will do."

Just saying.

I u GA

(short enough?)

Yes. Apart from the (short enough?) bit.

Hypocrisy noted. I am a sycophantic germ incubator.

[Rich]

As far as discussions in this thread go, it was George Orwell who said: "Never use a long word where a short one will do."

Just saying.

I u GA

(short enough?)

Yes. Apart from the (short enough?) bit.

Hypocrisy noted. I am a sycophantic germ incubator.

And thats why I love you so

[METALMAN]

Bob Dylan is one of my favourites. Hence me voting for him. Even his recent stuff - including this year's album - is really good. I saw him live in May and despite his voice being shot to fuck it was such an amazing experience. the chorus of Like A Rolling Stone was one of the most epic things i have ever witnessed. He's had a lot of shit, but that's to be expected over 40 albums - most of which are really good and none of which have absolutely no redeeming features.

Smashing Pumpkins are alright, but not that fan-dabi-dozi. Siamese Dream is okay but nothing aside from the singles hold any fan-dabi-dozi merit. Still, Cherub Rock, today, 1979, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Spaceboy, tarantula...quite a lot more. Actually the Smashing Pumpkins are really quite fucking good. Last album was shit though. Except tarantula & Doomsday Clock.

Pendulum may well be everything that is wrong with the world today. Absolutely no redeeming features. Except the little synth riff in Slam. Although that song eventually turns to shit anyway. Hold Your Colour is shit as well.

Coheed and Cambria are as follows - short songs are usually really good. Long songs are boring. Except in the case of IKSOSE where everything is good, and in No World... where everything is below average.

Marilyn Manson - what the fuck is he doing here? is it 1997?

Ryan Adams was my number 2. I fucking love him. I went to see him 366 days ago. It was fantastic. He did a three hour set, played nothing from his best album yet it was the best ever.

Sunset Rubdown - so so.

Cobra Starship - guff

Eminem is also guff. Except from a couple of songs.

the Fall are fantastic. So much stuff by them I still have to trawl through though. I look forward to it!

qotsa - there aren't any songs by them that i really hate. nothing i love either. plenty i like.

dream theater - knob end music.

Libertines - pretty much the first band along with the Strokes that I proper got into back when I was a little lad of 12. So I will always like them for that and Up the Bracket is still right up there with my favourite albums. Haven't listened to them for ages though.

Say Anything - I don't like Say Anything. i think I ought to but I just hate the singer's voice. and so i hate them.

Arctic Monkeys are good fun. A Certain Romance is a wonderful song with excellent lyrics. First album in general is really good save for a bit of filler here and there. Second album is their best by a long shot. third is growing on me slowly but still a bit meh. Shame they've never released their best song - Curtain Call - as far as I am aware.

Judas Priest - gay leather NWOBHM music! not for me thanks. I have no idea why they are so popular. they aren't good. Rob Halford's new Christmas album is good fun though. Rob Halford is cool actually. I just don't like his Judas Priest music.

Kiss have two songs that are really good fun. Shit in general though. their new album can induce vomiting. they're good fun though and dress up funny so I still like them despite lack of musical merit.

Wintersun - I don't know them.

Nirvana are proper good. I've said again and again how awful Unplugged is but I'm not going to argue with their recorded output. I like Lounge Act best. Proper good "pop" songs.

Guns n' Roses - YI is a knob end for deciding they are shit without even listening to Appetite for Destruction which is awesome. Other albums range from mediocre to dreadful. Guess where Chinese Democracy is!

Oh and don't be nasty to Fuckshit! He might use long words but he isn't being nasty to anyone. And whenever I bother to read his posts they are usually more interesting than most.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Golden Age Of Grotesque had some good songs on it but after Holywood it was hard to get to that level again. Holywood was probably the best album he's ever had by a long shot.

Yeah. GAOG was really hit and miss (I think I might like a quarter of the album), and even the good ones were nowhere near Holywood. Eat Me, Drink Me and The High End Of Low are absolutely fucking dire, though. I wish he'd have just hung it up after GAOG, because all HEOL and EMDM are is self-serving, poncy, absolutely wank shitfests. Not a single good song on either.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Wow that list suddenly went a bit meh.

[Guest Emperor Truculence]

Yeah but it feels like maybe there was one huge dose of meh waiting to get out and now we won't have much more.

[Skummy]

If the world consisted only of Fall fans, it would be virtually utopian. Other bands to which this applies: Propaghandi, Half Man Half Biscuit. I think those are the only ones.

Have I already mentioned that I just bought my brother a Dukla Prague away kit for Christmas?

Marilyn Manson. A bit dull. I like him when he's just being a bit glam rock - The Dope Show's good. For the most part, though "shock rock" is a little bit embarassing, especially when it's as rubbish as he usually is. If he didn't think he was quite so important, he might make better music.

Ryan Adams is okay. "Love Is Hell" was fan-dabi-dozi, "New York" is a good song, and he's done some amazing stuff. I have a friend whose only really into ridiculously heavy metal, yet goes to see Ryan Adams live several times a year. Strange girl. The best thing about Ryan Adams, though, is that he released a ludicrous hardcore album under the name of "The Finger", and the album was called "We Are Fuck You", which is one of the best titles ever. When I worked in a record shop, we somehow had two copies of it, and whenever I did a stock rotation I made sure it was prominently displayed.

Who the cock are Sunset Rubdown?

Who the dick are Cobra Starship?

Eminem. Meh. '97 Bonnie & Clyde was okay. Shame about the rest.

I should not need to tell you how much I fucking adore The Fall. There's not enough room in this thread. I shoul give up NaNoWriMo and just write 50,000 words about how much I love The Fall. Basically, I echo Fuckshit's sentiment, though with a slight addendum, which is basically that after The Fall, Black Sabbath, Half Man Half Biscuit and David Bowie, you don't need any more music. Music has been done. Go home music.

I don't really care about Queens Of The Stone Age. They're not bad, I just don't care.

Dream Theater are unmitigated shite.

The Libertines are nice enough, if overhyped.

Who the shit are Say Anything?

The Arctic Monkeys are a bit naff, really, aren't they? Every time I say that it feels like I'm letting you in on a secret. Like it was all a big joke the music industry was playing us. "Haha, they're not actually very good!"

Don't give a fuck about Judas Priest. They're a bit silly, really.

I don't like KISS, but I love KISS merchandise. "Parasite" is a fan-dabi-dozi track, though. I wore a Peter Criss mask on Friday that's older than I am.

Who the fuck are Wintersun?

Nirvana are good. I've explained my stance on Nirvana in plenty of other threads, one quite recently I seem to recall. In summary; they're good.

Guns 'N' Roses are okay. Not much more than that. Wouldn't listen to them any more out of choice, but "My Michelle" is still a belter.

[YI]

FUCK IT! THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL!

45. STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO (39pts - 6 | 4 | 3)

PLACE LAST YEAR: #87

COUNTRY: United States

STUDIO ALBUMS: 3

CHECKLIST - A) SKI MASK, B) SAWED OFF, C) GUILTY CONSCIENCE, FEAR OF DEATH: a) CHECK, b) CHECK, C) CHECK CHECK CHECK

44. BJORK (39pts - 8 | 3 | 2)

PLACE LAST YEAR: n/a

COUNTRY: Iceland

STUDIO ALBUMS: 6

I'M GONNA HAVE TO TURN MY BACK ON YOU: ...

43. GREEN DAY (39pts - 8 | 4 | 1)

PLACE LAST YEAR: n/a

COUNTRY: United States

STUDIO ALBUMS: 8

EUGH: ...

42.

41. LOS CAMPESINOS! (40pts - 10 | 10)

PLACE LAST YEAR: n/a

COUNTRY: Wales

STUDIO ALBUMS: 2

YOU ASKED IF I COULD BE ANYONE FROM HISTORY? FACT OR FICTION, DEAD OR ALIVE: I said I'd be Tony Cascarino circa 1995

41. THE MAGNETIC FIELDS (40pts - 10 | 10)

PLACE LAST YEAR: n/a

COUNTRY: United States

STUDIO ALBUMS: 8

SOMETHING: ...

Edited November 16, 2009 by YI

[Skummy]

Awesome grouping.

Streetlight Manifesto are another of those bands I have loads by, but couldn't name you a damn thing they've done.

Bjork (couldn't be bothered finding the umlauts >_>) is wonderful, as is using that picture of Naboo again. Haven't actually listened to her in ages, though, and I do sometimes wonder whether or not I prefer The Sugarcubes.

Green Day are naff, and just get naffer with each new release. My Mum likes them, though, bless her. Listens to them really loudly while she's ironing.

It took me ages to get into Los Campesinos, with the exception of "The International Tweexcore Underground", but once I did, by golly I love them. My friend once described them to me as "Bearsuit for children", which isn't quite right, but it'll do. What I love about them is that they seem to be unashamed music geeks just having fun, dropping in references and stuff without a care, and being as hopelessly romantic in stupid ways as we all are when we want to skirt around actually telling someone you like them, or you try and find a new way to say it. They're just FUN. One of those bands that goes some way to prove my point that if you write a song that is inherently personal only to you, rather than attempting to make the sentiment universal, then chances are it'll be more appealing because it's more heartfelt, it's probably a nicer song for it, and the spectrum of human experience isn't really that wide for most people, so more people will be able to relate to it anyway. Specifically I'm referring to "Knee Deep At ATP", which falls very much into the category of "why the bloody hell didn't I write that song?"

Magnetic Fields are fan-dabi-dozi, even if I don't have that much of their stuff. Just one of those bands that seem utterly content to do their own thing, completely devoid of outside influence from the music industry at large. Top stuff. Good voice.

[METALMAN]

um...

Streetlight Manifesto - ska should die in a burning fire but Streetlight are a slightly lesser evil so I would be happy to grant them a quick and painless death.

Bjork - I like bits of here and there. Not a massive fan though. I like the famous album everyone knows. Which I can't remember the name of. >_>

Green Day - oh god no. New album is awful beyond belief. When I Come Around is still awesome though. Pity about the rest.

Jenny Lewis - I like her musically but not aesthetically.

Los Campesinos are right good fun.

Magnetic Fields are nowhere near as good as Stephin Meritt thinks they are. they are okay on balance I suppose. Distortion was boring though. 69 was predominantly wonderful...I know nothing else