Album of the Year Thread - 2022 - Winner - For the Sake of Bethel Woods - Midlake

[RobMCFC]

Album of the Year Thread - 2022

Thanks to everybody who has contributed to this thread.

Final Result




Here are the 19 finalists in contention for the Blue Moon Album of the Year 2022.

1. Listen to the albums and send me a PM with your ordered top 10.
2. Do not post your list on the thread - the aim is to keep the voting secret until the results are announced.
3. Closing date for votes is 28th December.
4. 10 points will be awarded for your top album, 9 points for 2nd etc. and down to 1 point for your 10th placed album.
5. Results will counted and then posted on New Years Eve.
6. Afterwards, we can finish the thread by posting our personal Top 10s from the year - your Top 10 can include any album released this year, regardless of whether it has appeared on this thread or note.


Voting List

Album	Artist
For the Sake of Bethel Woods	Midlake
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You	Big Thief
Old	Alix Page
Strictly a One-Eyed Jack	John Mellencamp
Sinners Shrine	Dean Owens
The Sea Drift	The Delines
Chimes at Midnight	Madrugada
Wet Leg	Wet Leg
The Jacket	Widowspeak
(Watch My Moves)	Kurt Vile
Endless Rooms	Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
A Light For Attracting Attention	The Smile
Tired of Liberty	The Lounge Society
Misadventures of Doomscroller	Dawes
EBM	Editors
Still Here	Marissa Anderson
Theory of Tides	Compass
Bleed Here Now	And You Will Know Us By The Tail of Dead
Ali	Vieux Farka Touré and Khruangbin

Qualifiers for the final

Q1 Qualifiers

Votes	Album	Artist
5	For the Sake of Bethel Woods	Midlake
4	Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You	Big Thief
4	Old	Alix Page
4	Strictly a One-Eyed Jack	John Mellencamp
4	Sinners Shrine	Dean Owens
4	The Sea Drift	The Delines
4	Chimes at Midnight	Madrugada

Q2 Qualifiers

Votes	Album	Artist
3	Wet Leg	Wet Leg
3	The Jacket	Widowspeak
3	(Watch my moves)	Kurt Vile
2	Endless Rooms	Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
2	A Light For Attracting Attention	The Smile

Q3 Qualifiers

Votes	Album	Artist
3	Tired of Liberty	The Lounge Society
2	Misadventures of Doomscroller	Dawes
2	EBM	Editors
2	Still Here	Marissa Anderson
2	Theory of Tides	Compass
2	Bleed Here Now	And You Will Know Us By The Tail of Dead
2	Ali	Vieux Farka Touré and Khruangbin

Q1 Albums

Date Added	Album	Artist	BULLSEYE	HIT	MISS
1st March	Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You	Big Thief	nickmcfc1	RobMCFC, bennyboy, Northblue	BimboBob, Coatigan
1st March	Old	Alix Page	bennyboy, unicorn	Northblue, Coatigan	RobMCFC
1st March	Strictly a One-Eyed Jack	John Mellencamp	RobMCFC, OB1	Mancitydoogle, journolud	bennyboy, BimboBob, Northblue, Coatigan, blueparrot
1st March	Resist	Midnight Oil	blueparrot	RobMCFC, Coatigan	bennyboy, BimboBob
1st March	Sinners Shrine	Dean Owens		RobMCFC, journolud, Mancitydoogle, Coatigan	bennyboy
1st March	The Monster Roars	Magnum		blueparrot, RobMCFC, bavarian blue	BimboBob
1st March	Carpe Diem	Saxon		blueparrot, BimboBob, bavarian blue
1st March	Neptune Blue	Lara Lane		blueparrot	Coatigan
1st March	The Zealot Game	Jethro Tull	OB1	blueparrot, Coatigan	bavarian blue
1st March	Fever Dreams Parts 1-4	Johnny Marr		journolud	BimboBob
1st March	The Voltarol Years	Half Man Half Bisuit		Barcon
1st March	Lucifer on the Sofa	Spoon		Barcon, Coatigan	RobMCFC, BimboBob
1st March	The Sea Drift	The Delines	Mancitydoogle	BimboBob, Boo or Boo-urns, journolud	RobMCFC
1st March	Earthling	Eddie Vedder		Mancitydoogle	RobMCFC, BimboBob, Coatigan
1st March	Soul Boy II	The Skinner Brothers	Innsbruckblue, BedsBlue68
3rd March	Once Twice Melody	Beach House		unicorn, Boo or Boo-urns	RobMCFC
4th March	Backhand Deals	Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard			RobMCFC
4th March	An Hour Before it's Dark	Marillion	Tourist since 1971		blueparrot
5th March	How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars	The Weather Station	unicorn	Coatigan	RobMCFC, BimboBob
5th March	Chimes at Midnight	Madrugada		JRockBlues, journolud, Mancitydoogle, RobMCFC	BimboBob
5th March	Summer at Land's End	The Reds,Pinks and Purples			RobMCFC, Coatigan
6th March	Ants From Up There	Black Country, New Road	nickmcfc1, Coatigan		RobMCFC
7th March	Tears for Fears	The Tipping Point			BimboBob, Coatigan
7th March	I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me	King Hannah		RobMCFC, nickmcfc1, Coatigan
15th March	Small World	Metronomy		journolud	Coatigan
15th March	Classic Objects	Jenny Hval		unicorn	Coatigan
17th March	Flicker	Andy Bell			Coatigan
17th March	Bronco (***Full album out 8th April)	Orville Peck		unicorn	RobMCFC, Coatigan
18th March	For the Sake of Bethel Woods	Midlake	Coatigan, BimboBob	journolud, unicorn, RobMCFC
19th March	Troika	D'Virgillo, Morse and Jennings	blueparrot	RobMCFC	Coatigan, journolud
25th March	Warm Chris	Aldous Harding		journolud, unicorn	RobMCFC
26th March	Tones of the Sparrow	The Asteroid No. 4		journolud, Coatigan	RobMCFC
27th March	Never Let Me Go	Placebo	Coatigan	journolud	RobMCFC
28th March	River Fools and Mountain Saints	Ian Noe	RobMCFC	Mancitydoogle

Q2 Albums

Date Added	Album	Artist	BULLSEYE	HIT
4th April	Chris	Ryan Adams		RobMCFC
11th April	Wet Leg	Wet Leg	urban genie	unicorn, BlueMoonAcrossThePond
11th April	Unlimited Love	Red Hot Chili Peppers
25th April	The Jacket	Widowspeak	PsychedelicCasual	journolud, RobMCFC
2nd May	Two Ribbons	Let's Eat Grandma	unicorn
3rd May	Skinty Fia	Fontaines D.C .	Barcon
3rd May	(Watch my moves)	Kurt Vile	Barcon	RobMCFC
3rd May	Dopamine	Thunder	blueparrot
6th May	Endless Rooms	Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever		journolud, RobMCFC
9th May	Crooked Tree	Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway		RobMCFC
10th May	We	Arcade Fire		Coatigan
11th May	A Beautiful Time	Willie Nelson		threespires
31st May	A Light For Attracting Attention	The Smile	PsychedelicCasual	journolud

Q3 Albums

Date Added	Album	Artist	BULLSEYE	HIT	MISS
14th September	Angus Tempus Memoir	Blue Orchids		journolud
14th September	Songs Without Jokes	Bret Mckenzie		journolud	RobMCFC
14th September	Misadventures of Doomscroller	Dawes		Coatigan, RobMCFC
14th September	Russian Circles	Gnosis		Coatigan
14th September	Drift	Pianos Become The Teeth		Coatigan
14th September	Hostile Architecture	Ashenshpire		Coatigan
14th September	Paint the Sky	Lalu	blueparrot
14th September	Kickstart the Sun	Cats in Space	blueparrot
14th September	The Overload	Yard Act		barcon
14th September	Cave World	Viagra Boys		barcon
14th September	Dear Scott	Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band		Beckenham Blue
14th September	I Love You Jennifer B	Josckstrap		Summerbuzz
14th September	Pre Pleasure	Julia Jacklin	unicorn		RobMCFC
16th September	Autofiction	Suede		journolud
20th September	Tired of Liberty	The Lounge Society		RobMCFC, PsychedelicCasual, Barcon
23rd September	Crow Got Drunk	Nick Cory Young		RobMCFC
27th September	EBM	Editors		staffsblue, BimboBob
27th September	Still Here	Marisa Anderson		journolud, RobMCFC
28th September	Theory of Tides	Compass		blueparrot, RobMCFC
5th October	Shake the Roots	Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown		RobMCFC
5th October	Private View	Blancmanche		BimboBob
6th October	Ride	Walter Trout		BlueFurn	RobMCFC
7th October	A Savage Life	Dom Martin		BlueFurn	RobMCFC
9th November	I Don't Belong Anywhere	October Drift		Coatigan	RobMCFC
9th November	Bleed Here Now	And You Will Know Us By The Tail of Dead		Coatigan, RobMCFC
9th November	Tales of Grandeur	All The Young	tonea2003
9th November	Direction of the Heart	Simple Minds		tonea2003
18th November	And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow	Weyes Blood	journolud
18th November	Stumpwork	Dry Cleanings		Barcon
24th November	Ali	Vieux Farka Touré and Khruangbin		Southern KK, Coatigan

Guidelines

1. The object is to come up with a list of 10-12 albums in early December. We’ll have a vote and crown the Album of the Year 2022.

2. We will do this by nominating albums as the year progresses. There are currently no limits on how many albums or how often any one member can nominate.

3. Albums must be new material released this year. EPs are allowed, but no compilations, best-ofs, DJ mixes or live performances of previously released material.

4. To help me, maybe you can make it obvious you are putting forward a nomination (NOMINATE), but hopefully anything you write will be obvious and I’ll pick it up and add it to the list on page #1.

5. I will maintain a list of albums on page #1. I will also record members’ reactions to each album.

6. We will initially use a three-point scoring system, which I want to keep simple for now:-

• MISS – You’ve listened, it’s not for you or not quite good enough for a vote.
• HIT – You’ve listened. and you like it.
• BULLSEYE – That special category where you love the album and HIT doesn’t quite seem enough.

Ratings can be posted in a standard post on the thread. If you comment on an album but don’t assign one of the three ratings, I’ll assign a rating based on what you said.

7. There is no pressure to listen to every nomination, but if you’re playing along, make sure you listen to enough of them. Similarly, there is no pressure to listen to a nomination the week it’s added but try to aim for some feedback within two months of the album being added.

8. With the above in mind, I may separate out “qualifiers” or “eliminated” two months after the album was added.

 

[BimboBob]

So only pick new albums, a sort of "listen to this it's great" thread...

I'd love to listen to any new music...maybe one nomination a month per person, then you listen to them all, give a final score and we move onto another month. You are nearly 2 months into the year so that could work. Not fussed about breaking it down into categories, would love to actually like a rap record for instance.

 

[RobMCFC]

So only pick new albums, a sort of "listen to this it's great" thread...

Yes, that's pretty much it. And of course feedback, in whatever form, is critical. We don't want it to be a thread where people sling in a name, everybody ignores it and moves on.

I wouldn't expect everybody to listen to every album mentioned; it might just be a case of "listened to a couple from this album and it's not my cup-of-tea".

I suppose scoring as we went along is one option, but I don't want it to be exactly like the Album Review thread - it's just a case of building up a list of albums that people are listening to throughout the year.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Album of the Year Thread - 2022

Most of the great music discussion on the Blue Moon Forums is focused on the past.

Like others, I spend many hours listening to my all-time favourites, but I still love listening to new albums and discovering new artists. When I look back, I want to be able to remember the year partly based on the NEW music I was listening to in that year. I also enjoy a good end-of-year list, but the problem with most end-of-year lists is that a load of albums appear, and you end up saying: Who? What? Never heard of it!

It's with these thoughts in mind that I decided to create the Album of the Year thread. Whether it’s successful or whether it dies a quick death depends on the participation of others. The way it will run is open for debate but however we get there, I’m looking to have a list of albums that we can vote on in December – and more to the point, a selection of albums that most of us are familiar with – with the aim of crowning the Blue Moon Forums Album of the Year.

I think it will be more organic if we discover albums throughout the year and listen to them as the months roll by so that we are not listening for the first time when the end-of-year vote comes around.

Here’s some ideas/questions, but like I said, I’m happy to listen to what others have to say.

1. Should there be a limit on the number of albums a single member nominates? I’m thinking that if loads of people join in and start tossing names into the ring, we could be overwhelmed and not get time to consider everything properly.
2. Should there be a regular vote/process where albums are forwarded to the “next stage” or “eliminated from the vote” as the year progresses? I’m not looking to make it a competition between members, but I want an entertaining way of coming up with a list of finalists (maybe even semi-finalists etc.).
3. We need to make sure that any voting/elimination system accounts for the fact that a lot of albums are released in the Autumn. Last-minute December discoveries should not be ruled out.
4. One concern is that not everybody will want to spend hours listening to music from all genres. Maybe we could all declare our specialist areas of listening so that each member can concentrate on their preferred genres with the aim of producing an eclectic list? What I’m thinking here is that if somebody nominates a rap album, many of us (including me!) might not give it a chance. But if the “rap” section is curated by people who are more knowledgeable, I’d be more inclined to give the two best in this genre a few listens throughout the year. Basically, filtering of a large list down to a more manageable list by those who are interested.
5. In amongst any nominating and voting, this thread can also be used for the discussion for any new music released this year, but no live albums, no compilations and no re-issues: it’s for NEW music only.

Over to you, I’m all ears. Who’s interested and what ideas do you have?

You are a sucker for punishment mate.
Its a good idea. I like the idea of some kind of 'best list' emerging towards the end of the year. You could basically do it like the other thread. Every month someone/s nominates an album - say a maximum of four per month, those that have time listen to them and score them. I would set a minimum number of scores for the album to join a league table - in that way if you get an album scored high by one or two, it doesn't skew the table.
A league table emerges and a line is drawn in say November with the top six/ten being voted on again to create a winner.
I think trying to cater for different genres is getting a little too complex. Good luck.

 

[blueparrot]

Think a new album thread is a good idea, but the marking and scoring seems a bit over complicating it. Still whateve is decided I will have some contributions,I have 4 new albums already releasd this year though from older artists so far.

 

[BimboBob]

So a new album thread. We post up, we listen and comment and then in January we score them?

Sounds like a plan.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

To my shame - I can't name a single album released in 2022!

 

[Boo or Boo-urns]

I use this website to keep me abreast of new released albums n' stuff.

Any Decent Music?

The anydecentmusic chart of the top rated new albums, takes a weighted average from more than 50 sources around the world, taking into account the number of reviews.

The chart is updated daily.

 

[RobMCFC]

To my shame - I can't name a single album released in 2022!

Funnily enough, two of my all-time top 6 artists have already released albums this year, and they're both the best thing they've done in years.

There are also some more releases upcoming I'm looking forward to.

Thanks for the comments so far.

So, there seems to be a debate about scoring/not scoring at the moment. We'll see how that plays out.

Four nominations a month each! Blimey, we could be overwhelmed soon, but I'm not ruling out so many.

Bear in mind that this is a living, evolving thread, so the idea of a monthly vote might be difficult. Maybe we don't have hard deadlines and just keep track of albums that people are listening to and whether they like it. I could monitor the thread and then have a list on page #1 that I update a couple of times a week.

Its a good idea. I like the idea of some kind of 'best list' emerging towards the end of the year.

This is the core objective of the thread, obviously with some fun and banter along the way, as well as keeping people informed and highlighting what's new. We have enough threads concentrating on the past, so I want this to be different.

 

[RobMCFC]

I use this website to keep me abreast of new released albums n' stuff.

Any Decent Music?

The anydecentmusic chart of the top rated new albums, takes a weighted average from more than 50 sources around the world, taking into account the number of reviews.

The chart is updated daily.

Not seen that before. It looks good, thanks.