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

[RobMCFC]

My view would be don't make the thread genre based. As soon as someone says this album is indie/prog/dance/hip hop whatever people won't listen. Theres 2 types of music. Good or bad but music should be listened to with open ears and if you don't like it don't listen to it again.

Yes, that's a fair point re genres. Obviously, any genre is accepted so therefore there's probably little point labeling it.

Edit to my post above, just realized there is a second album review thread, must be the one you were referring to.

I was thinking of the 1100 greatest albums that i couldnt keep up with. I hadn't actually ventured onto the other one because I thought they were the same thread. Likely too far behind now anyway.

No, you are correct: I did start off with an idea that seemed complicated, but in the end I just asked for people to say whether they'd be interested in nominating an album for review and we work our way down the list.

 

[OB1]

Plenty of new music being released by old bands in the first half of this year, which interest me.

I don't find many new bands come along that I rate but I am always hopeful.

 

[Saddleworth2]

C'mon, it wasn't That simple. It went from a pre determined list for a start. Who gets to nominate an album and when also came down to contribution. Maybe I left before it was simplified, but when it started I couldn't keep up at all. Read a few of the reviews of albums that came up that I cared for though, and was enjoyable.

I'll keep an eye on it for sure, and contribute if I can. I do listen to a fair bit and keeping it to one year at least limits it to manageable selections.

It was simplified after Rob got feedback. He has run an excellent thread. Not too late to join in mate and propose your own album.

 

[Boo or Boo-urns]

Just have it called the BM New Music thread.

Peeps can chuck in their album recommendations, what they are currently enjoying or recently discovered, post upcoming dates of albums/gigs, and half way through the year (post their top five albums) and their top ten albums) of any genre near the end of the year.

Simples.

 

[RobMCFC]

Plenty of new music being released by old bands in the first half of this year, which interest me.

I don't find many new bands come along that I rate but I am always hopeful.

Yes. This album is about new music being released this year. It doesn''t matter whether it'd ancient bands or new bands doing it, as long as it's a 2022 release.

Just have it called the BM New Music thread.

Peeps can chuck in their album recommendations, what they are currently enjoying or recently discovered, post upcoming dates of albums/gigs, and half way through the year (post their top five albums) and their top ten albums) of any genre near the end of the year.

Simples.

I'm more than happy for this thread to be used as a way to discuss new music, gigs etc. But I want it focused around albums (as noted EPs are fair game), with the aim of getting that top 10 list at the end of the year and crowning the best album of the year, so I'll keep the thread name as it is.

 

[Coatigan]

It was simplified after Rob got feedback. He has run an excellent thread. Not too late to join in mate and propose your own album.

Yeah I might, I've had a look at it today and it is i deed simple enough.

If I haven't given any scoring to the albums to date, does that not sway it as the subsequent albums wil have nore people giving them scores?

Maybe one thing to consider for this thread, whether it is worth it or not, is the scoring. Do you just do away with it and leave it focused on discussion. Or maybe I just need to understand it better perhaps.

Either way, like the idea of people putting forward and discussing albums they like.

 

[RobMCFC]

Yeah I might, I've had a look at it today and it is i deed simple enough.

If I haven't given any scoring to the albums to date, does that not sway it as the subsequent albums wil have nore people giving them scores?

Maybe one thing to consider for this thread, whether it is worth it or not, is the scoring. Do you just do away with it and leave it focused on discussion. Or maybe I just need to understand it better perhaps.

Either way, like the idea of people putting forward and discussing albums they like.

It's all done on an average so it doesn't mater how many people score it. Having said that, it's as much about the discussion as the scoring. The discussion, discovery of hidden gems, the trashing of others choices (in a respectful way, of course) is the serious stuff and the scoreboard is just a bit of fun.

I'm taking note of what everybody is saying in this thread - which is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, so thanks - and I'll come up with a workable "system" in the next few days.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Yeah I might, I've had a look at it today and it is i deed simple enough.

If I haven't given any scoring to the albums to date, does that not sway it as the subsequent albums wil have nore people giving them scores?

Maybe one thing to consider for this thread, whether it is worth it or not, is the scoring. Do you just do away with it and leave it focused on discussion. Or maybe I just need to understand it better perhaps.

Either way, like the idea of people putting forward and discussing albums they like.

On balance I agree with scoring but it is a fine balance as everyone’s taste is completely different. You see albums scoring 10s and 1s. It is about the only way you reach a consensus on ‘album of the year’.

 

[RobMCFC]

On balance I agree with scoring but it is a fine balance as everyone’s taste is completely different. You see albums scoring 10s and 1s. It is about the only way you reach a consensus on ‘album of the year’.

It will ultimately come down to something like that at some point, but I'm thinking that we don't need this in the early stages. We just need a way of getting albums up on the board, spend some time listening to them and reaching some broad agreement.

A couple of us may think one album's superb but if nobody else is interested, then it's not really a contender for that final list. At the same time, it will have been worth putting that album up there and bringing it to people's attention if one or two enjoy listening to it and may not otherwise have discovered it.

 

[Saddleworth2]

It will ultimately come down to something like that at some point, but I'm thinking that we don't need this in the early stages. We just need a way of getting albums up on the board, spend some time listening to them and reaching some broad agreement.

A couple of us may think one album's superb but if nobody else is interested, then it's not really a contender for that final list. At the same time, it will have been worth putting that album up there and bringing it to people's attention if one or two enjoy listening to it and may not otherwise have discovered it.

How are you going to put together if there is no scoring?

 

[RobMCFC]

How are you going to put together if there is no scoring?

Magic, my friend. Magic!

No, there will be scoring of a sort, but I'm wary of making it the same as the Album Club - for one, judging an album 1-10 after a few listens in March when you might feel differently in November might not give the results we want. Clearly, there has to be some judgement as the year progresses, but another thing I'm wary of is making it too complicated.

 

[Coatigan]

What about, get albums listed, listened to and discussed. Towards the end of the year, people put forward top 15 in order of preference (from the existing list of nominations).


Allowing wiggle room for late release albums would be the hard part.

 

[RobMCFC]

What about, get albums listed, listened to and discussed. Towards the end of the year, people put forward top 15 in order of preference (from the existing list of nominations).


Allowing wiggle room for late release albums would be the hard part.

Something like that. Allowing wiggle room for late releases is all important because years of listening tells us that there is always a glut of releases between September and November.

 

[Coatigan]

Something like that. Allowing wiggle room for late releases is all important because years of listening tells us that there is always a glut of releases between September and November.

Might also be worth considering splitting the year into two halves, with those taking part getting a nomination in each half. Otherwise you might get a slow start with folk holding out for better albums to come.

 

[RobMCFC]

Might also be worth considering splitting the year into two halves, with those taking part getting a nomination in each half. Otherwise you might get a slow start with folk holding out for better albums to come.

I don't think there will be such draconian limits in this thread. I'd take a dim view if somebody started nominating five albums every week, but as some have already commented, how many new releases will there be? Some have worried we might not have enough. When we get going if somebody has a few nominations, that's OK, we'll get them all on the board and take it from there. There will be no commitment to listen to everything that's mentioned.

I don't know how others feel about quantity, but I could quite comfortably listen to two or three new albums a week. Not enough to give a final judgement, but enough to pick up on what I might like and then play them for the next few weeks and let them percolate in my brain.

 

[Coatigan]

I don't think there will be such draconian limits in this thread. I'd take a dim view if somebody started nominating five albums every week, but as some have already commented, how many new releases will there be? Some have worried we might not have enough. When we get going if somebody has a few nominations, that's OK, we'll get them all on the board and take it from there. There will be no commitment to listen to everything that's mentioned.

I don't know how others feel about quantity, but I could quite comfortably listen to two or three new albums a week. Not enough to give a final judgement, but enough to pick up on what I might like and then play them for the next few weeks and let them percolate in my brain.

It was more the thought that you might find a lack of nominations initially, given how early in the year it is, and a rush later on when there is more to choose from. If you knew you had a nomination to use up and another one to come, you might feel more pushed to put forward something that is currently available.

Happily go with whatever goes mind you, was just a thought. I didn't click folk could make multiple nominations

 

[Saddleworth2]

Magic, my friend. Magic!

No, there will be scoring of a sort, but I'm wary of making it the same as the Album Club - for one, judging an album 1-10 after a few listens in March when you might feel differently in November might not give the results we want. Clearly, there has to be some judgement as the year progresses, but another thing I'm wary of is making it too complicated.

I look forward to seeing the magic revealed.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

I think you are correct about EPs - I'm definitely seeing that more these days. Especially less well-known artists who did smaller releases during the pandemic to keep the money trickling in.

I'd say we could have EPs as part of any review/votes process - at the end of the day, people will either see an EP as worthy of being up with the best of the year or they won't.

Singles? I don't see why we couldn't disscuss new singles released. It is new music after all. Maybe we could have a "song of the year" vote at some point.

I'll probably upset some people here, but I've never seen a DJ performing a "set" as something artistic. Like many things in life (building a drystone wall, putting together a piece of Ikea furniture, splitting the atom), I'm sure it takes a lot of technical skill, but I don't consider creating a mix of other people's music as being very artistic. I'd lump this under the compilation bracket, which I'd want to exclude.

As ever, I'm happy to see what others say about all of the above.

Yeah fair enough. Some of my favourite ever albums are mix albums but can see why people wouldn’t want to include them.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Are we mentioning any and all new LPs and EPs to the thread, like we would the “New Music and Bands” thread?

Or are we nominating them to the OP who will then put the ones with the most nominations up?

 

[RobMCFC]

Are we mentioning any and all new LPs and EPs to the thread, like we would the “New Music and Bands” thread?

Or are we nominating them to the OP who will then put the ones with the most nominations up?

When we are up and running, I plan to let people mention new albums and EPs in general posts and I’ll add everything in a table on page 1.

Now, as previously stated, if we get too many nominations in a short space of time, I may need to change any approach to keep things sensible, but I don’t want to impose any unnecessary rules. I want the thread to flow with new music-related discussion.