January 29th, 2008

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Media, Music
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Two Meta-Lists of the Top Music of 2007

Via Waxy, here is The Hype Machine’s list of the top 50 albums of 2007. They gathered the results based on the top ten lists of 648 music bloggers, and is probably the best list you’ll find of popular bands with some indie cred. I wonder, demographically speaking, who the average music blogger is? I’m guessing an American, 24-year-old male, but I have no evidence to back this up.

I’m just pleased to own four albums out of the top 20. That’s a real improvement over recent years of music apathy, let me tell you.

It’s interesting to compare that list with Metacritic’s list of the top albums of 2007. They aggregate reviews from the mainstream media and some online heavy hitters (see a sample set for reviews of In Rainbows). Presumably these folks are also mostly male, though they’re probably older than the average music blogger. Still, there’s a lot of similarities in the two lists.

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Comments: 4 Responses so far

bz
January 29th, 2008
9:01 am

These lists are usually “too cool for school.” Everyone trying to prove they’re more underground and hip than the other guy.

I’d be happy to just have *heard* of 4 albums near the top, let alone own them.

Feist and Radiohead is about the best I can do, the rest are umm .. yeah .. umm .. who?

[Reply]

darren
January 29th, 2008
9:12 am

Bz: I can heartily recommend the other two albums I’ve got in the top twenty: the Shins and Wilco.

Plus, further down the list, Iron & Wine, Amy Winehouse, The New Pornographers, Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Stars and Rilo Kiley.

As previously discussed, I don’t like Arcade Fire, and I didn’t much like Of Montreal, if I recall correctly. Likewise, M.I.A. is not for me. I shall investigate the rest to see what I like.

[Reply]

gillian
January 29th, 2008
12:08 pm

bz: Just because you’ve never heard of a band doesn’t automatically mean they’re not good. And not all music bloggers are egotistical indie kids. It’s more likely that in general they’re a group of people who like finding out about new music and writing about it.

I have most of the albums on the Hype Machine list, like a good portion of them and listen to them regularly. But my listening habits are hardly based on “coolness” since nobody’s listening in on my iPod usage. And when I find a band I think a certain friend will like, I will tell my friend about it. It’s no longer a Top 40 world.

DB: You might like Okkervil River, Jens Lekman and St. Vincent. Their albums should be up on eMusic too.

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Gar Fisher
January 29th, 2008
12:51 pm

This whole discussion seems to illustrate what’s wrong with the music industry these days. It’s not the copying, its the lack of a place to hear new music easily. I would buy more music if it were more easily accessible.

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