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Post by Bingo on Dec 14, 2013 18:47:40 GMT -8
Rhapsody is an online subscription music service, only available in the USA. It claims over 750,000 subscribers, for a library of over 11 million songs 25 albums have been recommended as the editorial staff's featured Country albums of the year - and the list includes "Amelita" (The list is also interesting to me as it includes several I would also recommend, including ones by Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Monroe, Pistol Annies, Brandy Clark, Julie Roberts) The accompanying article mentions that several of these are "unheralded and underselling". It builds on Blake Shelton's apology for his ill-conceived "jackasses and old farts" gaffe, accepted in good grace by the terminally ill Ray Price: "The truth is my statement was and STILL is about how we as the new generation of country artists have to keep re-inventing country music to keep it popular. Just EXACTLY the way Mr. Price did along his journey as a mainstream country artist. Pushing the boundaries with his records." The article, though, points out that CMT included only male artists in its "artists of the year", suggesting that "country music needs a re-invention that goes deeper than sonics" albums picturedThanks to Julie Roberts for bringing this to my attention
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Post by erik on Dec 14, 2013 19:44:22 GMT -8
I definitely have included Amelita among my favorite albums overall for 2013, along with Natalie's Mother, though my #1 would be The Stand-In by Caitlin Rose.
As for Blake Shelton's retractment of his "jackasses and old farts" statement, with...
"The truth is my statement was and STILL is about how we as the new generation of country artists have to keep re-inventing country music to keep it popular. Just EXACTLY the way Mr. Price did along his journey as a mainstream country artist. Pushing the boundaries with his records."y
Ray Price and the older generation didn't have to keep country music popular with sexist, booty-shakin', women-objectifying lyrics like this current generation is doing. I think Mr. Shelton is in dire need of re-learning the true history of country music, since he doesn't seem to know a whole hell of a lot about it.
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Post by DCXMMXVI on Dec 14, 2013 21:37:57 GMT -8
Well, I must say I've lost my love for country music. Most of it just isn't appealing anymore. So now when someone asks me what kind of music I like, I just say "no genre in particular." Here's my top 10 favorite albums of 2013.
1. Push the Sky Away - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (February 18) 2. The Essentials - Sarah Mclachlan (August 20) 3. Mother - Natalie Maines (May 7) 4. Same Trailer, Different Park - Kacey Musgraves (March 19) 5. Amelita - Court Yard Hounds (July 16) 6. Pioneer - The Band Perry (April 2) 7. Night Visions (Deluxe) - Imagine Dragons (February 12) 8. Pure Heroine - Lorde (September 27) 9. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 - Eminem (November 5) 10. True Believers - Darius Rucker (May 21)
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Post by dixiechicksfan on Dec 15, 2013 15:40:45 GMT -8
here are my favorite releases from 2013:
the pop underground - ep - andrew mcmahon reflektor - arcade fire foreverly - billie joe + norah (billie joe armstong and norah jones) amelita - court yard hounds random access memories - daft punk transatlanticism (10th anniversary edition) - death cab for cutie transatlanticism demos - death cab for cutie anonymous / left is right - desaparecidos te amo camila vallejo / underground man - desaparecidos save rock and roll - fall out boy everything is debatable - hellogoodbye enola - i can make a mess jack's mannequin: live from the el ray theatre - jack's mannequin damage - jimmy eat world paradise valley - john mayer bulldozer - kevin devine bubblegum - kevin devine & the damn band devil - lydia devil b-sides - lydia mgmt - mgmt mother - natalie maines give up (deluxe 10th anniversary edition) - the postal service beta love - ra ra riot rkives - rilo kiley volume 3 - she & him pythons - surfer blood ep - twin forks modern vampires of the city - vampire weekend paracosm - washed out age isn't ours - ep - young statues
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Post by Bingo on Dec 20, 2013 19:20:02 GMT -8
There's also an all-genre (mainly alternative-focused) listing of 50 top albums from public radio: NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2013(The Country Music offerings include Brandy Clark, Jason Isbell and Kacey Musgraves)
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Post by Bingo on Dec 23, 2013 17:33:24 GMT -8
1. Another interesting listing of the best Country albums of the year, from Spin (this listing also includes "Amelita") Spin's 20 Best Country AlbumsThat one begins with the rather telling comment: "Pretty great year! More jackasses than old farts here, it's true, but the all-female Top 5 makes up for it, if that's something you're into."2. Even Billboard (usually chart focused) have come up with a pretty good selection: 10 Best Country Albums of 2013That one is particularly welcome to me, in that is places Ashley Monroe (an artist I've supported for years) at the top. Ashley's groundbreaking trio project, the Pistol Annies, which placed a high premium on songwriting, combined Mainstream and Roots artists, and had three women singing alternate verses, with no overall lead, is also placed in the list - giving her two out of the ten top critical picks. 3. Finally, a taste of the trend the critics hate - "bro" party songs in a compilation that reveals the banality of what I called on my other fan board "as much depth of meaning as a squashed beer can" Fortunately, Grady Smith, of Entertainment Weekly, the author of that compilation video, also provides his own list of more desirable albums: EW's 10 Best Country AlbumsThese lists of best Country albums are obviously personal critical picks - but there is considerable overlap and and points of similarity - and, for what it's worth, the choices are generally ones that I'd pretty much agree with.
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Ross
Teen Chick
Posts: 699
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Post by Ross on Jan 12, 2014 15:02:04 GMT -8
Jason Isbell released the album of 2013, should i be surprised that not many people seemed to notice?
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Post by drizzletown on Feb 9, 2014 9:02:15 GMT -8
The Civil Wars self-titled album is my #1 pick. (though it's Americana I guess & not country)
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