www.theneedledrop.com
www.youtube.com/theneedledrop
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Needle Drop SPOILER LIST:
50. THEESatisfaction- awE naturalE 49. The Gaslamp Killer- Breakthrough 48. John Talabot- fin 47. Zammuto- Self-Titled 46. Murder Construct- Results 45. Beach House- Bloom 44. Torche- Harmonicraft 43. The Bad Plus- Made Possible 42. Karriem Riggins- Alone Together 41. Tame Impala- Lonerism 40. The Tallest Man On Earth- There's No Leaving Now 39. Deerhoof- Breakup Song 38. Recondite- On Acid 37. Alt-J- An Awesome Wave 36. Xibalba- Hasta La Muerte 35. Wild Nothing- Nocturne 34. Black Breath- Sentenced to Life 33. Holograms- Self-Titled 32. The Evens- The Odds 31. Lone- Galaxy Garden 30. Hot Chip- In Our Heads 29. Pile- Dripping 28. Cloud Nothings- Attack On Memory 27. Big K.R.I.T.- 4evaNaDay 26. Action Bronson and the Alchemist- Rare Chandeliers 25. High On Fire- De Vermis Mysteriis 24. iamamiwhoami- Kin 23. White Suns- Sinews 22. Loma Prieta- I.V. 21. Converge- All We Love We Leave Behind 20. Matthew Dear- Beams 19. Death Grips- NO LOVE DEEP WEB 18. Krallice- Years Past Matter 17. Soap&Skin- Narrow 16. Scott Walker- Bish Bosch 15. Spiritualized- Sweet Heart Sweet Light 14. Killer Mike- R.A.P. Music 13. Nachtmystium- Silencing Machine 12. Billy Woods- History Will Absolve Me 11. Swans- The Seer 10. Ab-Soul- Control System 9. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! 8. Perfume Genius- Put Your Back N 2 It 7. BADBADNOTGOOD- BBNG2 6. Portico Quartet- Self-Titled 5. Fiona Apple- The Idler Wheel... 4. Dope Body- Natural History 3. Ondatrópica- Self-Titled 2. Kendrick Lamar- good kid, m.A.A.d. city 1. Death Grips- The Money Store
Some of my favourites (no order):
good kid, m.A.A.d. city (Kendrick Lamar) The Idler Wheel... (Fiona Apple) Control System (Ab Soul) Sun (Cat Power) Shields (Grizzly Bear) Total Loss (How To Dress Well) Gossamer (Passion Pit) An Awesome Wave (Alt-J) 4Eva N A Day (Big K.R.I.T.) Live From The Underground (Big K.R.I.T.) Something (Chairlift) Halcyon (Ellie Goulding) channel ORANGE (Frank Ocean) Jesus Piece (Game) Devotion (Jessie Ware) Cruel Summer (G.O.O.D. Music) Ekstasis (Julia Holter) R.A.P. Music (Killer Mike) The Heist (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) Summer's Gone (ODESZA) TNGHT (TNGHT) Trilogy (The Weeknd) Milk Famous (White Rabbits)
This is a great list. The Needle Drop´s reviews are great and I have discovered great artists because of him. I usually don´t agree with his top ten choices, however this year I completely agree with him. Death Grips is fucking amazing in my opinion and rightfully deserve numero uno. John Talabot for me should be higher up, but I´m pretty sure that´s just my opinion. Portico Quartet blew my mind the first time I listened to them. Converge killed it. I´m happy that BADBADNOTGOOD is still releasing great music. I can´t believe I like Kendrick Lamar´s album as much as I do, I can´t stop listening to Money Trees. Good year for music I think.
I am a massive Kendrick fan, and I had high expectations for good kid, m.A.A.d city but he definitely exceeded them. For me he topped Section.80 and I thought that album was nearly perfect. I haven't given Portico Quartet and Death Grips enough of a listen yet, but I'm going to check them out soon. I think some of the other stand outs for me was Fiona Apple, Alt-J, Ab Soul, and Big K.R.I.T.
Kendrick killed, I listened to Section 80 and thought it was great but didn´t really listen to it after a couple of months. Good Kid however, damn I just can´t wait to listen what he does next. Death Grips is definitely something you have to get used to (I hated them the first time I listened to Guillotine), but I kept going back because of the killer hooks and the sick beats that Zach Hill makes. Fiona Apple and Alt-J are also on my list of best albums, but I need to listen to them more. I´ll take a look at Ab Soul and Big K.R.I.T since I´ve heard good things. Action Bronson also made a great album.
Action Bronson dropped two albums in 2012. Which one did you like best? My favourite Bronson album is still "Well Done" from 2011.
I listened to Rare Chandeliers first because of the sick album cover and loved it. Right after I listened to Rare Chandeliers I went and got Blue Chips and thought it was also great, but I kept going back to Chandeliers cause I think the beats are better. So I think I prefer Chandeliers. I´ll definitely listen to Well Done though, I need some more good Hip-Hop in my life.
I think Rare Chandeliers had better production than Blue Chips as well. Also, check out Dr. Lecter (2011) that is almost as good as Well Done IMO.
I feel like I should just listen to all of Bronson´s discography now, thanks for the recommendation. What other new Hip-Hop artists should I listen too if you don´t mind me asking?
Suggestions: Ab-Soul (Control System)
Action Bronson (Well Done, Dr. Lecter)
Aesop Rock (Skelethon)
Asher Roth (Pabst & Jazz)
Big K.R.I.T. (ReturnOf4Eva, 4Eva N A Day, Live From The Underground)
Brother Ali (Mourning In America and Dreaming in Color)
Brown Bag Allstars (The Brown Tape)
Danny Brown (XXX)
El-P (Cancer for Cure)
Hopsin (Raw)
J. Cole (Cole World)
Joey Bada$$ (1999)
Kendrick Lamar (Overly Dedicated)
Killer Mike (R.A.P. Music)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (The Heist)
P.O.S. (We Don't Even Live Here)
Phonte (Charity Stars At Home)
The Roots (Undun)
Schoolboy Q (Habits and Contradictions)
Shad (TSOL)
Yelawolf (Trunk Muzik)
Awesome! Thanks so much for the recommendation !
Definitely agree with him on The Money Store. In general, Fantano is probably my favorite music critic around. I don't agree with him on everything but he's very good at explaining why he thinks what he does, and he's not too discriminatory based on genre.
Definitely agree with everything you said. I also love that you can tell that he goes all fanboy with some of artists (Death Grips).
Great list (although it looks like I have some listening to do!). Some of my personal favorites were:
The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
Lana del Rey - Born to Die (Paradise Edition) [The Paradise Edition is what really puts it on my list. That addition is wonderful]
Hot Chip - In Our Heads I'll try to add more if I think of any.
I was really excited about Lana del Rey before her SNL performance and Born to Die dropped. Video Games, Blue Jeans, etc. are fantastic songs. Her full-length totally disappointed me though. What was different about the Paradise Edition? Loved Ellie Goulding and Frank Ocean this year. Fantastic albums.
Yeah, I totally understand where you're coming from on Lana del Rey. I felt the same way initially, but I couldn't stay away. Her music is just a guilty pleasure of mine. I think many of her songs almost seem fake, like she's trying too hard. Paradise Edition has some gems like "Yayo" and "Bel-Air" that really bring out her nostalgic voice, but at the same time, the songs like "Ride" and "Cola" just keep me hooked.
I agree with you on "trying too hard". I just never really believed her music (I do like Video Games however). This is also the reason I never really got into Tyler the Creator, I just feel like he actually cares what people think, even though he repetitively says he doesn´t.