Topic: RAWK Album of the Year 2018- Your Queen is a Reptile - Sons of Kemet

[Chip Evans]

IF YOU SEE MISTAKES HOLLA! dry jan ended about 6 hours ago

I'll put the places in later - Julia Holter rounds out the top 10

[Filler.]

RAWK is the Mercury Music Panel Winners of 2018. We have righted a wrong somehow. Well in everyone!

[Filler.]

IF YOU SEE MISTAKES HOLLA! dry jan ended about 6 hours ago

That is almost HALF a month! Have a good night off


Great list. Scroll down those and you get a decent picture. Plus loads to take a dip on

[Filler.]

Bit upset that I was the only one who voted for Fire! tho.


Really good pre match album: Trust me 

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/jr9U9PtLjCY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/jr9U9PtLjCY</a>

[Chip Evans]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/ombKxYjnE7U" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/ombKxYjnE7U</a>

duhduh duhduhduh

[Chip Evans]

The New Roll Of Honour

2018:   Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile
2017:   War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
2016:   David Bowie - Blackstar
2015:   Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2014:   The War On Drugs - Lost In A Dream
2013:   Arcade Fire - Reflektor
2012:   Chromatics - Kill for Love
2011:   PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2010:   Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
2009:   Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2008:   Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
2007:   The National - Boxer
2006:   Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat

Congrats

[FlashingBlade]

Well done Chip , great work

[FlashingBlade]

RAWK In Music is hep again

[Chip Evans]

RAWK In Music is hep again

For the first time since Animal Collective in my eyes.  Bowie year doesn't count - they nearly picked Radiohead

Well done Chip , great work

Well done yourself, smooth sailing from day 1. 

[Filler.]

Really great to meet up with a few of you in Sterdam. I still remember that night when I mentioned the possibility of it at home with great fondness. I also will remember missing my train stop to Birmingham Airport reading a particularly pornographic chapter  from John Keenan's 'Memorial Device' and having to cross over to find a train back. I'll remember being on my own for the first time in years and not having to look around me to see if the kids had stayed close by and how good that was.

I'll be pleased that I worked out vague instructions in where we were meeting up and nailing it first time. (seemed perfectly obvious). Stayed at an expensive hotel but was so worth it in the end. Stedlijk Museum over the road... walk thru the park late at night. Was grand. Trams into town, get on/off. Lovely. Highlight of the year.

[disgraced cake]

Wide Awake was robbed, imo!

I've not listened to so many of these, including the eventual winner, I'll have a lot of catching up to do in 2019.

[vagabond]

The result I wanted to see, great job everyone.

[Seebab]

I have yet to even listen to Sons of Kemet haha. That's a first for me. Guess I have some listening to do.

Well done everyone and thanks once again guys for organizing this! Much appreciated.

[AndyMuller]

Fuck it, then.

1. Pusha T - Daytona
2. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
3. Rival Consoles - Persona
4. Noname - Room 25
5. Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus
6. Daniel Avery - Song for Alpha
7. Miss Red - K.O.
8. Idriss Ackamoor and the Pyramids - An Angel Fell
9. Anderson East - Encore
10. Sleep - The Sciences

11. Rolling Blackouts CF - Hope Downs
12. Hot Snakes - Jericho Sirens
13. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Sparkle Hard
14. Hermit and the Recluse - Orpheus vs the Sirens
15. Skee Mask - Compro
16. Tropical Fuck Storm - A laughing Death in Meatspace
17. Modern Studies - Welcome Strangers
18. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
19. Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin
20. Damien Jurado - The Horizon Just Laughed

It's a bit all over the place to be honest. Might do a write up for the top ten at some point, but probably won't get round to it. In truth, after Daytona - which I properly fucking loved - I wasn't really sure how to order any of them. I could have done this list in a week's time and it would look pretty different. Part of me only put the Sons of Kemet album at two cos I like the idea of it being RAWK's album of the year and after seeing it in so many lists feel it might have a chance, but I have been listening to it a lot since seeing it recommended by so many folks on here, and it is very, very good. Pretty sure that new Tropical Fuck Storm album would be a lot higher in a wee bit, but I've only listened to it twice so far so felt I couldn't place it too far up.

Can I take credit for the Pusha T recommendation? 

[Alonso_The_Assassin]

Brilliant stuff, Chip/FB.

Seeing the Kemet at Primavera. Hopefully will be doing it knowing we've got the 19th in the bag

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Seeing the Kemet at Primavera. Hopefully will be doing it knowing we've got the 19th in the bag

I pitched Primavera as this year's family holiday...did not succeed. Fair enough I suppose!

[cloggypop]

 Forgot that the Guitar Wolf gig was this year. Sensational set, probably the most fun I've ever had at a show. Not quite as brilliant as the IDLES however.

Guitar Wolf are one of the best live bands I've ever seen. Certainly the loudest in a small bar. The audience was split about 50/50 between sheer delight and abject terror. Fantastic.

[Djozer]

A more than worthy winner, I reckon.

Cheers Chip and FB for sorting this all out, and cheers everyone for partaking. Loads of good things on that list that I've missed I'm sure, so I've got lots of stuff to check out.

[Djozer]

Can I take credit for the Pusha T recommendation? 

You can, mate. 

[AndyMuller]

You can, mate. 

Boss isn’t he? Hope he drops again this year to be honest!

[IanZG]

Nice one, thanks for organizing this. Though it seems that the Arctic Monkeys album is listed twice:

Arctic Monkeys   Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino   27
Arctic Monkeys   Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino   22

Must admit I never even heard of the winning album, will give it a listen next week, excited to see what the fuss is about.

[Chip Evans]

Nice one, thanks for organizing this. Though it seems that the Arctic Monkeys album is listed twice:

Arctic Monkeys   Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino   27
Arctic Monkeys   Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino   22

Must admit I never even heard of the winning album, will give it a listen next week, excited to see what the fuss is about.

Doh. Thanks, will amend!

Edit: Done. Straight in at 11. Apologies for the mistake.

[bigal]

Much appreciated, thanks for the hard work. It is a good album, wasn't on my list but the threads on here got me into it and it gets plenty of play.
Kacey Musgraves appears twice too, 39 and 2.

[Chip Evans]

Much appreciated, thanks for the hard work. It is a good album, wasn't on my list but the threads on here got me into it and it gets plenty of play.
Kacey Musgraves appears twice too, 39 and 2.

Ha! Thanks. I was stuck into the leftover christmas wine of Friday

[StockyRacistBannedTwat]

The only 2 albums l know in that list are
HMHB - Get your fuckin hedge cut
All them witches - ATW

I am either out of touch or I just listen to better music than you lot,I prefer the latter 

[IanZG]

If only I'd have given the Idles record a listen earlier, it would've won the AOTY, what a brilliant record.

[Red_Bear]

If only I'd have given the Idles record a listen earlier, it would've won the AOTY, what a brilliant record.

And if I'd got my arse into gear and done a list, it would have won too!

[damomad]

If only I'd have given the Idles record a listen earlier, it would've won the AOTY, what a brilliant record.

It really is, I can't stop listening to it and to think there's all those other albums on the list I'm missing out on!

[FlashingBlade]

If only I'd have given the Idles record a listen earlier, it would've won the AOTY, what a brilliant record.

Or if more had listened to Sons of Kemet  that would have won by more points!

[telekon]

It's midnight. Polls are closed.

Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile is the RAOTY   and has taken it (narrowly) from Idles and Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever. 

This brings me unending joy, I've gotten into Jazz this year. Wasn't planing too.

BURN UKIP AND FUCK THE TORIES

I genuinely love it, I've been waiting 10 years of voting to have an album of the year.  Flashing Blade has promised to write to them.

Favourite verses

Acquired this taste for London Pride
Spread my wings in these noxious skies
In these streets, these streets where foxes hide
I'm not yet old and I'm so wise
I take this strife in my stride

I must admit, it's tough at times
But most don't like it, I dive in
This never never never never
Ending pressure piling on
I'm still here still unruly
All sound and all fury

All frown and all fury
All gas and all fury
No peers, no jury
Burn UKIP, fuck the Tories
Fuck the fascists, end of story

Fuck 'em all, fuck 'em truly
Call me a roach, 'cause I'm resilient
I'm born strong, the son of an immigrant
Struggling element
And I'll be here
I'll be here when your cities are sediment
And only your borders and fences are left
I'll be here when your banks stop selling debt
And all your leaders stop selling death
And you've lost all relevance
In the corner with your pen and paper
Scribing your last will and testament

I'm still here  (to infinity)


Will post the extended points and results in the morning.


Thanks to voters.  Great competition this year. FUCK THE WAR ON DRUGS

That's so fucking cool! I got into them way late so they were only in my top 20, would've pinched a top 10 now probably.
My Queen is Mamie Phipps Clark has such a dirty and funky bass groove it should almost be illegal! Dangerous!

Thanks a bunch Chip and Flashing for putting it all together. Best threads of the forum these. 

[IanZG]

Or if more had listened to Sons of Kemet  that would have won by more points!

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a "Sons of Kemet doesn't deserve to win" post, I thought the record was an enjoyable listen, just wanted to note how late I was to the Idles bandwagon.

[vagabond]

First time I think that my top 3 picks are also the top 3 for the whole vote.

[BarryCrocker]

Sons of Kemet   Your Queen Is A Reptile   130

SNIP

The Skull Defekts   The Skull Defekts   1

Fantastic work and greatly appreciated. It's amazing how many artists these year threads have brought me to.

While we're still in here is there a possibility that we could have some sort of token award for anyone who's top 10 albums aggregate into score?

My mates run a comp each year based on Australia's Triple J Top 100 songs. You get points for each one of your selections based on where they appear in the final 100. You get zero if they don't make the cut, 1 point for 100 through to 99 for #1. We have a token trophy that is granted to the winner to hold for the year.

[ChrisOH]

Great effort this year Chip.

Sons of Kemet is a weird one for me, I appreciate how excellent it is but there is something in the timbre of a saxophone that just does not connect with me. First thing I learned in Uni about music was that you will also be your own contradiction, and whilst the album did not make my top 10, My Queen is Anna Julia Cooper is an absolute banging tune that I would proudly share if I done a top 2018 songs playlist.

[Chip Evans]

Sons of Kemet is a weird one for me, I appreciate how excellent it is but there is something in the timbre of a saxophone that just does not connect with me.

There's maybe something in that.  He's very aggressive and energetic in his playing and has said in interviews he wants the sax to be percussive, almost sounding like someone rapping/MCing and he gets more influences from those types of sources rather than traditional jazz. I just find him him really smart with melody, it's really accessible but has layers the more you get to know it.

I agree though, there's bands I just can't get into, usually because of the sound/tone of an instrument on an album, vocal levels, drums, amp tone. 

[ChrisOH]

There's maybe something in that.  He's very aggressive and energetic in his playing and has said in interviews he wants the sax to be percussive, almost sounding like someone rapping/MCing and he gets more influences from those types of sources rather than traditional jazz. I just find him him really smart with melody, it's really accessible but has layers the more you get to know it.

I agree though, there's bands I just can't get into, usually because of the sound/tone of an instrument on an album, vocal levels, drums, amp tone.

I get that so much much in the song I mentioned but not in the album as a whole, as much as I want to aha. There's almost something polyrhythmic in it, which is something I get from the Daughters album in my top 10. But then the instrumentation is more to my liking there.

Basic analogy but different flavours for different people, all be eating ready salted otherwise.

[jackh]

4. BC Camplight - Deportation Blues

Syncopation, distorted guitars, beach boys melodies, and jangle. The latest chapter in Brian's surrealist and often dystopian life story is portrayed with Deportation Blues. Crisis of legal identity, an Orwellian uppercut on Theresa May, and a love song to his dog.

My eggs are fried
I can't seem to stay alive
I pet my dog
Now he's on fire

I hate my wife
I'm never married
I'm in a weird place now

9. BC Camplight - Deportation Blues

Heard I'm in a Weird Place Now on the radio a few weeks ago and it really caught my attention.  Glad I've seen BC Camplight pop up again here - have just enjoyed listening to I'm Desperate and I'm looking forward to exploring a bit more.

[telekon]

It's only academic at this point but I did a re-shuffle to put Sons Of Kemet a well deserved top ten place at #9 and the addition of Nord & Syd's beautiful and sad Swedish twee.

Created this playlist for my favorite 20 tunes of the 2018. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1gJbLGrmvIzXpS76DclDSz