IDM Mailing Archive

My PPP account is down tonight for some reason, so the poll announcement and first-round ballot will probably be sent out sometime tomorrow, for those who've been wondering. C.

quoted 14 lines New Artist of the Year

> New Artist of the Year > New Label of the Year > Vinyl Only Release of the Year > Track of the Year > Remix of the Year > Most Under appreciated Label of the Year > Most Under appreciated Artist of the Year > Best Live Show of the Year > > What do you think IDM people? I always enjoy reading the poll results > but the same few labels/artists always seem to get the majority of the > votes year after year while some of the smaller labels (and in my > opinion most interesting music) gets ignored in favor of more widely > available releases.

Considering my luck of late, I'm not even gonna touch this.

quoted 26 lines Will these be the same categories as last year?

> Will these be the same categories as last year? > > Album of the Year > Single of the Year > Compilation of the Year > Chillout Album of the Year > Drum & Bass Album of the Year > Label of the Year > Artist of the Year > > These are good and fine (and I appreciate the effort C-Spot puts into > the poll) but I would like to suggest the following poll categories in > addition to these, which I think would make the poll more interesting > and perhaps turn people who read the results onto something they may > have missed this year? > > New Artist of the Year > New Label of the Year > Vinyl Only Release of the Year > Track of the Year > Remix of the Year > Most Under appreciated Label of the Year > Most Under appreciated Artist of the Year > Best Live Show of the Year > > What do you think IDM people?

Ooh! Ooh! Pick me, pick me! I'd like to second the proposed New Artist/Label and Track/Remix o' the year, just because they broaden the horizons of the poll a bit without making it too big or tricky for the poller to handle (in my estimation, anyway; Mr. Hilker's take on this may vary :D). I'm pretty much indifferent toward the other categories. "Underappreciated" artist/label? How do you vote for that? Clearly whoever WON that category would not be underappreciated ;), besides which there's liable to be a lot of overlap between that category and the best overall category. Make it easier. Just look for the ones who did get nominated, but didn't get many votes; SOMEONE thought it was the best, but not many. Ergo, it's underappreciated. There. You're done. It worked for me w/ last year's poll. Bill van Loo also suggested categories involving items purchased but not released in '98. An admirable idea considering how many of us on the list are playing catch-up, but imo it would be too hard to implement on a poll; you'd have FAR too many nominations, running the gamut from SAW1 to _Give Peace a Dance, Volume 2_! Better just to discuss these releases on the list than to try and determine which ones are the most popular years after the fact. So if you find an old release that you believe merits our attention, by all means quit your lurking and tell us about it! Anyone who wants more info can go to Hyperreal's website. Last I checked, they still had a backlog of all the previous IDM polls Also, someone suggested a most anticipated section. Again, this is what the list itself is for. Trying to determine a MOST anticipated artist/release is pretty much pointless. For one thing, it's too subjective; it'd just be a popularity contest based on what the artists had done this year. For another, you'd probably get a lot of abstentions, as there aren't too many people in the know about these things aside from the record exec's on the list, and guess who they're gonna vote for :). Well, that's my little contribution to the debate. Hope I didn't bore/annoy/offend/incinerate (circle one) anyone too much. --Andy Wells

In message <000001be2283$24126cc0$55d52599@cartman>, Andrew Scott Wells <eggnostic@email.msn.com> writes

quoted 2 lines Well, that's my little contribution to the debate. Hope I didn't

> Well, that's my little contribution to the debate. Hope I didn't >bore/annoy/offend/incinerate (circle one) anyone too much.

I think it's all kerrazy....i think it should be as it was, *except* two polls....one where you vote for easily obtainable music in each category and the other where you can vote for the difficult to find stuff... -- Ben Coffer http://www.hybridgame.demon.co.uk/

Regarding the IDM Poll:

quoted 14 lines These are good and fine (and I appreciate the effort C-Spot puts into

> These are good and fine (and I appreciate the effort C-Spot puts into > the poll) but I would like to suggest the following poll categories in > addition to these, which I think would make the poll more interesting > and perhaps turn people who read the results onto something they may > have missed this year? > > New Artist of the Year > New Label of the Year > Vinyl Only Release of the Year > Track of the Year > Remix of the Year > Most Under appreciated Label of the Year > Most Under appreciated Artist of the Year > Best Live Show of the Year

I also would be in favor of these. For my money, though, what would _really_ fit my tastes would be something like these, too:

quoted 3 lines Best Album purchased in 1998 (not necessarily released in 1998)

> Best Album purchased in 1998 (not necessarily released in 1998) > Best Single purchased in 1998 (not necessarily released in 1998) > Best Compilation purchased in 1998 (not necessarily released in 1998)

etc. The reason I suggest this is that 80% of what I buy in any given year wasn't put out that year. Case in point: I just managed to find a copy of the Detroit Escalator Company's album on Ferox ("Soundtrack [313]"). It would be my chillout album of the year, most likely, except it got released in 1995. I know for a fact that many of you face similar situations. Or is that getting much too broad to conduct effectively? Chris Hilker, I know you put in a _lot_ of work organizing this poll, so it'd have to be up to you (unless having volunteers would help?). Cheers, Bill -- Sigma6 Interactive Media / http://www.sigma6.com dj marathon: "fibre" up now @ http://www.flatplastic.com/

quoted 1 line Will these be the same categories as last year?

>Will these be the same categories as last year?

quoted 7 lines Album of the Year

>Album of the Year >Single of the Year >Compilation of the Year >Chillout Album of the Year >Drum & Bass Album of the Year >Label of the Year >Artist of the Year

IMO, would also be nice to add: Artist to watch for in 1999 Most Anticipated LP/release for 1999

At 03:15 AM 12/7/98 -0800, Gonzi Merchan wrote:

quoted 8 lines New Artist of the Year

>New Artist of the Year >New Label of the Year >Vinyl Only Release of the Year >Track of the Year >Remix of the Year >Most Under appreciated Label of the Year >Most Under appreciated Artist of the Year >Best Live Show of the Year

In addition to the Under-appreciated Label and Artist categories, I'd add Under-appreciated Track and/or Album. I'd also like to see Most Overrated Label, Artist, Album, and Track categories. Also, how about Most Prolific Artist and Missing In Action categories?

quoted 5 lines What do you think IDM people? I always enjoy reading the poll results

>What do you think IDM people? I always enjoy reading the poll results >but the same few labels/artists always seem to get the majority of the >votes year after year while some of the smaller labels (and in my >opinion most interesting music) gets ignored in favor of more widely >available releases.

The nature of record polls is that those releases which have been heard by the most people have a better chance of winning. <rant mode on> As for "smaller labels get[ting] ignored", I'd say they get enough attention on this list as it is. There are only a handful of people reviewing records, and it seems that most of them focus on records that I can't find in my local shops from small labels that I otherwise wouldn't hear of. My guess is that there are a substantial number of people on this list that would like to hear more about records that they actually have a chance of hearing for themselves (hint hint: if this is how you feel, post more reviews!). I don't subscribe to the "the more obscure it is the better it is" theory. These artists tend to stay obscure for a reason. It seems that the people who are really good go from obscure to widespread distribution rather quickly, like Amon Tobin. Usually when I bother to track down some obscure release, I have a hard time believing that you guys are raving about it for any other reason than your having one of 300 copies (it's awfully suspicious that there aren't more negative reviews of these releases). Accuse me of having populist tastes if you will, but I have trouble finding people in my town who have heard artists like TPower, Underground Resistance, or Black Dog. Besides, unlike some of you college kids living on Daddy's Visa card, subsisting on Top Ramen, or however the hell it is you manage to drop so much on records, I've got a fairly limited record budget. I have to stick to records which I have a high probability of liking, and depend on compilations and remixes for exposure to new artists. Che

Che wrote:

quoted 16 lines At 03:15 AM 12/7/98 -0800, Gonzi Merchan wrote:

> > At 03:15 AM 12/7/98 -0800, Gonzi Merchan wrote: > > >New Artist of the Year > >New Label of the Year > >Vinyl Only Release of the Year > >Track of the Year > >Remix of the Year > >Most Under appreciated Label of the Year > >Most Under appreciated Artist of the Year > >Best Live Show of the Year > > In addition to the Under-appreciated Label and Artist categories, I'd add > Under-appreciated Track and/or Album. I'd also like to see Most Overrated > Label, Artist, Album, and Track categories. Also, how about Most Prolific > Artist and Missing In Action categories?

I'd like to second the nomination of a most overrated category... 1998 was unusually distinctive by the sheer volume of mediocre releases put out. Am I the only person on this list that doesn't go nuts over every Warp/Skam/Rephlex release that's put out? I'm not saying they're all bad... well... it's my opinion anyways. leif (np:autechre-incunabula)

quoted 1 line Drum & Bass Album of the Year

> Drum & Bass Album of the Year

Why does this category exist whereas Best Techno or House record doesn't? I don't see why only dnb deserves a spot on the poll.. I mean there are some amazing house/techno releases that are more relevant to this list than most of the dnb I hear nowadays. It'd be nice to see some ppl's favorite non-breakbeat idmish stuff. Elliot   

On Tue, 8 Dec 1998, e wrote:

quoted 7 lines Drum & Bass Album of the Year

> > Drum & Bass Album of the Year > > Why does this category exist whereas Best Techno or House record > doesn't? I don't see why only dnb deserves a spot on the poll.. I mean > there are some amazing house/techno releases that are more relevant to > this list than most of the dnb I hear nowadays. It'd be nice to see some > ppl's favorite non-breakbeat idmish stuff.

hm. a very good point. * #### a disturbance in a system. #### laerm. @voicenet.com ##:# she beckoned to the sentry of his high religious mood she said, "i'll make a place between my legs, i'll show you solitude"