I always assume my readers mostly agree with me or they wouldn’t be here, but that’s not always the case — sometimes, Britney Spears is your most anticipated album of 2011. All the absurd glory of the 2010 Rawky Awards after the jump.

Album of the Year: Beach House – Teen Dream. This was a close one: only a handful of votes separated this album from Kanye West (No. 2), The National, The Arcade Fire and Deerhunter. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti had only 1% of the vote. No real consensus from the write-ins, either, which means this was either a very good year or a pretty weak one. Let’s go with the former.

Jam of the Year: Kanye West – “Monster.” Not even close on this one. The Radio Dept.’s “Heaven’s on Fire” was No. 2.

Weirdest indie trend: Indie rockers topping the Billboard charts. I’d disagree — we’ve been on the verge of this for years — but I guess the Arcade Fire going No. 1 is still a pretty big shock.

Favorite short-lived beverage phenomenon: Four Loko, with 52% of the vote. I actually iced a bro this year and immediately iced myself in solidarity. So much shame. A week later, it vanished from the Internet as if it’d never happened.

Favorite rock critic-endorsed hip-hop act: Kanye West. Yup. Then Das Racist. Not a lot of fans of Waka Flocka Flame out there in Rawk-land.

Favorite genre name for “witch house”: “Are you fucking kidding me with this shit,” with 56% of the vote. THANK YOU. Don’t ever change.

Best new band of 2010: Best Coast (17%), followed by Warpaint (16%). Poor Memoryhouse got all of 1 vote, and it wasn’t mine, either.

Most underrated band: The Radio Dept. I agree! Even in a year where the band earned a much-deserved Best New Music and frequently topped the Hype Machine, it still felt like nobody had actually listened to them. I’m glad you did. (This is partially the band’s own fault for not touring or releasing videos or doing the things that bands who want people to listen to them usually do. Oh, well.) A lot of love for straight-ahead rockers the Soft Pack and Tokyo Police Club here, too.

Most anticipated 2011 album: Wilco (word!), followed by Panda Bear (sigh). Guys, trust me on this one: You’re going to want to anticipate the Destroyer album. A few write-ins here for Fleet Foxes, who I unfortunately left off the list. Whoever wrote in Britney Spears, um, congratulations?

Favorite Rawkblog discovery: A few for Warpaint, one for Sea Snakes (yes!) and a few for my Twitter account. Which is not a band, but maybe I should start one.

How was yr year: “Good, thanks for asking!” “Worst one yet.” “Decent.” “Meh.” “Meh.” “Meh.” “Pretty chill, bro.” “9.2.” Jealous of that guy.

Thanks for playing, folks. Looking forward to doing this again next year and making fun of 2011′s made-up genre trends.

Previously: 2009 Rawky Awards | 2008 Rawky Awards | More: Best of 2010

It’s my favorite time of the year: Dragon Wars The Rawky Awards! For the third year in a row, after the jump, you, dear reader, can thrust your trusty opinion into the critical fray. Votes will be tallied from right now until Sunday night at 11:59 p.m., with winners (and losers) revealed next week. Choose wisely, my friends.

Boys and girls, welcome to the 2nd Annual Rawky Awards, indie rock’s most discerning user-voted poll party. Hundreds of you voted on the album of the year, the best new band, the worst hipster drivel we pretended to like and more — all the winners and losers after the jump. B.Y.O.B.!

Album of the Year: TIE! Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective.
This one went down to the wire, but as 2009 winds to a close, you couldn’t quite choose between AnCo and the Grizz. (No tie-breaker from me — I voted for Dirty Projectors.) Wish Ed Droste was still on Twitter for this one. Phoenix came in third; bizarrely, Bill Callahan’s 95th best album of the 2000s didn’t get a single vote. Too baritone-y?

Song of the Year: Phoenix – “1901″
Crushed it. You guys officially have better taste than Pitchfork: “Two Weeks” was second, “My Girls” third.

Favorite Ryan Schreiber Tweet: “if you’ve never had a chicken cutlet + melted pepperjack sandwich from jesse’s deli on atlantic, you haven’t lived every day of my life.”
Miraculously, this one beat the one about DJing with Beyonce’s sister. Team chicken cutlets?

Best Name For Chillwave: Gorillavsbearcore.
Sorry, Chris. Actually calling it chillwave ran second.

Photo by David Greenwald

Worst Hipster Band We Pretended To Like This Year: Wavves
Nathan Williams’ terrible mess of a shitgaze “band” annihilated this category with 41% of the vote (the widest margin for anything on the list), and while I’m glad dude’s been tossed aside as quickly as yesterday’s RSS feeds, I can’t help but have a little sympathy for the guy: His fall from Hype Machine grace came after he played a drug-plagued set at the Primavera Sound Festival on a stage sponsored by Pitchfork, which was then reviewed by Pitchfork’s boss (presumably on an all-expenses paid trip to Spain for “work” between DJ sessions with Solange) to embarrass ol’ Nathan (the festival was not otherwise reviewed on Pitchfork, which would’ve been a conflict of interest — because somehow this wasn’t), who then did an interview with Pitchfork where he was basically forced to apologize for being a big, terrible fuck-up. At a stage sponsored by Pitchfork. Look, I don’t know what money changed hands with who on this, but I can’t imagine this situation not involving a naive stoner guitarist getting fucked in the ass by a corrupt media conglomerate. That said: Wavves really suck, and we all knew that back in January.

Most Overlooked Band: Division Day
Actually, you voted for “Other” with a healthy range of choices, but none had as many votes as the L.A. locals. I’m glad to see the D-Day fans out and about — but, uh, we should probably start buying their albums now.

Photo by David Greenwald

Best New Band: Harlem Shakes
Phew! They beat Girls by a nose, though I was surprised to see a lack of passion for Cymbals Eat Guitars — they should’ve been this year’s Wolf Parade. Great record, incendiary live show. But the Shakes, as you know, were greater.

Most Anticipated Album: The National
Another huge victory (33%), with Spoon the only act in spitting distance. Seriously though, guys, get excited for the Radio Dept. If it ever comes out.

Thanks for voting — my picks for the year’s best stuff in the coming days.

Previously: 2008 Rawky Awards

It’s here, ladies and gentleman: The 2009 (and second annual!) Rawky Awards. You didn’t let me down last year, so I expect similarly smart choices this time around. Voting will be open for one week only, with the polls closing at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 10 — so no dithering. Not even you, Barry. Enter the madness after the jump.

You voted, and the results are in: the first-ever Rawky Awards are an unprecedented success, with you fine readers making great picks (read: picks that I agree with) and voting in droves. Thanks for playing — the results are after the jump.

Album of the Year: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
They didn’t quite beat the write-ins but as your consensus pick, Fleet Foxes topped the list. In a year where I’ve been confounded by so many of the chart-toppers, I’m glad to see the Foxes rise to the top of just about every year-end list — especially this one. TV on the Radio dropped in at No. 2; I like that record, but guess I should’ve written a Critical Backlash before it was too late, huh? (Related: Fleet Foxes – Live at Spaceland)

Worst Trend: Hipster Blogs Unironically Hating On Hipsters
Ouch! This was a joke, folks — especially given how often American Apparel-wearing me drops the h-word. I hope people were voting for Pitchfork or something. That said, a lot of you hate hipsters, too — “All of the Above, or ‘Brooklyn’” was a close second. And people talk about self-hating Jews…

Worthiest Buzz Band: Fleet Foxes
The year’s best new band ran away with this one, scoring an Obama-like 53% of the vote. (More on that guy later.) In last place were the Vivian Girls, with a teensy 5% of the vote — guess I was right about them, huh?

Best Band That Blogs Forgot: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
The Boris guys have been Rawkblog faves for years (full disclosure: they’ve slept on my floor) so I’m sure they appreciate the love. They dominated this category with 37% of the vote. The Henry Clay People and their straight-shooting anthems weren’t among the options, but they cruised through the write-in votes.

Best Post-Guilty Pleasure Pop Hit: Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma”
This was another joke! But a jam nonetheless, and one that won 54% of the vote. I voted for Miley.

Best Live Band: The Hold Steady
Considering your only options were the Hold Steady, the Hold Steady and Girl Talk, it was obvious how this was going to end, but even with a write-in option, America’s best bar band notched an impressive victory. I saw them twice this year, and believe me, they deserve it.

Best Indie Rock-Laden Teen Soap Opera: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist beat the decidedly less indie Gossip Girl by a single vote. It certainly had mine with its surprisingly not-disappointing tour de Brooklyn — or maybe it’s just that Rawkblog crushes Michael Cera and Kat Dennings like the same bands and frequent the same New York hangs that I did last summer. Ah, memories. Sadly, poor 90210 couldn’t compete, even though they name-dropped motherfucking Division Day in the pilot.

Best Movie of 2008: The Dark Knight
Anyone who didn’t like The Dark Knight is a crazy person (holla at you later, Golden Globes voters), but I’m impressed that Synecdoche, New York (my personal favorite, and certainly not everybody’s cup of meta) finished second — and shocked that Nick & Norah finished last given that 46% of you liked it enough to vote on it in the other film category. (Related: Deeper Into Movies)

2008′s Awesomest Thing: Barack Obama
Our new president-elect won the most votes, the highest percentage and the largest margin of victory thanks to you Rawkblog liberals — and uncoincidentally, Sarah Palin finished second. Bummed that you guys aren’t keeping up with the Jonases, though.

Most Anticipated CD/LP of 2009: Wilco
Despite the easy-(dad) rockin’, not-so-lauded Sky Blue Sky, you guys are more excited for Wilco than Animal Collective and Ryan Adams (tied for No. 2). And yes, Ryan Adams is tied for No. 2 with blogosphere/IRL favorites Animal Collective, a statistic that brings my Ryan-lovin’ heart nothing but joy. Let’s hug it out, pals.

What Was Your Favorite Discovery on Rawkblog This Year?
No real winner for this one, but people seemed to like the bootlegs. I was hoping to see folks like Dylan Mondegreen and assorted indie-poppers, but there’s always next year.

What Do You Want To See On Rawkblog In 2009?
Responses were mixed here — some of you hate Ryan Adams and some of you want more. You will so obviously be getting more. And I hereby promise more jamz in 2009 — a return to weekly-ish bootlegs, a song every single morning and more lost gems from music’s endless Canon to Examine. On the news end, we’re going to hone in on bands we love — Wilco, Ryan Adams, the National and the like. If they so much as move a muscle, you’ll hear about it here.

Thanks folks — on to 2009. Come back later this week for my picks for the year’s best, including the top 50 songs and the top 30 albums, but for now, leave your thoughts in the comments.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – “Rainy Day French Elevator” (Rawkblog exclusive!): mp3
Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal”: mp3
The Hold Steady – “Constructive Summer” (live): mp3
***

Best of 2008: We’re gonna blog something this winter. Click below for more.

]]> http://www.rawkblog.net/2008/12/2008-rawky-awards-winners-losers/feed/ 0 http://www.rawkblog.net/2008/12/1694/ http://www.rawkblog.net/2008/12/1694/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:08:00 +0000 http://www.rawkblog.net/?p=1694 Rawkys coming Monday: Sorry, folks, big day at the office and no time to format the glorious results of The Rawky Awards, so you’ll have to be patient. But be proud of yourselves, folks — you nailed it.

]]> http://www.rawkblog.net/2008/12/1694/feed/ 0 http://www.rawkblog.net/2008/12/5-hours-left-to-vote-for-the-rawkys/ http://www.rawkblog.net/2008/12/5-hours-left-to-vote-for-the-rawkys/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:00:00 +0000 http://www.rawkblog.net/?p=1691 Guys, Gossip Girl and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist are neck-and-neck. Look into your heart and do what’s right, before it’s too late — the polls close at 8 p.m. EST. Results first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve peeked at the numbers, and so far, you’re making me proud. Vote now and keep it up!

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