2024 Metafile Legend
Two data files, meta.txt and rmeta.txt, the former for new releases,
the latter for reissues, compilations, vault music. Fields separated
by '|':
- Points: Make does a numeric sort on this field as first key.
- Artist: Last name '_' first name, such that make can do an
alpha sort on this as second key.
- Title: Album title.
- Label: Label; may be preceded by dates (e.g., 1972 or
1972-74) and comma; may be followed by format (e.g., EP, or 2CD).
- Release date: Written as MM-DD, including '0' to pad to two
digits. "-16" indicates a 2016 release date.
- Flags: Used to specify genre, also whether I have heard the
record. More than one may be set:
- 1: I own a hard copy of the album (could be CDR).
- 2: I've heard the record from a streaming or download source.
- 3: I've done limited sampling of the record, or I'm grading a reissue from an earlier release.
- B: Blues/Gospel/R&B
- C: Country/Americana/Folk
- E: Electronica
- H: Hip-Hop/Rap
- J: Jazz
- K: Classical
- M: Metal
- W: World, both pop and folk, including Latin
- Data: Multiple segments, each separated by comma (','),
preferably sorted alphabetically. Each segment consists of a key
(alpha abbreviation), optionally followed by colon (':') and a
number, which is the rank position of the record on the list, or
a plus ('+'), which indicates an unranked point, or '*N'
for N points. There are two series of data: one from major
sources which are scored 5 (1st place), 4 (2-5th), 3 (6-10th),
2 (11-20th), 1 (anything above 20th); then following a semicolon,
one from minor sources which are generally scored 3 (1st place),
2 (2-5th), 1 (anything above 5th). The keys are listed in the
legend data file (legend-data.txt). Ties aren't marked this year
(in previous years they were marked '*'; sorry, I screwed up).
If a list contains multiple records in a numeric slot (often
by same artist), each are credited (subject to notes below).
The distinction between major and minor is somewhat arbitrary,
but long lists tend to count as major (even if by idiots), and
short and/or unranked lists as minor.
- Comment: Anything else considered a comment. These appear
in the output, but aren't counted.
The legend-data.txt file also consists of fields separated by '|'.
They are:
- Key: The key for the list, used in data above.
- Type: How the list is counted, if any rank in the list
gets more than one point: empty means everything gets one point;
extra points are noted by the cutoff rank, with comma separating
each tier -- e.g., "20,1" gives 2 points to everything ≥ 20
except 3 points ≥ 1.
- Name: The plain name for the list.
- URL: Where to find the list (often just the top of the
list.
- Alt URL: An alternate (unofficial) source for the list
(often these are easier to work with than the actual URL.)
- Comment: Any additional comments. Within this the
following subfields (comma-separated) are noted:
- RX:# Robert Christgau letter grades (points: A:5, A-:4, B+/***: 3, **: 2 *:1, B or less: 0)
- MT:# Michael Tatum letter grades (points same as RC)
- TH:# Tom Hull letter grades (points same as RC)
Since I don't have corresponding lists to work off of, and since I
value their reviews highly, I've decided to score RC, MT, and TH as:
A/A+ 5, A- 4, B+/*** 3, ** 2, * 1; omitting the 2014 (and earlier)
releases. I haven't sucked up all of TH's letter grades -- only those
mentioned by others.
Some general guidelines on which lists were counted (and which not):
- Where separate "international" and "national" lists are provided, only
"international" is counted. Similarly, "local" (state or city) lists are
not counted.
- Most genre lists are counted, except classical, soundtracks, Christian.
I have virtually no interest in metal but have almost always counted metal
lists.
- Honorable mentions or unranked extras added to lists are generally
counted, with '+' instead of rank numbers. Same for unranked lists
(although unless explicitly stated, unnumbered lists are generally
assumed to be top-down).
- Format-specific lists (e.g., EPs, mixtapes) are usually ignored.
EPs occurring in general lists are counted, but singles are generally
not.
- Don't bother with lists that are aggregates of other lists, figuring
they're just approximations of this aggregate. Also don't bother with
reader polls (although I make a couple exceptions).
Lists
The following lists have been counted:
- [45] The Forty-Five [UK] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [AAJ] All About Jazz () -- +4 stars (); mid-year
- [AD] The Arts Desk () -- AOTY 80+()
- [Al] Albumism () -- AOTY 80+
- [AMG] Angry Metal Guy () -- AOTY 80+()
- [AS] American Songwriter [US] () -- AOTY 80+(06-05)
- [AV] AV Club [US] () -- mid-year; AOTY 80+(06-10)
- [BB] Billboard () -- mid-year
- [Blb] Blabbermouth.net () -- AOTY 80+()
- [BPM] Beats Per Minute () -- AOTY 80+
- [BV] Brooklyn Vegan () -- mid-year
- [BV_r] Brooklyn Vegan: Rap () -- mid-year
- [C] Crack [UK] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [Cl] Clash [UK] () -- AOTY 80+(06-05)
- [ClR] Classic Rock [UK] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [CM] Chris Monsen (Perfect Sounds Forever) () -- mid-year
- [Cos] Cosmopolitan () -- mid-year [Samantha Olson]
- [CS] Consequence [of Sound] [US] () -- mid-year 30 (top 10 ++)
- [D] Dork () -- AOTY 80+
- [DiS] Distorted Sound () -- AOTY 80+() -- metal, skipped some early
- [DIY] DIY () -- AOTY 80+
- [DW] Dan Weiss [Riot Riot] () -- so far (05-29).
- [Ev] Evening Standard () -- AOTY 80+()
- [Ex] Exclaim! [Canada] () -- mid-year 25 (top 10 ++); AOTY 80+
- [FO] Far Out [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [G] Guardian [UK] () -- AOTY 80+(06-16), but not all classical; mid-year
- [GB] Gorilla Vs Bear [US] () -- mid-year (top 10 ++)
- [GTV] God Is in the TV () -- AOTY 80+
- [HDX] HipHopDX [US] () -- AOTY 80+(08-31)
- [HG] Hip-Hop Golden Age () -- mid-year
- [HV] Humanizing the Vacuum [US]: Alfred Soto () -- The best albums of 2024: Part 1
- [I] The Independent [UK] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [IT] The Irish Times () -- AOTY 80+()
- [K] Kerrang! () -- AOTY 80+()
- [LBF] The Line of Best Fit [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [LQ] Loud and Quiet [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [LW] Louder Than War [UK] () -- AOTY 80+, mid-year
- [MH] Metal Hammer () -- AOTY 80+()
- [MI] Metal Injection () -- AOTY 80+()
- [Mj] Mojo [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [MO] MusicOMH [UK] () -- AOTY 80+(06-05)
- [MSuk] MetalSucks () -- AOTY 80+
- [Ne] The Needle Drop () -- AOTY 80+, mid-year
- [NME] NME [UK] () -- AOTY 80+, mid-year
- [NR] No Ripcord [UK] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [NT] Northern Transmissions [CAN] () -- AOTY 80+(), mid-year
- [O] The Observer () -- AOTY +80()
- [Ov] Overblown () -- AOTY 80+
- [P] Paste () -- AOTY 80+(06-11), mid-year
- [Pf] Pitchfork () -- AOTY 80+(06-05), + so far (05-24)
- [PM] PopMatters () -- AOTY 80+, mid-year
- [PO] Phil Overeem () [link] -- to May 1, Oct. "very favorite"
- [Qt] The Quietus [UK] () -- MC 80+, mid-year
- [RC] Record Collector [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [RS] Rolling Stone [US] () [link] -- AOTY 80+(06-11); + mid-year
- [RSUK] Rolling Stone [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [RT] Rough Trade [UK] () -- mid-year
- [S] Spin [US] () -- AOTY 80+(06-05)
- [SC] Spectrum Culture () -- AOTY 80+, mid-year
- [Sg] Stereogum [US] (50) [link] -- mid-year (++: 1-10; +: 11-50)
- [Sk] The Skinny [UK] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [Sl] Slant [US] () -- AOTY 80+(), mid-year
- [SLi] Still Listening () -- AOTY 80+(), mid-year
- [Sp] Spill () -- AOTY 80+
- [Spk] Sputnik Music [US] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [SpL] Semipop Life (Brad Luen) () -- min A- (**), min * (*) {5:19-7:14}
- [SSt] Shatter the Standards () -- mid-year
- [T] The Telegraph [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [Tr] Treblezine [US] () [link] -- mid-year
- [U] Uncut [UK] () -- AOTY 80+
- [UCR] Ultimate Classic Rock () -- mid-year
- [Up] Uproxxh () [link] -- mid-year
- [Up_h] Uproxx: Hip-Hop () [link] -- mid-year
- [UR] Under the Radar [US] () -- AOTY 80+
- [V] Variety () -- mid-year (AOTY)
- [W] The Wire () -- MC 80+
- [XCI] Christian Iszchak () -- min A- (**), min * (*) {01:19-09:20,10:04}
- [XJS] John Smallwood () -- Facebook [09-29]
- [XSN] XS Noize [IRL] () -- AOTY 80+
- [am] AllMusic [US] () -- AOTY 80+()
- [bv_c] Brooklyn Vegan: country () -- mid-year
- [cmp] Complex [UK] () -- mid-year (++: 1-10; +: 11-25)
- [e] Esquire [US] () -- mid-year
- [odb] Out Da Box Media () -- best hip hop/soul albums: top 1/3 (no EPs) {1-5}
- [ra] Resident Advisor () -- MC 80+
- [scm] Saving Country Music () -- 8.0+
- [ti] Time [US] () [link] -- mid-year
- [tms_j] The Times: jazz () -- mid-year
- [vu] Vulture: Craig Jenkins () [link] -- mid-year
- [wrti] WRTI [Greg Bryant] () -- mid-year
- [xco] EW: Clifford Ocheltree () -- Facebook (07-01,10-08)
- [xjdc] PJRP: Jeffrey D Callahan () -- FB recent listening reports, min B+ {2-8}
- [xsp] Expert Witness: Stan Piccirilli () -- recent listening ≥B+ {3-7}
- [ysp] Steve Pick () [link] -- {1-5}
Sources
|