By the way, when reading all this stuff it's crucial to keep in mind what Robert Christgau says: consensus has consequences. Here's the most recent of those columns I could find after a quick search (it's from 2014, though!):
https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2014-01.php
Years go by, trends change, records nobody in their right mind considered bitchen or relevant may eventually resurface as masterpieces that everybody was too stupid to give more than one spin. And sometimes they're not that obscure, if at all! I keep saying that every time Sam Phillips makes an album it's one of the year's best, but nobody here gives a flying fuck (your loss, mooks). I can guarantee you that Diane Cluck's upcoming album will be gorgeous (I've heard the songs recorded live and she'd have to get hit in the head by a meteorite to ruin them in the studio), but since "wyrd folk" (good LAWD what a dumb tag) ain't where it is anymore, it won't show up on any goddamn list. You know who
will be listed, inevitably? Kanye West, whose 2020 LP,
Michaelo Ricardo, will consist of praises to Mike Pence over Ray Conniff samples.
Shit, even a band as great and consistent as Wye Oak, praised by everyone and your grandmother just a few years ago, got
barely a mention in 2018, even though they made one of their best,
The Loudest I Call, The Faster It Runs. To a degree, this isn't unlike, say, the Golden Globes, where the critics get smitten with a show; then, regardless of its merits, they move on to the next shiny thing. Hugh Laurie won the award for his performance in the first two seasons of
House, but when he and the program reached their quality peak in season three, the vote went to the new kid in town, Jon Hamm.
On the other hand, some universal acclaim is certainly deserved. I do believe Weyes Blood made a phenomenal work that will stand the test of time. Just take these bloody lists with a kilo of salt and try not to choke on it.