ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

Here’s your Top 77 Albums of 2019 Spotify Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7N1gQj4VAAJEEHY4MbZNOW

As with the singles poll, we'd be happy to see anyone build an accompanying YouTube/Tidal/Apple/Amazon/Pono-for-your-Zune playlist, but Spotify is all I'm personally maintaining. Please feel free to post here if you want to take on an alternate service.

Also as with singles, this is run by Moka (images and rollout), myself (playlist and rollout) and seandalai (tabulation). I'll be linking each entry to its respective ILM artist/album threads and a noteworthy, generally laudatory online album review of note as a point of entry (NB: posting of reviews are neither an endorsement of opinions nor quality of writing).

Is this lineup likely to be as unpredictable as the 2019 singles were? Or has that poll already tipped our hand as to ILM's collective taste? I think you'll find we still have some surprises left and, hopefully, a fair amount of new music for you from the year past to liven up the year ahead.

I'll aim to knock out 77 to 61 today and start posting shortly. Talk amongst yourselves!

whoop whoop!

https://cdn-radiotime-logos.tunein.com/s226064g.png

I think you'll find we still have some surprises left...

Purple Mountains to get 78'd

Bookmark set!

https://i.imgur.com/0bu78ww.jpg
#77 – Cate le Bon – Reward (181 points, 6 votes)

Cate Le Bon - classic or dud

https://thequietus.com/articles/26656-cate-le-bon-reward-review

TOO GOTH

woooo

let it be known I adopted this DN before NV started with all that

here's to enduring crazytimes

I could never really get into this one, but love that Cate le Bon is getting more attention

love this record, feels like the prettiest possible descendant of early scritti politti at points

too lowwwwwww

https://i.imgur.com/i70kXf3.jpg
#76 – Laurel Halo – DJ Kicks (182 points, 5 votes)

Laurel Halo

laurel halo albums/eps poll

https://www.popmatters.com/laurel-halo-dj-kicks-review-2631752690.html

could’ve sworn this was older than 2019

i'm here and ready to post

I think I voted for the Cate Le Bon but I'm not sure

It's a great art-pop record

great start

5/6 votes needed to be in this is a nice threshold. Bring it on!

wasn't too keen on the Cate Le Bon song that placed in tracks but the Gorky's connection is interesting? Is it similar throughout?

https://i.imgur.com/VGz3Xz2.jpg
#75 – Better Oblivion Community Center – s/t (182 points, 6 votes)

Better Oblivion Community Center

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/better-oblivion-community-center-better-oblivion-community-center/

The Cate Le Bon did very little for me, I'm afraid (too much self-affected quirkiness?), but it's always nice to see Laurel Halo in a 77 (except when she's 'singing', of course).

how many ballots were there, out of curiosity?

never heard of this

Better Oblivion CC was the first 2019 album I liked. "Dylan Thomas" still the best tune.

The album's too nice to have made my ballot.

Oberst "side projects" continue to be more reliable than the main event.

Spotify has been insisting for months I should be into this BOCC album.

xp, on ballot numbers: you'd need to ask seanandalai

Oh, I thought I hadn't heard of this one but I had heard that Oberst was doing something new, so I guess I'd sort of semi-heard of it? Not sure how much I care about actually listening to it, though.

Simon, how could you! New Bright Eyes this year and we all can’t wait.

Never got around to giving this a proper listen, but I liked some of what I did hear.

Is that *the* Conor Oberst? I think I'll pass.

prettiest possible descendant of early scritti politti at points

Now this hadn't occurred to me! I think I dig it.

I voted for the CLB record. I really didn't think I liked her before this point. "Daylight Matters" prolly is kinda indicative, yeah.

I'm more interested in BOCC as a Phoebe Bridgers side project than a Conor Oberst side project.

Did any other DJ Kicks place in previous years? I know some are 'higher concept' than others

Didn't vote for the Laurel Halo DJ Kicks but it is a great mix. The run of "Lachowa" -> "Koraimer Bro" -> "Temptation" in the middle is fire.

Also, 2017-Stranger in the Alps, 2018-boygenius, 2019-BOCC is impressive.

better oblivion community center is... an ok record

Reward was the first Cate Le Bon album I really got into. It was on my long list.

There are a couple of nice moments on the Better Oblivion Community Center album, but it needed a lot less Conor Oberst.

Decent record, Dylan Thomas towers over the rest

Mug Museum still the best imo, but Reward comes pretty close. See also, in 2019: Deerhunter as produced by Le Bon, plus her album with Bradford Cox -- both very good!

Jibes with my experience of all Bridgers-related projects—one knockout song per record

Nice enough album I never returned to after two or three spins.

for youtube - would it be too contentious to have a "sampler" playlist - like one track per album?

https://i.imgur.com/THye0EA.jpg
#74 – Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow (183 points, 6 votes)

Sharon Van Etten

https://variety.com/2019/music/reviews/album-review-sharon-van-ettens-remind-me-tomorrow-1203111170/

not as good as are we there but still very good

Distance between the album's placement and 'Seventeen's on the tracks poll seems about right.

Sharon got the bad congleton, angel got the good congleton

Almost forgot this was happening today. Very excited that Cate Le Bon and Laurel Halo managed to sneak in, those are two if my favorites. The Halo mix deserves a lot more attention, one of the best I've heard in a long time.

Nowhere near as good as 'Are We There Yet', but still pretty good.

The rest of the album is not as stunning as "Seventeen" but solid.

I should have voted for BOCC's Little Trouble in the tracks poll, love that song. I think of it as a great Phoebe Bridgers song. The album never clicked. Nor did Remind Me Tomorrow.

I thought RMT was SVE's best record by far. The others all blurred together for me by the fourth or fifth track.

I didn't know what people were talking about when they talked about 'Congleton' but I looked him up and saw his production credits and was like 'Ah, I seeee'

it is wild to me that the guy from The Paper Chase is now one of the most sought-after producers around

I voted for 'seventeen' in tracks. I've barely listened to this album though. I probably should.

https://i.imgur.com/RfjqeiR.jpg
#73 – Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter 4: Memphis (184 points, 6 votes)

matana roberts: 'coin coin' and other things

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/matana-roberts-coin-coin-chapter-four-memphis/

I own Coin Coin 2 but haven't really dug into it yet. I oughta get on that.

Yay! My #5. The first in the series that isn't a reinvention, it just sounds like a Matana Roberts album, but the whole project is so overwhelming great. She has kinda invented her own genre at this point?

At least I pushed the Sharon van Etten into the top 77. One of my fave 4 albums last year. There is more than "Seventeen" to it, eg. "Comeback Kid".

yes the other single is good

Oh nice, my first one to place. I've yet to hear the first three instalments but this one won me over right away, even though I'm generally allergic to spoken word segments in a jazz setting. Everything on this album – compositionally, improvisationally, poetically, historically – comes together exactly as it should. As an aside, I didn't quite catch Matana Roberts's pronunciation of 'Coin Coin': is it more English or French (in which case it's the equivalent of a duck going 'quack quack')?

That Moog/Mellotron in "Comeback Kid" is fabulous.

Her Mighty Waters Run is just so powerful a song - it blew me away.

You need to hear at least #2 and #3, pom, they have the same flow. The first one is a bit more conventionally jazz-like, but things like this is just as stunning to me.

I don't like the spoken word poetry workshop stuff so much either Pom, but Matana is no run of the mill plodder!

I definitely will check out her other material!

As a side note, if two more of mine place, it'll be a small miracle.

Still have this lined up to fully appreciate it some time soon.

At least I pushed the Sharon van Etten into the top 77. One of my fave 4 albums last year. There is more than "Seventeen" to it, eg. "Comeback Kid".

― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Monday, February 3, 2020 10:40 AM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

'you shadow' is a nice little song too

I'm a little underinformed about MR myself and have barely skimmed the earlier instalments. I was definitely moved to listen by her frequent appearances on lists around December and was immediately all "oh, this *is* quite interesting, innit." Interesting enough to award some points, it turned out.

The beginning of this rollout is a gigantic question mark to me.

Still have this lined up to fully appreciate it some time soon.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, February 3, 2020 10:50 AM (eight minutes ago)

Same. So much good jazz last year!

I didn't quite catch Matana Roberts's pronunciation of 'Coin Coin': is it more English or French (in which case it's the equivalent of a duck going 'quack quack')?

it's the English pron iirc

That Moog/Mellotron in "Comeback Kid" is fabulous.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, February 3, 2020 9:43 AM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

“At the time, I was sharing a space with the actor Michael Cera, and he had these amazing keyboards hanging around. One was an old CX-3 organ and the other was a Jupiter-4 synth, and I remember having no context at all. But I wanted to step away from the guitar and just play something that I didn’t have any preconceived notions about and mess with it for awhile. So, as I’m experimenting with the synthesizers, I’m thinking about how we met, and how Twin Peaks is so much darker, and thinking about the soundtrack for that, for the original score, and wanting to delve in a little more, I think I felt encouraged by the worlds I was suddenly in.”

https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/01/sharon-van-etten-michael-cera-twin-peaks/

Thanks.

xp

Is it pronounced like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZYozMeo7dQ

https://i.imgur.com/GpV0riX.jpg
#72 – Jme – Grime MC (187 points, 7 votes)

Grime and UK rap 2019

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/jme-grime-mc/

(that's the first of the albums - or singles for that matter - to not be US Spotify available)

only Twin Peaks could bring Michael Cera and Sharon Van Etten together.

Haha yesss! In the top half of my ballot. So relieved enough of you got hold of it! Some of the best grime I've ever heard and he is just the best person/presence

Really worth tracking down - even better than Integrity imo

Listened to the first few songs a couple of weeks ago and it seemed… ordinary? I'll give it another shot sometime.

I lied btw - it was my #14

It's all about the geniality of the attitude mixed with the sharpness of the flow. Just such a good guy to hang out with - so funny and righteous when he has to be. And the production is great too imo

Extremely cool and intense production. Sneaked onto my ballot and really glad to see it here.

never got round to hearing that, i do love jme though

DJP alert

https://i.imgur.com/FQdjmZ1.jpg
#71 – clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood (188 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Clipping - Midcity (noise rap)

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/10/clipping-there-existed-an-addiction-to-blood-revie.html

Too goddamn low ffs!

Was hoping for #45 to match Pfork's rating.

looking at my ballot now, it looks like I forgot to vote for this

Probably should have placed it a little higher on mine.

i still don't know what clipping is all about. name just makes me think of toenails

glad it got in! on balance probably their best yet

I feel like I made some sort of copy paste error, because there's another album on my ballot that shouldn't be there. Sorry!

xxp to myself

hopefully it was a good one.

They've reached greatness - well, they already had, but this is a stunning reaffirmation. Some of the best sonics and rapping around, and the concept is always so tight. I mean, I slightly prefer Splendor & Misery if pushed, but that one's on my all-time list and this is a broadening of focus to encompass new and horrific delights

https://i.imgur.com/U7FaZIK.jpg
#70 – Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild (189 points, 6 votes)

Fuck Buttons: Pretty/Noisy band on ATP Recordings: Dígame Más Por Favor

https://www.nme.com/reviews/blanck-mass-animated-violence-mild-review-2536310

I very much enjoyed World Eater, but as I've said elsewhere this one was basically the Mortal Kombat soundtrack sans the unsophisticated charm. Then again, my tolerance for maximalist kitsch is quite low.

whoa I expected clipping to place a lot higher wtf

About halfway (? lol how long is this album) through the Matana Roberts and rather enjoying it btw

👍

i still don't know what clipping is all about. name just makes me think of toenails

They are a hip-hop group that uses a ton of industrial/field recordings to put together the beats for their music. For example, on the song "Shooter" (from a previous EP) they went to a rifle range and recorded themselves firing something like 14 different guns, then built the main percussion hits of the beat off of those samples. Their emcee is Daveed Diggs, who was the original Lafayette/Jefferson from the Broadway cast of Hamilton. This album starts out using a horror movie tropes as allegories to stories about police brutality and street crime and slowly segues into straight-up horror stories involving red room parties, werewolves, and more.

Standout songs on the album are "Nothing Is Safe", which turns a drug bust into a Carpenter-scored home invasion story, "Run For Your Life", which tells the story of a junkie being hunted by a drug lord recast as a serial killer where the beat comes out of cars driving down the street as the junkie tries to get away, "The Show" which is an industrial march about torturing people for entertainment, "Story 7", which brings together characters from other "Story" tracks from previous releases as they encounter a werewolf, "He Dead", which uses sparse cathedral organ as a backdrop for how the police hunt poor black people, to pretty much every other song on the album. I strongly, strongly recommend listening not only to it, but their entire discography; Diggs is a lights-out talent in and of himself and the sound palette the group has created for him to show off over is incomparable.

(There Existed An Addiction To Blood was my #1 and I think this group is by far the best musical act of the 2010s after diving back through their work; also check out "The Deep" EP; the title track was nominated for a Hugo Award.)

ha! world eater is the album I accidentally voted for. I like it, but it overdoes it a bit and like I mentioned in the tracks thread, sounds like a caricature of World Eater

I also want to call out "Club Down" for having a backing track made up entirely of synth stabs and screams and the lurching nightmare beat of "All In Your Head" that blossoms into really the only moment of positive catharsis on the album, an a capella hymn-like text that blossoms into a full-on drum n bass celebration.

Daveed Diggs of clipping. also has a snowballing acting career onstage/film/television.

You're gonna see a lot of him this year as Frederick Douglass in the Ethan Hawke HBO show The Good Lord Bird and in the (god help us) TNT adaptation of Bong Joon Ho's dystopian sci-fi movie Snowpiercer.

he's sorta ridiculously talented is what I'm getting at.
I saw him in White Noise last year and, though the play was garbage, he was magnetic.

apologies but clipping always sounds very corny to my ears. it's a combo of diggs' super-wordy and enunciated rapping and the "WE'RE SCARY!" aesthetic

wtf does snowpiercer really need or deserve an english language adaptation

DJP didn't even mention the incredible "Blood of the Fang", which made my singles ballot and almost cracked the 77.

thank you djp, helpful posting!

Surprised that clipping is so low despite not voting for it myself, thought it would have reasonable ilx support.

wtf does snowpiercer really need or deserve an english language adaptation

― ciderpress, Monday, February 3, 2020 12:04 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

not sure if irony, but snowpiercer was definitely in english

None of you have mentioned La Mala Ordina (my #4 track) or the Piano Burning outro yet either, which brings us to virtually the whole album

oh right that's even more perplexing then

(Adding to DJP's excellent write-up, the use of cars playing the beat as they drove by in Run For Your Life was some properly breathtaking stuff. I first listened to it walking alone by a road in the early morning. A good setting for it)

to say something positive though, i love the cate le bon album and am glad it eked its way on here

Most of these albums so far are TOO HIGH. Clipping, Cate le Bon, and Blanck Mass were all overrated.

https://i.imgur.com/NQj4g7U.jpg
#69 – Sampa the Great – The Return (194 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Rolling non-US rap thread 2018

https://www.popmatters.com/sampa-the-great-the-return-2640293029.html

Excellent first half, then it completely lost me – and I'm a fan of 90s-style full CD-length overreaching in hip-hop.

oh damnit TOO LOW. My #1

Are you Bandcamp?

Was that their #1? If so they have good taste

nice

Tell us why it's good then!

oh i loved this record, first of all votes to place this fortnite

I was a bit disappointed at first by The Return, it felt a bit too mellow coming after the undeniable energy of, er, "Energy" and "Final Form". But it did grew on me, even the slower jams make sense in the context of it being an introspective concept album on African immigrant experience.

It's gorgeous - Sampa's voice, her words, and the production. Probably the album with the best balance of those three things this year imo. It's super close to my other favs of the year but I had to pick a #1 and it won out

#72 – Jme – Grime MC (187 points, 7 votes)

so happy it made the top. such a great record.

impressive for an album with no digital release whatsoever

And Laurel Halo's DJ-Kicks was my #3, so I'm glad I helped it make it to the the top 77. It really is one of the best DJ mixes of the millennium, and the best record she's ever released. If you buy the Bandcamp version that comes with a free download of full versions of all the tracks, you can see what a great job she did at selecting them and mixing them in a coherent whole.

impressive for an album with no digital release whatsoever

― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Monday, February 3, 2020 12:41 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

did it even see physical release in the US?

not AFAIK

the Laurel Halo DJ-Kicks album was great I thought! It was high on my list. also voted for the Matana Roberts

apologies but clipping always sounds very corny to my ears. it's a combo of diggs' super-wordy and enunciated rapping and the "WE'RE SCARY!" aesthetic

I can't really put into words exactly how offensive this position is to me. It comes across to me as saying Diggs can't be good at hip-hop because he's not black enough.

https://i.imgur.com/L3Sd3kC.jpg
#68 – The National – I Am Easy to Find (195 points, 8 votes)

thread for i am easy to find, the 2019 album by the national and film by mike mills

https://music.avclub.com/the-national-takes-a-deep-breath-on-the-revelatory-i-am-1834779961

This is not one of my fave National albums but I'm surprised to see it this low.

who is this please

probably the most high-profile indie rock band that's going to place?

Seems a shame to bring in all those female vocalists just to have them emulate Berninger's vocal melodies.

80-minute slowroll for this lmao

probably the most high-profile indie rock band that's going to place?

VW?

love this record dearly

oh, right, VW. zzzzz

DJP otm about how Clipping have had to weather repulsive inauthenticity critiques throughout the years. Let the sub bass speak indeed

this would have been a great place for the VW to place actually

I binged the shit out of 2019 releases and this remains one of the 5 or so albums I outright hated the most (sorry Brad).

{alternative}^{alternative} = alternative

Why does "overenunciated" translate to "inauthentic" and "not black enough"? To me it just means, too 90's poetry-slam digable planets.
(none of those a bad thing in my book, btw, but ymmv)

https://i.imgur.com/jH26857.jpg
#67 – Caterina Barbieri – Ecstatic Computation (200 points, 7 votes)

https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?action=showall&boardid=45&threadid=98991

https://thequietus.com/articles/26405-caterina-barbieri-ecstatic-computation

Thanks for the clipping write up, DJP. Will be checking them out.

Never heard of this one.

ooh this Barbieri looks like my kinda thing

voted for this too, it's really nice

Why does "overenunciated" translate to "inauthentic" and "not black enough"? To me it just means, too 90's poetry-slam digable planets.
(none of those a bad thing in my book, btw, but ymmv)

The exact words were "super-wordy and enunciated" and it was in contrast to the description of their music as "WE'RE SCARY", which is absolutely a vibe they were going for on this album but doesn't (to my ears) accurately describe their entire catalog without making a lot of assumptions about tone and intent.

The National album is like sunlight emerging during a still cloudy morning. The use of backing vocals/harmonists as complement worked beautifully. Their best in a dozen years.

Ooh I've actually heard this one. Cool stuff, though I don't quite see what is extraordinary about it.

Embarrassed to admit I only know Diggs from The Get Down and uhh Kimmy Schmidt. The horror elements aren't too enticing personally, but I'm going to check it out

wow this Berbieri record is DOPE

xp: Listen to "Run For Your Life" on headphones. The production job on that song is incredible.

I binged the shit out of 2019 releases and this remains one of the 5 or so albums I outright hated the most (sorry Brad).

― toilet-cleaning brain surgeon (pomenitul), Monday, February 3, 2020 11:36 AM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

that's fair! a lot of people hate the national!

Listened to this (Barbieri) for the first time quite recently, after I'd already voted. It's a big step up from her previous records, which were good but never surprised. This one does.

Really enjoying Sampa the Great so far. Only on track 11 though.

I really liked the one Sampa the Great song I heard but I never got to the album and the song I liked ("OMG") wasn't nominated

Ecstatic Computation made for a pleasant enough moment.

There's some alright 'left-field'-ish stuff placing in these lower reaches, but nothing I voted for so I've been looking over my ballot - sadly I'm not expecting any nice surprises for me, really. I reckon I have three definite placers and a couple of maybes, anything else would be a shock.

https://i.imgur.com/PkNho9I.jpg
#66 – Tyler, the Creator – IGOR (202 points, 8 votes)

Tyler the Creator

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/tyler-the-creator-igor-review-837811/

I didn’t like this CB album as much as ones I’d heard previously

Hm looks like we might see a lot more rap on this poll than tracks

xp: Listen to "Run For Your Life" on headphones. The production job on that song is incredible.

― totally unnecessary bewbz of exploitation (DJP), Monday, February 3, 2020 1:51 PM (one minute ago)

this was good advice, thank you!

Not as sharp as Flower Boy, and he's a better producer than rapper.

this and flower boy are just great fun records, really love where tyler's been taking his music

RYM we are not. Slightly preferred FB as well

Yay! That’s three of mine to place already (TTC, Jme and clipping.) - probably a record. Preferred Flower Boy too, but this was still lovely. GONE, GONE / THANK YOU a highlight, as is the mad final 30 seconds of the otherwise prettily chill ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?

otm

I dipped out on following Tyler a long time ago, so when I decided to check this one out, I had to move backwards and hear Flower Boy. I prefer IGOR, but maybe that'd be different if I'd heard Flower Boy first?

https://i.imgur.com/Mhc9AW8.jpg
#65 – FONTAINES D.C. – Dogrel (204 points, 7 votes)

the band that best addrsses 'Irishness' and the subject of Ireland

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/12/fontaines-dc-dogrel-album-review-irish-punks-debut

apologies but clipping always sounds very corny to my ears. it's a combo of diggs' super-wordy and enunciated rapping and the "WE'RE SCARY!" aesthetic

I can't really put into words exactly how offensive this position is to me. It comes across to me as saying Diggs can't be good at hip-hop because he's not black enough.

― totally unnecessary bewbz of exploitation (DJP), Monday, February 3, 2020 12:26 PM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i'm not saying he's not good at it, i'm saying i don't like it. i'm not mentioning the rapping style and the aesthetic as being in contrast to each other, i'm mentioning them as two separate things that i don't like. the rapping feels like it's more about technique than expression, which is not something i enjoy, and i have trouble taking "scary" music seriously. it's admittedly a reductive opinion but i've listened to them several times and didn't enjoy it and so didn't go back to give it a deep analysis.

fwiw for the curious, the aesthetic of There Existed.... isn't out-and-out horrorcore or anything, it's more "here's a sample from the score to a 70s horror film there, a droning synth there, a lyrical motif as a starting point there" etc

regret not throwing a vote to clipping (and one other which i hope will place)

https://i.imgur.com/ugNkIRX.jpg
#64 – Miranda Lambert – Wildcard (208 points, 8 votes)

miranda lambert

come anticipate Miranda Lambert's new double album The Weight of These Wings

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/miranda-lamberts-wildcard-is-a-freewheeling-country-rock-masterpiece-901904/

I voted for Fontaines too because I heard it for the first time and liked it the same weekend I was voting. Dunno if I'd do it again. It's fine, but whatever.

It's fine, but whatever.

My reaction to the Tyler record.

i always vote Miranda Lambert high up but i haven't really listened to this album yet so i didn't vote for it. she is wonderful tho.

This countdown is so much less contentious (and, I guess, less heavily trafficked) than the tracks rollout!

I liked that Fontaines DC record. Kind of a Dublin Idles it's okay to like afaic

re: Lambert, only 3-4 real outright killers on the level of the last album, but not a bad listen

I've only heard a couple of Fontaines DC songs and they reminded me of Idles so I didn't investigate any further. Didn't realise they had any kind of following on here.

Whoa, worst cover I've seen so far

That's actually an oddly cropped version of the cover I'm familiar with.

Ah ok, that would make sense.

Listened to Dogrel a lot last year and put it on my ballot.

Absolutely hated the Idles album

Has anyone completed her crossword yet?

lambert record is great, think i voted for it? not a masterpiece like the last one but they can't all be

one more and then i'm out for awhile; expect a few PM options to appear.

enjoying caterina barbieri!

I guess with Ecstatic Computation placing, at least one thing from my ballot did. Which is nice.

thank u for bringing it to my attention!

nm i did not vote for it. only thing to place from my ballot so far is cate le bon

fontaines dc didn't speak to me at all.

the national album was incredibly impressive, but i had a hard time sitting through the whole thing. not in kansas and you had your soul with you were my choice cuts.

re: tyler - count me as a flower boy-preferrer too, but igor certainly had its moments. never thought i'd describe tyler, the creator as background music, but here we are. still, i liked it enough for it to sneak in my personal top 50.

PM options

Eh?

I am indifferent to Fontaines DC overall, but I do like "Boys in the Better Land."

This countdown is so much less contentious (and, I guess, less heavily trafficked) than the tracks rollout!

― dad genes (morrisp)

You can listen along with the tracks rollout and give immediate responses, and that doesn't really work with albums. You've got to either know them already or have a larger amount of time to spare.

Just catching up, not heard many of today's albums so far but Igor was one I voted for - I hadn't clicked with anything Tyler had done since that first mixtape so it was a pleasant surprise how much I enjoyed this. Sounds like I should give Flower Boy another listen though.

The clipping. album is an odd one for me, bits of it I found really effective but as a (quite long) album it just didn't hold my attention.

this clipping. album. you guys could have told me! I was expecting some harsh Dälek type stuff but this is truly excellent

listening to the clipping. album for the first time now, really liking it

I voted for the Miranda Lambert album just on the last two songs, which I've listened to again and again and again and again and eventually I'll listen to the earlier songs again

haven't heard (of) any of the earlier albums, well I've heard of the national but never heard them

Hooray for Matana Roberts, basically.

Wildcard on this second pass sounds like a companion to Platinum, not really a copy but in the same vein (complete w/the "bad shit is gonna go down" duet w/the slightly lesser country star). it's really a good one. likely would have voted for it if i'd spent more time listening. Mess With My Head is A+ for sure.

So despite liking and voting for Clipping I didn't actually know anything about who was behind it until today and am surprised to find out it's that guy from Hamilton.

The clipping. album is an odd one for me, bits of it I found really effective but as a (quite long) album it just didn't hold my attention

I skip the interludes and "La Mala Ordina" a lot, not because I dislike them but because I'm often anxious to get to the next song and don't often have the luxury of time (related note: meetings suck)

La Mala Ordina is fantastic I think!

one of those tracks where the features are absolutely critical to the narrative

DJP otm about Clipping.

Associating enunciation and wordiness with corniness is suss

And ahistorical!

Like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYrRkGiVN0

that's why it's corny, it sounds like something that came out when i was in college. but ILM loving music that sounds like it came out when they were in their early 20s is very on-brand.

Mess With My Head is A+ for sure.

― omar little, Monday, February 3, 2020 1:18 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

pretending to like lil xan to own the olds

lol

Spotify playlist has spoilt #63 if anyone's keen to see. Forks must have not noticed he got xposted and hurried off. We're all behind you Forks lol :D

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Weezer_Teal_Album.jpg
#63 – Weezer - Weezer (Teal Album) (208 points, 8 votes)

clipping. sounds exactly how I wanted all these anti-pop consortium / dälek / cloudead bands from the early 2000s to actually sound like. fair to say certain attitudinal parallels with Algiers in some ways?

finally, some bona fide rock n roll

oi stop doing his job for him, he'd have been back soon

fair to say certain attitudinal parallels with Algiers in some ways?

imo yes, also some goth cred to both

haha, the clipping album ends with a performance of Annea Lockwood's 'Piano Burning'!

I only had time to listen to two Clipping tracks, but Shabazz Palaces was my immediate comparison

I *loved* most of Clouddeads stuff tbh but I get the comparison.

Whatever you do, don't listen to it hungover xp about piano burning

Weezer TOO LOW

I listened to The Tragic Epilogue recently and it sounded even better in 2019 imo

dälek are all-time but clipping are a very different thing I think

Whatever you do, don't listen to it hungover xp about piano burning

― tangenttangent, Monday, February 3, 2020

:)

Better Community Oblivion Center is a good album, grew on me after writing it off as ok-ish initially, although still clearly the lesser of Phoebe Bridgers' side projects, and obviously her debut album was the best album of 2017. New album coming soon!

Dylan Thomas is a massive song though and I was hoping to see it place on the track poll

that's why it's corny, it sounds like something that came out when i was in college. but ILM loving music that sounds like it came out when they were in their early 20s is very on-brand.

― na (NA), Monday, February 3, 2020 8:32 PM (twenty-two minutes ago)

#63 – Weezer - Weezer (Teal Album) (208 points, 8 votes)

― enochroot, Monday, February 3, 2020 8:50 PM (four minutes ago)

Overjoyed that JME made it, I voted for it for 'Pricks' alone.

I feel like a lot of those anticon backpacker acts were biting off more than they could chew (and believe me I really wanted to like them). clipping at least sounds convincing and effortless

Pricks is the secret SOTY yeah

I'm still trying to work out if that's a fake #63 because it is then A+++ punchline.

xp the abstract electronic music in the clipping album is a great accompaniment to his voice

clipping = tech nerd lit fiction airlock nightmare read by world's calmest seer, dälek = impassioned emo shoegaze hop of the most dramatic order, both = legendary

was all ready to dismiss barbieri as some quietus shit but the synths are keeping me involved and listening. you fontaines voters are gonna have to explain yourselves tho lol

I was the #1 for weezer

the tyler record this year was really disappointing after how great flower boy was. there's lots of great ideas on it but also so many frustrating ones, especially all the pitch-shifted vocals which end up sounding really harsh before long.

Clearly my beloved Deerhunter ain't making the top 77 :(

I only had time to listen to two Clipping tracks, but Shabazz Palaces was my immediate comparison

FYI, "The Deep" EP contains a collaboration with Shabazz Palaces

I tried with that Cate Le Bon album, a few times, but ...something was missing. Couldn't get into it. (Also it was my first CLB experience.) The Cox/Le Bon team up also left me cold.

Whatever else happens, I'm glad people heard and liked that clipping. album

Wildcard is a solid B+ record that does more right than wrong and honestly that was a huge relief for me with her going from Frank Liddell (who produced everything she'd ever done) to Jay Joyce, whose production is harder edged and felt like a hard left turn from Wings. That turn ended up being more of a relief -- she's never sounded more comfortable and at ease -- and another double LP chock full of "Tin Man"s clearly wasn't where her heart and mind were at following her recent marriage.

About half the songs are good to great: "Mess With My Head" (which is maybe her tightest pop song ever), "Settling Down", "Locomotive" (she crushed this live), "Bluebird", and the closing four song run "Pretty Bitchin" -> "Tequila Does" -> "Track Record" -> "Dark Bars." There are a couple of super kitschy eye-roll tracks that were somehow written by the all-star team of Hillary Lindsey/Lori McKenna/Liz Rose ("All Comes Out in the Wash", "Way Too Pretty for Prison") but most of her albums have at least one or two that are skippable.

I'd rank it behind most of her albums, but in front of Four the Record and probably Revolution on the right day. I consider the other four to be unimpeachable classics and am just grateful that she continues to put out new music every year or two.

I'm just glad The Weight of These Wings has gotten its due. You're mostly otm w/your identifying the key tracks.

The Deerhunter album was surprisingly good, but favorite Deerhunter record by far, but it got no traction at all. It ended up falling off my ballot, but still really good.

I'm enjoying this Matana Roberts record, although I like the instrumental segments more than the spoken word ones. Am I doing it wrong?

Never even heard of the real 63 (assuming Spotify has it right) but I am enjoying it hugely.

xp

This reminds me a lot of late period Mingus

^^ read this as "late period migos"

Yes to Mingus - also reminds me of Marion Brown.

hell yeah to sampa the great making the list, bravo @octobeard for putting it at #1

it's a long, dense album but "omg", "final form" and "freedom" might provide a way in for newcomers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdF2wXc3LuM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2lvgKDpiSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM70Aqcbyxs

love the guitars and folk choirs in the mix, but above all how it keeps returning to its themes except tweaked, comes to a really emotional zenith towards the end xps to Roberts discussion

https://i.imgur.com/GqPJ8aD.jpg
#63 – Barker – Utility (210 points, 8 votes)

Rolling techno* albums thread for people who are clearly doing it wrong

https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/24139

nice!

(XP) Couldn't quite vote for Sampa in the end. Kinda wanted to but had to acknowledge that I struggled to get through it. Made do with "Final Form" in the tracks ballot!

Barbieri appears to be my only ballot inclusion revealed while I slept. (Three in total now, yowsah!)

Eh... I really hope Efdemin makes it as well.

Oh nice, this was a late discovery for me during the campaigning phase, but it was perfect me. I guess he basically took a bunch of his tracks and removed the kicks. It's kind of a simple idea, but works really well. Brings a lot of the little details to the forefront and is a nice chill techno experience.

I voted for Utility but will fully admit that my techno* listening was p cursory this year. I'm checking out the Efdemin right now (this folk song isn't doing much for me though)

love the barker

More okayishness; I'm ok with that.

https://i.imgur.com/SnaJimZ.jpg
#62 – Rapsody – Eve (211 points, 8 votes)

https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.3503/title.review-rapsody-firmly-secures-her-hip-hop-legacy-with-women-empowering-eve

damn albums looking to be a rap blowout

nice album, wanted to like it more than i did

TOO LOW DAMN

forks, where are you pulling these cropped images from?

the barker is great, glad some folks are doing it wrong enough to get into the albums list

nice album, wanted to like it more than i did

exactly how I felt about it, but there's some really great songs on it, just a bit inconsistent and goes on a bit long

Yay for Rapsody!

last one; moka should take over tomorrow with refixed images and more albums

https://i.imgur.com/0fkkic5.jpg
#61 – SACRED PAWS – Run Around the Sun (212 points, 8 votes)

Sacred Paws - Strike A Match
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sacred-paws-run-around-the-sun/

love love loved strike a match, this one struck me as diminishing returns.

#63 – Barker – Utility (210 points, 8 votes)

Lower on my ballot, glad it made it. Such a beautiful record that seems to transcend the seemingly infinite pool of decent techno last year.

Gonna say, 2019 felt like a really strong year for electronic music in general. For this year specifically, it would have been fun to have an 'electronic music' ballot poll a la the metal one.

I played the Rapsody a lot in early fall. The Phil Collins sample is one of my favorites of the last couple years. Often her attitude >> her rhymes and rapping. Laila's Wisdom is the better album. Still -- it's a good record.

Oh gee, had no idea Sacred Paws was a contender. I kinda feel bad that the indie part of my brain has atrophied a bit or something and doesn't really love it (or Trash Kit) a bit more. :)

Everything so far a mystery to me and then my number 2 pops up just like that; Utility is a sublime piece of work

love the sacred paws slight in some ways but v warm and fun album that I needed last year

cate le bon was my only vote today. nervous about my number one not making it.

point totals have been crazy tight so far

oh cool! nice to see that place. didn't vote for much indie this year but i voted for that, fun album! also voted for the barker and the caterina barbieri albums, go me

my #1 almost certainly hasn't made it, but am holding out a lot of hope for #2...for now

how many Magma fans we got on this board

Barbieri was very high on my list. Beautiful, emotionally resonant music that unfortunately makes me want to buy lots of very expensive reverb modules. Probably my most re-played album of the year.

Whole Barbieri album was good but that opening track was what made me listen to the whole thing - stunning piece

she really upped her game on that record and i'm a bit fed up with myself that i missed the chance to see her live

yeah, this album really grew on me, even more than Patterns of Consciousness

Utility is lovely. I like what Moodles said about how removing the kicks brings a lot of the details to the forefront

I'm glad to see Sacred Paws show up on here. They didn't quite make my list, but I listened to them a lot. I enjoy their songs whenever they come on, but they rarely stick with me or compel me to listen more.

The Sampa album win me over bit by bit, but wow, it's long

Is the lady on The National album cover dreaming about sashimi?

Also, did The National somehow get more tuneful and melodic, or am I just imagining it?

Yay, I voted for Sacred Paws! Very fun jangle-pop sort of stuff, "Brush Your Hair" was a standout track for me.

After hearing Brush Your Hair (which is fine) I wasn't tempted to listen to the SACRED PAWS album as it sounded so similar to the last one. Not that that's a bad thing, but the sound was indistinguishable

Kinda chuffed that 4 things I voted for have made it already. But then I remember that ILM polls are usually like this for me. All but Rapsody would apparently have been outside the 77 without my (unweighted) points, and #56 to #27 will inevitably be a complete mystery to me. LOL.

The Matana Roberts was really satisfying and pleasurable, an album that I expect i would be able to keep finding new things in for a while. I have Coin Coin 2 and really loved her live show in 2013 but I dragged on actually taking the time to listen to this one, weirdly, because I knew it would be good. I'm glad the poll gave me a reason to do so,

listening to the clipping album and oh they're not doing noise-rap anymore

sounds like theater!

nevermind there's still some noise for sure it just opens surprisingly conservative compared to what i'd heard in the past for them

la mala ordina gets shall we say a tetch noisy

nevermind there's still some noise for sure it just opens surprisingly conservative compared to what i'd heard in the past for them

Yeah I'm feeling this. I gave it a quick listen through and enjoyed it (it's the only thing from today that's on my long list) but it seemed a lot more subdued compared to CLPPNG.

maybe my one criticism is that a lot of their tracks are roughly the same tempo

Tbh the idea of 'noise rap' was so unappealing that I've ignored Clipping altogether so these comments actually make me want to check them out.

^ yep. And I think the earlier stuff I heard was 'noise rap'. Much as I like noise (and rap), they don't sound like two flavours that go together

Nothing too loathsome so far except for that National album (and I like Alligator and Boxer for the most part, maybe because the more minimal rock setup helps undercut their unavowed crooner-isms). And I'm glad to see so much love for clipping. and (especially) Matana Roberts.

National is an odd one, for me. Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is probably my favourite of theirs, I saw them on that tour too and they were brilliantly unhinged and raw. But that's 17 years ago (wow). The more they "perfected" their sound and lost the rough edges, the more uninteresting it became for me. Trouble Will Find Me is the last album I know and enjoyed. After that I was just saturated I think. The bombastic, over-the-top, singer-goes-through-the-crowd-every-concert last tour I saw them - which everyone around me absolutely *loved* - was too big and too Bono for me. I wish them well but am content never to hear new work from them ever again. I 'grew out of' them or something. (I've this with more bands)

Yeah, that resonates with my experience (minus the live part, as I've never seen them in person).

their latest is pretty easily their best, i voted for it. id always found them enjoyable but never quite capable of a really good album until now

at the very least, "you had your soul with you" is their best ever song

I should have voted for that The National album, the first ones of theirs I've really liked. But it is too long to me, and ends up feeling a bit shapeless. You had your soul with you is a great song, yeah.

Listening to Sacred Paws now, this is fun! Is the last one better?

don't know about better but I really liked it. Much the same vibe AFAICT. I wonder how they work live, being only a duo? They're incredible musicians

Sampa album has been in turns frustrating and compelling - there's obviously something there - but I was only able to hear half of it on my commute in as it's 77 minutes long. Guess I'll give the second half a go now

(Sacred Paws have always irritated the hell out of me tbh but that's probably my problem, maybe this one's better?)

it took me a while to get into the sampa album because of how long and dense it is but it was really rewarding once it opened up for me

both sacred paws albums are equally good i think but if you didn't like the last i doubt this will convert you. they've played shows as both a duo and with an expanded lineup. the second album certainly has more overdubs but it's still easy to imagine how they could reduce the songs down to the basic single guitar & drums setup if needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDR_gvNp46c

man i really should have voted for "the conversation" in the tracks poll at least, it's so great

their type of vocal interplay is one of my favourite things in the world, kinda like early R.E.M. at their peak

fwiw if you want more young-woman-returns-to-interrogate-her-Zambian-roots content, the movie I Am Not A Witch is one of my favourites of recent years - cultural collision played as unsettling surrealist comedy

Well anyway that was quite good and entirely too long, could have easily ended at Brand New or sooner. A pleasant and interesting experience on a fairly baffling scale

Did any other DJ Kicks place in previous years? I know some are 'higher concept' than others

― nashwan, Monday, February 3, 2020 2:44 PM (yesterday)

Moodymann definitely. Maybe Erland Oye back in the day?

I didn't get around to the Sacred Paws album properly so couldn't vote for it, but I saw them play in support of it and the show was surprisingly special - I think of them as Rachel's light and frivolous band but this one was really affecting.

(New Shopping LP out soon for Aggs fans btw)

oh i didn't realise Shopping and SACRED PAWS were the same people

The Sacred Paws album doesn't break any new ground from the first one. If you didn't like the first, the new one probably won't change your mind. I do think this new one is a bit stronger though, more lively and energetic.

only the same frontperson xp

See also: Trash Kit.

This Sacred Paws album doesn't quite have the fizz of the previous one but they're still just... kinda great to have around? Especially when the sun's out.

Whenever I hear Sacred Paws I can imagine them popping up to perform in the middle of a Young Ones episode.

'Oh for crying out loud Neil, Brush Your Hair!!'

https://i.imgur.com/wYnCmQH.jpg
#60 – ANDY STOTT – It Should Be Us (214 points, 9 votes)

Andy Stott
https://www.allmusic.com/album/it-should-be-us-mw0003333898

graphics!

the zebra centipede

Very much looking forward to hearing this, having loved most of his previous albums, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Nine votes is heartening!

Have been listening to this album a LOT lately. Possibly his best?

didn't really get into this one depsite enjoying stott in the past, but i'm happy to believe it's me and not him

I've never not liked his stuff but Luxury Problems this ain't.

I didn't really get it either, but the only Stott I've truly loved has been Luxury Problems

the zebra centipede bothers me

Passed Me By & We Stay Together are pretty classic as well imo.

Never heard Sacred Paws before, I like this a lot. Also that Caterina Barbieri album upthread is transcendent.

I think I nominated the Barbieri album then promptly forgot about it. Revisited it yesterday and really enjoyed it.

didnt know he had a new one! listening now

I had never heard of Sacred Paws but discovered "Brush Your Hair" on the tracks nomination spotify playlist and ended up voting for it (thank you to whoever nom'ed!). Haven't gotten around to the album yet but that song felt like something I would have fell in love with via CokeMachineGlow in 2006.

https://i.imgur.com/EwHOAiv.jpg
#59 – MOODYMANN – Sinner (216 points, 6 votes, 1 number 1 vote)

I'll ruin Moodymann for you
https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/23954

Oops wrong image

https://i.imgur.com/EwHOAiv.jpg

Ha, 2006 was precisely the year I picked out in a post which, rather than putting here, I sent as a private message to the long-suffering tt (xps)

news of new moodymann completely failed to reach my bunker

Also there's probably a thread for this but Andy Stott has to be among the best at maintaining a consistent album art theme and style across his entire career

Hen Ogleddity Kane

I think I might like this Andy Stott better than the ones I've heard in the past. Am I right in thinking this is a bit more smoothed out than previous releases?

i voted for the moodymann! it's one of his best, especially the complete version which you only get if you buy it on bandcamp :)

https://moodymann.bandcamp.com/album/sinner-kdj-48-2

https://i.imgur.com/oK7knVe.jpg
#58 – THOM YORKE – Anima (216 points, 8 votes)

Thom Yorke - Anima
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/thom-yorke-anima-review-bleak-dystopian-rhapsody-can-actually/

So we still like Radiohead?

nnggh

Thom Yorke?!?!?

bleak-dystopian-rhapsody

Just opened up the rest of the thread to admire the fixed images - Moka you have outdone yourself, these are wonderful (Sacred Paws still doesn't have a Moka-style image atm though)

Just because I'm a shameless Radiohead fanboy doesn't mean I'll stan for Yorke's solo albums, which are beacons of okayness. His soundtrack to Suspiria was a considerably more impressive achievement.

Glad to see Moodymann made it.

thom yorke placement kind of insulting to moodymann tbh

but that's my favorite thom yorke record since the eraser for sure

poor man's gaz coombes imo

Love the design concept moka.

Also fixed the Moodymann image link for you ^__^

Just a thought: these album results seem to be fulfilling the hints of "crazy" results we got at the beginning. They've really been all over the map.

the short film/music video he released to netflix may be more impressive than the record tbh. but i really recommend that thing, it rules

Quite a lot are missing, but wow, those images are looking great! Once again a sincere thanks to everyone involved, doing so much work under time pressure while all of us goes 'worst poll ever!!!!' Thanks!

Also, today is the worst poll day ever so far :(

well, i should say it rules if you think dance is the greatest artform xp

Also, today is the worst poll day ever so far :(

― Frederik B, Tuesday, February 4, 2020 8:19 AM (twenty-two seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

impossible if moodymann places, get your priorities right

bleak-dystopian-rhapsody-can-actually-still-get-you-on-ilx-list-if-you-have-the-name-recognition

(it's down my ballot somewhere, longtime fan, good record!)

xxp

please tell me the video is 100% just Thom Yorke dancing

yup, Radiohead fan here. Just not interested in any lousy IDM-lite moanathons I'm sorry Thom

moodymann was in my top 10. the complete version of sinner is still a snack by moodymann standards, but it's an engrossing headphones listen

also the packaging for this album was ridiculous

please tell me the video is 100% just Thom Yorke dancing

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 8:22 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

he is dancing through most of it!

https://www.netflix.com/title/81110498

take 15 minutes out of your day

great

Love the design concept moka.

― Johnny Fever

Thank You! I was pondering to do it all 'grey/beige' like the tracks poll for consistency but fonts and arrangement kind of give it the same vibe and since I'm using the real album covers for this ones instead of doing some curated image work I think the matching colors are a good option for the poll images to stand out on their own a bit more.

This is comfortably the best Yorke solo record and he finally seems to get the physical side of the Hessle Audio type stuff he's influenced by, but at the same time fuck actually voting for it and it's no way better than Moodymann.

I have so much catching up to do. Moodymann was one I saved on Spotify after liking a track I heard from shuffling noms. That's as far as I got so far. I'm sorry!!!!

agree it's Thom's best solo. Earlier reply makes me want to try Suspiria again so thanks

Haha, I forgot this was in Suspiria, which I watched and mostly enjoyed.

i'm amazed that i'm not deead
a moka saved my threeead

https://i.imgur.com/aUiXnOH.jpg
#57 – SAMTHING SOWETO – Isiphithiphithi (220 points, 7 votes)

THE HOUSE OF SUN-EL: Sun-El Musician, Simmy, Mlindo The Vocalist, and other related artists
https://www.okayafrica.com/samthing-soweto-releases-album-isiphithiphithi/

This is the best poll day ever!

Happy happy happy happy poll day!

That's my journey home listening sorted then.

beautiful album
had to throw it some points

wonderful

yeah, this is an undeniable album. echoing my love for 'omama bomthandazo' from the tracks thread. sweet, not saccharine.

beautiful sleeve

Beautiful sleeve.

stop or he'll blush

my #3! Dare I say “too low”?

It probably means both the Sha Sha and the DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small album(s) are not going to place.

xp lol

and yes, beautiful sleeve

also: beautiful, sleeve

https://i.imgur.com/YdC1k78.jpg
#56 – Various Artists – 環境音楽 Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990(222 points, 8 votes)

can a noise dude recommend some AMBIENT
https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/23505

now THAT is a beautiful sleeve

also, I voted for this, glad to see it place even if it is technically a reissue project

damn I'd buy that Samthing Soweto album for the cover alone. I take it it's not available on plastic?

and this one.

niiiice 1-2

Based on SS tracks results appearances I should enjoy the album.

but is it "Iss-iff-ee-fee-fee-fee" ? or "Iss-iff-tee-fee-tee-fee" ? or?

These visuals are ridiculously good, Moka

It's pretty straight forward as written, nashwan. It's the chorus of the title track, which is also ridiculously good.

Yes to “Omama Bomthandazo”, but also “Umuhle Uyasabeka” and the amapiano one-two-three punch at the end (with “Akukaleki” being the knockout).

It’s “iss-pee-tee-pee-tee”.

Spelling error there: the title is “Isphithiphithi”.

I didn't know there was a Moodymann album this year. Japanese new age record looks interesting too.

loved this, voted for it.

Anyone just not vote for reissues, even if it's practically your first chance to hear something? (first time outside Japan for a lot of this, I think)

I hesitated on some DJ Kicks stuff I loved this year just cuz they're mix albums... next year I think it'll just be what I liked most, no hangups!

had samthing at #44 on my long list, would've moved it higher if i'd listened more

i voted for this one in the series and everyone should check it out if you haven't heard it:
VA - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986

i bumped this down a few places because it's an archival release but it's the best record released last year

well do Mordy thank u

Yes to “Omama Bomthandazo”, but also “Umuhle Uyasabeka” and the amapiano one-two-three punch at the end (with “Akukaleki” being the knockout).

It’s “iss-pee-tee-pee-tee”.

Spelling error there: the title is “Isphithiphithi”.

i voted for this one in the series and everyone should check it out if you haven't heard it:
VA - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986

City pop isn't my thing but that comp was an eye-opener, so… seconded.

https://i.imgur.com/hY7CPgJ.jpg
#55 – American Football – American Football (223 points, 7 votes, 2 number 1 votes)

I like American Football (the band) does anyone else?
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/20590/reviews/4152296

yeah i never know about reissue compilations. can't remember if I cvoted for 'Sweet As Broken Dates' the year that came out, or whether it even got nominated.

ooo didn't vote for that american football album but it has some stunners on it. voted for "uncomfortably numb" in the tracks poll.

i voted for this one in the series and everyone should check it out if you haven't heard it:
VA - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986

― Mordy

Yeah, the Pacific Breeze compilation is essential. I keep going back to it. I did like the new age one too, but it didn't have the same impact.

BEAUTIFUL RECORD

another of my votes, yay

maybe not better than the original lp, but certainly more accomplished, if that makes sense.

imo it's better

Anyone just not vote for reissues, even if it's practically your first chance to hear something?

I definitely think twice before putting a reissue or comp on my ballot, but I have done so before and would do again for something outstanding. We don't have a separate list for those records and allow "year of impact" rules on the tracks poll, so I think it's fine.

Somehow I just don’t get American Football

I just wanted to pop in and say I thought the Thom Yorke album was great

I definitely think twice before putting a reissue or comp on my ballot, but I have done so before and would do again for something outstanding.

this is my thought process as well, as someone who listens to a lot of archival reissue type things that had limited or no availability at time of release

voted ongaku too! my best ever day haha

I just don't get emo at all.

American Football

That, and American Football.

this record sounds way more like a red house painters album with heavy steve reich influences than "emo" tbh

emo one of several things i thought i was over after high school and then re-clicked in my 30s

https://i.imgur.com/focw57S.jpg
#54 – Clairo – Immunity (223 points, 9 votes)

Clairo - Immunity
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/08/album-review-clairo-immunity/

i love ongaku

Clairo's included!

Problem with the albums rollout is that I can't listen through these records quick enough to keep up. Lots of new stuff for me today!

wait until Underworld places

Really nice bedroom pop album. Good for early mornings and late nights. Not sure where she goes from here though.

high tea

If I knew/thought we could vote Kankyo Ongaku, it would have been my number 1 EASILY

I'll go up to 50 every 10 mins and rest for an hour so you can take a time to sample the selections so far and keep up!

https://s3.10and5.com/between10and5/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/07110343/image007.jpg

Pictured above: the Isphithiphithi mural
in Johannesburg.

Samthing mentions it in this Rolling Stone profile: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/samthing-soweto-isphithiphithi-897467/

https://i.imgur.com/t4VBPFx.jpg
#53 – Koffee – Rapture (224 points, 7 votes, 1 number 1 vote)

gratitude is a must: the Koffee thread
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/koffee-rapture

nice segue!

https://i.imgur.com/yDywbjS.jpg
#52 – Carla dal Forno - Look Up Sharp (228 points, 8 votes)
Carla dal Forno
https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/reviews/albums/carla-dal-forno-look-up-sharp

Kankyō Ongaku! Another one of my votes! Simply brilliant.

American Football album is great too, nearly made my ballot.

is this an album of dizzee rascal covers?

OK I'm intrigued by that Carla del Forno album having skimmed the review.

So how did a collection of Japanese ambient from the 80s become a board favorite?

it's really really good!

also, as noted, a lot of it was never available outside of Japan

plus beautiful and intriguing packaging from what I've seen

https://i.imgur.com/aZEkhu5.jpg
#51 – Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains (234 points, 7 votes, 3 number 1 votes)

Purple Mountains (RIP David Berman, August 2019)

For real? Heh. Now that's crazy.

wow is that the lowest placement ever for something with three #1s?

holy crow!

whoa

lmao wow

Wow, I'm surprised as well. Perhaps all those individual tracks were just way better than the album as a whole.

plus beautiful and intriguing packaging from what I've seen

really gorgeous packaging but i had to restrain myself and go for the CD version (and even that's still lovely)

fake

xp it also has extra tracks, that sealed the deal for me w/r/t CD version

o_O That's got to be a joke placement, right? O_o

https://i.imgur.com/XpqS13F.jpg
#50 – Glass Beach - The First Glass Beach Album (242 points, 8 votes)

thraed for the first glass beach album (and all subsequent glass beach albums)
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/glass-beach-the-first-glass-beach-album/

hahahhaha yessssss

i voted for both of the last two, fwiw

with all the song talk, people forgot to vote for the album?

YEAHHHH

I will be back in an hour! Gonna run some errands.

love the first glass beach album, hope their next record is called the second glass beach album

There's a band who hit the double whammy of being a 'glass' band and a 'beach' band, huh? What do they sound like?

i think "yoshi's island" was my most listened to track of the year

holy crow x2!!!!! (I voted for both of these, my first ones to place)

I put Koffee low on my ballot. She’s great, but I need more from her than just a 5-track EP. Looking forward to her album. Check her feature on the J Hus album for a taste of the Koffee x (producer) Jae5 madness.

I want it on record that I don't believe the Purple Mountains placement - I shall not be fooled!

There's a band who hit the double whammy of being a 'glass' band and a 'beach' band, huh? What do they sound like?

― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 10:12 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

read my first post in the dedicated thread. alternately, 15 emo bands at once + instrumentation/arrangements that spill over into jazz, chiptune, bedroom pop, musical theater

From the Glass Beach thread: my chimerical romance - okay, I'll give this a listen.

Yeah, there's no way only 7 people voted for Berman. I almost did myself and I only listened to the album once.

So how did a collection of Japanese ambient from the 80s become a board favorite?

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 12:01 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Kankyo is really the convergence of a lot of the last half-decade's underground concerns: ambient records that show up in YouTube algorithms, the LITA/Numero/Leaving reissue reappreciation/reconsidering/resurgence of new age, the uncanny-valley stuff present in deconstructed club/PC Music/tape label noise/0PN/Orange Milk, the Japanophilia of vaporwave/citypop.

A lot of different threads were leading to this point!

is glass beach anything to so with philip glass - einstein on the beach?

is one of them called philip einstein perhaps?

Great explanation, Whiney!

read my first post in the dedicated thread. alternately, 15 emo bands at once + instrumentation/arrangements that spill over into jazz, chiptune, bedroom pop, musical theater

― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 5:17 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sounds utterly horrible. I'm in

lol Nick

voted for these two. disappointed pm isn't higher since i voted for it here rather than for the many deserving songs in the track poll

It almost certainly is higher.

okay this Glass Beach thing - love the music but I really don't like this style of pop-punk singing.
I hate to be that guy cos I've vehemently defended 'annoying' singers in the past but I'd totally go for an instrumental version of this record

Didn't one of the PM tracks get 16 or so votes?

So find it hard to believe only 7 people voted for the album.

Amazed by Purple Mountains placing, sure the decimal point isn’t in the wrong place?

it wouldn't be the week of february 3, 2020 without a good polling tabulation crisis

Absolutely shocked by that Purple Mountains placement. Did the Berman stans just worry so much about how many tracks to vote for and forget about the album itself?

can >7 ppl say they voted PM and end this charade pls lol

We tried to contact Shadow Inc. for the electronically transmitted vote results, but no one was picking up the phone.

lmao

LOL

Yeah, I think the real #51 is the two Big Thief albums. Don’t we always combine the votes for different versions of the same thing? #theremixprinciple

tt has been telling me to hear the glass beach album in full for months. here we go I guess!

is the break in the rollout bc we're done for today or bc the poll runners are doublechecking the pm numbers

moka said there'd be a break after 50 and the 40s will come later today

great images again btw moka! beautiful

quick mod check in: i've updated all the images for the first day with Moka's supercool pictures, so maybe "load all" and re-explore.

I've also fully updated the album playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7N1gQj4VAAJEEHY4MbZNOW?si=sP0D_I0UQLy5b5wdHyik1w

Someone's going to have to explain the appeal of this Carla dal Forno

Something to tidy us over while we wait for Demen to give us a sign, maybe.

read my first post in the dedicated thread. alternately, 15 emo bands at once + instrumentation/arrangements that spill over into jazz, chiptune, bedroom pop, musical theater
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 5:17 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sounds utterly horrible. I'm in

― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 12:23 PM (forty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ILM needs an excelsior thread, also DL otm

glass beach albums is wide-ranging and totally nuts, but i will say you can probably estimate how much you're gonna like the record by how you feel about that first song

This Berman stan didn't vote in the albums poll at all b/c he didn't listen to enough albums. Sorry, folks.

I am liking this glass beach album of course, halfway through, but Weatherday remains my 2019 choice for This Sort Of Thing

having heard both, imo Weatherday isn't even close to Glass Beach's level

Ooooh the Caterina Barbieri is more my speed

https://i.imgur.com/3CDIT0w.jpg
#49 – Chemical Brothers - No Geography (244 points, 7 votes)

Chemical Brothers s/d
https://earmilk.com/album-reviews/641632/the-chemical-brothers/no-geography/

i didn't listen to this one because the title offends me

didn't realize the chem bros were still making music!

The Chemical Brothers album is so killer, I was not expecting to love it as much as I did.

Didn't even remotely consider voting for it but a pleasant comeback, to be sure.

I extremely love Moka’s Chem Bros image here.

yeah this was surprisingly good, I think ditching the big-name guest vocalists & refining the album to about 45 minutes paid off pretty well

First of mine to place. One of the few albums which lives up to best album since hype.

this is a great record

had no idea, will check now

One of the few albums which lives up to best album since hype.

I thought Further also lived up to the hype too but you could sense they were trying to get away from themselves, taking cues from stuff like Orbital and krautrock...all of which worked, but it didn't necessarily feel like a Chemical Bros album the way this one does

Excellent album and also mixed in places so don't listen on shuffle

https://i.imgur.com/Bn39Gsu.jpg
#48 – Hatchie - Keepsake (266 points, 11 votes)

Hatchie
https://www.popmatters.com/hatchie-keepsake-2638925014.html

I don't get glass beach and stuff that sounds like glass beach, "glass beach" is a good name though.

I think I heard this one... or did I? Hmmm.

forgot to vote for this, an album of bangers

whoa weird I was just listening to this album for the first time now

Chems album rules

I wish I liked this more than I do, but as discussed in the tracks poll it behooves one to see her play the songs live.

glass beach album 2nd half is appealing more than the 1st - very good work so far

I never got around to really *getting into* the full hatchie album but its second half is devastating. Especially the final 90 seconds or so of Keep. And Stay with Me. And Secret.

Shit maybe I should spend more time with if

I'm one of the seven people who voted for Purple Mountains and I have no previous emotional connection to Bergman or any of his music and only bothered to check it out when I heard he'd died. The fact that there were only six people more committed than me is insane.

gotta be fake, I'm with emil.y

Hatchie is my first vote to place. The album perfectly lived up to the promise of her EP for me. Apart from the singles, Secret and Unwanted Guest are the two standouts. Keep is a great closer too.. ah I just love the whole thing. I was sad to see she was so overlooked in most of the end of year lists.

I was one of the Purple Mountains #1s. No idea what happened, but he did so well in the singles poll I guess I can only shrug.

Bergman or any of his music

Damn, dude was way more versatile than I thought.

I likewise had no previous connection to Berman's music (pretty sure I had only heard "Random Rules" before). I came to the rest of his catalog and poetry through this album, which I think is a landmark.

the purple mountains placement will be revealed as fake when he wins the whole poll

it will then be revealed that taylor swift was 51

https://i.imgur.com/8CajDQN.jpg
#47 – Liturgy - H.A.Q.Q. (268 points, 9 votes)
Liturgy
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/liturgy-haqq/
Needle Drop: https://youtu.be/NMsEzAg_E7o

lol

weird

Yay :) My #2

@ the fact that it placed, that it's this high, and that you provided a link to Fantano for our convenience.

Taylor was 2 spots higher than PM on my ballot

oh i liked the art work by these guys
this similar then i guess?

i was a non-believer until this one. still kinda am but it's a good record

It's crazier, the whole album is some kind of black metal / cosmic jazz fusion, drenched in harp and vibraphone. I absolutely love it.

sweet

holy crap! I didn't vote for this but I nearly did, v glad it placed. their best album

It's cool, and mostly sidesteps the kind of avant-metal I just not-so-subtly dissed on the 2020 rolling metal thread.

this isn't quite the total achievement that the ark work is but 1) it's close 2) it combines all previous iterations of liturgy into this kind of all terrain armored transport liturgy vehicle. i voted for it

:D

Glad the Carla album made it, one of my biggest favs from last year. Becoming one of my fav contemporary musical artists!

The Ark Work is an all-timer - this is merely brilliant. My #12. The way the title-track ascends through the glitches at its climax is genuinely wondrous, shivers thinking about it now

it's more screamo than black metal but it's pretty wild.

I think they've mostly had enough amazing ideas for a few tracks per album, and then there's been a bit too much filler on their records. This time they really stayed with the ideas and created a great whole

It's just nice to see people taking HHH's music seriously at last, it's been a long and often frustrating journey

https://i.imgur.com/mom2t0X.jpg
#46 – Solange - When I Get Home (277 points, 12 votes)
SOLANGE KNOWLES, omg the return of
https://www.popmatters.com/solange-when-i-get-home-2631568772.html

Thought Hatchie would be top 10 with a few #1 votes - lots of enthusiasm on the thread.

totally forgot this album existed

same but I instinctively tune out the Knowles clan

Totally forgot this album existed

― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili)

Don't blame you, it forget it exists as it segues to the next chillaxed bubble bath of lethargy

I'm glad she tried to branch out but none of it really stuck (I thought A Seat at the Table was great btw).

This album is Solange's "Mutations" (don't ask me to elaborate, the thought just popped up).

Mutations was way more memorable than this tbf.

the Hatchie is good but I wouldn't listen to it again (lol)

well maybe a track or 2

Yay for Liturgy but... I’m still processing that the Chemical Brothers are still making music.

their last few albums have been really solid!

xps it's how I feel about almost everything that placed so far tbh.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/B0PxDY2jkF8LYhgde0G6WkuA3J2j-xkWjv2J5CJX7uiHnFTtAsD2o9-rArQnXUfB-n8z7CdGTwOAuc7NiK83VQGVzztBP2ruwTg87CLeXkrsBKWKBepf57y74UgxCnGKXU4YQFdMtt-ZGtJaaDRGaKUiYumDlw

Not a bad thing per se, mind you.

Honest to god I had no idea! Just checked to see what year this is

https://i.imgur.com/sutSKrt.jpg
#45 – Kali Malone - The Sacrificial Code (278 points, 8 votes)
Rolling ambient/chill out/drone/moodz thread: from 2010s 'til infinity!
https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/kali-malone-sacrificial-code

congrats KM

sweet, my album made it

thank you imago, it feels good

I voted for Purple Mountains. 51 feels kinda Berman so happy if that's where it ends up. That Japanese ambient compilation is magnificent. Also voted for American Football. A good day,

The Kali Malone record is, and I use this word advisedly, boring. No offence, Karl!

The images are fucking glorious.

i like the organ drone record

I really fell in love with this album

We already talked about it in the relevant thread but to me this album is a musical scam of sorts. It sounds like it was made by someone who genuinely believes drone to be a genre consisting of randomly echoing notes played ppp on an instrument of your choice.

Didn't vote for it but wholly endorse this one. Pushes some of the same buttons as Grouper for me.

i don't think it's necessarily a drone record but don't know what else to call it

I wish. Hopefully Nivhek will place, although I highly doubt it.

xp

I kept seeing it mentioned in different places and kept going back to it but it's just a flat experience for me.

I voted for Nivhek fwiw. Lovely album.

A Chemical Brothers album! Maybe I was hasty in giving up on them

I loved Solange's ASATT so much that I willed myself into liking the new one at first. I put it on for the first time in months the other day and found it actively annoying

as people have said, the Chemical Brothers album is excellent fun and I suggest anyone who fell out of love with them checks it out.
A concise suite of good clean dance bangers without the rock'n'roll pretences they've often fallen foul to.

btw i think all 7 PM voters have revealed themselves (including myself)

https://i.imgur.com/6F18GHL.jpg
#44 – Shura - Forevher (278 points, 9 votes)
shura
https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/shura-forevher-album-review

and yeah the CBs album does feel like a suite rather than an album of tracks. it really works as something you can stick on and just bug out to for a bit

So much stuff to checkout in this rollout so far, I thought I listened to a fair amount of new music last year but I obviously missed out on a lot (still catching up on yesterday's results - really liking the Sacred Paws and Rapsody albums on first go).

Happy to see American Football place, my #1 and I definitely think it's their strongest album. Can't fault the songwriting and arrangements but also production-wise it's one of the best-sounding guitar records I've heard in a long time.

Yay for Kali Malone, that was my #8. Admittedly the album (and most of Malone's output) is exactly what you expect it to be, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I love church organ music and I love minimal drones, so combining the two is like manna to me. These days, a lot of my music listening happens while commuting to work in the local train, and that album has proven to be and excellent tool for easing into the workday and relaxing after it's over. Those soothing slow hums are all I need.

I saw Liturgy at a music festival and there were a couple of interesting ideas in their completely buried by a full-on headache

*there

Tuomas are you familiar with Aine O'Dwyer's "Music For Church Cleaners"?

I love church organ music and I love minimal drones

So do I.

btw i think all 7 PM voters have revealed themselves (including myself)

― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili)

i voted PM #1, so i'm starting to believe that that was a fake-out.

btw, this church organ drone album is not the best choice for trying to stay awake after lunch while you're at work.

We already talked about it in the relevant thread but to me this album is a musical scam of sorts. It sounds like it was made by someone who genuinely believes drone to be a genre consisting of randomly echoing notes played ppp on an instrument of your choice.

If doing this sounds good and people enjoy it, why would it be a scam?

Finally, something I voted for. There’s a great little video of Shura taking her mum to HMV Westfield on the day the album came out. A real ‘look ma, I made it’ moment.

That Aine O'Dwyer album is fantastic.

loved and voted for forevher a very gay record that splits the difference between sexy electro r&b and '70s singer-songwriter moves. kinda similar to the natalie prass record from 2018 really

Tuomas are you familiar with Aine O'Dwyer's "Music For Church Cleaners"?

I remember when it was discussed on ILM and I tried listening to it, but ultimately the sound of that record wasn't to my liking... I prefer the way the organ sounds on Malone's records.

Tuomas are you familiar with Aine O'Dwyer's "Music For Church Cleaners"?

one of my faves

this can't be any more boring than lana carla del forno whom i have rapidly wearied of, let's dive in

If doing this sounds good and people enjoy it, why would it be a scam?

I'm not a big John Cage fan either so that might have something to do with it (aka randomness is fucking boring 99% of the time).

Real answer: because having opinions about music is fun.

the next chillaxed bubble bath of lethargy

This pretty much sums up my ideal music.

Solange pretty much abandoned tunes on this album, but I love the vibe throughout.

this can't be any more boring than lana carla del forno whom i have rapidly wearied of, let's dive in

― TOO LOW, the Curator (imago), Tuesday, February 4, 2020 12:41 PM (fifty-six seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

lj if i had to guess, you won't like this

lol I must've swapped my #1 at the last minute from Shura to...something that is probably in the bottom 100

I voted for Purple Mountains, it was my #19, in case anyone is keeping a tally.

yep, we're definitely above 7.

I'm psyched that there's an active ILM cover up the implicates possibly dozens of posters. When do the hearings start?

i'm psyched to learn what the real #51 is

Purple Knoll more like.

I also voted for PM, fwiw (it’s the only album on my ballot to place so far).

Huh. I didn't think that new Liturgy album was even released yet, but okay.

deephouse state at it again

how have i got 7 minutes into this kali malone song

xxp digitally released Nov. 12

https://www.discogs.com/Liturgy-HAQQ/release/14394372

'song'

Shura ended up as my number two which is surprising as I was initially a bit disappointed with it after such a perfect debut. It's very different record to Nothing's Real but it has hit me even harder over time. The way she sings about falling in love and finding some kind of happy ending was one of the most heart warming musical experiences of the year.

Jeff is OTM about the HMV video too. She has such a brilliant personality and I feel like I'll always be rooting for her. We need more Shuras!

xpost - Ah, got it. Thanks!

Damn, was going to say Maragritas on the Knoll but MattDC got there first.

https://i.imgur.com/2pjS1eD.jpg
#43 – Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (284 points, 10 votes)
Angel Olsen
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/10/album-review-angel-olsen-all-mirrors/