ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

spoiler alert: azealia banks did not win this poll

fix

we all know who's going to win this, but pumped anyway!

#1 is probably bon iver lets just get it out of the way now

:(

Can we not have Bon Iver in this?

idk what's going to win! is it lulu

DO we know who's going to win this? Because I have no idea.

i'm just mentally preparing myself for destroyer :(

Let's leave speculation aside for now. I'm more interested in the countdown. Although I have a sneaking suspicion I know who les winner could be.

pj harvey anyone?

who?

http://i.imgur.com/6ud1O.jpg

77. When Saints Go Machine — Konkylie (258 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 418

Spotify

Hooray, just got here in time! One idea I had: the tracks poll is always fun because people can listen along in real time but obviously if you haven't heard an album before it's not as easy to check it out in the space of 10 minutes. So maybe for each album that charts, someone who voted for or otherwise digs the album could link to (not embed) a representative track on Youtube or Soundcloud?

Glad this made it! Surprised as the low placing though :(

what is this

i gave this one a listen at ned's behest last year. it was okay as i remember, but i never went back to it.

Here's the track "Chestnut" from the album (my favorite one): http://soundcloud.com/when-saints-go-machine/chestnut

Yeah, what is this? I saw the name mentioned in the singles poll. Somehow I'm reluctant to check it out...

I wonder if anything I voted for will place?
Also seandalai that is a good idea.

i really liked this at first but then it was kind of diminishing returns. this might still have been near the bottom of my ballot tho, can't remember

Haha, my number 1. Would have been so sad if it hadn't placed, although I'm kind of disappointed it didn't place any higher than this. It's a beautiful, perfect record for me. I remember coming home after little sleep, hungover about 11am and putting it on and just listening to it in the dark from beginning to end. I maintain that's the optimal situation to hear it in. A few more thoughts about this written for the Quietus

well at least we get to discuss 76 nice records before the gushing over an album of faux-emotional warbling and caterwauling.

This is an excellent start - I missed it last year but have been playing it over the last week and it's fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEvnsKdP2m0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfefYDZvDKk

The whole thing's great, and it's best heard as a piece, but here are two highlights

I liked Konkylie a lot! Didn't go back to it as much as I thought I would at first, but it's a lovely and interesting record.

The kind of thing I'm glad to see sneak in at 77 even if it isn't Top 25 of the year for me or anything.

NO EMBEDDING! xp

a couple solid tracks on this one. I like the industrial+balearic/chillwave elements even if it doesn't hold up for me over the whole album.

can we not throw a million youtubes in here or make sure that they're links not embeds? thx.

agh can we just post links to youtubes not embeds please? i fear for my browser otherwise

oh sorry JF - don't know how to unimbed

aw dang it's the actual album covers not ms paint versions :(

unembbed?

prediction katy b and pj harvey are the top 2

This sort of sounds to me like a more sincere version of Autre Ne Veut crossed with Anthony.

Although, lol I forgot about the lyrical namechecking of Linden trees.

oh sorry JF - don't know how to unimbed

either the short version of the youtube link or use the bbcode

To NOT embed youtube links, click on the "Share" button below the video and copy the short url it provides. Short urls do not auto-embed on ILX.

k, got it - no more vids.

The "Kelly" video above may be the best of the year, despite all the skin crawling creepiness.

oh beyonce will be top 3. maybe even the winner

Beyonce
Katy B
PJ Harvey

The Kelly video is basically Black Swan with all the fat trimmed off, right?

Let's refrain from talking about the top 3 this early, shall we?

Serious Arthur Russell vibes too...

xpost ^^ this

i was just trying reassure lex that Destroyer has no chance of winning

Save us Johnny Fever!

no mention of derulo yet. probably because of cross voting between spelling his name with and without an umlaut.

considering it got 10 votes and a first placer, WSGM is pretty low. the following 76 had better blow my MIND!

First impression: I like a lot of the ingredients, and it's obvious why ILM would go for it, but I'm not really taken with any of the songs I've heard so far.

i fully expect braids to finish #52 to #50.

silence as netizens try to think of their #52 to #50 predictions

whenever someone mentions that band i have to retrain myself that they're not talking about the emo band from the 90s.

I can't even remember what I voted for. I don't think I really got into many albums last year.

That said, it would be nice for some artists that were absent from the singles vote: Gucci Mane, Peaking Lights, Tim Hecker, Laurel Halo, Metronomy, Braids, Oneohtrix Point Never, Maria Minerva, maybe Art Department...

or the r&b duo who did the 'bohemian rhapsody' cover in the '90s xp

...and LMFAO of course! ;)

j0rdan is the rollout finishing thursday like the tracks poll or friday?

i'm cool with whatever

thu worked well i think - as someone said on the trax thread, by the time you get to the top 10 there likely won't be any surprises by the order left, so no point holding it back

i think its more to do with those leaving work on a friday not seeing results til monday

i gave this one a listen at ned's behest last year. it was okay as i remember, but i never went back to it.

― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend)

yeah this^. checked out the thread on this band after someone mentioned them somewhere recently and was surprised to see i had posted positively in it but had completely forgotten them in the intervening months

but im happy going with whatevers best for j0rdan

I would have voted Konkylie higher were I to redo my ballot. It's really a fantastic album, full of a little bit of everything for everyone (conventional synth pop numbers like "Kelly", slightly skewed synth pop numbers like "Church and Law", wobbly mood pieces like "The Same Scissors", compositional music nerd freakouts like "Konkylie" and "Add Ends").

Weirdly, the singer sounds just like Antony but for whatever reason I do not want to pull out his esophagus and strangle him with it. I suspect it's because he's getting better support from his backing music.

Haven't seen the video for "Kelly" but "Add Ends" is great:

http://youtu.be/eQby5ZsopR8

http://i.imgur.com/OhVu2.jpg

76. Robag Wruhme — Thora Vukk (262 points, 8 votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 392

Spotify

I have no idea what this is

me neither...

nor me

to me konkylie's one of these records with so many little musical "bits" that only reveal themselves after a few listens - the only thing I can compare it to is Boards Of Canada's Geogaddi in that respect.

I had come up w/ a list of possible #1 placers:

PJ Harvey
Beyonce
Katy B
Destroyer
Tim Hecker

(I've changed my mind about TH, and now will be v impressed if he makes top 10...)

Xp ha! Never heard of #76: is this poll going to be awesome?

ah that robag wruhme record was lovely! not on my ballot but happy to see it place. useful when hungover

Weirdly, the singer sounds just like Antony but for whatever reason I do not want to pull out his esophagus and strangle him with it.

This. I've never enjoyed Anthony's singing, but I'm actually drawn to this.

ok this is...kind of folktronica?

I have some Robag Wrhume from about 2004/5 and it was really good - sort of IDM house. What's his latest stuff like?

you just put me off checking it out seandalai

i listened to this once and have no memory of it other than that it was nice. he had a good mix out this year too

What the vukk?

it's kind of pastoral techno, very immersive, kind of border communityesque

Yessssss, was hoping that would place. Really beautiful example of what we used to call microhouse back in the day - lush strings, disembodied child voices, I've played it all year without getting tired of it.

I tried hard to get into Konkylie, but I always got bored after the first two tracks (which I love!). also, closer was nice, as far as I remember.

was going to post that I just listened to the first half of Konkylie on Spotify, and the first two tracks do seem to stand above the rest

This sounds like something I would love were I listening to it outside of the context of a countdown of the 77 best albums of the year; as it stands, it's just sort of pleasant? It seems to be put together well and has a good sense of build and release, but the restraint is not what I want to listen to right now (nb this is all based on the first track, the whole album might erupt into a techstep facemelter later on for all I know)

it's kind of pastoral techno, very immersive, kind of border communityesque

― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Monday, 30 January 2012 16:43 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

sold

There's a lot going on it it, but it's not really a dancefloor album, I've mostly listened to it as a late night thing while reading, in the way I would with Pantha Du Prince or someone.

There are some lovely, very crystalline sounding tracks on that album, maybe along the same lines as Pantha Du Prince? Didn't vote for it in the end though cos those bridging pieces in between the main tracks were a bit of a drag.

good comparison with pantha du prince, even more atmospheric. I'm sure he could gussy it up for the dance floor though.

Oh he's one half of Wighnomy Brothers who are masters of gussying it up for the dance floor.

Ha, I think on the sandbox when talking about big hip-hop tracks this year, I made a comment about 2011 being the year that music stopped being real and started being polite; these first two albums seem to hold up that thesis pretty well.

76. Robag Wruhme — Thora Vukk (262 points, 8 votes)

really enjoying this

xpost don't know if 2011 is the year that happened man.

it's the year that everyone spent in their bedrooms on the internet

I'm going to have to check this out now, also because of the comparison with Pantha du Prince!

xp I've been doing that for years, glad the world caught up...

Depends on whether you're listening to polite music or not. I don't think I really like this stuff that much. PDP is ok, but kinda shiny and dull at the same time imo.

Hoping for something loud at this end of the countdown.

xposts like every year since 1999

I meant to listen to this, am a fan of his other work and even checked out Wuppdeckmischmampflow, but seem to have less and less enthusiasm for 'what we used to call microhouse back in the day'...

I made a comment about 2011 being the year that music stopped being real and started being polite; these first two albums seem to hold up that thesis pretty well.

everyone be getting OLD

http://i.imgur.com/AoUNt.jpg

75. Liturgy — Aesthethica (264 points, nine votes)

P4K: 41
P&J: 88

Spotify

hahaha

politeness just got the shit kicked out of it!

Guessing this counts as "something loud".

Speaking of nice and loud. Hey, I still haven't listened to Liturgy.

lol I fucked up that quote, it's GETTING real isn't it

Real World fanboy badge revoked

hey! there we go!
i didn't vote for it, but it's loud and fairly impolite.

Metal, I'm assuming?

the cover could be a witch house album

I like that cover design a lot.

crossover/hipster black metal is better than none at all

I am cracking up though that the first minute of this loud, impolite album is a soft note played over and over though

needs more triangles in the artist name

Matt DC - Liturgy are a black metal band who've caused controversy because they dress like hipsters and try to unravel the usual black metal tropes of being Norwegian and dressing like a Vril-Ya. I still haven't heard it, but it's supposed to be good.

Metal, I'm assuming?

― Matt DC,

transcendental black metal

wiki

Liturgy are a self-described "transcedent black metal" band from Brooklyn, New York. Originally the solo project of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, the band expanded to a four piece in 2008, after the release of the 12" Immortal Life, which was followed in 2009 with their debut album Renihilation. The group call their style "transcendental black metal",[1][2] which is described in a declaration written by Hunt-Hendrix.[3] Hunter cites Swans, Glenn Branca, Alexander Scriabin, Iannis Xenakis and Lightning Bolt as influences.[4]

the cover could be a witch house album

haha witch house was the first thing i thought of

happy 4 the metal crü

Save us J0rdan Fever!

"Hunter Hunt Hendrix" sounds like a Gossip Girl character/actor but his name isn't his fault.

http://youtu.be/qciRxrlTFGc

^ Liturgy - Generation

(I didn't vote for this btw, but that was the best track imo)

here is a jaunty excerpt of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's Trancendental Black Metal theory

PROLEGOMENON

One could propose a new meaning for black metal along with a new array of techniques to activate that meaning. The meaning of Transcendental Black Metal is Affirmation, and its new technique is the Burst Beat.
The will to power has two stages. The first may be called Fortification; the establishment of a paradigm or set of rules and the ensuing exploration of potential that lies within those constraints. The second stage may be termed Sacrifice; an auto-destruction, a self-overcoming whereby the initial rules, having been fully digested and satisfied, are thereby mutilated. They are transformed into the basis for something new and unprecedented.
Transcendental Black Metal is black metal in the mode of Sacrifice. It is a clearing aside of contingent features and a fresh exploration of the essence of black metal. As such it is solar, hypertrophic, courageous, finite and penultimate. Its tone is Affirmation and its key technique is the Burst Beat.
The black metal that was born in Scandinavia in the mode of Fortification can be termed Hyperborean Black Metal. Hyperborean Black Metal is lunar, atrophic, depraved, infinite and pure. The symbol of its birth is the Death of Dead. Its tone is Nihilism and its key technique is the Blast Beat.
Today USBM stands in the shadow of Hyperborean Black Metal. The time has come for a decisive break with the European tradition and the establishment of a truly American black metal. And we should say “American” rather than “US”: the US is a declining empire; America is an eternal ideal representing human dignity, hybridization and creative evolution.
The act of renihilation is the betrayal of Hyperborean Black Metal and an affirmation of Transcendental Black Metal. And it is at the same time the constitution of an apocalyptic humanism to be termed Aesthetics. As such, the question of Transcendental Black Metal is only the tip of an iceberg at the base of which is hidden a new relationship between art, politics, ethics and religion.

Played Konkylie a couple of times after a friend raved about it, liked it quite a lot.

Voted for Thora Vukk. Heavily played throughout the year, never tired of it, good holiday memories attached.

the only 'metal' album i heard last year prior to the ILM Metal Poll. It's p good.

xxxp:
It comes with a manifesto on Transcendental Black Metal.

Transcendental Black Metal is a Renihilation, a “No” to the entire array of Negations, which turns to an affirmation of the continuity of all things

prolego-memnon?

I have like zero interest in black metal, apparently. I don't even dislike this, it just is making zero impression on me.

Like, there is no way this album should aurally scan as "beige, forgettable" to me but there you go.

I think the issue I have with a lot of how black metal is constructed/presented is that it's a LOT of effort put into playing what is ultimately a relatively simple song/melody; like on this first track, everything is played on like 32nd notes but it's all subdivision of a really really really simple tune that's not particularly interesting or impressive, so my end reaction is "eh, why bother with all that?"

It's like Dr Bronner meets the Maharishi School of Management.

"eh, why bother with all that?"
mood music? i dunno, why bother with anything?

lol and then they follow up with a big chanty thing, which erupts into another simple tune chopped up into 32nd notes. It's like the musical equivalent of the moment when Scooby-Doo is running in place away from a monster, legs all awhirl and dust and smoke getting kicked up but he's not going anywhere, stretched out over a five minute period.

(structurally this is reminding me of some of the Baltic pieces we did in our last choral concert, only more static)

Decent black metal can be pretty complex, musically speaking - lots of time signature changes etc...

that literal scooby-doo sound effect looped over five minutes would be more "up my alley" than this Liturgy album, but I like this okay too.

why bother with anything?

depressed now

can someone point me in the direction of some Morton Feldmanesque black metal?

I like the intro of Tragic Laurel, it sounds like Philip Glass

http://i.imgur.com/sa2WL.jpg

74. The Joy Formidable — The Big Roar (266 points, seven votes, one first place vote)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 58

Spotify

the song that placed in tracks was way too landfillesque for me - any chance I'll like the album?

This Robag Wruhme album is really nice. Is the name an anagram for something or just German?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/48/Slayer-GodHatesUsAll-WhiteSleeve.jpg/220px-Slayer-GodHatesUsAll-WhiteSleeve.jpg

naughty naughty very naughty

lol so to completely contradict what I just said re: Liturgy, the thing I dug the most about the song that placed on the track countdown was the shoegazy outro; interested to hear if that sensibility runs through other songs on the album

seandalai: I've only heard the Joy Formidable album once, but my guess is that if you didn't like "Whirring," you won't like the album.

My biggest problem with that Liturgy (and most black metal) is the quality of sound. If I'm in a metal mood then I want to listen to it LOUD, but this stuff is best set at like 2 on the volume knob, otherwise its completely blown out.

I didn't vote for Joy Formidable, but it has its moments. It's a crying shame that only Yuck and JF contend in the British hard-rock (non-punk/metal) stakes these days. But where Yuck are hazy and nostalgic, I hear JF as being big and powerful (love that guitar sound). I don't know which nineties rock band I'd be tempted to compare them with - part of me wants to say early Manics without the lyrics. Anyway, the album's got maybe 4 good songs, the rest is a bit forgettable. I still love A Heavy Abacus, particularly that Glastonbury performance.

I should give The Joy Formidable another chance. Didn't love the track we covered at Jukebox but it seems to be one of the consensus picks of indie rock this year.

I haven't heard any of these... The Joy Formidable tracks on the poll were alright I suppose. I also remembered that they were on Conan one night last year.

I really like the Joy Formidable's huge walls of screeching guitars but the songs themselves I can take or leave. Surprised that album wasn't higher, I thought they had a committed following on here.

Is it weird that the first song at least is coming across to me like a harder-edge School of Seven Bells?

love the last track on the joy formidable album a lot

http://youtu.be/84yRe--OJ00

Joy Formidable remind me of that era between Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie when the Pumpkins were still figuring out just how big of an arena band they wanted to become.

JF and liturgy both on my ballot :D

love that liturgy album.

I think the issue I have with a lot of how black metal is constructed/presented is that it's a LOT of effort put into playing what is ultimately a relatively simple song/melody; like on this first track, everything is played on like 32nd notes but it's all subdivision of a really really really simple tune that's not particularly interesting or impressive, so my end reaction is "eh, why bother with all that?"

what's wrong with a simple melody/progression? it's all about execution, and the major chords + huge wash of sound guitars + the rubato-but-still-in-tempo drumming approach really works for me.

another album that's good in small doses.

is "generation" the long instrumental one that's kind of more math-rock than metal? that's my favorite one. love this album.
xpost about liturgy but i love the joy formidable album too. really good guitars.

I have a feeling JF will go supernova on their next album - what's to stop them?

though i wish the joy formidable album didn't have the one song where the dude sings. it's really boring and i don't know why they bothered.

Re: The Joy Formidable
The four songs reprised from the 2009's A Balloon Called Moaning EP were sharper in their "original" version. The album production veers too far into stadium-rock for its own good.

Still TJF captures an early 90's sound like few bands since. Think Tanya Donelly of Belly fronting gazy lads like Swervedriver. Pure nostalgia treat for me.

I saw Joy Formidable live in 2010. They weren't for me, and what I've heard by them since has confirmed this several times over.

they need to replace all that guitar work with keane style pianos

The four songs reprised from the 2009's A Balloon Called Moaning EP were sharper in their "original" version.

maybe it's because i heard the album before the ep but i don't agree with this at all, would much rather hear the album versions which are humongous. "whirring" esp. on the ep just seems like a rough draft to me.

Joy Formidable still suffers from a bit of a marketing problem, I think -- terrible band name, overzealous inane tweeting (imo), not mysterious enough --> can add up to "blah" for some people. Still, I like their sound and I think Ritzy has a lovely voice well suited for this type of music.

is "generation" the long instrumental one that's kind of more math-rock than metal? that's my favorite one. love this album.
xpost about liturgy but i love the joy formidable album too. really good guitars.

― congratulations (n/a), Monday, January 30, 2012 12:15 PM (39 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm even the non-metal ppl should listen to "generation" because you'll either love it or be driven insane by it.

is "generation" the long instrumental one that's kind of more math-rock than metal? that's my favorite one

yeah it's definitely the high point, even though it's a one-off and not really "what they do". so good.

btw i know i can't complain since i ignored all the nominations stuff, but i'm pretty sure none of my favorite albums from this year were even nominated (except for liturgy).

imo the drummer is the star on that Liturgy record

is "generation" the long instrumental one that's kind of more math-rock than metal? that's my favorite one. love this album.
xpost about liturgy but i love the joy formidable album too. really good guitars.

― congratulations (n/a), Monday, January 30, 2012 12:15 PM (39 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm even the non-metal ppl should listen to "generation" because you'll either love it or be driven insane by it.

― call all destroyer, Monday, January 30, 2012 5:18 PM (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Happen to be listening to this now and it's not bad at all...the rest of the album (so far) is interesting enough but exhausting for my ears.

Is the name an anagram for something or just German?

― jaymc, Monday, January 30, 2012

Robag's real name is Gabor

what's wrong with a simple melody/progression? it's all about execution, and the major chords + huge wash of sound guitars + the rubato-but-still-in-tempo drumming approach really works for me.

That's great! The thing is, you glossed over the more important "not particularly interesting or impressive" qualifier to focus somewhat unfairly on the "really simple tune" part. I'm not convinced by the presentation more than anything else.

btw listening to "Generation" right now and already from the get-go this is way more my type of thing

Not really that taken with robag as a producer, though he can be a great DJ. LP passed me by

granted i dont listen to a lot of metal, but the speed at which he hits the snare drum in that first song just blows my mind

also: Ritzy = Oh so cuet.

Sorry, Liturgy is reminding me of Monty Python's "Death of Mary Queen of Scots" sketch.

BANG WALLOP RATTLE SCREECH
"ah think she's deid"
"no i'm not"
BANG WALLOP RATTLE SCREECH

...but, um, not without merit...

Listened to about 75% of the tracks poll, not going to do that with LPs will just comment on anything I've actually heard

http://i.imgur.com/dRes5.jpg

73. Jay-Z & Kanye West — Watch the Throne (266 points, 10 votes)

P4K: 21
P&J: 3

Spotify

IT'S PROVOCATIVE!

:D

Lololololol

Surprised that didn't place higher.

I still haven't heard WTT. I didn't like the Diddy record or MBDTF very much, so I'm kind of sceptical about this one... Do you guyses reckon I should give it a go?

yes

also still haven't heard this

Listening to the Liturgy album again and enjoying it a lot more this time round. Aside from the more experimental sounding tracks (which are great!), one good thing about it is the (relatively) short song length instead of all that epic-build fannydangle that dogs a lot of black metal.

When I finally got around to hearing WTT, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Really wasn't expecting much from it.

xxpost okay - think i have it knocking around so I'll try it.

what a terrible album cover!

wow, really surprised WTT isn't higher. Thought it'd be like top 20

I still haven't heard WTT. I didn't like the Diddy record or MBDTF very much, so I'm kind of sceptical about this one... Do you guyses reckon I should give it a go?

At least listen to "No Church In The Wild", "Ni**as In Paris" and "New Day".

there's some pretty good stuff on 'watch the throne' and it sounds huge and expensive and all that good stuff, but a lot of the time the rapping just isn't all that great

never change ilm

"gotta have it" and the singles are classics, and yeah "new day" & "no church in the wild" are dope

there's some pretty good stuff on 'watch the throne' and it sounds huge and expensive and all that good stuff, but a lot of the time the rapping just isn't all that great

in fairness, this is almost always because of Kanye

yes, that is true

wow, way lower I would ever expect it to place

lulz #73

i do love "niggas in paris" (erm minus kanye) but i didn't think it was a remarkable album otherwise - occasionally good beats, bit of a slog overall, kanye is mostly supremely annoying

basically I feel like ppl punished this album because My Beautiful Dark Twisted Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Fantasy was overpraised

there's some pretty good stuff on 'watch the throne' and it sounds huge and expensive and all that good stuff, but a lot of the time the rapping just isn't all that great

― J0rdan S., Monday, January 30, 2012 11:29 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

pretty much agree with this although i often enjoy kanye's terrible raps just because o_O/hilarity

well at least we get to discuss 76 nice records before the gushing over an album of faux-emotional warbling and caterwauling.

― skip, Monday, January 30, 2012 4:15 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Depending on your taste this could apply to every potential winner except Katy B.

I still haven't heard WTT. I didn't like the Diddy record or MBDTF very much, so I'm kind of sceptical about this one... Do you guyses reckon I should give it a go?

― I want your nose, your shoes and your unicycle (dog latin), Monday, January 30, 2012 12:27 PM (19 seconds ago)

well they're all hip-hop, if you didn't like one, you surely won't like the others

re: WTT, appropriate placing for that very mediocre album

it sounds huge and expensive and all that good stuff

idk it sounds expensive as in it sounds like it cost a lot of money - it doesn't sound expensive in the GREAT way, ie opulent and fabulous - cf this, which is the most opulent hip-hop beat i've heard in some time

there are also points where Kanye does go all the way through o_O and back into "okay I can fuck with that" territory but I'll be fucked if I can name any of them off the top of my head

idk there's def some beats on WTT that sound expensive AND great

Liturgy was #17 in metal poll.
I don't know if there's any more 'metal' to come but if you want to check where it placed in the metal poll click here on the poll results/stats on needle Which Glenn does and is awesome.

i unabashedly love kanye just as a personality/celebrity/entity

as an addition to P&J/P4k placings.

jesus i really like the first song on this joy formidable album, guitars are just huge

i was listening to the college dropout earlier today and just thinking, goddamn how can anyone give a shit about my beautiful dark stupid fantasy

yeah it's weird how people can like two things that are different

http://i.imgur.com/jHDCT.jpg

72. Barbara Panther — Barbara Panther (270 points, seven votes, two first place votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: DNP

Spotify

Barbara Panther

YAY my #2

hooray, my first place vote!! <3 tho tbh, since submitting my ballot i think i've fallen for tune-yards more, but really happy to see this make the top 77.

I've only listened to the one song from the tracks poll, but I love this kind of thing. Much more realistic interpretation of the New York early-80s L.E.S. scene than things like the Rapture or LCD Soundsystem. Been wanting to hear something that melts up that no-wave/hiphop/disco crossover for a while now.

love the opening lines of "voodoo" so much, particularly her intonation of "wa wa wa wa WITCH!"

This is such a great album. Only heard it in December and ended up putting it in my top 10.

Likewise. Wish I'd spent more of the year with it.

i mentioned it in the tracks thread, but i really dig the sonic contradictions within "dizzy," A LOT

WTT is way better than MBDLMFAOF and it still didn't earn my vote. I am fine with this placement.

Great cover on the B. Panther.

it is kinda weird that even despite a lot of ILX not feeling MBDTF it still placed at #7 last year (and even that was amusingly low), wheres WTT...#73 is nowhere for an album/artists of that profile

I can dig Barbara Panther

Looks like that horrible Yeasayer cover xxp

xxp: that is not weird at all, that is a fantastic example of "backlash" as I stated before

LCD NewsomSystem

enjoying this babs panther album

yeah this is good

She isn't nearly as raspy as Joanna Newsom.

Close enough to turn me off.

http://i.imgur.com/tu9XH.jpg

71. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine (271 points, nine votes)

P4K: 48
P&J: 146

Spotify

that is the worst fucking album cover I have ever seen

in one ear, out the other

That is one horrible album cover. (xpost)

i like Underneath the Pine but i don't really have anything to say about it. it just kind of exists

(circumventing the moist-stache entirely)

yeah, not sure if I even want to listen to that toro y moi album because the cover makes me want to barf

This is one of the joys of listening to music in a digital age, guys. I love the Toro y Moi album (it was in my top 5) and didn't even remember that the cover looked like that.

i feel like toro y moi always place somewhere in the low end or middle of ilx polls and bore me in exactly the same way every time

I love that cover! Another one I enjoyed but didn't vote for.

Toro Y Moi - Elise (live version)
http://youtu.be/n7rmUQk6SME

Standout track on the Toro y Moi is "Still Sound":
http://youtu.be/0Gqh4e1S6j0

i always feel like a freak when people go on about that cover being to gross/terrible because i actually find it kind of arresting.

a cover only buffandmaxsmom could love

lol

it is terrible/gross but i assume that's the point.

alright this next one is gonna be the last one for like an hour or so while i get ready for work and head over, will pick up from there

doesn't make it a bad cover imho. i hate looking at it - but that could also make it good?!
xpost

yeah, I'm sure they meant the cover to be awful and foul, but that still doesn't mean I have to like it

http://i.imgur.com/r5VB1.jpg

(tie) 69. Wild Flag — Wild Flag (273 points, 10 votes)

P4K: 49
P&J: 4

Spotify

btw the wild flag cover is 1000x worse than the toro y moi one

ha otm

outstanding record, don't get the cover but i sort of like it for some reason.

Wait, I thought we*weren't doing the MS Paint versions of the album covers?

kind of feel like i don't love the wild flag album as much as i should but i should also spend more time with it, i think it's one of the albums i lost when my old hard drive crashed and i didn't redownload it

it's like a bloodstain making out with snuffaluffagus

I voted for the Wild Flag album -- it's not a masterpiece or anything, but it's really fun.

^^cosign

Thought Toro Y Moi would be so much chillwave, but its actually excellent funky dreamy pop and totally doesn't deserve that tag. Elise is a grrrreat track.

I like that cover too.

haha i've literally just talking to my housemate (an illustrator) about how the art of the album cover has been lost

Thought Toro Y Moi would be so much chillwave

That was his deal at the very beginning, but he dropped it rather quickly.

That Wild Flag album cover reminds me of Abacab by Genesis...

Glad to see Robag Wruhme place - one of the last things I checked out from the nominations list, absolutely loved it.

love the Toro Y Moi album ("How I Know" is a great song), also I love the cover - the most beautiful one I've seen all year and gonna stan for it 4eva.
hopefully Chaz finally will recover from the "chillwave" tag he's getting slapped upon, it's just unfair for him to be written off just like that by lazy journalism

Actually played the Toro Y Moi quite a bit when it came out but completely forgot about it come the end of the year. It's perfectly pleasant.

Causers Of This was actually a better album IMO, I still regret I didn't give it #1 back in 2010 poll, as it would push it to the 77th place (afair)

Toro was low on my ballot. "Still Sound" and "New Beat" are total jams

btw nothing has come up on this countdown which IMO is better than When Saints Go Machine

(I probably ranked WTT higher on my ballot but, as I said, I would bump WTT up several spots were I to redo it)

(er WSGM I mean, acronyms are the devil)

Nothing I voted for has come up yet but I've particularly enjoyed first listens to the Barbara Panther and Robag Wruhme albums, both of which might have had a shot at slipping in at the bottom of my ballot if I'd heard them earlier.

Didn't vote for it but glad Toro y Moi made it

Loved the first Toro Y Moi album, I spent quite a bit of time with this one, but decided I'm not that into it in the end. 'How I Know' and 'New Beat' were cool tracks, but in general I thought the Freaking Out EP was better, kind of a return to form.

yup i voted for the EP; like the LP but not really enough to put it on my ballot

alright y'all i'm back

the next album was one of NPR's faves of the year

oh wait nevermind that's the album after this one

http://i.imgur.com/bu7xL.jpg

(tie) 69. Low — C'Mon (273 points, 10 votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 72

Spotify

They should put out a dance remix album and call it "C'mown!!!". I can think of at least one ILXor who'd buy that.

Anyway, I decided many years ago that I'm not really into Low, but I'll give this album a shot.

Starting to feel like there's a big difference in the music represented on this album poll...

Maybe I'm just growing out of my Low fandom after all thse years, but that album didn't do a whole lot for me.

kind of remember liking some dance remix of Low...spring heel jack maybe?

I didn't like it as much as Drums, but still some great tracks 'Try To Sleep' in particular.

xp yeah the Bombscare EP which is approx. 12 inches from my shoulder as I type

preferred the Retribution Gospel Choir album to this I think but Low still bring it live (or did last summer when I saw em)

I actually have some free time this week plus I voted in the albums poll so yeah, stoked for the madness and suchlike

glad Liturgy got some ILM shine, also Wild Flag but thought they'd be higher, maybe even top 30?

oh yeah, "c'mon" is the other album i loved that was nominated. "nothing but heart" is the keeper for me.

http://i.imgur.com/wokGw.jpg

68. ILX Presents Lulu (276 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)

P4K: DNP
P&J: DNP

lol

woooo

yaaaaay

which person who appeared on the album gave it their #1?

lol J0rdan did you check the Low Spotify ling

linK wtf at my typing today

lol no, what did i do

I think it was Emil.y's number one pick.

afaik every spotify link should be to a different kidz bop album, someone correct me if i'm wrong tho

haha xxp

spotify sent me to david bowie - low

oh, ha

i just assumed it was because I was outside usa and your link wasnt available here

but no
http://open.spotify.com/album/3cWU7pThOf8iew2epGbitE

Oh dear, that Spotify link is my fault - so much for automatic Spotify search...

The ilx album was my #13, I believe. Glad it placed in the poll, should have been higher. Some genius tracks on that album, well done guys.

Didn't really get around to listening to the Low album last year, what I heard sounded good but nowhere near their best stuff.

very little so far that i'm familiar with

kanye/jay-z: good, but not a favorite
barbara panther: GREAT - should have voted for it but didn't :(
wild flag: one of the worst, flattest and most disappointing albums i heard this year, don't get the appeal at all

OK, here's a Collaborative Spotify playlist

the lyrics on the new Low were pretty weak - too in-your-face and obvious. Occasionally it works ("esPESHally me") but more often it doesn't ("I'm nothing but heart" 40 times in a row). Some beautiful moments though, and one of my favorite live shows of the year.

http://i.imgur.com/si8w5.jpg

67. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls (282 points, 11 votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 105

Spotfiy

did johnny go to 61 on day 1?

I like "Witches" from the Low album more than I've liked any Low song since the 90s.

xp yes

i thin.k w.e wil.l se. a happ.y emil.y

YAY! I was thinking that it wouldn't place as the lowest stuff got so many votes.

"Bad Feeling" is a jam

this section of the countdown has been quite varied and great to see

(What is all this stuff?)

first day is always my favourite of the eoy polls

veronica falls!! "misery" is my favorite, but really the whole thing is really solid. yaaay!

I voted for this!

This and ILXulu are probably going to be my only choices to place. Of course, I don't actually remember what else I voted for, so…

I'm happy to see Veronica Falls. Would never have heard of it or voted for it without emil.y and outloud, so thanks!

xp
i am glad that the low album made it. i am not too familiar with them but of what i heard c'mon was the most accessible and most enchanting album. i have seen them live twice and i guess they are maybe my favourite live band for the time being. there is this certain spiritual, charming, warm atmosphere at a low concert which i have never really felt at other concerts (lambchop came close once when they toured nixon). the album seems very easy to get into and for that i thought it was somehow a little on the light side at the beginning. but in the end it was the album i listened most to in 2011 and i never got tired of their seemingly simple harmonies and tunes. there is something holy about it.

xp Yeah I was thinking this is kind of the first victory of the Outloud era

Yeah, me too. I remember what I voted for though, and I can confirm that it will probably not make it if it hasn't yet. Still, Veronica Falls is extremely palatable and has that perfect balance of sweet and sour.

Totally an outloud victory!! And an Emil.y victory because I wouldn't have listened to this if not for her.

I'd credit outloud with "Nyan Cat Theme" as well. xp

This probably isn't unique to Low, but did everyone who voted for "C'mon" see them live and get blown away?

Yeah Nyan counts too I guess.

http://i.imgur.com/LiGx1.jpg

66. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva (288 points, 10 votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 67

oh hey Veronica Falls is kind of awesome

xp

my fave song from low's c'mon was nightingale:

http://youtu.be/7bj4bcRh53c

surprised to see the Veronica Falls album make the list. I thought this fit really well with a lot of the 90's stuff I used to be obsessed with, but then I played some tracks in an indiepop room on Turntable or wherever and people were not happy with me. my guess was that those people didn't really like noisy guitars.

then you need to come in outloud.fm

Veronica Falls is pastichey, but it's such a pitch-perfect modern take on '60s death records, for me.

This Veronica Falls album is thoroughly enjoyable.

yeah what were you doing on turntable

I posted a track from it in the Chicago thread once but no one ever responded ;_;

i think i really don't "get" ilx taste anymore

someone tell me where tim hecker is going to place so i can triangulate

Tim Hecker will be @ #17

?

Nothing posted so far is really "out there" (except maybe Liturgy, but ILX has always had a metal underbelly). xps

yeah what were you doing on turntable

as I remember it, Outloud required me to have access to the actual files, which meant I was rarely in a place where I could use it. if this is inaccurate, please feel free to correct me elsewhere.

You can post tracks from Soundcloud now too.

http://i.imgur.com/ndvxN.jpg

65. The Psychic Paramount - II (290 points, 9 votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 132

yesssssssssssssssssssss

one of my favorite albums of the year

I guess I should've voted in this so that I could complain that the Big K.R.I.T. is TOO LOW

oh cool

quality cover!

Surprised KRIT was so low. I'd have thought that was one of the consensus raps albums of the year.

PP II is a great album, for which I voted

one of my favorite albums of the year

what's a good track to check out

Wow! surprised to see Psychic Paramount make it. Happy, but sincerely surprised.

btw i somehow missed the voting for this so whenever i say i like an album just imagine that it's a couple of places higher on the list

Yay! to The Psychic Paramount.

Have been meaning to check this out for ages, but it's not on Spotify...can anyone point to a track or two on Soundcloud/Youtube?

i totally missed the voting too :(
will not allow that to curb my opinions here, however.

xpost

xp wasn't a great year for rap albums really

Woohoo, another one I voted for! This album really respects the sound of the inside of my head.

as I remember it, Outloud required me to have access to the actual files, which meant I was rarely in a place where I could use it. if this is inaccurate, please feel free to correct me elsewhere.

― fffv, Monday, January 30, 2012 8:07 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

You can post tracks from Soundcloud now too.

― two lights crew (seandalai), Monday, January 30, 2012 8:07 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

You can, or you can also hang out and talk nonsense while letting other people pick some fine tunes for you to listen to.

ha i don't really remember which tracks are which because they have really indistinct titles ... try this: http://youtu.be/4s1ppHxvzIg

Probably should have voted for that, but found it really exhausting to listen to all that much.

hopefully that didn't embed

I didn't listen to Psychic Paramount enough to vote for it. Will give it more of a go now, I think.

as I remember it, Outloud required me to have access to the actual files, which meant I was rarely in a place where I could use it. if this is inaccurate, please feel free to correct me elsewhere.

― fffv, Monday, January 30, 2012 8:07 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

You can post tracks from Soundcloud now too.

― two lights crew (seandalai), Monday, January 30, 2012 8:07 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

You can, or you can also hang out and talk nonsense while letting other people pick some fine tunes for you to listen to.

― emil.y, Monday, January 30, 2012 8:12 PM (16 seconds ago)

or you can listen to the stuff jeff plays

That Psychic Paramount record is fantastic!

gah i really need to listen to that record

i cut the psychic paramount from my ballot at the very end so glad it still placed

I posted a track from it in the Chicago thread once but no one ever responded ;_;

Sorry, don't remember it!

all this outloud talk and yet none of you folks are ever on there when i go on (except J3ff T who i suspect is on there 24/7)

when are the parties at??

So have all the PP II voters chimed in already?

what's the name of the music style of the psychic paramount? post-rock-without-the-calm-part-before-the-crescendo?

noise?

psychedelic noise?

Usually a few (or more) people in there during evening hours my time (US Eastern).

midnight uk time -3am seems to be the busiest time in outloud. the house cru used to do before midnight but dunno where they all went the past few months.
bump the outloud thread and people will join though

ok thanks i think i must be showing up too late at night

Hey, I voted for this too. What the hell?

they feel kinda math rock-y to me but with psychedelic overtones

outloud certainly changed jeff's taste in music

second time i've used the phrase "math rock" on this thread, apparently i'm really pining for the return of math rock

okay Psychic Paramount is fantastic

emil.y even turned him twee

DJP <--- hates metal, luvs math

Alright! we got DJP on board.

So have all the PP II voters chimed in already?

― EZ Snappin, Monday, January 30, 2012 12:14 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

I voted for this one, it has a great sound and a continuous rolling swagger. A bit exhausting as a full listen though, I've mostly been playing individual tracks on my radio show and they work really well.

listened to two psychic paramount tracks and i'm into it. kinda like a dronier, dancier tortoise, but harder & better than that sounds? actually i like it in some of the same ways i like liturgy.

DJP loves Iron Maiden

C'mon is the first Low album I've really *loved* since Things We Lost In The Fire.

I'd assumed that Veronica Falls album was bullshit tweepop but maybe I should give it a shot.

Wait, people are talking about me on here. I'm confused! Why is this happening? And yeah, I used to have a pretty serious outloud addiction,but I'm trying to curb it.

Heh, for some reason I assumed Veronica Falls was like some The Head and The Heart type folk that was made by dudes that were making Vagrant style emo four years ago.

n/a, would I like Psychic Paramount?

the various designations of "metal" are seriously the most vexing thing to me

http://i.imgur.com/oixad.jpg

64. Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage (290 points, nine votes, one first place vote)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 132

Spotify

"Veronica Falls" sounds like Hollywood sadcore to me.

I just call(PP) mind blowing, loud psychedlic noise. I believe they were labelled post-rock in their formative years.

See I like PP II as a full album because it maintains the heavy swirl and general noisy loud feeling for a sustained period. One track is great but it's more effort for me to get into- and then out of- that mood than it is to just kind of let it go for 40 min or so (or however long the album is, not sure exactly, am at work computer atm) I can see how people wouldn't have the patience for it, but that's part of what I like.

Hollywood sadcore goes for the dreamy slow vibe, doesn't it? That's nothing like what V. Falls do.

Metal cru representin'

nice timing djp (yay)

jaymc i don't think you would, it has some post-rock elements but it's probably too loud/abrasive ... but who knows?

ive been loving the WITTR lately (after i voted unfortunately). <3 the dead can danceisms in the first track

also the 'knife sharpening' sample in track 2 is pretty badass

i think i forgot to listen to the new WITR, is it significantly different from their other stuff?

the psychic paramount used to be Laddio Bolocko, who were one of my favourite bands. TPP doesnt disappoint at all.

ooh i liked their last record but i tuned out metal completely this year so havent heard this one. sweet album title though

Psychic Paramount are psych but they feel quite jazzrock in a high velocity Last Exit sort of way. huge xps

Jaymc I'm not sure if you would like PP or not -- it's kinda aimless compared to what I think you usually like. But iirc I first heard PP when n/a recommended it to you, me, and Dan M last year around this time!

I didn't vote for WITTR but I like them alright.

and the WITTR is the best album they've made I think. Love all their albums though. Fuck the tr00 kvlt black metallers who don't like them

Outloud is one of those things I wish I had the time to do - just don't see how I'd fit it in though, in practise :(

What kind of music is veronica falls? Soz if this has been gone over, am on bberry and only skimmed

I definitely like what Wolves in the Throne Room are doing musically more than Liturgy

ha ha because it's more goth

VF, to me, sounds like some sunny Cali late 60s stuff filtered through C86 sonics and presented with a little more gloom than either.

ha ha because it's more goth

... embarrassingly, that is so OTM

"Bad Feeling" is a great VF track to get a taste imo.

Hollywood sadcore goes for the dreamy slow vibe, doesn't it? That's nothing like what V. Falls do.

I've never heard the band. I was just riffing on the name.

Metal, taking back the wolves. Suck it, indie rock!

You'd fit in fine, Lex, considering the variety of stuff that gets played – but on the other hand, you might not like a lot of the stuff that gets played.

Re Pyschic Paramount: "aimless" and "abrasive" certainly aren't my thing, but "post-rock" and "jazzrock" are. I guess I'll have to listen.

I wonder if any of the 14 metal albums I voted for will place. Probably not.

xp - You would have to at least pretend to be tolerant of the stuff that gets played.

Haha maybe just as well I can't do it then

outloud is mostly kerr and j3ff t 24/7 with some occasional dance crew, take that how you will

I should give it a go at some pt though - always interesting to try out music social media things that actually catch on (so many don't)

ive not been in for a few days

FALSEHOOD AND LIES.

You don't have to pretend to be tolerant, you just have to not be overwhelmingly negative like KJB :P.

Well, we do have KJB in there regularly and he hates almost everything! But yeah, most people are pretty respectful of what others play. It's nice to be nice. You're more than welcome to join in, lex, as is everyone else - it's an open place.

xpost hahaha

Reminder: KJB prefers live recordings over studio work.

I think KJB's taste overlaps with mine significantly!

you love bucks fizz?

Big fan of the Clean, iirc.

ke$ha?

My only experience with Outloud was dropping in a handful of times while my wife was out of town, but I heard in there what ended up being my #2 track.

I think Lil Kim

Save us J0rdan Fever!

J0rdan and I aren't related, btw. That's a coincidence.

http://i.imgur.com/c1OjA.jpg

63. Austra - Feel it Break (290 points, ten votes, one first place vote)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 85

Spotify

If Cosmic Dead places, I think that that will be proof positive of the effectiveness of the outloud hivemind this year.

This album is almost expressly made to push all my buttons, but failed to do so every time I gave it a listen. :(

This is one that I couldn't get with when it was released in the summer, and I resolved to give it a try in the winter, but when the winter came I just defaulted to actual Fever Ray instead. Not bad at all though

i played this a lot for about a month, still think it's p good

HOORAY for Austra! I love Katie Stelmanis' voice so much, and I feel like this album is appealing to a wider audience than her solo stuff (even though I like the solo stuff better tbh).

Don't get the Austra love, I really really tried but it never clicked for me.

Would love to see Cosmic Dead place here!

I don't really dig the cold production so much as her warm voice.

the austra album is great! didn't know there was solo stuff out there, i'll have to dig around.

here you go http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Join+Us/1457509

la lechera u r a treat!

there is a youtube of her singing "harder now" but i will resist posting it here. it's amazing!!

http://i.imgur.com/6fIT2.jpg

62. Drake – Take Care (292 points, 8 votes, one first place vote)

P4K: 8
P&J: 8

Spotify

allow me to get my lex on, UGH

I don't understand what anyone sees in Drake at all, so boring and lifeless and whining. Just, so awful.

don't know why he's so glum having a chalice of mead in a hobbit bar

And a golden chicken drumstick.

i understand ppl's qualms with drake the person... it was prob my favorite album of the year sonically speaking, and dude is a good writer, getting better as a rapper

just the best big, pure pop album of 2011

so contemptuous of drake and anyone who thinks that album is either emotionally moving or beautiful-sounding

lol xp

it was prob my favorite album of the year sonically speaking

this makes so little sense to me. ALBUM SOUNDS NOTHINGY.

I don't understand why people let their dislike of Drake as a person or a rapper affect their opinion of his music.

ya that ones a real mystery

i'm not here to hate so i will just wait until something i like pops up again...that run was good while it lasted!

Drake is THE WORST

this is like people who find tree of life "beautiful". do they gaze enraptured at windows screensavers and stock photography too?

do people who listen to drake vibe out to lift muzak?

I don't understand why people let their dislike of Drake as a person or a rapper affect their opinion of his music.

his rapping is on the music! i wouldn't dislike HIM if he didn't make the shitty music.

See, despite my misgivings I actually listened to Take Care in whole and am still pissed I wasted that much of my life. Its not his persona that bothers me, its how limp and lifeless the album was. A couple nice beats, but completely destroyed by his pissing and moaning.

Thora Vukk was in my top 10 list. Glad it made it. I have only heard 3 of the other ones so far. I suck at it but maybe I'll post a first impression on each one when the countdown for today is over.

I dunno, the timbre of his voice is kind of dorky, but the rapping doesn't get in the way of the excellent production.

xp What's not to understand? The artist and the art are inextricably intertwined in a lot of ways. It would be nice to say that you could look at the work objectively without bringing in outside influences, but that's cutting off an entire aspect of the work.

limp and lifeless

otm. just INERT. this is not good sound design - the sonics don't go anywhere or do anything except be ~vaguely~ ~melancholy~

the album's most ear-catching beat is a jamie xx beat - and jamie xx himself was the most horribly overrated british electronic producer of 2011

Drake is a musical canker sore

drake just reminds me of listening to 22 year olds complaining about feeling old

I feel like its a banner day when lex otms me, I feel like we so rarely agree.

Good to see Veronica Falls place. Got a good feeling I missed it off my rushed ballot.

even on the drake remixes i like, like the jojo one that showed up in the tracks poll, or the angel haze ones, even then the production isn't the attraction - it works as a background foil to a compelling persona or narrative, when it works, not as a thing that's remarkable in its own right

http://i.qkme.me/72mv.jpg

incidentally all these weeks later i'm still getting angry tweets from drake fans over my review - who'd have ever thought drake fans would be whiny lil bitches? taking after their hero ;_;

clearly none of you have ever viewed the aftermath of a party through a haze of smoke

The only nice thing I'll say about Take Care is that the cover art is great.

I don't even love Take Care -- the previous album made more of an impression -- but I guess I always want to defend him because I like the production and mood of his records, and the complaints about his persona or his lyrical POV are irrelevant to how I listen to music.

I think he sounds like a nasally fart

The mood is too one-note though and sustaining it over the length of 75 minutes or w/e is just pure torture.

I have never heard Drake. But I instinctively know I would probably hate him as much as Lex.

The mood is too one-note though and sustaining it over the length of 75 minutes or w/e is just pure torture.

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, January 30, 2012 1:01 PM Bookmark

OTM

do people who listen to drake vibe out to lift muzak?

― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Monday, January 30, 2012 3:53 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

actually kinda

I think he sounds like a nasally fart

― I spend a lot of time thinking about apricots (DJP), Monday, January 30, 2012 9:00 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The mood is too one-note though and sustaining it over the length of 75 minutes or w/e is just pure torture.

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, January 30, 2012 9:01 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm x 2

oh J0RDAN

wow take care and WTT outside of the top 50 is pretty impressive ilm

What the hell is lift ... oh, lol, Britishes.

And sure, why not.

I was kind of grooving on the beat of the first track, and then he started rapping and it was literally the same phobic physical reaction I have when a mosquito buzzes in my ear, only in this case the mosquito was sadly bragging about how awesome he was

irl lol

take care, more like take that shit somewhere else

i've done my fair share of drake defending this year, so i'll let all this pass

I heard Michael McDonald in an elevator a few weeks ago, I could have vibed to that for awhile longer than the ride took tbh.

alright last one today

i forgot to compile the full list in text, my bad

never forget: "shout out to the asian girls, let the lights dim sum" ;_; ;_;

http://i.imgur.com/MAJzB.jpg

61. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes (294 points, 10 votes)

P4K: 43
P&J: 38

Spotify

also i stopped using em dashes halfway thru cuz i switched to my work computer which uses windows

file lykke li w/ low in ppl i had no idea put out albums this year

I always want to like Lykke Li more than I actually do

i dont think i knew this album existed (oh lol xps)

yeah, this album was pretty boring.

i discovered recently that one of my favourite songs on the cousin fik album (which i doubt will place) samples lykke li - it sounds immense as a sample and may have to cause me to revise my opinion of her (previously thought she was just a twee menace)

the lykke li album is.....fine

Btw, Lex, your stock "stock photography" put-down of TTOL (this is at least the third time you've used that analogy, iirc?) only makes sense if the film were just a series of context-less images. It's not.

lol this first song sounds sort of like Santigold doing 60s rock

I liked this Lykke Li album a lot when it first came out, but cooled on it significantly as the year went on.

Btw, Lex, your stock "stock photography" put-down of TTOL (this is at least the third time you've used that analogy, iirc?) only makes sense if the film were just a series of context-less images. It's not.

leaving aside the fact that the "plot", such as it is, is incredibly thin and uncompelling, it was more of an aesthetic judgment - it's the clichéd nature and weird, polished, slick shine of the film's visuals

Lykke Li is more of a singles artist than an album artist for me.

I dig the Dave Sitek remix of "I Follow Rivers":
http://youtu.be/pWaJ35iKUO8

incredibly thin and uncompelling

Yeah, we disagree, then.

this is the amazing lykke li sampling track btw

cousin fik - collow you (colombiana mix)

i think the only album that placed today that ive heard all the way through is drake's ://

*follow

agh

I really love the Lykke Li album. Thought it was a huge improvement on the debut even though there wasn't anything as brilliant as A Little Bit on there.

^^ I agree with that assessment completely.

woooo WITTR! i have much more time for them than liturgy myself. this album in particular is evidence #1 for "black metal can do more than you think" from this year.

well at least among the albums that have any possible chance of placing obv.

Sadness Is a Blessing is my favorite Lykke Li track yet, so I agree that the album was an improvement on her debut but disagree that there's not a track on there as good as Little Bit.

(previously thought she was just a twee menace)

lol

ok, someone pls explain to me what makes WITTR exceptional? it sounds solid but i just don't hear what sets them apart.

Man I wish that Psychic Paramount sounded better cos the songs are great.

i think the only album that placed today that ive heard all the way through is drake's ://

For me, its ILXtallica...

re: what sets WITTR apart:

random excursions into almost ambient/4AD sounding stuff with fem vocals, field recordings, anti-civ philosophy as reflected in the song titles and artwork (the back cover photo is maybe my favorite single thing about the record).

So has Markers got Lulu into the top 60 then?

WITTR has songs!

Tree of Life is great and real and not like Drake. Drake is more like a mumblecore picture.

That Psychic Paramount record is fucking great, I feel a dunce for not putting it in my list. Gah.

I was a massive 'Drums & Guns' lover, but the new Low sounded a bit insubstantial to me.

Frankly hilarious that Jay-Z, Kanye and Drake all failed to hit the top 60.

I'm fine with the whole windswept Spectorish vibe that Lykke Li album is going for, and the songs are pretty good, just wish she didn't sing like she had a bad head cold.

I expected Watch The Throne to place at a low number, so I'm not sure where all the shock comes from... It's an inconsistent record with really awesome high points and a few of my favorite songs of the decade so far, but overall its placement here seems accurate.

I've never heard the band. I was just riffing on the name.

― jaymc, Monday, January 30, 2012 8:28 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^lol OK so I guess I just got that 'Veronica Falls' is a pun name?

I voted WITTR pretty high so that's neat, Psychic Paramount somewhere in the top 20 also

Katie Stelmanis seems like a p interesting character w/ good ideas etc but I never clicked w/ the Austra album

I didn't feel especially ill disposed towards Take Care when I played it except that it JUST KEPT GOING - like if I'd been listening right through without access to a clock of some sort I'd've guessed that it was a good two hours long

My votes thus far:

Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk
Likely consensus pick for the best chillroom microhouse of the year, with a far broader range than recent favorite Pantha du Prince.

Barbara Panther - Barbara Panther
Veering on the bridge railing vocals chanting strident ESL lyrics over Matthew Herbert productions. A political Bjork with more vocal tricks. I'm a simple man with simple needs.

Austra - Feel It Break
Suffers from brittle production, synth presets and the recent flood of similar femme-fronted gothy electronica (Esben and the Witch, Julia Holter, Sleep ∞ Over, Zola Jesus) but Katie Stelmanis is the best songwriter of the lot, and after a couple listens I was already singing along "Who-ooo signed, the consent form?"

Kinda dissappointed in the placement of the Austra, as it means 80% of my ballot picks, including my 2 favorite albums (Emika & Gazelle Twin) are almost certainly out of contention.

I voted for Emika, don't give up yet

Feel like the Lykke Li album and the Cults album are going for a similar vibe, but i like how Lykke Li approaches it better. Feels newer and less self-consciously retro.

emika is great

i love the emika and gazelle twin albums, more than austra, but they were both juuuust outside my ballot. i'd be happy to see them place though

if i'd heard gazelle twin a bit earlier that might have made my ballot tbh

likewise re: gazelle twin, been playing that a ton lately. still haven't heard emika

Barbara Panther - Barbara Panther
Veering on the bridge railing vocals chanting strident ESL lyrics over Matthew Herbert productions. A political Bjork with more vocal tricks. I'm a simple man with simple needs.

I get the Björk comparisons, but people who think that's her only "thing" should check out this Acid Washed tune featuring Panther, which is fun and sexy and not really Björkish at all. I hope on her future records she'll do more aggressive tracks like the first on the album; my only disappointment with it was that there perhaps too much prettiness on it after that kicker of an opener.

Also, I think her ESL lyrics are kinda endearingly poignant, like on "Voodoo":

Every night I pray like a bitch
That one day the poor will eat the rich
And I don't care if that makes me a WAH WAH WAH witch!

yeah, the awkward lyrics and delivery are definitely a point in BP's favor

Shout out to my outloud cru homefries! Psychic Paramount is my only vote to place: I expected it to tbh. I tried to build a cosmic Dead coalition but I just don't think it was big enough, but PP album is even better!

Lots of stuff here I've been meaning to check out: Low, Austra, Veronica Falls...

drake is way too low

voted for thora vukk, such a subtle and rewarding listen, but i also have been digging the barbara panther and psychic paramount records in the past few weeks.

i remember liking austra ok but mainly because some friends wanted to go see them play and i forced myself to check it out. the production leaves kind of a lot to be desired tho, and that voice would def get on my nerves if i had to listen to it more

ok, someone pls explain to me what makes WITTR exceptional? it sounds solid but i just don't hear what sets them apart.

― the third kind of dubstep (Jordan), Monday, January 30, 2012 4:23 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

imo they just nail their sound way more frequently than most bm bands--they know what they're good at and they are very well-produced.

anything about the new WITTR that might appeal to ppl who feel that their previous albums are a bit boring?

no not really

Songs!

they always had songs!

Better songs!

It sounds better the ones before it iirc - the drums seemed to have a lot more wallop - but it's basically the same sort of deal.

hing about the new WITTR that might appeal to ppl who feel that their previous albums are a bit boring?

― his hands are a dirty fountain through which lives spurt (contenderizer), Monday, January 30, 2012 3:58 PM (24 minutes ago)

what sold me on this one (I wasn't as big a fan of Black Cascade) was that the band is now just the two brothers, they produced the rec as well I think. also, field recordings.

just the two brothers, they produced the rec as well I think.

$1000/year on cab fare too

well done

sorry guys but this barbara panther album is terrible

based on what i heard when we did this in the trax thread i don't really get the love

sorta how i feel about all of these so far :( xp

its like all the worst & most annoying parts of bjork w/ none of the beauty or drama or charm

i'll admit that the track that made it on the tracks poll is the least bad

i think jay is just as banal as kanye on WTT tbh

i still hate otis but i do like a few songs on WTT. both rappers are ehh at this point, but its def a record that got 'too big to fail'

ok the chorus on "Dizzy" is pretty awesome

See? Already you've stepped back on the "terrible" proclamation.

yeah this thing jordan is trying to sell like jay suddenly remembered how to rap after 7 years is so ??? to me, i just don't hear it at all

xpost but then it goes back to the verses and its terrible again

wait a few more seconds I bet the chorus will come back

i'm on the next song now and it too is terrible

haha

I can imagine a look of delight on his face, followed by a sourpuss, and then a return of delight...

i was the #1 vote for The Joy Formidable! crazy that they placed lower here than on P&J though, i guess we shore don't like them as much as morbz thought.

i listened to that whole album after hearing that song on the tracks poll-- super in to it. what else should i hear by them?

A Balloon Called Moaning was their 8-song miniLP from 2009 (4 songs reappeared on last year's album, all with (to my dismay) bigger production).

otm

ok the chorus on "Dizzy" is pretty awesome...

xpost but then it goes back to the verses and its terrible again

― ⚓ (gr8080), Monday, January 30, 2012 5:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

if it helps, i would like to downgrade my previous GREAT to good, or really good, or something in that vicinity

also, listened to austra and veronica falls, found them okayish

JF have some good songs that are on neither album, my favorite being "My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder Than a Hundred Dead Christmas Trees"

austra just makes me want to listen to that jj album from 2009 and the young galaxy album from 2011

those are both so much better albums than the austra one tho

Is there anything here I'd probably like that I haven't heard? I've only heard Toro y Moi and the three rap albums.

even though i have always loved, and of course voted for, thora vukk it keeps growing on me more and more. "ende" is such a beautiful ending track; i'd be p surprised if this (and the title track) didn't convert those not into robag's production prowess on previous EPs. so much warmth

"My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder Than a Hundred Dead Christmas Trees"

Yes! People really need to track down the bonus disc that came with certain versions of the album (not in the States though, I don't think), its called It's Just A World Apart. It has that song shipz is talking about plus "Chwyrlio" a version of "Whirring" in Welsh.

rev you should def check out when saints go machine

i put young galaxy way too low on my ballot-- did anyone else vote for it?

I cooled a lot on that Young Galaxy album.

I love the sounds made by that YG album, but none of the songs actually keep me coming back.

i can feel that

i, too, loved the production on the YG record but couldn't get over the arts & crafts-y vocals

I cooled a lot on that Young Galaxy album.

i did too although i put it on p recently and liked it again. it sounds like winter vacation i think

Maybe I should pull it out again too, haven't heard it in probably 4 or 5 months.

there are still a bunch of not v good songs but stuff like 'peripheral visionaries' marries the indie sing-along vocals w/the icy beach vibe really well

Love that track.

v happy to see the low album here. "'especially me" is my favourite low song since the 'curtain' LP

i haven't fallen for the veronica falls album like some have. it sounds like something i should love, and i don't mind it, but yeah. probably the 5th best album released on slumberland this year.

probably the 5th best album released on slumberland this year.

out of curiosity what are your top 4?

1. art museums - dancing with a hole in my heart 7"
2 - 5. ???

lol lamp

girls names, crystal stilts, big troubles, brilliant colors

had art museums put out a full length this year it would have totes been my #1

last year obv

haha that art museums 7" totally belongs on grady's list of awesome songs not nominated for ilm eoy poll

i think that and the devon williams 7" are the only things on slumberland i bought this year

rev you should def check out when saints go machine

― ⚓ (gr8080), Monday, January 30, 2012 7:41 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Tried listening to a couple songs. I really don't like that dude's voice. The music was nice and all but not compelling enough to make up for the singer.

missed the countdown as usual, today stuff:

as far as post-Silent Shout stuff goes, I couldn't get very excited about Austra/Emika/Barbara Panther/Planningtorock. Did vote for Gazelle Twin, love that one.

I voted for WTT, admittedly because the highs were pretty towering for me this year. only thing i voted for that wasn't really solid all the way through.

Toro Y Moi: That cover is amazing, especially for a dude who looks like the ultimate safe boring hipster. he puts on a great live show too.

Joy Formidable: this is okay, but I still like Ostrich the best, and considering it's the rawest track on their debut e.p. (and didn't get re-released on the Big Roar) I don't think I have much of a future with these guys. Like Crystal Antlers - loved em till they cleaned up

I really like the When Saints Go Machine album, "Church & Law" is the standout track for me. For such an unusual album its resonance feel very precise - Black Celebration X I Am A Bird Now X Silent Shout x Comicopera.

Toro Y Moi: That cover is amazing

OTM, surprises me that so many seem to hate it. one of the strongest, most beautiful, distinctive and memorable pieces of album art i saw last year.

sure

http://i.imgur.com/zi7hd.gif

come on guys, i voted for that album and have no problem admitting the cover is terrible

i bet someone worked really hard to make it http://i.imgur.com/zi7hd.gif

contenderizer otm

ill take that bet (xp)

i've never heard the album but love the image. could maybe do w/out the white box and title text (?), but the photo and band logo are grate.

its a painting iirc?

now that would be impressive, but

the photo-- a self-portrait taken by the one-time graphic design student in a hotel bathroom

^ from the intro to a p4k "take cover" interview w chaz bundick

the toro y moi cover freaks me out a little. is that a flower coming out of his mouth or seafood extender?

anyway, happy to see a bunch of my faves placing. yay for psychic paramount, liturgy, austra, robag wruhme and lykke li. also, well done ilm for preventing drake and kanye/jay-z from placing higher.

so contemptuous of drake and anyone who thinks that album is either emotionally moving or beautiful-sounding

lol it has sure emotionally moved a lot of yall to FURIOUS ANGER

lol pwn

77. When Saints Go Machine — Konkylie

What an awful name for a band. Would never consider listening to them if not for their placement in the poll. Turns out I've listened to a few of this songs throughout the year without knowing who they were. It's ok for hipster party music. Sounds to me like the Delays and I'd much rather listen to them.

76. Robag Wruhme — Thora Vukk

I nommed and voted for this. Ot’s always a treat to hear a producer who is proficient and well known around the techno community turning away from the dancefloor to release music that borders outside of their usual field of expertise. Thora Vukk is Wruhme’s exploration of his music’s more melancholic, contemplative side, while keeping the sense of tension and attention to detail that he has perfected as a techno producer. The result is warm, gorgeous album that is fascinating, at least on an aesthetic level. Nothing new but very pleasant to the ears.

75. Liturgy — Aesthethica

I'm sorry... I tried but Metal music wears me off after a couple of tracks. Didn't care enough to listen through half of it. Either way I'll admit that if I listened to metal the sort of structures I heard in some of the songs would probably be my kind of thing so not completely hating on this one.

74. The Joy Formidable — The Big Roar

So I've heard the songs and watched the videos and they definitely nail the alt.rock look. Somehow though I find it perhaps too carefully constructed and planned and lacking in attitude as if in reality they'd rather be a folk band or something. I also have trouble remembering the songs after a while.

73. Jay-Z & Kanye West — Watch the Throne

Was expecting this to place much higher. It's not a bad album but I'm not particulary excited about it either. I was probably too burnt out on both of them and their personas this year. I don't really have anything to say on this one.

72. Barbara Panther — Barbara Panther

This sounds so much better on paper: Rwandan refugee doing electro produced by Matthew Herbert. Turns out it's a bit boring safe for a couple of songs.

71. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine

I could love this but it feels like that sort of seasonal music that only gets to you on a certain mood and weather and then you never listen to it after two years when you once again think it's the best thing ever before shelving it back. I actually think the artwork is the best one in the countdown so far, next to Thora Vukk.

69. Wild Flag — Wild Flag

I kind of like what I heard on first listen but I should probably give it more time. Awful artwork.

69. Low — C'Mon

Had no idea Low had released something this year. Same thing as Toro y Moi. I know I could appreciate this in the right setting but not really feeling it atm.

68. ILX Presents Lulu

I would have actually cashed money if the real album was half as good as this one.

67. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls

This is cool. Never heard of them before but I'm loving this. Simple and to the point. There's some interesting twists in short spans, apt for ADD people.

Ok I'm off to sleep. I'll keep listening to the rest tomorrow.

continuing on the Toro Y Moi cover, it's initially repulsive duh but it's a pretty bold interpretation of sexual fears, especially for a guy who was linked to a genre that never even gently rocked any boats. 2011 saw thousands of tasteful and "pretty" covers, then bam! glistening tentacle pube mouth right in your face. love love love it.

i forgot the young galaxy album existed. ugh that's still to come i guess :(

Veronica Falls appear, on the basis of the first few songs, to inhabit a world in which there are two rhythms - blankly strummed eighth notes, and the opening to 'Be My Baby'. So generic, so boring.

OTM BOMB

i like veronica falls
on record, as well as live.
maybe they need more laser noises

Veronica Falls appear, on the basis of the first few songs, to inhabit a world in which there are two rhythms - blankly strummed eighth notes, and the opening to 'Be My Baby'. So generic, so boring.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 31 January 2012 08:49 (42 minutes ago) Permalink

Funny, I was listening to a bit of this this morning and remarking on how interesting their approach to rhythm was (at least in the song I heard). Something about the way the snare and guitar work together... Adding these guys to the list of Yuck-style Alt-'90s revival bands. I wouldn't blink if someone were to tell me Veronica Falls are from a long-lost Volume compilation from early-94. It happens I nearly joined a band who now sound very similar to these guys. Gonna have to investigate further.

I'd say that Veronica Falls are more 80s than 90s, that sound harks back to the days when Bobby Gillespie still played the drums.

As for Yuck and the Joy Formidtable and their critical success - UK indie landfill finally cracks the US??

Landfill was the big post-Libertines Top 40 stuff like the Kooks, View, Fratellis, etc - stuff the US never warmed to. But Yuck & Joy Formidable fit right in to P4k world.

As for Yuck and the Joy Formidtable and their critical success - UK indie landfill finally cracks the US??

If anything these bands are taking 90% of their cues from US alt-rock and have nothing to do with indie landfill stuff xpost

Doglatin I think you're kinda overblowing the significance of these 90s revivalist bands, I doubt Yuck exactly have a stellar career ahead of them.

Where did I say they did?

I dunno, it's all very Evening Sessions-esque, it's like landfill with the britpop influenced bits taken out. I like 'A Heavy Abacus' off that JF album, it's got a nice yearning quality to it, but the prospect of listening to the whole thing is about as enticing as digging through the crates of marked-down CDs in a provincial HMV circa 2003.

Really, I'm quite on the fence about Yuck - "Get Away"'s a good single, and the album's okayish. W/R/T popularity, they were positioned at about 6:45pm on a medium-sized stage at Primavera festival earlier this year - a very very early start for that festival - but when I got there to check em out it was so packed I could barely see the stage and had to climb up a hillside just to get a peak. Seems the organisers had underestimated how popular they would get between booking and album release. I wouldn't underestimate the power of nostalgia to sell units.

I took "indie landfill" to mean the same as DL said upthread - all those mid-2000s Brit-garage bands in pointy shoes and tight trousers who (to these ears) sounded exactly the same as each other. But I guess this is getting semantic. Yuck/Joy Formidable are like the NWOAlt-Rock or something. I can't tell if it's positive or negative or just inbetween. Probably just in between - if it's not hurting anyone and people like it, fair enough. Just not up for hundreds of Dinosaur Jr-ripoff bands suddenly blowing up off the back of a fad.

how come it's always the placement of indie rock bands in an ILM poll that causes the most handwringing?

I was thinking earlier that the difference in overall attitude/approach on this poll compared to the tracks poll is pretty big - almost like two different boards.

It is every year, though, from what I can remember. And bear in mind we're in the lower reaches still - a lot of the big hitters in tracks who have released album will appear later.

*albumS. I need to proof-read my posts more.

was there a nyan cat album?

Oh I was referring more to the overall mood of the thread. Everyone seemed more energised and enthusiastic on tracks, but people seem more considerate and open minded over here. Maybe that'll all change as we reach the upper regions of the countdown.

Is it alright to speculate over the chances of Diamond Mine placing? I know KC has a small but strong contingent lurking around ILX, but will it be enough to push him into the 77?

Well I voted for Veronica Falls, Drake, and Joy F. The K.R.I.T album just missed my ballot. So out of the stuff I hadn't heard found the When Saints... hella boring. Lykke and Low were okay. Really dug Psychic Paramount though.

was there a nyan cat album?

― Derartu Cthulhu (NickB), Tuesday, 31 January 2012 11:32 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink