ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2014

Today's votes:

Kelis - initial reaction to this was "oh god yet another dull thing from Ninja Tune", but seeing her in July completely reframed the album for me and it's been in constant rotation ever since
Alvvays - was reticent with this b/c of double vs instead of double ewe but their charming melodies were irresistible
Katy B - probably only "Aaliyah" and "Emotions" are on a par with album 1 but this was maddeningly consistent and I think would've been a lot more popular with a different singles configuration
Young Marco - don't have anything profound to say about this - my fave techno of the year tho, insanely groovy

one direction - i appreciate their existence as a cultural phenomenon but the music isn't my style of pop at all. not that i've heard anything off this album - have their voices improved, are they less clumsy/rambunctious? i can't work out exactly what it is that made everyone who'd ignored their first three albums suddenly get into their music. they've all lost their looks imo

dj q - great album albeit one i felt like i should have gone back to a lot more than i did? like, i enjoyed it in a low-key way but it never turned into an addiction. "notice me" and the epic "through the night" are highlights

lee ann womack - another of my votes, this album floored me the first time i heard it. title track is incredible and "chances are" (some live performance is all that's on youtube) is so bleak

Yeah, you should have voted.

But I don't get the Chris Forsyth thing.

xposts

do you mean "inconsistent"?

my hopes for francis harris, mirel wagner, meshell ndegéocello, angaleena presley receding swiftly; my hopes for gangsta boo/la chat and fatima have receded :(

Love the Young Marco a lot but partly with Lex in that the album ultimately didn't hit me as hard as prior one-shots like "Darwin in Bahia" or "Later Than U Think".

I think in my head I had imagined he was on this kind of trajectory towards Power Spot meets Achso percussive delirium, which daydream the album even had the graciousness to partly fulfill, but not to the level of excess I had fantasised about.

Throw Spanners in there as another fantasised-about reference point.

xxxxps to Chris Forsyth peeps
I was wondering around some lonesome Victorian gardens in my local park on xmas day and quite drunk after quadruple brandies and constantly playing Yellow Square on repeat, it was the most transcendent experience I had listening to guitar in a long time.

I have heard much worse nu-country than LAW. Much worse. Timid approval & ongoing play

that sounds nice

Yeah, you should have voted.

But I don't get the Chris Forsyth thing.

xposts

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, January 27, 2015 4:14 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

have you ever listened to Chris Forsyth.....on weeeed?

LAW more like "deliberate retro country" but "without a trace of boring roots rock"

voted for these. all great.

Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather
Katy B - Little Red
Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
Alvvays - Alvvays
Young Marco - Biology

Lex I think I voted for the Gangsta Boo / Beat King. I keep forgetting there is another Gangsta Boo album from 2014 I haven't listened to yet! Is it even better?!

Sounds like the trick to getting Chris Forsyth is to listen to it lit as fuck. Well, since I don't ever get that out of it I won't be getting Chris Forsyth.

I have heard much worse nu-country than LAW. Much worse. Timid approval & ongoing play

― Ban Kil Moon (imago), Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:18 PM (58 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

uhhhhh she is not in any sense NU country o_0

it's funny seeing album covers i've never seen before in these countdowns despite owning and loving the album, i hadn't seen the lee ann womack one!

maybe he means "country albums recorded in 2014," at least I hope so.

Sounds like the trick to getting Chris Forsyth is to listen to it lit as fuck. Well, since I don't ever get that out of it I won't be getting Chris Forsyth.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, January 27, 2015 4:21 PM (46 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i actually don't even smoke
it's one of those records though i feel like you either are 100 percent on board or it just feels meandering and probably boring, but i guess jammy stuff i always like that, feel like you either click w/certain textures of how they play or not, whether its the dead or forsyth or like earthless or w/e

Lex I think I voted for the Gangsta Boo / Beat King. I keep forgetting there is another Gangsta Boo album from 2014 I haven't listened to yet! Is it even better?!

― Tim F, Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:20 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes! she did an excellent mixtape with beatking but a proper album with la chat called witch, which basically reimagines the two of them as first the witches out of macbeth then mean girls then thelma & louise via a lot of partying, and folds all those tropes into their implacable characters. plus, gangsta boo shouting "YEAH HO" really is so deeply satisfying

WITCH BREW

I voted for the Gangsta Boo / Beat King mixtape because I thought it was marginally stronger than the other one.

i'll be mad if fatima doesn't make it. glorious album

also u&k off witch are "sum 2 do" and "can't sit with us"

the forsyth is a beast of an album. i feel like gunn was definitely getting more of the hipster kisses though, for whatever reason.

it's one of those records though i feel like you either are 100 percent on board or it just feels meandering and probably boring, but i guess jammy stuff i always like that, feel like you either click w/certain textures of how they play or not, whether its the dead or forsyth or like earthless or w/e

This is a really good call. I've seen live clips where I think I'd get Forsyth in that context, but the album is somehow jammy and sedate in a way I can't connect with.

i'm a little bummed cuz i saw them and they killed but they had this 2nd guitarist who i loved his playing and i guess he's not in the band anymore

i feel like his playing has such strong melodies in the leads it carries it for me (also v melodic basslines)

oh yeah and i finished listening to the gigi masin over dinner. it's brilliant stuff.

and that Gangsta Boo / Beat King mixtape has Dollar Signs on it, which is fucking awesome.

I dug the basslines for sure, but it isn't enough.

yes! she did an excellent mixtape with beatking but a proper album with la chat called witch, which basically reimagines the two of them as first the witches out of macbeth then mean girls then thelma & louise via a lot of partying, and folds all those tropes into their implacable characters. plus, gangsta boo shouting "YEAH HO" really is so deeply satisfying

WITCH BREW

― lex pretend, Tuesday, January 27, 2015 2:23 PM Bookmark

I think my favorite moment out of everything that happened in 2014 is when me and my GF were listening to Witch when suddenly she kissed me hard, then broke it off and yelled "YEAHHH HO!" in my face.

I voted for both Gangsta Boo projects and Fatima so hopefully they will place.

LAW more like "deliberate retro country" but "without a trace of boring roots rock"

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, January 27, 2015 2:19 PM

YES YES YES thank you for mailing this

gah "nailing" what is it with me and this thread

Alfred mailed me a copy too

lot of money spent on postage stamps but worth it

Heh, some people seem to be feeling the guitar deficiency in their diets. I voted for for Forsyth album, but there's certainly no shortage of great guitar stuff.

I was wandering around the desert quite lifted after quadruple peyotes and constantly playing Colour Haze on repeat, it was the most transcendent experience I had listening to guitar in a long time.

I was wandering around the forest quite buzzed after quadruple hits and constantly playing Truckfighters on repeat, it was the most transcendent experience I had listening to guitar in a long time.

I was wandering around space, my brain imploding from the gravitational force of the oncoming black hole and constantly playing the new Ufomammut on repeat, it was the most transcendent experience I had listening to guitar in a long time...

Those people who recoil from Dierks Bentley or Brantley Gilbert should check Womack out.

if you haven't seen them live, forsyth's band is where it's at
i like his playing a lot but if it weren't for the rest of them (props to the rhythm section esp) the songs would not be as moving
one does not need to be lit in order to enjoy that

hope it places!

if anyone wants to invite me over to get lit and listen to it though, lemme know

Can I just say how happy I am that the true ineffability of DJ Q won out over the false ineffability of Ronika?

i'm still sorry!

Honestly I feel like Ronika is something I would have been really into if it came out in 2007 but I have no time for that strand of 80s revivalism at all anymore.

hmph

steve gunn record is really cool btw, good new find for me

"revivalism" is such a worthless word to describe music in 2015

gonna paint my nails and listen to selectadisc rn

Does DJ Q have an actual posting presence on ILX or are you guys riding some in-joke i dunno about?

i don't think he posts but he definitely got the title for his record from rev's thread

http://f.cl.ly/items/3z3e1x2C2C442e2m0F1H/IMG_0561.jpg

Reverend is in charge of any use of the word "ineffable" and we mistakenly tried to describe Ronika that way once. We received a cease and desist.

xxxps to Fastnbulbous

I think a fucking cave would would be a more suitable location for you pal

dude is cute and definitely effable imo