ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2014

To be honest, I was smitten with "Nuclear Seasons" and to a lesser extent "Stay Away", and the move from gothpop to more mainstream teen fare hasn't caught me in its wake.

'sucker' was disappointing to me, her placing ahead of so many other much worthier contenders is weird. feel like she lost something in her rush to be a megastar and collab w/iggy or whatever.

sanpaku otm

There is no such thing as lyric-driven metal. (xps)

2nd half of Mr Twin Sister is WAAAAAY more engaging than 1st half, huh

There is no such thing as lyric-driven metal. (xps)

Um, Iron Maiden?

Is that what people are principally listening for?

Xp yeah I get why people like Sucker, it's likeable and it does its job, but in terms of creating a captivating pop persona a la Sky, Charli's still kind of...jobbing industry songwriter who'll try on whatever role in a businesslike way, but what's at stake in her aesthetic decisions? It's like jessie j but with much cooler style. Idk I think I'm nitpicking cuz I expect more, if this was by some rando debutante I'd probably be pleased enough with it.

i guess i will finally remember to listen to sucker

Nah, WoD is in. But only one of Perfume Genius, Sharon von Etten, or The Juan McLean made it. We've snubbed Perfume Genius in tracks.

― The inscrutable savantism of (Sanpaku)

Juan Maclean will definitely make it. Almost all of the album was nominated and voted for in the tracks list. People didn't have a lot to say about the album but people still loved it.

Good news, DJP, the first half of Mr. Twin Sister was older, pre-crash & MS diagnosis material. The material being hewn into album #3 promises to be more uptempo.

Also yeah True Romance felt much closer to greatness than Sucker albeit not quite there either

I never paid attention to the Rtj2 lyrics but these quoted are all hilariously terrible

Charli's still kind of...jobbing industry songwriter who'll try on whatever role in a businesslike way, but what's at stake in her aesthetic decisions? I

weird to read you getting into biographical crit. If the songs themselves are wobbly and indeterminate that's legitimate criticism, but the songs create the persona imo. It makes sense to me that on a second album she would sound like the people for whom she's writing.

2nd half of Mr Twin Sister is WAAAAAY more engaging than 1st half, huh

― "Go pet your dog" is the name of my dog (DJP), Thursday, January 29, 2015 12:44 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not at all surprised that you prefer the second half!

the point of RTJ2's lyrics is definitely for them to be read on a computer screen

The lyrics on Crown and Early are in no way hilariously terrible fwiw

http://i.imgur.com/iT5xzjf.jpg

11 THE JUAN MACLEAN In a Dream [710 points, 25 votes, 1 first place vote]

kind of rare to hear an indie-ish album made by studio-level skilled musicians

oh flopson...

Snubbed almost everywhere but here. ILX comes good.

oh flopson...

― why you gotta be so rmde (NickB), Thursday, January 29, 2015 12:51 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...what?

TJM are basically ILM: the band and I'm cool w/ it

This is my favorite TJM album, and I had no idea it would come so far into their career.

this is album is good but not _that_ amazing but the song "A Place Called Space" is a 10/10 bangin' moroder space disco all time classic

Yes! Love this Juan Maclean album. Every song is brilliant.

Just realised I've voted for eight of the top twelve albums.

NickB are you saying it's common for indie albums to be played by studio-level skilled musicians?

Less John, more Nancy - the solution was there all along.

i wasn't crazy about this album but it's still good & got a place on my ballot

love the twinkly 'i can't go for that' keyboards on 'running back to you'

i like nancy whang but we tend to overrate her tbh

Tried to get into this record--love its sound--but the songs never seemed to stick. I was at the mall a while back and heard Nancy Whang's voice and thought, "Ooooh, have to remember what Juan Maclean song this is." Shazaamed it to find out it was from that Classixx record last year.

Do we tho? xp

think it was rev who called "running back to you" nu-jones girls, which is very otm

i should listen to the jones girls in that case

weird to read you getting into biographical crit. If the songs themselves are wobbly and indeterminate that's legitimate criticism, but the songs create the persona imo. It makes sense to me that on a second album she would sound like the people for whom she's writing.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 29, 2015 5:49 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i guess what i'm saying is that charli xcx's songs all create the outline of a persona - in a very route-one way - but they don't fill it in to make it captivating, whether with bio or with non-bio.

yay juan maclean. "a simple design" is my second favourite after "a place called space"; i have v little to say about it apart from it's thoroughly enjoyable start to finish and has a perfect sense of timing

xp i think so. she's a good fit for the dfa sound/aesthetic but has pretty glaring weaknesses as a vocalist

NickB are you saying it's common for indie albums to be played by studio-level skilled musicians?

i don't think it's a particularly rare occurrence - i mean, there's still the owen pallett and st vincent albums to come in this poll for instance

i agree she is pretty and glares a lot

i should listen to the jones girls in that case

OTM!! start here imo

Favored genre, band longevity, and a lack of outright duds outweighs the paucity of hooks. Own and like In a Dream, but its a lesser album than The Future Will Come or Less than Human.

i like a lot of juan m music but not this album

This was my #1. Just great all the way through. I'd say it's their best. Both other albums I tend to skip around a lot, but there really are no weak points on this one.

Agreed.

Yeah I think it's their best too. Higher highs on The Future Will Come but overall found this a much more satisfying listen.

Who on earth are the Juan Mclean? I've never heard of them before.

You've been on ILM for how long and you've never seen anyone talk about The Juan Maclean?

i've long wondered whether dog latin's regular protestations of ignorance on these threads are trolling and finally now i know

What DL? I remember you from countless EOY polls, you must have heard them!

never underestimate dog latin

http://i.imgur.com/4jj0H8r.jpg

10 TODD TERJE It's Album Time [812 points, 30 votes, 1 first place vote]

it's album time, guys