Now this is how it started: THE ILX 1980s ALBUM POLL RESULTS!!

That's a brilliant description Tuomas. When I started buying her albums a few years ago it was one of those truly exciting revelations like when I started getting into Prince or The Associates. I voted for another one of hers too but I think sadly that will be her only album in the list.

I was so happy when she made a comeback last year (and with a fine album), and had a gig in Helsinki this summer, so I could finally hear her perform this stuff. I can't imagine any other 60-year old woman could sing "bull up to my bumper baby, drive it in between!" with such style and authority.

That sounds amazing I would love to see her live at some point. Hurricane was a really good comeback it's a shame it wasn't bigger, Williams Blood is up there with her finest. I'm glad there's a bit more interest in her at the moment there's talk of reissuing the out of print albums (Fame and Muse) and even a release of the album she made sometime in the nineties.

I'm surprised to see the Cocteau Twins already. This is probably going to be their only appearance, since Treasure is usually considered their canonical album. I love it too, but I much prefer the darkness of Head Over Heels or the perfect melodies and harmonies of Victorialand.

She made an album in the 90s?! Do you have any info on that, I've never heard about it? I thought she only released a handful of singles in the 90s ("Evilmainya", "Sex Drive", "Love Bites"), and that's all.

(x-post)

this is a cool list so far! Cupid & Psyche 85 was my no.2 and i guess i hoped that would be higher. Steve McQueen also way too low imo. still hope there's gonna be some other new pop/synth-pop stuff high up and not just an all-alt-rock top 10...

61. Arthur Russell - World of Echo [1986] (108 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/6909-world-of-echo.jpg

this is one of the most unique sounding records ever made, and the music is brilliant and memorable to boot. my girlfriend just got me The World Of... on vinyl for Christmas! What a sweetie.

― sleeve, 25. joulukuuta 2007 18:51

It sounds so rainy and yet so arid. If that makes sense.

― I know, right?, 25. joulukuuta 2007 19:07

i've just downloaded "world of echo" and am listening in full for the first time. oh, new obsession. where have you been all my life. beautiful.

― Emily Bjurnhjam, 20. maaliskuuta 2008 5:21

I just want to thank Emily for resurrecting this thread and making me dust off this old gem. There it was in the graveyard of my vinyl, in a milk crate I never give any consideration to. I think even if I had flipped through it I would have just thought "oh that's the Arthur Russell record" without playing it. But World of Echo is just what I needed back in my life. And the bonus tracks! Wow!

I think what stands out most about this album for me is it doesn't seem like it's really as old as it is. It seems very modern and it's hard for me to believe I can trace it as far back as my teenage years. Another thing that stands out is just that there is nothing in the entire world that sounds like this record. Nothing. Other than saying it probably should have appeared on the 4AD label, you can't really narrow it down any further than that.

― Bimble, 23. maaliskuuta 2008 16:13

This is from Wikipedia which I know isn't the most reliable source but I had heard about one of those before reading it on there.

Jones recorded two albums during the 1990s, but they remain unreleased thus far—in 1994, she was due to release an electro album titled Black Marilyn with artwork featuring the singer as Marilyn Monroe; in 1998, she was scheduled to release an album entitled Force of Nature.

aw, that was my number one.

A perfect album for a warehouse loft in autumn afternoon. Peeling off the flamboyant glitter of Russell’s disco productions leaves this frail skeleton of percussive cello and vocal murmurs, submerged in cathedral reverb. My first nominee to chart.

Wow, I would definitely want to hear the electro album! Some of the house and techno remixes of her 80s/90s tunes are quite good. And the DJ Hell remix of "I've Seen That Face Before" that came out a few years ago is brilliant! She should do a full collaboration with DJ Hell, they'd be a perfect fit stylistically.

(xx-post)

Anyway, that's all for tonight.

Wow, I can't imagine what World of Echo sounds like. Slowdive?

ok just listened to a track off the Arthur Russell (which i dont know at all) and it is really incredible

a lot of the '98 'Force Of Nature' ended up on 'Hurricane' i think (which is why a lot of does sound a bit like it was produced ten years prior ha)

my prediction for ilx's top ten: (not in particular order) -
talk talk - spirit+laughing
the fall - hex+ grace
jesus and mary chain - psychocandy
sonic youth - daydream nation+evol
replacements - let it be
pixies - surfer rosa
talking heads - remain in light

70 - 61 is a pretty awesome list of records

I assume "Sex Drive", the single she relesed in 1993, would've been on the 1994 album. It's pretty good, not earth-shattering or anything, but it's fun to hear on a straight house track.

(xx-post)

way xpost

it... doesn't really sound like anything? I think everybody reacts to that album in a very different, very personal way. It's so intimate but also so wide open. There's nothing like it.

hell ya this list keeps getting better. i love every single album posted today, prefab sprout wooo!

i like this list so far. there are at least 5 albums i need to find now.

World of Echo sounds closer to the ambient cello + singing bits off AR Kane's 69 than it does to Slowdive.

Four from my ballot have turned up so far but nearly all of these albums are ones where I think, "Yeah, that deserves to be in here". Plus I really want to hear The Chills now! Also thosee Violent Femmes and X albums, which I've never bought for some reason.

bringin things up 2 speed...

100. Robyn Hitchcock: I Often Dream of Trains [1984] (75 points, 5 votes)
98. (tie) Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Hole [1984] (76 points, 5 votes)
98. (tie) Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription [1987] (76 points, 5 votes
97. Big Black - Atomizer [1986] (77 points, 8 votes)
96. Associates - Sulk [1982] (79 points, 6 votes)
95. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking [1988] (79 points, 7 votes)
94. Def Leppard - Pyromania [1983] (80 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
93. Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless [1982] (80 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
92. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships [1983] (80 points, 9 votes)
91. Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell [1986] (80 points, 10 votes)
90. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II [1984] (81 points, 9 votes)
89. Prince and the Revolution - Parade [1986] (83 points, 10 votes)
88. Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love [1987] (86 points, 7 votes)
87. Pet Shop Boys - Actually [1987] (86 points, 8 votes)
86. Pet Shop Boys - Please [1986] (87 points, 8 votes)
84. (tie) Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine [1989] (87 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
84. (tie) Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues [1983] (87 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
83. David Bowie - Scary Monsters [1980] (89 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
82. Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Nail [1985] (91 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote)
81. The Beat (aka The English Beat) - I Just Can't Stop It [1980] (91 points, 13 votes)
80. Various - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto [1985] (93 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
79. The The - Soul Mining [1983] (93 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
78. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash [1985] (93 points, 16 votes)
77. Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun [1985] (94 points, 8 votes)
76. U2 - The Joshua Tree [1987] (95 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
75. Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual [1983] (95 points, 9 votes)
74. Galaxie 500 - On Fire [1989] (96 points, 10 votes)
73. X - Wild Gift [1981] (97 points, 9 votes)
72. The Chills - Kaleidoscope World [1986] (98 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
71. Roxy Music - Avalon [1982] (99 points, 10 votes)
70. Laurie Anderson - Big Science [1982] (99 points, 11 votes)
69. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 [1985] (100 points, 7 votes)
68. New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies [1983] (100 points, 16 votes)
67. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes [1983] (101 points, 12 votes)
66. Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen [1985] (104 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)
65. Donald Fagen - The Nightfly [1982] (105 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
63. (tie) Tom Waits - Rain Dogs [1985] (106 points, 12 votes)
63. (tie) Cocteau Twins - Treasure [1984] (106 points, 12 votes)
62. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing [1981] (106 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote)
61. Arthur Russell - World of Echo [1986] (108 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)

just watched that Associates viddy and i barely restrained myself from ripping my ears off...

(2xp) Yeah, with so many entries I keep thinking "how could I not have voted for that?" - was really hard getting it down to 30 and so much stuff had to be ditched is how; bunch of stuff I like but I'm not as familiar with as I felt I should be to vote for it, some stuff I thought would do well enough without me, plus a couple of albums where I love the bands but had to admit that the one album nominated for each did nothing for me, etc

World of Echo is also probably one of the last ones where a single number one vote means the difference between making the list and not making it. I think that's what's interesting about this last stretch of albums--even though it's a consensus vote, they still feel very personal.

"It's so intimate but also so wide open" is exactly right about World Of Echo. Such a cohesive and singular record. Russell's own comparison with foreign language singing is really astute when he talks about "the musical effect of words as sounds, but where the meaning is not totally withdrawn." If I'd voted this would have been number one, with Double Nickels the only serious contender, 80s all about original use of vocals w/me, apparently.

I just don't get "World of Echo", although I do understand what other people see in it. You'd think that AR Kane gone ambient AND funky would be right up my alley, but this music does nothing for me, and I've accepted that.

World Of Echo is the first album I've not heard that I really want to get after reading the descriptions.

Zeno laughing stock was 90s

unless you meant colour of spring which will probably show up too

folks there is an elephant in the room, it has 8 tracks, and one of them is called 'hold back the rain'

just sayin'

xpostin bout WoE
It's too odd to easily recommend; it sounds kind of like plainsong, fuzzed out, dubby, lonely, plainsong. It's very emotional, but it's balanced by that meditative quality - I bet it was good for him to make. It's pretty interesting that Panda Bear got kind of close to that sound without hearing it, mining similar turf.

Maybe there should be a separate predictions thread, but I can only see 4 or 5 of Zeno's list being top ten.

the ilx xtc contingent could land an album in the top 10 if everyone voted for the same one

(the right one being english settlement of course!)

am gonna stick my neck out and predict a surprisingly low turnout for psychocandy

ooh i think i put ES about 6th or 7th

xp that'll be in for sure and prob skylarking too and maybe even black sea? but not in the top 10.

i'm really enjoying how much of this list i don't have though. plenty of stuff to belatedly check out

i had black sea 6th, ES 8th and skylarking 19th (out of 20 voted for)

yeah there's LOADS to check out! totally gonna investigate this arthur russell stuff.

most of my choices are yet to come. stoked.

yeah i just listened to a song from the arthur russell album on youtube and I AM INTRIGUED

ain't web 2.0 neat

dude this album is on spotify that is like web 2.3 at least

world of echo is so thick and troubling but soothing, takes me to another place when i put it on *is set adrift on memory bliss*

yay for grace jones! arthur russel's cool and all, but nightclubbing is an all time classic. "i've done it again" gives me chills every time even after all these years. three scoops of <333

agree that this is one of the most satisfying "best of the 80s" type deals i've ever seen - so far. yay for ilm!

i'm really enjoying how much of this list i don't have though. plenty of stuff to belatedly check out

For real – it'll make for a fun next couple of months trying to hear all these.

SO far have introduced myself to the new-to-me Associates...that version of Gloomy Sunday is INSANE>

I'm thinking that in a perfect universe someone posts a big zipfile of all the albums on this list on their blog and I get to listen to all of them in order over the Xms holidays.

do kids like this feel this way? will some 15-year old buy M.I.A.'s next album, and then go back and, discovering "arular," consider it some kind of benjaminian angel of history?
Your prev. paragraph pretty much describes how I discovered punk and post-punk circa 1988. Even the Smiths (who had only broken up, like, a year earlier) seemed old and distant, and I felt inauthentic for digging them up, along with all the rest. The stuff from the early 80s was, like, antediluvian.

I expect all 15-year-olds feel that way. This year's crop are going, "2006 was so long ago, when old people roamed the earth!"

I can't believe how long ago the 80s actually were. The 18-23 year olds I work with view me with the same tender pity and slight awe at age & experience that I viewed the Original Hippies with once upon a time.

This latest batch is the first to have a few albums I might want to check out: Donald Fagan especially (I've heard some of these songs, but would have just assumed they were Steely Dan songs), and maybe Grace Jones and Arthur Russell (the latter of whom I somehow know nothing about). (It's not as though I've heard everything else on the list so far, but I've heard enough Foetus and Meat Puppets, for instance, to know I'm not really interested.)

I voted for 7 of the 40. happily canonical over here.