***What's that coming over the hill? It's the 2006 ILX ALBUMS POLL RESULTS***

16. T.I. - King
(99.5 points, 7 votes)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/king.jpg

15. Joanna Newsom - Ys
(106.5 points, 8 votes, 1 number one)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/ys.jpg

Look at the 17 minute "Only Skin" (which is I think is the climax of the album): I cannot think of one other artist who has treaded the ambitious grounds of this song, the twisting and turning of the lyrical cycle, the slow evolutions from crescendo to naked statement, and made it fit so perfectly in one piece without disintegrating...as far as extreme rock music goes, this goes far behind something like Gogol Bordello, Black Dice or even the No New York scene, becuase its able to hold to together enough to make it timeless (those bands are admired because of their similar ambition, but its ambition that self-destructs on purpose)..YS such an honest projection of her longing and worries that is scares people, like Joni Mitchell's Blue probably scared people at first with its nakedness....the closest I can think from the female perspective is Kate Bush (going back to Joni Mitchell) but this is much less flawed...I think if you sit with it long enough even the certain lines that might of made you cringe are now endearing...it wasn't like this on the first album, some stories just didn't work, some melodies were annoying over time...but the machine is running flawless this time
-Space Is the Place

14. Peter, Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
(109 points, 9 votes)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/writers.jpg

Other ILXors said...

The lyrics on this album are often really painfully generic (to be fair, they're not singing or writing words in their native tongue), but there are so many incredibly rich melodies on this album. Still, it's quintessential indie, which means it's not going to be terribly ILM-friendly. Not as bad as the average Belle & Sebastian mimic; not as good as something similarly Nordic like Herman Dune, which is a bit more adventurous.

But "The Chills," "Paris 2004," "Amsterdam," "Up Against the Wall," "Young Folks," and "Let's Call it Off" are jam packed with hooks - the verses are as catchy as the choruses, which is one of the things I love about the New Pornographers. From a purely pop perspective, they are incredibly talented. Hearing the Concretes-singer verses on "Young Folks," you wonder how they would do writing songs for other people, too.
-Tiki Theater Xymposium

I keep trying to like Ys (I'm a big fan of Milk-Eyed Mender), but it really is rather awful. Bloated, tuneless... the only song I like is "Cosmia"...

13. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
(112 points, 9 votes)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/night.jpg

The future of music - rip it up and steal all the good parts. People complain that downloaders gut albums for singles. Girl Talk guts singles for the 3-5 seconds that make pop music worthwhile.
-Mordechai Shinefield

12. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
(114 points, 10 votes)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/rather.jpg

And finally...

11. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
(121.5 points, 10 votes, 1 number one)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/returnto.jpg

Other ILXors said...

When I first heard the album, it sounded refreshingly linear to me -- the songs seemed to be refusing to come back around in identifiable patterns. On further listen, I think that impression maybe wasn't accurate... it's more elliptical, I guess. In any case, it was nice to be surprised, to listen to this album without having any idea where it was going, fully convinced that the band knew where it was going. Now that I know the album much better, it continues to be very gratifying -- I'm still hearing things that I missed before. Also nice to have lyrics that don't actively prevent me from enjoying an album -- that's been a real deal breaker for me lately.
-belle haleine

oh ilm how did you come to this

lindstrøm - AMAZING

MORE AMAZING if it had Breakfast in Heaven, but I couldn't find much of the stuff on CD previous to the compilation. Glad Night Ripper hung around, as that actually hasn't worn for me at all. It's become something more than spot-the-sample.

I had forgotten a lot of this stuff. Come to think of it, outside of JT, I can't recall what came out in 2006. Thank the Maker for lists.

There is no justice if Furtado makes it and Paris Hilton doesn't.

Woohoo! Neither TV on the Radio nor Ys are number 1! Go ILX! (Of course, this invariably means that bloody Hold Steady album is gonna be #1. Bummer.)

^Bummer indeed.

Just because you said that, I'll do one more...

10. Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
(123 points, 8 votes, 2 number ones)

http://ilx2006music.googlepages.com/boysandgirls.jpg

THANK GOD.

barf city. boner city.
oh ilm how did you come to this
OTM

It's not just ILM. The marketplace is too fractured, which means that the critical consensus is weaker now than ever in the last five years. It's not that there isn't great music; it's that none of us can agree on what it is (thanks, popism!)

So, what album(s) are you gripers actually rooting for?

http://www.undercover.com.au/pics/countingcrows4_040303.jpg
#10? ILM, how ccoouuulld youuuuuu??

Boo @ Google's bandwidth cap. No more pretty pictures, at least for a few days :(

And now they are back! Okay, from now on don't click on this thread unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

Was there a 2005 album poll? I can't find it on the search anywhere - anyone care to provide the link?

musically, you can also get album cover images from rateyourmusic.com with BBCode that works on Ilxor

I'm surprised Furtado came in ahead of Beyonce.

Still to come....

Ghostface
Timberlake
Clipse
The Knife
Hot Chip
LCD?
Belle & Sebastian?
CSS?

Help me out here. I'm lost.

lily allen?

booka shade?

Okay, I will finish this tomorrow; I really wanted to finish it today but I am swamped!

Junior Boys?

Here we go...

9. Lily Allen - Alright, Still
(129 points, 12 votes)

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/ilx2006poll/albums/alright.jpg

Thoughts?

8. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
(141 points, 14 votes, 2 number ones)

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/ilx2006poll/albums/thelife.jpg

[quote]The Life Pursuit is their best in a long time. Consistently catchy songs.
-Matt Olken

the album is a majestic and ironically muscular masterpiece.
-Algy Watts[/quote

I'm wondering if you shouldn't finish this on Monday as there will be more people around.

You know what sucks? BBCode. I can do HTML in my sleep but this nonsense makes me weep tears of blood.

THOUGHTS:

10. YUCK
9. YUCK
8. YUCK

ok throw 11-14 in there is YUCK too

ilm you depress me with your awful taste

I still don't get the Hold Steady. The songs are generic, the vocals are really shitty and it tries way too hard to be hip.

Lex, you don't like Girl Talk?!

I was thinking about that, but if you look at the posts about 99% of the posts made by others come after I post all the results for the day. Between 20-11 there was only one comment made, so I figure I'll just post them now and people can just reflect on the results later, which is what seems have been going on so far.

the singles list is much much much better than this despite my gripes - i think the majority of it is at least ok. there are only a handful of decent albums on this list at all!

xp NO I HATE GIRL TALK THEY MASH LOVELY AALIYAH UP WITH HORRID INDIE

7. LCD Soundsystem - 45:33
(149 points, 12 votes)

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/ilx2006poll/albums/4533.jpg

This should be higher on the list but it's physically impossible for me to run longer than thirty minutes.
-The Macallan 18 Year

my orig reaction to the girl talk album is on http://www.ilxor.com:8080/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=54101

it was "i think i need to go and vomit a little now"

There's no Aaliyah in Girl Talk, and not really that much indie.

6. Hot Chip - The Warning
(149 points, 12 votes, 1 number one)

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/ilx2006poll/albums/thewarning.jpg

Christ almighty is this ever good. I really didn't like Coming On Strong, but this one's just so breathtakingly easy to listen to that it's almost alarming. Maybe they beefed up the low end? I remember Coming On Strong sounding kinda artlessly chintzy, like they were sufficiently satisfied with making a blindingly ahead-of-the-curve R&B album that they didn't bother to make a GOOD blindingly ahead-of-the-etc., but this is just relentlessly dance-y. And WOW does "Over & Over" trump anything on the first album.
-James.Cobo

yes i recall that the possibility of aaliyah was just used to tease me, but christ the rest of it sounds just as disgusting.

hot chip: all the remixes are awesome and they are great live! the album simply can't live up to either of those things

Hot Chip are way more boring than they should be.

i'm concerned that lily allen needs to stick her tongue out in most pictures of her.

xpost: hot chip are dull. full stop.

I always think it's more like he mashes up the Four Stairsteps with Three 6 Mafia with Ciara with James Taylor.

5. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
(151.5 points, 13 votes, 2 number ones)

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/ilx2006poll/albums/futuresex.jpg

Ok, my reaction to "Justified":
Man, this is pretty great, the Neptunes rule, I want to hug JT

My reaction to "FutureSex/LoveSounds":
God, this is really amazing, Timbaland is today's best producer, I want to make out with JT, take him up to the bedroom, etc.

What makes "FS/LS" so great is its consistency. Rather than setting out to make a few great singles, Justin really tried to create a great pop-forward album. With the help of Timbaland, he succeeded. From the steamy title track to "My Love," FS/LS is, to lift a phrase from Paris Hilton, really fucking hot.
-Tape Store

Yeah, that's more like it.

(x-post. well, not x-post, too)

"Losing My Way" cannot be described as being "really fucking hot" but it is oddly my favourite song on FS/LS.

4. Junior Boys - So this is Goodbye
(154 points, 17 votes, 1 number one)

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/ilx2006poll/albums/sothisis.jpg

Other ILXors said...

After several weeks of finding this pleasant but slightly underwhelming, it all slotted into place perfectly at the weekend. Now I think it's better the first album, certainly more consistent (and Like A Child and FM are easily the equal of Teach Me How To Fight and Last Exit).

A couple of things really strike me about it. The first is that it initially seems so similar to Last Exit in mood and tone, but on closer listening they're constructed in totally different ways. I like the greater emphasis on loops this time round (and arpeggios, wow!), the way you can follow a thread through a song while barely listening to the vocals or the main melody. I can envisage some remixes of So This Is Goodbye, Double Shadow or The Equaliser that would sound amazing in the middle of a really hypnotic minimal set.

The second is that the removal of the Johnny Dark rhythmic tricksiness has left other elements of the sound to blossom. This is every bit as complex and detailed a record as Last Exit, possibly more so. It's not really the rhythms as such (and it's not exactly rhythmnically simple). It's the meticulous attention to detail that's been given to the tone and timbre of every sound. No note that's held for more than a fraction of a beat sounds the same from start to finish - especially on When No One Cares, which consists of little other than these big open chords, but virtually every single one of them sounds different. There's so much depth and subtlety of texture there that only really hit me when I listened to it very loud on headphones.

Also, the swell two third of the way through Like A Child sends a shiver down my spine like no other moment in music this year.
-Matt DC