ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2021

If a single is a date, an album is a marriage. Marriages are hard. They require focus, devotion, patience, constantly renewed interest. We bother because they show us something of ourselves, they make us more of what we are. Once we’re in a relationship, we are willing to fight for it, to brook no bullshit from anyone who can’t see the beauty in what we love. If you like “Starfish and Coffee” more than you like “Strange Relationship” we might have an argument, but if you don’t love Sign O the Times, we’re gonna have a fight.

Notoriously, singles are meant for the young; it’s the grumpy oldsters who align themselves with albums for their sprawling concepts and thematic connections. No surprise then, that in a time when our opportunities to connect with one other in public narrowed and our social world wisened and drew close, many of us got our jollies overdoing it with what had become most familiar. We binge-watched, we drank more than we should, we overslept, we over ate, we listened to the album we loved a dozen times rather than finding 100 new songs. Hopefully we felt okay about it.

Hell, we felt great about it and here’s the proof: 77 albums of every flavor, twice Baskin Robbins and half again as many as Heinz. Each one is a sparkling fountain of emotional memory associated forever for better and worse with this damnable, wonderful era. Here we are folks. Dream we all dream of.

This is the Top 77 Albums of 2021 Spotify Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/31WV3pIib8yCNT9O5cVubg

This is the Top 77 Albums of 2021 Tidal Playlist:

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/262ed964-3b7d-4c6a-9d7f-2dde00ea6a85

This is the Top 77 Albums of 2021 Apple Music Playlist:

https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/ilm-top-77-albums-2021/pl.u-WabZZqafvvXWxV

This is the Nearly Complete Top 77 Albums of 2021 Nominations Spotify Playlist, with over 660 hours of music to get you warm:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ogkGSVMJL9OCrKePshxZp


If anyone wants to build a matching YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Utopian Celestial Jukebox Without Corporate Ownership playlist, it would absolutely be more than welcome here. Feel free to post those here and we’ll edit them into the intro once they’re fully updated. No motherfucking NFTs please. Ever.

Your admins for this poll are myself (posting, playlisting), Moka (posting, graphics) and Seandalai (organization and vote tabulation).

With each winning album, we will be posting appropriate ILX artist/song/album/genre threads for further reading and a link to a representative YouTube video from the winning album. Bearing in mind that we just did all this on the 2021 77 Tracks poll, we will link different tracks to sample from each album than anything that placed in the 77 singles.

Think we posted the wrong song from the album? Post your favorite instead! Just please make sure that, as a courtesy to folks without a high-speed internet connection, you refrain from posting embedded YouTubes so that this thread can load at a manageable speed. YouTubes can (and should!) still be posted as hyperlinks. If you're unsure how that works, click the “Show Formatting Help" button below the Submit Post button and it will explain how to use hyperlinks on ILX.

While you’re waiting, here’s the prior 19(!) years of yearly album threads:

The ILX Readers Poll 2002 - RECORDS OF THE YEAR
ILx'ers Top Albums of 2003
ILM TOP ALBUMS OF 2004
You could have it so much better.....with the ILM albums of 2005
***What's that coming over the hill? It's the 2006 ILX ALBUMS POLL RESULTS***
**********Hot damn it's THE ILX 2007 POLL RESULTS, part 2**********
TOP 10 NOW: //////////////shawty got poll poll poll poll poll poll poll (part II: 2008 ALBUMS)///////////////
(TOP 5 TODAY, MOFOS!) Yo P&J, I'm really happy for you, Imma let you finish, but ILX had the greatest 2009 poll of all time! All time! (2009 ILX Albums Poll Results)
ILM'S TOP 77 ALBUMS of 2010 (NOW COUNTING DOWN THE TOP TEN)
ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2013
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2014
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2015
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2016
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2017
ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2018
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019
ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020

We’ll get started on Monday, February 7. Stay tuned.

just reminding our creative community that you might wanna hire moka to design YOUR next album cover...
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Monday, February 1, 2021 5:14 PM

👍🏽

This is the main event.

Rockist.

Thanks for linking the old rollouts, forks. I've just been reminded on the year I took the artistic license of posting all the album art in black & white. I STILL STAND BY THIS DECISION!

ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

I can’t wait until 2026 for the results, forks. Could we start this coming Monday instead? 😉

JF: I gotta be me! (And as I get older it’s clearer and clearer that I’m a dang rockist.)

Ten years since Kaputt's victory. Reading it back and the reactions to Wet Leg and Charli XCX winning now seem very tame. I just got to the part when Lex finds out.

lol, i mean the 7th of course. i need a new calendar.

I'm an albums person always have been until this year, I think I only voted for ten in 2021, probably my all-time low.

always fill my singles ballot but haven't voted for more than 5 albums in the last few years. this year I think I voted 4 and 3 of them were minis.

Funny. Opposite for me-- but my listening in 2021 was focussed on jazz, experimental electronic, and ambient music..my biggest problem was cutting stuff OUT from my list.

Looking forward to this!

Me neither!

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xMppRP7rYYk/YEkNbaDzejI/AAAAAAAEQtw/i3u2OmVFFN0IxM0jD3nHDEXXeQDt9HzKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/jamie%2Bdornan%2Bbarb%2B.gif

Raymond and table otm as ever.

Thank you forks! Stellar write-up

That is a good write up!

Oh the eoy threads used to be very active. Seems like 70% of the board disappeared since 2012

I think I was one of the #1 voters for Kaputt when I was strictly lurking. Pleased with any discomfort it caused that lex guy.

lol at how the 2012 thread goes straight in, minimal preamble just posters firing shots

I do feel we've lost the theatre of old - the 2010-2015 or so EOY polls were close to being the most fun I've ever had on the internet - but as a way to sum up the musical year and discover a bunch of great new releases there's still nothing that comes close ime.

I wonder what metal will make the cut...

looking through the 2018 poll and i'm thinking that might a historically great year for albums, just hit after hit

There's been a significant further divergence I feel in the past few years between my tastes & those of the greater body of ILX, but I ised to be able to get 5-7 albums in the countdown & I think thats possible this time so I hope it happens again

That said, I'm p sure there's like 12 albums on there that I'm gonna be the sole vote for so

*used

I'll know from the points total of #77 how likely it is that much of my ballot places

One quibble with forks' otherwise excellent intro, tho: we had 77 tracks voters, but wasn't it more like 85 albums voters?

I only did albums, I think there were others.

I also gave Kaputt my #1 vote back in the day. I still would!

final count: 86 albums ballots
― Vangelis fleadh (seandalai), Saturday, January 22, 2022 2:40 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh I took "One for every voter" to mean every voter got at least one album from their ballot on the list, but now I'm not sure

https://i.imgur.com/Hsx7q2V.jpg
77. Various Artists ‎ - Heisei No Oto- Japanese Left-Field Pop From The CD Age, 1989-1996
128 points / 5 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: Take No Michi - “Dream Dolphin”
Music from Memory (Label) - Search and Seek

Oh we're in it now!

This is an amazing compilation, strongly suggest to look for the physical (cd/vinyl) version, as the digital/streaming version is missing half of the songs.

am generally anti-compilation but this looks about as interesting as compilations get

i have this, it's great. but comps never come to mind when voting.

let's gooooo

Nice presentation Moka!

I am interested in this comp, but this is not exactly an auspicious start to a list of the best albums of 2022

very very similar points threshold to songs, which gives me a good sense about a few things

I know suggestions to change the poll never go anywhere (and that's ok), but an archival comp/reissue top 10 side poll would actually be p neat (and here's why)

I'm always a little disappointed MORE comps don't make our EOY list. There's a whole universe of stuff out there and some very smart people assembling it all in just the right way.

I tend to be p absolutist about this sort of thing but I cant say I didnt like it when the Onyeabor comp made it

Had not heard of this until now and it looks great, so that's a net positive.

you can't allow this and not backyardigans basically ;)

I need to go back to this compilation. I only heard it once and kept meaning to revisit it all year. Some great stuff on it.

https://i.imgur.com/TdbIdP1.jpg
76. Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks of God
130 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Bed Head”
Anyone into Manchester Orchestra?

i was just wondering last night if this album would make the albums poll

"Anyone into Manchester Orchestra?"

Five people, no more, no less.

Manchester, so much to orchestrate for.

*Six* people if I had voted, but at least I nominated it.

i think tim f said that he got into this record bc even though it is a really beautifully-produced alt rock album with both big and soft guitars it consistently pulses like a dance record

Moka has convinced me to listen to this with that image (and whoever made the cover lol)

I objectively don't like Bed Head, but I feel strangely compelled not to turn it off

that guy's voice is very country music

This is one of those bands I've ignored partly due to an irrational aversion to the name but the song linked above is pretty good

https://i.imgur.com/M87JQLg.jpg
75. Doja Cat - Planet Her
132 points / 4 votes
Video from the album: “Get Into It Yuh”
thraed of DOJA CAT

so nearly missed out :(

I already knew I didn't care for Manchester Orchestra, but I checked out Bed Head to see if they'd actually made something I'd like.

The answer is a resounding no.

Poll in rapid decline after a great start.

that's the spirit!

I actually enjoyed Bed Head quite a bit tbh despite so much going against it

also when you listen to the million masks of god as a whole there are great sequencing feats like the way "keel timing" and "bed head" are like inversions of each other etc.

manchester orchestra are something that i feel like i could like, but it hasn't really happened yet

Poll in rapid decline after a great start.

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever)

Lol

Hey at least we’re in the bottom part of the poll and not in the top 10

One quibble with forks' otherwise excellent intro, tho: we had 77 tracks voters, but wasn't it more like 85 albums voters?

And more importantly, playlist is now updating.

That Left-Field Pop comp is amazing btw; loads of great finds in there!

that comp is prob most only vote to place, fittingly just barely

planet her is solid, doesn't quite compare to hot pink. some serious highlights, many of which were massive hits: "woman," "kiss me more," "ain't shit," "get into it"

actually i think i'll have one more

Some of the missing songs from the leftfield pop compilation can be found on streaming if you want to hear the rest.

I know because I was obsessed with Yosue Inoue’s “pi po pa” last summer.

excited to find out whether Low released 4 albums last year

https://i.imgur.com/whWjmBm.jpg
74. Hayley Williams - Flowers for Vases / Descansos
132 points / 5 votes / 1 #1 vote
Song from the album: “First Thing to Go”
Petals for Armor/Last of Paramore?

Interesting that all the milquetoast stuff is coming in at the very lower reaches. Maybe the stretch in the middle will actually be surprising this year instead of the inverse!

hmmm this album

As I said in the tracks thread, much stronger album than her debut solo, imo. That one was easy to admire but hard to love, in all its tricks and cleverness, but here she just locked herself up in her house and recorded some great quiet songs.

Judging on point totals I think you might be right JF. I think I'm looking at six placing, including all my top 3! But a few of those could def land tomorrow instead of today

Interesting that all the milquetoast stuff is coming in at the very lower reaches. Maybe the stretch in the middle will actually be surprising this year instead of the inverse!

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever)

Or maybe it'll be milquetoast all the way through!

Shh you'll jinx it

ooh voted for heisei no oto
absolute joy of a comp

I like that the poll's open to all sorts of releases fwiw. Found another great archival comp in "Ritmo Fantasía: Balearic Spanish Synth-Pop, Boogie And House (1982-1992)" when randomly playing nominations

Love Hayley Williams, but didn't love this album. It's not bad or anything, just didn't make much of an impression on me enough to go back to it after the first few listens. Her debut grew on me a lot.

https://i.imgur.com/H28sJQH.jpg
73. Spellling - The Turning Wheel
135 points / 5 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “Turning Wheel”

wow, very low! didn't vote this but it's decent. fantano giving it a 10 gave it a LOT of exposure tho

ok first track on Heisei (the streaming version) is amazing, I have to check out the Music from Memory thread

I have mixed feelings about comps but am generally for their inclusion. I try not to vote for them myself unless it's something absolutely amazing and completely new to me, and even then only if I'm running short on proper new releases. A couple of comps appearing in the rundown is fine, they can be great introductions to stuff, but I would be worried if we started placing more than one or two.

lol @ the picture misspelling Spellling

Wonder if it got spelllchecked.

I think I was conflating Spelling with Shopping... was not expecting the heavy Kate Bush vibes from this.

For the moment I am just looking at the images

Got to say I adore the albums image style even more than I did the one for the tracks. Adding a little class to the proceedings, thank you Moka.

For anyone who is using Tidal I am keeping a playlist synced with the Spotify one here: https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/262ed964-3b7d-4c6a-9d7f-2dde00ea6a85

Oooh it’s SPELLLING no wonder I couldn’t find any thread discussing her.

Here’s the thread:

Spellling - haunted art pop soul

I vaguely remember giving the Spellling album a once-over a few months ago, but there were too many Sgt. Peppers-ish moments that rubbed me the wrong way, even if the rest of what she's doing is pretty great/original. I feel like this lives in the same universe all the waxed mustache stuff from the early part of the last decade, except it doesn't talk to the neighbors.

Thanks emily!

https://i.imgur.com/98w7fbw.jpg
72. Emeka Ogboh - Beyond the Yellow Haze
136 points / 4 votes
Song from the album: “Everydaywehustllin”
Emeka Ogboh

quite enjoying the Manchester Orchestra opening track, way more than Bed Head, lol

No clue about this, but "Everydaywehustlin" is a vibe.

okay what's all this then?

I really liked Mazy Fly but didn't feel the new album at all re: Spellling

nice dubby ambient field recording soup, i liked it but it never sank in enough for me

(linked to the tidal playlist in first post)

first 3 tracks of the MO album are really strong lmao, what is wrong with me

I liked the Emeka Ogboh album - very mellow atmospheric stuff

spellling album is my first vote. brillliant colllection of witchy pop songs

first 3 tracks of the MO album are really strong lmao, what is wrong with me

― imago, Monday, February 7, 2022 9:35 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

finally

Bed Head makes way more sense in context too

fantano giving it a 10 gave it a LOT of exposure tho

― imago, Monday, February 7, 2022 11:04 AM (thirty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol, didn't realize this happened. makes me question my own taste, life, and reality itself

haha

even a needle drop tells the right time etc

JF and DAM otm re: Spellling. Loved Mazy Fly, but aside a couple of highlights (Revolution, The Future), I found the overall sheen and theatricality of this album a little distracting.

This comp looks exciting!

manchester orchestra are something that i feel like i could like

ftr this has not been your opinion ever.

it is now!

this album is significantly better than anything else i've heard from them, you should try it lol

Fine

I should be following the rollout but instead I'm just grooving to Heisei No Oto, great find

I found the overall sheen and theatricality of this album a little distracting.

that's funny, i felt the theatricality in 'mazy fly' too, and that's one of the things that drew me to spellling and a big reason why i love both albums. "real fun" (from mazy) is basically a song where a disney villain reveals how truly evil she is, and i love it lol

I’d need to listen to them both back to back to remember what I really think the difference is, but my sense is that Mazy Fly was a little more dreamily psychedelic and that’s what drew me to it in the first place.

meanwhile this emeka ogboh is something i've never even heard of

Me neither. Its cool though

PSYCHED

i loved the Japanese Left-Field Pop comp, awesome to see it place here

I'm looking over my ballot, and I'm expecting three of my votes to place. Would be nice to get more, but think I'm mostly on my own with the others.

https://i.imgur.com/wN1wWgf.jpg
71. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time
136 points / 6 votes
Song from the album: “Time to Move Close”
Bobbins 2021

this album is significantly better than anything else i've heard from them, you should try it lol

― imago, Monday, 7 February 2022 16:49 (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Foiled again. It’s those tragic 70s chords. This sounds like other things I like. It’s very spacey.

yeah I was surprised in that exact way too

My first vote to place! I'm not super enthusiastic about it or anything, but it's a nice record. By this time next year it will be an opaque memory.

https://i.imgur.com/QnJxIt0.jpg
70. Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou
137 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “Big Moonlight”

Incredible record, I really loved this one, though I didn't even discover it until last week.

Always get Vanishing Twin and Gazelle Twin mixed up.

Ooh, two in a row for me! Am I the arbiter of ILM hivemindedness?

Hell yes to Ookii Gekkou!

Couldn’t find a thread for vanishing twin, don’t know if there was any discussion on the board for this one but yes it’s a good album.

The influence is still there of course, but I feel like VT really transcended the Stereolab/Broadcast comparisons on this one, moving into totally new spaces neither of those bands ever touched.

Dumb question, but is there a way to see your ballot after submitting through the Google form?

ooh, I voted for this, they seem to be expanding a bit into the space occupied by The Focus Group on this one, it's a good direction for them

That song is pleasant but I'm so bored by the standard Take Five take on 5/4

Maybe it's just because hearing Cathy Lucas sing on the Fimber Bravo album was such an unexpected delight, but I feel like the world/global musical influences on this one are really distinctive, a real point of departure from Broadcast/Ghost Box stuff (I love that stuff tbc)

The one Broadcast-ish album that I really got into last year was the Virginia Wing record (which I then totally forgot to vote for). Will have to check this one out

yay I voted for the Heisei No Oto comp, good stuff

https://i.imgur.com/H7KpWQA.jpg
69. Can - Live in Stuttgart 1975
138 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “75 Eins”
CAN....S and D?

ok no

I mean, that's pretty clearly from 1975.

didn't you record collector bores have enough new albums to vote for?

xp
Am I the only musical ignoramus who reads posts from the musicians on ilm and thinks "thank god I never learned how to play music"? I have no idea what you're objecting to here Jordan! Not that I actually want you to expand, because I like this song that does not remotely remind me of Dave Brubeck

the only scenario where this might be excusable would be a situation akin to the Blue Gene Tyranny/Peter Gordon 'Trust In Rock' concert which came out a couple of years ago for the first time, because that contained numerous recordings of songs that can be found literally nowhere else

I adore Can to a ridiculous degree and can see why you'd want this and love it and cherish it, but I don't get why you'd vote for it in a 'best of 2021' list.

does this contain a whole new cornucopia of Can songs that can be heard nowhere else?

A canucopia, you mean?

A Canucopia.

I should have voted for it!

it's about 90%+ improvised, so kind of, yeah

xxp

multiple xps: FYI Dave Brubeck was fantastic

Moodles otm, this is mostly just wild improv and it does add something new to the Can um, canon imo

placement in the very low 60s seems appropriate, btw there is another 1975 Can show released in 2021 that I thought was even better so you've been warned

our canucopia multiplieth

I know how to play music but could never get a hang of music theory so the only thing that really bothers me these days are blatant Fahey-solo-guitar tropes among those types of players (cause I love that genre, but there are some boring guitar movements I can see the hands doing when I hear them).

xps to rob

i liked the madchester arkestra album but it was ultimately a disappointment after the incredible "black mile". also, just wanted to share this convo i had with a coworker:

me: you should check out manchester orchestra... they're a bit like imagine dragons if they didnt suck?
coworker: ....i like imagine dragons

this ogboh record is wonderful

https://i.imgur.com/7vtAxBL.jpg
68. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
140 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “GOVERNMENT CAME”
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Classic or Dud?

loved job's lament from this

I know how to play music but could never get a hang of music theory so the only thing that really bothers me these days are blatant Fahey-solo-guitar tropes among those types of players (cause I love that genre, but there are some boring guitar movements I can see the hands doing when I hear them).

― Evan, Monday, February 7, 2022 12:55 PM (five minutes ago)

Yeah, tbc I totally understand being a drummer and perceiving things in drum parts that are entirely invisible to a non-drummer but are unignorable to you. But I didn't even know that VT song was in 5/4, and it turns out I am better off for it. I often have this reaction to posts by Sund4r or fgti or various posters who are trained singers. This is, of course, a cope for the fact that I am deeply jealous of their knowledge & skill

nu-godspeed continue to be a significant downgrade on the og imo

I am also jealous!

xp

i prefer nu-godspeed a great deal, think this is their best album

absolutely backwards take, imago

BRA...WHINEY!

i remember listening to this and it was a bit limp, then i put Yanqui UXO on and it whirled me around the cosmos, but YMMV i guessssssss

It reminds me of Dave Brubeck, but maybe in a really explicit "let's write a song over the Take Five groove" that works for it, idk.

It's not to take away from anyone's enjoyment, it's just my pet peeve that 90% of songs in 5/4 default to that same Take Five/Mission Impossible pattern. I just appreciate hearing anything else.

xp

The Eris Drew record is really fun, it just missed my ballot unfortunately

Godspeed I voted for, with Can I voted for the Brighton set

i forget but also love how much angrier the albums rollout is

The first half of the Godspeed was stronger but it needs to be heard as a whole, their best record in a few

Can album is awesome. I forgot to vote for it, then decided that anything I might remove to make space for it would need the vote more, so left it. Wonderful album, though.

re: Can, have been mollified by explanations that this stuff really is 'new'. it then becomes purely a question of taste and voting decisions

My personal voting policy is no rereleases / no compilations, and I voted for Live in Stuttgart because it's novel and it rocks

77. Various Artists ‎ - Heisei No Oto- Japanese Left-Field Pop From The CD Age, 1989-1996

This is outstanding, I've only been playing one track from it Dream Dolphin - Take No Michi. Very taken with that, hopefully a couple of the others follow suit

https://i.imgur.com/LmtCqsX.jpg
67. Kabza de Small, DJ Maphorisa & Tresor - Rumble in the Jungle
141 points / 5 votes
Song from the album: “Stimela”
🎹🎹PİANO! PİANO!🎹🎹 - a song appreciation thread for “eMcimbini” by Kabza De Small & DJ Maphorisa ft. Aymos, Samthing Soweto, Mas Musiq & Myztro

I was a little on the fence about it, but I did vote for a different newly-issued live album that was recorded decades ago

it then becomes purely a question of taste

is your argument that CAN is bad, actually?

not arguing there!

ok THAT is unexpected

though maybe just because I voted for Motion and not this

FYI there is a dedicated Tresor thread too: TRESOR, the Congolese-South African singer with the heavenly voice

imago arguing that Can is bad, saying old GYBE is better and bringing up Fantano is enough reason to ban him from this thread tbh

i was not arguing that Can are bad ffs

The only Tresor I would vote for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0xCfOeOnvA

are you guys competing to get banned

rob clearly a false believer

https://i.imgur.com/cSvaVmf.jpg
66. Altın Gün - Yol
142 points / 4 votes
Video from the album: “Ordunun Dereleri”
Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2021 Thread (Often African bands)

rob clearly a false believer

― Nabozo, Monday, February 7, 2022 1:32 PM (four minutes ago)

lol looking at my ballot I def could have made room for it, chalk it up to deciding to spend as little time as poss on my ballot. fwiw the amapiano tracks on Motion made me re-appreciate Rumble a lot

I know it’s not an “i” but couldn’t get the typography to do that letter

Guessing we’ll see the Coltrane reissue here as well.

(Or not reissue but first-time issue of A Love Supreme live in Seattle.)

That Can live album was my #1 go-to background album for working last year. Didn't vote for it though.

Well, our next album is not Coltrane but it is Jazz.

https://i.imgur.com/I7ehEl7.jpg
65. Vijay Iyer Trio - Uneasy
144 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “Combat Breathing”
Vijay Iyer - C/D, S & D

rumble in the jungle is so good. i do not endorse whiney's fav tresor, tho.

I haven't listened to a full Altın Gün album but I do like a bunch of their stuff so I may well check that out.

what genre is Altın Gün?

Oooh, the Altin Gün record is cool. Don't think I voted for it, but generally their output has had some lovely moments. Hey Nari was my fave from this one.

Didn't spot the new Vanishing Twin this year!

My favorite part of the "Ice Cream Whine" Tik-Tok is the third character that's just some dude walking by and getting caught up by the beat

Ooh nice. First album from my ballot to place.

what genre is Altın Gün?

― rob

Turkish psych-folk

Ooh something I voted for placed: love the Altın Gün record. Pleased to see Vanishing Twin place too although it just missed my ballot.

https://i.imgur.com/UrkX2HM.jpg
64. Black Midi - Cavalcade
146 points / 4 votes
Video from the album: “John L”
black midi - anyone been tracking these?

Imago is going to love this lol

re Altin Gun: “Ordunun Dereleri” was my #1 track so check it out. It's a bit more chill/normy than e.g. Paavoharju but not way off, very satisfying.

ok yes good

this was my #5 it is sick. prog doesn't just live, it thrives, and the kids love it

Still refusing to listen to Black Midi because they're not actual black midi.

After finding the first Black Midi album a bit half-baked and not really committing enough to any of its many ideas, this one was a pleasant surprise. More measured, but just as ambitious. Didn't vote for it, but I could have.

really love the Altin Gun artwork and Yuce Dag Basinda is so infectious

I want to use Moka's images for this poll as a set of Tarot cards.

otm, classic indie bait and switch

xpppp to e.mily

what genre is Altın Gün?

― rob

Turkish psych-folk

I'm curious about this, since the tracks I've heard through the poll are much more synth pop/Italo sounding?

Their previous albums were a bit folkier, but this one blends in plenty of synthpop too, you're right.

altin gun is a band that i listen to occasionally but would prob be blown away by in a live setting

liking the Altin Gun, lotta stuff I don't know so far

I want to use Moka's images for this poll as a set of Tarot cards.

― tangenttangent

Haha, my initial idea for the design was to make a series of shapes - like the stars and circles I ended up adding in there - and use them as containers for the images. Use some 8/10 different ones either random or by genre… it would’ve looked “tarot-esque” but ditched the idea because I would’ve needed more time.

black midi amuses me because they have this one singer whose style can't help but remind me of larry blackmon from cameo

fwiw Slow is both my track and video pick from Cavalcade

Jordan, 'Yüce Dağ Başında' (which for some reason I thought placed last year, but youtube is telling me it came out this year?) is pretty synthpop yeah, but it still has that folky element to it. They're definitely a modern take on it (and not actually based in Turkey iirc) but a large amount of their output I've heard is that psychy folky thing.

I'm probably not the best person to judge this I guess, as I've only sampled the singles/tracks with vids.

I'll have to check out some of their other stuff!

I think I've listened to each Black Midi record exactly once, but I loved seeing them live.

I might have to run, sorry for rushing this last part. Posting two more albums and I’ll continue tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/Xt1qB5r.jpg
63. Howie Lee - Birdy Island
146 points / 4 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “Time to the Sun”
A thread for HOWIE LEE's sublime, genre-spanning Chinese folk/prog/jazz/Balearic/grime opus 'BIRDY ISLAND'

to be extremely reductive, altin gun is basically khruangbin but for turkey

love this album

my initial idea for the design was to make a series of shapes - like the stars and circles I ended up adding in there - and use them as containers for the images

That sounds rad, but they look great in any case. Kind of reminds me of that Magik Cyrkles comp from a few years back too.

https://i.imgur.com/cT7k2Ix.jpg
62. Sarah Davachi - Antiphonals
150 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Border of Mind”
Rolling ambient/chill out/drone/moodz thread: from 2010s 'til infinity!

and another i voted for
nxd power hour

This Sarah Davachi album is great! One of my favorite discoveries from this run.

I’d say this and the left field pop compilation are my two picks of albums I would have voted for if I had listened to them before the poll.

yeah great album, maybe my favorite of hers yet

I missed that Howie Lee thread but "Chinese folk/prog/jazz/Balearic/grime" is definitely something that would have swayed me to listen. Giving it a try now and the sample track sounds great. Fuck yeah. Wish I'd heard it earlier.

the first minute of the Davachi actually sounds more like the old Turkish psych-folk I know more than Altin did!

That Howie Lee is an actual album from 2021 that I listened to a bit and it's lush

I should give the Lee another listen. iirc dog latin's enthusiasm for it really made me want to like it

Monday Results:

62. Sarah Davachi - Antiphonals
63. Howie Lee - Birdy Island
64. Black Midi - Cavalcade
65. Vijay Iyer Trio - Uneasy
66. Altın Gün - Yol
67. Kabza de Small, DJ Maphorisa & Tresor - Rumble in the Jungle
68. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
69. Can - Live in Stuttgart 1975
70. Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou
71. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time
72. Emeka Ogboh - Beyond the Yellow Haze
73. Spellling - The Turning Wheel
74. Hayley Williams - Flowers for Vases / Descansos
75. Doja Cat - Planet Her
76. Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks of God
77. Various Artists ‎ - Heisei No Oto- Japanese Left-Field Pop From The CD Age, 1989-1996

Oh god damn, Howie Lee is really hitting the spot for me. Even if I get intensely angry about shitty placements in the future, thank you voters of ilx for this one.

Yes! Howie Lee is the first thing I voted for, it's incredible.

Not all of today's placements are for me (still listening through) and I didn't vote for any of them, but at least it is a decisively weird start to the poll.

the only downside so far is a lot of the albums I am most curious about require patience (e.g., the Lee and Davachi ones)

oh this Howie Lee is only half an hour long! this might sound vmnic but i like it when albums are half an hour long. so far it has my interest

lol wtf I did vote for Rumble in the Jungle, sorry for liveblogging my sever cognitive decline

The Can album obviously got on the list due to the lack of a new album from The 1975.

can almost imagine a 1975 'vitamin c' cover

Ha!

xp

less so 'halleluwah'

Re: compilation albums, I do hope that La Ola Interior: Spanish Ambient and Acid Exoticism 1983-1990 places

So glad to see Birdy Island place. What a strange, unique piece of work. Halfway between Chinese electronic music and I guess The Beach Boys' Friends album. Increasingly in the last year or so I'm hearing a lot more music that makes me think "What am I listening to here? How did this actually come about?" and Birdy Island definitely comes into this bracket

Wave, Wave, Wave is super beautiful. I'm so glad the poll prompted me to go back to this, thanks y'all

The Howie Lee thread is p funny: 16 days of ecstatic raving and then silence

I voted for the Davachi, her best in a minute: great chill out music

this Howie Lee is great, thanks all

Oh, the Sarah Davachi album is beautiful. Second from my ballot, which means I'm already doing better than on the tracks poll.

Iyer's trio connect so tightly and groove well even on more subdued or abstruse material.

Yeah, the Iyer made my ballot.

The Iyer album is the only thing from my ballot in today’s results. I like Iyer in a lot of modes, but his trios are my favorite and this may be his best trio.

Now that I've figured out that the 5/4 comment was in relation to Vanishing Twin, I put the album on and started giggling almost immediately because I see exactly why Jordan invoked "Take 5"

I see that as a positive rather than a negative, a bit like Stereolab covering Dave Brubeck on this first song

Realising that Susumu Hirasawa's dazzling BEACON may have been 78'd...

to be extremely reductive, altin gun is basically khruangbin but for turkey

― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili)

Well, Altin Gun has vocals and is more pop oriented. Don't think this is a fair comparison, even if reductive.

Had not heard of Howie Lee btw - big ups for those who voted this in. Can't wait to hear more.

Well, Altin Gun has vocals and is more pop oriented. Don't think this is a fair comparison, even if reductive.

― octobeard, Monday, February 7, 2022 3:19 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

maybe this was once true, but the last khruangbin album was certainly pop oriented, and a few tracks had vocals.

I was introduced to him on his 2020 record, 7 Weapons Series, which is more club-oriented.
https://maloca.bandcamp.com/album/7-weapons-series

I should really go deeper since he's got a ton of records and everything I've heard so far has been amazing.

xp

his bio on the bandcamp page for Birdy Island is p wild (Snoop Lion remixer?)

Hey 3 of mine placed! Godspeed, Altin Gun, & black midi

Sarah Davachi has been on my ballot every year since 2015! I'm glad to see her in the top 77.

What a great list so far. Voted Spellling only. Currently very much enjoying the Howie Lee.

Re: compilation albums, I do hope that La Ola Interior: Spanish Ambient and Acid Exoticism 1983-1990 places

Oh wow. Was that 2021? Have listened to it loads but would have sworn it was at least a couple of years old

Increasingly in the last year or so I'm hearing a lot more music that makes me think "What am I listening to here? How did this actually come about?"

For me these days it's very much "decreasingly". I'll check out the Howie Lee!

Good day for me - I voted for Vijay Iyer, Altin Gun, Heisei No Oto, and I've added a few things to my To Listen pile.

heard most of these, didn't vote for any

looking forward to checking out the emeka ogboh album, the can live album, and heisi no oto though

really enjoyed the spelling album when it came out but it had diminishing returns when i revisited at the end of the year, there's some great moments but it falls off in the second half.

I have been underrating black midi. The sax on this album is beautiful and the whole thing amounts to something weirdly, energetically poignant.

(Re Altın Gün:)

I know it’s not an “i” but couldn’t get the typography to do that letter

― ✖✖✖ (Moka)

I'm pretty sure it turned out correct? As I understand it, the Turkic uppercase version of "ı" (as in Altın) is "I", while a capital "i" would properly be "İ". (This is one of those things that utterly bedevil those dealing with internationalization of software: not even conversion from lower- to uppercase is necessarily the same across languages using many of the same letters!)

Black Midi straddles that fence of epic riffs and proggy cheese (peaks with Ascending Fourths) that lends itself to being underestimated. Reminds me of King Crimson a bit in that regard. Fun record, though I didn't vote for it

Howie Lee album is very pleasant, nice island vibes. I'm hoping for a Lou Harrison revival one of these days.

i think so far its just Godspeed from my list but this is great. lots to check out here.

I saw Black Midi live having not heard them before. It didn't click. I don't see the point in being this technicalLy accomplished if all the production is so blown out you can't make out any of the instruments. I just don't get the appeal of this sort of thing

Nice. Vanishing Twin, Emeka Ogboh and all of 66-62 were on my earliest longlist. Only voted for Birdy Island, I think, though I spent relatively little time with it as 8 consecutive tracks. Just as likely a "this pretty thing is Howie Lee again, isn't it?" phenomenon while shuffling.

Pretty sure I voted for Altın Gün a couple of years ago but they didn't seem so literally-recorded-in-1973 this time. (I guess the under-rated Kit Sebastian got my vintage Turkey pastiche vote instead lol.)

I shall listen to this Japanese comp...

First time in years I didn't vote. Just completely spaced on the deadline. Really enjoying the roll-out so far.

Interesting results today. A fair few I've never heard.

I only heard the Vanishing Twin album a few weeks ago and really liked it. Their previous album is great too. Feels like the kind of band I should have been listening to for years. Kind of like when I belatedly heard Jane Weaver a couple of years ago.

Ended up voting for Spellling low down on my list. I don't know if that album will have long term appeal. I really couldn't get past her voice and theatrics at first, but I kept coming back to it and the songs would get stuck in my head. I tried to put it on the other day and really wasn't in the mood for it. I can't remember the last time I had that kind of weird relationship with an album like that.

I didn't like the first Black Midi at all. Haven't heard anything from this one. Voodoo Chili comparing some the vocals to Larry Cameo is making me want to hear it.

That Altin Gun is good. Definitely one I need to revisit. Pleasantly surprised to see them here.

Will try and check out a few of the ones I've not heard in the next few days. Enjoying the roll-out so far.

this black midi is better than the first one (the sax helps) but i don't think it's really going to change anyone's mind about them

Voodoo Chili comparing some the vocals to Larry Cameo is making me want to hear it.

haha. nb, i literally haven’t read anyone else who made the comparison, just a weird back of the throat singing that this one guy does that larry also sometimes doss. please don’t listen to black midi and expect to hear something that sounds like cameo

haha. nb, i literally haven’t read anyone else who made the comparison, just a weird back of the throat singing that this one guy does that larry also sometimes doss. please don’t listen to black midi and expect to hear something that sounds like cameo

― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili),

I listened to the album. There was one song where I could kind of hear what you meant. Not really a reference I ever would have thought of myself, but you put it in my head and so spent the full 45 minutes listening out for it.

The album wasn't really what I expected on the whole. It did get slightly better than that first song which was a bit of a nightmare, but not really my thing at all.

am deep in the Can. Zwei was pretty cool

yeah that was a good listening experience or w/e. not that i'd vote for it or anything ;)

Something I learned last weekend: Altin Gun released a second album in 2021.

About five tracks into VT and struggling to say much about it other than 'irksomely coy Quietus audiopiffle', so I'll add 'save me Moka'

Sure, why not?

https://i.imgur.com/UtNjtZk.jpg
61. Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti
152 points / 4 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “Folie Á Deux”
rolling thread 2021 (deluxe edition)

oh shit, glad this made it

Apparently I liked something from this and then forgot to return. Thanks for the reminder!

i like this so much more than the usually oppressively grimy griselda shit, and i think that it’s more than just mach’s strength as a writer, and partly because he doesn’t try to “elevate” anything, but stays firmly in the gutter

good album

vc otm

There is a kind of hypnagogic amelodicness to the whole thing that's reminding me a little bit of Ka's Honor Killed the Samurai.

*perks up*

*becomes flaccid*

Listening to this now -- I don't quite have the vocabulary to describe why I like this so much, something about the way the vocals kind of float above all the rest of the sound

https://i.imgur.com/MOu0aCM.jpg
60. Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You
155 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “Pond House”
saint etienne

heh I had no idea they put out an album this year

lol same

they've been trying to tell you

wau

this is about 40 places lower than it would have been but for the great UK ILX exodus lol

big SE fan on the whole but just didn't rate much this 'nice enough' EP

I like “Pond House” but found the album a bit snoozy. Not bad! But didn’t go back to it.

This was the first St. Et album I've liked in quite a while.

I'm a fan of their last two albums -- Words and Music ranks among their best -- but I had trouble sitting still through this one.

https://i.imgur.com/VDtyoRl.jpg
59. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble - NOW
156 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Forever Momentary Space”
International Anthem: S/D

I don't quite have the vocabulary to describe why I like this so much, something about the way the vocals kind of float above all the rest of the sound

Vocals are super dry while the woozy Rhodes is low-passed and even the bass has reverb? I really like it.

good album
xpost

I was really really enjoying that Mach-Hommy track linked up, but I wasn't paying much attention to the lyrics and all of a sudden I get "rock with Coldplay, it was all yellow" hitting me. Kind of burst me out of the magic.

rappers love coldplay

no one knows why

I think he mentions Barry Manilow in the next few lines as well!

Love that Damon Locks album. My second vote to place.

voted for it too, really invigorating

SE album was good but didn't find myself returning to it

https://i.imgur.com/HrZv93O.jpg
58. Natural Information Society & Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
158 points / 4 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “descension 1”
Rolling Jazz Thread 2021

Fuck yes, despite Parker's idiocy, this was certainly a highlight of the year for me. Amazing set.

I was the #1

Still have not listened to this, I need to.

It is an incredible set!

Ironic that an “information society” would be paired with him.

https://i.imgur.com/oIUbdiK.jpg
57. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
159 points / 4 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “The Turning of Our Bones”
https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=

Oops thread id missing

https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid141

Arab Strap: Classic Or Dud?

There we go

Haven't felt like I need to listen to Arab Strap since the '90s but I heard one track of that somewhere (maybe DJP's radio appearance?) and it was good!

Surprised to see Saint Etienne make it today. Even though I know we're very good to them usually, I thought this one divided people too much. Based on the singles I was expecting this to be the first album that really disappointed me. Ended up growing on me like most of their more mellow albums do. They're probably the only band who've been going for a long time who haven't let me down. They haven't had their Elysium moment yet.

i had no idea there was a new arab strap album!!!!

maybe SE NEED their Elysium moment so that, duly stung, they can have their Electric moment next

listening to this Howie Lee again and it actually reminds me of Eyvind Kang!

I did listen to the Arab Strap album. Very much sounded like an Arab Strap album.

sounds great

NOW is such an awesome record. Those cicadas should get some kind of special grammy or something

https://i.imgur.com/4BcBf0v.jpg
56. Loraine James - Reflection
160 points / 7 votes
Video from the album: “Running Like That”
hmm, upon reflection... nothing like a Loraine James thread for you and i

Wow wtg Evan Parker

I think this might have to do with when it was released— June of last year— but despite being a fan of James, I totally missed this record. I kept myself from buying records from mid-June to September because of budget stuff.

purchasing now.

I had spent lots of time ignoring Arab Strap until this album; a couple of songs popped up on my Release Radar playlist and I was like "who is this band that sounds like an extremely Scottish Ulver"

lol! honestly sort of otm

The song I got obsessed with was "Fable of the Urban Fox": https://arabstrapband.bandcamp.com/track/fable-of-the-urban-fox

Yay, Loraine James! First one of my votes to appear.

I really need to listen to the Saint Etienne album again. Some of their stuff is some of my favourite ever music but I really didn't feel this.

Voted Natural Information Society and Parker very high.

Yeah, I think the Parker and NIS record was in my top five or ten...

https://i.imgur.com/RScD6Tq.jpg
55. Mogwai - As The Love Continues
163 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Ritchie Sacramento”
MOGWAI - Classic or Dud?

Hey Loraine James cool

GYBE, Arab Strap, Mogwai, Low...this poll has become an interesting way of learning which late 90s indie bands have been canonized

Mogwai with their number one album.

Last year was weird.

Yay, Loraine James! First one of my votes to appear.

― emil.y, Tuesday, 8 February 2022 17:13 (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

xp
I actually meant this annual poll in general; there were a bunch last year too iirc. This isn't a criticism btw, and I remember wondering back then who was going to end up in this echelon, so it's not at all a dismaying sign of my aging that it's happening, I like it

Not sure what I think of the James, but I enjoyed this youtube comment:

S James
8 months ago
What an absolute beautiful melody and such mesmerising vocals from Eden Samara. My daughter has done it again. Mum is so proud of you ❤️

Mogwai have never been on an ILM EOY have they? It's a really good record and everything Mogwai related last year was very heartwarming.

Aw, that's so sweet. Not all of the album is as dreamy as that track, there are a bunch that hit harder and some nice sketches and bleeps in the mix as well.

xp

Mogwai have absolutely been on ILM EOYs in the past! Pretty sure I pulled teeth to get Music For A Forgotten Future into the 2011 tracks poll (actually I forget if it made it...) but nothing they've done since then (the Hardcore Will Never Die cycle) has gripped me...at all, really

Ah that's good to know emil.y, I was thinking "I don't want to listen to an entire album that is a vaporous as this." I'll add it to my now absurdly lengthy thanks to this poll queue

the Parker is sounding fantastic, will have to lash myself for not checking this out when people were raving about it in the jazz thread (in my defense I think his covidiocy was also being discussed)

Music For A Forgotten Future finished 73 :)

https://i.imgur.com/RurZcIS.jpg
54. Joy Orbison - still slipping, vol 1
164 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “Sparko”
Joy Orbison

man, Joni Mitchell should give up smoking already

Disappointed that 'Sparko' isn't an electronic cover of 'Smoko'.

would have been a good twist if that was Joy Orbison and that's her birth name

i voted for "running like that" from the james album in the traxx poll, loraine's mom is otm. didn't vote for the album but glad it placed.

Wasn't expecting the Mogwai album to place at all but glad it did! Might be my favourite thing from the band I've heard

Spent all day working outside listening to Heisei No Oto and Howie Lee and Vijay Iyer and enjoyed them all, good job ilm

summoning a vibe switch

More!

https://i.imgur.com/mdFwE9q.jpg
53. yu su - yellow river blue
168 points / 5 votes
Song from the album: “Melaleuca”
yu su

Sorry guys busy morning! I’ll speed it up!

ooh good album that narrowly missed my ballot

Feels like another "vibey" stretch. I guess Mogwai probably isn't that vibey but I can't really see myself getting up the motivation to try a Mogwai album in 2022.

https://i.imgur.com/0rXEeKn.jpg
52. Bicep - Isles
168 points / 7 votes
Video from the album: “Apricots”
Bicep thread

It’s bobbins day

What I instead summoned was a vibe intensification

voted for yu su, lovely album

Yu Su album is super cool with a lot of variation in textures and styles

another ilm fave who i had no idea dropped an album this year. add it to the pile along with saint etienne and vanishing twin

Liked what I heard from this Bicep, but kind of felt that I'd already got what I needed from them with their debut.

yeh another i enjoyed and left without going back to

Soon entering the top 50 and this is a gallery of illustrious unknowns so far for me, with two votes only (Eris Drew, Kabza de Small). I did hear and like Altin Gun and there's maybe 1-2 other things I've checked and that's it. Will give me plenty of listening ideas.

never liked bicep, every time I've tried to listen to them in the past I get this stadium rave vibe that I just can't get with, something a bit nu-big beat about it all. maybe that's just me though. Will give this a listen but i can't say I'm looking forward to it much

The thing I admire about what Bicep do is that they make me nostalgic for a time and scene I wasn't ever a part of. I think that's kind of impressive, tbh.

https://i.imgur.com/CVPxDt3.jpg
51. Nite Jewel - No Sun
169 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “This Time”
NITE JEWEL thread

Oh, I love this record! Also there's an RA podcast interview with her which is super fascinating, all about the history of professional mourners and her musicological studies of divas, totally recommended if your ears have a spare hour

https://i.imgur.com/MVUPalR.jpg
50. Flock of Dimes - Head of Roses
170 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “Price of Blue”
Wye Oak

Love that Nite Jewel record. The album didn't make my ballot, but the Sun Ra cover was my only vote in the tracks poll.

Head of Roses is one of those deceptively simple, outrageously good albums. An artist executing exactly what she does well to perfection.

god i love this album. too low!

Nite Jewel is TOO LOW. One of the most pristine, beautiful and expressive records of the year.

honestly, this flock of dimes album and the last wye oak album (louder i get, etc.) are probably my two fav-ever wasner-involved projects to dae

Flock of Dimes sound like somewhat Low-ish in that video. Never heard of them.

I meant to spend more time with the yu su album

I'd say FOD sound more like next year's winner than this one's

this/last's even lol

I was going to say, what do you know that we don't?

no no, that was a prediction!

A double one in fact

I was told ILM is legally required to feature an album by this artist in the top 50 each year:

https://i.imgur.com/hlow6rS.jpg
49. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club
174 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Chemtrails Over the Country Club”
Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club (2021)

Huh I'd hoped my #1 might squeak in when all the mood/vibe stuff was dropped earlier. Don't expect it in the top 50 though, so I'll pour one out for Mabe Fratti here 😢

You don't need to be Nostradamus to know with about 90% confidence who's going to win both this poll and the 2022 one, lol

I'm with you on this year, but what's the 2022 one?

Wait 3 days and you can even hear it

Oh yeah, I figured we're all assuming Low are winning this one, but I'm also stumped on 2022.

To be fair, the only album from this year that has permeated my brain so far is Beast Nest, and I'm pretty sure it's not that.

xp what was that you were saying about irksomely coy? :)

Lol I mean Big Thief obviously right let's move on

Glad we've had this discussion just after LDR placed tho

Oh, bleurgh. You're quite possibly right but why would I be paying any attention to their release schedule??

I was hoping imago meant voivod

Haha, in some parallel universe. The Slaying Universe

What is this image trying to tell us ?

Chemtrails is the first Lana album I didn't connect with. Voted for Blue Banisters instead. I don't think anyone else rated it on here though.

As for next year, might as well get an early prediction in for Real Lies taking it.

https://i.imgur.com/aJjtJHm.jpg
48. Insides - Soft Bonds
177 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Ghost Music”
insides - euphoria

I gave up on Lana Del Rey a couple of albums ago. I used to think I liked her, but I think I only like Ultraviolence.

I liked that Insides album from the playlist. Apparently they're a '90s band (the unsearchable name is a giveaway I guess) and this is their first record in 20 years??? You love to see it.

awe insides! <3<3<3

Really excellent to see Soft Bonds here! I thought it was a long shot and it's such a colossally gorgeous satisfying return.

Last one for the day!

So happy to see Insides make it! Such a gorgeous album that sounds like it could have come out a couple of years after Euphoria. I think it was in my top five.

https://i.imgur.com/kiDTnYh.jpg
47. aya - im hole
182 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Emily lights us moor”
Rolling Re-Re-Reconstructed Club Music 2021

damn how did i miss the new insides record entirely

thee. vibe. hath. placed

RESULTS

47. aya - im hole
48. Insides - Soft Bonds
49. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club
50. Flock of Dimes - Head of Roses
51. Nite Jewel - No Sun
52. Bicep - Isles
53. Yu Su - Yellow River Blue
54. Joy Orbison - still slipping, vol 1
55. Mogwai - As The Love Continues
56. Loraine James - Reflection
57. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
58. Natural Information Society & Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
59. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble - NOW
60. Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You
61. Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti
62. Sarah Davachi - Antiphonals
63. Howie Lee - Birdy Island
64. Black Midi - Cavalcade
65. Vijay Iyer Trio - Uneasy
66. Altın Gün - Yol
67. Kabza de Small, DJ Maphorisa & Tresor - Rumble in the Jungle
68. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
69. Can - Live in Stuttgart 1975
70. Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou
71. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time
72. Emeka Ogboh - Beyond the Yellow Haze
73. Spellling - The Turning Wheel
74. Hayley Williams - Flowers for Vases / Descansos
75. Doja Cat - Planet Her
76. Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks of God
77. Various Artists ‎ - Heisei No Oto- Japanese Left-Field Pop From The CD Age, 1989-1996

xp to Brad lol there's been a lotta "how did I miss this" posts like that ITT, the landscape is fragmenting

tomorrow had better be the most imago day in poll history ffs lol

This rollout so far is perpetual 2am comedown vibes

I tried Soft Bonds when it came out and wasn't moved (Euphoria is classic, have cherished since hearing it in high school), but I just put it on and am transfixed, always appreciate this poll for moments like this

This rollout so far is perpetual 2am comedown vibes

― tangenttangent, Tuesday, February 8, 2022 3:52 PM (fifty-three seconds ago)

listen to the Damon Locks album IMHO

good to see insides beating both mogwai and godspeed, death to false post-rock amirite

listen to the Damon Locks album IMHO

Will this affirm or refute? I will find out when I can wrestle free of Saint Etienne's twilight vice (it's actually quite good).

refute! though tbc I wasn't challenging your characterization of the dominant mood but suggesting NOW as an antidote

best song on the insides record is the last one btw, 'undressing'

Yessss, the aya record is very special to me.

My fave track (which has been stuck in my head all week) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9_YnKDVdM

nice to see pray for haiti make it, boom bap masterpiece

xps to rob, still feeling very 2am, but this is lovely. It is the aural equivalent of experimental film... Experimental music!

the title "i'm hole" feels like a doge meme or something so i haven't checked the album

xp
it does have a nocturnal atmosphere, that's true

maybe the cicadas are a nod to Brakhage*

*they are not

sometimes i might be hole

Aw, Insides! I didn't hear this but JT has produced/mixed stuff for us and he's lovely so very glad to see them.

I did, however, vote for im hole, I think it's more interesting than a lot of the vibesy stuff on the list, though it definitely is vibesy in many places. Wasn't expecting it to place, tbh, so I've still got my fingers crossed for two more off my ballot.

technically it's "im whole"

xp

the aya track Jordan just posted is NOT A VIBE

i like that both of emil.y's votes are on hyperdub, just promise you won't abandon us for dissensus okay?

I mean, it's A vibe

perhaps her next album will be called ' w. that would be a meta joke i could get behind.

once again heard most of these, i think i only haven't heard insides, mogwai and arab strap. the insides album especially seems promising.

stuff here i quite liked but didn't vote for: flock of dimes, yu su, nite jewel, ldr (chemtrails over the country club >>> norman fucking rockwell)

the aya album was one of the least enjoyable things i heard this year

People rated the Arab Strap, then?

Interesting developments! I voted for these from this batch. Certainly didn't anticipate NIS&EP making it, so w00t!

47. aya - im hole
58. Natural Information Society & Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
61. Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti

I spent a fair bit of time with the Yu Su, Loraine James and Saint Etienne too.

Pretty sure I didn't know anything about Damon Locks et al or Flock of Dimes before this instant. The Locks video track certainly seems great so far. I keep meaning to listen to the Insides too, thinking "it's that Insides?!" every time I see the cover. I have a bit of homework to carry on with then...

Flock of Dimes one of those names that I loathe so can't see myself liking the music.

I'm not too big a fan of 'im hole,' it seems like something I'd love and then everytime I give it a spin I want to stop listening to it almost immediately lmfao

did anyone do this dn yet?

If this is people's first exposure to aya (which it likely is), her first EP as LOFT is still my favorite: https://astralplanerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/turbulent-dynamics

There's another really good one on Wisdom Teeth too, I think her best work is still ahead though.

i like that both of emil.y's votes are on hyperdub, just promise you won't abandon us for dissensus okay?

― o shit the sheriff (NickB)

I dunno, do you think they'll let me ban people over there?

terrible

― waka flocka dimes (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, January 5, 2012 12:40 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

Why the fuck is that Lana Del Rey album higher than that fucking incredible Bicep album

Lido off the Bicep album is my favourite thing they've done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjdp9yap7L4

Shit sorry,that was meant to be a hyperlink, that never works when i actually want to do it

i was a bicep voter, they haven't steered me wrong yet

that aya record was oddly disappointing to me, ended up just listening to more of her earlier, instrumental stuff instead after throwing that on

the Bicep album was nice, but in terms of melodic head bobbins, Ross From Friends and Lone both put out better records. Betting the latter two don't place.

Liked the Bicep, Ross from Friends, LDR and yu su albums when they came out, didn’t find myself replaying them much after the initial positive impression.

Loraine James and Joy Orbison I didn’t really payed attention to but loving them atm.

Don’t really recognize any of the other albums from today’s run. I need to listen to a bunch of stuff.

Great list so far! Only two of my votes have made it this far, and I'm stoked that everything else has apparently made the top 50! Yay BackRoad Gee, drill taking over ilx! Apart from that, several albums that I left off my ballot at the last moment, and a lot of new-to-me stuff that sounds really good. A bit more:

Emeka Ogboh was my 7, I love the sound. The psychedelic cacophony reminded me a bit of recent cinema from the continent to, such as Air Conditioner which I think can be seen on MUBI. Or Felicité by Alain Gomis.

Didn't vote for Insides, but it's really good, and I have to recommend everyone checking out Clear Skin, the 38 minute track they made in 94, which is one of my favorite things ever.

Loraine James my 21. Some of it was almost IDM-drill like, which I adored.

Also, yay jazz! There's a significant amount of jazz on the list so far, no? And I'm guessing quite a lot more to come. I really liked the Damon Locks, and while I didn't love the Vijay Iyer trio, I almost voted for the album Tyshawn Sorey made with King Britt. Also, I fear Anna Webber might have been the 78 this year :(

Yeah I liked the Roass From Friends album enough, especially Life In A Mind, but like Moka I've just not felt like replaying it much (unlike the first album which I still regularly dig out). I really love his sound and his approach but there were too many long meandering bits hammocking the more meaty stuff on this one.

Flock Of Dimes album sure squanders its promising Big Thiefy opening two tracks eh

'had your fun, time for some ambient acoustic noodling'

‘Ritchie Sacramento’ on the Mogwai album is what it would be nice if Coldplay sounded like.

Massive props to whoever mentioned the Ritmo Fantasia comp upthread, it's superb.

👌

Hadn't heard Mogwai for 3 albums. The opening track sounds much like their good old selves. Comforting almost

https://i.imgur.com/2Z8CLW9.jpg
46. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales
182 points / 8 votes
Live Performance from the album: “Pick Up Your Feelings”
"Don't I Deserve to be Privileged?" - A Thread for Jazmine Sullivan

Flock Of Dimes album sure squanders its promising Big Thiefy opening two tracks eh

― imago, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:09 AM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

...no?

if anything, big thief is wasner-y, not vice versa

this is fairly shockingly low

Sullivan's last two albums are among the best albums of the last 15 years -- Reality Show was and remains the best album of 2015 -- but the attachment to this one baffles me. I suspect she used the recorded chats with women to compensate for the lack of songs.

ok I was going to be surprised this was so low, but if Alfred doesn't even like it that much

i agree with alfred, but i figured that lots of people felt strongly. #1 on p4k's year-end, etc.

This Mogwai album is not bad but I feel like all of Mogwai should be sat in a room and forced to listen to Like Herod (Govt Sessions versh), Ex-Cowboy, 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong and Ratts Of The Capital back to back at maximum volume until they all agree to be scary again

https://i.imgur.com/q3DLHc9.jpg
45. Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective - Ngủ Ngày Ngay Ngày Tận Thế
188 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Infinite”
Rolling weird music // time travel // unclassifiable 2021

oh yeh
my #2

Jazmine Sullivan album is fine but maybe doesn't feel like a full-length

like i care about that

images and distant people probs my choice cuts off this but each song is wonderfully different but still as an album whole

YES RAN CAP.

Awesome! My #2 as well!

I'm actually starting to feel like maybe today and tomorrow will be the days where many of my votes get it, but who knows. I definitely voted for the Ran Cap record, it's really something.

I like Heaux Tales fine but totally expected it to be part of a bigger project. I know there's the "Deluxe" version coming out Friday, maybe that will make it feel more like a full album. Anyway, I think Reality Show gained stature over the past six years so people were primed to praise whatever she eventually released.

This being high up DAM and nxd's ballots makes me pay attention.

^this

It's a shame this Mogwai album is 4 years long otherwise I'd have started listening to it

the best songs on heaux tales also existed as singles for months before the album came out, then not much on the album approached those two songs.

I feel the same as Alfred about Jazmine. It's really great to see her have such a good year with all the acclaim, but it's weird to see her get it for this album when she already put out three classics. I was expecting her to continue that winning streak based on Lost One and Pick Up Your Feelings. It wasn't just about there being too many interludes, I just found the other new songs fairly forgettable. She's capable of better. Hopefully people who have discovered her through this era will go back and check out Reality Show and Fearless.

Flock Of Dimes album sure squanders its promising Big Thiefy opening two tracks eh

― imago, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:09 AM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

...no?

― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 8:46 AM (forty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hm, "Infinite" is pretty interesting.

Jazmine Sullivan album is fine but maybe doesn't feel like a full-length

like i care about that

― Reader, I buried him (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:15 AM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Isn't it technically an EP?

This is sound collage on the walls of a derelict amusement arcade in the middle of a rainforest.

dk country

Speaking of country

https://i.imgur.com/OLOFr4d.jpg
44. Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & Jon Randall - Marfa Tapes
Video from the album: “Geraldene”
Rolling Country 2021

188 points / 6 votes

Very nice album. Didn't vote for it or go back to it a lot, except for "In His Arms," but I love the vibe of it.