ILM'S TOP 77 ALBUMS of 2010 (NOW COUNTING DOWN THE TOP TEN)

just annoys me that there will be albums of lesser exposure outside of the 77 with a small but utterly passionate following and yet the ILM consensus ropes in the usual suspects

apart from that, am eager to discover new things here!

Didn't get into the Rihanna album at all. Rated R is still one of the albums I play a lot from 2009 but apart from the singles I found Loud really forgettable.

lex: ever figured that she may just be happier?

made it as far as a drake verse. dunno if it would be worth going further.

just annoys me that there will be albums of lesser exposure outside of the 77 with a small but utterly passionate following and yet the ILM consensus ropes in the usual suspects

the albums placing right now are getting 8-12 votes, i think that counts as a small and enthusiastic following - unless you want albums that only like 3 people rep for to place? i don't like loud but i know of a few people who really do.

but then it's not the first time a pop act has followed in introspective, dark and somewhat daring effort with a safe, conservative follow-up

yeah, i really need to lower my expectations when a pop artist releases their most daring & interesting work and just accept their next album is going to be a bit rubbish, as history shows.

lex: ever figured that she may just be happier?

oh sure, it's just the way it cleaves to the most obvious pop trends is really uninspired.

just annoys me that there will be albums of lesser exposure outside of the 77 with a small but utterly passionate following and yet the ILM consensus ropes in the usual suspects

There'll be a load of stuff with a small and passionate following, 77 is a lot of albums, and 75th place is really low for a pop star of Rihanna's standing.

Quadron album isn't nearly as interesting as it wants to be.

it's hard to be creative when you're happy. not even joking.

an album that kind of hangs in the heat and just shimmers slightly.

Listening a bit more I can sort of see this, there are some subtle touches that are really nice, but it does definitely get lost in a bit of a middle-of-the-road drippiness at times.

it's hard to be creative when you're happy. not even joking.

how many points did the #1 album get?

Happy Rihanna >>>> Angry Rihanna

fwiw i think the quadron is a real summer album - i haven't gone back to it once since the weather got cold

would like to see a passionate defence of the rihanna album. then would like to suggest a change to the weighted voting structure - first place 50 points, second 40, third 30, fourth 25 then 5 onwards is 20-1

an album that 5 or 6 people rep for but that they all rep HARD for is worthy of a place in the poll imo

Happy Rihanna >>>> Angry Rihanna

if Happy Rihanna = "if it's lovin' that you want", "umbrella", "pon de replay" and "break it off", sure.

Harvey Milk: I like this in theory, but lack the attention span to make it through
Quadron: The vocals are not my thing
Rhianna: I like the couple tracks I've heard, but probably not enough to spend a lot of time with the album.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ePwDySjVdyo/TTv7EuvlJTI/AAAAAAAAAYc/5fmx9g54ZHE/zolajesus.jpg

74. ZOLA JESUS — Stridulum II (244 points, 10 votes)
P&J: 233rd
Pitchfork: 37th
Spotify: listen

it's hard to be creative when you're happy. not even joking.

This is the laziest bullshit position ever.

LJ i don't think that would do much except encourage collusion and 'strategic voting' even more

umbrella doesn't so much happy as hard and defiant. which is what rihanna does best!

it's hard to be creative when you're happy. not even joking.

wait for real? Just you, or, like, everyone ever?

A SB that 5 or 6 people rep for but that they all rep HARD for is worthy of a place in the hole imo

Wow, thought Zola Jesus had a bigger following than that. She strikes me as a singer who really needs to work with some decent electronic producers - amazing voice, decent songwriting, really boring samey generic synth backing.

there was a lot of complaining recently in the P&J thread about "indie" voters who lazily rubberstamp songs from their album favorites onto their singles ballot. is there a similar sense of frustration with pop voters who rubberstamp shoddy/uneven albums simply because they happen to include few beloved tracks?

Stridulum EP probably gets more votes than this one...

The idea that nine people on this board might sincerely like that Rihanna album is being foolishly dismissed here.

zola jesus is p terrible you guys

I managed to not hear much Zola Jesus solo last year (heard a few collaborations), so let's give this a go...

Hmm, gothy.

is there a similar sense of frustration with pop voters who rubberstamp shoddy/uneven albums simply because they happen to include few beloved tracks?

it would if it wasn't as low as #75!

We housed everything with the Stridulum II nomination (since it includes all of Stridulum and most of the Valusia EP).

Surprised to see the album here but not Night in the tracks poll. It feels like I only need one Zola Jesus song to get the whole idea.

Zola Jesus cover is <3 - Have no idea what this will sound like but I'm excited. Is their name a dedication to 'Franco?

Didn't vote for the Zola Jesus cos some of it wasn't really all that, but some of the tracks are just fine by me:

Sea Talk

I Can't Stand

We housed everything with the Stridulum II nomination (since it includes all of Stridulum and most of the Valusia EP).

Wow...sounds like the rest of ILM was as meh toward her as I am.

If pop fans hadn't voted for Rihanna, I bet Sylvester Anfang II would be #75 with a bullet. Or not.

Wow, thought Zola Jesus had a bigger following than that. She strikes me as a singer who really needs to work with some decent electronic producers - amazing voice, decent songwriting, really boring samey generic synth backing.

― Matt DC, Monday, January 31, 2011 8:47 AM (13 seconds ago) Bookmark

glad to see zola jesus place. her thread never got a lot of attention, so i didn't think that she had much of a chance. i'm conflicted about the "decent electronic producers" suggestion, because, yeah, i wouldn't be surprised and it could certainly help her rope in fans. but i genuinely love her early recordings, when that huge voice is just buried in a lo-fi ambient-industrial cloud.

Surprised to see the album here but not Night in the tracks poll. It feels like I only need one Zola Jesus song to get the whole idea.

― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Monday, January 31, 2011 8:50 AM (15 seconds ago) Bookmark

yeah, that's the way i figured it'd go.

Tbh, I thought Surm was the only one who was huge on that Rihanna album.

it's hard to be creative when you're happy. not even joking.

wait for real? Just you, or, like, everyone ever?

― vienn?tta (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 31 January 2011 16:46 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

Just personal experience. And I guess it fits the desperate/starving artist stereotype too.

From what I heard of Zola Jesus, I wasn't sold. I'm on the fence about the minimal synth revival. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sounds like an excuse to sing lazily over a bad Yamaha rhythm.

"is there a similar sense of frustration with pop voters who rubberstamp shoddy/uneven albums simply because they happen to include few beloved tracks?"

it would if it wasn't as low as #75!

― lextasy refix (lex pretend), Monday, January 31, 2011 8:50 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

wasn't directing that at the rihanna album specifically, just at the discussion about it. it's a general question.

terrible LJ posts itt

wait haha wasn't zola jesus a massive DiS favourite

splains a lot, listening to it now. DARKCHILLWITCHWAVEHOUSESTEPTHING

deej if it's any consolation I think you're one of the worst ILM posters full stop, nsb

Quite liked the first two tracks on the Zola Jesus album, got bored and stopped halfway through the third.

zola jesus really reminded me of ladyhawke voice-wise

it's hard to be creative when you're happy is probably very true for some people and not at all for others - the end.

Don't think you could really file Zola Jesus under 'lazy singing' dog latin.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ePwDySjVdyo/TTv6148txrI/AAAAAAAAAX8/-iwFvF5saG8/thirdeyefoundation.jpg

73. THIRD EYE FOUNDATION — The Dark (246 points, 8 votes, 2 first place votes)
P&J: 497th
Pitchfork: DNP
Spotify: listen

honestly so surprised that anyone has time for that rihanna album...it's so lazy and tossed-together and inadequate. kind of like "hello pop listeners! you can forget that Angry Rihanna ever existed! there is only Happy Rihanna!" except it's way too forced and heavy-handed to actually succeed in the same way that her old sunny reggae stuff did. i guess "only girl (in the world)" is, er, really catchy?

― lextasy refix (lex pretend), Monday, January 31, 2011 10:33 AM (18 minutes ago)

lex embarrasingly otm ^^

that zola jesus comp is great, i love both stridulum and valusia, and "sea talk" ended up squeaking into the bottom part of my tracks list

deej if it's any consolation I think you're one of the worst ILM posters full stop, nsb

lol does this stand for "no suggest ban"?? classic!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs