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

I like the noisy melodicism of bowel movements

aka the national

checking the national - "afraid of everyone". lovely sound, but i think i just don't much like where they're coming from. dirge coldplay is not my thing.

Things I think are *brilliant* out of that lot: T3EF, The Knife
Things I love out of that lot: Enslaved
Things I am *intrigued* by: Sun City Girls, Harvey Milk, Warpaint Sun Araw
Things I am interested to hear more of: Quadron, The Tallest Man On Earth, Kylie Minogue
Things I will check out later: The Radio Dept, No Age

all in all, fucken A

and now I listen to The National

basically to like the nat'l you have to

a) like dude's voice
b) agree they have a knack for simple but effective vocal melody
c) treat their wallpapery music as an aggressive aesthetic decision

a) take NPR or Pitchfork's music recommendations seriously
b) enjoy boring indie bands like the Walkmen, Arcade Fire, Band of Horses and Wilco
c) you're white btw

I voted the Christian Mistress record ~high as hell~ and enough others said good things about it that it wouldn't amaze me if it turned up in say the next five things on the countdown

the radio dept album so good. near the top of my ballot.

hah this list is great

feel like this would be a good time for any non-white enthusiasts of The National to post xps

most of my face is obscured with dark hair but sadly I am not liking this. you could have won my heart, the national, but you blew it

yeah i didn't really see you liking them dude

did not vote for them in this btw

The National's best album (and likely best entry point) was Alligator. imo they should've broken up immediately after it was released.

Everyone has at least two albums showing up in the top 77 btw.

a) take NPR or Pitchfork's music recommendations seriously
b) enjoy boring indie bands like the Walkmen, Arcade Fire, Band of Horses and Wilco
c) you're white btw

all good heuristics for guessing whether a particular individual likes the National, but not an explanation of why someone might like the national (unless you believe your skin color is what helps certain music sound good)

c) you're white btw

p.s. - there actually are some white ppl who post (or at least lurk) on ILX, FYI

That said, there are enough neat production touches in The National that I can see why they'd be effective in certain situations. Just doesn't have much bite to it, it's got a kinda studied softness instead. As you said, really.

Everyone has at least two albums showing up in the top 77 btw.

GOOD NEWS E'RYBODY

I still don't know what the Radio Dept. is, and that's despite seeing their name around for what seems like years. What is it that they do?

Think of all the really good albums that would have missed out if the poll was only top 50 as usual. Thanks JF & co for expanding it!

Ooooh, I listened to the first radio dept today, will check that out

have not fully caught up on thread but Sun Araw above Rihanna = I love you guyz after all

(can't actually remember if I voted for it seeing as I like it but it is no Beach Head)

back to yr scheduled ragging on indie dudes for being indie (oh hai)

Things I think are *brilliant* out of that lot: The Knife
Things I love out of that lot: Zola Jesus, Sun Araw, The Radio Dept.
Things I am *intrigued* by and/or interested to hear more of: Harvey Milk (new album, <3 them in general), Quadron, Warpaint (need to listen again), No Age (same), Sun City Girls
Things I will check out later: Third Eye Foundation, Enslaved
Things that didn't click w/ me already: Rihanna (love her, just not this album), Kylie (same)
Things that make me really go zzzzzz: The Tallest Man on Earth, Gayngs, Gucci Mane(quality over quantity plz, enough f-ing mixtapes already), The National

Everyone has at least two albums showing up in the top 77 btw.

― Daithi Lacha Flame (seandalai), Monday, January 31, 2011 11:58 AM (22 seconds ago) Bookmark

nice! ILX, where no contestant goes home empty-handed.

all good heuristics for guessing whether a particular individual likes the National

that's all i was going for! (well, and lolz)

Things that make me really go zzzzzz: ilxor posts

I still don't know what the Radio Dept. is, and that's despite seeing their name around for what seems like years. What is it that they do?

They make some polite, kind of electronic-based, Swedish pop music with some '80s ghosts hovering in the background.

another day on ilx, another deej zing to ilxor. get over yrself

deeeeeej

so much for less beef in 2011, amirite?

anyway: resume talking about albums, stop giving deej attention, plz

i haven't gone back to the national album a lot but i was really into it over the summer (and iirc, i voted for it on my ballot). there's a kind of epic desperation in the songs. esp love the "i still owe money to the money to the money i owe" which turns all my economic anxiety into something like a dirge.

i think we all rly need to meet for an irl drink, wd prevent these episodes

Everyone has at least two albums showing up in the top 77 btw.

am v curious as to what my 2nd album is!

list skewed a lot weirder than i expected so far still mostly stuff i dont care abt tho

i think we all rly need to meet for an irl drink, wd prevent these episodes

hah, think deej/whiney and think again

Is that it for today? Just getting warmed up. Listening to Third Eye Foundation, so far pretty darn good, love the way its so busy yet so calm. I doubt if it would make my 25 but it's a keeper.

Never got around to checking the new National, after wasting time on their earlier material. If this can't crack the top 60 I doubt if that will swing it for me.

77. HARVEY MILK — A Small Turn of Human Kindness (240 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote) Hey, that's that band Whiney really likes
76. QUADRON — Quadron (240 points, 12 votes) never heard of them, a few songs sound nice
75. RIHANNA — Loud (244 points, 9 votes) I downloaded this and listened to it maybe 3x. I liked "Whats My Name"
74. ZOLA JESUS — Stridulum II (244 points, 10 votes) I can't love this after hearing Glasser
73. THIRD EYE FOUNDATION — The Dark (246 points, 8 votes, 2 first place votes) idk
(TIE) 71. THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH — The Wild Hunt (250 points, 8 votes) shrug
(TIE) 71. KYLIE MINOGUE — Aphrodite (250 points, 8 votes) I used to like that "I need your love" bit in "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"
70. WARPAINT — The Fool (250 points, 9 votes) I tried to listen to this like 4x and always got distracted
69. SUN ARAW — On Patrol (252 points, 8 votes) that one song rules! Maybe I should hear this
68. NO AGE — Everything in Between (256 points, 11 votes) They're okay. Had 0 interest in hearing this album
67. GAYNGS — Relayted (258 points, 10 votes) zzzzngs
66. GUCCI MANE — Mr. Zone 6 (260 points, 9 votes) yawn mane
65. SUN CITY GIRLS — Funeral Mariachi (260 points, 9 votes, 2 first place votes) I rly, rly need to get into SGC
64. THE RADIO DEPT. — Clinging to a Scheme (266 points, 11 votes) iunno
63. THE KNIFE — Tomorrow, In a Year (270 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote) The Knife made an album this year??
62. THE NATIONAL — High Violet (270 points, 9 votes) Haven't really paid attention since "Alligator" which was ok
61. ENSLAVED — Axioma Ethica Odini (272 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote) is this some metal shit?

omg The National released a song called 'Runaway' too

poll

74. ZOLA JESUS — Stridulum II (244 points, 10 votes) I can't love this after hearing Glasser

this kinda makes sense! you could describle zola jesus as glasser - rhythmic complexity + goth. though i disagree w/ not being able to love both of them, as i do.

the national not a bad pick for latepassitis thread imo, alligator stands tall over their others but boxer was the crossover moment iirc

As far as Enslaved, I think the empath math kicks out a better similarity list:

http://furia.com/em/band104.html

0.219 17 Immortal
0.188 10 Satyricon
0.179 13 Gorgoroth
0.154 8 Anathema
0.153 5 Sólstafir
0.143 9 Hypocrisy
0.135 5 Altar of Plagues
0.135 10 Amon Amarth
0.128 8 1349
0.127 5 Kampfar
0.126 8 Ulver
0.123 5 Shining
0.121 13 Darkthrone
0.120 5 Cult of Luna
0.117 7 Destruction
0.117 6 Beherit

But both lists are talking about the band as a whole. Circa the last two albums a shorter description would be "a black-metal Pink Floyd".

anyway: resume talking about albums, stop giving deej attention, plz

― the new mordant & zingy ilxor persona (ilxor), Monday, January 31, 2011 2:03 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

stop

i like the 2010 shining album and last 3 or so ulver ones, do those compare nicely or not?

*st0p*

Things that make me really go zzzzzz: ilxor posts

I want to virtually staple this to deej's forehead so we can all point at it when he starts to pretend he's all innocent about attacking other people.

for chrissakes ignore them

maybe he was talking about ilx in general

lol ilxor you expect me to answer that one?! ;)

heeee um er er er the Ulver album it's most similar to is Bergtatt tbh. and the Shining album has a completely different aesthetic (jazzy industrial-pop noisefuck). really what it is, is melodic trad BM but with really gorgeous production and a sense of *spacious grandeur*, and proggy structures. it kicks ass.

I need to hear Beach Head. On Patrol was top 10 for me, love that album

I want to virtually staple this to deej's forehead so we can all point at it when he starts to pretend he's all innocent about attacking other people.

― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, January 31, 2011 2:16 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

dude posts too damn much & his opinions are, like, entirely content-free
im sure dude is a nice guy once he stops the posting diarrhea but its outta control & i say this w/ full self awareness that plenty of ppl dont like my posts here. but yeesh man. its just a constant stream