ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

yeah i'm really smart for 16 tho

smart aleck more like

Is This Desire didn't get slagged off when it came out. It was #1 in p&j, wasn't it?

#7

ur thinking of to bring you my love. 'king of limbs' blew me away last year and im cool, i promise!

yes you're right I'm thinking of to bring you my love, my favorite pj harvey album

I definitely went through the arc of curiosity -> fascination -> immunity with her

I don't think it breaks new ground and I'm not sure it will be remembered, but the perfect balance and serenity of that Real Estate album strikes me as a kind of genius

Lol "King of Limbs" is the first RH album I've liked in years

I feel like Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea gets ignored sometimes, but it was #2 in the 00 Pazz Jop. I still love that one. This last one not so much.

yes that was another very good one, i think and iirc it was given a very bad review by p4k

I feel like Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea gets ignored sometimes, but it was #2 in the 00 Pazz Jop. I still love that one. This last one not so much.

― Fastnbulbous, Tuesday, January 31, 2012 7:29 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my favorite PJH album this side of rid of me and the 4-trk demos, doesn't get half enough credit around these parts

Stories is indeed a great record. I prefer it to To Bring You... and Is This Desire? by quite a margin.

i thought stories was her biggest critical and commercial success pre-LES? mercury prize and so on. also her worst solo album by some distance. i mean obv PJH has always had good reviews but SFTCSFTS got a lot of "finally this scary weirdo has made a happy classic rock album" type reactions.

for me, it's

is this desire? > let england shake > to bring you my love > dance hall at louse point > white chalk > dry > uh huh her > 4-track demos > rid of me > stories from the city, stories from the sea > a woman a man walked by

mor eon topic, i'm listening to the hatchback album as my first-thing-in-the-morning soundtrack while catching up on the news and the internet and it's PERFECT, i love how low-key it is in its psychedelia - every so often a tiny detail emerges from the general mood and catches my ear

is this desire? > let england shake > to bring you my love > dance hall at louse point > white chalk > dry > uh huh her > 4-track demos > rid of me > stories from the city, stories from the sea > a woman a man walked by

I guess theoretically it's possible that AWAMWB is the worst (I haven't heard Uh Huh Her and never properly got into White Chalk so I'm not sure) but I love it so long that seeing it at the end of that list makes me sad.

Rid of Me way too low on that list though.

The Hathback is great, yes. It was near or even in my top 10 IIRC.

Hatchback

Lol "King of Limbs" is the first RH album I've liked in years

Yeah, me too. Actually, I never thought I'd enjoy another Radiohead album again.

i didn't really get into anything on AWAMWB - even though i think SFTC's overall aesthetic is boring, its high points are pretty high.

UHH is definitely worth hearing - it's better when it's understated rather than in-your-face which might be a reason it gets overlooked, but songs like "the darker days of me & him", "the slow drug", "it's you"...all magnificent.

not heard this hatchback record before
absolutely wonderful stuff

I liked the Hatchback album (definitely more than the Windsurf one I listened to) but didn't vote for it - like so many records this year (incl. Toro Y Moi) it was a case of hearing it once, thinking it was pretty good then never feeling the urge to go back to it.

Also Lex, sorry to read about your HD failure upthread!

Yeah I meant to say I'm sorry about your hard drive - that sucks. Did you have any sort of backup?

no because it WAS the backup! except it became the main music drive anyway.

i salvaged what was on my ipod which is a good start, and have decided to start from scratch rather than pay silly money for data recovery (tried the cheap option but obviously i am so cursed that cheap, easy fixes re: technology never apply to me). it is a bit liberating except when i remember all the random shit i spent ages tracking down online :( albums are easily recoverable, old mixes and obscure '90s remixes less so :(

Yeah :-( this has happened to me before, perhaps the worst part is that it's actually very easy to forget the existence of the old mixes and obscure '90s remixes entirely, and then one day they pop into your head and it's like you suddenly realise you can never go back home to that moment when you had that obscure remix and it was so important to you.

i think there's something important in the fact that the VERY FIRST SONG that sprung to mind when this happened, the trigger for the first wave of panic "shit what if i don't own this any more", was the polow da don remix of fantasia's "when i see u"

(it was on my ipod - obv! can't go anywhere without it in my pocket - so it's ok.)

(you may see me disconsolately bumping threads in the coming months asking for "help" with this matter)

listening to fucked up now. i do like this. it's like if leatherface made american idiot.

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, January 31, 2012 9:33 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lol. Did not know that there was a band named leatherface so thought this post was referring to leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I was v intrigued by the idea and after listening to some Fucked Up tracks was totally on board with this comparison!

I'm so terrified that my hard drive is gonna crash someday... xp

Hatchback was in my top ten as well. I thought the ILX massive would place it higher on this list tbh. Glad to see some people listening to it for the first time now, it's such a classic album.

can someone post a list of all the albums so far thx

― tebow gotti (k3vin k.), Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

77. When Saints Go Machine — Konkylie (258 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)
76. Robag Wruhme — Thora Vukk (262 points, 8 votes)
75. Liturgy — Aesthethica (264 points, nine votes)
74. The Joy Formidable — The Big Roar (266 points, seven votes, one first place vote)
73. Jay-Z & Kanye West — Watch the Throne (266 points, 10 votes)
72. Barbara Panther — Barbara Panther (270 points, seven votes, two first place votes)
71. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine (271 points, nine votes)
(tie) 69. Wild Flag — Wild Flag (273 points, 10 votes)
(tie) 69. Low — C'Mon (273 points, 10 votes)
68. ILX Presents Lulu (276 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)
67. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls (282 points, 11 votes)
66. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva (288 points, 10 votes)
65. The Psychic Paramount - II (290 points, 9 votes)
64. Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage (290 points, nine votes, one first place vote)
63. Austra - Feel it Break (290 points, ten votes, one first place vote)
62. Drake – Take Care (292 points, 8 votes, one first place vote)
61. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes (294 points, 10 votes)
60. James Ferraro — Far Side Virtual (295 points, 11 votes)
59. Perfume — JPN (298 points, 10 votes, two first place votes)
58. Grouper — Alien Observer/Dream Loss (304 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)
57. The War on Drugs — Slave Ambient (322 points, nine votes, one first place vote)
56. Danny Brown — XXX (323 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)
55. Mastodon — The Hunter (328 points, 10 votes)
54. Kendrick Lamar — Section.80 (337 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)
53. Laura Marling — A Creature I Don’t Know (342 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)
52. The Mountain Goats — All Eternals Deck (342 points, 12 votes)
51. Demdike Stare — Tryptych (347 points, 16 votes, one first place vote)
50. Hatchback — Zeus and Apollo (350 points, nine votes, two first place votes)
49. Moon Duo — Mazes (350 points, 12 votes)
48. Tom Waits — Bad As Me (352 points, 14 votes)
47. Clams Casino — Instrumentals (354 points, 12 votes)
46. Azari & III — Azari & III (358 points, 12 votes)
45. The Weeknd — House of Balloons (360 points, 10 votes, two first place votes)
44. Fucked Up — David Comes To Life (360 points, 13 votes, one first place vote)
43. Real Estate — Days (361 points, 11 votes, two first place votes)
42. Radiohead — King of Limbs (362 points, 13 votes)
41. Andy Stott — Passed Me By/We Stay Together (363 points, 13 votes)

While I knew that some people here were into Hatchback, I don't have the impression that it broke out of the usual suspects for beach vibez or that it got much attention outside ILM. So I think #50 is a decent showing.

Yeah, maybe because of my own enthusiasm for it, having learned about the album through here, I was under the impression it was hueg here. You are right.

fwiw (SPOILERS) Zeus and Apollo is the highest-placing album that got 0 votes in Pazz and Jop, so it's definitely outperforming its broader reception on ILM.

A great list so far. Lots of things that I've either never heard of or haven't bothered to check out yet. I'm at a total loss as to what will and won't place now. Really hoping Jon Hopkins & King Creosote get some love from ILM.

^^ I threw it quite some love DL, got to learn and love it through you!!

voted for:

62. Drake – Take Care (292 points, 8 votes, one first place vote)
54. Kendrick Lamar — Section.80 (337 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)
53. Laura Marling — A Creature I Don’t Know (342 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)

kendrick was my #1 actually. it's not a perfect album: it's way too long and the production is mostly tame but rapping-wise i think kendrick is really creative and wanted to give him a boost in this poll. i think ppl like danny brown for the same reasons but he hasn't really clicked with me yet.

drake's persona is mostly annoying but i listened to 'take care' loads. if the ppl voting for youtube cover versions of his songs on the tracks poll can't even admit they like the production then idk..liking music must be exhausting for you.

was a really weak year for rap albums in general.

Voted for:

59. Perfume — JPN (298 points, 10 votes, two first place votes)
51. Demdike Stare — Tryptych (347 points, 16 votes, one first place vote)
47. Clams Casino — Instrumentals (354 points, 12 votes)

Perfume was in my top 10 and I'm delighted it placed...Demdike Stare and Clams Casino are two of the three or so albums on my ballot that I'm not absolutely sold on, but I did listen to and enjoy them all through the year and I think they're solid releases.

I voted for these:

1st place: 77. When Saints Go Machine — Konkylie (258 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)
12th place: 48. Tom Waits — Bad As Me (352 points, 14 votes)
24th place: 44. Fucked Up — David Comes To Life (360 points, 13 votes, one first place vote)

WSGM are a weird band - really imagerous stuff that makes me want to write stuff like "cyborg monks singing twilight industrial ballads" or something. I like how the first half is exceedingly mellow and that no drums really kick in until halfway through the second song. It gives later tracks like Kelly and Terminal One a lot more impact. Think checking this band out song by song dilutes them a little bit and they end up sounding like another Knife-like act. I've said it a lot of times - it's worth listening to as a piece.

Tom Waits album is pretty good, or at leas it has its moments. There's very little character acting here - it's almost like the album he'd have made if he'd never gone down the Swordfishtrombones route. Fans of Alice, Bastards, the Black Rider won't really enjoy this, but of Waits' "ragged-rocker" era, this is his most fun.

Fucked Up - I know very little about this band outside of this release. I'll maybe have to go back to it as so far it's given me the gift of Queen Of Hearts, which was a top three track for me, but outside of that I've only scraped its surface.

77. When Saints Go Machine — Konkylie (258 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)
72. Barbara Panther — Barbara Panther (270 points, seven votes, two first place votes)
67. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls (282 points, 11 votes)
61. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes (294 points, 10 votes)
49. Moon Duo — Mazes (350 points, 12 votes)

Three of these five (WSGM, Lykke Li and Barbara Panther) were in my own best-of list that I made in December, so I'm pleased to see them make the top 77 here. In fact, I'm already happy to have five things I voted for appear here out of the 37 that have placed so far.

I've only voted for Psychic Paramount, but I was looking through my ballot and I expect seven more albums to place

I wasn't sure about this poll initially but there is a cornucopia here to check out: thanks ILM!

Still on zero here. Fairly certain that 4 will make it and 20 won't. Only one I'm not sure of is Martyn. Not someone that follows the bobbins threads, so have no idea if people were into that or not.

let's argue about true metal vocals again until the countdown starts up.

I voted for the Martyn album but I'm not sure I can see it placing.

shitehawks

I voted for Martyn somewhere around no.20 maybe

didn't notice it getting much traction round these parts but if anyone was talking about Hatchback I missed that too so it might just be me

I voted for:

Toro y Moi
Real Estate
Radiohead

I had assumed that Real Estate were landfill indie (and some may certainly argue that they are), but my brother (who doesn't normally go in for landfill-type stuff) tipped me off to them, and I was pleasantly surprised. I feel like they hit some of the same wistful/autumnal tones as the Sea and Cake (I hear this most in the guitar part in "It's Real") and even Dungen.

Grouper, Demdike, Andy Stott
hoping some of the more upbeat music I liked makes it

I'd like to hear or make a mix full of Andy Stott/Demdike type music - I guess Two Lone Swordsmen went some way in being the progenitors of this kind of murky haunted dub-tech with tracks like "Sticky", and it's a sound I've always enjoyed in certain circumstances.

I am now listening to the John Talabot album in an effort to better keep up with dance stuff in 2012.

I much preferred "Lamento" off of that EP he did with Glasser than the original. Also, just quickly - is the Invisible Conga track supposed to sound like it's been slowed down to 90BPM?