ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

so i have a pattern going, i went 0/17 first day, 2/20 second day and 4/20 third day. so i should still have eight more that show up

i'm moving over the next few days so i probably won't know the Top 20 until sometime next week

:-(

i think you mean 6

If Tropical 2 cracks top 20 I will be ridiculously pleased and smug.

I've got your back on this one. I'm sure this is going to make it.

Was hoping that Future Islands would feature somewhere as it was my #2, but no way will it make top 20.

i voted future islands

woohoo
great to see araabmuzik and britney place, two excellent records

i can't believe 'dreamchasers' hasn't placed. :'(

Just chiming in on Colin Stetson. I never enjoy music if it's simply presented to me like a sport, i.e. technical skill over music and feel. But this is some evocative stuff and fairly accessible. I even like the spoken word stuff.

I'd have liked to have seen Bangs & Works 2 place, but it won't happen.

I'd have liked to have seen Bangs & Works 2 place, but it won't happen.

― Sounds Of The Baskervilles (dog latin), Thursday, 2 February 2012 10:55 (52 minutes ago)

Yeah, I'm regretful about not including it. The Soul Jazz 'Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds' comps were pretty good too.

those (?? were there more than just one) were spectacular - set a sort of precedent for my listening throughout the year.

Two on vinyl. Totally caned 'Streetsweeper' (Steely & Clevie) and 'Yoga Riddim' (Team Shadetek) through the summer.

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Invasion-Of-The-Mysteron-Killer-Sounds-Vol1/release/2971428

Shamefully I am only just now hearing the Nguzunguzu. It is incredible! So happy right now.

Oh and I suppose I should 'fess up that I was the voter who had Frank Ocean as their #1. What can I say? It was the album I listened to most last year and it's high points ('songs for women', 'novacane', 'swim good') were among my favourite tracks of 2011. I also voted for the Girls record so I guess I don't like either 'real' indie OR 'real rnb' ;)

Don't you got some Jodeci?

They're highly unlikely to place now but I'm a little surprised and disappointed that Elzhi, Meek Mill, Young Bleed, and Los Campesinos! have all been shut out of the Top 77. On the other hand at least 20 records I've never heard of have made the list which gives me lots to listen to! :)

lol all these "rnb for people who dont like real rnb" and "indie for those who dont like real indie" arguments on this thread are exactly like dog latins "black metal for those who dont like tr00 black metal" posts upthread. Which is sadly like most metal boards on the internet.
I totally expect it from indie fans, its always existed in rock music, but rnb too????

I do like how Girls are too corny even for indie fuxx though.

where's the real messageboard?

yeah but are they too corny for corny indie fuxx?
xp

lol all these "rnb for people who dont like real rnb" and "indie for those who dont like real indie" arguments on this thread are exactly like dog latins "black metal for those who dont like tr00 black metal" posts upthread. Which is sadly like most metal boards on the internet.
I totally expect it from indie fans, its always existed in rock music, but rnb too????

― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Thursday, 2 February 2012 12:12 (40 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think my posts on this subject started getting lost in translation. There's nothing I hate more than the sort of snobbery and pedantry that Tr00 metal types bandy around ad nauseam. It was more an observation that because of the influence of Pitchfork (who are grounded in US-centric indie rock but go to some lengths to be perceived as eclectic), there's now a big central market territory for music that will make that crossover. So with Frank Ocean you have this guy who calls himself a singer-songwriter (not r'n'b, oh no no), who sings over Coldplay and Eagles songs and is associated with a controversial undie-rap crew: These are all points of reference which Pitchforky audiences can easily identify, regardless of whether his album is much better or worse than any other r'n'b artist. The problem here is that R'n'B fans are most likely sick of hearing "Oh I like R'n'B too - do you know Frank Ocean?" because it displays a limited palette and only a meek step outside the listener's initial comfort zone. So what's wrong with that? What's wrong with dipping one's toe in the water to see if you like it? Well nothing really, but it's also a bit of a cop-out. If you're going to check out a new style of music it could be argued that you have to accept the style warts'n'all. I think what initially attracted me to a lot of music I like is the sheer shock-of-the-new, the uncertainty, the mental acrobatics I had to perform to fit this new aesthetic into my worldview. Like, I didn't really enjoy Pantera or Metallica's Black album when I was played those as a teenager, but when I first heard, I dunno, Bal Sagoth it was like "This is hilarious and crazy and weird, and WTF???!".

Did anyone else dig the Kuedo record? I haven't seen much talk of it, but I thought it was beautiful--still lisetning to it a lot, actually.

It was okay, but it didn't excite me as much as the hype made out I would.

It seems like the middle stretch of this poll has gotten a bit samey. Too many hipster fetishist bands trying to recreate the same early-'80s post-punk-meets-disco moment. However, one nice thing is that my two best discoveries were both free downloads: Ngunguzungu and Death Grips.

undie-rap

Ha.

attn site mods: my flag post for dog latin was entirely in earnest please dont delete it

"Too many hipster fetishist bands trying to recreate the same early-'80s post-punk-meets-disco moment."

which ones are these?

passive-aggressive much, Lamp?

I guess, without being too specific, the charge of hipster fetishism could apply in varying degrees to Holy Ghost!, Ford & Lopatin, Cut Copy, Hatchback, Junior Boys - even stuff like James Ferraro and Oneohtrix Point Never which seems like an arch throwback at times. Obv, not all are going for the specific sound I mentioned, but the fetishism puts me off.

dog latin, I believe that is what is known in Internet speak as a 'LOL'

xpost I see o.nate's getting at, especially with regards to Junior Boys and Cut Copy, but I'd say the whole eighties-retro thing has now been absorbed so fully that it's become as much a part of today's musical landscape. It's increasingly difficult to tell where retro-fetishism ends and new ideas begin. Something like the Ford and Lopatin LP is unabashedly retro in its aesthetic, but the music couldn't have come from the eighties at all.

2012 NEW ANSWERS

Tell me when it hits 2112 and I'll rush back in.

junior boys sounds like nothing from the 80s to me. i hear more steely dan etc in them than 80s synth music

ok i see what you're getting at there

ahh, so cool to see colin stetson getting some love on here! would love a thread of avant garde pop music

(but would never start one because "you can't call this stuff avant garde pop music, can you?" is where i bet the thread will go, blahhh)

Save us...somebody!

"you can't call this stuff avant garde pop music, can you?" should be the name of the thread

Tell me when it hits 2112 and I'll rush back in.

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, February 2, 2012 4:21 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh dear, oh dear.

it was 2/1/12 yesterday!

Oh shit, was that why all the Rush was being played? I was 1/2/12 (they call me MC Blowfish) for us Brits.

*IT was. I wasn't.

next year we should all guess what the results of the poll will be
and the results of that poll, make the results of the poll

ez plays rush all the time though

every day is Rushgiving in my house.

LoL @ 2nd of January 2012 being British National Rush Day

It's increasingly difficult to tell where retro-fetishism ends and new ideas begin

That's a fair point - unfortunately, in my case, when I'm checking something out and the first thing I hear is the same ubiquitous sequenced '80s synth sound I'm much less likely to put in the time to listen further to hear what else is going on.

ilm loves the 80s

Oh so we've stopped handwringing about which bits of a genre you're allowed to like and we've got to the "indie friendly electrodribble" bit, then?

i'm just gonna hide in my corner now and keep listening to idm

Anyway, please ignore my griping. I'm just biding time until the top 20 rollout begins.

It's increasingly difficult to tell where retro-fetishism ends and new ideas begin

no it's not