ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

what is this

Still need to hear that Peaking Lights, I think it sounds right up my alley.

I was actually surprised at how well Peaking Lights did in other polls. Don't really see what the fuss is about

yay! my #5! Was hoping for top 10, but still glad to see it place

Wish I could have liked that album, lord knows I tried, but the tunes themselves were really annoying. Sorry guys :(

Love that Peaking Lights record.

also, fyi, bon iver is very annoying.

what is a peaking lights?

it sounds kind of like stereolab made it someone's basement? idk.

they put the dub into double act

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/sep/20/new-band-peaking-lights

they were written up on altered zones--does that help?

trippy dub headmusic, it's awesome!

http://youtu.be/MH-9_ddFKk8

i'm listening to "amazing & wonderful" by peaking lights and while i like the surf guitary thing that underpins it, i think i might have more time for it if it hadn't been recorded from inside a drainpipe

i see a damu remix of it on their soundcloud though! damu is excellent and i'm sad that his album didn't place. not that it made my ballot. "ridin" deserved to be on the trax poll though

count me in the IDGI or "what's the fuss" crowd when it comes to Peaking Lights. Prob need to give them another go, but it reminded me of generic chillwave stuff IIRC?

so help me god i'm never going to listen to another band described as lo-fi again

ha it is very drainpipe-y!

Lex - that Damu album is excellent apart from the bits where the guy starts rapping really lamely. Other than that it's a decent contender to Glass Swords.

tbf, they're far better than 90% of what was ever written about on Altered Zones.

damning with faint praise

i really think there's a young marble giants influence
even if the two genres are radically different

yikes

(I voted for this, though...so I'm not damning anything!)

this woman is a horrible singer btw

this damu remix is great actually http://soundcloud.com/peakinglights/amazing-wonderful-damu-remix

damu's own best moment that i perhaps should have repped for harder http://soundcloud.com/freekschroder/damu-ridin

obviously the reverb and haze is what lends the album its awesome psychedelic pop-art mystique.

generic chillwave stuff

smooth rong imo

more than anything I get a 'early 90s dubby Too Pure Records band' vibe from it - Laika, Moonshake and what have you

http://i.imgur.com/M3l4V.jpg

18. Nicolas Jaar — Space is Only Noise (517 points, 19 votes, one first place vote)

P4K: 20
P&J: 66

Spotify

so help me god i'm never going to listen to another band described as lo-fi again

Seconded!

they don't sound like em exactly but if they'd been around 18, 20 years ago they'd get talked about in the same breath xp to self

all my top picks are showing up in this recent clump now

Ah cool, glad this made it in. Although would've been weird if it hadn't.

early 90s dubby Too Pure Records band' vibe from it - Laika, Moonshake and what have you

^ yeah, this

totally

I only voted Space Is Only Noise at number 16, even though Jaar seemed like he was going to take over the world at the beginning of the year. This is an interesting record in that it's a house album that's about as far removed from house as it gets - it's more of a jazz record really...

Elements of kosmische and dub, Peaking Lights is a very nice album. I just wish the recording quality was as good as most of those 70s German space rock albums. I guess they had access to some sweet studios back then.

Bon Iver is pleasant, though I'm mystified by claims of greatness.

Struggled to get a hold on that Jaar LP to be honest. I listened to it the other day and some of it sounded great though. Feels like too much hard work to me though.

"too much hard work" is a good description of both of the last two albums.

i love peaking lights in the same way i love forest swords.

(also i only realized they lived two blocks away from me when they moved away)

i think nicolas jaar is a genius and i am in awe of the self-contained worlds he creates and i love a few tracks on his album but tbh if i was doing a nico jaar POX i would only include maybe one track off it - i think he's done way better stuff that's not on it

indeed here it is

jaar pox

wouh
a time for us
love you gotta lose again
marks
the bees - winter rose (nicolas jaar remix)
ellen allien - flashy flashy (nicolas jaar remix)
russian dolls
el bandido
space is only noise if you can see
no regular play - owe me (nicolas jaar remix)

― irina-camelia begu (lex pretend), Wednesday, January 11, 2012 11:48 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://i.imgur.com/ISJru.jpg

17. M83 — Hurry Up We’re Dreaming (519 points, 21 votes, one first place vote)

P4K: 3
P&J: 19

Spotify

(i did not vote for it - i wouldn't say it was a disappointment as such, it does what it does very well, but i don't think its slightness is the best representation of his talents - far too many stretches where not enough happens on the album)

oh it's fucking better than m83 though

I liked this, but it did not need to be a double album.

at least m83 didn't place top ten like a few were predicting. i've tried and have little time for this stuff. it's like looking at one of those horrible posterised prints you see in printshops and Arena-type shops.

Voted for Jaar and Bon Iver. I've come to relish how unfashionable liking Bon Iver is on ILX.

To paraphrase Fastnbulbous, Peaking Lights is pleasant, though I'm mystified by claims of greatness.

M83 is as absurdly overweight as any double album in recent years.

i couldn't really get a hold on that jaar

amazed peaking lights placed this high - i liked the album (didn't vote for it here) but wasn't aware it got that much critical attention?

Loved 'Midnight City', but a little goes a long way with this mob.

i just dont get nicholas jaar

Thank's for the Jaar primer lex. I've been meaning to dig deeper. I've heard some pretty knowledgeable people utter big statements about the kid.

Could never get into matey3, down with this sort of thing.

i had to listen to this m83 album a good 8-10 times before realizing i didn't like. i guess that means something