ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

also lost a lot of respect for m83 after this interview http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/8680-m83/

When I go out to see a show now, I want to be blown away, even if I don't like the music. If you watch a band like Depeche Mode, their connection with the audience is just magical. You're not going to see that if you go see Emeralds; I wish Emeralds could be as big as them, but it's a different league. And I don't like people spitting on bigger bands just because they have success or because it's not trendy to listen to the Killers. They have 15,000 people at their shows every night, and they're living the dream.

http://i.imgur.com/30Lj4.jpg

16. Boy Better Know — Tropical 2 (548 points, 15 votes, 4 first place votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 879

Spotify

What are yalls favorite tracks?

Midnight City
Claudia Lewis
OK Pal
Reunion
New Map

xp: okay lol, that quote makes me like dude more because no one is more overrated than Emeralds

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???!".

- dog latin

water under the bridge and all, but i just can't get on board w/ this. accepting an unfamiliar genre "warts'n'all" isn't morally or intellectually superior to just glomming onto things because they happen to impinge on your existing interests in ways you enjoy. i like the frank ocean album as pop music, in the same way that i like ghost and lady gaga, without making any accompanying claims about "getting into R&B" or w/e. it sounds good when it goes in my ears. and yeah, there's no big stretch required, no shock of the new. i don't have to adjust my aesthetic tolerances to get it, but so what? not everything has to cause some kind of transformational rupture.

I totally need to listen to this

such an incredible listening experience

was either my #1 or #2 i dont' recall

don't

i quite enjoy emeralds but thats not exactly what i find objectionable with the quote, mostly that he seems to equate the size of the crowd with the success of the art xxp

xposts for days
maybe Peaking Lights aren't "great" but sometimes it's nice to find an album that really nails a sound you like (dubby, echo heavy, tape-compressed, stoned jams). I always wanted to like chillwave (?) stuff like Sun Araw more than I did and PL worked for me by being more groove-based and grounded.

yay tropical 2, my third vote to show up

i don't wanna post any youtubes because the best track is royal-t's "cool down" but its huge glorious impact is how it just drops into the middle of the mix BLAM

i wish i'd gotten more time in the summer with this but the UK's indian summer helped a lot

One warning on Tropical 2: I'd say that the first track is basically just a warm-up. It doesn't get that interesting until the second track, at which point it gets very very interesting. And if the second track does nothing for you, there might not be much point going on.

and people were mocking the wild flag album cover

i quite enjoy emeralds but thats not exactly what i find objectionable with the quote, mostly that he seems to equate the size of the crowd with the success of the art

Those seem to me to be two very distinct thoughts:

thought A: I like bands that connect with their audience (DM vs Emeralds)
thought B: It's too bad that some people equate being popular with being bad (Killers)

I'm just imagining if I had tried listening to the whole album starting with the first track. If I were just skimming it, I might easily have said that this was not for me. Fortunately, I heard a few individual cuts which whet my appetite.

Voted for Nicolas Jaar and Peaking Lights...

Comparing Peaking Lights to Forest Swords feels otm for me...PL is very much of a tropical-swamp-dub genre with Sun Araw and half the NNF roster, I just thought they did it much better than anyone else this year. For me it's a very warm album.

The Jaar album initially felt like a letdown after singles like Wouh, but I surprised myself by coming back to it over and over again and discovering new layers each time.

M83 initially felt like a letdown and it still does. Can't hack it at all, and I adore Saturdays=Youth.

Tropical 2 is great, though I didn't vote for it.

19. Peaking Lights — 936 (514 points, 17 votes)

loved previous peaking lights releases, and liked this one well enough (not well enough to vote for), but for me, something crucial got lost in the transition from scrapy/scratchy, vaguely punkish psych-noise to planed-out too pure spa music. i go back to imaginary falcons and space primitive all the time, but the shine wore off 936 real fast.

yeah I just realized that Peaking Lights had other albums tbh; I shd check those out

I don't equate being popular with being bad, I do associate being the Killers with being bad.

"Somebody Told Me" is a jam, it's kind of a shame about the rest of their songs tho

Contenderizer - yes, agree there are no rules as to how one should approach new music. What I was writing was more an observation comparing territorial attitudes and crossovers, although I try not to give into the kind of purism denoted in the post, it's undeniable that this goes on. It boils down to quality I guess, and I guess it's like a connoisseur of wine or cheese despairing when people latch onto poor quality but more accessible brands. People will always like Kraft dairy slices even if they're aware that much better cheeses exist. Anyway, I don't really wanna let this debate run on, so...

xxp my thoughts exactly

http://i.imgur.com/9AMS5.jpg

15. Rustie — Glass Swords (557 points, 18 votes)

P4K: DNP
P&J: 113

Spotify

From what you are all describing, Peaking Lights sounds like the best thing ever. I'll give it another go.

xps - Yeah I really need to check out the previous Peaking Lights releases. Also their remix of "I Surrender" was my favourite thing to come of of the Ford and Lopatin project this year.

Peaking Lights and Rustie seems to have taken the place of OPN/Emeralds. Hmmm. Hecker still has a shot at #1

also: no Uncle Acid :(

glass swords as a whole still hasn't 'hit me' as it were, but there are some real jams on that esp. 'after light'

another of my votes! rustie album was so banging. such a good wake-up call in the morning - i was covering the party conferences when it came out and it made me rave in some very inappropriate places - and of course ctually raving to it in a club was the BEST

surph - AND U KNOW I WANNA RIIIDE OUUUUUUT
hover traps

that rustie album is too much

I think I might like this bon iver album if I actually listened to it. Maybe I will do so now?

― I chipped a tooth on the buttbone (askance johnson), Thursday, February 2, 2012 8:54 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tried this with bon iver and fleet foxes when they came out, as a sort of self-challenging experiment (like listening to bal-sagoth in 1993). found that they were both pleasant enough while they lasted, bon iver moreso, but that they inspired no strong feelings of any sort and i couldn't remember anything about them once they were over. that was enough for me.

Oh boy, finally something I voted for.

Peaking Lights and Rustie seems to have taken the place of OPN/Emeralds

not sure what you mean

i am required to like the killers because their drummer is my 1000% terrifying level doppelganger. like i want them to become beatles famous so i can make money standing around and doing very little.

Isn't that what you do at the store now?

I reckon that Tim Hecker will appear in round about the same place as Emeralds and OPN did last year or maybe just a bit higher.

― Derartu Cthulhu (NickB), Tuesday, January 31, 2012 11:29 AM (2 days ago)

OPN/Emeralds placed in the 15-20 range last year iirc...

(xp)

xp
you should start giving controversial interviews as that guy to make it happen

oh right

Glass Swords sounded so triumphant without being smug at all, very Daft Punk in that way I thought.

he seems to be getting bloated these days on his rock and roll lifestyle so i guess i need to start retaining more water in my face

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

14. Kurt Vile — Smoke Ring For My Halo (572 points, 16 votes, one first place vote)

P4K: 16
P&J: 20

Spotify

that's the last one for like 20 mins or so, i'm gonna go run out and pick up some food

my #2 soooooo goooooood. made me pick up the acoustic guitar again <3

yeah i like this one a lot

Don't know what Tropical 2 is.. The Rustie album's great fun but I found it didn't last too long in terms of replay value. Think this'll be one to keep handy for DJ sets more than home listening.

runner ups ended up being my favorite song on this one. love the noise just slightly bubbling up from the background shhhhyyeeaaahhh

dl, there's a very good chance you would love Tropical 2

The Ineffable Beauty of Tropical 2 is the ILx thread, DL. V.v.happy to see this place!

nice placing for smoke ring

Apart from Society Is My Friend, I found Kurt Vile really rather bland and neutral. Maybe it's better heard in the context of his other work?

cool to see smoke ring beat bon iver

"runner ups" on that is so dope

http://i.imgur.com/zD6M1.jpg

13. Julianna Barwick — The Magic Place (583 points, 19 votes, two first place votes)

P4K: 24
P&J: 86

Spotify