ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

Yeah.

They were lumped together because they appeared on all the lists, often within the top 20. igi

That happens every year, of course. Whiney was particularly surly in 2009 I guess.

God, who listens to that Phoenix album really?

Yes, I realise that. However, it was billed as some sort of 'GAPDYX continuum' or 'GAPDYX phenomenon' or 'GAPDYX is what is wrong with music' -> impossible unless you're charting a musical similarity as well as critical acclaim.

xxp again.

I still listen to Lizstomania all the time, but yeah...I haven't played the whole thing in forever.

There definitely seems to be a massive fall from grace of these guys

yeah it's curious that it's happening to them all, just wondering why - change of direction? same direction but so substandard that even fans of the last one weren't satisfied? whims of fashion?

(in the case of the xx, whom i love, it's probably same-but-substandard)

Anyway, yeah freak-folk-ish indie of the last decade (AC, DP, GrizBear and that sort of stuff) has definitely met its match this year. I guess Tame Impala might count, but they're actually a lot more tenacious and rockin' than people give them credit for.

I saw Tame Impala's 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' vid yesterday - it's what music videos were made for. I'm surprised more pop artists don't just release whole video albums these days. It would make sense.

Pheonix and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are the only two I care about from that list, both have new albums in April. Wouldn't be surprised if XX place really soon.

http://i.imgur.com/QLMAPwT.png

59. SHACKLETON Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs (258 Points, 7 Votes, 3 First Place Votes)

I listen to the Phoenix album a fair amount but mainly I just want to watch that PS22 kids Chorus doing Lizstomania on Youtube.

yeah it's curious that it's happening to them all, just wondering why - change of direction? same direction but so substandard that even fans of the last one weren't satisfied? whims of fashion?

You'll almost certainly disagree with me here, but I think there's an inherent psychological effect of "new decade, need to leave behind the old stuff" in listeners, critics, music marketeers. If scenes are built around a tide of promotional push -> sustain -> release -> decline, it kind of makes some sense that the second year into a decade is when listeners start to look around for new sounds rather than latching on to existing factions. Just a theory though...

I don't even know what or who a Shackleton is, but three people voted it #1.

three first place votes, one of them was mine iirc

I'm surprised more pop artists don't just release whole video albums these days. It would make sense.

I think this may well come, though I imagine it'll be one-off promotional techniques rather than standard (adding video production costs to music production costs in order to put up your album on youtube i.e. give it away for free? Not a particularly sound business plan - unless of course you fan-source services for free... hey, AFP, here's an idea).

v pleased about shackleton placing - i only heard this in january (maybe because it was being nominated for the ILM poll) but it's superb. into the drawbar organ eps half a bit more than music for the quiet hour but it's all pretty great. fantastic use of organ. if i'd heard it sooner i might have voted for it.

"seven present tenses" is insane

Okay yeah, I like that.

Hm, the Shackleton stuff I'd heard before I'd not been keen on, but that 'Seven Present Tenses' *is* really good. Nice sounds going on.

This was a really fucking long album, which took me months to get my head round. Very snakey bass music that is just loaded with mysteries. it's in two halves, Drawbar Organ is the more immediate and my favourite part, Music for the Quiet Hour is rather more ambient. Some of it reminds me a bit of NWW and I kind of like the symmetry of Sam Shackleton being the Steve Stapleton of um, whatever this post-dubstep music is called.

Best song is Katyusha btw

2am here in NZ, let's see how much of this rollout I'll see.

Had a friend w/a bunch of '12ish Shackleton vinyl, IIRC it was way more Terry Riley-ish than I'd expected?

I'm another #1 Shackleton voter. Loved the immenseness of both of these. Music to get lost in.

Actually I did find myself getting quite bored halfway through that track... then another nice tune came in, so that was okay.

did shackleton's three eps place in whatever year it was released? that album still has some of my favourite work by him - "asha in the tabernacle", to be specific (that "whole world in his hands" interpolation!!!)

in the main i'm just really into the bleak, grey-day-hangover-friendly mood shackleton creates (similar to vatican shadow) even when there's little to sink my teeth into, but certainly on the drawbar organ side this feels like his meatiest work yet

("That track" being 'Seven Present Tenses'. Will give the other one a try too.)

xp to me

yeah it's curious that it's happening to them all, just wondering why - change of direction? same direction but so substandard that even fans of the last one weren't satisfied? whims of fashion?

Happens to virtually all bands following up a critically acclaimed album.

fell seriously hard for the '09 dirty projectors release but couldn't get into swing lo in the same way

shackleton is an thing i admire but it's so huge and overwhelming and a lot of it is wonky wank

Felt like a detective listen to this thing trying to figure it all out. Lots of little surreal touches (strange voices and chants, the little flute in Katyusha) but also great drums throughout and I love the way that the bass really sneaks up on you in some sections. For something so labyrinthine, some of it really bangs. This is kind of what I hoped Demdike Stare would be more like.

liked that xx album a lot, was surprised at how they fell out of favour given that it wasn't too drastic a change up from the debut. animal collective i could understand falling off the radar as that freak folk sound isn't as popular in indie anymore and also it didn't sound like the most recent, hugely acclaimed album.

phoenix's album still holds up. great band. also revisited it's blitz as prep for mosquito the other day, and there are more hits on that record than you remember

Shackleton is best thing I've heard so far on here from a couple of random tracks. woozy organs and industrial landscape shit and sirens.

Lots of little surreal touches (strange voices and chants, the little flute in Katyusha) but also great drums throughout

See, I really like the little touches, and the majority of 'Katyusha' sounds great, but I find the drums a little flimsy and annoying, and the fact that he goes into long stretches of just those tinny beats is off-putting (NB: I am listening on shit computer speakers). I think I'd like it if I was working to it more than trying to listen hard to it, but then I'd probably end up missing a lot of the good bits...

yeah it's curious that it's happening to them all, just wondering why - change of direction? same direction but so substandard that even fans of the last one weren't satisfied? whims of fashion?

Happens to virtually all bands following up a critically acclaimed album.

AC explicitly said they wanted to make something that was totally different to MPP and couldn't be received the same way. Seems like the only thing worth their while (if not the while of many MPP fans).

The beats don't sound at all tinny to me, lots of it is him playing hand drums and shit iirc. Those long weird stretches are part of the puzzle for me. They're kind of mesmerising, but also they build up this odd computer game sort of landscape, they're like going down a long strange corridor not knowing what's round the next corner. xp

Voice samples on some of the other tracks are sci-fi things and whatnot and it feels like he's very deliberately building some sort of weird post-apocalyptic world.

http://i.imgur.com/bahwHua.png

58. CHIEF KEEF Finally Rich (262 Points, 10 Votes) Spotify

I'm willing to believe that it's at least partly my listening equipment. Though with xyzzz mentioning an 'industrial landscape', I think that's part of my problem, I want it to sound dirtier and more industrial and deeper in general.

xp

Wow at 3x Shackleton number one votes. I love the early stuff, 3EPs and esp the Fabric mix, but didn't get into this. I think it's because I can't really stand Vengeance Tenfold's vocals - but maybe they weren't on the organ half of the record, and I should listen to that more?

Drawbar Organ is definitely the better half.

They're kind of mesmerising, but also they build up this odd computer game sort of landscape, they're like going down a long strange corridor not knowing what's round the next corner. xp

def get this feeling - it's super-detailed even by shackleton standards. i kind of feel that despite the weirdness and doominess it's also more playful and open than he normally is, too?

I think it's because I can't really stand Vengeance Tenfold's vocals - but maybe they weren't on the organ half of the record, and I should listen to that more?

they're not as far as i can tell

People who wanna know about 'Finally Rich' check the ilm thread.
You probably won't make it back to the countdown until sometime Thursday tho.

I like Shackleton a lot but for some reason I didn't get around to these, will have a listen when I get in from work.

I wonder if I could Chief Keef in a rap battle? ;-) ;-) ;-)

Haha my general reaction to this list so far has been "that sounds pretty good" to the stuff I haven't heard and "thank fuck that wasn't higher" to the stuff I have.

lol

I have gone from just really loving a couple of tracks on it to thinking it's at least two thirds a really good record fwiw

still haven't listened to finally rich

couldn't ever understand what was going on in the deej vs the world thread either

spent most of the year not really getting keef, caved late to "i don't like", partly because of the album, in which context it sounds bright and shining like the anthem it is. the album itself is sort of admirable for how keef sticks to his aesthetic, esp in light of the craven messes that so many major label rap albums are these days, but also a) nothing is anywhere near as good as "i don't like" b) but it all sounds the same in a v drab way c) it's still not an aesthetic i particularly care about if i'm not hearing it out & about - mostly it's TOO SLOW, i can't deal with supposed club bangers that are this fucking torpid and dreary

will def need to check out the shackleton album. sounds right up my strasse. I've always been aware of him, and have a bunch of things by him, but I always meant to get round to properly checking him out.

could someone summarise the chief keef thread for the hard of thinking?

Bonus Track on the Keef which isn't on the Spotify link that I dig a lot

Citgo

a) nothing is anywhere near as good as "i don't like" b) but it all sounds the same in a v drab way c) it's still not an aesthetic i particularly care about if i'm not hearing it out & about - mostly it's TOO SLOW, i can't deal with supposed club bangers that are this fucking torpid and dreary

Only gave the Chief Keef one listen but I totally agree with all of this.