ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

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.

http://i.imgur.com/AUkWrP7.png

57. SILENT SERVANT Negative Fascination (277 Points, 11 Votes) Spotify

Much of the album isn't actually that slow but it's all got this very square feel to it that makes it feel slower than it is and the vocals reinforce that rather than offset it. Like it is completely uninterested in syncopation or groove or bounce in favour of a kind of perma-screwfacing steamroller intensity.

i liked the silent servant album, just as i've liked most sandwell district stuff i've heard, but for some reason i didn't go back to it enough to really love it last year - i think between vatican shadow, andy stott and shackleton, the bit of my brain that needs doomy austere grey techno was pretty much sated.

pretty funny that shackleton and silent servant are the most fun albums today so far!

One of his songs is called UTOPIAN DISASTER!

Oh shit, I voted pretty high for Silent Servant too, immense album.

Temptation and Desire and Strange Attractor are both top quality head-wrecking belters straight off the factory floor.

first alb (perhaps Gunplay too) that I feel like checking..xp

I can envision a mood where I'd be really into this Silent Servant album, but that mood is not happening right now.

It's not really first thing in the morning music, it's true

Okay, "Temptation & Desire" is working for me right now. Rhythms and looming synth are great.

haha, last thing before sleep music for me right now and it's more than doing the trick.

Like lex, I didn't get into the Silent Servant album as much as I might have expected to - it doesn't seem anywhere as good as earlier Sandwell District stuff. Hopefully the Rrose album will do more for me. (What happened to that? I think it was supposed to come out last year, but afaik it didn't.)

On closer examination, maybe this Rrose album was just something I imagined...

http://i.imgur.com/a9IrErz.png

56. RICARDO VILLALOBOS Dependent and Happy (278 Points, 8 Votes)

I like RV, but I didn't know this had even been released until voting time and it's too huge for me to have gotten through. Which tracks are best?

It's a massive slog with a few nice "bits" AFAIC

I like "I'm Counting". For me the way into this album was the CD version, which is mixed, but I like the individual tracks now, too. I thought this and the singles he released this year were a big return to form for RV, this was my #4.

Admittedly I still stan for everything he did up to and including the Fabric mix.

austere techno doing pretty well huh. time of the year?

i didn't get into this album at all, not even enough to work out whether it was because i couldn't be bothered to give it enough chances or because it was just boring

Never heard this - mixed reviews put me off buying it.

B&W jpgs definitely working for me today btw