ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

Yay, when Vatican Shadow was in the first batch I thought Silent Servant might not have placed, but it did, and it is awesome. (Confession: I didn't vote because I was so obsessed with Silent Servant at voting time that I couldn't think of anything else to vote for)

i heard of the cover of 'baby' and liked it, then i heard the original and no longer had much use for the cover. also, the rest of the donnie and joe emerson album is fantastic, unlike the ariel pink.

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Tuesday, January 29, 2013 3:38 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

disagree with this entirely haha. imo the cover destroys the original, and everything else on dreamin wild was almost unlistenable.

― flopson, Tuesday, January 29, 2013 4:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i will diplomatically half-agree with both of you. the original is definitely the better, but the rest of the album is indeed terrible

the original is used to great effect in the opening minutes of "the comedy" starring tim heidecker

I thought the Emerson Bros album was all-round great. Didn't hate the Ariel Pink album but I still feel I've never really "gotten" him. Zappa comparisons do feel otm.

I like the Emerson Bros record too. I loved this video of the brothers talking about how insanely supportive their father was: http://vimeo.com/39424998

would prob have been in my top 3 if we did re-issues

My two favorite discoveries today are the Cooly G (that name totally threw me off) album and that Emerson Bros album.

cover looks GREAT in full-color too btw ;-)

http://i.imgur.com/epWIs61.jpg

disappointed to see they're not called ralph and waldo tbh

i admit that when i listen to the rest of the album past "baby", my thoughts often drift to rep. jo ann emerson, (R-MO), and that puts me in a bad mood

Emersons really are great.

Just got back in to check over the last ten - only one more of mine placing, which was the Beak>> of course.

I didn't vote for The Money Store but my god are the highs high. Hacker was my #2 track and I'd like to reiterate how astounded I am that it only got one other vote

Plenty to discover here, perhaps. Hoping the possibly-intriguing stuff doesn't turn out all too minimal-techno for my tastes, not that I haven't strayed that way before...

Working through these after coming back from concert:

re: Frankie Rose, its like the best Joy Division knock off I've heard in an age. Look at that art work sheesh!

Voted for:

I voted for the Villalobos album but I can't listen to the whole thing in one go. I think I like "I'm Counting", "Das Leben Ist So Anders Ohne Dich" and "Kehaus" the most. I think it's a return to form. Glad that he is still out there doing his weird thing. There's really no one like him. Comparison to Autechre is apt in terms of the strangely balanced sound. It's so low frequency heavy. And the way it's (not) reverberated - it feels very close to you. Dense but clear. Great rhythms as well.

"Negative Fascination" made it purely on the strength of the immense "Strange Attractor". Both that track and Andy Stott use female vocals when techno has long stayed away from any use of the human voice at all. The last track on this is really good as well. An RRose album would be really welcome.

The Daphni album - I don't know if it works as an album. But when the EP's it draws on came out I really dug them. What's with him and Four Tet? One guy makes a re-edit, the other makes a re-edit. One releases an album composed of EP's released previously, so does the other. Always remixing each other.

Didn't vote for:

Ariel Pink. I didn't vote for "Mature Themes" but after this thread I went back and realised how many great songs are on it. I just couldn't listen to it all the way through in the same way I could "Before Today".

Niki & The Dove - enjoyed "Drummer" very much but couldn't get into the rest.

Great discoveries:

Metz

Vatican Shadow - I've stayed away from him just because I distrust acts that put out an album every couple months

Lone - never got around to listening even though I love the idea of it. Perfect that it came out on R&S. Could have come out there 20 years ago. So much better than the Zomby album - way more going on.

i was going back to the frankie rose album tonite; if i had relistened to that sooner it might've made my ballot

I'm going to give "Icon Give Thank" another try. It's probably not meant to yield immediately. On my one and only listen it sounded like a complete mess. Agreed with posters above in that the music doesn't work with the vocals at all.

i placed three in the first 17 and six in the next 20 for nine out of 25 (so far). doing much better than i thought i would.

are there any other releases in the FRKWYS series that are eligible/stand a chance at placing?

i dont think they released anything under the FRKWYS name this year

i figure the blondes record has a chance of placing tho

Will be very surprised if Blondes doesn't make it.

really? i wouldnt be - like all the sweet stuff on L.I.E.S. wasnt even nominated iirc, that tennis 12", if the ital record was going to show up i figure it wouldve by now, right? idk i was p disappointed with the tracks list, or not even really disappointed so much as just perplexed cuz i liked a bunch of things, but it felt p hostile to the type of dance music im associating w/blondes

IDK, the Blondes stuff seems to have an existence for people closer to John Talabot than 100% Silk stuff, which seems to have a p.big following here.

Like, I could see the Blondes LP appealing to people who'd vote for the new Orbital/Underworld/etc, deep headphones albumdance or w/e.

Even w/more uh Altered Zones-y oriented friends, I think the Legowelt was the only L.I.E.S. stuff I heard played out.

was the ital record even nominated? i remember being surprised at not seeing it towards the end of nominations

Blondes felt like it had much more crossover with general bobbins listeners than any of that other stuff though, which also makes sense based on what it actually sounds like. Like, I would class Blondes with Talabot before I would with Ital.

multiple xposts!

no, i looked for it when i was making my ballot. neither was the fort romeau or any of the rush hour recordings stuff or anything on L.I.E.S.? i think anyway, i could v well have missed some stuff

also i heard the bookworms 'african rhythms' played out two different nights in paris and was certain it was going to be a big thing - never heard it played again :/

the fort romeau album was nominated, i voted for it. also voted for a delroy edwards track on L.I.E.S.

Icon Give Thank was FRKWYS 09 iirc. Blondes will make it I reckon but Julia Holter is a dead cert as far as other RVNG stuff goes.

Def. think coalitions are the key to success, whether in tracks or albums polls.

A lot of that stuff even if mindblowing can only really possibly attract votes from a remnant of a remnant of the voting pool

love Samma off the ricardo LP but havent actually got round to hearing any of the LP yet, thats just from hearing it played out

only actually heard one full album from 2012 (STL - Secret Weapons)

blondes will 100% place, i got really into it as a sort of isolated dance album not connected to any particular scene (not into 100% silk, very into talabot but wouldn't really associate blondes with him, sonically at least)

only one of my votes has come up so far :///// though i assume 13 are yet to come

sad for the ones i thought had a slight hope but prob don't any more: voices from the lake, carly rae jepsen, mirel wagner, the cataracs, royal-t

even sadder for the ones that never had a hope because people suck: shanell, jojo, khia

the fort romeau album was nominated, i voted for it. also voted for a delroy edwards track on L.I.E.S.

oh i probably wouldve voted for it if i had seen it - i thought there was something from lies but nothing i was looking for in particular... i didnt even love the fort romeau record but i had like 11 spots left on my ballot so w/e

Icon Give Thank was FRKWYS 09 iirc

i was ignoring that this existed...

Convinced Carly will show up.

I think Carly will make it.

pretty sure only two of my album votes are gonna place (miguel and talabot)

eventually i'll play that voices from lake, so much good stuff i bought recent tho

how is the carly album compared to single?

Carly Simon put an album out in 2012?!

at least half the carly album is basically on a par with "call me maybe" and there are maybe only a couple of duds (as with the taylor album, the duets). i don't think anyone was expecting that.

i was totally deluded by that dance eoy thread into thinking a bunch of that stuff had a shot on the real thing, not enough consensus i guess

mirel wagner

Was so bummed "No Death" missed the tracks poll. I did not vote for the whole album, though.

"no death" is so good that if i'd known people were voting for the track instead of the album, i'd have done the same tactically

i kinda like not really knowing what i voted for, i have no idea of whats going to place and no real stake in anything in particular showing up

i mean itd be cool if the motion sickness of time travel record placed, feel like that was b cool record that deserved a decent audience

i was totally deluded by that dance eoy thread into thinking a bunch of that stuff had a shot on the real thing, not enough consensus i guess

i dont know how many of those people voted in the eoy poll tho but it certainly made me unrealistic about what dance music 'most' of ilx liked last year

how is the carly album compared to single?

― coal, Wednesday, 30 January 2013 7:20 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah I echo Lex on this. Esp. check "Tiny Little Bows", "This Kiss", "Curiosity", "Hurt So Good", "Tonight I'm Getting Over You".

wasnt really into the dance eoy:/

It strikes me as weird that Matt DC and Lex are looking to Chief Keef for club tracks, I've never really thought of that as what he does, although you could play a lot of his tracks in a club

It was Lex who made the club track point. I'm not looking to Keef for anything really. As I said on the tracks thread I've happily come to terms with the fact that this type of rap production just isn't for me unless there's a really compelling MC over the top like Meek. But that lack of bounce or rhythmic interest in the beats (outside hi-hat patterns) is one reason why I find that style boring.

sad for the ones i thought had a slight hope but prob don't any more: voices from the lake, carly rae jepsen, mirel wagner, the cataracs, royal-t

Will be pretty shocked if voices from the lake doesn't place.

Gave Frankie Rose another go but didn't really like it that much at all. A couple of the more forceful numbers are okay albeit a bit forgettable, and I do have a soft spot for that Gnomey song too, but some of the rest of it is a bit too much like some sort of nothingy Shop Assistants-scented bubblebath.

The list so far has mostly been niche/lesser known records with a passionate following and slightly disappointing records from established acts, so I wouldn't rule anyone out at this stage.

The Villalobos placing where it did with three(!) first place votes leaves me s bit despondent for the chances of other records with minor cults. Just hoping the Cataracs manage to sneak in, hasn't been a lot of pop so far.

xpost True, it feels like this list is only just warming up. Great news since all year I was walking around thinking "this has been a pretty lackadaisical year compared to 2011", but now I'm wondering how all these fantastic albums are going to fit into the next run.