ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

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26. HOT CHIP In Our Heads (457 Points, 14 Votes) Spotify

I'd been thinking Leonard Cohen would place but we're probably a bit too high for that now.

Is it just me or is this a very electrodribble kind of day?

FWIW I think this is the best Hot Chip album.

i never understood the love for saint etienne. their music is so samey and vacuous. their best song isn't even theirs. only love can break your heart.

matt dc otm

I sort of find myself agreeing with alex in mainhattan here. Ouch.

I can think of 5 albums that are surely top 5, Talabot being one of them. (Presumably it will be the highest placed bobbins as a consensus pick? Can't see Blondes/Lindstrom/Actress beating it, and starting to wonder if Actress might not even place.)

the hot chip seems to be half-interesting.

I will be mad enough when Kendrick doesn't win but if he shockingly places out of the top 3 I will be livid

prepare for lividity and disco

I'd been thinking Leonard Cohen would place but we're probably a bit too high for that now.

SPOILER It doesn't. I am listening to it right now for the first time and, as with his other recent albums, there are some fine songs but the recording is terrible and modern and generally displeasing to my ears.

i never understood the love for saint etienne. their music is so samey and vacuous. their best song isn't even theirs.

^ Pretty much a dead-on description of the Chromatics album and I ended up loving that

The top three are surely going to be some configuration of Frank-Kendrick-Miguel.

there are some fine songs but the recording is terrible and modern and generally displeasing to my ears

Wait was this a deliberate Alex in Mainhattan parody?

Nah, it's troof.

So happy to see Kin place, I had given up on seeing it in the list. Well done everyone! The album is perfection, so not be put off my the name.

Hot Chip and Saint Etienne were also in my top five, this is my favourite run so far.

That was meant to say do not be put off by the name...I just woke up!

i want to run a betting pool on next year's poll

i liked the leonard cohen, no production in the world can destroy a leonard cohen album. except phil spector, maybe.

I was assuming that Dawn Richard and Taylor Swift were top 5, too, but presumably I'm overestimating the universality of their appeal.

bish bosch ftw

django django #1

I was thinking Armor On could end up #1

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25. BEACH HOUSE Bloom (470 Points, 20 Votes, 1 First Place Vote) Spotify

next year i will commit ballot fraud

I expect Dawn to be top 10

I expect Taylor to beat out Kendrick just because I would find that rage-inducing, ergo that's the most likely thing that will happen in this poll

too low! (I gave it the first place vote)

"other people" is my favorite song on that beach house record because of the part right after the chorus where it goes DUN...DUN DUN...DUN DUN...DUN

but it's not very loud its subtle

I know lots of folks on here have criticized the Beach House album for being yet another dream pop album in a year overstuffed with them, but I think their perfectionism really wins out here. Each vocal line is executed exactly the way it should be, each riff sounds great, the whole thing comes together extremely well for me.

This was right up there with Teen Dream in quality imo

I also came back to this album much more than any other this year.

beach house was good - i thought best coast was better

Big jump in votes, commensurate drop in enthusiasm. About right - if you've heard "Zebra" off Teen Dream, this album won't offer many surprises. But there's a place for comfort music, even on the tail end of my ballot.

It's definitely the same basic formula as Teen Dream, but I think they nailed it on this one where they just came close before.

i like them about the same. this one's a bit woozier

i don't see the point of beach house. cocteau twins did this so much better. more otherworldly tunes, a more hypnotic groove, a much more terrific voice.

You've put me in the odd position of defending Beach House, but I don't think they're even trying to approximate what Cocteau Twins were doing.

I was thinking Armor On could end up #1

― Dan S

Think this will be top three but Miguel has this.

i didnt discover sharon van etten until after i voted, but i really love Tramp-- anyone think it still has a chance?

General ilm consensus iirc is that her older albums are better.

I don't really get the Cocteau Twins/Beach House comparison, not that their music is completely different, but Cocteau Twins are luxurious and hedonistic, Beach House are wistful and melancholic.

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24. ACTRESS R.I.P (473 Points, 17 Votes, 1 First Place Vote) Spotify

xp:
Cocteaus were more interested in drama. This is more a hypothetical Stevie Nicks working with Eno album.

Stevie Nicks working with Eno

If that were ever to happen, I think it would be a helluva lot more interesting than Beach House.

Actress was my #1. Love this album so much; totally grouped with SAW 85-92 for me (although it will be interesting to see if it stands up as well as that has).

Pat Benatar working with Daniel Lanois

huge amount of xposts to lex - I voted for both the Cataracs and Dev; thought there was more of an ILM buzz around the Cataracs but looking at it now it was swallowed up within the Dev thread and I think I had more IRL discussions about them after foisting that EP on people. Bah. OTOH ILx seems pretty uh suspicious of anything too trashily L.A.

Poll has gotten a bit mimsy after the Cherry Thing/VFTL, I enjoy one or two tracks by nearly all these artists but couldn't face a whole album of any of them.

too lowish