ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

sorry, xposts

you naughty voters

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).

― toby, woensdag 30 januari 2013 22:38 (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He's good, but I doubt he'll ever make anything as good as "You Spin Me Round" or "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi".

Burial beating Actress is crazy.

The other two Actress albums are good, but this is much better, to me. Feel like The previous one actually got a lot more attention?

I didn't realize the songs on the flip were as long as they apparently are. Typically, though, if the a-side of a 12" has just one track, it's a single.

burial is in general very one-dimensional and then a three song ep in the album poll, boo. nothing against the organisers of the poll, you are doing a phantastic job.

I thought this was great. I liked that this was a significant evolution in his style from Untrue

length/number of songs is a shit determinant. If the artist calls it an EP, or a single, or an album, than go with it. I mean, this past year's OFF! album is 17 songs but only 15 minutes.

y'all are really into your grayscale dance music this year

i can understand burial being in an album list more than "danger"

that said both are EPs and deserve their own poll

are the tracks and albums polls always this samey? ie in terms of the same artists showing up on both?

also some of the best dance music of the year is on that release

prefer it greatly to the incredibly bland stuff presumably still to place (talabot, blondes, etc)

listened to the actress record loads trying to crack it, but somehow none of it really stuck with me at all. all a bit too bitty as an album, and even the pretty tracks like jardin just felt like sketches. that said, i will give it one more go...

― Jaap and roids (NickB), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That music box piano running through holds any bitty elements nicely -- not producing as insistent a rhythm as Aphex's Nannou, but ultimately succeding I think.

I have no problem with EPs being included. I think it has placed way too high here (even though I voted for Ashtray Wasp in tracks), but I think that about lots of other albums too.

prefer it greatly to the incredibly bland stuff presumably still to place (talabot, blondes, etc)

:\

I'm not really into their type of shit, but I'd still take it over a lot of the dance music that's placed so far. I've given up hope for my own vote Young Smoke to place, but I'm still holding a candle out for Mala.

i mean talabot is nice enough but it's basically like listening to dance music's version of coldplay

are the tracks and albums polls always this samey?

Seems that way this year more than usual.

also the panda bear vocals on that album are gross

coldplay comparisons to inflammatory to be meaningful

if you want to be dismissive some kind of jobbing indie rock would band would be a better analogy

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

22. JULIA HOLTER Ekstasis (503 Points, 18 Votes, 1 First Place Vote) Spotify

someone else add #21 to the playlist when it comes up, I have to bounce

TOO LOW

Honestly thought this one might do really really well this year after a solid showing in the 2011 poll.

i thought ekstasis was good (and voted for it) but it seemed kind of weird that this was her breakthrough when 2011's Tragedy was more accessible/song-based

Ooh, another one of mine. Where did Tragedy place in last year's poll?

xp re: talabot: i suppose so, my point is to me it seems very safe and MOR

coldplay comparisons to inflammatory to be meaningful

if you want to be dismissive some kind of jobbing indie rock would band would be a better analogy

― Tim F, Wednesday, January 30, 2013 2:12 PM Bookmark

Eh, that's probably more inflammatory at this point. Does anyone even still froth at the mouth about Coldplay in 2013? I mean ffs, one of the dance albums that's placed has a Coldplay cover and no one's crying foul.

That...is an album I listened to once and didn't really know what to make of.

going to see julia on sunday, cooled on ekstasis a bit having fallen in love with it early last year. still think i found room for it in my ballot.

i mean talabot is nice enough but it's basically like listening to dance music's version of coldplay

this sounds p good

holter is kinda enh, a bunch of unfulfilling answers to uninteresting questions. cool t-shirts tho

I keep confusing her with Holly Herndon, who I like both more and less.

Tragedy was more accessible/song-based

^ i thought the opposite of this tbh. ths wasn't quite the same sonic adventure as the debut, but it had lots of really catchy tunes on it instead

Tragedy was #35 last year.

Exstatis definitely more song-based. Also not as good

Yeah, I thought Tragedy was magnificent, this one not quite up there, but still lovely.

huh, maybe i'm having a massive memory fuckup (not for the first time). i remembered tragedy as being about a dozen songs long, but apparently it only has 6 songs.

holter at lest sounds interesting enough to continue listening after two songs. plus her music opens slowly.

Tried the Herndon album, couldn't get past the elephant sneezing.

I keep confusing her with Holly Herndon, who I like both more and less.

yeah i agree w/this - 'movement' the song is probably better than anything holters done but theres lots of bad music on the album as a whole.

the actual dance tracks on the Herndon album are good, the elephant sneezing stuff can take a hike

Going backwards for a minute: The Coldplay analogy makes some sense to me, they have a very distinct sound (unlike generic indie band #214) but have an unfortunate taste for the obvious and formulaic. I could understand Talabot being accused of the same things, even if I might disagree.

or what Lamp said xp

I felt Tragedy was less song-based and a lot more fragmented and scattershot, but somehow a lot more immediate than Ekstasis, which is very cohesive but a seems slightly too uniform in one sitting.

Going backwards for a minute: The Coldplay analogy makes some sense to me, they have a very distinct sound (unlike generic indie band #214) but have an unfortunate taste for the obvious and formulaic. I could understand Talabot being accused of the same things, even if I might disagree.
― questino (seandalai), Thursday, January 31, 2013 9:24 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha yay someone gets it

Eh, that's probably more inflammatory at this point. Does anyone even still froth at the mouth about Coldplay in 2013? I mean ffs, one of the dance albums that's placed has a Coldplay cover and no one's crying foul.

Yeah, I meant more that saying something is the "Coldplay of X" is a much larger statement than is warranted even if you're unimpressed by Talabot. The reasons people like or dislike Coldplay go well beyond "they're MOR and tuneful and anthemic".

Ah yeah, another record from 2012 I like!

Eh that's about the totality of my opinion towards Coldplay xp

Tragedy used a lot more field recordings/concrete sounds placed in a 'storytelling' fashion. This album is definitely a turn toward the accessible.

yay this has a track called Marienbad, shame its not doing enough on the pretentious front.

Then again this is something its detractors would say about the film. Saddened the tribute didn't include enough organ workouts.

saw holter do a drone set w/ some dude about a wk ago in a bar where no one wanted to see a drone set and she cleared the room, it was better than standup comedy