ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

Actually I'm maybe being presumptuous in assuming it wasn't her.

"F.L.A are my initials, appeal to me." Has stayed with me for some reason.

i don't think it's fair to assume she tried to make a pop album - it was sold as the "soundtrack" to her autobiography, i don't think she was aiming to have any hits off it or whatever.

it sounds like she was pretty much using music as catharsis, with the sonic palette of pop but not the aim to be pop

the most interesting thing about FA album is just how inconceivable it is. I voted for it, but there are moments in there where it teeters so much between ineptitude that it comes out the other side as something approaching genius. and yes, once you start looking at the lyrics it starts to make some weird kind of sense. the only thing i can equate something like this with is something like the Shaggs.

ugh, sorry that was horribly written. just free-thinking here

i know nothing about Farrah Abraham, but the album title and cover lead me to believe that she's taking a step outside the usual parameters of how an album is made. that's pretty intriguing in itself.

I find the entire discourse around this record so offputting I've never actually listened to it. The very idea of it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable.

So the line on Farah Abraham seems to be that she tried to make a pop album, but it came out sounding more like some kind of unhinged Crystal Castles instead. Are we sure she wasn't trying to sound like Crystal Castles?

Not 100% sure, but this type of mangled output from a semi-straightforward endeavor is a direct metaphor of her life story as it has played out on Teen Mom, so it would not surprise me if it was an intentional artistic choice if it wasn't for the fact that her public persona plays out as someone incapable of intentionally making that type of artistic choice. Which makes the whole project more fascinating to me, because either story line is awesome and the end result is still endearing.

This reminds me of Neil Young's Trans, of all things.

finally getting up from rock bottom - I CAME DRESSED UP ON THE WAY DOWN / ENJOY THE MOMENTS WHILE I'M IN THEM
the sunshine state - FLA ARE MY INITIALS: APPEAL TO ME #makesmengoloco

what i meant by "inconceivable" upthread is that there are ideas in there that few in their right mind would even begin to consider - the (lack of) cadence and metre; the autotuned-beyond-recognition vocal snippets; the trance-rave backing music. it's like, how did this even get made? but it did and i'm glad of it.

This reminds me of Neil Young's Trans, of all things.

Well that's me sold

saying this album has a lack of cadence and meter is fundamentally wrong

Trance-rave backing music also not exactly a left-field musical concept in 2013.

and the videos! there's one that's just sea life filmed on a shakey digital camera, but it makes some kind of crazy sense. it's like "I want some trippy visuals for my video, let's go down to seaworld and take videos with my iphone". that's cool, it's DIY.

the ineptitude of the album is almost like a trojan horse - once you find yourself returning to it in gawping fascination (reality tv principle #1!) you end up realising how accurate and effective it is as a portrait of a fairly traumatic life: teenage pregnancy (and consequent body horror/post-natal depression), domestic abuse, the death of the baby's father...

the more reflective (and genuinely quite gorgeous) songs on the album - "with out this ring", "searching for closure" - are key as well, though they're not on youtube

^ right

lex otm, I don't think she really cares about "pop," she just wanted to make some music to express herself & pop is what she's grown up hearing & this is the result. I assumed she produced it herself, but I guess the "beats" could have been made by a friend or something?

many xposts

lol I only heard the track emil.y talked about.

But from a quick scan - horrible or unfortunate family story background, tech used by someone you wouldn't expect to and mixed reaction from listeners.

Obv plenty of differences too. xp to Tom D.

a portrait of a fairly traumatic life: teenage pregnancy (and consequent body horror/post-natal depression), domestic abuse, the death of the baby's father...

... stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Scott Walker

the more reflective (and genuinely quite gorgeous) songs on the album - "with out this ring", "searching for closure" - are key as well, though they're not on youtube

^^^^ absolutely

the refrain "you're in my heart/my mind/my thoughts/my prayers" floats through my mind a lot

the refrain "you're in my heart/my mind/my thoughts/my prayers" floats through my mind a lot

"i'm holding back my tears my tongue this kills me" in that robotic autotune chirrup as though she's literally shutting herself down

the ineptitude of the album is almost like a trojan horse - once you find yourself returning to it in gawping fascination (reality tv principle #1!) you end up realising how accurate and effective it is as a portrait of a fairly traumatic life: teenage pregnancy (and consequent body horror/post-natal depression), domestic abuse, the death of the baby's father...

― lex pretend, Thursday, 31 January 2013 15:40 (59 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the more reflective (and genuinely quite gorgeous) songs on the album - "with out this ring", "searching for closure" - are key as well, though they're not on youtube

― lex pretend, Thursday, 31 January 2013 15:40 (13 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's very similar to the way i feel about latter-day Scott Walker. you have to kind of desensitise yourself to the surface-level "difficulty" of the music and after a few goes it starts making a whole different level of sense. I forget how I used to feel about albums like the Drift now.

taking a shitty novelty record by a mentally damaged individual "seriously" isn't transgressive or interesting in 2012, it's very lester bangs

"oh baby / oh baby / this bump doesn't go away / neither does the fear on my face / it feels like i'm going in on this alone"

you can apply that to whichever artist you think it's appropriate for
xpost

taking a shitty novelty record by a mentally damaged individual "seriously" isn't transgressive or interesting in 2012, it's very lester bangs

who says it's transgressive? i take it seriously because it's a record i respond to emotionally, that i find incredibly affective and effective

Also Scott isn't remotely mentally damaged

this is the first time anyone has ever obliquely compared me to Lester Bangs

I think I am obliquely offended

i don't think farrah is mentally damaged either

lol Tom

everybody is mentally damaged

taking a shitty novelty record by a mentally damaged individual "seriously" isn't transgressive or interesting in 2012, it's very lester bangs

― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 31 January 2013 15:44 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

could call nearly all artists/albums out on this tbf.

http://i.imgur.com/wj9aHKA.png

14. FUTURE Pluto (678 Points, 20 Votes, 2 First Place Votes) Spotify

Hey Pluto!

My number One. Love it love it love it start to finish. Voted 'Astronaut Status' mixtape high as well. I'm a total Future stan.

hmm

which version of this should go on the Spotify list, the 3D version or the original?

Probably the original. I think seandalai just used an API or something to scrape links.

i love the future singles by themselves but i cannot listen to this album all the way through, it makes a variety of tricks sound like one boring one

I couldn't get thru the whole thing either but I'm gonna give it another try.

Truth Gonna Hurt You

"I live a Cowabunga lifestyleee"

Pluto really drags in its entirety although I like almost everything except the apocalyptic bangers if I play it all the way through. Also Straight Up, Astronaut Chick and obviously Turn On The Lights are all fantastic.

I can understand liking this for the camp, and even some enjoying parts of it. But enjoying it more than about about 30,000 other albums that came out last year? In ten years, are 21 of you really going to go, ah, 2012, what a year, and still have FA in your playlist??

welp the original is only on Spotify in its clean version, and a few of the dirty versions on 3D are listed as remixes

I added the clean version, if anyone wants the 3D version the link is here

I can understand liking this for the camp, and even some enjoying parts of it. But enjoying it more than about about 30,000 other albums that came out last year? In ten years, are 21 of you really going to go, ah, 2012, what a year, and still have FA in your playlist??

You can say that about every album in this list. What people latch onto years later is wholly idiosyncratic and unpredictable.

Many xposts - I got Trans vibes from this album too.

Even more xposts

this Fiona Apple album is pretty cool

I will probably never play it again

Ha, same here. It's the kind of record where, had I been asked to review it, I'd have listened to it intensely for a few days and found all kinds of interesting moments and great things to say about it, and genuinely felt that I liked it and written a fairly glowing review, but then I'd still never have played it again.

I kind of like the Pluto album. I'm still in two minds as to whether it was a good decision to use autotune to emphasise his vocal quirks, i.e. the way his voice has a tendency to fry at the end of some syllables. It's an interesting idea, but it can make it sound like he's got a frog in his throat.

xp Yes, let's think about the Test of Time, that's always useful.