ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

i realized btwn the time that i voted and now that i prefer the frank ocean album to kendricks, though both are on like the bottom 1/3 of my ballot

I do like this album, but more as an album I can dip in and out of while listening. I'm sure it MEANS THINGS to some people (and tbh Thinkin Bout You tugs at my heart), but to me it's just an awesome collection of things that sound good together on an unconscious level.

The Frank Ocean album's had a lot of love and a lot of hype, but I'm glad it placed no higher. I tried hard to get into it and was ultimately left cold. R'n'B is obviously not my forte but compared to a whole load of other things I enjoyed, Miguel included, it just felt like a slog. Something about his lyrics, the production, feels flimsy, tossed off, placeholder to me. But hey, I'm probably missing something important in the music that others are picking up on and enjoying. Got a feeling he will one day make something I will truly be able to get behind, but this isn't the one.

I am still holding out for one of Thee Oh Sees, Schoolboy Q or Starkey to make a shock top 10 showing.

who

My #3 or #4. So many different standout tracks. I don't get the hate — unless you really can't stand his voice I guess.

i didn't realize everyone hated frank ocean so much. seems like a guy worth rooting for to me

channel orange was def the album i played most last year and it wasn't even close but i think it lends itself to that... i always went back and forth on whether it or miguel was my no. 1. suspect i'll always feel that way.

i like this album but i also like JF's move to include some dude quotes

No one hates him cept lex and maybe ship, they just think the album's overrated

unless you really can't stand his voice I guess

his voice doesn't move me and is actively annoying in his lower register but it wasn't just that - i thought the songwriting was just very flimsy and insubstantial, his narratives uncompelling, his ideas and the things he was tackling just boring

and yeah i don't think it's a terrible album by any means, it's just...not remarkable to me

My #3 or #4. So many different standout tracks. I don't get the hate — unless you really can't stand his voice I guess.

It's not disgust – I don't think it's adaptable to the songs he recorded for this record. Also, at least half the songs are non-entities.

i mean i'm sure if i put it on now i wouldn't actively mind listening to it but neither would i particularly...notice it

I love the production on this, it's one of its best features

suprised at how much these songs have worked their way into my subconcious

sometimes you just want to listen to a non-entity though, that's why this album rules

Sweet Life and Rich Kids are the only ones I like off side 1, I love lots of Channel Orange but not enough as a whole album to have voted for it.

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

08. JESSIE WARE Devotion (791 Points, 26 Votes, 1 First Place Vote) Spotify

I knew I had to shut up about it when three friends at Pitchfork last July not known for giving a damn about R&B couldn't wait to talk about how awesome it was.

THERE WE GO.

i like this album but i also like JF's move to include some dude quotes

hahaha well i think there's unanimous agreement that including the some dude quotes was a great move

one thing i really love about channel orange is that there's a real dreamlike quality to it... it's a great album to just put on, lay down and close your eyes

it's sort of druggy in its own way

happy that jessie beat frank too. great album!

lol @ only four songs off of Jessie Ware being available in the US

I notice the weaker Ware tracks in a way I didn't even six weeks ago but, boy, the...wildest moments kill me.

one thing i really love about channel orange is that there's a real dreamlike quality to it... it's a great album to just put on, lay down and close your eyes

#vibesnotmoves #vibesnottunes #soboredofvibes

i don't really consider "an album to do nothing to" a great compliment; as an industry-wide aesthetic it's a fucking pox

Dawn will be top three I reckon, maybe even top two. The Goldenheart anticipation will have given her a voting bounce.

the problem w/ the jessie album is that all the best songs were released as singles

was "Night Light" a single?

oh yeah  – cool

i don't really consider "an album to do nothing to" a great compliment; as an industry-wide aesthetic it's a fucking pox

― lex pretend, Thursday, January 31, 2013 1:10 PM (23 seconds ago) Bookmark

or one way of looking at it would be that it's the ultimate complement

it's not about vibes... that word is so useless when you use it that way anyway

the problem w/ the jessie album is that all the best songs were released as singles

she released a ton of singles, like half the album, so while this is true it's not as damning as that would imply

and also, "swan song" and "taking in water" are non-single highlights

So many albums ITT fit Jordan's 'dreamlike' 'druggy' description. I actually find this type of thing a turnoff these days due to its sheer ubiquity.

"Album to do nothing to" is a great compliment, if it means it demands your full attention.

or one way of looking at it would be that it's the ultimate complement

nahhh but why do you think that?

::does nothing::

xp smdh if you think Bad Religion is insubstantial and uncompelling. I agree there are a few weaker tracks but it's the kind of album where it all flows together for me, like 70s Marvin Gaye, so that those weaker songs still feel like satisfying mood pieces. I oscillate between this and the Miguel album - KD is much tighter, song for song, but I'm often in the mood for this looser 70s feel.

Jessie's great - too low

You're not meant to do anything to a symphony.

"Album to do nothing to" is a great compliment, if it means it demands your full attention.

― Matt DC, Thursday, January 31, 2013 1:12 PM (22 seconds ago) Bookmark

Like the remixes I've heard more than the album.

I like 'vibes' FWIW

the other thing about Frank Ocean discourse that annoys me is that I don't think it is a nu-Marvin Gaye album; I think it's a nu-Maxwell album

re jessie i should've said that all the great songs were released as singles BEFORE the album

You're not meant to do anything to a symphony.

frank is not exactly on that level though - like if there was more going on, maybe i could understand & get with the idea of letting this album wash over you and sinking into it...but it's just not that kind of album. it's music to zone out to, not zone into. like, doing nothing with your brain as well as body.

i guess i like to zone out tho

which is why i often start the miguel album at "do you..."

I don't really think of the Ocean album as R&B.

xxxpost

kind of feel there's been an epidemic of zoning out (often zoning out to the internet, though prob not in frank's case). it's fucking boring, people who base their aesthetic on it are fucking boring, be off with you all.

it's a Jackson Browne record