ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

Jessie Ware is the Coldplay of Alt-R&B.

j/k

bombast and bigness are jessie's THING though - this is why the sade comparisons were so off-base, sade used her subtle drift to disguise the depth of her emotions but jessie uses her overt power to inject even the most relatively mundane scenario with HUGE feeling

"110%" is the exception that proves the rule - it's a bit of a stylistic exercise rather than anything representative of her, though she does pull it off

I'm the opposite to Jordan, I think Jessie does bombast way better than she does intimacy.

OTM. And she doesn't sound like Sade to me – I never got that comparison. She reminds me of Shara Nelson, some kind of post-Shirley Bassey belter.

Lex what do you do to Sandwell District or Voices From The Lake or other hangover techno if not zoning out?

the thing is that i'm with lex when it comes to ~vibes~ music or whatever because it can definitely be used as a crutch for not doing anything interesting... but there's also a way to incorporate the idea of ~vibes~ into your music as a way to strengthen your songwriting or the cohesion of the album. maxwell is actually the perfect example imo, but then again 'embrya' was a pretty divisive album.

shara nelson is pretty spot-on, as well as the more obvious annie lennox one she keeps talking about

http://i.imgur.com/CehGlx1.png

If a song and performance are powerful, it gives off "vibes" already, no?

if i'm not unconscious by the end of your record then it was a failure

Lex what do you do to Sandwell District or Voices From The Lake or other hangover techno if not zoning out?

VFTL is very much zoning in, albeit vacantly

maxwell could write a fucking song and also sing it incredibly

well so can frank

Yeah, VFTL is relaxing, but still engaging on some level. It doesn't go by without you noticing it. Not saying it's not the same with Frank, but there are times when I put an album on and 50 minutes later I wonder if I was even listening to anything at all. That's zoning out.

to me it's ephemeral stuff with frank... the songs and all that shit are right at the forefront when you want them to be. but there's stuff like him weaving snippets of radio frequency into the album or the final minute of "sierra lone" or the beat to "pilot jones" that are a bit floating in and out of consciousness.

but then again i've spent a fair portion of my life dozing in and out of sleep in sunlight filtered through windows.

lol

http://i.imgur.com/cNK1Eg1.png

07. CHROMATICS Kill For Love (882 Points, 26 Votes, 1 First Place Vote) Spotify

i think 'channel orange' compares really favorably to badu's albums, personally

bombast and bigness are jessie's THING though - this is why the sade comparisons were so off-base

the one thing that some of that jessie ware album reminded me of (esp. night light) was 'say i'm your number one' by princess cos that has that same bombast thing. i'm sure there are far better points of comparison than that though

appropriate placement for frank ocean

i think 'channel orange' compares really favorably to badu's albums, personally

TROLLING

like i like to "zone out" to "green eyes" or "gone baby, don't be long" or w/e, idk. it's a very comforting, loving feeling to me... just letting music totally taking you over in that fashion, literally just doing nothing but thinking & listening. that's a really powerful connection imo & it doesn't have a negative connotation to me.

xp All the Farrah Abraham commentary here is A+

I haven't heard that Chromatics album but I'm sure Channel Orange is better.

Chromatics is the first thing I voted for to show up in a long time...some great songs, also relevant to the "zoning out" discussion with all the long instrumentals that don't go anywhere. I guess I'm a bit of a zoner.

xp Jordan otm. And I like Channel Orange for many of the same reasons as New Amerykah Pt 1 but it has stronger songwriting imo. [sits back and waits for Lex's wrath]

I zoned out every time I tried to play Chromatics, and not in a good way.

the chromatics are cool for like 2 or 3 songs max and that album has like 20 joints or something, i have no idea how someone could listen to that entire thing all the way through

something like "gone baby, don't be long" is so enrapturing

the claim that frank isn't a good songwriter or singer is absurd to me, unless r&b has much much higher standards of quality than any other genre (it doesn't)

srsly

it shda been an EP

xp

you have to reach a higher level of zoning xxxxxp

Is this Chromatics album really that good?

Chromatics? Really? I never got into em.

the band is called the Chromatics how good could it be?

that Chromatics album could have used some serious editing. too many dead spots

lex needs to get on my zone wave

And I like Channel Orange for many of the same reasons as New Amerykah Pt 1 but it has stronger songwriting imo.

haha I don't think it's physically possible for me to disagree with this any more than I already do. New Amerykah is one of the best albums of the past decade and very few things can really compare to it, particularly not an album that contains distractingly stupid songs like "Pink Matter" and "Forrest Gump"

I voted for this Chromatics album, but I totally agree that it could use an editor.

While I'm happy to see "Kill For Love" turn up, it is kind of way TOO HIGH here.

thing is with erykah, dozing off is just not even a question...you "zone out" to her songs but you find yourself wide awake and concentrating by the end. they're slow tempo-wise, but they're not as...torpid as frank. it's the lethargy i object to.

New Amerykah is one of the best albums of the past decade and very few things can really compare to it, particularly not an album that contains distractingly stupid songs like "Pink Matter" and "Forrest Gump"

― Ima R.A.E.D. (DJP), Thursday, January 31, 2013 6:34 PM (37 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

When the Chromatics hit just the right mix of vibe and atmosphere and melody, they're one of my favorite bands on earth. But that doesn't always happen, and then it feels like a slog. Some of this album is a slog, but the best parts offset that I think.

well new amerykah 1 is the one album i really wouldn't compare to 'channel orange' (but it's sort of an outlier in its own way in erykah's discog too)

channel orange is longer than sex & the city 2 and its cover is the worst

chromatics record is expansive and sparkly and sleepy and magical. i like it

Chromatics front loads the best tunes and the rest is amazing for late night drives on the interstate a+ album i voted for it

mid 00's chromatics are so much better than '12 chromatics

otm

nope

Are you talking "Nite" era or "In the City" era? Not that there's a ton of difference, except the singer.

(Because shambling noisy Chromatics is early 00s, obvs)

yes, and i hear a huge difference!