TOP 10 NOW: \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\shawty got poll poll poll poll poll poll poll (part II: 2008 ALBUMS)/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

yeah, who thought that the token R&B pick on a dance/indie-heavy list would be a cutesy "I'm eccentric!" critic's fave?

i think this last batch has all been voted in by the same 10-12 people?

except for pfunkboy i can't really figure out who's voting for this stuff.

i voted for quiet village, but not fenneszzzzz or the finnish psych folk.

i didnt vote for quiet village or fennesz(tho i like Fennesz)

This poll blows, people.

Every description of that Quiet Village album makes it sounds like some post-Ninja Tune/MoWax late 90s upmarket barber-friendly samplephonic fake-soundtrack bore. If I listen to it will be I pleasantly surprised?

probably, it's really warm... i mean if you dig balearic stuff you certainly won't dislike it

Where's Burt Stanton these days?

the next one was much more chart-friendly aka many of us will have actually heard of it, which is much more than i can say for the past few.

i like fennesz as well and i need to give black sea another chance.

speaking of barber-friendly, the last time i got my hair cut they were playing erykah badu (new amerykah pt 1).

LJ to thread...?
x-post

some post-Ninja Tune/MoWax late 90s upmarket barber-friendly samplephonic fake-soundtrack bore.

This is actually a good description of it.

My fav picture of Fred Durst is him sitting in his minimalist apartment wearing a Sonic Youth t-shirt.

Can someone find that pic??? I love it.

the next one was much more chart-friendly aka many of us will have actually heard of it

I'm guessing it's time for Kanye, Ne-Yo or Young Jeezy... amirite?

yes

27 - Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
118 points, 9 votes
51 in P&J

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8175/neyoyearofthegentlemanur2.png

Album streaming: http://www.last.fm/music/Ne-Yo/Year+Of+The+Gentleman

This album is EXTRAORDINARY. It's so inventive and playful, Ne-Yo is so likable in it, the production is loose and jittery, the songs are juggernauts, every line is a hook, the way the Nancy Sinatra sample suddenly jumps out at the end of Bang Bang is striking and original and it emerges from the great ooze of the bass sounding like a million bucks. Also, his voice is like honey, and well I don't really know what else, he's really arrived for me with this one (not that he hasn't had great singles, but pretty much everything here feels essential to me) Holy Shit Please don't fall in love!

― I know, right?

This took about three plays to sink in fully, a good sign, and I play it all the time even after writing about it, which is a great sign. This will almost certainly make my Top 5 this year. As Maura pointed out to me, there's really an early-'90s vibe (and not just because of NKOTB), the point where pop and R&B and the emergent Latin invasion were commingling on Top 40. "Stop This World" just totally kills me. So does "Fade Into the Background" and "Mad" and "Lie to Me" and especially "Why Does She Stay." The best Babyface album since Waiting to Exhale.

― Matos W.K.

I didn't vote for it ("Closer" and "Miss Independent" were on my singles ballot but all in all I'm just not crazy about the whole album), but so awesome to see that place.

good album, my main problem is that a lot of the arrangements are kinda samey but "single", "mad", the one that sounds like studio's remix of "2 hearts" and the 2 singles are all great and it's good enough that i remember that much i think

also i get really tired of pianos, like every time "mad" comes on the radio my immediate inclination after the opening two notes is to turn it off but then i remember that i love the song

the more i lived with that album, the more i loved it - i return to it a hell of a lot, the acuity of the songwriting and the knack he has of using exactly the right words with the right melodies to bring them out, is really extraordinary. tom ewing called him the jane austen of r&b which is otm, also liked matos' idolator write-up: http://idolator.com/5121137/no-1-ne+yo-year-of-the-gentleman

it's a good album to write about - there's lots to say but you never quite feel you're doing it justice. "good songwriting" is the main selling point but it's so good that it really makes you think about what good songwriting really is, the nuts and bolts of it. in fact i am going to listen to it again right now.

also fuck the haters who complain that it's "too tasteful" or other bs

it really makes you think about what good songwriting really is, the nuts and bolts of it

wow yeah this is a really good point

This is pretty much the way I feel about all of Ne-Yo's songs.

listening to it...i keep thinking he's a master of understatement, but i'm not even sure that's right - he's the master of making even his more obvious, heavily signposted moments seem understated, and using that impression to lend more gravitas to the overall situation.

also he's a great lyricist, but it's not that you can ever pick out a particularly evocative or poetic line in isolation - it's the way the situation takes shape before you as the song unfolds. actually one of the best examples of this is probably jennifer hudson's 'spotlight' (which he wrote).

Love Fennesz's place in this poll, higher than expected!

(don't know who Ne-Yo is, sorry)

I am proud to say I enjoy both Fennesz and Ne-Yo's albums in this poll.

But, definitely not Max Tundra.

a lack of corny indie so far. has corny indie been replaced on ILM by m.o.r. electro-dribble? ;)

i don't know what 90% of this shit is, i assumed at least half it WAS corny indie?

26 - Torche - Meanderthal
119 points, 10 votes, 3 #1 votes
31 in P&J

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8910/95ms5fvc3.jpg

This should be no real surprise. From sublime power pop to space rock to stoner metal to a freaking Ian Gillan-era Black Sabbath tribute, Torche threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink into Meanderthal (although I wouldn't bet against one of those being in there somewhere), and the miracle is that it works beautifully. Even though there's something to appeal to everyone, the album's wide reach never dilutes the band's consistent vision. Superb stuff, and it's only their second record!

- J3ff T

From the ashes of Sludge legends Floor came Torche. Steve Brooks called it "Stoner Pop" the 1st album was a masterpiece and this time they made it more wide ranging,heavier in places, without losing the "stoner pop". This band deserves to be huge.
I recommend buying the vinyl version of this as the packaging is amazing. On a par with Earth's vinyl "bible"? Sure!

- pfunkboy

those blurbs may look familiar...

*pfunkboy dances a jig*

a lack of corny indie so far. has corny indie been replaced on ILM by m.o.r. electro-dribble? ;)

― The User Formerly Known As Pfunkboy Latterly Known as.. (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, February 12, 2009 1:08 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

m.o.r. electro-dribble is basically the best thing going these days

I wish I'd voted in this now. I missed the noms and when no one else repped for our boy Trim I got disheartened. I know he's not too glossy and is pretty understated but all 3 soulfoods have been awesome and he deserves more love. anyway would have voted the-dream number 1 so curious to see where he places.

man i have heard barely any of these records.

Nice!

Glad to see Torche place highly.

(don't know who Ne-Yo is, sorry)

waht

I'm a little pissed off with the almost certain knowledge that The Chap's brilliant album would have been in here if Emily had gotten her vote in on time

but under the radar they shall remain

That Torche album is really good, "Amnesian" is an absolute monster

m@tt i think you would dig the torche.

Torche is brilliant, but sadly it looks like the metal polls no2 album by Harvey Milk wont make it as Torche was the no1.

i had totally slept on torche but a friend raved them up last year so i got meanderthal and then the rest of the stuff. they're pretty great. i think the "power pop" thing gets a little overstated -- some songs yeah, others not so much -- but they are good with a hook. (i said on another thread that sometimes they weirdly remind me of big country, that '80s big-rock sound.)

(xpost -- hey, an album lou1s j@gger and i both like.)

someone somewhere (might have even been on ILX so whoops sorry if so) described it as what modern pop-rock would have sounded like if the melvins had blown up instead of nirvana, which i think is kind of brilliant.

Re: The Chap

I repped hard for Ham a couple years ago, but the new one just kind of goes in one ear and out the other. : /

Not an official video btw. Someones just made it to put on youtube

I think the new one's a little better than Ham, although "Now Woel" is genuinely one of my favourite songs of the decade

oh and yeah everyone listen to "Amnesian"

m@tt i think you would dig the torche.

― From Rax to Rich's (jjjusten), Thursday, February 12, 2009 9:28 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i'm sure i would. i would also like the jay reatard singles thing i just haven't gotten around to buying it yet....those 2 were def ones i wanna check out....i've almost bought boris records just because of the sexxy vinyl but chickened out.

Pics of the Torche vinyl from the metal poll thread
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/2704704683_8e51e6187b.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/2705526294_e195131a1e.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2705525754_4f50349416.jpg?v=0

Pic disk version
http://www.earshot.com/images/torchevinyl.jpg