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

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

http://www.roboticempire.com/store/images/store/meanderthal_2ndpress_spread.jpg

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

― call all destroyer, jueves 12 de febrero de 2009 11:40 (2 hours ago) Bookmark

you can blame me for Lau Nau as well!

^^^
...me too

what modern pop-rock would have sounded like if the melvins had blown up instead of nirvana

Yeah, that sounds about right to me. Huge Seattle-ish Man Rock vibe to them, eh?

I don't know who Ne-Yo is either, but based on the comments here I assume he's an rnb singer? I haven't been actively following pop music lately.

Steve Brooks describes the band as Stoner Pop or Sludge Pop Some sludgeheads dislike the fact the vocals are poppy of course and call it "gay". Steve Brooks is gay btw so he doesnt give a shit.

1st Torche album is probably poppier (and awesome)
His old band Floor were a terrific sludge band.

Tuomas are you familiar with the Finnish bands that made the list?

I barely have any idea what most of the stuff that's been placing is. So far there have only been 4 albums I've heard, 3 of which I voted for.

xp: Ne-Yo is an R&B singer-songwriter who is known just as much for writing hit songs for others (Beyonce, Rihanna, Mario among others) as for himself. His style of songwriting is very precise and formalist, each song strongly based around a central theme. His voice is smooth and mid-powered. The styles on the album range from a song-based Chicago house track to popping quiet storm to sickly treacle.

In fact, besides Gas and Alex Moulton I haven't heard anything from this list yet. I was supposed to get that Luomo album, but I never did.

(I guess I should feel some sort of pride that there's 3 Finnish acts in the top 50-25. That's quite rare I think.)

(xx-post)

don't know who Ne-Yo is, sorry

― Le Bateau Ivre

yeah, it would help if the entries were like "urban singer-songwriter ne-yo", or "american grunge band torche"

"grunge"

25 - Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster
123.5 points, 14 votes, 3 #1 votes
22 in P&J, 30 in p4k

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9595/loscampesinosholdoncovekr1.jpg

Album streaming: http://www.last.fm/music/Los+Campesinos!/Hold+On+Now+Youngster...

Incredibly youthful and smartass, when I first heard them I think I said they were like the European equivalent of similarly jocular and snappy pop-punk bands in the US, like Fallout Boy, but much, much better. Still, I can't help but think that an album this joyfully bratty will age horribly as economic conditions worsen and the youth of the world goes from utopianism to disillusionment over the next few years. Will make an excellent time capsule, regardless.
- cunga

Tuomas are you familiar with the Finnish bands that made the list?

I know and like Luomo/Vladislav Delay, but I'm not at all familiar this new Finnish folk trend. The only Finnish folk/psych act from the 00s I know is Kuusumun Profeetta, but they seemed to have gotten less attention than the Fonal records artists. I tried to listen to some Islaja album once, but it sounded too messy and artsy for my tastes.

I already said Torche classed themselves as Stoner Pop or Sludge Pop and not as a metal band and certainly not Grunge.
x-posts

xxp "-/

No hate here, but I don't get what sets Los Campesinos apart from about 500 other bands just like them.

But here's my favourite Finnish folk song ever, from 1972:

(several x-posts)

i love love love islaja for that time i saw her at sónar - she was playing sónar by day, i was wandering around in a fucked-up haze, hadn't slept for the entire festival and it was SO HOT, and then i stumbled across her playing this gorgeous soothing music in a cold dark stone room, and it was just what i needed.

Tuomas, if you're actually interested in Ne-Yo you should check out his first album, which is way better than YOTG (which is actually my least favorite of his albums), and has his signature solo song "So Sick".

one of los campesinos was my successor as tv editor on my student paper (a couple of years later) - i feel so guilty, as if i may have inadvertently nurtured their repulsive music