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

ya telephone is wild

xp

lol I thought the Spotify advert was part of the album for a second there, until the Scissor Sisters started covering Roxy Music

be thankful it wasnt whistling bastards advert

looool xp

"Telephone" wasn't my initial favorite, but I have come to love it v. much. "The Cell" is my favorite track on the album, though.

for me it'd prob be 'me' vs 'soldier' vs 'the cell' vs 'master teacher' but really it's tough to pick any of em, at least now since i've only gone on 3rd or so go-around

Zomby - Where Were U In 92? - 64

dude, yes. i was starting to think i was the only one on ilm who dug this records

thoughts on top 10:

10. TV on the Radio - Dear Science - ok, fair enough
9. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III - who?
8. Air France - No Way Down - plenty of atmosphere here, and maintains a nice poppy, airy vibe throughout
7. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours - it's been interesting following the evolution of this band. this record has some great melodies, and integrates a whole bunch of stylings into something unique and uplifting.
6. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) - an amazing record. there is something really compelling about badu's delivery, and the songs have incredible depth.
5. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend - gave it about five concerted listens before realising it's not my thing.
4. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna - haven't heard this yet, but 'god's money' was excellent, so i'll give it a good whirl.
3. Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too - not normally my thing, but sounds pretty vital. will listen further.
2. Hercules & Love Affair - S/T - probably rated way too high and tends to run out of steam towards the end, but it's full of grooves and has a nice, immediate feel that i tend to go for in this electro/disco genre
1. Portishead - Third - rightly acknowledged wonderful album.

my prognostication re: top 10 was about as wrong as possible, in every way. pretty sure i shouldn't be proud of that.

9. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III - who?

The guy who had the best-selling album of 2008 in the U.S.

haha, i'm having a dig at my own inability to keep track of chart trends more than anything

aight haha

also Lollipop is the only Wayne to ever get chart action here

actually take that back, Tha Carter III did make it to 47 for one week

(Lollipop made #35)

Gutter Twins - Gutter Twins - 3

Would have voted for Saturnalia, but it was misnamed... :-(

weird nation *smh* xp

I'm so happy Lindstrom appeared in the top three, since it was my #1 pick. That first track alone just has a ridiculous amount going on.

Another thread that doesn't know the meaning of the term "at a glance" so I'll stick with the top ten...

TV On The Radio - boring Tommy Vance rock with Wire knobs on
Li'l Wayne - tremendous
Air France - like this a lot
Cut Copy - not heard it, didn't like the first album, are they still going to be New Order tonight, Matthew?
Badu - brilliant
Vampire Weekend - superb
Gang Gang Dance - haven't heard it, feel no pressing need to do so
Lindstrøm - only just got around to listening to this properly now; a phenomenal record and yet also such a light one
Hercules & Love Affair - OK but not that great
Portishead - no problems with this being at the top

I'll be interested to see where The Roots album comes out in the master list.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, February 16, 2009 4:50 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I was the only person to vote for "75 Bars" in tracks, but didn't care for the full-length at all.

― I would much rather listen to hard bop jazz and stfu (The Reverend), Tuesday, February 17, 2009 2:58 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Rev: 1)rong; 2)rite

u go to the florist man quick!

btw, musically deserves a nite out on the town (at the very least) on our collective dime methinks.

Marcello - you would really like the GGD album, I think.

what am I rong & rite about?

hmm, aside from the TVotR comment--plus the Lindstrom, which i haven't heard--i appear to be Marcello Carlin.

xps

i voted for the track also, but didn't think much of the album.

Ah, gotcha. Other than "A Milli", which was elevated by sheer cultural eventitude, "75 Bars" was the best spittin'-qua-spittin' track of the year.

Hmm...I just looked GGD up on Amazon and the album looks a lot more interesting than I thought it would be so I'll check them out on myspace and go on from there (Matt xp).

That Cut Copy album is amazingly dull. I've listened to it from start to finish 3 or 4 times now and I struggle to remember a single interesting part.

I only did that once but came to the same conclusion and didn't fuck with it anymore.

yeah, it's def up there.

xps

one thing i don't get about the winner--and this is just going to prove how lol OLDE i am--is whether people voting for it did so purely cause they missed the opportunity with Dummy back when, or if they really do dig it so. i mean, it's good, sure, but it sure ain't no Dummy.

sure...

Ha, I only checked out Dummy cause I liked Third so much.

And I've still only really gotten into "Sour Times".

Awesome, awesome work, Musically: thank you.

And thank you to everyone else, too: there's been some fascinating discussion here and I've got a small but significant amount of listening to do over the next few days. (I was a little disappointed by Grouper on first listen, I have to admit, but I think it might be a grower.)

Will post my list on the annex thread when I get a chance. For the moment, I'll simply note:

Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing - 79.5

for FUCK'S SAKE!

Johann Johannson - Fordlandia - 70.5

ditto.

i first heard dummy when i was just turning 13, which cemented its formative place in my heart, but the best portishead album is the s/t second one imo.

albums i've checked out so far based on this list - d lissvik and grouper, both of which i give a thumbs up to. the lissvik in particular has been my default "first album of the day" this week - it's not as obviously epic as some of studio's own tracks but i think i might like it more as a sustained album listen. some of the melodies on it are just beautiful.

we are an even weirder nation than canada when it comes to wayne's popularity...'lollipop' peaked at no 26, no other solo single reached the top 100, yet last month that fucking kevin rudolf abortion went top 5.

awesome band name tho.

What, Kevin Rudolf?

(that fucking kevin rudolf abortion)

don't mind me, oh look there's my coat, yr office, etc....

Oh tell you what else I found recently: DVD testpressings of "The duke wore jeans" and "the story"...

Quite the Eddie Cochran on the first one, weren't he?

"Let It Rock"'s a great single - not so sure about the album.

I'm waiting for Tommy Steele to do his "Swagga Like Us" verse.

one thing i don't get about the winner--and this is just going to prove how lol OLDE i am--is whether people voting for it did so purely cause they missed the opportunity with Dummy back when, or if they really do dig it so. i mean, it's good, sure, but it sure ain't no Dummy.

I think you're underestimating the average age of ILXors a bit. I'm 29 and I still remember the times when Dummy was considered the best album ever or something.

Personally I've never really cared for Portishead. I understand why people like them, but for me they just sound too thin and anemic. I tried to listen to the new album, but it felt like they hadn't really changed in that respect.

I have this weird thing about albums where I always want to skip the second song - that's the case with Hunter here, certainly. No matter how great the rest of the record, I can never bring myself to love the album as a whole if the first two tracks don't quite do it for me.

this list is pretty good and i like much of the top 50 overall but i kinda want to kill several people on this thread.

NAME NAMES

no spoilers

I'm surprised that Grace Jones (which I voted for) and Flying Lotus (which I didn't) didn't make the top 50. I thought they were both well thought of.

I'm surprised Air France (indie-friendly balearo-dribble?) is SO high, but I only just listened to it this morning, having been meaning to for ages (it's on Spotify, by the way). I know it's kind of the point that it sounds so slight, but ...

Love the Lindstrom album. I only started two threads in 2008, H&LA and Quiet Village, so pleased that they did so well. I do think both those albums were disappontments, but still very good.

Yeah, I had no idea of Air France's existence before the singles thread. They caught me completely off guard.

me on the H&LA elsewhere:
"there's nothing on it i dislike other than some of the cornier lyrics (as on Iris) but that track sounds a bit like Aphex Twin 'Alberto Balsalm' so it's let off.
How to judge it's weaknesses anyway? I don't think 'backwards looking' is really fair because these statements and celebrations about and of other sounds from other times are rife in all music now (if not ever) and this was a reasonably untapped area to delve back into (i.e. it's good to move from Italo towards mid-late 80s now on that basis - see also 'Balearic' i guess). The singing is fine, lyrics mostly fine (can't say this is an area I really listen out for tho - if there's a feeling that the songwriting sabotages it then fine but i don't really care about this or just haven't noticed...it doesn't seem worse than on 'Convivial' put it that way), I sympathise with the themes and characters in the songs (perhaps surprisingly), good hooks and feeling in the production. + 909 > 808 :)
I tried to ignore the early hype and just listen to it without expectations and I found I could go back to it a lot partly because it's very accessible and pop and i like the simple 'warmth' about it.
I just wish they'd put that remix of 'Blind' with the sreechy sounds on it instead of the blander original."

i don't know if pipecock or mike t ever passed comment on it on ILM but would be interested in their views - suspect they'd be dismissive (but obv at the opposite end of the argument from those who just don't seem to like House full stop). thank fuck for the middle ground as per. there is a laziness to all this admittedily tho - they got hyped up and put on a plate for the likes of me. 'I'm Tellin' You', the b-side from 'You Belong' (iirc) is also v fine, as was their Goldfrapp remix i thought.

So does the 40 points for The Caretaker's 'Persistent Repetition of Phrases' mean someone else besides me also had it as his/her #1? I applaud you!

Cut Copy - not heard it, didn't like the first album, are they still going to be New Order tonight, Matthew?

even more so

first album was the all-samples one though, this is the third

Thoughts on Top 10:

10. TV on the Radio - OK, some enjoyable moments, but nothing that special. Sometimes I think I'm on the berge of breaking through with it, but then the feeling subsides with the next play.

9. Lil Wayne - Just don't get this at all, sorry. I can't listen to more than three or four tracks without feeling bludgeoned and depressed.

8. Air France - Hadn't really heard them until the tracks poll. Liked the two tracks that placed over there. Will investigate further.

7. Cut Copy - Don't get the huge love for this one. Fine as far as it goes, but too heavily in debt to its influences and I don't get what they're bringing of themselves to the table. Amiable background music for when friends drop by.

6. Erykah Badu - It was the ILM love which originally led me to this one. Have to say that I still prefer the classic songcraft of Baduizm, but I do like the broad, adventurous spread of ideas.

5. Vampire Weekend - Knocked me out on first playings, then got sick of it due to over-exposure, then came back to it at the end of the year. Afrobeat influences wildly exaggerated by detractors. Like the crisp preppy tidiness.

4. Gang Gang Dance - Don't know it at all.

3. Lindstrøm - Again, the ILM love led me to this one, a few months back. So pleased to see it in the Top 3. Have played it and played it and played it. Fantastic for long car journeys through beautiful countryside.

2. Hercules & Love Affair - Has "my sort of thing" written all over it. Strange how so many of my 2008 favourites were first heard in late Jan/early Feb of last year.

1. Portishead - No surprises, and no arguments either. Stark and bleak aren't my strongest aesthetic suits, so I have to be in a certain frame of mind to approach this one. Consequently it's by far the least played of my 2008 favorites, but it's not always about the play counts.

Another thread that doesn't know the meaning of the term "at a glance" so I'll stick with the top ten...

You prefer threads with little chat?

7. Cut Copy - Don't get the huge love for this one. Fine as far as it goes, but too heavily in debt to its influences and I don't get what they're bringing of themselves to the table. Amiable background music for when friends drop by.

^^^this. I like them fine enough but if we're going with Aussie electrodribble, i wish people had jumped on The Presets record rather than Cut Copy.