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

Presets are patchier tho, ditto Midnight Juggernauts. both had better singles than Cut Copy last year imo but In Ghost Colours seemed more consistent

altho admittedly that may just be because it's samier throughout

A good list, but not a great year for albums really. imo. Delighted, and amazed, that Air France made the top ten. Disappointed SVIIB, Hold Steady and HMHB weren't higher, but there's a lot on here I now want to check out.
Will be investing in Gang Gang Dance, Grouper, Young Jeezy and Lau Nau. Maybe Max Tundra, maybe Paavoharju.
I suppose I should also get the M83 as I loved - and voted for in the trax poll - Kim & Jessie. Am amused by the Some Kind of Wonderful comparisons made above. The album cover even looks like a cast shot from a John Hughes movie.

Anyone who likes that Lil Wayne thing is beyond my comprehension though, I'm afraid.

Sigh

I liked Cut Copy a lot, not because they rip off New Order, but because they also rip off Severed Heads.

Funny one, that: I listened to various tracks via various MP3 blogs when it came out and they didn't register at all. As an album, though, it has a vibe that is absurdly pleasing to a nostalgic NO fan such as myself.

rip off Severed Heads

This seems ... redundant.

Indian Jewelry wuz robbed, that album is very very good.

trust me, i tried like 3 different dad jokes about that before i just felt embarrassed for myself and refrained from posting any of them.

xpost

Albums that probably would've made top 50 if I had voted: No Age, Morgan Geist.

Great conversation yesterday that i unfortunately had to miss, tho rehashing the VW argument would've driven me crazy. Still think this is a really good poll overall and way more interesting than some of the other big ones. Thanks to this exercise i finally got around to checking out GGD, and was introduced to Lau Nau and The-Dream, which would've definitely made my top 20 (though that might be the only change).

Thoughts on Top 10:

10. TV on the Radio - dont listen to this bullshit

9. Lil Wayne - 3 or 4 classic joints & some other decent shit

8. Air France - dont listen to this bullshit

7. Cut Copy - 3 or 4 classic joints & some other decent shit

6. Erykah Badu - 3 or 4 classic joints & some other decent shit

5. Vampire Weekend - dont listen to this bullshit

4. Gang Gang Dance - dont listen to this bullshit

3. Lindstrøm - dont listen to this bullshit

2. Hercules & Love Affair - dont listen to this bullshit

1. Portishead - dont listen to this bullshit

Despite some surprise albums not making the top 20 and the order being not what was expected, I think 50-21 was the best and most interesting part, and it's great to see people having checked out some of them and liking it enough to say they would have voted for it if they had heard it. Result!
(next year niche music fans vote in bigger numbers, no more of the "it wont get enough votes so i wont bother now" as this has been proven wrong this year.

7. Cut Copy - 3 or 4 classic joints & some other decent shit

!!!

you thought that was the strangest part of that post?

10. TV on the Radio - zzzzzzzzzz boring they suck now 1st album & ep are grebt though.

9. Lil Wayne - some good tracks on this but whatever I don't care enough to vote for it or anything

8. Air France - ?????????

7. Cut Copy - awful

6. Erykah Badu - Classic album of all times shoulda been #1

5. Vampire Weekend - I really hate them.

4. Gang Gang Dance - idgi

3. Lindstrøm - honestly I like that "i feel space" song but I have no urge to listen to this

2. Hercules & Love Affair - this really isn't a good "album" - there are like 3 great songs.....

1. Portishead - a worthy - if predictable - choice for #1

i like at least one thing on all 10 albums.

http://www.obb1.com/images/EasyLife_04-11-08.jpg

what is that i don't get the joke

non-upside down version of list:

01 - Portishead - Third
02 - Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
03 - Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too
04 - Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
05 - Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
06 - Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
07 - Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
08 - Air France - No Way Down
09 - Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
10 - TV on the Radio - Dear Science
11 - Bug, The - London Zoo
12 - Young Jeezy - The Recession
13 - M83 - Saturdays=Youth
14 - Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
15 - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
16 - The-Dream - Love/Hate
17 - Santogold - Santogold
18 - Kelley Polar - I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling
19 - Studio - Yearbook 2
20 - MGMT - Oracular Spectacular 
21 - Deerhunter - Microcastle
22 - Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
23 - Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
24 - Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
25 - Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster
26 - Torche – Meanderthal
27 - Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
28 - Fennesz - Black Sea
29 - Lau Nau – Nukkuu
30 - Quiet Village - Silent Movie
31 - El Guincho – Alegranza
32 - Luomo – Convivial
33 - Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
34 - Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You
35 - Half Man Half Biscuit - CSI: Ambleside
36 - Glass Candy - B/E/A/T/B/O/X
37 - Gas - Nah und Fern
38 - D. Lissvik - 7 Trx + Intermission
39 - Hold Steady, The - Stay Positive
40 - Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
41 - Solange - Sol Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams
42 - Stephen Malkmus and Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
43 - Alex Moulton – Exodus
44 - Jay Reatard - Matador Singles 08
45 - Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
46 - Fall, The - Imperial Wax Solvent
47 - Sébastien Tellier – Sexuality
48 - School Of Seven Bells – Alpinisms
49 - Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
50 - Boris – Smile

10. TV on the Radio - mix of dope and zzzzz

9. Lil Wayne - mix of dope and zzzzz

8. Air France - dope album

7. Cut Copy - zzzzz

6. Erykah Badu - all-time

5. Vampire Weekend - dope album

4. Gang Gang Dance - zzzzz

3. Lindstrøm - mix of dope and zzzzz

2. Hercules & Love Affair - mix of dope and zzzzz

1. Portishead - dope

Having just heard Lindstrøm yesterday I think its great. That and GGD should be well ahead of Hercules & Yawn Affair

next year niche music fans vote in bigger numbers, no more of the "it wont get enough votes so i wont bother now" as this has been proven wrong this year.

might do that. this has been a really fun thread, but for most part completely divorced from my own listening in 2008. only two of my top 30 albums from last year (earth and portishead) made the list, and they were towards the lower end of my rankings.

one thing that strikes me about the list in general is it's mostly very nice, you know? fairly polite stuff, nothing too noisy or nasty or obnoxious or 'difficult'. the heavy stuff (boris, torche) is the poppy/song-based/linear end of the spectrum, while the more 'experimental' stuff is mostly of the pleasantly woozy variety.

portishead is probably the most difficult/forbidding/unfriendly album on this list. the fact that it's at no.1 seems slightly at odds with the mood set by the rest, so that's quite a pleasing result.

(lots of shorthand in this post, but hopefully you get what I mean.)

You mean lots of electrodribble?

^^^i hang with this post, although there's actually some reasonably difficult stuff I hadn't anticipated

the point about the outre choices being 'safe' within an experimental context is valid

but there are some really cool albums on here which work on a narrative, enjoyable level

xp

why would someone not vote for something because they think it wouldn't make the list? isn't this just supposed to be your fav records?

the heavy stuff (boris, torche) is the poppy/song-based/linear end of the spectrum

It is ILM.

why would someone not vote for something because they think it wouldn't make the list? isn't this just supposed to be your fav records?

Some people said they didn't see the point in voting as their fave records wouldn't make the list.

Or are you talking about the tactical voting some ilxors have said?

Mentioned

one thing that strikes me about the list in general is it's mostly very nice, you know? fairly polite stuff, nothing too noisy or nasty or obnoxious or 'difficult'. the heavy stuff (boris, torche) is the poppy/song-based/linear end of the spectrum, while the more 'experimental' stuff is mostly of the pleasantly woozy variety.

makes sense. off-putting music tends to put folks off. wouldn't expect a khanate record to make everybody's hooray favorites list.

the heavy stuff (boris, torche) is the poppy/song-based/linear end of the spectrum

It is ILM the western world.

― The User Formerly Known As Pfunkboy Latterly Known as.. (Herman G. Neuname), Tuesday, February 17, 2009 7:48 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

xp although many people don't consider khanate 'off-putting'. it's all relative, innit? personally I find vampire weekend and cut copy a lot more off-putting than things viral.

I wouldn't expect really extreme music to make the top 5, almost by definition, but I might expect a 50-album list on a site as diverse as ILM to stray a little further from the middle ground.

xposts (damn, Contenderizer making the point really fucking succinctly and making me look like Mister Wind) ...

portishead is probably the most difficult/forbidding/unfriendly album on this list. the fact that it's at no.1 seems slightly at odds with the mood set by the rest, so that's quite a pleasing result

This is an interesting point and I wouldn't argue with it; however, surely it's got more to do with the fact that Third was a record by a "name" band, hotly anticipated, than with ILMers being contrary?

I mean, it sort of stands to reason that the bigger event a release is, the more of us are going to hear it. I'm certainly one of the less imaginative/exploratory posters here, but even those who are off beating paths through the experimental undergrowth need to actually know about a record's existence before they can hear it.

The other thing with "difficult/forbidding/unfriendly" is that -- let's be honest here -- it's largely in the eye (er, ear) of the beholder. I remember reading a piece by David Keenan a few years back that basically seemed to be arguing that any music that was remotely pleasant to listen to -- ie wasn't the aural equivalent of testicular torsion -- was some kind of dreadful sell-out, and I just thought: what, you tool, you actually won't allow yourself to feel any pleasure from music? Sometimes ugly noise is all I want to hear, but the fact remains that I'm still doing it for pleasure; because I enjoy it. Like most people, though -- ILMers not excepted -- I guess I listen to pleasant things for pleasure marginally more often than not.

I'd be really interested to hear what someone from the more extreme end of the spectrum thought of this: M the G? Herman?

LJ, have you heard the Alex Moulton record? I'd be interested in your take on it. It's prog-disco!

xxp: Middle ground? Wasn't the talk about 21-50 all about how esoteric it was?

m the g,

yes i agree. a lot my picks didn't make the list and i didn't think they would. i even voted for like local mpls bands that have only sold a couple hundred CDs but figured i might as well

You asking me what I think of Keenan? He's a tosser who overchages for cdrs in his mailorder shop (VT)

Just a pity that ILX polls dont allow you to rank a list of 20. Then you would get a lot more voters. But then perhaps the results would be even more lowest common denominator/middle ground.

I'd be seriously interested to hear what noise fans thought thee best noise record of the year was.

They're too busy arguing over Analogue vs Laptop sounds

Some people said they didn't see the point in voting as their fave records wouldn't make the list.

i think those people have missed the point of voting somewhat. obv all my 20 votes deserved to make it, but i didn't vote with the aim of all of them making it...

I wouldn't expect really extreme music to make the top 5, almost by definition, but I might expect a 50-album list on a site as diverse as ILM to stray a little further from the middle ground.

i think the list strays quite far from the middle ground in all directions tbh, and i don't see why the music you're complaining didn't make it is any more worthy of inclusion than all the music we voted for which didn't make it...like, what makes khanate or whoever "further from the middle ground" than the foreign exchange or trus'me? depends on what you consider to be the middle ground...

Just a pity that ILX polls dont allow you to rank a list of 20. Then you would get a lot more voters.

I seriously doubt this.

xp "difficult/forbidding/unfriendly" certainly is in the ear of the beholder, but for me music's certainly all about pleasure, of various stripes: profound, profane, boneheaded, cerebral, sensual...but to me there's just as much pleasure and joy to be had in discordant, brutal, nihilistic sounds as there is in soft, mellifluous, technicolour ones.

this list is notable for its distinct lack of the former, is all.

re: keenan. he runs a great wee record shop (though yeah, overpriced) but I'm not a fan of his scorched earth, atonal-improv-or-death approach. it's incredibly conservative in its own way.

It's not like Khanate even had an album out in 2008. They split up a few years back.
(However an album mostly recorded 3 years ago, with vocals just having been finally added by Mr Dubin himself ,has just come out and is the best album they made since the debut, so maybe it will make the 2008 poll next year!)

Just a pity that ILX polls dont allow you to rank a list of 20. Then you would get a lot more voters.

I seriously doubt this.

― Lots of praying with no breakfast! (HI DERE),

Why? Some polls get 150 votes. Would be a lot easier for lazy people to vote than emailing.

You still have to get said lazy people to pour through over 100 albums to pull out 20 they care about and order them. You also need a polling interface that allows you to easily do this.

Which unfortunately probably isn't possible

But if it was, i'm sure you would get way over 100 voters

there's always been a meme within the critical and broad-eared listening community that attaches a kind of political/aesthetic heroism to truly difficult music -- and that denigrates or condescends to the "merely pleasant". seems to me that this meme became dominant (or selectively dominant w/in people-thinking-and-writing-about-music circles) in the mid 80s-mid 90s, what with the anti-commercial stances, celebration of noise/experimentation for their own sake, contempt for pop, love for anything "extreme" or outsider-y, etc.

since then, these ideas & aesthetics have lost traction. it's hard to find a lot of critical/popular support for the idea that difficult, "challenging", willfully anticommercial music is inherently more valid (politically or otherwise) than things that might actually sell/appeal to general audiences. using pop forms to express rage or aggressive dissatisfaction is, i think, even looked at a bit askance. instead, there seems to be something like an orthodoxy of comfortable, cerebral pleasure in critical approaches to music. "music can be so nice, so majestic, so comforting, so thoughtful, so appealing and so much FUN -- why would you want to make it all harsh and angry and hard to listen to?"

i know i'm overstating things, and probably communicating badly, but something like this does seem to have happened over the last 10-15 years.

Some of us aren't looking for music that is difficult to listen to. We're looking for music that genuinely blows our minds with thrillingly original and fresh expression. I can't articulate it very well, but it seems to me that bands are happy if one element of their music is novel, rather than the whole joyful fabric of their music. You can be challenging and have fun at the same time!

Being novel for novelty's sake almost never works.