ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2013

thematically it's not... the tightest. the songwriting is really strong though across the album.

"Body Party" and "Overdose" are the only songs I remember from it. Did she make a video for "Overdose"?

Livin it Up is cool. Overdose was cool til some dude ruined it. lol was just gonna post those some dude posts.

I'd say it was the songwriting that left me the most underwhelmed, really.

another good song is read my lips...my favourite from the album...impo a lot of the songs on this sound like straight the-dream ripoffs, but maybe that's just me.

CICI <33333

first of my votes. ciara pretty much always hits my spots and i always, always return to her albums over and over again. i didn't think this was quite as front-to-back WHOA as basic instinct or even the highest points of the evolution and fantasy ride but solid cici is still right in my wheelhouse - it's just top 15 for the year rather than top 5.

essential ciara deep cuts from this era:

"super turnt up" - the world was just not ready for ciara featuring ciara
"read my lips" - single entendres about cunnilingus performed ridiculously sweetly and innocently
"livin' it up" - even a ciara campaign that went smoothly for once isn't without its great lost pop single. nice sisterly rap from nicki
"sophomore" - the deep slow jam i like better than "body party"

also, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-TTNdyIMAE]"i'm out"[url] didn't make the trax list but it's one of my favourite videos of the year. ciara and nicki were such a great partnership and are so watchable. i love cici's dress in the first verse!

oh i seem to have posted half the album well i guess that's why i voted for it

I love Nicki's parts of "I'm Out" but CiCi's kill all the momentum.

also, she looks so happy on the grammy red carpet! when a favourite pop star announces their pregnancy my inner pop stan always has to do battle with my inner...normal person. but despite wanting to stamp my foot about not getting a tour, a "super turnt up" video etc etc i am happy for her

http://cdn02.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2014/01/pregnant-ciara-grammys-2014-red-carpet.jpg

I stopped playing this in the autumn; it's def not FR or The Evolution which imo did both boast good album tracks.

the experience of listening to a Ciara album hits me the same way as looking at the color beige

I love Nicki's parts of "I'm Out" but CiCi's kill all the momentum.

― raggett neds of your summer dress (The Reverend), Monday, January 27, 2014 3:44 PM (51 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah that song is crying out for a Nicki-only edit

as sweet and nice as ciara seems to be, based on the lyrics on this album I suspect she is as dumb as a brick.

Damn, I'm listening to "Super Turnt Up" and "Keep on Lookin'" and even they feel like they would be middle-of-the-pack on any of her other albums.

idk man "super turnt up" is amazing, the rap on that is great

it's def not FR or The Evolution which imo did both boast good album tracks.

also, the positive, if there was one, for such tortuous gestation periods for those albums was that even if they weren't promoted, i got as attached to various leaks/album tracks as if they were ubiquitous singles, and they were in listening circulation for ages. with this album going so smoothly, it was like...the album came out, "body party" was so successful that they didn't bother with any other single than "i'm out", then it all sort of fizzled out then she got pregnant, fin.

I do love "Overdose" though.

playing the Factory Floor album now; I think I would have gone apeshit over this in high school but right now it seems.... thin? I can't immediately identify what is unsatisfying about this (it could be as simple as "one shouldn't try to listen to this album after commuting to Floorplan")

there is something very New-Beat-throwbackish about it though, I will probably end up digging this a lot

takes a while to sink in IMO, not nearly immediate as that (incredible) Floorplan record

that's a point, will floorplan show up here? I voted for "never grow old" in trax but is there enough support for the album?

"Overdose" was a single too? Or at least I heard it on the radio a bit.

The advance singles that didn't make the album were way better than most of the album tracks. I'd definitely take "Sorry Part 2", "Got Me Good", "Sweat", and "Wake Up, No Make Up" over most of this mess.

huh, a lot of stuff I like so far. gorguts, melt-banana, and f(x) all got a lot of play for me this year. <3 "step"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcJOZnGZ9NU

http://i.imgur.com/d3SqnOG.jpg?1

63 PARQUET COURTS Light Up Gold (308 points, 13 votes, 1 first place vote)

Spotify

my biggest regret re: my ballot is not putting Floorplan higher on it so I really hope they show

The advance singles that didn't make the album were way better than most of the album tracks. I'd definitely take "Sorry Part 2", "Got Me Good", "Sweat", and "Wake Up, No Make Up" over most of this mess.

yeah i wish these had all been bonus tracks - "wake up, no make-up" is flat-out incredible in particular, just exactly what i wanted mike will + ciara to sound like

"Overdose" was a single too? Or at least I heard it on the radio a bit.

scheduled to be a single iirc but never even got a video ;_;

Yeah that Parquet Courts album is decent. What I like with them is their economy of music. The songs are short and they get to the point. They all have a hook or a lyric to rope you in but they rarely outstay their welcome.

sounds great : /

I liked the floorplan lp but I'm much more into the moodier nighttime world stuff he does

Regardless of your feelings on "Overdose" as a song, the cover is, in the words of another thread, undeniable:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Ciara-overdose-cover-art.jpg

Oh yeah, these guys. Anything here for someone who wasn't particularly into the track that placed last week?

i liked floorplan quite well but didn't vote for it, i was more into some other dance records so it felt dishonest

If you didn't like that track I wouldn't bother, it's all basically the same. Had I heard it in 2002 I'd have been bored to tears but that whole sound is actually kind of refreshing now. Not to the extent I'd have voted for it, but still...

As noted on the tracks thread, "Stoned and Starving" is by far the longest song on the album so the rest of the album is a lot more concise, but if you didn't like S&S at all then you probably shouldn't bother with the rest of it - they've got a sound and they stick with it.

ha okay Factory Floor album is slowly morphing into something incredible

Matt DC OTM about Parquet Courts.
Put me in the camp that found Old quite instantly appealing whereas I had trouble getting into XXX

man okay I would have DEFINITELY voted for "Fall Back" had I heard this album in 2013

sorry, shutting up about Factory Floor now

Just FYI to the person who's doing the Spotify playlist (forksclovetofu?) you put the combined Parquet Courts album+EP on the playlist instead of just the album, don't know if you care.

Yeah I think i'm finally going to give Parquet Courts a chance, they seem to be right up my alley.

http://i.imgur.com/m70nivo.jpg?1

62 K MICHELLE Rebellious Soul

Spotify

62 K MICHELLE Rebellious Soul (310 points, 9 votes)

playlist is collaborative, anyone can add to it AFAIK

i was shocked that "VSOP" didn't place in tracks so i'm doubly surprised that the album made it this high

FUCK YEAH K. MICHELLE!!!!!!!

i was just getting nervous for this!!! SO GLAD IT PLACED.

The K Michelle isn't all great and the opera skit is the worst thing I've ever heard but its high points are basically astonishing.

Just FYI to the person who's doing the Spotify playlist (forksclovetofu?) you put the combined Parquet Courts album+EP on the playlist instead of just the album, don't know if you care.

― Immediate Follower (NA), Monday, January 27, 2014 4:02 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it was me, i only added the album tracks

but thank u for fixing

This is a wonderful album.

Quite liked this but it was totally overshadowed by the Amel and Fantasia albums for me.