ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2013

standby

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

60 DONATO DOZZY Plays Bee Mask (311 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote)

Spotify

^^^ good album

i am intrigued

1st track is very pretty, I was surprised when the album got more intense later on

Wow, surprised to see this make it. This was a very late addition to my list. Beautiful album.

So it's a set of remixes of a 12" by Bee Mask from 2012 (iirc), turning gnarly electronica into blissed-out electronica (iirc). I voted for it but haven't listened in a while...gonna go do that now.

it's okay, nothing special. kind of got the follakzoid factor in that it's good but I can't get super excited by it. Think i prefer Beemask on his own really.

*15 minute break because i'm gonna go eat breakfast*

First/only thing I've heard from Dozzy, I know people liked that Voices From the Lake album but I never got round to checking it out.

The last remix track on here is stunningly gorgeous.

i have never heard of this. i like the cover tho.

loved VFTL and some donato dozzy singles from the heyday of mnml but saw mixed reviews of this and wasn't really enthused by the concept so never checked it out...expect i'll like it fine if i do but that individual youtubes might not be the point

I havent heard this. Is Dizzy involved with Voices From The Lake? That album never did much for me tbh.

I like it more than the Voices From the Lake album. It's way more accessible, probably down to it being half an hour shorter.

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

59 JOHN GRANT Pale Green Ghosts (315 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)

Spotify

WAY TOO FUCKING LOW

Loving this. Just busted out some Emeralds this morning. Seems like this would fit really well with that.

by which I mean the damn bee thing, not the beardo.

my fav d. dozzy in dancefloor mode was always "gol", from...wow, 2007 :/

whoa this is way lower than i expected for john grant!!

I know we've moved on, but since everyone loves/hates these rundowns:

77 JULIANNA BARWICK Nepenthe - floaty, hazy, drifty. Nice, but not enough to hold my attention.
76 FALL OUT BOY Save Rock and Roll - is this prog emo? I appreciate their verve, but I can't say that I wholeheartedly love this
75 MELT-BANANA Fetch - this is growing on me. it may still be too insane to be enjoyable, kind of like Deerhoof minus the song craft, but I'll keep checking it out.
74 BILL CALLAHAN Dream River - I really, really need to get this
73 LORDE Pure Heroine - I kind of regret voting for this because my interest in it has waned considerably
72 THEE OH SEES Floating Coffin - a nice twist on the garage formula, just original enough to keep me listening.
71 FÖLLAKZOID II - makes good background music, I like the wobbly sense of time
70 GORGUTS Colored Sands - need to give these guys a second listen, not sure if I can get past the vocals because I'm a metal wimp
(tie) 68. KELELA Cut 4 Me - eh, not enough there for me
(tie) 68 CUT COPY Free Your Mind - haven't heard, probably will skip
67 f(x) Pink Tape - lots of nice production touches and interesting chord changes.
66 DANNY BROWN Old - haven't heard yet
65 FACTORY FLOOR Factory Floor - this is my shit
64 CIARA Ciara - haven't heard
63 PARQUET COURTS Light Up Gold - I had this on my playlist for a while and just couldn't get with it, the whole Pavement/slacker vibe is pretty far from where I'm at these days
62 K MICHELLE Rebellious Soul - I like the raunchy tracks, she knows how to get straight to the point!
61 ARCTIC MONKEYS AM - always frustrated when bands downshift into midtempo groove mode

Pale Green Ghosts - I really need to take more time over it. Wasn't sure about the swipey r'n'b pastiches, but Glacier is a track of the year for me, and the recent video is really something.

some nice chocolate lime vibes going with that album cover

EVERYONE LISTEN TO THE JOHN GRANT ALBUM RIGHT NOW, IT'S FUCKING INCREDIBLE

SHAME ON ALL OF YOU

xp: "swipey r'n'b pastiches" <--- what the hell are you talking about here

I mean, are we actually now at a point where people hear a drum beat and go "oh, r'n'b" because that's the only way that comment makes any kind of sense to me

pale green ghosts is def the album of 2013 i feel like i didn't give enough of a chance. DL got me into queen of denmark from a previous poll (when it...didn't place iirc?) and it hit me really hard; i thought pale green ghosts was awkward and inconsistent in comparison (the electro touches...nahhhh). but i think my life was overly busy and hectic when it came out and i didn't even spend enough time with its high points. will rectify!

he still has an incredible voice tho

I like the Dozzy record just fine but there was a bunch of other electronic records this year that I ended up loving a lot more. Re-listening now though and it does sound great.

iirc queen of denmark did very well for guardian writers eoy lists
think that's where i first heard of him anyway

lex, were you pro-, anti-, or indifferent to Gus Gus? That's where the electro touches came from (and honestly I think they work very, very well)

(like, better than most of the recent Gus Gus albums, which are good but not as good as the John Grant album)

great album cover

xpost I havent heard this album but the last one was boring hoary old Mojo-reader bait imo. It's odd to see people like lex and dan boosting singer-songwritery stuff. I'll check it out.

Wow, the title track from Pale Green Ghosts is extraordinary. Will investigate further.

lex, were you pro-, anti-, or indifferent to Gus Gus? That's where the electro touches came from (and honestly I think they work very, very well)

i liked this is normal a lot back in the day but i don't think i've listened to it in a decade! and not even sure where my copy is any more

i don't have anything against the electro touches on PGG themselves - i just think they're an awkward fit for john grant's voice. but as i said, not enough time spent with it tbh

personal faves: title track, "GMF", "It Doesn't Matter To Him", "Why Don't You Love Me Anymore"

xp: "swipey r'n'b pastiches" <--- what the hell are you talking about here

― SHAUN (DJP), Tuesday, January 28, 2014 3:37 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dunno, I can remember hearing some track where he does a dissy rap thing or something which just sounded too silly for me.

I havent heard this album but the last one was boring hoary old Mojo-reader bait imo. It's odd to see people like lex and dan boosting singer-songwritery stuff.

i love a good singer-songwriter when their songcraft is on point and when THEY CAN ACTUALLY SING which so many can't - john grant qualifies on both counts. great sardonic sense of humour in his lyrics and i've always had a soft spot for wordiness

Dunno, I can remember hearing some track where he does a dissy rap thing or something which just sounded too silly for me.

lol are you talking about "Sensitive New Age Guy"?

honestly i only heard the whole thing once and then kept listening to glacier... sorry, i promise to revisit the whole thing.

http://i.imgur.com/rgeKv3a.jpg?1

58 RHYE Woman (324 points, 14 votes)

Spotify

Nice album. Think ILM will be the only place that has the Quadron album higher.

At a glance (not really following the thread closely), this list seems far more varied and interesting than the tracks one. I say that knowing that I probably wouldn't like a great deal of these albums.

i hope 2013 was the high point for all this revival r&b, alt-r&b, lex-r&b, etc. such boring, so sleepy.

donato album is sweet.

I will do a full rundown later after giving every album a good listen, but for those who've been understandably avoiding my special thread, yesterday's albums were largely fucken awesome, surprisingly so

(and some of the lex rnb was what made yesterday so great)

xxxpost don't wanna complain just yet, but i'm a bit disappointed by this rundown so far. i usually enjoy the albums countdown much more than the tracks poll but this year hasn't thrown up too many surprises and there are a lot of albums i think just 'hey, this is okay, it's an album, it does the job' (the Rhye album being one example), but without getting too excited. Surprised John Grant didn't place higher though as we're still in the lower rungs of the poll. This could (and will) all change as we move up the ranks of course, so it's not a complaint so much as an observation.

My tolerance for endless sleepy R+B albums is almost up to my tolerance for endless space rock albums, but still I listened to Woman about twice and never revisited.

I think John Grant has a small following on ILM that is very passionate and vocal about him but there was relatively little wider impact. Amazing album, incredible voice.

The Donato Dozzy was my late discovery of last year, I love how it's essentially the same track viewed from totally different angles but it never feels repetitive in one listen. The original Bee Mask Vaporwave is glorious too.

Can't be arsed with Rhye at all.