ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2013

awesome :)

my sixth vote, "without me" is a bit of a red herring: the rest of the album's a lot more organic-sounding than its icy synths would lead you to think but the songs are pretty much all there and she's such an irresistible vocal presence, like, no one else sounds like she does right now. love how she channels lovers' rock for a pensive break-up song on "ain't all bad", gets her tina turner/james brown on for a super-energetic middle section (eg "get it right") and closes with this really intense ballad about digging her nails into your back (in a good way) - "in deep"

*goes to listen right now*

wait is fantasia really big or something
this is like when i only found out about marc anthony last month

more re: that dj sprinkes oh yoko remix: this is reducing it a bit but it's two media representations of queer people, one hostile, the other clumsy, thrown against each other. also the gil scott heron sample doesn't totally reveal itself for what it is until the nypd blue part starts so it at first seems just a "balling/bawling" riff

mdc is right that it does have sequencing issues though and you can pretty much delete the emeli sandé penned dirge of a title track on sight. i blame emeli sandé for so much

Oh it's not much of a track, but again, she sounds poised.

(Re: American Idol winners, the only exception I can think of is Kelly Clarkson and that's only because Since U Been Gone was such a monster).

Without You is brilliant, such a slinky melody.

wait is fantasia really big or something

to be fair it's now a decade since she won american idol and although "when i see u (polow da don remix)" from 2006 is something of a talismanic all-time classic for ilm r&b heads, album-wise she's only come into her own on her last two, both of which have been under-promoted (or only promoted to r&b audiences, with little critical traction or crossover to pop audiences) (and zero attempt to break her in the UK)

Fantasia won American Idol at the height of its popularity (Season 3) so most Americans probably know who she is

Dig this album, Get It Right hooked me. Lose To Win http://youtu.be/_cp-AK8ETdg

Was Without You a hit over here? I really have no idea what's in the charts these days.

R&B adult radio played "Lose to Win" to death here, and I never got tired of it. One of the better interpolations of a well-known hook imo

re american idol

i've just had a look and the only names i recognise are kelly and jordin sparks

Not Carrie Underwood?

This album pwns, I rank it up there with Beyonce and Janelle Monae

wow looking back i'm shocked that back to me never placed in the 2010 ilm poll, and "man of the house" was ignored in the trax too iirc - i definitely don't feel like fantasia's gotten that much more popular since (and that album/single are basically equivalent in quality to her album and big single last year)

http://i.imgur.com/o2E4Ygv.jpg

39 GOLDFRAPP Tales of Us (438 points, 13 votes, 3 first place votes)

Spotify

who knew

3 first place votes!

I wasn't aware anyone even cared about that.

Oh wow, I Had totally given up on this placing.

i listened to this album a couple of times but, pleasant as it was, didn't find myself ever wishing to go back to it

It's a gorgeous album, my favourite of theirs since Felt Mountain. Loses steam a bit towards the end, but the first six or seven tracks are staggering.

3 firsties though, i musta missed something

This was my number one. It's a really stunning album, maybe the best one they've done.

Loved this but pleasantly surpised by three #1s. It's a low-key record.

yeah this is like the third time i didn't know an established artists released an album last year

Give 'Alvar' a proper listen, that might win you over.

the goldfrapp album just slipped off my ballot at the last minute but it's one of their more intriguing albums in an insanely inconsistent career - i liked the heavy autumnal mood, and maybe it was more of a vibe than strong song-wise but the highlights like "thea" and "annabel" provided really fantastic peaks. they seem so much more in command of their aesthetic when doing weird folk stuff than electropop, albeit a lot of times i just want to listen to beth gibbons & rustin man instead

ITT people are very proud of their ignorance.

ulla is a highlight for me

I just moved from the UK to Minnesota and ended up going on lots of walks in the autumn and when all the snow started coming a bit later on. This was always my soundtrack and it always sounded so perfect. Best album for that time of year since the Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man album.

Basically everything from Jo to Thea is great.

wow, count me in as someone who voted for Goldfrapp but fully expected it not to make this list.

it just occurred to me that I could be posting my Facebook thoughts on some of these albums to the thread so here's what I wrote about Side Effects of You:

The first time I saw Fantasia Barrino sing on American Idol, I didn't get it.

She was performing in the semifinal round, singing to judges who had already fallen in love with her and were selling her to the audience as the season's clear frontrunner. Being the snobby dork that I am, what I heard was a gravelly voice that seemed to be more into melisma and ornamentation than singing a song. It was flashy, yes; it was also out of rhythm, the pitch was wobbly and even though I now can't remember the song she was singing, the melismania she was displaying was wholly wrong for it. When she passed through to the finals, I figured America would finally catch on to the lack of substance and bounce her from the competition.

Obviously, that didn't happen. In fact, as the season went on, Fantasia (along with her fellow divas Latoya London and, who was the other one, the one who came in seventh? Oh right, JENNIFER HUDSON) delivered great performance after great performance, not only turning me into a fervent supporter but mostly cruising to take the third season crown. I couldn't wait for her to dominate the music world and, when her single "Truth Is" came out, I figured her omnipresence was just beginning.

Obviously, that didn't happen either. Fantasia has had a great career, including a ton of success on the R&B charts and a stint in The Color Purple where she made the fickle Tony Awards crowd stand up and lose their minds, but she never became a Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood or even a Jordin Sparks. I would wonder why before ruefully admitting that I really wanted her to succeed but had never actually bothered to buy or even listen to any of her albums. When I noticed Side Effects of You had been released this past year, I decided to remedy that. AM I EVER GLAD I DID.

Fantasia of 2013 is a much different, more accomplished singer than Fantasia of 2004. The choices she makes, whether it's in where an ad-lib or exhortation should be in a chorus or bridge, or transitioning from her raspy belt into a surprisingly clear, effective head voice, stomping over an old-school R&B beat or icily giving an ex the kiss-off, always connect. It helps that the material can stand up to her voice; most of the songs are collaborations with producer Harmony Samuels, a name I don't know but plan to look into in the future. The best example of their synergy is the single "Without Me", which also pulls in fantastic assists from Kelly Rowland and Missy Elliott to create a majestic groove over which the women take turns giving a fool his walking papers. It's one of those songs that made me instantly hit repeat the first time I heard it and, if I was ranking 2013 singles, it would have a strong chance at being my favorite. Other standouts include "Get It Right", "Ain't All Bad", "End of Me", "Change Your Mind" and "Supernatural Love".

the goldfrapp album just slipped off my ballot at the last minute but it's one of their more intriguing albums in an insanely inconsistent career

lex pretend

I'd disagree with this, don't think they've made a bad album. Last album was one of their weakest but it still was a solid album. This one is in a different league though.

ITT people are very proud of their ignorance.

― Immediate Follower (NA), Wednesday, January 29, 2014 8:55 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've ever heard a Goldfrapp song before

KP, are you in the Twin Cities and, if so, have you stopped by jjj's store yet?

i know alison goldfrapp's thing has always been the opposite of enunciation (she doesn't mumble, she just...never seems to treat consonants and vowels differently) but looking up the lyrics kinda cracked this album open for me - these odd little character studies, sketched out just enough to pull you into their worlds but never quite fully fleshed out

I included "Drew" on my tracks ballot, but didn't get a chance to listen to the whole thing.

wow looking back i'm shocked that back to me never placed in the 2010 ilm poll, and "man of the house" was ignored in the trax too iirc - i definitely don't feel like fantasia's gotten that much more popular since (and that album/single are basically equivalent in quality to her album and big single last year)

― lex pretend

Yeah that album was crazy underrated. The song with Cee-Lo was my highlight but I liked just about every song.

But given that everybody seems to have a different recommendation from this album, I'll definitely have to explore further!

xp

fantasia's maybe more popular among ppl who wouldn't immediately check out an ai winner and she's established a legit career but she's nowhere near the name she was win she won maybe the pop cult phenomenon of this century at its peak popularity. this is kinda true w/ any ai winner who won (or just prominently placed) when winning meant something but i still think it's the first sentence in any story about her, she's still 'former american idol winner fantasia', whereas i don't think the same is true of clarkson, underwood, or hudson anymore.

I'd disagree with this, don't think they've made a bad album. Last album was one of their weakest but it still was a solid album. This one is in a different league though.

i think rocket was the only outright bad one but i think a lot of their albums have been patchy and not quiiite there for me. i appreciate the constant stylistic switch-ups but also feel they've only mastered a particular style a couple of times (this is prob one of them)

It's kind of unforgivable that I've never made time to listen to Goldfrapp considering how much of her output appears on paper to be tailor-made for me to enjoy; I'll be fixing that today

KP, are you in the Twin Cities and, if so, have you stopped by jjj's store yet?

― SHAUN (DJP)

I'm currently living in Saint Paul (Where my wife is from) Sorry I don't know what jjj's is?

i liked those write-ups dan! did you ever hear fantasia's last album? you MUST hear "man of the house"

It's weird, Alison G has a beautiful voice and several good-to-great songs and obvious star quality and stage presence and has played a theremin onstage with her crotch and yet there's still something kinda boring about Goldfrapp the band.

(fyi the song Fantasia sang that I was not feeling at all was "Something to Talk About")

jjj = ILX poster/moderator jjjusten, aka one of my best friends from high school; he's currently talking a lot of nonsense giving crucial industry insights about a guitar trade show on the I Make Music subboard