ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2013

Miley Cyrus on this list; on any list. Seriously?

So i loaded it up on Grooveshark to see what I was missing...... listening to it now...... Autotune/Protools to the nth power, token urbanisms, urgent poser pop...... does this bookend in with the Jersey Shore crowd?

puke.

Cleansing my palette with Run The Jewels, still, I think i just got too old for ILM.

Not saying you didn't give it enough of a chance but I think there is reward if you are okay with softer voices.

i probably didn't give it as much of a chance as i could have - pretty sure you're right but there was also a lack of really interesting melodies/arrangements to hook me in

Voted for a Holden track (Blackpool Late Eighties, absolutely stunning) - the album was forbiddingly long though and after an amazing start petered a little...needs more listening, probably

bodacious ignoramus, so it's not just a clever name then

Yay a few good albums in a row. Think I voted Rival Dealer. Holden was a late, but very fun, discovery for me

I didnt get the Holden album when I listened to it (yes on headphones). im not too familiar with the guy although i was expecting something dancefloor-friendly (like his remixes). so i was thrown by the oddness and disjointedness of the album

"Blackpool Late Eighties" is such obvious me-bait on every level

Pet Shop Boys album is way too low, the Deafheaven album is incredible (the transition from 'Dream House' to the beauty of the second track is just a wonderful moment).

Anyone else hoping the Suede album pops up next?

― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 16:13 (1 hour ago) Permalink

I'm hoping it pops up soon, because I voted for it, but I'm not holding my breath.

I take back my point about Deafhaven being the most vacuous and insubstantial album on the list.

holden is pretty interesting. electronics + acoustic instruments is a hard sell for me so i skipped of the songs with sax solos but had a couple interesting times listening to it. definitely think it's a masterpiece of promotion, just reading about how he made it made me so curious

too many vocal tracks on the dj koze album

i don't think the Holden is quite on a par with his best work, but i rate his best work pretty highly

Just tried out the caterpillar thing and blackpool late eighties. Can't hang with this.

definitely think it's a masterpiece of promotion, just reading about how he made it made me so curious

i haven't read anything about this! (got into it late after the promo cycle was done as assumed he'd be stuck in a holding pattern from the mid-00s. a holden pattern.) got a link?

http://i.imgur.com/95mFTjS.jpg?1

28 TEGAN & SARA Heartthrob (559 points, 18 votes, 1 first place vote)

Spotify

the holden album seemed disjointed to me, too, but I'm going to give it another chance

That was a Burial zing, didn't notice Holden creep in here. The really amazing thing about the Holden rec is that the tracks were reportedly played live on modular synths with no overdubs. Do do that and produce this album is nothing short of incredible.

woah didn't know that. made my ballot which was unweighted but would've been pretty high on it if i had weighted.

so, tegan and sara!

haven't heard

really surprised to see Goldfrapp made it. got v little love on the singles poll and aside from "Thea" I wasn't all that into any of the tracks.

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

AMEL LARRIEUX - Ice Cream Everyday (563 points, 19 votes)

Spotify

27 AMEL LARRIEUX - Ice Cream Everyday (563 points, 19 votes)

haha ONE MORE TIME

27 AMEL LARRIEUX Ice Cream Everyday (563 points, 19 votes)

Every Larrieux song str8 kills it, stoked to hear this when home

I can't help but sing that title to the tune of 'Satori' by Flower Travellin' Band. I suspect that is the first and last time the two acts are mentioned in the same breath.

That I've heard, I mean. Maybe best left as is tho

i know this is "rockist" of me, but to be clear, the new dj sprinkles is a compilation of-sorts, with dj sprinkles applying his touch to the songs. midtown 120 blues is all-original material from dj sprinkles, and it is breathtaking.

― Daniel, Esq 2, Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:42 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sorry, this is going way back but i'm just catching up now. dj sprinkles' does not just add her "touch" to remixes, these are reconfigured so completely as to be effectively the same as original sprinkles tracks. if anything the remixes are taken further and to stranger, more uniquely thaemlitz-esque places than even the album goes. if the remixes and her original tracks were all mixed up in a dj set (which they are if you were to see sprinkles dj) you wouldn't be able to tell the difference without just being familiar enough with the music to recognize specific tracks. also, for the people who are having difficulty tracking down the music from this comp, i assure you it is worth the effort, because it is some of the most beautiful house music ever made, it's perfect for home-listening and very accessible to people who are used to listening to stuff not geared towards the dancefloor. i'm certain that imago, for example, would find a lot to enjoy in it.

before "i do take" stormed the trax top 10 i didn't even have much hope for this album placing; i'm so glad ilm took to amel this year. in my top 10 obv. some of the other highlights -

"a million sapphires", so much swirling drama and the central metaphor is whoa. not on youtube, this was the only web stream i could find
"orange glow", woozy funk that should appeal to fans of erykah badu circa mama's gun and sa-ra
"danger", intricate and wending and full of complex details

voted for both of the last two! kinda surprised the Larrieux album is so much lower than the song was in the tracks poll. hopefully the people that liked "I Do Take" are checking for the whole album now though.

the phrase "to the nth power" seems to leave out the possibility of negative powers

also, for the people who are having difficulty tracking down the music from this comp, i assure you it is worth the effort,

seriously, if you know of a place...

Tegan & Sara album is very good, i love that there was a critically acclaimed hit album in 2013 produced by one half of Geggy Tah

Hadn't heard of Tegan & Sara before but really liked Closer from the tracks poll. Anyone recommend some more tracks to check out from the album?

negative powers -- now you're talking !

xpost
Try "Goodbye, Goodbye" and "I'm Not Your Hero" (though I like the whole record).

xps that's a good recommendation, karl, reminds me I'm going to have to listen to this

haha I'm always surprised when the album covers for things that you never see in HMV or Fopp (e.g. Fantasia, Amel, Ariana) pop up on this thread. They're never how I imagined they would look.

Am basically boycotting Holden until he reinserts the "James" - there's a brilliant French band called Holden who were around long before. But I am having trouble parsing "it was all played live on modular synths, don't you know" and "saxophone solos".

heartthrob was my first favorite album of last year, love that an album that begins with "closer" ends up being largely a breakup album dressed up in icy synths

holden record is wonderful, was my #3 i think

i never actually listened to all of the holden record bc i'm exhausted with anyone attempting krautrock at this point

don't hear any krautrock on it myself

first track was v resonant of krautrock, idk

definitely will revisit it

Bold prediction: TNP next

First track of Holden was gr8 btw, made me :O

Amel's album is great but what's with the cover? Is it retro or just a sickly design fail.

and yeah agree with others upthread that 'blackpool late eighties' is the standout despite being a bit more conventionally pretty than the rest of the record

didn't think of krautrock at all w/r/t holden, the rhythms are way different

Amel's album is great but what's with the cover? Is it retro or just a sickly design fail.

a self-released low-budget thing i guess? plus maybe she likes inappropriately bright colour schemes