ILM Top 100 2000-2004: ALBUMS

1. album lists inevitably more pitchfork-y / r-word than singles lists, nobody listens to albums anymore anyways
2. fabled "good old days" of ilm like 01 basically, indie by end of 02
3. pitchfork and similar (marginally) more pro-pop over last 5 years so token presence of say justin album would be unshocking on a fork list, not so a few years ago
4. corny ass lurkers be reading the fork

If you hate indie and you live on ILM then more power to you because you can bitch and moan and feel above it all. Incidentally I hate indie when the fucking performances are out of tune and amateurism is the order of the day. I would doubt, though, that the indie bands/artists that make the ILM top 50 or top 10 or whatever reside in this bracket. With the excpetion of Sleater Kinney.

*ducks*

-- ethan (epadget...), May 19th, 2001.

Yeah Ethan, too 'indie rock' is better. (...and if only Beck made some approaching "P's B." he would be tolerable.)

anyway another plus: Weezer (might be irritating-as-fuck but a bit of fresh air as an utterly non-canon choice.) no Leftfield.

erm...where's Destiny's Child ;)

-- Omar (o.muno...), May 19th, 2001.

the thing i find most interesting about this list is that, given the amount of canon-bashing and the prevelance of sniffy attitudes towards magazine polls, how completely it conforms to the standard rock canon. take out the singles (Britney etc) and it could have been lifted straight from Q or Mojo.

-- Wyndham Earl (wyndham_ear...), September 21st, 2002.

Have 20. I would vote so differently now. I think the final list would be way less indie now.

-- sundar subramanian (sundar_subramanian200...), March 10th, 2003. (sundar)

i think it would be even more indie now

-- gareth (garet...), March 10th, 2003. (gareth)

I imagine the same thing happens in London, New York, San Francisco, Barcelona - wherever.

Oh, the rot had firmly set in by 2002...

ILM 2001
http://www.sergioleone.net/mt-2.jpg

ILM 2002
http://www.tumbaabierta.com/cripta/img/fulci_zombie.jpg

For me it's only about the fourth best SK album, which is probably why relatively little discussion at the time, but it's the only one eligible to be voted for, hence the high number of votes.

Fugazi'a Argument is a similar thing, it is one of their best albums, but not vastly devaint or better than what went before, so not a lot of talk.

I think people are confusing 'good music' with 'good music to talk about'.

(It should be clear for example, that terrible music is often great to talk about)

Points: 466
No. of votes: 32 (!)
No. of #1 votes: 0 (!)

Artist: THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Title: FEVER TO TELL
Label: Polydor
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/fevertotell.jpg

Highest number of votes so far, but no top scores for Karen and co.

Comments: The praise heaped on "maps" is deserving. its a good song, and a believable lyric, too. beyond that, though, and when i can push past my paranoia that not having a bass AND moving quickly to a major label automatically means HOLLOW, i am delighted with the myriad pleasures to be had on fever to tell. "date with the night", "man", "tick", and especially "pin" and "y control" are convincing and finished, even while retaining the broken-pink-and black-plastic sound that the YYY's seemed interested in pursuing. Pete S

Recommended tracks: Maps, Pin, Y Control

Points: 469
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 5

Artist: BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
Title: YOU FORGOT IT IN PEOPLE
Label: Mercury
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/youforgotitinpeople.jpg

Comments: Amazing song 'kc accidental'. On first listening, this Broken Spcial Scene song, just these fucking aggravated drums drumming with pure melodic guitar noise.. sensational song and album. Not the U2 of indie rock as some would say but a fresh sounding crafted pop surprise from noise appreciators, cascading brilliantly at once with energetic rhthyms, aching meoldy and exploding guitars. piers

Recommended tracks: Cause=Time, KC Accidental, Stars And Sons, Almost Crimes

Points: 479
No. of votes: 20
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: THE NOTWIST
Title: NEON GOLDEN
Label: City Slang
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/neongolden.jpg

Comments: "Neon Golden" is brilliant, blending (horrible word, sorry) old, acoustic instruments with bleeps and stuff from instruments I can't make out, but hell, it does the job for me. People who liked "Shrink" will love this one, as it is better, the ingredients are now put together in the right proportion (not being English, I have my doubts about that last sentence...) Listen to it, enjoy it! Willem

Recommended tracks: Pilot, Pick Up The Phone, Neon Golden, Off The Rail

Points: 486
No. of votes: 26
No. of #1 votes: 4

Artist: N.E.R.D.
Title: IN SEARCH OF...
Label: Virgin America
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/insearchof.jpg

Comments: Obviously we\'re all sick of Pharrell\'s falsetto now, but then...

I guess there are reference points for something like Bobby James, but I felt like it was totally unprecedented, so fresh. The whole album really collapses all those soft/hard male/female things both lyrically (dreamy hippy bullshit intertwined around playa fantasy porn/violent scenarios) and sonically. Beautiful record.

(btw I mean the programmed version, not the one with Spymob)
Jamie

Recommended tracks: Lapdance, Bobby James, Provider, Stay Together

Points: 494
No. of votes: 26
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Title: SUPREME CLIENTELE
Label: Epic
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/supremeclientele.gif

Comments: Judging Ghostface by normal human standards is a mug's game. He's garrulously prolific (there's probably more bootleg b-sides comps than real albums at this point.) He's also generally a law and a world unto himself: hip-hop is the framework on which he hangs his weepy narratives, pop-cult cut-ups, dada delight in the sheer sound of words, the act of forcing breath across the lips. (He's also capable of straightforward reporting and maybe even a hook when he wants to be, proving thankfully that he's not just some
orange rhyming dictionary in a purple suede robe.) Like any new language, at first it all sounds "the same." But immerse yourself, and suddenly it's like the inner workings of "hip-hop" are being laid bare for you: dense internal rhymes, sometimes collapsing or twisting several times over a bar, rock solid beats, and old format soul jewels that still shine like they day they were first loaded into the tomb at the dawn of the 70s. Does it mean anything? Does "Surfin Bird"? Supreme Clientele is so far and away the best Wu solo joint its not even funny. What else are you going to stack against it? Tical? Nigga Please? The only things that come close are Cuban Linx, Liquid Swords, and the first ODB. (Okay the ODB cheapie best-of kills all comers, but I'm trying to be fair here.) What other album would make Jack Kirby and Spike Lee equally happy? Jess

Recommended tracks: Nutmeg, One, Apollo Kids, Malcolm

From the Neptunes productions I'd heard at that point, it was such a surprise to hear Bobby James. It was 'wuh?'.

I thought NERD might place lower due to the godawful 'She wants to move' and general Pharrell overexposure so 26 ain't bad.

Ghostface invoked brilliantly by Jess there, although I actually prefer Ironman. What about all the bootleg mixtapes out there- what's good?

Points: 513
No. of votes: 27
No. of #1 votes: 2

Artist: SIGUR ROS
Title: AGAETIS BYRJUN
Label: Fat Cat
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/agaetisbyrjun.jpg

Comments: They're one of my favorite bands, not cause of some trendy shit or whatever...cause their music makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I'm floating on a comet at light-speed through the vacuum of space. It makes me feel like I was having sex and the orgasm decided to continue on indefinitely. It makes me feel in touch with The Universe in ways going to church never did. Nickalicious

Recommended tracks: Svefn-g-englar, Staralfur, Ny Batteri