ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

i don't think wagner would be unaware of a phrase he was borrowing from somebody else in his field who was acclaimed for their lyrics etc.

I think there are a few quasi-genres I used to love and now I'm a bit done with. Yeah the post-industrial gloom thing only works a few times in ten for me, but back in my Quietus-reading days it was my bread and butter.

And as I said on the tracks thread, all the 'mid-tempo artsy pop-not-pop solo female singer' gang are starting to blend into one to the point where I can't tell my Angel Olsons from my Shuras from my Hatchies from my Clairos etc... I used to lap that up, and obvs someone's going to come along and slap my wrists to tell me these acts are NOTHING ALIKE, and of course there are some real standouts (I still love a bit of Susanne Sundfor and Christine & the Queens), just feeling oversaturated as this whole thing has been a staple on ILM since at least the mid-2000s.

I always thought listening to classics was more indulgent than wading through contemporary stuff.

Why?

Sult was my #1 vote obv.

those records really do sound nothing alike dl lol

if yr ears flatten Sundfor and CatQ into anything near the same genre then yes it might be time to give yr ears a break

think i only listened to 2 albums more than once last year but it's now 3 thanks to checking out the caterini barbieri. good job voters!

the sacred paws record was acceptable too.

dl I'm sure you don't mean it to come across as such but grouping those acts together is leaning on "women all make the same music" territory

I mean the Hatchie is a noisy post-shoegaze album and the Clairo is a hushed intimate bedroom pop affair and I can't imagine hearing them as being that similar at all?

'Indulgent' might mean 'something to luxuriate in' tbf but I struggled to parse that comment as well.

there's something to dl's criticism (which boils down to 'y'all vote for too much basic melancholy art-pop') but it needs to be both much more careful and less gender-specific. also lol Hatchie is noisy post-shoegaze in no universe whatsoever, this is just synthy 80's art-pop with gauzy production

also angel olson isn't nearly as basic as you might think!!

*olsen ffs

lol speaking of not-basic, what on earth is this Kim Gordon album doing :D

did you know there is actually a german verb 'angelolsen' which roughly translated means 'to get on with announcing the next batch of mid-tempo artsy pop-not-pop'?

well yes, I am being very base by smooshing all these acts together but 'melancholy synthy eighties art pop' is the spectrum I'm talking about. There's obvs so much to love, but it's a genre in itself however wide-ranging and I feel exhausted by it

lol xp

lol Nick

As I slowly catch up, I enjoyed Caterina Barberi a lot and currently liking the Fontaines DC. No shock of the new with the latter but it's the kind of postpunk/indie rock I enjoy and it's solid.

#60 – Andy Stott – It Should Be Us (214 points, 9 votes)
#59 – Moodymann – Sinner (216 points, 6 votes, 1 number 1 vote)

never cared much about his previous two records, so, It Should Be Us was completely unexpected. in my ballot, and it would be top ten if i voted today. i'm aware he's still doin' it for modern love. this is total werkdiscscore, though, which when done maze-like, i'm a sucker for.

was the #1 voter for Sinner. just pull the MF trigger, let's get this shit over with. (note: he's not really tired, no)
lately have been listening to this (yeah it's a proper album) with Det.riot 67 and Another Black Sunday and man, what a boost. the three pieces segue-fit so damn well. i'll head now to the who has the best discography thread

Many, many xposts, but from tt: This Kali Malone would sound so amazing over some crunchy lo-if black metal. It manages to evoke the forest nonetheless -- not black metal but did you hear/like Anna von Hausswolf's stuff? If you want big organs and doomy wailing you could do worse than check it out...

i really don't think people would lump those particular artists together if they were men. the clairo album is a mix of indie rock and alt r&b and isn't drawing on 80s synth pop very much. hatchie is way more 90s dream pop than 80s. this angel olsen album is a mix of John cale-esque orchestration with 80s goth synths and the shura album exists somewhere between neo-soul and the sophisti end of synthpop

let's not leave carla del forno out here shall we ;)

i really don't think people would lump those particular artists together if they were men. the clairo album is a mix of indie rock and alt r&b and isn't drawing on 80s synth pop very much. hatchie is way more 90s dream pop than 80s. this angel olsen album is a mix of John cale-esque orchestration with 80s goth synths and the shura album exists somewhere between neo-soul and the sophisti end of synthpop

― ufo, Wednesday, February 5, 2020 2:31 PM (forty-three seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

sexism call-out is justified and I'm aware at how generalising I'm being. (that said, of course there are loads of women on these lists making music that is nothing like this, and I can't think of that many men making it?).

Reading this back though, it's a lot of words to describe varying shades of 'synthy solo-pop', which granted is a very wide field.

also very aware that I only really know these acts through what's placed on EOY over the years, so I'm not super-familiar with their catalogues and what they do, so I should just shut up.

I have tried to resist doing this but I can take it no longer: it is CARLA DAL FORNO, guys.

force of habit :(

Lana Dal Ray, goddit

(that said, of course there are loads of women on these lists making music that is nothing like this, and I can't think of that many men making it?).

kindness and dev hynes spring to mind - wonder if we'll see either of those albums? really liked the kindness one tbh

I voted for it but doubt it's in the top 200

i do understand the point about ilm really liking 80s synth poppy stuff in general and i agree about that as a trend but those particular records and artists are disparate enough that together they're not really the best representation of that trend

I tried AVH, emil.y, but only fleetingly. I liked the sounds but suspect it would take longer to really sink in. Anywhere I should start?

I'm a first time album poll voter. I voted for 15 albums.

Three have already placed, and I'm pretty sure eight more will. One definitely won't place (Charly Bliss' Young Enough), and three are doubtful (Nilufer Yanya, Mdou Moctar, and The Highwomen).

― aphoristical, Tuesday, February 4, 2020 6:40 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

oh hey I voted for Charly Bliss in both polls! (I was more disappointed to not see "Capacity" in the tracks poll than I will be if the album doesn't make it.)

xp her most recent record, dead magic, was particularly good

Ty, I will give it a try when next out walking

I liked The Miraculous but I'm not familiar enough w/ her whole discography to give a proper run-down.

Will try that too! The more organ, the better.

reckon charly bliss will place (deservingly)

I’m expecting Charly Bliss to be the only one of my votes to place.

Charly Bliss will place. I think Louise Burns is destined to end up with three top-five votes and nothing else.

Listening to Sault. Something there but if there's another track like Living In America I'm turning this the hell off

Why?

It was very bad

The rest has been decent though

Strange, I can't see anything obviously different about that track

i do understand the point about ilm really liking 80s synth poppy stuff in general

Don't think this has much significance seeing as it's Weyes Blood, Purple Mountains and Big Thief with multiple entries in the tracks results

https://i.imgur.com/hhgYy0D.jpg
#40 – Sunn O))) – Life Metal (293 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Sunn o))) C/D, S&D.

POLL: When pronouncing the band name "Sunn O)))", do you personally pronounce the long 'O' vowel thingy at the end?

https://www.kerrang.com/reviews/album-review-sunn-o-life-metal/

I do not get why these guys, good as they sometimes are, are always the metal of choice in these polls. But then again I've not given this a proper listen yet. Maybe it's one of their more interesting efforts?

enjoyable
but no monoliths

didn't really return to it

my fav gig of last year tho

they tend to play to the drone/"experimental" crossover crowd more than metal and end up picking up fans across the board imo

Nice. Good album, my favourite of theirs since Monoliths & Dimensions (I haven't heard them all, though).