ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

https://i.imgur.com/ELSuszU.jpg
#23 – Charly Bliss – Young Enough (414 points, 16 votes, 1 #1 vote)

charly bliss: guppy

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charly-bliss-young-enough/

CFCF *otm* :)

Could easily be a dig at BagGymp

xp

I liked this Charly Bliss when it came up on shuffle, it was on my long list iirc

i'm surprised this is this high. it seemed like people dismissed it in a similar way to the second haim album (which ended up at #177 that year after the first one won the poll).

anyway i should give this another go because i liked something to tell you (and guppy obv) a lot

Saadiq was my #2, Underworld was my #1.

loved the Saadiq so much, kept listening to it over and over.

didn't listen to Underworld over and over, i listened to it like a lot of ppl watch the Irishman. But it was my favorite music of the year. I wasn't exactly writing UW off after Barking, but it seemed like they had maybe decided to just get a little lazy and that was their worst album (albeit still pretty fun). But they've caught their second wind, between this and Hyde's solo album and the Eno collaborations and BBWFASF (which was nearly on par with their first three albums).

Charly Bliss was just outside my top ten, it's fantastic.

wait give people time to listen to all of Drift first

afraid we gotta TURBO through there frogs

anyway it was my #1, its essentially 5 or 6 new albums of Underworld material and most of it is really good. I never really thought Underworld lost it that much but yeah all the stuff they've done since 'reforming' in 2015 or whatever has been incredible and IMO on par with their best stuff

Aaah! I dig a lot of the stuff posted while I was asleep. Nice. Actually voted for *consults text file* Danny Brown, Little Simz and Richard Dawson, plus spent quite a lot time with Men I Trust, CFCF, Nilüfer Yanya and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. You're alright, ILM.

i loved #22 but ended up not coming back to it after i listened through three times in a row. may remedy that in the upcoming weeks.

https://i.imgur.com/lTzJl2N.jpg
#22 – Holly Herndon - Proto (420 points (nice), 15 votes, 1 #1 vote)

i want a thread for Holly Herndon

https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/23763

I prefer Young Enough to Guppy. Lyrically it just hit me so much harder, especially the title track and Chatroom. It felt like a natural next step for them unlike the second Haim album which felt like they'd overthought everything.

Didn't get much out of this. Still, lol @ '420 points (nice)'.

parts of this (well, frontier and SWIM) ruled, but the album didn't totally hang together for me and there were a few less convincing moments. she will do an amazing record soon i'm sure. excited to watch young spawn grow up too

re-listening to Sampa album now cause I woulda placed it much higher and wanted to see if I was overlooking negatives in it. Don't think I was! She's very engaging, production varies from outstanding to decent. Chorus on "Dare To Fly" is super annoying but overall like the album more than any other hiphop that's placed so far.

upon further reflection, Drift should have probably been my #1. The rollout of those songs soundtracked half of my year, which was a really good one. I didn’t like everything released, as can be expected with such a massive dump of material, but overall lots of great stuff that I’ve really only begun to engage with.

Saadiq was great. Got cut from my ballot to make room for stuff that won’t place.

Didn’t click with Herndon. Platform was more my thing.

This Herndon didn't do it for me. I really liked Platform but I just couldn't find a way in here.

that was an xp

Okay, here's #21 and then we're done for today! Moka will finish off the top twenty tomorrow. With Angel Olsen gone, where will the remaining PLEB F. collective place? Will they make it at all? And what about the remaining other 15 spots? Who do you think is gonna make the cut? Discuss!

But first....

https://i.imgur.com/wMsln9w.jpg
#21 – Charli XCX - Charli (423 points, 13 votes, 2 #1 votes)

Charli XCX

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/charli-xcx-lp-icona-pop-iggy-azalea-883446/

ILM’s Top Albums of 2019 Countdown

#1 to #20 - TBA
#21 – Charli XCX - Charli (423 points, 13 votes, 2 #1 votes)
#22 – Holly Herndon - Proto (420 points (nice), 15 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#23 – Charly Bliss – Young Enough (414 points, 16 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#24 – Underworld – Drift Series 1 (391 points, 12 votes, 3 #1 votes)
#25 – Nilüfer Yanya – Miss Universe (378 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#26 – CFCF – Liquid Colors (365 points, 12 votes)
#27 – Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee (364 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#28 – SAULT - 5 (354 points, 17 votes)
#29 – The Comet Is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery (354 points, 17 votes)
#30 – Richard Dawson - 2020 (352 points, 14 votes)
#31 – Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Ancestral Recall (344 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#32 – Little Simz – Grey Area (330 points, 13 votes)
#33 – The Highwomen – s/t (326 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#34 – Arthur Russell – Iowa Dream (323 points, 10 votes)
#35 – Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin¿ (317 points, 13 votes)
#36 – Men I Trust - Oncle Jazz (316 points, 11 votes)
#37 – Lingua Ignota - Caligula (311 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#38 – Erika De Casier – Essentials (306 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#39 – Kelsey Lu - Blood (301 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#40 – Sunn O))) – Life Metal (293 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#41 (TIE) - Kim Gordon - No Home Record (288 points, 10 votes)
#41 (TIE) - SAULT - 7 (288 points, 10 votes)
#43 – Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (284 points, 10 votes)
#44 – Shura - Forevher (278 points, 9 votes)
#45 – Kali Malone - The Sacrificial Code (278 points, 8 votes)
#46 – Solange - When I Get Home (277 points, 12 votes)
#47 – Liturgy - H.A.Q.Q. (268 points, 9 votes)
#48 – Hatchie - Keepsake (266 points, 11 votes)
#49 – Chemical Brothers - No Geography (244 points, 7 votes)
#50 – Glass Beach - The First Glass Beach Album (242 points, 8 votes)
#51 – Lambchop - This (is what I wanted to tell you) (234 points, 8 votes)
#52 – Carla dal Forno - Look Up Sharp (228 points, 8 votes)
#53 – Koffee – Rapture (224 points, 7 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#54 – Clairo – Immunity (223 points, 9 votes)
#55 – American Football – American Football (223 points, 7 votes, 2 number 1 votes)
#56 – Various Artists – 環境音楽 Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 (222 points, 8 votes)
#57 – Samthing Soweto – Isiphithiphithi (220 points, 7 votes)
#58 – Thom Yorke – Anima (216 points, 8 votes)
#59 – Moodymann – Sinner (216 points, 6 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#60 – Andy Stott – It Should Be Us (214 points, 9 votes)
#61 – Sacred Paws – Run Around the Sun (212 points, 8 votes)
#62 – Rapsody – Eve (211 points, 8 votes)
#63 – Barker – Utility (210 points, 8 votes)
#64 – Miranda Lambert – Wildcard (208 points, 8 votes)
#65 – Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel (204 points, 7 votes)
#66 – Tyler, the Creator – IGOR (202 points, 8 votes)
#67 – Caterina Barbieri – Ecstatic Computation (200 points, 7 votes)
#68 – The National – I Am Easy to Find (195 points, 8 votes)
#69 – Sampa the Great – The Return (194 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#70 – Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild (189 points, 6 votes)
#71 – clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood (188 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#72 – Jme – Grime MC (187 points, 7 votes)
#73 – Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter 4: Memphis (184 points, 6 votes)
#74 – Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow (183 points, 6 votes)
#75 – Better Oblivion Community Center – s/t (182 points, 6 votes)
#76 – Laurel Halo – DJ Kicks (182 points, 5 votes)
#77 – Cate le Bon – Reward (181 points, 6 votes)

ehhhh

charly bliss album really surprisingly high, it's not bad but not a patch on the debut.

herndon album really inconsistent, half is incredible but i never want to listen to the other half again

ok wtf is the charli xcx album doing this high? that's a higher placement and more votes than pop 2 got in 2017. really underwhelming as the follow-up to that too.

pop 2 had only just been released at the time of voting in 2017 which may have had something to do with its low placement. "boys" won the tracks poll that year also. if anything i would've expected this to place slightly higher.

yeah i guess the late release of pop 2 hurt it but this album is still largely not very good and i didn't come back to it at all

cool stuff, i woulda repped for the CFCF had i clicked on the thread and thus heard it at any point before last week

two records in a row i can’t completely get with. the herndon is a really impressive achievement. the charli... idk, “1999” and “blame it on your love” kinda suck and take me out of it

I don't get Charli XCX anymore. She's like Norma Desmond-in-1950 playing before Pitchfork audiences.

anyway this album contains some of her best songs and i voted for it, but there are too many collaborations and starting the campaign off with "blame it on your love" was in a way indicative of its focus-group-edness; whereas pop 2 in comparison seemed spontaneous, unexpected, and more serendipitous somehow

but like "cross you out" and "silver cross" and "official" forever

hold up, Charli won for "Boys"?

yes everyone thought wtf at the time too

I think I'd only heard Pop 2 once before voting in the 2017 poll and didn't even consider including it. Obviously it should have been on my list. I can see why people think this album is a bit all over the place, but it got its hooks in me just about as much as any of her other albums (weirdly Sucker is still my favourite). Charli soundtracked some of my best times last year (seeing her live was too much fun) so I had no problem putting it in my top five.

I didn't vote for Charli, but the opening pair of 'Next Level Charli' and 'Gone' was terrific.

Ha, honestly I still think Boys is perfect but it was weird seeing that at number one when Superlove was really low down on our 2013 list (in the same year True Romance made our top 20).

there's probably a decent enough album to be cut out of charli it's just too much of a mess in its current form especially with the real duds it has

At least there should not be many complaints about a lack of stylistic diversity on this countdown (as there was for the tracks poll)!

wondering if lover is going to place? seemed like people enjoyed it more than reputation but at the same time top 20 seems high

I don't get Charli XCX anymore. She's like Norma Desmond-in-1950 playing before Pitchfork audiences.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, February 5, 2020 6:40 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

then what is LDR?

but like "cross you out" and "silver cross" and "official" forever

― monotony, Wednesday, February 5, 2020 4:40 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

love all of these songs + "white mercedes"

i wish instead of two versions of pop 2 i had two versions of true romance but that ship is like on the other side of the planet now

wondering if lover is going to place? seemed like people enjoyed it more than reputation but at the same time top 20 seems high

― monotony, Wednesday, February 5, 2020 4:47 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

i voted for it pretty high but i guess i wouldn't be surprised if it didn't place, just as the title track was nowhere to be found in the 77

The weird thing about the Holly Herndon cover is that at one point I inexplicably perceived the face to be that of Lister from Red Dwarf and have subsequently been unable to unsee it.

Great results so far for the most part!

i can't fuckin wait to hear this cfcf album so thanks y'all

I voted for Herndon albeit low down on my ballot. Didn’t voted for Charli but this is easily her best album to date.

Starting to fear for my #1 now. Thought it would place easily but not this high.

possibly folorn hopes for the top 20: jessica pratt, sudan archives, dawn richard (usually an ILM lock but it came out so long ago i'm worried people forgot?)

Herndon my second to place, and probably the last one I'll get. Really love her.

reputation made it to 32, there's no way lover doesn't place even though top 20 is ridiculously high for it but it is ilm lol