ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

"nothing matches the quality of the first song" baffles me when "beyond black suns" and "into the fire" exist

Before clipping. came out, this was my favorite/most-played album of the year.

I felt the album hit the exact median point between Hidden and Field of Reeds; it captures the meditative ramble of Field of Reeds while marrying it to the tighter, more structured songwriting approach of Hidden. And yes, the singing isn't GREAT per se but much, much improved over previous outings; Jack Barnett has grown much more comfortable as a vocalist and, while his vocals always worked in his music, this album makes them feel like much more of an intentional choice than a happy accident.

Many xps but this is my first listen to Iowa Dream and jesus if the title track isn't a fully-formed Belle and Sebastian song.

I nommed the Night Bus 4 mix (CFCF) - it's transcendent.

"nothing matches the quality of the first song" baffles me when "beyond black suns" and "into the fire" exist

Also "Where the Trees Are on Fire", "Inside the Rose", "Anti-Gravity", and basically the entire album is great

if anything i love it more and more as it goes

i thought TNP was some bland psyche-lite indie pablum but i think my vague impression of tame impala was being unfairly transferred to them. the severed heads comparison and 'glacier of goth pop' has me interested

I hadn't heard this one before. First song reminds me of Depeche Mode but more artsy. It sounds really good. I had heard Field of Reeds before but this sounds very different to that one.

Onward to our next MOR winner:

There's a lot of dull stuff of Field of Reeds but also higher highs, this one is more consistent and focused.

https://i.imgur.com/uk7RdyV.jpg
#18 - 100 Gecs - 1000 Gecs (479 points, 15 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=109230
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/12/no-album-left-behind-100-gecs-1000-gecs.html

Yeah inside the rose is kinda the midpoint between depeche mode circa ultra, david sylvian circa gone to earth and post joy division post punk

Many xps but this is my first listen to Iowa Dream and jesus if the title track isn't a fully-formed Belle and Sebastian song.

OK I'm bumping this to the top of my 'to listen to' list (I quite like Arthur Russell but haven't kept up with all of the many posthumous releases).

🤢

gecs gecs gecs

Yeah inside the rose is kinda the midpoint between depeche mode circa ultra, david sylvian circa gone to earth and post joy division post punk

― Tim F

This! David Sylvian was the other artist I kept thinking about while listening.

garbage only celebrated to own the olds

XD XD exdeeeeeeeeee

1000 XDs

my music geek nephew (age 19) is all about the gems

GECS

Band designed to be as irritating as is humanly possible is irritating shockah.

(No, this is not an achievement.)

(etc)

Probably put this too high on my ballot in the end but whatever, this is a force I couldn't resist

Also Tim otm re: TNP.

i thought TNP was some bland psyche-lite indie pablum but i think my vague impression of tame impala was being unfairly transferred to them.

You could maybe say this of the fist album...? Things got very different after dude discovered Elgar.

lol *first

inside the fist

stupid horse

I voted for the gecs gecs gecs, but this still seems a bit high, lol. Still, some great songwriting on here, on thoughtful songs such as Money Machine, Stupid Horse and Ringtone.

100 gecs was my #2. It's a good album.

(n.) /geesh/ Usually a middle-high school boy who participates in every school event; very sporty but much of the time slightly out of shape. Considered one of the "popular" crowd, a gec' usually has about half the number of real friends a regular person does. He is a complete extrovert and thereby requires as much attention as possible. Active in the dating world long before he could drive, the gec' forces his parents take him and his girlfriend to the movies. How cool!

Still listening to Iowa Dream btw - think I've hit the bonus tracks but this is all excellent content. I'm sure such a spry outsider figure as AR would have appreciated 100 Gecs btw ;)

Huh, I've pronounced that wrong

omg that description is violence

minus the dating bit obv

actually I still can't drive so

father of the bride is only really weird in that "my mistake" -> "sunflower" stretch, the rest of it is decidedly unweird

"rich man"/"married in a gold rush" is about as unbearable as vw gets for me, they are underwritten songs

looking forward (not looking forward) to their rap project, 100 tecs

Pronounced /teesh/.

xxp, there are weird moments throughout, even if the overall picture isn't that weird. the sample on 'hold you now,' the auto-tune on 'spring snow,' the entirety of '2021.'

contra is definitely their weirdest album (imagine if they included california english pt. 2 lol)

'Married In a Gold Rush Is Great'. The opening track is super weird. Dammit, the whole thing, the whole concept is weird.

https://i.imgur.com/4LLi3SA.jpg
#17 - Jenny Hval - The Practice of Love (484 points, 18 votes, 2 number 1 votes)
Jenny Hval - Viscera
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/jenny-hval-the-practice-of-love/

incredible album

Les claimed the name of their group originates from a mishap with an online gecko retailer, in which she was shipped 100 live geckos instead of the one she ordered. (It was impossible to tell from her tone if she was being serious, but let’s just agree it’s a great origin story.)

father of the bride is only really weird in that "my mistake" -> "sunflower" stretch, the rest of it is decidedly unweird

"rich man"/"married in a gold rush" is about as unbearable as vw gets for me, they are underwritten songs

― american bradass (BradNelson),

We're as one.

"THE BATSHIT ALBUM THAT EXPLAINS HOW 2019 FEELS"

yay to inside the rose!

xp only a lil bit like in sides
try the end of anodyne industries

x-post: Father of the Bride, 1000 Gecs or The Practice of Love? Could be anyone of them...

Found this terminally boring, which at least can't be said for the gecs.

how annoying many of you find 100 gecs, is how annoying I find Hval (at least, before this album)

As a whole I didn't like The Practice of Love as much as the previous two Jenny Hval albums but the highlights are really strong.