ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020

agreed

my sole 'tones vote went to the phantogram remix alas

Idk if I've ever heard one of their songs, but I am impressed by the loyalty on display here

yeah, I'm gonna check this out. This was one of my favorite bands when I was 20ish.

Yeah def tones of it

I listen to the Parker album more like an electronic record. He cares about sound & texture, it's more about the concept/big picture than the guitar playing. The Nels Cline & Halvorson records are more jazz documentary style recordings, more like guitarist's guitarist albums.

Also the Parker album really translated well to pandemic home listening, I don't really want much skronk these days.

― change display name (Jordan), Monday, February 1, 2021 10:17 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wish more modern jazz was like this.

Don't think I've ever intentionally heard a deftones song or album. Where should I start?

they also progress on each album while still retaining the core sound, which i think is my favorite way to evolve musically: every album different but also the same

best introduction to deftones is the album white pony

thanks brad

Thanks, Jordan. I'll listen with that in mind.

you’re welcome! i hope you like creepy atmospheric shoegaze metal with electronics and synths whirring in between bc that’s what it is

There's something I've been missing with Jeff Parker. He is fine as a sideman but I'm not sure I really get what makes him worth listening to over any other major jazz guitarist. Will try again with this one.

― to party with our demons (Sund4r), Monday, February 1, 2021 9:54 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

this album and the last one are both pretty unique projects, ymmv on whether they're your cup of tea but i think its hard to say they're run of the mill

oh jordan beat me to this

this sounds just like the deftones

https://i.imgur.com/2K0ch3A.jpg
#72: Nubya García - “Source” - 190 points - 5 votes

A catch-all thread for the current jazz scene in London, including Shabaka Hutchings, Yazz Ahmed, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Camilla George, Theon Cross, Zara McFarlane, Daniel Casimir, SEED Ensemble,
https://nubyagarcia.bandcamp.com/album/source

“On her stunning debut, the tenor saxophonist and rising member of the London jazz scene meditates on her humble family heritage, the continuum of jazz history, and the power of collective action in our present moment”
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nubya-garcia-source/

ooooh

This one I liked, just didn't buy or listen to enough, through no fault of its own.

I'll give Deftones a listen a bit later, I'm not entirely convinced I'll be won over but happy to try.

I looked at my ballot earlier to guess what would look the coolest in Moka's design and this was my pick

initial deftones reaction is I doubt I have the patience for this like I would have when I was 22.

If you're checking Source out for the first time, I'd suggest skipping to the title track

oof, i kept meaning to listen to this one

If people want jazz played as electronics, then I recommend Danish quartet RoemerKlindtHjortHeymanDombernowsky and their album 'Oprindelse', which came out new years day. The fifth member credited is the mixer of the album. And yeah, it's a soundscape.

I think a lot of new jazz has sounded like that recently, and a lot of good albums from International Anthem especially work like that. I kinda got lost in the scene this year and voted for none of it. Didn't vote for Nubya Garcia either, though I like it a lot.

also Garcia's Tiny Desk Concert is really nice

I like this album and love "Pace," and I really like her tone. (She shows up to good effect on some tracks on Moses Boyd's album too, which was my fave out of that scene last year.)

i didn't manage to get around to the jeff parker album last year but both it and the new breed were relentlessly wonderful listens this morning

"pace" is a massive highlight, for sure

Yay for Nubya Garcia, that was my #2 vote. (Would've been my #1, but late in December another album blew my mind even more.) Her debut was nice but way more in the trad "soulful hard bop" niche, whereas this one is just an incredible showcase of covering different styles and rhythms while still sounding like herself.

Why does Pitchfork think it's her debut, though?

"pace" is a massive highlight, for sure

― tiwa-nty one savage (voodoo chili), Monday, February 1, 2021 11:41 AM (two minutes ago)

ha ok maybe people shouldn't skip the first two then!

Because Pitchfork is dumb. I believe there's a thread about that.

Tuomas, I think her two prev were both EPs, no?

gdi moka your designs are gorgeous

For me, the highlight track of the album is eponymous track "Source" in all its 12 minute glory. She released an earlier, more stripped-down version of it with her quartet as a single in 2018, but in this case more is more, the extra players make this version better. Especially Sheila Maurice-Grey's trumpet.

ha ok maybe people shouldn't skip the first two then!

― rob, Monday, February 1, 2021 11:45 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i'm always listening to the piano first in jazz, and "pace" is a particularly impressive showcase for the instrument

Tuomas, I think her two prev were both EPs, no?

"Nubya's 5ive" is 47 minutes and has 5 long tracks, that's an jazz LP to me.

credit to joe armon-jones

*really* digging this Kairon; IRSE! record, it's kind of like early Tame Impala meets Pinkshinyultrablast?

xp to vc
tbc I love the whole album now, but likely due to my own reggae/dub biases I loved the title track the most off the bat

https://i.imgur.com/Ittar5Q.jpg
#71: Charles Webster - “Decision Time” - 190 points - 6 votes

What's Charles Webster up to?

https://charleswebster.bandcamp.com/album/decision-time

“Decision Time is a really remarkable comeback, a record that feels fully formed and totally assured of its existence, outside of the normal flow of time, possessed of some deep magic that appears just as glimmers on first listen but which each play brings out more and more.”
https://theartsdesk.com/new-music/album-charles-webster-decision-time

xp

Among the many things I love about the London scene is how much of a scene it really is, they've come up together, they play on each other's albums, just endless collaborations. Like '50s-'60s New York. (I know this is true of jazz scenes in general, but this one is just so on fire right now.)

xp to vc
tbc I love the whole album now, but likely due to my own reggae/dub biases I loved the title track the most off the bat

― rob, Monday, February 1, 2021 11:52 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

for sure, and it is fascinating to hear nubya and the band work their improvisatory brilliance in that context

amazing record, in my top five

well hello what's this

I've never heard of Webster, what's the deal?

ok this immediately sounds fucking awesome

I haven't heard this either but when I click on it and the first thing I see is "(feat. Shara Nelson)" I am interested.

yeah I read the bandcamp descrip and have saved this for later

This Deftones album isn't bad I guess, I mean, I guess it's pretty much what I expected and if somebody told me this was actually released in 2002 I would believe them.

voted for this