ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020

no one accosted me and told me to listen to pharaoh overlord last year, what can i say

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 2 February 2021 15:08 (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

my Brandy vote was a direct result of Brad doing this to me fwiw, maybe it works lol

xp

the vox aren't death metal cookie monster vox though

there's a part where he says "this is Pharaoh Overlord 6" and it sounds just like Nathan Explosion. I may have to move on now.

listening to PO, i read

cookie monster vox

Other people have used "cookie monster" without being corrected itt. It's similar enough FFS, you know what I mean.

haven't listened to anything circle-related in about a million years. not sure i'm totally into this pharaoh overlord one, it seems like a comedy record and just made me want to listen the sisters of mercy instead. sorry :(

genuinely surprised this pharaoh overlord album has not been used at the entire soundtrack for a horror movie yet

paging panos cosmatos

wake me up when a metal album uses elmo vocals

catch me at the roller rink trying to get the dj to play some fucking pharaoh overlord

Pharoah Overlord is making me want to listen to Ulver instead

I hope the excellent new Eximperitus­erqethh­zebib­šip­tugak­kath­šul­weliar­zaxułum album places next year, I want to see what Moka can do with that design.

Although now I have some sense of what it would sound like if Vince Clarke worked with a metal vocalist

that's easy for you to say xp

B7 was one of the last cuts from my ballot. It's one of those albums where I was kind of blown away on my listen but then as I went back to it, it never had that same impact on me. It grew off me slightly for some reason.

the brandy album is 1. very cool 2. too low. her writing has gotten more oblique and direct at the same time, which i think accounts for the varied reactions, every melody is like an oddly-shaped glass fragment in the total mosaic

Actually the first song sounds like a synthpop band doing their version of a Skinny Puppy song, only I'd rather listen to Skinny Puppy because the percussion would hit harder

basically everything I listened to as a teenager sounded like this and I liked all of that more

i think my favorite part of the record is "no tomorrow" -> "say something" xp

eximperitus­erqethh­zebib­šip­tugak­kath­šul­weliar­zaxułum is such a fucking funny band name concept (the "unsayable true name of god" or whatever)

I played Brandy's album once and was like "... yep, it's a Brandy album" and then never went back to it

eximperitus­erqethh­zebib­šip­tugak­kath­šul­weliar­zaxułum is such a fucking funny band name concept (the "unsayable true name of god" or whatever)

Oh it's totally ridiculous, which is why I avoided them for so long but the new one is really good. Anyway, enough talk of something that isn't on the countdown.

https://i.imgur.com/0Hy0xVJ.jpg
#58: Victoria Monét - JAGUAR - 240 points - 9 votes

rolling r&b 2020

“This record heralds her as one of the most enticing acts in R&B’s contemporary canon, near-guaranteed to become a bonafide star in her own right.”
https://www.nme.com/reviews/victoria-monet-jaguar-album-review-2721734

There was a great instrumental cosmic disco track (Villaa) on the Pharaoh Overlord album called Circle.

Jussi Lehtisalo put out a "pop" album right at the end of last year which is also excellently wtf, perhaps even more so.

Nice showing for Victoria :)

Brandy album too low wtf

i also always feel like i'm overstating the weirdness of the brandy album but idk... someone compared it to dawn richard in the thread and i think alongside full moon it's the brandy album that makes her influence over richard's writing extremely explicit instead of implicit

yeah seriously, felt like ILM should have been all over it. also good point re: DR influence

Monet beating her by 1 point feels like an aesthetic choice ILM has made lol

lol I was just about to say I'd rather listen to "What About Us?" if I wanted a proto-Dawn Richard fix

Not sure how I missed Victoria Monet last year. I loved all songs on the nominations playlist and the album ended up just outside my top 10.

lol DJP when I heard "Arms of the Butcher" my first thought was "I wonder what DJP would think of this"

totally get the appeal, but had to admit I am pretty much never in the mood to actually listen to this

― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Tuesday, 2 February 2021 15:00 (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm never not in the mood to listen to it! Such a persistent, simmering psychedelic energy. Death-disco is a fantastic genre hybrid and this is their best project I've heard so far.

https://i.imgur.com/ctLte9X.jpg
#57: Annie - Dark Hearts - 246 points - 8 votes

Annie (From Norway)

“Annie’s first album in about a decade, written and and recorded in a haunted house, collapses decades into an evocative blur.”
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/annie-dark-hearts/

Ok Pharoah Overlord is hilarious, can't believe I haven't heard that combination before. It reminds me of this old Dan Swano album, except with drum machines instead of prog/psych rock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV1tyCkhsgU

Yassss Annie! Didn't expect her to place this high!

don't think i voted for the annie album but a pleasing return

Annie is good

I forgot she released an album lol

Glad she released something after so long, didn't love anything about it though.

I love you ILM for giving our next record a chance. It ended up being one of my most played albums of the year and it ticks the same sweet spot that something like Domenique Dumont did for me in previous years.

https://i.imgur.com/y5CLPq6.jpg
#56: K-LONE - Cape Cira - 247 points - 8 votes - 1 Nº1 vote

Bobbins 2020
this is a thread for the BALEARIC REVIVAL

https://wisdomteethuk.bandcamp.com/album/k-lone-cape-cira-lp

“In a year where the simple act of staring out a window or ambling amongst some trees could lift the mood, any album which whisked us away to a private tropical island was a necessary balm. "Cape Cira" did exactly that.”
https://bleep.com/Top-10-Albums-of-the-Year-2020-Cape-Cira

Finally something I voted for

I know it's not really in the same category as Kairon Irse or Pharoah Overlord, but those of you who like psychedelic Finnish sounds should check out Avaruuskaipuu by Veera Neva, which is an excellent album of old school space music. I nommed it, but there's little chance of it making this high in the poll.

<3 beautiful record

ty Tuomas, always stoked for psychedelic Finnish sounds. maybe we'll get some more later who knows

One final thing re: PO - it wasn't an instant hit with me - something called on me to keep relistening but it wasn't until about the 3rd play that its majesty fully dawned on me

K-LONE sounding v intriguing sound-design wise, will give this a full listen

the same sweet spot that something like Domenique Dumont did for me in previous year

I never heard of K-Lone but this is a great way to get me to listen to it!

ditto

not sure how I missed this one, tbh

oooh yeah this is up my current alley for sure

I think 'honey' was my most listened track on that if anyone wants a recommendation

Love that the K-LONE ended up getting so much traction. Seriously embedded luscious sunshine hooks throughout the year - actively lovely