ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020

killer record this

returned to it yesterday

Another ILM alumni placement? Clearly this game is rigged.

Drew Daniel was/is an ILMer?

good posts Brad

Great album though - another that I loved that didn't make my ballot, also the CS + Kreme, which is surprising how high it placed here. Not the record I expected to see get 3 number 1 votes

snoopy is intense vibes, helluva album

3 tracks into the Playboi Carti and it's clear I'm gonna have a v fun time deciding between love and hate lol

Drew was an ILMer!

Good to see SPT place, it was in my top 10 somewhere

i misread 'sinning' as 'swimming' and thought it was still an interesting title

snoopy rules, i was one of the #1's

soft pink truth record on my long list, an impressive achievement i struggled to be in the mood for, but whenever i’m in that mood, look out

cs + kreme nice music to nod off to which i just did.

both of which keep my attention glued to the record even when kanye is rapping (regrettable imo)

lol that verse is just a *record scratch* jarring momentum killer, really wish it wasn't so early in the tracklist (or better yet, wasn't there at all) but god kanye suck completely fucking sucks now

Ye, Jesus gang, you correct
You always askin' for Buddha, you a Budapest (ayy)

https://i.imgur.com/gGBhZXz.jpg
#22: J Hus - Big Conspiracy - 423 points - 14 votes

j hus - dem boy paigon

“Improving upon his more eclectic debut, Common Sense, Big Conspiracy is smoother, preciser, and more measured.”
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/j-hus-big-conspiracy/

I am mad that I never made time to listen to TSPT

Also I'm not sure why "lockdown music" is defined as "the auditory equivalent of a pillow"; I spent way more time listening to stuff the more aggressive clipping. tracks and 90s dancefloor fodder (hi dere Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era, you are my comfort food music)

I would have sworn J Hus would have been one of my top 10 albums earlier this year, but the year was way too strong. I ended up voting it at #20.

j hus - great album, easy vote. compulsively listenable.

i oscillated manically between aggressive and sedate

xps

always forget that "must be" is on this album, feels like that one came out 1 million years ago.

Oooh I forgot that I need to listen to the Soft Pink Truth album, rectifying that instantly

J Hus, my #4 - lost sight of it during the year, and then it came back to me with a vengeance. masterfully produced by Jae5.

Next up is the third (and not the last) album I voted for that placed today.

https://i.imgur.com/mMGpV8c.jpg
#21: Tiwa Savage - Celia - 431 points - 16 votes

next level at 40: 🌸TIWA SAVAGE’s CELIA🌸 album

“Savage’s featherweight and precise voice flips fluidly between English and Yoruba, while bright horn sections drift in and out. She also shows off an alluring chemistry with an array of artists, from Sam Smith to Davido to Naira Marley. Their inspired contributions make Celia a Nigerian standout in a year of creative excellence from the country”
https://time.com/5915313/best-albums-2020/

whoop whoop! good to see this placing so high.

My favorite Tiwa is still "49-99", but this album was great. My #10.

(umm, what i should have said about the carti album is that i think it's awesome)

Is that the cover ? oh wow

xp but what i love about it is it's like someone got all the quirky, weirdo elements i love about the genre and made an elixir out of it

my #2! so happy to see it so high, was getting increasingly worried it would only make it to #redacted.

whoa my ballot is suddenly on a streak here

re: that Time quote, does "featherweight" mean something other than "light"?

Tiwa album amazing, top to bottom

playboi carti is probably good or something but it is a brutally oppressive listen

Because I didn’t already have enough ambient stress, I endured a spine cancer scare this past year that started in late summer and extended into January. SPOILER: it ended up not being a thing, but it sure felt like a thing for the nearly half-year it dragged on. For my third COVID-era MRI in six months, I ended up at a new facility, destined to be trapped in a claustrophobic tube for around an hour with a surgical mask on my mouth and nose, a blindfold over my eyes, earplugs in and a headset over my ears, my head stuck in a cage to prevent movement, an IV in my arm, a brain filled with 1984 paranoia and my heart in my throat. Just before they started, the MRI tech informed me over the headset that they could pipe in an album via YouTube from a laptop by the machine if I thought it would help. They were about to begin so I’d need to make an immediate decision. I realized there was real risk of being trapped with something that might set me off. Without thinking, I asked for Alabaster DePlume’s To Cy and Lee. The tech required spelling help, but he found it. It was muted by the earplugs, obscured by the Stockhausen buzz and rattle of the machine and echoed through the wonky connection like it was playing from the bottom of a well, but the hour evaporated before my fevered mind twisted enough to hurt me. Cy and Lee was among the sweetest and most memorable music of my 2020, both when I first heard it and when I needed it most.

https://i.imgur.com/S4EyHvA.jpg
#20: Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 - 432 points - 13 vote - 3 Nº1 votes

thread of rapturous appreciation for Alabaster DePlume

https://alabasterdeplume.bandcamp.com/album/to-cy-lee-instrumentals-vol-1

“Easily one of the best records to come out in 2020. Listening to these lush, tactile even, ambient jazz recordings has been both a grounding and uplifting experience throughout this tumultuous year.”
https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2020/12/16/aquarium-drunkard-2020-year-in-review/

“Alabaster DePlume is a resident musician at Dalston's Total Refreshment Centre, as well as a social worker and activist. To Cy & Lee was born from his use of music to help those with less of a voice to communicate and socialize. His setup of choice is to have participants of varying backgrounds and musical experience (here including Sarathy Korwar & The Comet Is Coming's Danalogue) sat in a circle facing each other, creating a unique dialogue and dynamic. This celebration of diversity also extends to the music's wide ranging influences, from Celtic and Japanese folk to Ethiopian jazz. The whole album just exudes warmth and goodwill, it feels like a helping hand held out towards you.”
https://www.strangerthanparadiserecords.com/blogs/news/albums-of-the-year-2020/

I want to read forks post but I also want to scream TOO LOW

group hug

oh cool! this is a lovely lovely record. a really nice surprise to see it place this high

very glad that was just a scare, forks

also I've been eagerly anticipating Moka's design for this since #77

group hug

― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, February 4, 2021 1:39 PM (one minute ago)

this album is quite melancholy

whoa! what is this???

don’t have much interesting to say right now, but it’s one of the four instantly classic Nigerian Afropop albums that came out in the past 18 months (+10 days), along with Burna’s African Giant, Fireboy DML’s Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps and Wizkid’s Made In Lagos.

best non-hit hit of the year: “Pakalamisi” with Hamzaa.

have i been doing hugs wrong?

i liked the Tiwa album well enough but my only complaint is that it's a bit on the sunny smoothy/groovy side whereas i was more into her prior, darker, more futuristic bangers like Ileke, One and Ma Lo

the new EP from Soccer 96, deplume's punk project with the comet is coming guys, is also very much worth your time
https://soccer96.bandcamp.com/album/tactics-ep

I love this album so much. Forks your choice for an album to feel safe couldn’t have been better. This music is balm.

hope that answered your question, octobeard!

xp and lol

have i been doing hugs wrong?

― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, February 4, 2021 1:42 PM (one minute ago)

ok good point, tbh I don't really know what you meant

sniff. it's ok.

also deplume's 2020 collabo with danalogue (which i need to spend more time with) is well worth a listen too:

https://danalogue.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-not-sleeping

glad that tiwa made it, another easy vote for me.