ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020

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.

deplume was the final cut from my ballot, figured it didn't need my help.

Good story Forks and sorry for your scare. I enjoyed this when it came out but forgot about it by the end of the year, good to see it here.

breastcrawl, I was referring to the Alabaster DePlume! Already familiar with the Tiwa Savage and enjoyed it!

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

breastcrawl, I was referring to the Alabaster DePlume! Already familiar with the Tiwa Savage and enjoyed it!

(also partially compensates for the inevitable absence of the brilliant album by Jonnine Standish, aka Mrs CS)

oh, just realized that's the same Jonnine from Loraine James's "Don't You See It" (one of my tracks faves)

Oh the HTRK singer! I need to hear that!

Yes, jonnine from the band Htrk xp

I have never even heard of this artist before. The first few minutes of the album are promising.

That Lorraine James record was magnificent btw

this has been an interesting stretch of a bunch of stuff I haven't heard before, it's going to take me a while to catch up

https://i.imgur.com/m8LrYe4.jpg
#19: Beatrice Dillon - Workaround - 432 points - 16 votes- 1 Nº1 vote

Beatrice Dillon

https://beatricedillon.bandcamp.com/album/workaround

“The debut from the London musician is a culmination of her eclectic journey to the vanguard of electronic music. It is a marvelous paradox: Despite the music’s rigidity, it breathes like a living thing.”
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/beatrice-dillon-workaround/

“Interplay between Dillon’s computer and her collaborators’ samples and instruments – from tabla and kora to pedal steel guitar and cello – give the album its colour, though her use of space is its foundation. Rather than let reverb and echo lumber to inertia, she tightens up on the air supply: synths become breathless, fibrous string textures dry out and the bass is punchy yet weightless.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/feb/07/beatrice-dillon-workaround-review-pan

I like this record, but it's maybe a little to sparse for me to truly love it

Wow so many great albums in a row, well done ILM.

masterpiece

I thought forks was describing his Celia experience when I first read it, but the Alabaster de Plume makes, perhaps, more healing sense. wonderful, soothing album that I listened to quite a bit in the early months of the pandemic, but didn’t vote for.
glad you made it okay, forks!

Excellent record! Couldnt hum a single tune off it mind you, but have got happily lost in that album a few times now

just missed my ballot

breastcrawl, yeah I love dangerous love. Maybe my opinion of the album is slightly affected by the cover. Still there are some songs ("Attention") which really don't appeal to me

Oh yay, Soft Pink Truth made it! An awesome record. I enjoyed the other SPT album but it was more a "fun" record, and I didn't get to the Matmos one this year (bit too big, I'm sure I'll like it when I get there but it seemed like a bit of a task tbh). This was definitely The One.

yes, four fine albums in a row

(I am very behind, sorry)

i forgot to vote but beatrice dillon probably would've been my #1. minimal but somehow still playful and fun.

The track with Laurel Halo is nice. The rest didn't do much for me and seemed like more of an art exhibition that I was supposed to be impressed by but felt no emotional connection to...

This Alabaster DePlume is new for me and really lovely.

breastcrawl, yeah I love dangerous love. Maybe my opinion of the album is slightly affected by the cover. Still there are some songs ("Attention") which really don't appeal to me

Have never heard or heard of Beatrice Dillon but am really vibing on this opening track, thanks once again ILX for bringing unexpected music into my life

I thought I'd voted for Beatrice Dillon but I, uh, didn't. Great album.

I heard Normal when I was going through some fairly awful shit with one of my kids and it continues to kick me in the guts when I hear it - to the point where I haven't really had the guts to explore the rest of the album like I should.

Great story about Alabaster DePlume, forks. That album already feels as if it's from years ago, or occupies some anterior space. It's a good place to go.

The Beatrice Dillon reminds me of Matmos in its found-sound-ness, like, there's a sound, you're like "that's not music," "OK, I'll play it again, now is it music" "no" "how about now" "I'm not sure" and then somehow it insists on itself so much that at some point you realize it's a song

https://i.imgur.com/NIOGeca.jpg
#18: Horse Lords - The Common Task - 438 points - 16 votes - 1 Nº1 vote

Horse Lords

https://horselords.bandcamp.com/album/the-common-task

“With The Common Task, Horse Lords have fashioned the perfect soundtrack to the chaos and apprehension that loom just out of sight as we try to navigate our lives in a world that just won’t let up.”
https://spectrumculture.com/2020/04/09/horse-lords-the-common-task-review/

“Horse Lords songs are intricate, methodical patterns that seem to pulse and shift the longer you stare. Their tension is rooted in anticipation, the only relief the relinquishing of control.”
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/horse-lords-the-common-task/

the beatrice dillon album is one of the major things that lightened up my 2020. it's an absolute stunner. really worth spending some focused time with.

My #5

The Beatrice Dillon reminds me of Matmos in its found-sound-ness, like, there's a sound, you're like "that's not music," "OK, I'll play it again, now is it music" "no" "how about now" "I'm not sure" and then somehow it insists on itself so much that at some point you realize it's a song

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 4 February 2021 19:31 (three minutes ago) link

Sometimes I vibe to the dishwasher like this

The cover of the Horse Lords is too on the nose for the kind of music it is

Workaround is advanced! I haven’t totally wrapped my head around it, really mind blowing stuff. map has written a lot of good stuff about it on the dedicated thread.

"Integral Accident" is sick.

I would like to see what people dancing to Horse Lords looks like

googles dothraki wedding

You can definitely dance to Horse Lords. I have done so.

The cover of the Horse Lords is too on the nose for the kind of music it is

― Guayaquil (eephus!)

it's all "H"s and "L"s!!

honestly shocked that this is so high, but yeah I voted for it

as I said in Tracks, their "mixtapes" are even better IMO