ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

Brittany Howard album was top 5 for me, breaks my heart it didn’t catch anyone’s ear.

lol I just asked in the stats thread who the other voter was.

That album clicked with me late, and in a way Alabama Shakes never has. I'm glad it did, though, because I've been listening to it semi-obsessively since xmas and I'm not sick of it yet.

To Pimp a Butterfly retains the record for the most points (2204) and the most votes (62), but Kaputt received more #1 votes (12!) than any other album in the current era of EOY polling.

― seandalai

Ten Love Songs also got 12 number one votes in 2015. I imagine her points would be well ahead of most winners.

i will give kaputt another #1 vote if there's ever a decade poll

decade poll is planned for June or july i think

lol i missed the post about kali malone album being a "scam of sorts", good one

people will """"listen""" to anything nowadays ehhh?

can someone post the full list recap please

― ciderpress, Friday, 7 February 2020 12:42 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is available in the stats and ballots thread btw (in google docs excel form)

yeah i didn't see that thread got posted already thanks

Gavin, Leeds at 12:53 7 Feb 20

Big thanks to the polrunners, lots to check out and revisit in the top 77 this year.

Tayhana - Tierra del Fuego

I listened to this the other day and liked it!

I didn't participate in the poll, but for a while now, the ILX EOY Poll has been my signal for the year coming to a close -- I look forward to it every year, and I'm stoked for more great music ahead ^__^

I'm a sensitive horse girl btw

I voted for Taylor's Lover but I've listened to it in these past few weeks and I could've voted it higher now. The two lead singles are clunkers - the rest of the album is basically good to great. And having given it some time, it's amazing how fully formed her left turns to new sounds work - False Gods, It's Nice to Have a Friend. In 'big pop' I still don't think there's anyone who's replaced her in her niche, lyrically - and this material points to several new avenues for her outside of the regrettable snark-pop of the lead single, where she can find new hats for herself but still maintain that unique monopoly. It's nice to have a friend! You don't need big bad Katy Perry lead single to pitch your album though, Taylor, and I don't think those singles worked that well commercially either way. It's a great album! And reputation was also underrated by me I've discovered (those lead singles were actually less egregious).

It sounds like generic r&b to me. Based on the descriptions I've read, I was expecting something with more personality.

― toilet-cleaning brain surgeon (pomenitul), Thursday, February 6, 2020 11:35 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I'll pick this up; Dawn just finished with a trilogy of albums that kind of laid out an almost visionary re-imagining of what R&B should sound like and how it can mean. You seem to be looking for something with a little more sonic ambition, and you'll be led to the second one in that triad, Blackheart, an album that I think most here would agree is one of this decade's great defining albums

New Breed is the first full-length after that mammoth undertaking (though she does tend to litter the ground with stray tracks, EPs, collabs) and it's a mixtapes, so it's more small-scale, off-the-cuff, more intimate, personal, going back to her roots, etc. All familiar cliches but since Dawn doesn't really traffic in cliches, you end up w something like the plenitude of samples of the Mardi Gras ceremonies her family participated in, a personal touch you don't really get w generic r&b. Otherwise, for the converted, I think New Breed is like DAMN.--an artist with not much left to prove engaging with a much more accessible idea of pop music just to remove any doubt. Unfortunately, unlike DAMN, not every song hit the charts the day it was released but what can you do...?

lolilm.gif

Thank you so much to Moka, ulysses and the gang. As people upthread have said, this is something I look forward to every year. It interrupts my life, distracts me from work, makes me distant from my partner (luckily she happened to be on holiday during the rollout), but it is so worth it because it gives me so much to listen to in the coming months and usually I'm still fully digesting stuff from EOY well into spring and summer.

Thanks for an amazing rollout. I was surprisingly hivemind-y this year.

Honestly there isn't any point trying to convince Pom of this because 'generic' is one of those words that people throw around when they don't like the music enough to engage with what might be distinctive about it. A listen to Blackheart probably isn't going to change that.

Gutted that Sudan Archives didn't make the rollout by the way, stunning record.

lol ilm you so crazy

I was joking about being to r&b as Tuomas is to rock. There are quite a few r&b albums I genuinely love, so I appreciate the reply, Drugs. I'll be sure to check out Blackheart.

Anyway, I didn't expect to jive with the hivemind's #1 so: good job, ILM.

Burial wuz robbed.

He has a track about that

I like Burial a lot but I couldn't with a clear conscience vote for a compilation w/ tracks I've known for years already.

xp lol

Belated thanks to the pollrunners, and a shout out to Moka for the lovely images.

Seconded!

And congratulations to Marissa for winning the poll

lol

A+

What's she up to these days, other than hanging out with LDR and releasing ILM's AOTY?

I had hoped she's in a better place now, but stumbling on this, I fear that that is not the case. She hasn't gone off the net because of us after all :(

:(

Playlist is fully updated and put to bed. This year, Spotify got everything on the 77 album and singles lists except JME.

ILM’s Top Albums of 2019 Countdown

#01 - Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising (1158 points, 33 votes, 4 number 1 votes)
#02 - Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell (961 points, 29 votes, 2 number 1 votes)
#03 - Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains (952 points, 27 votes, 5 number 1 votes)
#04 - Big Thief - U.F.O.F. (918 points, 27 votes, 4 number 1 votes)
#05 - Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated (687 points, 21 votes)
#06 - Octo Octa - Resonant Body (685 points, 22 votes)
#07 - Tinashe - Songs For You (626 points, 19 votes, 4 number 1 votes)
#08 - Ariana Grande- Thank U, Next (551 points, 17 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#09 - Big Thief - Two Hands (544 points, 15 votes)
#10 - Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (524 points, 18 votes)
#11 - Taylor Swift - Lover (504 points, 16 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#12 - Jamila Woods - LEGACY! LEGACY! (501 points, 16 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#13 - FKA Twigs - Magdalene (493 points, 18 votes)
#14 - Burna Boy - African Giant (492 points, 15 votes, 4 number 1 votes)
#15 - Caroline Polachek - Pang (488 points, 16 votes)
#16 - Dawn Richard - New Breed (486 points, 15 votes)
#17 - Jenny Hval - The Practice of Love (484 points, 18 votes, 2 number 1 votes)
#18 - 100 Gecs - 1000 Gecs (479 points, 15 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#19 - These New Puritans - Inside the Rose (462 points, 15 votes)
#20 - Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride (442 points, 11 votes, 2 number 1 votes)
#21 – Charli XCX - Charli (423 points, 13 votes, 2 #1 votes)
#22 – Holly Herndon - Proto (420 points (nice), 15 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#23 – Charly Bliss – Young Enough (414 points, 16 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#24 – Underworld – Drift Series 1 (391 points, 12 votes, 3 #1 votes)
#25 – Nilüfer Yanya – Miss Universe (378 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#26 – CFCF – Liquid Colors (365 points, 12 votes)
#27 – Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee (364 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#28 – SAULT - 5 (354 points, 17 votes)
#29 – The Comet Is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery (354 points, 17 votes)
#30 – Richard Dawson - 2020 (352 points, 14 votes)
#31 – Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Ancestral Recall (344 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#32 – Little Simz – Grey Area (330 points, 13 votes)
#33 – The Highwomen – s/t (326 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#34 – Arthur Russell – Iowa Dream (323 points, 10 votes)
#35 – Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin¿ (317 points, 13 votes)
#36 – Men I Trust - Oncle Jazz (316 points, 11 votes)
#37 – Lingua Ignota - Caligula (311 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#38 – Erika De Casier – Essentials (306 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#39 – Kelsey Lu - Blood (301 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#40 – Sunn O))) – Life Metal (293 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#41 (TIE) - Kim Gordon - No Home Record (288 points, 10 votes)
#41 (TIE) - SAULT - 7 (288 points, 10 votes)
#43 – Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (284 points, 10 votes)
#44 – Shura - Forevher (278 points, 9 votes)
#45 – Kali Malone - The Sacrificial Code (278 points, 8 votes)
#46 – Solange - When I Get Home (277 points, 12 votes)
#47 – Liturgy - H.A.Q.Q. (268 points, 9 votes)
#48 – Hatchie - Keepsake (266 points, 11 votes)
#49 – Chemical Brothers - No Geography (244 points, 7 votes)
#50 – Glass Beach - The First Glass Beach Album (242 points, 8 votes)
#51 – Lambchop - This (is what I wanted to tell you) (234 points, 8 votes)
#52 – Carla dal Forno - Look Up Sharp (228 points, 8 votes)
#53 – Koffee – Rapture (224 points, 7 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#54 – Clairo – Immunity (223 points, 9 votes)
#55 – American Football – American Football (223 points, 7 votes, 2 number 1 votes)
#56 – Various Artists – 環境音楽 Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 (222 points, 8 votes)
#57 – Samthing Soweto – Isphithiphithi (220 points, 7 votes)
#58 – Thom Yorke – Anima (216 points, 8 votes)
#59 – Moodymann – Sinner (216 points, 6 votes, 1 number 1 vote)
#60 – Andy Stott – It Should Be Us (214 points, 9 votes)
#61 – Sacred Paws – Run Around the Sun (212 points, 8 votes)
#62 – Rapsody – Eve (211 points, 8 votes)
#63 – Barker – Utility (210 points, 8 votes)
#64 – Miranda Lambert – Wildcard (208 points, 8 votes)
#65 – Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel (204 points, 7 votes)
#66 – Tyler, the Creator – IGOR (202 points, 8 votes)
#67 – Caterina Barbieri – Ecstatic Computation (200 points, 7 votes)
#68 – The National – I Am Easy to Find (195 points, 8 votes)
#69 – Sampa the Great – The Return (194 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#70 – Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild (189 points, 6 votes)
#71 – clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood (188 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote)
#72 – Jme – Grime MC (187 points, 7 votes)
#73 – Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter 4: Memphis (184 points, 6 votes)
#74 – Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow (183 points, 6 votes)
#75 – Better Oblivion Community Center – s/t (182 points, 6 votes)
#76 – Laurel Halo – DJ Kicks (182 points, 5 votes)
#77 – Cate le Bon – Reward (181 points, 6 votes)

sigh - fixed that for you:

#57 – Samthing Soweto – Isphithiphithi (220 points, 7 votes)

give him a break, it’s a hard word to spell

it's not "the ASDA"

...and yet so remarkably easy to copy and paste

idk i struggled with it

that’s a phithi

Big Phith?

Re: Dawn Richard, Blackheart is sounding pretty good so far.

fixed in that list, thanks for the edit note... and for the pronunciation!
Iss-peety-peety, yeah?

thanx!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOKoDZZvuH8

check the chorus, from 1:00-1:20

My takeaway from the Jenny Hval album is that I would maybe enjoy a Jenny Hval instrumental album

Full version of BASQUIAT massively superior to the edit that made the tracks poll

Is there any poll that you could vote for that in, imago?

Jamila Woods?

Not is v much the only EOY representation Two Hands required. Talk about an album with a highlight

"shoulders," "the toy" > "not"

Lol fine.

I liked the Woods album! Good #1 choice