ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

60. James Ferraro — Far Side Virtual (295 points, 11 votes)

didnt vote for this but its an interesting record. i thought it was a p empty pose the whole digital detritus concept but the songs are better than i initially gave them credit for. i dont really get the pysch thing tho, this the sound of emptiness, of the blank spaces btw thought

58. Grouper — Alien Observer/Dream Loss (304 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)
57. The War on Drugs — Slave Ambient (322 points, nine votes, one first place vote)

this is total pseud music and everyone voting for these should be ashamed.

56. Danny Brown — XXX (323 points, 11 votes, one first place vote)
54. Kendrick Lamar — Section.80 (337 points, 10 votes, one first place vote)

i like both of these a fair bit although i prefer lamar's.

50. Hatchback — Zeus and Apollo (350 points, nine votes, two first place votes)

fantastic record, think i had it #3 or #4 on my ballot. requires some deep listening imo

41. Andy Stott — Passed Me By/We Stay Together (363 points, 13 votes)

this and demdlike and to an extent moon duo are sorta right on the edge of music that i really like w/o managing to generate much interest or excitement in me. this record in particular just seemed... not good, in a way that isnt even interesting to dissect

Dan, that was kinda cool, but lacking in house beats.

I am glad both Stott's releases were banded together. Hopefully Cass McCombs ace double will chart in a decent position as well. I have really got into C M in the last year. I am getting into him backwards (f'narr f'narr) in that I have only just got into Catacombs.

I find it amusing that everybody hates the odd Radiohead album I like. I am cool with them making sexy makeout jams.

that andy stott might be a depressing mess but somehow it sounds like i would have liked burial - into whom i never got - to sound. btw i like my dose of sadcore.

I don't hate KoL but I don't really remember it at all

best thing about the not-bad stott album was the cover art imo. might have to give it another shot, though. grouper's twofer was pretty much the best double release of the year, though.

gr80 otm re Stott

I'm not following dance music that much these days, but it kinda feels that ever since the "indie electro" boom of the 00s, the vocal lineage of gospel -> soul -> disco -> house has been broken, and classic dance vocals have been replaced by thin, rock-influenced, abrasive and/or whiny singing styles. Where are the Robin S.'s of today?

(several x-posts)

Teebs "Ardour" is also a good way to understand sidechain compression

^^^at first i had a hard time listening to it because of the extreme sidechain comp ratios, but i guess i'm so inured to it now that it doesn't bother me. it's definitely a key musical technique of that record.

I don't hear indie at all on Azari and iii.

i enjoy king of limbs when i listen to it and then i forget it exists. in rainbows was way better.

Where are the Robin S.'s of today?

http://thenewgay.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/robyn-opt1.jpg

Getting plenty of ilx love on the tracks list.

i find veronica falls incredibly grating, but i can't really articulate why

That's a different Robin/Robyn, people tend to mix them up because of the similar names, and because both had a hit single called "Show Me Love".

Where are the Robin S.'s of today?

still in deep house, funky house etc? monique bingham, marissa guzman, natalie may, ruby lee ryder, terri walker. and katy b obv.

I don't hear indie at all on Azari and iii.

― I want your nose, your shoes and your unicycle (dog latin), Tuesday, January 31, 2012 1:23 PM Bookmark

^^^

tuomas, what the hell are you on about?

Haha I know Tuomas, I was trying an unsuccessful zing based on that celebrities hanging out thread.

but yeah azari & iii have pretty classic male diva singers so i have no idea where the "rockishness" thing comes from

can someone try to explain the hatchback love to me? i know nothing about the album except the title track but that is a boring ambient, easy listening piece going into no man's land. inoffensive, harmless, superfluous. is that how the album is?

http://youtu.be/f2RkfFDCrWc

listening to fucked up now. i do like this. it's like if leatherface made american idiot.

I don't hear indie at all on Azari and iii.

― I want your nose, your shoes and your unicycle (dog latin), Tuesday, January 31, 2012 1:23 PM Bookmark

^^^

tuomas, what the hell are you on about?

Well, I only listened to a couple of tunes that I found on Youtube, but the vocals on this tune, for example, feel much more in line with shouty indie-electro and electroclash (and 80s synth pop that inspired them) than with house music. That's why I asked if all of their tunes are like that, because I like the beats, but not the vocal style.

But I'm listening to this one now, and the vocals are much more pleasant on it, so I guess I just came across the wrong examples?

Tuomas can you point me in the direction of these shouty indie-electro and electroclash vocalists who sound kinda like Darryl Pandy??? xpost

oh wait that's just the vocals pitch-shifted down an octave

Tuomas can you point me in the direction of these shouty indie-electro and electroclash vocalists who sound kinda like Darryl Pandy??

I don't get this? I was trying to say that they don't sound like Darryl Pandy, and that I kinda miss that style. Even these more divaish Azari & III tunes are not melismatic enough, as nice as they sound.

Andy Stott is great commuting music, especially in the dark evenings.

it's like if leatherface made american idiot.

hahaha that brings back some memories. Leatherface reformed a few years back for some gigs didn't they?

I mean, the problem I've had lately with the dance music in these polls is that it's either cool and mannered, or harsh and aggressive, and while this kind of stuff can be great, those ends of the spectrum are not what I most enjoy about club music. Where are all the magnificently melancholic or upliftingly joyous tunes?

(x-post)

XP

In fact, I'd say that listening to the Colin Stetson, Julia Holter, and Andy Stott records almost in rotation on commutes home in the autumn winter helped me to love each of them more. They're an oddly compimentary trio.

Also isn't there another Leatherface out there now? I have to remember its not frankie stubbs getting good reviews

did y'all hear that blue daisy remix of jamie woon? pretty epic: http://soundcloud.com/bluedaisy/jamie-woon-nightair-blue-daisy

Leatherface never split and are still making great records. Don't compare them to Fucked Up though, they're leagues and miles better than them.

Found the Azari album really grew on me - also found only the 2 big singles were working for me at the start, but repeat listens led to me liking it all a whole lot. Fantastic production!

Was also mega surprised by how much i enjoyed the Real Estate. They're basically Mccarthy without the politics, and i fucking love Mccarthy.

Mush by Leatherface rules

it does. Im getting all nostalgic listening to it now on spotify

guys this is the 2011 thread

"Manic" is like their fifth single and is p much them switching things up a bit with these manipulated vocals after doing straight-up male diva on all the singles before that, which are all on the album.

Mush really is one of the best British records in any genre. It's SO GOOD.

listen to the wind
drink a lot of gin

listen to the wind
drink a lot of gin
video gaaaames

damn, you beat me to it :)

Would love to hear the Andy Stott played loud on a decent stereo, I think my shitty set-up (not to mention my neighbours) have been a barrier to getting the most out of it. You can sense the weight of the music even on headphones though, almost like a suffocating sensation at times.

Didn't vote for it anyhow though, and still have 0/25 so far

Given up hoping that the Roman Flugel album will appear, definitely one of my favourite techno albums from this year and really strong from start to finish. Anyone who enjoyed the Robag Wruhme record should check it out, probably a better listen overall imo.

yep, i voted for the Roman Fluegel. if i had done a weighted ballot it would've been number one.

king of limbs is going to be the radiohead album that people who are paying attention rep for in 5-10 years in spite of the fact that it got slagged of now, sorta like sonic youth's 'goo' or pj harvey's 'is this desire.'

yes yes *gives reassuring pat on the head*

Its not an awful album by any means, just not exciting enough to really be worth talking about - and I usually ride for Radiohead.

kevin arent you like sixteen?