ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

because other than a handful of key examples (The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian), these tropes seem to be peculiar to indie's post-1998 US strand, whereas it's not necessarily a default in the UK

It certainly was once upon a time in the C86 tweepop era.

that's a point - i'm not so familiar with 80s indie. once you get to the nineties, you can't really call the Mondays, Oasis, the Libertines or whoever "self-aware" or "frail".

I mean, sure there are probably dozens of examples of fey indie bands from the UK, but it's not the default aesthetic, whereas according to posts made upthread, it's come to define a certain stream of modern US thinking.

It certainly was once upon a time in the C86 tweepop era.

Yeah my impression of the '80s is that it was completely the other way around - the US indie scene of that era seemed to be a lot more noisy/rocking in comparison, more macho even.

A lot of what I'd been trying to say upthread about the indiefication of other genres and the dominance of these was expressed much better in Tim F's last few posts.

I'd say that's broadly true, Gavin, but I'm not trying to stan for the whole SST aesthetic either. I suppose, if anything, I'm valorizing a sort of pre-indie sensibility. As far as Craig's comments above re: DIY, I can again see how that's a liberating thing, how it operates politically, but the problem with politicizing art objects is that you're in danger of sacrificing your ability being able to approach them in a more unadornedly aesthetic light. DIY allows worthwhile voices to be heard that may not have reached an audience before, but when the feeble-ness and "hearing the stitching" (home sewing/etsy pun fully intended) aspect becomes fetishized, becomes the whole point, that's where I get lost. Again, going back to Tim's initial comment that sparked me thinking about this, we should be able to admit when we're "hearing with X ears" that are getting off on the politically liberating aspect of the music, and not stretch/distort it to say that "rehearsal makes for dead art" as that SR/Beat Happening quote seemed to. In fact, as much as I love SR's writing, my main criticism throughout all of his career is that I sometimes get the sense that he gets off more on the political thrust of music than on what he's actually hearing.

No problem with lo-fi or a lack of technical ability if it's justified. What I really don't like it's when it's being obviously affected. It's the musical equivalent of distressed interior design I guess.

Matt DC, C's point was that Destroyer wouldn't count under the DIY terminology. Obviously.

yeah, indie and rock audiences primarily like indie and rock music and tend to view other types of music through that lens. this is not a "problem". everybody's got a point of view, and everybody's point of view is limited in some way or another.

the tendency of indie & rock critics to dominate the discourse might be a problem, but it's better fought by presenting alternative voices than by sniping endlessly (tediously) at whatever indie & rock critics happen to enjoy.

― his hands are a dirty fountain through which lives spurt (contenderizer), Friday, February 3, 2012 2:01 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think this is pretty OTM, to be honest.

For what it's worth, Eleanoora Rosenholm is the name of the band, not the lead singer. IIRC "Eleanoora Rosenholm" is a fictional 1920 mass murderer who appears in their lyrics, or something like that.

― Tuomas, Friday, February 3, 2012 8:54 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is very much OTM. I just couldn't be arsed to explain it at the time, hehehe.

I'd say that's broadly true, Gavin, but I'm not trying to stan for the whole SST aesthetic either. I suppose, if anything, I'm valorizing a sort of pre-indie sensibility.

I definitely agree with you to an extent (I also think dog latin and Tim F are making good points about the indiefication of critical discourse) - I mean I like lots of ramshackle, amateurish indie music (GbV are one of my favourite bands) but as an aesthetic in 2012 I find it kind of limited. Whereas stuff like Beat Happening or Orange Juice or whoever actually sounds liberated/liberating - and exploratory in a fascinating way - most current indiepop just sounds like people sticking too closely to a fairly narrow formula. Not that sticking to a formula is inherently bad but there's not much that grabs me music in terms of sonics or tunes (for a genre with a 'pop' suffix, a lot of it seems pretty low on hooks) and I can't help but think that the low level of proficiency/skill involved is a large part of the problem for me. That whole 'Here's three chords, now form a band' thing, I never thought that meant everyone had to use the same three chords, or that they couldn't eventually learn a fourth.

Lex please have a listen to the uncle acid album and let me know what you think. Even if you hate it, i'll take a moral victory if you say it's still better than Destroyer!

btw the uncle acid album is pure DIY. 1st album came out on a run of 20 cdrs. 2nd album was CDR of about a 100 then it got some internet message board buzz and blew up in the metal underground.

We're skirting narrowly close to the "what is indie" discussion again, but I do think it's interesting to think about it in terms of an overall set of values than tangible tickboxes like "white guys with guitars" or whatever.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/384786_10150478627933889_21461308888_8704352_52706294_n.jpg

top 20 rap albums for huge middlebrow lulz
1. Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne
2. Drake, Take Care
3. The Roots, Undun
4. Danny Brown, XXX
5. Kendrick Lamar, Section.80
6. Das Racist, Relax
7. Clams Casino, Instrumental Mixtape
8. Big KRIT, Return of 4Eva
9. Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
10. DJ Quik, The Book of David
11. A$AP Rocky, LiveLoveA$AP
12. Tyler, the Creator, Goblin
13. Common, The Dreamer/The Believer
14. Saigon, The Greatest Story Never Told
15. Death Grips, Exmilitary
16. J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story
17. Main Attrakionz, 808s & Dark Grapes II
18. E-40, Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift/Overtime Shift
19. Lil B, I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
20. Action Bronson, Dr. Lecter

― somebody sh1pley the brinks truck (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, January 17, 2012 9:28 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

top 20 rap albums for moderate middlebrow lulz
1. DJ Quik — The Book of David
2. Shabazz Palaces — Black Up
3. E-40 — Revenue Retrievin: Overtime Shift/Graveyard Shift
4. Araabmuzik — Electronic Dream
5. Death Grips — Ex-Military
6. Clams Casino — Instrumentals
7. Kendrick Lamar — Section.80
8. Danny Brown — XXX
9. Drake – Take Care
10. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva
11. Jay-Z & Kanye West — Watch the Throne
12. Meek Mill - Dreamchasers
13. Schoolboy Q - Setbacks
14. French Montana - Coke Boys 2
15. Killer Mike - Pl3dge
16. Action Bronson - Dr. Lecter
17. Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
18. Waka Flocka Flame - DuFlocka Rant
19. Young Bleed - Preserved
20. Angel Haze - Altered Ego

(Shabazz was also 3rd highest rap album in Pazz & Jop but Whiney missed it in his post)

gotta say i'm proud of ILM for leaving Das Racist way out the 300s, though

yessss a minor victory for angel haze and young bleed

wish cousin fik would've got more support though erm it appears to have missed my own ballot so i can't talk

Anyway, back to the most important thing. A ROCK ALBUM FINALLY WON OUR POLL! lol it rocks about as hard as a single gym sock in a dryer full of towels. But, technically, it's the work of a WHITE MALE WHO PLAYS MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS PROFICIENTLY AND HAS A BEARD.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, February 2, 2012 9:59 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I should point out that Sound of Silver won the ILM poll in 2007 and that's clearly a rock record.

― Matt DC, Friday, February 3, 2012 9:50 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Rock music - the work of a WHITE MALE WHO PLAYS MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS PROFICIENTLY AND HAS A BEARD?

― Les Tressle (useless chamber), Friday, February 3, 2012 5:00 AM (4 hours ago)

If it wasn't obvious, I was completely sarcastic about this.

Also, thanks for the clarification on the Eleanoora Rosenholm Tuomas and emil.y—not a lot of background is generally provided with an mp3 download, lol.

WHITE MALE WHO PLAYS MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS PROFICIENTLY AND HAS A BEARD

what's the target of your pisstaking here JF? Kerr? Bejar? I dont quite get it...

Fleet Foxes

not sure if this when saints go machine album is truly great or if i'd just love anything featuring an arthur russell impersonator, but regardless, THANKS ILX.

adam levine

xp

i dont play any instruments nor do i have a beard fwiw

Kerr? Bejar?

Both, perhaps.

Yeah, When Saints Go Machine is better than any of the others I heard for the first time from higher in the list.

fyi the WSGM album IS truly great

ha, not my point; I meant the whole "rock #1" thing is your concern Kerr but you've never defined rock as BEARDED MAN MAKES COCAINE-FLAVORED REAGAN SCHMINDIE, and were p much rooting for PJ all along.

BEARDED MAN MAKES COCAINE-FLAVORED REAGAN SCHMINDIE would be another category that also includes LCD Soundsystem

lol

tbh, I really didn't have a point. I was just taking a shot at Kerr who seems upset a rock album has never topped an ILM end-of-year poll and I was taking a shot at Destroyer for not being very rock while still embracing all of its trappings.

I don't know if a rock album (by Kerr's definition) will EVER win one of our polls, but Destroyer, LCDSS and, arguably, Portishead are all considered to generally fall under the rock umbrella in the rest of the world.

there is really only one song on the Portishead album I would associate with rock tbh ("Small"); everything else is riding this weird edge of "trip-hop built off of bonkers source material"

lcd and portishead had some rock influences but imo theyre not rock bands. destroyer dont rock but i guess theyre a rock band even if that album isnt really rock , but it's certainly more than the other 2.

LCD IMO is way more of a rock band than Portishead

and ive never said ive wanted a rock band to win for the sake of it! i dont just listen to rock. I just meant that a certain type of ilm friendly album was always #1 and it was never a 'rock' album. I certainly never wanted Destroyer to win.

i did however have Portishead as my #1 the year it won

destroyer has made rock albums in the past, but Kaputt would not be considered a rock album by most people

pj was the last thing i cut off my ballot, but the points total in the end meant it made no difference.
I prefer White Chalk to it and the 1st 3 will always be my faves.

silverfish more like silversock

Silverfish otm. I think kaputt meets the ilm friendly aesthetic. Its a very 80s album with keyboards

destroyer has made rock albums in the past, but Kaputt would not be considered a rock album by most people

― silverfish, Friday, February 3, 2012 11:35 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh c'mon it would totally be considered a rock album by most people, just not most hair-splitting "tune yards is NOT underground" ILM types

Kaputt's a rock album but not a ROCK album.

if kaputt isn't a rock record then i'm not really sure what rock is anymore

what is rock?

kaputt is a rock album but it doesn't rock

no you didnt Kerr; you had Torche as your #1 that year (2008); you did however root for the winner... (multiple xposts)

It's a SUCK album ;-) xpost

it must have been my #2 then

george.xls btw

most rock doesn't rock anymore, especially on ILM lists. but i mean if something is closer to "rock" than "pop" or "dance" or whatever then c'mon most people would defer to that (unless they consider "indie" a wholly separate genre from "rock" or "indie rock," which again is some ILM hairsplitting ish)

if indie was different to rock(ie indie bands had synths instead of guitars) then ilm might like it a bit more

it's only rock if I get the urge to air guitar while listening to it

yeah I think it was your #2