48 - School Of Seven Bells - Alpinisms83 points, 11 votes298 in P&J
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8633/schoolofsevenbells01bigbm5.jpg
Sometimes one wants comfort and familiarity. Or a perfected version of something that seems like your own private world. This album sounds like the inside of my head. I'm going to shut up now.
...
It's funny, I was just thinking this morning, how good Half Asleep is. I've had it stuck in my head all day. But then I got distracted by the video and forgot to say.
No, this album really really *is* a grower.
It's also weirdly sequenced, like, it's *really* back-loaded - that the poppy upbeat songs are towards the end. But Benjamin probably did that on purpose coz he is perverse like that. That you have to listen to the whole thing to get to the poppy bits, and that makes you do multiple listens to the earlier songs and then you get sucked into them and you realise every time you listen to them you notice something different and then one day you wake up and realise you cant' live without hearing the album again and again and again.
it's not an immediate high. But it gets better and better every time you listen.―Masonic Boom
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:08 (fifteen years ago) link
I love that cover on the Arthur Russell, it's like he's stood there gazing longingly at his neighbour's new tractor. Didn't vote for it though, cos I'm a kerrank and just stuck with new new stuff.
x-post
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:09 (fifteen years ago) link
On paper, the School of Seven Bells album seems like something I'd eat right up. Sadly, it wasn't the case.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:12 (fifteen years ago) link
I cooled on it a bit after I'd gorged myself silly on the obvious standout tracks.
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:17 (fifteen years ago) link
heard that for the first time this weekend as my friend wants me to see them. itsokigues
― Gukbe, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah the School of Seven Bells album really didn't stand up to how great the descriptions made it sound. It was just sort of flat and lifeless.
― Maximo Park Ji-Sung (Matt DC), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:24 (fifteen years ago) link
arthur russell's posture is terrible on that cover. why would you stand in a way that makes you look like you have a huge pot belly when you're obviously really skinny??
alpinisms is the first of my votes to show up. still love that its first mention on ilx (that i saw) was kate repping for it on the "albums of the year" thread and saying how it proved how far she'd gotten from the ilx hivemind b/c no one else had mentioned it. a month and a bit later, enough people love it to get it in here!
― lex pretend, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:25 (fifteen years ago) link
It is a fantastic album, and unusually "complete" for a debut.
― call all destroyer, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Actually this list is going to annoy me more than the other one because it's much harder to hear everything on it. Downloading the Boris album now, which I actually think I'll really like.
― Maximo Park Ji-Sung (Matt DC), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:29 (fifteen years ago) link
I would link to Spotify or something but I am cursed to being an American so that's a no-go. If it's available on last.fm I'll try to provide a link.
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:33 (fifteen years ago) link
If anyone wants to chime in with recommendations for particular tracks to download on any of these or with youtube links or whatever, then I'm all ears.
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh, lexpaws... I suppose you're going to comment negatively about everything you either don't know or don't like on this list, just as on the traxx list. Sigh.
You're being silly just to be silly are you not? Did it ever occur to you that there are actually some people out there who don't give a damn about that? And "huge pot belly"... give me a fucking break.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:36 (fifteen years ago) link
don't give a damn about appearance that much, is what I meant
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:37 (fifteen years ago) link
should have done a reshoot of the cover but...o wait
― Gukbe, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:37 (fifteen years ago) link
lol
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:41 (fifteen years ago) link
Here are two albums so far that are available for full streaming on last.fm, I will make sure to provide these down the line:
Smile - http://www.last.fm/music/Boris/Smile
Alpinisms - http://www.last.fm/music/School+of+Seven+Bells/Alpinisms
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:42 (fifteen years ago) link
ugh, i know there's a dutch online shop which has full streams of loads of albums but i can't remember what the URL is.
i have heard (most of) the arthur russell album and i like him generally, just not these badly sung acoustic demos. and if people really don't care about appearance why bother posing for a photo in the first place.
― lex pretend, Monday, 9 February 2009 19:51 (fifteen years ago) link
WTF? I didn't vote on anything, how did I get in here?
Or was I just the first ILX mention for the album?
And Matt DC, pffffttt, I think you're flat and lifeless for hating Justice, so we're even. :-P
― Couldn't Wrap A Burrito (Masonic Boom), Monday, 9 February 2009 19:54 (fifteen years ago) link
They pose for a photo for other people who don't care as much about it. Not for, say, people who are obsessed with it. Both see different things in the same photo, apparantly. You see a man who's stupid enough to pretend to have a big put belly. I see a beautiful man totally in character, looking very confident and glowing like his best music does.
Oh, by the Dutch shop, did you mean http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/ ? It's from a radiostation. They do stream lots of albums in full, but only new ones I think.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 9 February 2009 20:00 (fifteen years ago) link
xp
Most of the blurbs are from existing ILX posts, and aren't sent in specially for the poll
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:02 (fifteen years ago) link
47 - Sébastien Tellier - Sexuality84.5 points, 11 votes447 in P&J
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1331/41ikgnyc03lss500eh5.jpg
this album is great. i didn't expect something so minimal, the synths and drum machines just glisten. it's kinda like italians do it better for people who go to dinner parties. think 'elle' is my favourite at the moment, but it seems like the kind of album where every song is a potential favourite, i love records like this
― r1o natsume
i think this is my favorite album of the year so far. that fucking glistening sound is just wonderful. it seems to build on discovery's whole 80s aor thing really well, these song forms offer more room to play around in that area. like the over-the-top supertramp-ness of the 4th track (even down to that damn wurlitzer sound). and i've been listening to van halen a lot lately so those "jump" synths in "kilometer" really hit me (especially since it's such a killer tune anyway).
― winston
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:10 (fifteen years ago) link
forgot about that one
― nascar jesus (J0rdan S.), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:13 (fifteen years ago) link
My first vote to place. XD
― The Reverend (rev), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:14 (fifteen years ago) link
new Secret Machines >>>>>> School Of Seven Bells album
(I am the only person who thinks this)
― Robin van Injury (country matters), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:14 (fifteen years ago) link
i think my favorite thing about the Tellier album is the cover
― vergangenheitsbewaeltigung (later arpeggiator), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:18 (fifteen years ago) link
not that its a bad album, just didn't love it
― vergangenheitsbewaeltigung (later arpeggiator), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:19 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, it's never quite spectacular, but it altogether works haha. It was in the lower half of my ballot. I'm really digging the Aeroplane remix of "Kilometer" right now.
― The Reverend (rev), Monday, 9 February 2009 20:23 (fifteen years ago) link
this is the first time i've actually seen the tellier cover large enough to see what it is :/
i like the album fine - it was a bit too samey to get in my voting range though.
Oh, by the Dutch shop, did you mean http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/
yes this is exactly it. i seem to recall finding it much easier to navigate in the past though.
― lex pretend, Monday, 9 February 2009 20:25 (fifteen years ago) link
arthur russell's a bit low, isn't it? I'm glad I placed it high on my ballot then.
― danzig, Monday, 9 February 2009 20:45 (fifteen years ago) link
let the excitement begin, I look forward to seeing more of my votes on this list. Hopefully.
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:15 (fifteen years ago) link
46 - Fall, The - Imperial Wax Solvent86 points, 8 votes, 1 #1 vote
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3245/imperialwaxuc1.jpg
On the first play of it all the way through I gotta say it's definitely never boring. There's a lot of energy here. "Alton Towers" has a really spooky sound to it, like a jazzy haunted house. I adore the bass on "Can Can Summer" - LCD Soundsystem, take that! It really does feel like a swipe at LCD, that one.
― Bimble
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:17 (fifteen years ago) link
my #1 pick. if there was ever a use for the cliche "resounding return to form", this album is it.
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:23 (fifteen years ago) link
Unlike the singles list, this is just making me depressed.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:25 (fifteen years ago) link
I must have missed something if it was your #1 vote, let me check
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:25 (fifteen years ago) link
I re-sent you my ballot, just in case.
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:28 (fifteen years ago) link
maybe I forgot to say "ordered"...
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:29 (fifteen years ago) link
looks like you were right, pretty much!
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:31 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah it's easier to gloss over a "20" than miss the entire vote, double-checked but it's all good.
― lil waynes babymama (musically), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Why? If it's stuff you don't like then surely you're happy it's not high in the list, and the albums you do like will be up later?Personally I find the 50-30 part the most interesting and sometimes has better albums than the top 20 but for some reason aren't as well known as those that finish higher.
― Boring Sign In Name (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:48 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, it's a little early to start complaining, unless your name is lex.
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:50 (fifteen years ago) link
The TRACKS (not singles) list was about as dull-as-ditchwater as it gets IMO, symptomatic of a closed-minded ILM that refuses point-blank to see past its staunch Poptimist principles
― Robin van Injury (country matters), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:50 (fifteen years ago) link
Tracks/singles list...whatever...I guess it's just easier for me to like tracks than albums these days. LOL IM OLD!
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:53 (fifteen years ago) link
― Robin van Injury (country matters), Monday, February 9, 2009 3:50 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark
is this self-parody i can't tell
― nascar jesus (J0rdan S.), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:55 (fifteen years ago) link
louis are you implying that ppl didn't vote in oceansize because of "poptimist principles"? isnt it possible that people just like aeroplane and "paper planes" more than oceansize (or whoever else)?
― nascar jesus (J0rdan S.), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:56 (fifteen years ago) link
like me, for example
― sleeve, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:57 (fifteen years ago) link
can't blame ILM if pop is the place where interesting things are happening.
― Gukbe, Monday, 9 February 2009 21:58 (fifteen years ago) link
on the one hand, there's lex complaining about indie and on the other, lj complaining about pop. you can't win.
― Disco/Very (Roz), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:58 (fifteen years ago) link
You just know the 'poptimists' will say the same about 'rockists' and the album chart. Rather than checking out the good stuff. The trax chart was great for having youtube links to check out what I didn't know.I assume LJ's complaint was that there was hardly any non-singles choices in the trax top 50?
― Boring Sign In Name (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 9 February 2009 21:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Oceansize didn't release anything, but plenty of really brilliant, exciting acts did, acts which the Poptimists haven't heard of through simple, brute ignorance. Very little I heard from the Youtubes was in any way exciting for me. At least I gave them a go.
― Robin van Injury (country matters), Monday, 9 February 2009 22:05 (fifteen years ago) link
re: purchases vs nicks, my search for d.lissvik via a 'studio' search brought wolfgang voigt's studio 1 comp which relates i believe to the gas entry on the list. haven't heard gas but this studio 1 is bringing a great deal back home right now.
― whatever, Thursday, 19 February 2009 23:21 (fifteen years ago) link
should have added i bought the voigt.
I'd check out God's Money, their previous album, and delve deeper if you enjoy that one the parts that are much harder to enjoy
― contenderizer, Thursday, 19 February 2009 23:25 (fifteen years ago) link
pleased to see gang gang dance polled so high. deserves many further listens.
― whatever, Thursday, 19 February 2009 23:30 (fifteen years ago) link
boy did i sleep on gang gang dance. would've made my top 5 for sure had i heard it in time
Co-fucking-sign. This is fantastic. How in fuck's name did I miss it?
― Special topics: Disco, The Common Market (grimly fiendish), Thursday, 19 February 2009 23:55 (fifteen years ago) link
You were too busy listening to Keane
― The User Formerly Known As Pfunkboy Latterly Known as.. (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:04 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeeees. That'll have been it.
― Special topics: Disco, The Common Market (grimly fiendish), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:06 (fifteen years ago) link
He's not even lying.
― The User Formerly Known As Pfunkboy Latterly Known as.. (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:10 (fifteen years ago) link
Gang Gang Dance really could've challenged Portishead on this evidence
― I want sprinkles (country matters), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:11 (fifteen years ago) link
But that's the joy of these things, isn't it? There are three records on this list -- GGD, School of Seven Bells and Grouper -- that I'm pretty sure would have made my list had I heard them. Hey ho.
― Special topics: Disco, The Common Market (grimly fiendish), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:15 (fifteen years ago) link
school of seven bells sounds pretty good. they're playing glasgow on the 24th so i might pop in if it isn't sold out. Grouper would have definitely been top 10 if I had heard it in time.
― Gukbe, Friday, 20 February 2009 00:17 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeh, I'm working the night of the 24th which is a massive, massive, massive pain in the bollocks. I could try haring down straight from work but I doubt I'll make it in time :(
― Special topics: Disco, The Common Market (grimly fiendish), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:19 (fifteen years ago) link
grimly look at the metal poll thread
― The User Formerly Known As Pfunkboy Latterly Known as.. (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Heard the other day that School of Seven Bells are also supporting Bat For Lashes on her UK tour in April.
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:26 (fifteen years ago) link
i might pop in if it isn't sold out.
Nice Wet Wet Wet reference there BTW.
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeh, that sonic adventure is coming, worry not.
― Special topics: Disco, The Common Market (grimly fiendish), Friday, 20 February 2009 00:31 (fifteen years ago) link
It would've been in my top 5, likely top 3, if I'd voted.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 20 February 2009 03:08 (fifteen years ago) link
not totally positive it would have made my top 20 but it is definitely a great album, and props to ILM for the heads up on it.
― devin harris with an appletini (call all destroyer), Friday, 20 February 2009 03:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, exactly (xp). I think GGD has picked up well over 100 phantom points since coming 4th, maybe more like 200. Big props to ILM.
― I want sprinkles (country matters), Friday, 20 February 2009 03:10 (fifteen years ago) link
It was actually the Gang Gang Dance thread a few months ago that turned me onto it, rather than this poll, but yes: big props to ILM.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 20 February 2009 03:20 (fifteen years ago) link
ha well otoh portishead would have picked up at least 12 points from me
― k3vin k., Friday, 20 February 2009 03:29 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost
― k3vin k., Friday, 20 February 2009 03:30 (fifteen years ago) link
And so they should have.
― Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 21 February 2009 16:23 (fifteen years ago) link
More stuff from these polls up on Spotify (Grouper)
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 6 April 2009 21:28 (fifteen years ago) link
argh these threads are pretty hard to find/scan for in search (maybe just because there's a close bracket right after the word ALBUMS in this case). might be worth editing the titles to make them a bit easier to find (ie come up top in search results for '2008 albums poll results' or whatever).
― idgi fridays (blueski), Thursday, 3 February 2011 20:37 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah...all due respect to musically but i much prefer the more straightforward thread titles under the johnny/j0rdan regime
― hercudeez and nuts affair (some dude), Thursday, 3 February 2011 20:39 (thirteen years ago) link