ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2014

babymetal is really interesting because it's 100% legitimate j-pop vocals over commensurably legitimate metal. getting that to work as well as it does is probably pretty challenging.

re: real estate, "They make for pleasant background listening; almost ambient indie music" – OTM. i can't really remember this album but i know i didn't mind it, and their first one still has an alluring haze to it (and the end of "beach comber" is a double rainbow).

also i love this gradual result rollout, if it weren't 2am in seoul i'd be here all day

i do like this album tho, pretty good album. didn't vote for it.

I cut it off my ballot I think to make 25 so im really pleased it made it.

((and to clarify, by 'j-pop vocals' i don't mean poppy vocals sung in japanese, i'm referring to the composition of the melody lines as much as their performance/production))

preferred Ducktails to Real Estate, but I don't mind this at all

I have to say, nothing makes me more interested in checking out a band than finding out they make music for the contemplation of oily ham

re: Mica Levi - why does it always always has to be: psychotic blah blah = pull out yer neighbourhood avant-classical type moves out of the bag. Probably the weakest part of that film.

this noura mint seymali is great, thanks to whoever voted for it!

Mauritanian psych-funk sounds fun. As does ambient indie to be fair. Will give them both a go.

"fake blues" from some early real estate single is still one of my very favorite 3-4 min of chillout indie ever. have opined elsewhere that it seems to be ripping off mark knopfler's local hero sndtrk (in a good way). experienced diminishing returns with the band tho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHx8ZhYsigQ

^ album version not quite as good

sorry, meant for that to be a link :(

digging the Real Estate. thanks ILM!

i didn't vote this year but i am going to follow thread because these results are more promising than the singles for me
love under the skin sdtk, big fave in my house
love noura too -- she makes it sound so easy and this reminds me that i wanted to hear the album

the last real estate album is one of my fav indie rock records ever but i couldn't get into this one at all

Xyzzz__: why not? Those sounds work well to bring out that atmosphere. At least it's more interesting than minor-key piano arpeggios or something.

uh, whether or not there were any actual mice involved, this noura mint seymali album is fantastic

Nooo, I missed the moment Babymetal hit, I was praying for this. It feels weird finally having a vote place right inside the top 77 and not outside. This is definitely the best Babymetal song, here performed in front of 60k people.. in England! http://youtu.be/jKs7JnAWI9s

Love the Real Estate album, and it was quite high up on my ballot. It's everything I want from an "indie" album right now - clear, chiming, blissful. I think they just keep getting better.

Loving this Noura Mint Seymali album too.

I agree they do Sund4r. I suppose I'd like to hear those sounds in more surprising contexts these days. A bit of an easy option to take. xps

http://i.imgur.com/bQyox4f.jpg

72 CALL SUPER Suzi Ecto [255 points, 11 votes]

looks like an abstract magen dovid on the cover

yay call super!

I agree they do Sund4r. I suppose I'd like to hear those sounds in more surprising contexts these days. A bit of an easy option to take. xps

― xyzzzz__, Monday, January 26, 2015 9:06 AM (3 seconds ago)

oh pooh. everything's an easy option. the execution's what counts. impeccably well constructed soundtrack, both as a functional component of the film and as a stand-alone listen. it sound more "surprising" a kristen wiig comedy sure, but i'm not that desperate for novelty thrills.

Huh, really fun start to the albums list. Babymetal!

Will they change the band name to Toddlermetal or Teenmetal as they get older? Or swap out the members?

no spotify links this year?

There's a whole playlist linked at the top of the thread.

never heard of this Call Super record, very nice on first listen - I assume there's no vocals?

Or swap out the members?

how it's done iirc

This album cover promises fuzzy artpop...

yeah do these images come with blurbs or no
1-2 objective descriptive sentences or phrases?

Happy that Real Estate placed. They have a special way with melody.

i prefer the mystery & intrigue

Blurbs haven't been part of the eoy polls for several years, but a quick search turned up a few mentions of Call Super in techno/bobbins threads.

oh pooh. everything's an easy option. the execution's what counts. impeccably well constructed soundtrack, both as a functional component of the film and as a stand-alone listen. it sound more "surprising" a kristen wiig comedy sure, but i'm not that desperate for novelty thrills.

― A Severus of Snapes (contenderizer), Monday, 26 January 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Don't be an idiot - of course not everything is an easy option and no I am looking for this stuff to be used in a comedy or anything. Its their problem to sort out. I just know what they've come up with just isn't really going to do.

xp
I prefer not knowing what the hell kind of music it is immediately when I've never heard of something (as is true of Call Super). Part of the fun!

not feeling the real estate. think their sound worked better for me when it was fuzzing in through chillwave-contemporaneous vhs nostalgia, buried vocals, tape hiss, etc.

I suppose I'd like to hear those sounds in more surprising contexts these days. A bit of an easy option to take. xps

― xyzzzz__, Monday, January 26, 2015 9:06 AM (11 minutes ago)

"i don't like this and want to seem important saying it"

Suzi Ecto was definitely one of the more interesting electronic albums this year, and very accessible

Crystalline clearwater ambience embroiled in benign laser warfare.

This is oooookay.

call super is kind of techno with a fuggy cloud-forest vibe and maybe a bit more focus on sonic detail than beats

The Call Super album is fantastic and I have Lex to thank for recommending it on more than one occasion.it seems to take on different properties depending on where and who I listen to it with. Sometimes it's a really lush ambient album with dub inflections, other times it's something a lot more tense/intense than that.

this sounds like something i would like a lot, whoops

I somehow missed that Call Super album entirely, will give it a spin tonight.

I feel I am gaining a good bit of internet notoriety in this msg board by damming it, yes..xps to contend idiot.

ok nm then!
i'll guess

contend idiot.

lol, you've sure got a way with words

la lechera, i think the idea is that fans of whatever record will chip in and explain/enthuse xp

lol I couldn't remember how the rest of it went, couldn't be arsed to press back. The only thing you are right about.

I am gaining a good bit of internet notoriety in this msg board by damming it
First mice, now beavers itt!

We heart u really Julio, u know that.