ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2014

77 BABYMETAL Babymetal
Love Gimme Chocolate but missed this happening this year. Will happily tuck into this album at some point and if that track is indicative, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
76 CHER LLOYD Sorry I'm Late
Just recently got through this one; I don't care much for her as a vocalist. There's a standout track or two; I can ride for "Bind Your Love".
75 MICA LEVI Under the Skin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Voted for this; loved the movie and was so taken with the visuals I overlooked the tracks. Spent at least a week listening to this more or less nonstop. Lygeti-lite and very insectile. Recommend "Death" as the best route in.
74 NOURA MINT SEYMALI Tzenn
I work with people who got Noura out and about and saw her live this year. She's dope. Like the album but mostly for vibin' out.
73 REAL ESTATE Atlas
It ain't me man.
72 CALL SUPER Suzi Ecto
Never heard of this; looking forward to a spin or two.
71 STURGILL SIMPSON Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
Voted for it and surprised this was so low! I listened to a fair amount of pop and trad country this year and this was as good as anything in that vein; if it's this year's token country name drop it's not because it's not deserving.
70 NINOS DU BRASIL Novos Mistérios
New to me but the representative track on the singles poll was great so high hopes.
69 OUGHT More Than Any Other Day
Never heard of it. Will try.
68 WARPAINT Warpaint
I feel like I tried this album at some point and it didn't click? Willing to try again.
67 FUTURE Honest
Fell completely in love with Pluto and had perhaps unrealistically high expectations for this. Move That Dope is about timeless; I will also rep for My Momma, Honest, I Be U and Benz Friendz. Plus he put Big Rube on so I can't be too snarky.
66 KHUN NARIN Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band
This has been sitting on my desk in shrinkwrap for months! I suppose I need to open it.
65 THEO PARRISH American Intelligence
I was aware this album dropped but I have limited exposure to Parrish and no immediate quick access (this is the only album thus far in the countdown not on spotify). I will find it.
64 THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Brill Bruisers
Never been a fan and doubt this is gonna change things but I'll try.
63 LEON VYNEHALL Music for the Uninvited
Glancingly familiar with this guy and a skim of the tracks is very rewarding... I think I'll be thankful to y'all later.
62 DEAN BLUNT Black Metal
Never heard of him, unsure what to make of this. Will report back.
61 FREDDIE GIBBS & MADLIB Piñata
Played this heavily and enjoyed it quite a bit but have a lil' bit of LOL OLD anxiety about riding too hard for it. That said, Deeper / High / Harold's / Bomb / Shitsville / Thuggin / Robes / Broken / Knicks / Piñata are all excellent and while I didn't vote for it, Pinata was only just outside the ballot. YAY OLD

"Redeemer" and "Stone Island" by Dean Blunt were my favourite records of that year, go get on them. "Black Metal" is... not great on the surface but framed as a "major label debut pisstake" (I think?) it is pretty good

Pull up at this girl's crib bumpin Lil Boosie yeah

― 龜, Tuesday, May 6, 2014 8:26 AM (8 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― johnny crunch, Monday, January 26, 2015 8:21 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that reminds me, if Honest barely scraped its way in then Life After Deathrow doesn't stand a chance :/

re: gibbs/madlib, madlib still sounds interesting and fresh in a field where nearly everyone has has gone completely stale, and i think that should count for something. not a fan of RTJ tho.

i don't think i'll ever understand that perspective where the style of the music matters more than what it actually sounds like.

My favorite of this batch is the Vynehall.

Mine is probably Ninos du Brasil, and I imagine by the time I actually take it out to my car and listen to it while driving that appreciation will quadruple.

^ My favorite too, in ahead of Freddie Gibbs, Ought, Khun Narin and Mica Levi.

Of what I heard for the first time today, Nora Mint Seymali and Call Super are the most promising. Sturgill Simpson's nice, too.

No: Babymetal, Dean Blunt, New Pornographers.

A lot of folks repping "Honest", but I wanna 2nd forks & the Rev on "Benz Friends". Love that track so much, esp Andre's verse, being lol/yay old an everthing. Listened to it on repeat for quite a while when first getting into the album.

dammit, "benz friendz", do so much of my typing on autopilot :/

I think it's kinda interesting that out the 17 albums so far, only Ninos du Brasil has also show up in the tracks list. It's not unusual that with rock music people are more likely to vote for albums than tracks from said albums, but the same seems to apply to techno/house and rap and pop albums on the list too, which is a bit surprising. Are people just more likely to vote for different stuff (one-hit wonders, tracks that didn't get a particularly good album to accompany them) in the tracks poll?

If i like say 3 or less tracks on an album then I dont think of it as an album it just a record with some other tracks on it that i never play. If there's more than that on it I like then I guess I start to think of it as an album

there are only around 12 of these in existence

Future placed in both didn't he?

Oh yeah, forgot about that.

wow great start so far, my #1, #3 and #6 already placing.
voted cher lloyd number one, every single track on that album just grabs me, and every time i listen to it i find myself enjoying it over and over. the finale, 'alone with me' i probably repeat five times over when the album finishes.
also voted dean blunt and sturgill simpson high.
babymetal and ought were both on my longlist, think i was planning on throwing a tracks vote to gimme chocolate but it fell a bit shy too.
voted 'sombra da lua' over the record but absolutely fantastic to see ninos du brasil place on both polls.
most of the rest that has placed so far i had enjoyed but wasn't near voting for, except for the theo parrish and mica levi records, neither of which have i heard so will be checking them out.
cheers ilm and JF!

I was the #1 vote for Future. Had more tracks I straight out loved on it than any other album I listened to last year. Think the only other album I bothered ranking was 2NE1.

Also voted for Ought. Happily most of the countdown so far is stuff I'm completely unfamiliar with. Been enjoying the Noura Mint Seymali a lot this morning.

I was one of the two #1 voters for Brill Bruisers - the New Pornographers totally lost me with their last couple of albums, would never have guessed they'd come back with something this strong.

I liked the Leon Vynehall and Freddie Gibbs/Madlib albums although neither made my ballot (the Step Brothers album got my Old Guy Rap vote this year).

Keen to hear Noura Mint Seymali and Khurin Narin. Also the Ought record - I don't really listen to much post-punk these days but the Karate comparisons upthread sound promising.

tried listening to ought again last night but some of it was so close to tful282 that it was just distracting, like meeting someone who just happens to be wearing the hollowed-out skin of your best friend from school. no slight on their music but i just couldn't do it.

just going through this thread in detail now...

and "alone with me" being the best closing song of all time <3

album's like 70 positions too low

― uberweiss, Monday, January 26, 2015 3:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

completely otm for me haha

might grow on me though - i had a similar initial reaction to the protomartyr record which basically sounds like a less-aggro gvsb, but i've ended up playing the shit out of that (xp to me)

I loved that Protomartyr album too Nick, it got a vote from me, GvsB is a good point of comparison, I also thought of Jonathan Fire-eater for my sins.

the songwriting on the ought album is very very good. I've never heard thinking fellers, so maybe it helps. But I love the lyrics on Habit, for example describes the state of addiction/addictive personality disorder perfectly.

"Redeemer" and "Stone Island" by Dean Blunt were my favourite records of that year, go get on them.

yeah, both of these are better/more accessible than Black Metal. Although he's always going to an acquired taste

'Habit' was the song that made me feel sad that LTM will never be able to release a Slovenly box set while Greg Ginn still walks this earth

but yeah, that was a decent track

i've never heard of any of these bands, Nick. Maybe if I had, I'd not be so enamoured by Ought. Certainly felt frustrated by the Parquet Courts' 'Sunbathing Animal' for sounding too uncannily close to umpteen other things.

To mention Total Control again - they were the slightly derivative postpunk band I really took to during the nominations process. Worth checking out (opening track is lovely but an anomaly)

Parquet Courts are a disgrace

I need a list of very good lesser-known postpunk bands to check out.
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/business/levi-roots-launches-post-punk-post-punk-sauce-2015012294685

I was the #1 vote for Future. Had more tracks I straight out loved on it than any other album I listened to last year. Think the only other album I bothered ranking was 2NE1.

Also voted for Ought. Happily most of the countdown so far is stuff I'm completely unfamiliar with. Been enjoying the Noura Mint Seymali a lot this morning.

― pandemic, Tuesday, January 27, 2015 5:38 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

My dude

Xelab 100% otm upthread. Worthless dogshit is correct.

My name is dog latin.

What is latin for indie rock is worthless dogshit then?

I bet you dont know dog no latin

nux vomica nequam est

What's latin for 'lame kissass troll'?

60-41 today, starting now...

http://i.imgur.com/pEzE4q3.jpg

60 TUNE-YARDS Nikki Nack [278 points, 11 votes]

whats the latin word for afterglow of critical irrational exuberance

Tune-Yards finally make an album that I love front-to-back, and that's when everyone starts to cool on them a bit.

ha found it quite tricky to jones for a second listen to this one :(

worst album title of rollout sewn up, maybe worst album too

maybe, one day, i will get through more than 2.5 of the songs on here.

i like the name nikki nack, and the cover to an extent. very ze records/italo disco

does the title actually refer to anything or is it insufferable quirky infantilism pt 939203354354

love your indie infantilism thing, lex.

All of a sudden I have a hankering for a cherry Fruit Roll-Up

I usually love twee infantile indie maximalism and I can't stand Tune-Yards.

Violently loathed Water Fountain, but maybe this harbours discreet depths I'm yet to discover. Trying now.

Only heard one song (dunno from what album) and never felt encouraged to explore any further, even after she won the P&J in whatever year.

we have no time for anything childlike ::roars with applause when nicki minaj becomes a human barbie doll::

that's a pretty low placing right?

mmmm... not really?