ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2018

Senyawa rules, nice to see it here - check out the 10" they did if you want something a bit different

I couldn't get my busy life together to vote this year, just apply a write-in #1 for the album by The Ex and call it good :)

It's pretty varied as well, imo. Shabara has a beautiful falsetto on a couple of tracks.

Sorry, I don't have a Spotify account, so my comments will be limited to albums I already own or have heard.

Gareth still posts here?

lol

Are backpackers still uncool? I thought history was cyclical.

― pomenitul, Monday, February 4, 2019 9:24 AM (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I thought I was hallucinating the other day when a streaming service recommended to me a new single from Ozomatli featuring Cut Chemist and Chali 2na

Glad there's still one person who hasn't worked it out over the last 3 years or so
xp

I will always love Senjawa for naming an album 'Brønshøj', aka my postcode for ten years. Didn't vote for them, though.

I don't think there are any guitars tbf. xpd

*xps

Saer is Gareth?!

the seventh seal is opened

yay to the ex

I hope the album places!

I can promise you that the Senyawa album does not sound what you Tuomas or anyone else thinks and is worth checking out. There is no guitars at all. Just a homebuilt instrument as someone said.

http://i.imgur.com/siCsPY4.jpg

#72: Wednesday Campanella – Galapagos - 206 points – 7 votes

WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA - Galapagos

Matt Hobbs: “One of the most prolific bands from Japan have an infectious personality, idiosyncratic depth and a striking balance of sweetness and intelligence that makes them unique.”

Patric St. Michel: “What could have been a risky turn away from the rapped vocals and dance beats of previous hits ends up giving Wednesday Campanella new energy and even a bit more depth.”

my favourite band in the world!!!

wow some things I expected much higher are placing low

Nice!!

Shamefully I forgot to vote for this

superb record

just fell outside my 25 iirc

The Courtney Barnett album wasn’t as great as her first, but still really good.

Griping about a (good) album that scraped the bottom of the poll seems kinda weak, you guys!

I gripe forever

Weakness is spending one of your 25 – 25! – votes on Tell Me How You Really Feel.

highly encourage anyone curious about Galapagos to at least check out singles The Bamboo Princess (a modern take on Homogenic-esque orchestration + beats) and Melos (jazzy guitar + dnb breaks + gamelan breakdown, "tortoise writing a pop song") which both have great videos

I remember hearing "three mystic apes" and thinking it was Towa Tei, should probably check this out

three mystic apes is wild. this is a cool fav band to have, ufo

Not that I know them, but going by the sleeve the spelling of their name is “Senyawa”, not “Senjawa”.

when people ask me my fav band, it would be cool to say "oh it's this genre-melting japanese pop band," while I'm usually like "i like the rolling stones"

enjoying WC! for some reason I thought there was usually more japanese-language rapping on their records but this seems to be full art-pop

or at least, an improved, arted-up version of the 'city pop' that all the musicians who go on Terrace House seem to purvey

hey, Sujud is pretty good, especially the last track

Galapagos was fine, nice change of direction but, again, placement is about right. "The Sand Castle" was the track that struck me most IIRC

Weakness is spending one of your 25 – 25! – votes on Tell Me How You Really Feel.

― pomenitul

You’re right — this poll would be so much cooler if everyone here shared the same taste!

http://i.imgur.com/B5njZtY.jpg

#71: Kero Kero Bonito – Time ‘n’ Place - 208 points – 8 votes

KERO KERO BONITO

Mike Schiller: “Time 'n' Place is challenging, but its rewards are commensurate, and while the band may lose some of their more fickle fans with this release, it's always refreshing to see artistic growth put first, especially when it pays off like this.”

Luke Pearson: “It feels like something transitional as if Kero Kero Bonito are working their way into something that is more sustainable than the often wild, sometimes too-cute experiments of their past.”

Ayyy first of my votes to place

Sneakily dark

xps yeah there usually is more rapping, this album's where they chilled out a little and indeed went full art-pop. i don't really hear much to do with city pop revival stuff though

wednesday campanella have been releasing consistently wild and inventive pop at an equally wild rate for an act like them - on average about a full length album every year since 2013 - so they're very enjoyable to keep up with, and their videos are incredible

good album. the EP is better pound-for-pound imo but the album was always going to place over it. gets really good towards the end again

gotta say, this senyawa album is an enjoyable and easy listen; wouldn't have expected that based on the cover and articles i read

kkb album was by far their best yet but still occasionally feels a little slight. hope they continue to get exponentially better

KKB also the first of my votes to place. Sarah on fire with the lyrics on this one. Still waiting for the vinyl edition to hit UK stores...

think 'Melos' made me think of city-pop tbh! it's only a hint but I think it's in the mix along with many other things

thumbs up for the rollout so far

visiting hours -> if i'd known is SO good

― imago, Monday, 1 October 2018 09:31 (four months ago) Permalink

this is still the key part of the KKB album imo

Definitely want to hear more Wednesday Campanella based on the one entry in the top 177 tracks list

thinking now, as it plays, that having T'n'P just outside my 25 might have been underrating it slightly. but then I'd have had to break my one-release-per-artist rule. maybe I'll make a fantasy combination album with the TOTEP tracks slotted in somewhere

I'm worried the KKB album won't be as fun as Only Acting. Is it?

almost/sometimes, yes

Weirdly enjoying Courtney Barnett this morning after posting that I found her dull.

I must be hitting some of the more peppy tracks.