ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2018

I loved hearing the crowd cheer so loudly for the accordion when Hailu Mergia played here, that gig just got better and better as he warmed up

When I Get Wet arrived with full media fanfare and his fkn gooning face everywhere I hated it, it was 55 Cadillac that got me on board. The Greatest Showman wld be a good title for his next album

The previous Quelle Chris record is leaner and with higher highs imo but there's still a gently-handled weight to this record

I like the Cardi album a lot and voted for it but it still spends too much time in the generic Migos zone and is much better when it doesn't. If Rico Nasty places then justice is done.

Skee Mask: listened to it again, same result as before: I quite like it, except when it gets boringly drum’n’bassey (not Shirley) and most definitely when it veers dangerously close to big beat territory, and all I can smell is watery beer.

i don't have any strong feelings towards the Skee Mask album but i liked it best when it reminded me of the Metroid Prime soundtrack

Only voted for Kamasi Washington so far, have also listened to Skee Mask, Senjawa and Cardi B. Cardi B was one of the last records I cut. So far I feel a bit more represented than on the track-list, but I also suggest my hivemind score is so high most of my votes will turn up higher on the list...

I don't really get the Skee Mask record, I have to admit. From what I read it was supposed to be drum'n'bass with good ambient pieces in-between, but that combination sorta just turned out to be too much like the too pretty d'n'b that killed the genre in the first place.

LTJ Bukem did no such thing.

Was gonna say, it wasn't atmospheric d'n'b that killed off d'n'b. It was the technocrats that stole the genre from the dreamers and sucked the soul out of it.

Peter Mandelheadz.

:D

it was the jazzbos that killed d'n'b

They killed it with their skinny arms.

Or people just moved on ? Not just any genre can be cocky and think it's reggaeton.

Wait, did I get the lyrics to 'Fillmore Jive' wrong? The internet says it's 'Jasper's skinny arms', not 'jazzbos' skinny arms'. I feel crushed.

Jasper's skinny arms. I did wonder what you meant.

YEah it was all the people saying dumb stuff like 'd'n'b is the new jazz' that soured it for me. loads of my friends still <3 drum'n'bass though. they must be hearing something i'm not

Not a single album/compilation after 2003/2004 that is even remotely half decent imo. It all went to shit around that time.

2004 is when I got into d&B

What about The Third Eye Foundation's self-explanatory The Dark?

voted that my album of the year on ilx

the last special request album had some bangers on it iirc

The notion that Yob need a new vocalist is insane to me

Yeah, I really enjoy his aching rasp in the context of Yob's music.

Not a single album/compilation after 2003/2004 that is even remotely half decent imo. It all went to shit around that time.

I'm not saying my assessment of Scheidt's vocals is fair but for some reason they register as distinctly insincere to my ears. Due to the myth surrounding the man it's hard to refrain from judging them in terms of authenticity. I'm also just not into stoner metal (or weed for that matter, which is unfortunate).

I'm glad I've never had a "vocal authenticity" gauge I guess

fwiw I do zero w33d and it's never prevented me from enjoying stoner metal. stoned is a ~state of mind~ mane

YOB play doom metal not stoner

Surely they have strong stoner leanings? Or maybe I'm just saying that because I love doom.

save us moka

I only mentioned authenticity because it seems like they were consciously aiming for it on the somewhat-relevantly-titled Our Raw Heart. I'm finding it hard to disregard their intentions completely.

And yes, salve regina.

ARE YOU READY?

gogo

hit me

Let's do this.

yesss

woooo

Cross fingers I don't mess the bbcode

maybe if someone xposts you (like this) it gives you a chance to check

posting is praxis

https://i.imgur.com/HYbVoxi.jpg
#60: Mount Eerie – Now Only - 234 points – 8 votes

Sam Cleeve: "Like its predecessor, Now Only lays profoundly bare Elverum’s grief. But although it is often an excruciating listen, it also finds room to step, however briefly, outside of the agony that marked its predecessor, if just for long enough to suggest that Elverum is, somehow, beginning to find some relief in the unbearable."

Alexis Petridis: "Now Only is an album it’s hard to imagine anyone listening to for pleasure: it’s incredibly brave and hugely--understandably--self-indulgent. What it does, unequivocally, is tell the truth, albeit a profoundly uncomfortable one."

I found this less painful to listen to than the previous, maybe because it shows him moving on to a slightly less raw stage of grieving, and finds room for a little more humor/lightness. I'm very glad these albums exist.

This feels like a good placement for it

Listening to the previous one felt a little too intrusive for comfort. I haven't checked out his other albums.

the sort of music that is obviously good but quite difficult to listen to more than once

he seems more chipper these days at least, so good for him

I found this less painful to listen to than the previous, maybe because it shows him moving on to a slightly less raw stage of grieving, and finds room for a little more humor/lightness.

Yeah I only made it through A Crow Looked at Me once but found this much easier to connect with. Great record.

also, these albums vs recent Kozelek are a great a case study in how basically the same approach (confessional, diary-like lyrics over ambling instrumentals) can be great or unlistenable depending on execution

this might be my favourite album by phil now

massively underrated compared to a crow looked at me and so much more expansive. aclam was so stark i can barely listen to it as music, just appreciate it vaguely from a distance. now only still has death and grief at its centre but with the passing of time it has much more swirling around the outside too. the music is also great and mostly takes the form of meditative epics but it's the simple things like when that first finger picking pattern comes in on tintin in Tibet that i love the most

aclam

a silly acronym for a very very serious album

he cited benji as a major lyrical influence on these last two albums and massively improved on it

https://i.imgur.com/BxG8o49.jpg
#59: Burna Boy – Outside - 240 points – 9 votes - 1 first place vote

Burna Boy – OUTSIDE (2018)

Claire Lobenfeld: "Where WizKid softens some of the edges of Afrobeats, making the genre more familiar to newcomers, Burna’s output is more kaleidoscopic. It makes Outside a fine lesson in mixing genres without making mud."

a pretty cool album that i didn't vote for. "Calm Down" was the highlight for me and cements jae5 as one of the best producers around these days