ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2018

I only heard the Armed album yesterday for the first time

HELL YEAH

I'm actually still re-digesting how good Lich Prince -> Gameshark off the Foxing album is, but my #1 has rudely turned up so I can hardly talk about both!

Uh you should all go on Youtube and watch The Armed's videos. Heavily Lined is video of the year. And listen to Luxury Themes. And Witness. You should have worked out by then if this swirl of beautiful mad noise is for you

Foxing seem like they should totally be my sort of thing but the album never got beyond 'quite good' for me despite several tries.

Also I can see why people like the Armed but it does nothing for me at all.

Both these albums have great covers though!

voted for the armed album

stunning from start to finish

i hated the armed album

still chuckling at how they supposedly "tricked" Converge's drummer into working on this

Huh, Foxing and the Armed completely passed me by. Imago, aside from your own personal love for them do you reckon they have emil.y appeal?

armed record impressive but hard to sustain excitement about for me. should revisit it

Heavily Lined. It has a prequel from the previous album - Paradise Day - which is also incredible

And here's Luxury Themes, just in case you wanted to hear the best approximation of my ideal audio aesthetic there's been in a bit (it's the outro)

emil.y appeal = they're wild and punk as hell and extremely progressive and their shows are apparently a sort of carnival of decentralisation, and their tunes bang? Give them a go

This is the only Wye Oak album I care about and even then there's a big gap between how much I like the songs and how much I dislike the production - with a bit more space there it could have been my #1 pick.

I broke my admittedly loose "no repeats btwn ballots" rule to throw "Luxury Themes" some points on my tracks ballot

botanist meets health

armed record impressive but hard to sustain excitement about for me

I feel about the same to be honest, I mean it's good and everything but

https://i.imgur.com/1O8xN5s.jpg
#54: Domenique Dumont - Miniatures De Auto Rhythm - 253 points – 10 votes

Andy Beta: "If you're a fan of classic Balearic, then you'll know Domenique Dumont aren't really reinventing the wheel. But they nail the smallest details and tease out new wrinkles for the album. "

hooray

looks like i voted for both, but 'Sans Cesse, Mon Cheri' just blows me away every time

I should give the Dumont another try. It didn't make much of an impression but I loved that EP from a couple years back

I spent a week with the Foxing album in the car and realized it wasn't my thing.

Oooh I had no idea Wye Oak put out an album this year. Didn't catch that on other lists. Love that artwork.

Nearer My God title track is good. Reminds me a bit of early Band of Horses in its soaring vocals and anthemic drumming. Need to spend more time with that album.

Huh, I didn't even know this existed (and I too loved the last EP).

The 'Heavily Lined' video is pretty great, though on first listen I can't hear what in particular raises these guys above similar noisy rock stuff - I definitely like it enough to sample more, though.

Wye Oak my #2, I think. Looks like all 8 people who rated it on their thread voted for it.

I can't hear what in particular raises these guys above similar noisy rock stuff

play my final card: they have a full-time analogue synth player in the band :D

Wow! Love this album so much. I think it's a step forward from the first one, which was pretty great itself. This has been in my heavy rotation since it came out.

oh cool i had totally forgot about this dominique dumont album...

like this one a lot esp 'sans cesse...'

that's 3 of my votes in this stretch after none yesterday maybe i haven't gotten as desynced from the board as i thought

https://i.imgur.com/vthRgkK.jpg
#53: Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love - 254 points – 7 votes

TJ Kliebhan: "Ordinary Corrupt Human Love has moving, emotional pieces and sharp performances bolstered by a band clearly stretching out of its comfort zone successfully. The album is a refreshing new shade of their sound without abandoning the band’s core mechanics."

Rob Hakimian: "They’ve experimented with vocals, concentrated their musical chemistry, further polished their production, and tweaked their songwriting so that the transitions between movements in their songs are less sheer cliff-faces of fury and more lithe passages. All this, combined with some of the best songs they’ve ever written, makes Ordinary Corrupt Human Love the band’s most irrefutable credential as a leader in modern Rock."

xps I loved Comme Ca but totally missed that they had a new one. Will have a listen.

deafheaven album ruined for me when i realized the drummer plays the same fill one thousand times in each song

this finishing above the armed has gotten y'all the imago frown

it's a good fill brad

it is still their most interesting record so far, maybe the next one will be great xp

liked this album a lot but didn't quite make my ballot

I agree that the fill is good

Decent album, predictably diminishing returns.

can't get past the corny melodies but ach if it's a gateway drug i'll take it

Was disappointed in the Deafheaven after their last album and single but perhaps didn't give it enough of a fair chance.

the corny melodies are the reason i like it! i hope they get cornier!

I adored the Domenique Dumont first album. This one I haven't really given enough of a chance but on a surface skim sounds a little more grounded? Maybe a little less unique and more tying into other music that exists along side it?

Anyway, if anything it led to me making a mix and starting a night based on 16bit beachside vibes https://soundcloud.com/clubstoic/club-stoic

I think I’ve been mixing up Deafheaven and Wolves in the Throne Room this whole time and I only remember again when listening.

lol

I couldn't even be bothered to hate-listen to this one

So happy The Armed got in - my number ten! Their music sounds like a DIY punk comic festival

Loving the Wye Oak! They always have such nice balance of textures, blending organic rock and electronic instruments more fluidly than most - piano and synth interplay on It Was Not Natural is a good example.

Feels like a band that's outlived its moment among critics. Looked again and only found it at the bottom of Mojo's list.

wait, is Domenique Dumont a band then?

Deafheaven reached peak melodic corniness with that one (admittedly great) song with the chord progression that sounded like 'Lavender' by Marillion.

the armed record is good but like... i sure do know why i didn't vote for it

https://i.imgur.com/zG8Rttz.jpg
#52: Noname - Room 25 - 257 points – 11 votes

Briana Younger: "The Chicago rapper’s second album is a transcendent coming-of-age tale built around cosmic jazz and neo-soul, delivered by a woman deeply invested in her interiority and that of the world around her."

Ural Garrett: "Noname overwhelmingly succeeds in telling her coming-of-age story where she removes all emotional layers to explore everything from comical socio-political ideology to sexuality minus self-serving preachiness."