ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2021

i loved the Japanese Left-Field Pop comp, awesome to see it place here

I'm looking over my ballot, and I'm expecting three of my votes to place. Would be nice to get more, but think I'm mostly on my own with the others.

https://i.imgur.com/wN1wWgf.jpg
71. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time
136 points / 6 votes
Song from the album: “Time to Move Close”
Bobbins 2021

this album is significantly better than anything else i've heard from them, you should try it lol

― imago, Monday, 7 February 2022 16:49 (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Foiled again. It’s those tragic 70s chords. This sounds like other things I like. It’s very spacey.

yeah I was surprised in that exact way too

My first vote to place! I'm not super enthusiastic about it or anything, but it's a nice record. By this time next year it will be an opaque memory.

https://i.imgur.com/QnJxIt0.jpg
70. Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou
137 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “Big Moonlight”

Incredible record, I really loved this one, though I didn't even discover it until last week.

Always get Vanishing Twin and Gazelle Twin mixed up.

Ooh, two in a row for me! Am I the arbiter of ILM hivemindedness?

Hell yes to Ookii Gekkou!

Couldn’t find a thread for vanishing twin, don’t know if there was any discussion on the board for this one but yes it’s a good album.

The influence is still there of course, but I feel like VT really transcended the Stereolab/Broadcast comparisons on this one, moving into totally new spaces neither of those bands ever touched.

Dumb question, but is there a way to see your ballot after submitting through the Google form?

ooh, I voted for this, they seem to be expanding a bit into the space occupied by The Focus Group on this one, it's a good direction for them

That song is pleasant but I'm so bored by the standard Take Five take on 5/4

Maybe it's just because hearing Cathy Lucas sing on the Fimber Bravo album was such an unexpected delight, but I feel like the world/global musical influences on this one are really distinctive, a real point of departure from Broadcast/Ghost Box stuff (I love that stuff tbc)

The one Broadcast-ish album that I really got into last year was the Virginia Wing record (which I then totally forgot to vote for). Will have to check this one out

yay I voted for the Heisei No Oto comp, good stuff

https://i.imgur.com/H7KpWQA.jpg
69. Can - Live in Stuttgart 1975
138 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “75 Eins”
CAN....S and D?

ok no

I mean, that's pretty clearly from 1975.

didn't you record collector bores have enough new albums to vote for?

xp
Am I the only musical ignoramus who reads posts from the musicians on ilm and thinks "thank god I never learned how to play music"? I have no idea what you're objecting to here Jordan! Not that I actually want you to expand, because I like this song that does not remotely remind me of Dave Brubeck

the only scenario where this might be excusable would be a situation akin to the Blue Gene Tyranny/Peter Gordon 'Trust In Rock' concert which came out a couple of years ago for the first time, because that contained numerous recordings of songs that can be found literally nowhere else

I adore Can to a ridiculous degree and can see why you'd want this and love it and cherish it, but I don't get why you'd vote for it in a 'best of 2021' list.

does this contain a whole new cornucopia of Can songs that can be heard nowhere else?

A canucopia, you mean?

A Canucopia.

I should have voted for it!

it's about 90%+ improvised, so kind of, yeah

xxp

multiple xps: FYI Dave Brubeck was fantastic

Moodles otm, this is mostly just wild improv and it does add something new to the Can um, canon imo

placement in the very low 60s seems appropriate, btw there is another 1975 Can show released in 2021 that I thought was even better so you've been warned

our canucopia multiplieth

I know how to play music but could never get a hang of music theory so the only thing that really bothers me these days are blatant Fahey-solo-guitar tropes among those types of players (cause I love that genre, but there are some boring guitar movements I can see the hands doing when I hear them).

xps to rob

i liked the madchester arkestra album but it was ultimately a disappointment after the incredible "black mile". also, just wanted to share this convo i had with a coworker:

me: you should check out manchester orchestra... they're a bit like imagine dragons if they didnt suck?
coworker: ....i like imagine dragons

this ogboh record is wonderful

https://i.imgur.com/7vtAxBL.jpg
68. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
140 points / 6 votes
Video from the album: “GOVERNMENT CAME”
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Classic or Dud?

loved job's lament from this

I know how to play music but could never get a hang of music theory so the only thing that really bothers me these days are blatant Fahey-solo-guitar tropes among those types of players (cause I love that genre, but there are some boring guitar movements I can see the hands doing when I hear them).

― Evan, Monday, February 7, 2022 12:55 PM (five minutes ago)

Yeah, tbc I totally understand being a drummer and perceiving things in drum parts that are entirely invisible to a non-drummer but are unignorable to you. But I didn't even know that VT song was in 5/4, and it turns out I am better off for it. I often have this reaction to posts by Sund4r or fgti or various posters who are trained singers. This is, of course, a cope for the fact that I am deeply jealous of their knowledge & skill

nu-godspeed continue to be a significant downgrade on the og imo

I am also jealous!

xp

i prefer nu-godspeed a great deal, think this is their best album

absolutely backwards take, imago

BRA...WHINEY!

i remember listening to this and it was a bit limp, then i put Yanqui UXO on and it whirled me around the cosmos, but YMMV i guessssssss

It reminds me of Dave Brubeck, but maybe in a really explicit "let's write a song over the Take Five groove" that works for it, idk.

It's not to take away from anyone's enjoyment, it's just my pet peeve that 90% of songs in 5/4 default to that same Take Five/Mission Impossible pattern. I just appreciate hearing anything else.

xp

The Eris Drew record is really fun, it just missed my ballot unfortunately

Godspeed I voted for, with Can I voted for the Brighton set