ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2021

the title "i'm hole" feels like a doge meme or something so i haven't checked the album

xp
it does have a nocturnal atmosphere, that's true

maybe the cicadas are a nod to Brakhage*

*they are not

sometimes i might be hole

Aw, Insides! I didn't hear this but JT has produced/mixed stuff for us and he's lovely so very glad to see them.

I did, however, vote for im hole, I think it's more interesting than a lot of the vibesy stuff on the list, though it definitely is vibesy in many places. Wasn't expecting it to place, tbh, so I've still got my fingers crossed for two more off my ballot.

technically it's "im whole"

xp

the aya track Jordan just posted is NOT A VIBE

i like that both of emil.y's votes are on hyperdub, just promise you won't abandon us for dissensus okay?

I mean, it's A vibe

perhaps her next album will be called ' w. that would be a meta joke i could get behind.

once again heard most of these, i think i only haven't heard insides, mogwai and arab strap. the insides album especially seems promising.

stuff here i quite liked but didn't vote for: flock of dimes, yu su, nite jewel, ldr (chemtrails over the country club >>> norman fucking rockwell)

the aya album was one of the least enjoyable things i heard this year

People rated the Arab Strap, then?

Interesting developments! I voted for these from this batch. Certainly didn't anticipate NIS&EP making it, so w00t!

47. aya - im hole
58. Natural Information Society & Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
61. Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti

I spent a fair bit of time with the Yu Su, Loraine James and Saint Etienne too.

Pretty sure I didn't know anything about Damon Locks et al or Flock of Dimes before this instant. The Locks video track certainly seems great so far. I keep meaning to listen to the Insides too, thinking "it's that Insides?!" every time I see the cover. I have a bit of homework to carry on with then...

Flock of Dimes one of those names that I loathe so can't see myself liking the music.

I'm not too big a fan of 'im hole,' it seems like something I'd love and then everytime I give it a spin I want to stop listening to it almost immediately lmfao

did anyone do this dn yet?

If this is people's first exposure to aya (which it likely is), her first EP as LOFT is still my favorite: https://astralplanerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/turbulent-dynamics

There's another really good one on Wisdom Teeth too, I think her best work is still ahead though.

i like that both of emil.y's votes are on hyperdub, just promise you won't abandon us for dissensus okay?

― o shit the sheriff (NickB)

I dunno, do you think they'll let me ban people over there?

terrible

― waka flocka dimes (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, January 5, 2012 12:40 AM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

Why the fuck is that Lana Del Rey album higher than that fucking incredible Bicep album

Lido off the Bicep album is my favourite thing they've done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjdp9yap7L4

Shit sorry,that was meant to be a hyperlink, that never works when i actually want to do it

i was a bicep voter, they haven't steered me wrong yet

that aya record was oddly disappointing to me, ended up just listening to more of her earlier, instrumental stuff instead after throwing that on

the Bicep album was nice, but in terms of melodic head bobbins, Ross From Friends and Lone both put out better records. Betting the latter two don't place.

Liked the Bicep, Ross from Friends, LDR and yu su albums when they came out, didn’t find myself replaying them much after the initial positive impression.

Loraine James and Joy Orbison I didn’t really payed attention to but loving them atm.

Don’t really recognize any of the other albums from today’s run. I need to listen to a bunch of stuff.

Great list so far! Only two of my votes have made it this far, and I'm stoked that everything else has apparently made the top 50! Yay BackRoad Gee, drill taking over ilx! Apart from that, several albums that I left off my ballot at the last moment, and a lot of new-to-me stuff that sounds really good. A bit more:

Emeka Ogboh was my 7, I love the sound. The psychedelic cacophony reminded me a bit of recent cinema from the continent to, such as Air Conditioner which I think can be seen on MUBI. Or Felicité by Alain Gomis.

Didn't vote for Insides, but it's really good, and I have to recommend everyone checking out Clear Skin, the 38 minute track they made in 94, which is one of my favorite things ever.

Loraine James my 21. Some of it was almost IDM-drill like, which I adored.

Also, yay jazz! There's a significant amount of jazz on the list so far, no? And I'm guessing quite a lot more to come. I really liked the Damon Locks, and while I didn't love the Vijay Iyer trio, I almost voted for the album Tyshawn Sorey made with King Britt. Also, I fear Anna Webber might have been the 78 this year :(

Yeah I liked the Roass From Friends album enough, especially Life In A Mind, but like Moka I've just not felt like replaying it much (unlike the first album which I still regularly dig out). I really love his sound and his approach but there were too many long meandering bits hammocking the more meaty stuff on this one.

Flock Of Dimes album sure squanders its promising Big Thiefy opening two tracks eh

'had your fun, time for some ambient acoustic noodling'

‘Ritchie Sacramento’ on the Mogwai album is what it would be nice if Coldplay sounded like.

Massive props to whoever mentioned the Ritmo Fantasia comp upthread, it's superb.

👌

Hadn't heard Mogwai for 3 albums. The opening track sounds much like their good old selves. Comforting almost

https://i.imgur.com/2Z8CLW9.jpg
46. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales
182 points / 8 votes
Live Performance from the album: “Pick Up Your Feelings”
"Don't I Deserve to be Privileged?" - A Thread for Jazmine Sullivan

Flock Of Dimes album sure squanders its promising Big Thiefy opening two tracks eh

― imago, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:09 AM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

...no?

if anything, big thief is wasner-y, not vice versa

this is fairly shockingly low

Sullivan's last two albums are among the best albums of the last 15 years -- Reality Show was and remains the best album of 2015 -- but the attachment to this one baffles me. I suspect she used the recorded chats with women to compensate for the lack of songs.

ok I was going to be surprised this was so low, but if Alfred doesn't even like it that much

i agree with alfred, but i figured that lots of people felt strongly. #1 on p4k's year-end, etc.

This Mogwai album is not bad but I feel like all of Mogwai should be sat in a room and forced to listen to Like Herod (Govt Sessions versh), Ex-Cowboy, 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong and Ratts Of The Capital back to back at maximum volume until they all agree to be scary again

https://i.imgur.com/q3DLHc9.jpg
45. Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective - Ngủ Ngày Ngay Ngày Tận Thế
188 points / 5 votes
Video from the album: “Infinite”
Rolling weird music // time travel // unclassifiable 2021

oh yeh
my #2

Jazmine Sullivan album is fine but maybe doesn't feel like a full-length

like i care about that

images and distant people probs my choice cuts off this but each song is wonderfully different but still as an album whole

YES RAN CAP.

Awesome! My #2 as well!

I'm actually starting to feel like maybe today and tomorrow will be the days where many of my votes get it, but who knows. I definitely voted for the Ran Cap record, it's really something.