ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2021

Flower Boy remains my favourite of his by some stretch, but this had its moments (JUGGERNAUT).

God why is the Deafheaven so good? The songs build and break so satisfyingly, which is the opposite of my experience with them before.

exactly!!!! re: deafheaven

they weirdly got so much more dynamic when they deemphasized the metal

It's beautiful, haha. Like if Mesarthim made a straight shoegaze album.

Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective sounding great this morning, thanks again, never heard it before

https://i.imgur.com/IyMtdif.jpg
41. Rochelle Jordan - Play With the Changes
199 points / 6 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “Already”
rolling r&b 2021

hell yeaeh

really good album, effortlessly cool

i didn't vote, only have myself to blame, but way too low

fwiw, emil.y and others, it was user uptown churl who brought the Ran Cap to the weird/unclassifiable thread— I just nominated it.

Deafheaven was my #1. Came out at the right time and hit me like a wave. Finally went all in on their shoegaze/post-rock side and they nailed it imo. Also lots of beautiful personal memories associated with this one.

Great to see the Rochelle, glorious fun throughout. Was my #5 and I now think I underrated it; have totally hammered it since I voted

Deafheaven album was a joy, and made me reevaluate the band. I even like Sunbather now.

I had liked Sunbather and Ordinary Corrupt Human Love a lot and didn't quite click with this, though I thought "Great Mass of Colour" was a really good single. I should probably go back to it.

Tyler too low. What a fun record

fwiw, emil.y and others, it was user uptown churl who brought the Ran Cap to the weird/unclassifiable thread— I just nominated it.

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table)

Ooops, my apologies to uptown churl! Bad memory at play. I had a few of my votes come from that thread and in my mind it was mostly you who had put them there.

It's pretty funny there's a Heaux Tales deluxe being released. Was she holding stuff back? Don't care if it was an EP fwiw. People call their 20 or 25 minute projects albums nowadays. If I were that in love with the material I'd vote it up whatever it is called by the artist. Only felt a couple of strong tracks though and voted for one of those.

emil.y, I definitely put a fair amount in the thread, that and Re-Reconstructed etc and Ambient Recommendations were my main lurking points last year.

First tie of the rollout coming up

I enjoyed the Deafheaven but didn’t vote for it

https://i.imgur.com/gOdiUtV.jpg
39.(TIE) Lingua Ignota - SINNER GET READY
202 points / 6 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE”
LINGUA IGNOTA

https://i.imgur.com/Z4KXZ3G.jpg
39.(TIE) Wild Up - Julius Eastman Vol.1: Femenine
202 points / 6 votes / 1 #1 vote
Video from the album: “Prime”
Rolling Classical 2021

Oh nice, I didn't vote for Lingua Ignota in this poll, only in tracks, but she is worthy.

really enjoyed the lingua inota album, much more than the previous (i think i might be in the minority with that view)

Femenine! Didn't think this would make it either. Joyous. One of two Femenines released in 2021 (I think) but this is the more dynamic

<3 to Moka for an awesome job but maybe pls post subsequent ties separately? we don't want any OH GOD NOT THIS collateral damage lol

not that I feel remotely that way about either of these!!

Lingua Ignota was my number one. I think I only listened to it three times this year, but it's an intense experience.

I really did like the LI but didn't vote for it. Caligula still her greatest imo

There are some great lyrics on The Marfa Tapes, too. Not what you might expect from an album fronted by a superstar.

e.g. "Anchor": When the moonlight hits the water/ The reflection hits your eyes/ I can't take it any longer/ And this rope is pulling tight/ Be my anchor, pull me under/ In this river here tonight/ 'Cause I can't breathe when I'm with you/ When I'm with you, I can fly

"Anchor" was one of my favorite songs of the year... I was a little surprised it didn't get any attn in the tracks poll (do folks here not like... songs)?

Not sure why you wouldn't expect great lyrics from a Miranda Lambert–fronted album, tho ;)

OMG Julius Eastman!! I don't think I even realized that was 2021, it rules

I've been too scared of the lack of noise to do the whole Lingua Ignota album yet, but I nommed and voted for 'Pennsylvania Furnace'.

Also those lyrics are so corny, why do people keep posting them???

thank you emil.y

Xp imago: ok! I’ll separate the next ties!

https://i.imgur.com/o8OEhaI.jpg
38. HTRK - Rhinestones
206 points / 7 votes
Song from the album: “Kiss Kiss and Rhinestones”
HTRK/Hate Rock Trio

ty moka

Hatrack!

Finally HTRK crack the ilx poll! This one seems to have more critical weight behind it than their last few. I love them most when they're at their smallest and vaguest, these are lovely tiny songs.

Never listened to HTRK before, but I did a double take on the first track to make sure I hadn't accidentally clicked play on a Nouvelle Vague album.

jesus have Deafheaven actually saved Britpop here

inconclusive but promising so far. it's enough to know that the vocalist wishes to be In Blur

love HTRK and the last few things they've done have been excellent, they've dialled down the electronics on this, but they're still one on of the most affecting bands around imo

Do you Eastman heads like this one more than the OG lo-fi 1974 recording?

This might be my favorite poll in years already. So many records I really loved but didn't put on my ballot are here: Ran Cap Duoi, Rochelle Jordan, Tyler and HTRK were all great records and could have well been on my list weren't it maybe for recency bias on a few things I enjoyed at the end of the year.

And Lingua Ignota was was on my list. Gorgeous followup to her last one which was an all timer.

https://i.imgur.com/KWtSUtJ.jpg
37. Jane Weaver - Flock
208 points / 8 votes
Video from the album: “Heartlow”
Jane Weaver

think i threw some points this way
lovely record, and i kept revisiting every season of 2021

Also those lyrics are so corny, why do people keep posting them???

― emil.y, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 11:19 AM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

bc we have a different opinion than you?

A country song with corny lyrics? Whaaa?

To be fair, I could see them working in a song and being effective. A lot of lyrics that work in a song context are terrible when written down. My reaction more was that people were C&Ping them multiple times as examples of greatness, when they're really just bog-standard lines.