i actually didn't hate the Simple Minds album!
― imago, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:32 (one year ago) link
Though I don't think I voted for them, The Garden was a major find for me in this year's nominations. Will be keeping an eye on everything they do in the future.
"Freight Yard" is the definite stand out but there's lots of other hits on here, like Squished Face Slick Pig Living in a Smokey City.
― POLIZISTEN VERSINKEN IM SCHLAMM (forksclovetofu), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:33 (one year ago) link
I think I've probably voted for every The Garden album since "Mirror Might Steal Your Charm" in these polls. So this feels good. I also somehow missed the fact that the Arctic Monkeys sound like a totally different band now. This song is sounding pretty good.
― o. nate, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:35 (one year ago) link
You won't find much contemporary classical or tejano or C-Pop or Norwegian rap in the mix
or american rap!
― sault bae (voodoo chili), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:35 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/v7iC0zh.png#72: Burna Boy - Love, Damini - 162 points - 6 voteshere comes the AFRICAN GIANT / Burna Boy (2019)
An album for the ages, as well as being an awards season shoo-in, it is sure to succeed in doing precisely what Burna told Billboard his music is all about – “bringing people who don’t even speak the same language together to dance.
Despite its panoply of styles and personnel, the album remains consistently interesting while still adhering to the Afro-fusion vibe that is his hallmark.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:36 (one year ago) link
I don't think I've even heard of the Ravyn Lenae one - any stans want to wax lyrical about it?
― emil.y, Monday, January 30, 2023 10:29 AM
I was a huge proponent of her track "Sticky" whichever year that dropped, but I only skimmed Hypnos once and intended to go back for a more thorough listen. I guess today's the day.
― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:36 (one year ago) link
Sticky made it into our top 2017 tracks iirc?
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:37 (one year ago) link
Just checked #66 in 2018
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:38 (one year ago) link
I loved Sticky but ultimately couldn't get into Hypnos
Burna placing is a bit of a surprise! Should be an indication of several more afropop albums to come
― rob, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:39 (one year ago) link
Hypnos is an album I enjoyed when I heard it and kept meaning to go back to all year, but somehow never did. Definitely going to throw it on in the next couple of days.
― kitchen person, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:40 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/NbTq3MB.png#71: Loraine James - Building Something Beautiful For Me - 166 points - 7 votesrolling careerist hacks, awkward pandering, transparently manipulative thread 2022
Building Something Beautiful for Me adds to a legacy by connecting it to another. Rather than tidy Eastman’s music into a neat little box, she leaves it unravelled for the next person.
Her light, airy palette, punctuated by arresting stabs and scattershot rhythm, is informed by vintage Squarepusher and Plaid - but Eastman's pioneering work as a black, gay musician operating in challenging times clearly resonates with James.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:45 (one year ago) link
enjoyed the loraine james album, good time to revisit it
― nxd, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:50 (one year ago) link
Think I voted for Venom not the album, but Hypnos is an awesome. Production from Steve Lacy, Kaytranada, Teo Halm (SZA, Rosalia), and Monte Booker (Smino, Vince Staples) is diverse but the overall sound of the record is very Chicago.
― Indexed, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:53 (one year ago) link
― the shaker intro bit the shaker outro in the tail, hard (breastcrawl), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:54 (one year ago) link
didn't get round to hearing this one unfortunately, but loraine james has made some brilliant records in the past. gonna listen via her bandcamp:
https://lorainejames.bandcamp.com/album/building-something-beautiful-for-me
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:55 (one year ago) link
Love Loraine James, she's very prolific and I haven't kept up with everything, so now's a good time to listen to the new one.
I don't know what I thought Arctic Monkeys sounded like, but it wasn't this...it's a very tasteful palette at least.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 30 January 2023 15:55 (one year ago) link
xxp there literally was, AND i heard it too!
― imago, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:55 (one year ago) link
Ah, Building Something Beautiful For Me is a really lovely listen. It's based on the works of Julius Eastman, so is fairly low-key musically while simultaneously mining deep veins of meaning. Only made it into the non-ordered section of my ballot but glad to see it here.
― emil.y, Monday, 30 January 2023 15:59 (one year ago) link
well that sold me on giving it a spin.
― POLIZISTEN VERSINKEN IM SCHLAMM (forksclovetofu), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:00 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/JH17VGQ.png#70: Stromae - Multitude - 176 points - 5 votesStromae : C/D ?
Multitude is the perfect return for such a formidable musical talent, serving not only as a reminder of his innovative talents, but also highlighting how much richer his soundscaping and storytelling has grown over his hiatus.With biting humor and striking intimacy, the Belgian pop singer’s adventurous third album examines how we humans care for one another—or don’t.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:04 (one year ago) link
i did a small albums ballot, but watching this very intently nonetheless! thank you again to poll runners. graphics look great!
(also yes, the ravyn lenae album is fun and worth listening to if you haven't heard it yet)
― "i'm grateful." (Austin), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:06 (one year ago) link
her whatever the weather album from last year was great too, v different ambient-ish with occasional break-age
― not too strange just bad audio (brimstead), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:06 (one year ago) link
(Lorraine James)
wasn't that enamored with the stromae album, will give it another go tho
― nxd, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:06 (one year ago) link
Looks like a bunch of us are listening to the LJ right now!
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:09 (one year ago) link
Yes! The Whatever the Weather album is great too! Not much discussion on it on ilm but one of my favorite albums this year.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:09 (one year ago) link
I like James' bleepier stuff the most but pretty much everything she does is great, it's all worth checking out.
Stromae is another one I know nothing about - looks like there wasn't even any discussion of the album on the dedicated thread, was there any on a rolling thread somewhere?
― emil.y, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:09 (one year ago) link
don't think i saw it anywhere on here - iirc i came across it via a quietus review
― nxd, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:12 (one year ago) link
big Eastman fan here and was unfamiliar with Lorraine James, poll delivers already
― sleeve, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:13 (one year ago) link
a lot i haven't heard! nothing i've voted for yet.
for the ones i have heard
arctic monkeys - the car - just missed my ballot. beautiful album, but not quite as good as tranquility base in my mind. it's a bit drippier, bit more sincere. the string arrangements are uniformly great, but they largely replace the smoky, noirish, roubaix-esque sound that defined its predecessor.
ravyn lenae - hypnos - been a fan of hers for a long time, but the songs on this one were not quite so, ahem, "sticky"
burna boy - love, damini - half of a great album with many beautiful moments. much preferred the asake, fireboy, rema albums this year. "last last" will undoubtedly place in the singles poll, and it deserves to!
stromae - multitude - liked this one a good deal, but the singles ("l'enfer," "sainte") towered over the rest
― sault bae (voodoo chili), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:13 (one year ago) link
Discourse I saw on the Stromae album was limited to the controversy around its rollout. The singles jumped out whenever they'd come up on playlists, but the album fell a bit flat for me.
― Indexed, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:16 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/GUAFqch.png#69: Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa - 177 points - 6 votesSpoon - Lucifer on the Sofa
Lucifer on the Sofa is a once-in-a-lifetime album, that succeeds in resuscitating moribund aesthetics in the best possible way.
Ten albums and nearly three decades in, Spoon still sound fresh, with swing and swagger – and there isn’t a dull moment.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:20 (one year ago) link
nice
― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:21 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/QdAmZEa.png#68: Angel Olsen - Big Time - 183 points - 6 votesAngel Olsen
The album as a whole is a strong argument for Olsen being her generation’s finest songwriter; perhaps now, the rest of the world will recognise that, too.
A record that’s testament to going through hell and coming out the other side, and one that confirms its author as one of the foremost singer-songwriters of her generation.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:28 (one year ago) link
These linked reviews are rather hyperbolic lol
― Indexed, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:31 (one year ago) link
Nice! This album impressed the heck out of me.
― o. nate, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:33 (one year ago) link
I've tried several times with Olsen.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:38 (one year ago) link
She'll have a very nice best of record one day
― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:39 (one year ago) link
Very ILM-y choices, these last two.
― emil.y, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:41 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/PBMX2he.png#67: Florist - Florist - 189 points - 7 votesthread of Florist
Recorded in a rented house in the Hudson Valley, and weaving together found sounds with spontaneous music-making, the quartet’s self-titled album is as much an audio documentary as it is a folk album.
On the next quiet summer evening you can find, spend an hour within the album. You may find that everything else just feels a million miles away.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:43 (one year ago) link
don't know this one at all, sounds intriguing
― rob, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:47 (one year ago) link
Thought Florist would be higher! Great album, mostly for the feeling and instrumentals. I almost never remember the songs but, like, in a good way. I always want to play it again immediately.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:47 (one year ago) link
Adore this album. A serene listen.
― Indexed, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:50 (one year ago) link
liked the previous one and emily sprague's solo stuff, haven't heard this though. to bandcamp!
https://florist.bandcamp.com/album/florist
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:52 (one year ago) link
ooh Friday is a bandcamp Friday
― maf you one two (maffew12), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:54 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/z0RYKjt.png#66: Little Simz - NO THANK YOU - 190 points - 6 votesThread of Little Simz
The brilliance of No Thank You is how Simz uses her brazenly unapologetic narrative to spin out larger points about institutional and generational racism, the danger of business practices indifferent to their human impact, and links all of that to contemporary mental health crises.
The Mercury winner’s surprise-release album finds her going in on mental health and the music industry, in a deep collaboration with Sault’s Inflo.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:57 (one year ago) link
I didn't think Spoon would make it this year, glad it placed.
― Bee OK, Monday, 30 January 2023 16:57 (one year ago) link
Love the Florist album (and as NickB says, Sprague's solo stuff is superb).
Mostly blanks for me elsewhere. Lots of stuff to catch up on.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 30 January 2023 16:59 (one year ago) link
Which Sprague solo album would people recommend? I like the Florist so far—it's very pretty but maybe a touch twee for my tastes—but I'm curious about the ambient stuff as I like the overall sound world a lot
― rob, Monday, 30 January 2023 17:00 (one year ago) link
For Sprague, I'd go with *Hill, Flower, Fog* or *Water Memory*. Both lovely.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 30 January 2023 17:01 (one year ago) link