ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2014

BABYMETAL is better than this

Wow, shocked but delighted to see Cher Lloyd make it. Such a shame what a flop this album was, lots of potential hit singles just wasted.

CL in the 40s on my EOY list. Bought the CD on the strength of stanning here. Not as likeable as her debut, but s'alright.

Thought it was a lot better than her debut even though there isn't anything as amazing as Superhero on there.

Need beta blockers to listen to BABYMETAL while working.

Cher Lloyd looks dreadfully ill/existentially null. What's the best/most representational track from this album?

babymetal - the first i heard of this band was when a civil servant friend who gets more drunk than almost anyone i know casually mentioned them. i'm intrigued by the concept despite metal not being for me (not even kitty), will probably check this out when i'm not in a café

cher lloyd - YESSSSS so happy this snuck in. it's been noted a lot that pop discourse in 2014 increasingly seemed to only revolve around the same 5 names over and over again, and non-megastar pop artists feel like they're all in limbo to an extent - this vicious cycle of their irrelevance making them irrelevant in a lot of critics' eyes, their music having nothing to do with any of it.

cher lloyd has surprised me several times in her career - her sugary bubblegum debut had nothing to do with the hard-ass swagon lightning bolt i first loved on the x factor and this depressed, despairing album of emo ballads (leavened with a few bratty party songs, sure) has nothing to do with either (i guess you could link it back to her x factor cover of "stay"). she sounds so weary on it all - "human" is a highlight here - and even though hardly anyone bought it and no critics cared, it was an album i kept returning to in 2014

also, "sweet despair" co-written with beth ditto, and "bind your love" as an example of a non-downer.

i thought this album was leagues better than the actual crowning-a-new-megastarlet move of ariana grande's second album

Yeah, Bind Your Love is the one I'd go with. Should have been the third single (She didn't even make it to a third single)

lex this music is definitely not for me, but I really appreciate you putting this album into context

i thought this album was leagues better than the actual crowning-a-new-megastarlet move of ariana grande's second album

― lex pretend, Monday, January 26, 2015 10:50 AM (59 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that i will agree with

yeah i made the comparison bc more than once that opinion has been scoffed at as just unthinkable because ariana sold a shit ton of records so how could cher lloyd possibly have made a better album

The main thing I get from Ariana Grande is an overwhelming desire to apologize to Toni Braxton and Anita Baker for ever saying they didn't enunciate enough.

oooh what’s WRONG with you / no the problem is not my ATTitude / but you’re EW / just not my type / and the next time I won’t be so polite!!!!!!!!!!

and "alone with me" being the best closing song of all time <3

album's like 70 positions too low

http://i.imgur.com/85lDQkc.jpg

75 MICA LEVI Under the Skin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [242 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

Is that the first film soundtrack ever to have placed?

listening to cher lloyd, really digging "bind your love"

wooooo under the skin!

Mica (chu) is one of my favourite musicians currently operational and everything she* touches turns to sonic ecstasy, including that recent Feeling Romantic...mixtape she* did. Haven't heard this yet as I'm waiting to see the film. Soon, though. I'm sure this is fucking brilliant.

*not sure which gender pronoun Mica is currently using so correct me if this is wrong! :)

A surprise, but we all seem to have loved the kubrickian/tarkovskian film. Eerie drones and thumps leavened with strident insistent string motifs, but stands surprisingly well outside the films context. Particularly on Halloween.

Does anyone have an opinion on: Micachu & The Shapes & London Sinfonietta - Chopped and Screwed (2011)?

Mica is the only one so far I've seen perform a Cornelius Cardew graphic score.

also, "sweet despair" co-written with beth ditto, and "bind your love" as an example of a non-downer.

― lex pretend, Monday, 26 January 2015 15:50 (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This isn't something I'd usually listen to, but 'Bind Your Love' has a certain woozily infectious appeal. For me to like this a lot would require a significant increase on the emo component. As in, actual blood spilled.

Under the Skin! Best film and film soundtrack of 2014 perhaps...

...including that recent Feeling Romantic...mixtape she* did.

*not sure which gender pronoun Mica is currently using so correct me if this is wrong! :)

― ear sirrom (imago), Monday, 26 January 2015 16:04 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, that was wonderful!

Also of note, Levi just joined the reborn BBC Radiophonic Workshop, lead by Matthew Herbert, so this won't be the last we hear of her(?).

Yeah I should check this out. Mica's great! I hope she continues to do stuff with the Shapes as well

wow, nice the see the under the skin s/t place! especially brilliant in context, but a fascinating listen on its own.

I've only heard bits of this but I like the Feeling Romantic Feeling Ill record. didn't think this was how she'd evolve

loved this. didn't vote for it.

I've been meaning to watch this movie. It's on my netflix list. I'm going to wait until I've seen the movie before listening to the soundtrack.

i really hated the shapes album i heard, really awful. Is this much better?

I wasn't that into the shapes either but I love this (I also really like the chopped & screwed album mentioned above)

Need to listen to Under the Skin on its own, loved the music in the context of the film.

http://i.imgur.com/jD8Xcla.jpg

74 NOURA MINT SEYMALI Tzenni [243 points, 8 votes]

mice

uh I mean "nice"

mice.

this looks interesting!

Great stuff so far. Have heard exactly none of these albums. Only found out about Babymetal the other day and it looks fun.

whoa, mice

yeah that's hairy mice indeed

haha i hate babymetal but i am so happy to see them kick off this poll i cant even

For those seeking to get closer to the roots here (without the flanged guitar and drum kit) seek out: Khalifa Ould Eide & Dimi Mint Abba - Moorish Music from Mauritania (1990).
I'd love to discover Noura is one of Dimi's daughters on that cover, but I doubt it.

SHE IS! Dimi Mint Abba is her step-mother.

http://petattack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/talented_mice_10.jpg

Mordy pressed this onto me n let's say I was quite IMpressed

this is terrific so far

So is this a rockier version of traditional Mauritanian music then?

The psych-funk version, yes.

This poll is exceeding expectations after the (relatively) narrow remit of the tracks poll. Already we've had Japanese idol/metal crossover, ambient soundtrack music, UK pop and outernationalism and we've only just started. Brill!

http://i.imgur.com/9neQ0lu.jpg

lol

yay seymali

*Can't remember

You can download a mix and put it in your bag

I have a bag of mixes somewhere here, near the old barn

You dont have to follow anything, its not a test!

best you come over to us on ile we'll look after you

lol at ppl who just filled out ballots with 25 ALBUMS of music released in 1 year being all "where might i find the time to listen to a dj set?"

NB i don't think it's important to follow scenes or listen to dj sets in fact its often really boring i think dog latin missed my pt upthread, all i meant was its fun to talk in a reductive way about music & culture more generally

also people who are like i don't see colour I ain't got no type are usually kidding themselves a bit.

I'll happily admit that given my taste in music and general ~listening history~ I think about music in fairly predictable ways.

I will certainly allow biases - mainstream country production tends to grate on me (the Lee Ann Womack album itt being a happy exception) and being a person who fears clubs, straight-up dance music tends to leave me cold. But I do make an effort to broaden my tastes a little every year. I can definitely thank ILM for getting me into balearic house, and helping me to get in touch with my emo-loving side.

from the other thread - "Genres - never deny their existence if someone else says them, never use their names yourself"

I dont think its about saying you dont have a type, its more that it fades into the background, its not important because its implicit, people are too hung up on it, border-policing, this isnt that genre, yes it is, its not the real kind - its all missing the point, shutting things down, another chapter in the anthology, another section in the record shelves

Difference between not border policing and pretending you're a totally unbiased all gates open listener in the face of clear evidence to the contrary IIRC

Oh no, I'm definitely not that, believe me, you wouldn't believe some of the things Ive heard in the last couple of weeks!

Saer you transcend all categories trust me

category: woodland fauna

I wish i could get out of my comfort zone. Want to be blown away by something NEW but nothing doing whenever i listen i just feel let down. I dont think im close minded but maybe i am with new music? (new as in current not new styles)

as nakh says 90% of my listening appears to people as metal but that is because i feel it is offering something new whilst rock/indie/electronic stuff that was always my bread and butter hasnt been offering as much to ME in recent years. I know these things can change as I went off metal in the late 90s and things turn around and good things can start happening again. As long as I keep looking. I'd hate to be one of those people who only likes old music.

NB i don't think it's important to follow scenes or listen to dj sets in fact its often really boring i think dog latin missed my pt upthread, all i meant was its fun to talk in a reductive way about music & culture more generally

― flopson, Monday, February 2, 2015 6:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also people who are like i don't see colour I ain't got no type are usually kidding themselves a bit.

I'll happily admit that given my taste in music and general ~listening history~ I think about music in fairly predictable ways.

― Tim F, Monday, February 2, 2015 8:05 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Bit past the point now, but for the record, yes I'm agreeing with both these points.

This Steve Gunn album is pretty good.

It is! I'd recommend his album "Time Off" slightly above that one though. Both are fantastic.