ILM Top 100 2005-2009: ALBUMS

eli is rad

Arthur Russell album is really great. Still can't bring myself to care at all about The National. Just seems a bit dull to me.

the last 5 or 6 tracks on 'alligator' are all really good and it's made me wonder if backloaded albums are more likely to get slept on by critics. i mean obviously no one who's reviewing music is gonna stop listening partway through but if the first few songs fail to engage you sometimes you can convince yourself that it's all gonna be like that and not be able to appreciate the better stuff if it shows up

57. LADY GAGA The Fame Monster (2009) [261.6 votes, 14 votes, 1 first place vote]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4KQsaU5dkho/SwGPfqWhvzI/AAAAAAAADTs/3HpP7yVTy3g/s1600/lady_gaga_the_fame_monster_cover_art.jpg

i voted 4 the national!!!! it was in my top ten & its p much amazing also "mr. november" is just such a jam

i like boxer too okay but its sorta glossy and somber and easy to forget

First place vote? Wha?

YES!1!!

after the greatness of 'World of Echo' and 'Another Thought' I found it hard to care too much about Love Is Overtaking Me. It just seemed long and too scattered, with not enough good material

I didn't place it first. It hasn't been out long enough for me to rank it that high yet, but I sure do listen to it often enough to consider it one of my favorite albums of the last 5 years.

got unending love for a third or more of the songs on Love is Overtaking Me (the ones yous have posted, 'Don't Forget About Me', 'Habit of You', a few others), and the rest is nothing worse than good. Doesn't have the consistency of his previously released stuff, and I wouldn't think of it as an '00s album either (not that I voted), but it pleases me to see it here.

Hi hi (super xps):

Voted for Arthur - it's a lovely album of country- and folk-inflected songs. I guess some of its appeal does hang on the fact that it's Arthur Russell, but the songs really do stand up. This one, though maybe not the standout track (cf. What It's Like, Oh Fernanda Why) is representative, great and on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=10d1G7BLWwg

Fame Monster is deffo better than The Fame, and solid enougha but so many better pop albums in the same vein from the same periode and I hope we'll see them further up the list.

The Fame Monster has some good tunes on it, but I have a hard time considering it a proper album. Not because of its length but because it doesn't really form a coherent/cohesive narrative. Basically, the same problem I have with the majority of pop 'albums', I suppose.

xp

yeah, I agree that there isn't a bad song on LIOM--I also really love Oh Fernanda, Janine, The Letter...this list could be dumb long. I can see not being bowled over by it like first encountering World of Echo, but it came along at just the right time for my Russell love, where Echo and the rest had become familiar, so this country/pop stuff felt revelatory. I think it also helped that I saw that documentary about him right before I got it. It all kind of humanized this genius figure for me in a way that felt fleshed out and real, adding another major piece to the often-mentioned crazy-quilt of his musical life.

Agree with Rob - I had a similar reaction. The songs are far from anonymous - all the little quirks of his songwriting are still there - but the contrast of the traditional idiom with his more out-there work certainly enhances the impact.

56. YEAH YEAH YEAHS It's Blitz! (2009) [262 points, 14 votes]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvu8qta38J1qzu3d0.jpg

Fame Monster is deffo better than The Fame, and solid enougha but so many better pop albums in the same vein from the same periode and I hope we'll see them further up the list.

I'm curious, like what? We've already seen Robyn place. As far as pure pop goes ... hmmm ... does M83's Saturdays = Youth count? Junior Boys? How about Britney's Blackout?

oh fuck, I should have voted because YYYs should be way way WAY higher

man, she really squeezed the shit outta that egg

808s - it's an "interesting" and i guess admirable album that when it works, really works, but a few years on i think the moments when it doesn't work, when it's actually sort of terrible, outweigh the good stuff. it's easily the weakest of his albums, though in its defence it's one of those albums where a purely qualitative judgement feels limited - it's an album that kept me interested in talking/thinking/paying attention to kanye and his career, which is better than falling into the diminishing returns cycle of retreading his usual aesthetic that so many artists do.

arthur russell - i love his electronic work but honestly i found love is overtaking me to be a total bore. i'm obv not against acoustic folky stuff but that's not really what i want from russell - my favourite album by him is calling out of context (can't remember if that's eligible or not, maybe it'll show up!)

gaga - yup i had to vote for this really given how much i've caned it since i caved into her. i love "monster" most right now - i love how she both diminishes and elevates the dude by calling him a monster; the male voice is this comical frankenstein lumbering thing, but goddamnit she's obsessed with him and he thus has power over her - the climax of "he ate my heart and then he ate my braaaain" is amazing. basically she thinks he's a dumb jock but she can't get him out of her head/bed.

yyys - great album tho think it just missed my ballot. i never realised that was an egg until today!

wait, really?

It's Blitz! would probably have been #2 or #3 on my list.

re: pop, i'm pretty sure britney's blackout will place, as well as one or both taylor swift and the electrik red. mariah's emancipation in with a good shout. beyoncé...dunno, maaaaybe b'day? solange and rihanna are probably only faint possibilities at this point tho.

i've never seen the YYYs cover in anything larger than like 100x100! i think i assumed it was a bunch of flowers :/

calling out of context was '04 iirc xp to lex

lol @ lex talking about this cover

xp - Calling out of Context was 2004 I think, otherwise it would have been my first place vote.

55. SUNN O))) Monoliths & Dimensions (2009) [263 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote]

http://abandonedcars.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/cover3.jpg

i guess that should be SUNN O))) huh? never remember how to spell their name

you missed an "N"

nm

The 2009 effect is still present in the albums poll too, it appears.

2009 was an excellent year for music, is the thing; I think really only 2007 challenges it

lol, wow

maybe 2006 just because of Silent Shout

Didn't vote for this but I approve.

Love the high placement of that SUNN O))) record!

Last years winner of the ILM 2009 Metal Poll.

much to the disgust of the metallers I may add.

jon their name is SUN O)))

another 2009 album coming up btw

i only voted for 3 2009 albums iirc, its been long enough that i'm not hyped up about any of em still

the confusing thing about sunnnnn000))) is that you don't even pronounce the o, apparently it's just "sun"

54. PHOENIX Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009) [265.5 points, 12 votes]

http://everydaymusic.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/phoenix-wolfgang-amadeus-phoenix-1.jpg

It is, just like the amps the name comes from.

xpost

wow i've never actually spoken their name but apparently i've been reading it in my head incorrectly this whole time

aren't they named after an amp, and 0))) is the logo?
xpost

you don't pronounce the parenthesis

xposts

microsoft sam begs to differ

the only good thing about the WAP cover is that it looks like they're dropping bombs on arizona

i love phx but did not vote for that album