ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2017

I am intensely curious as to if or where Reputation placed

I think it has a decent shot

Oh, come on. That one about the Brooklyn hipsters is not superb.

― Moodles, Tuesday, January 30, 2018

she's written 20 of these

i was surprised to see wolf alice miss the top 50

Lots of things listed today that fell off my ballot or felt very overrated and formulaic to me. I find the Colleen album boring and it sounds like so many other modular synth records of late. Laurel Halo always sounds good in theory to me, but never really scratches any itches when I put her on. Ryuichi Sakamoto's async was an agonizing decision to leave off, it's lovely.

moodles - are you referring to brooklyn baby? that one's superb

Yes, and I disagree.

But she definitely has lots of songs like that. Some work, some don't.

The world needs "I Still Haven't Found My Dick".

49 JULIEN BAKER "Turn Out the Lights"
this was ok but i still can't really get into her, the arrangements are a little too bare? i much preferred the Phoebe Bridgers album which is in a similar sort of vein but has more going on

43 JAPANESE BREAKFAST "Soft Sounds from Another Planet"
incredibly disappointing album that abandoned everything i liked about Psychopomp. nothing on this comes close to the gorgeous dream pop of In Heaven

42 LANA DEL REY "Lust For Life"
another really inconsistent album from her, Ultraviolence is still by far her best. Love is really good but Coachella - Woodstock On My Mind was so dire

41 ALGIERS "The Underside of Power"
wow this is way too low, i thought this was a lock for top 20. probably my favourite post-punk album this decade?

incredibly disappointing album that abandoned everything i liked about Psychopomp. nothing on this comes close to the gorgeous dream pop of In Heaven

I'm surprised you see such a gulf really. I like Psychopomp a lot but I came to it through the new one, and I'm curious as to what that album has that Soft Sounds doesn't, other than a kind of lower-fidelity pallour.

If you told me at the start of the year that my #2 album would have been a US indie record setting itself up somewhere between shoegaze and Pacific NW I wouldn't have believed you. Usually stuff in that vein is characterised by a slavish, over-cautious recreation of a particular sound at the expense of songwriting, whereas this record takes that sound as a starting point and pulls it in multiple different directions. It's the ballads in the second half that really slay me, 'Boyish' especially.

hmm, i didn't reach the second half in my listen yesterday, will try now

'be my baby' beat goes a long way huh

otoh i like a harpsichord

Listened to some more of the Colleen record and its quite a mixed bag. I only like.2 of the tracks on it, the rest wasn't very enjoyable. Having said that, 2 good tracks is still alright, but shows the problem with judging albums!

One of my favourite records I never got as far as the one good track because the rest of it is rubbish. Found out later one of the tracks I'd been wondering about for ages was on there. I don't care if the rest of it isn't any good!

Unfortunately I can never remember the name of the artist now and Ive no idea where I put the record, but trust me, its very good and I can imagine it a little bit in my head and thats the main thing

I think its from 2002 and has a grey and yellowish cover with a really forgettable name and a car on the front, looks like it might be used in a film about the rozzers

I love that album too.

I'm also in the underwhelmed-by-the-new-Colleen gang. I discovered Captain Of None during the 2015 rollout, and it's been one of my most played records of the past couple of years. Alas, this one doesn't come close.

Tornado Wallace is a great find; it joins Visible Cloaks in the most-likely-to-buy pile.

Only two of my votes have placed thus far: Laurel Halo (although the vinyl pressing is a murky dud) and Wolf Alice (which I didn't see coming AT ALL, what a massive leap forwards).

I did have an initial wave of excitement about the new colleen record, just the sound of it, but it has grown on me over time. the highs of captain of none are something else but I keep being drawn to the more lonely, starkly poised mood of the new one

https://i.imgur.com/LFEDnBo.jpg

40 BLANCK MASS "World Eater" (292 points, 8 votes, 2 first place votes)
spotify

oh cool!

lol. i like that today starts off with something that makes AG happy. will check out

That's one of two albums I'd been hoping placed purely because I forgot to put them on my ballot.

Fuck yeah! My number 4.

this has something about it, have enjoyed what i've heard, although i'm sure he has a greater work in him

probably much better than fuck buttons

https://i.imgur.com/I8cQIkJ.jpg

39 GAUSSIAN CURVE "The Distance" (294 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)
spotify

i listened to this one a lot this year

And there's my number 1

An album I was p much always in the mood for

Blanck Mass!

this was my number 1. The combo of the opening track + Rhesus Negative has been by far my most often played thing this year. could generally fit this into the 10 minute walk between the metro station and my house.

rest of the album doesn't quite live up to those two opening tracks but still incredible.

Would have been my number 1 too but I didn't ever see the voting thread and I'm still having a massive pity party about not getting to vote this year. What was the thread called, anyway?

(Referring to Gaussian Curve)

gaussian curve was my number 2, beautiful record, thank you gigi

yeah just listened to the opening 2 tracks of World Eater having heard only the 3rd before - they were great

aw evan, wonder what another 50 points or whatever would have doen to the result?

Prob would have made it place higher.

Would have been my number 1 too but I didn't ever see the voting thread and I'm still having a massive pity party about not getting to vote this year. What was the thread called, anyway?

"ILM's 2017 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / VOTING THREAD":

ILM's 2017 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / VOTING THREAD

oh yeah, thanks Jeff! :) xp

Hahaha how did I miss the thread??? Oh well

I liked that Gaussian Curve record, gave it a few spins. Slept on the Blanck Mass record but was digging Rhesus Negative when it popped up in the noms playlist on Spotify. I'm still working my way through that playlist at the moment. It finally motivated me to sign up for Spotify, thank you ILX.

I'm kicking myself for missing the voting deadline, too. Even made a couple noms. Next year I will pull my shit together and vote, promise.

https://i.imgur.com/bIJoWFL.jpg

38 FOUR TET "New Energy" (295 points, 10 votes)
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That one didn't do anything for me.

Not really a big Four Tet fan but I liked this one a lot - it was the last cut from my ballot but would definitely make it if I was voting today.

here's the title track of the gaussian curve record: The Distance

very soft, languid music, it sounds like they're just gently caressing the air molecules in the room

sounds right up my street ;)

am listening anyway

four tet is unalloyed dullsville

Is the Four Tet a collab with Tove Lo?

iirc the last track on the four tet is great and the rest is....whatever

Gaussian Curve’s debut from a few years back is even better

https://i.imgur.com/h3G4G7K.jpg

37 THE CLIENTELE "Music From The Age Of Miracles" (298 points, 11 votes)
spotify