ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2017

confession: tt played me a track off this saying it wasn't so bad and she was kind of right

taylor is still evil tho

I didn't know if this would make it or not, but a first place vote is absolutely mind boggling.

was it from "taytayfan"?

money is on flopson sticking it to ilm

did markers submit a ballot

In the face of incessant Social Media hot takes, commentary, jokes by and about celebrities, and the demand for twitter-wokeness - the use of hashtags and the right post at the right time as key signifiers that you're supportive of the right causes --- the near radio silence from TS outside of her releases for the past few years has felt refreshing, more so in the face of increasingly absurd allegations thrown at her for not _tweeting out_, the fantasy creature that has been manufactured in her absence, a more grotesque version of the earlier wrongheaded criticism of her, back when misreading or misquoting her lyrics was the chief offence.

So you know, if this album was killer, I would be riding pretty damn hard. It's a bit of a disappointment, instead, not the sound I was hoping for, with a lead single that just seemed sooo corny and misguided (although its comedic motivation comes more into place as part of a bigger thing). But there are still great, really great tracks here: Delicate and .. well, most of the 2nd half of the album really. Parts of Reputation surpass parts of some of her earlier albums. There's funny bits, emotional bits that strike a chord, clever bits and just plain old pretty bits. So yeah, it's got a decent spot on my list. Not my #1 though.

She needs to get better at picking lead singles and hopefully scale back the sound a bit, though.

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

31 LAURA MARLING "Semper Femina" (320 points, 12 votes)
spotify

Glad it made it. One of those albums that I think is very good, but that I rarely want to play.

Opening track of this has some cool 90s triphop vibes. Morcheeba recast as folk

Such a great album. She has really been cranking it out without ever faltering in quality.

Didn't vote for albums, but Laura Marling placing higher than Taylor is heartwarming.

is it true she's a tory?

enjoying the Clientele album - what should I check out by them next? Suburban Light or Strange Geometry?

depends on yr interests - SL is more lo-fi and hazy/mysterious while SG is crystalline and bright

This is beautifully produced and sounds fantastic but I find her music less enjoyable with every passing album.

enjoying the Clientele album - what should I check out by them next? Suburban Light or Strange Geometry?

― ufo

Strange Geometry is probably the next one to go for. It's the perfect balance of all the things that make them so great and is probably the closest in sound to the latest album. The Violet Hour is my favourite overall, but it's definitely their least instant release.

it's so un-instant that even after dozens of attempts I still can't seem to find a way in!

Yeah, Strange Geometry for sure is the logical next step.

Suburban Light is extremely wonderful, plus it was reissued recently-ish with a bonus disc that rounds up missing bsides/one-offs/split sides/etc

thanks, will check them out

it's so un-instant that even after dozens of attempts I still can't seem to find a way in!

― Simon H

It took me a long time to get there. I just remember when I first moved to Minnesota in the autumn I kept playing it when I was out walking and it all just fell into place. The perfect soundtrack.

i had no idea how to listen to the taylor swift album so i didn't

God Save The Clientele is also easy to love if you like their brighter vibes. None of their albums should be dismissed.

Reputation did eventually end up on Spotify

https://i.imgur.com/2Z7BaLC.jpg

30 SAINT ETIENNE "Home Counties" (330 points, 13 votes)
spotify

by that time my curiously had long since waned xp

Welcome to ILM.

ilm is insane

Here they are!

looool xp

haha

beautiful record, if not as powerful as its immediate predecessor

Love this one though I think it's a slight step below Words and Music. They really are achieving some kind of remarkable second wind though.

Alfred

http://www.nutritionxpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/new-years.jpg

For no real reason, I had stopped keeping up with sad computer music. The Four Tet is sounding very satisfying and comforting so far. I think There Is Love in You was the last one I heard by them.

This is definitely an album that matches the position its ended up at. Not quite as brilliant as Words & Music and Tales From Turnpike House, but still a beautiful record that I went back to a lot over the summer. It's a very comforting record.

the album cover for this reminds me driving past our old family home - it's nice to see it's still standing and well cared for but i really wouldn't want to move back in there again. so p much how i feel about st etienne in general tbh

Dive and Magpie Eyes are both particularly top-notch.

the album feels like sort of a halfway point between Turnpike House and Words & Music, musically speaking it takes a bit from both.

I was happily surprised by how much I liked a couple of the St. Etienne tracks (from the nominations playlist, I guess), but then I couldn't get past the beginning of the album. I've never cared for them, but maybe should give it another try.

Lots of sad computer music sounds meditative and content if you imagine a serene snapshot of nature, but crushingly sad if you instead picture a happy family smiling together at the dinner table or something. I blame cinema.

~slumber~

Oh hey cool, Blanck Mass, my second one to show.

(Going into the poll, I would've thought that I had about 6 dead certs show up--Ex Eye being a seventh when it appeared--but I feel like it's time to scale that number down to 3...)

https://i.imgur.com/434tOPI.jpg

29 CHARLI XCX "Pop 2" (332 points, 12 votes)
spotify

love this record and yes her first album is the best

Saint Etienne my #3. I've said this before on ILM but this was the album I always hoped they'd make, the potential of bits and pieces from the earlier records fully realised at last. Sarah's never sounded better, certainly. At the same time, some tracks came perilously close to self-parody.

i don't get this record and i feel like every time i say that i end up in an argument. more power to charli though

I couldn't get into either Charli mixtape :(

Really didn't realise this was so popular on here. I preferred Number 1 Angel (which I'm guessing has missed out?) Neither of the mixtapes came close to how much I love True Romance or Sucker.

you are all terrible people

every song is a tuuuuune