I was the #1 vote for the Pierre Kwenders album. I'm glad to see someone else on ILM liked this one, JF!If you're curious, the Pitchfork review is quite good: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/pierre-kwenders-makanda-at-the-end-of-space-the-beginning-of-time/
― rob, Friday, 2 February 2018 20:51 (six years ago) link
yeh tracks would be cool too
― nxd, Friday, 2 February 2018 21:08 (six years ago) link
thought about it
― nashwan, Friday, 2 February 2018 21:19 (six years ago) link
Mary lattimore― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, February 2, 2018 7:52 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, February 2, 2018 7:52 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― davey, Friday, 2 February 2018 21:20 (six years ago) link
Two of those - Matt Jencik and the Fun Years - were in my top 3. They’re both great.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 2 February 2018 21:44 (six years ago) link
whoa, thanks sbahnhof for the links!!!
― octobeard, Friday, 2 February 2018 22:49 (six years ago) link
yes, very nice to have them!
― Dan S, Friday, 2 February 2018 22:54 (six years ago) link
Two that I voted for – Ria Hall, and New Dawn, they are good. My albums No 1 by Noga Erez, 2017 WTF Is Going On, narrowly missed out on this thread... Did anyone get a hat-trick?
Fun fact: New Dawn took their name and track titles from a strange magazine which they don't endorse
https://www.newdawnmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Cover138.jpg
― sbahnhof, Saturday, 3 February 2018 02:20 (six years ago) link
The DeJohnette et al album contains a lot of interpretations of 60s Woodstock-era rock and folk songs. Scofield and Medeski really branch out in improvisation but they always come back to the tunes. Just really beautiful playing and recording and a great live show.
The Rez Abbasi is complex but tuneful virtuosic guitar-led fusion (jazz-rock as well as jazz-Carnatic). Rudresh Mahanthappa is on sax, Vijay Iyer on keyboards. One of the most, if not maybe the most, important guitar albums of the year for me.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Saturday, 3 February 2018 02:43 (six years ago) link
oooh
― (the blues version in his Broadway show) (crüt), Saturday, 3 February 2018 03:06 (six years ago) link
Christopher Willits - Horizon - best experienced on: 1. Normal headphones 2. Within an Envelop listening space 3. A DIY Ambisonic system (minimum of 4 speakers)
OK, I've managed to get 1 and 3 ready so far, but 2 is gonna be tough. Apparently my nearest listening space is in Buenos Aires.
Thank god Cabo Boing's Blob On a Grid didn't come with all these preconditions...
― sbahnhof, Sunday, 4 February 2018 07:29 (six years ago) link
:D
― nxd, Sunday, 4 February 2018 13:24 (six years ago) link
i had no idea about those listening suggestions, I just listen on headphones/a stereo/in my car and it sounds great
― (the blues version in his Broadway show) (crüt), Sunday, 4 February 2018 13:25 (six years ago) link
I have listened to some of those. Besided the New Year, the Elkington album sticks out. This guy is not only a guitar virtuoso, he has also great, slightly bent tunes. There is something special about them. It may also have to do with his guitar sound. His voice is not phantastic but somehow i got used to it, it does not bother me anymore. There are so many guitar players with voices which are acquired tastes, kottke for example.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Sunday, 4 February 2018 22:37 (six years ago) link
Meanwhile Mary Lattimore's Collected Pieces delivers the harp and wah-wah sound, or harp-wahp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW7dJl8Ww9M
― sbahnhof, Tuesday, 6 February 2018 08:03 (six years ago) link
Going with Olamide because it's the only one of these i've heard and enjoyed, lol.
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Tuesday, 6 February 2018 09:04 (six years ago) link
Matt Jencik, maker of lovely, ultra-accessible drones.
― alpine static, Tuesday, 6 February 2018 09:25 (six years ago) link
If I had heard the DJ Haus one two weeks earlier I would have voted for it. Defected usually do compilations of house vocal crossovers and deep tech but this is something else entirely - just a really fun ecstatic mix of bangers. It touches on loads of styles thay have made 2017 such a good yeaf for bobbins - lo-fi house, speed garage bass, the filtered disco revival, plenty of acid. A lot of rhe stuff in the bobbins thread can feel serious but this is so much fun and I love the way DJ Haus mixes - chunky and anthemic, you can picture him peering out over the desk smiling at the crowd reactions as he brings in a bold riff or breakdown.
― boxedjoy, Tuesday, 6 February 2018 11:43 (six years ago) link
xp Just heard the Matt Jencik album, it's a really nice one
― sbahnhof, Thursday, 8 February 2018 07:52 (six years ago) link
Melkbelly - Nothing Valley - most exciting one I've heard so far! Wise use of 2½-minute songs, the band aptly compared to Kim Deal and Kristin Hersh.
Liked the Palehound, Orchestra Baobab and Olamide too.
Miranda Lee Richards' Existential Beasts is surprisingly easy listening – she reminds me a lot of Bic Runga, in that intelligent understated style of songwriting.
And getting your lyrics to make a shape is quite cool:
In all that ever wasIn all that’s ever beenAn unveiling of eternityAccountability and honorThe polarization of wordsIntuition versus experienceThe randomness of perfectionBeyond the fear of the unknownYour presents within your presenceYour will and the highest will manifestSpanning the bridges of time and spaceThat visceral sense of wonder and magicSummoning the spirit and all that it meansTo find joy and fascination in what you are creatingYou are free, and you have always been free to choose againIs there such thing as integration of heart and mind, conscious and subconscious?Do you view right and wrong in terms of absolutes?Why does the voice of the heart reign supreme?Have you learned to love unconditionally?Do you let your higher self be your guide?Are you able to give AND receive?Do you embrace the unexpected?Is morality subjective or sacred?Why do you want those things?Where does darkness reside?What is your true desire?What are you creating?Why are you here?OMOMBREAK FREE!
(On the track "Golden Gate",https://mirandaleerichards.bandcamp.com/track/golden-gate)
― sbahnhof, Saturday, 10 February 2018 04:03 (six years ago) link
New Dawn and The Fun Years' albums are alike in a way - they both have a particular ambient atmosphere, broken up by one track that is a total banger. What a good trick.
<3 Tony Allen's The Source, a fantastic jazz album. ILM has a thread about him from the old days.
― sbahnhof, Sunday, 11 February 2018 07:40 (six years ago) link
I was the sole voter for the Olamide album - for which Young John, beatmaker and producer extraordinaire, deserves equal billing. Even if you feel it’s not your cup of tea, you owe it to yourself to at least listen to “Saysaymaley”. So good! One of my musical highlights of 2017, purely for the backing vocals alone.
https://youtu.be/HEmP0Xh3hl4
…and you can dance to it too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt_CAAzHzoo
― breastcrawl, Monday, 12 February 2018 19:52 (six years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 14 February 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link
Tony Allen - The Source was mine. I'd always had him down as worthy-but-dull, but this sizzles. Try "Wolf Eats Wolf".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCBpJkG6ngE
― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 14 February 2018 00:05 (six years ago) link
Got to stan for the Alison Moyet album. I hate to go down the best thing since Scary Monsters road, but I think it's her best solo work.
― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 14 February 2018 11:53 (six years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 15 February 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link
― breastcrawl, Monday, February 12, 2018 7:52 PM (three days ago)
Hadn't realised it was a Young John the Wicked Producer joint - will have to take a closer listen! Had glanced at some Nigerian reviews that were a bit sniffy so didn't investigate further at the time.
Been spending more time with the Ria Hall album - sbahnhof, did you read this interview with Tomorrow People? Sort've wished the interview had teased out things re, say, their popularity vs Ria Hall's rather than putting all NZ reggae / Aotearoa roots / dub / whatevs stuff in the same basket. Still, nice that their latest single is in Samoan and Te Reo.
― etc, Thursday, 15 February 2018 04:01 (six years ago) link
but more importantly whats the best album from the ilm poll 'Best album from the 2017 ILM EOY album poll that received only ONE top 3 weighted vote' that only received ONE vote?
― nxd, Thursday, 15 February 2018 12:51 (six years ago) link
Blob On A Grid wuz blobbed
And, Yaeji didn't win an ILM poll?! Unbelievable.
(She's the sound of 2018 not 2017)
this interview
will look!
― sbahnhof, Sunday, 18 February 2018 07:50 (six years ago) link
Thanks, other person who voted for Hudson.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 18 February 2018 12:25 (six years ago) link