ILM's 2014 End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll / VOTING THREAD

http://i.imgur.com/ZK7rVOd.png

Ballot: http://goo.gl/forms/daS04uLq37

The procedure is simple: enter your tracks and album ballots (up to 25 items on each), one item per line, in the appropriate fields below. Please copy each line directly from the nominations lists; do not number your ballot. You can choose one of three ballot types, which determine how points are allocated to each item you vote for:

(1) Weighted: The first item on your ballot receives 50 points, the second receives 48 points, and so on, until the 25th item receives 2 points.

(2) Unweighted: Each item on your ballot receives 26 points.

(3) Mixed: To submit a mixed ballot, you must divide your ballot in two with an extra blank line. The upper portion of the ballot will be treated as weighted, with the first item receiving 50 points, and so on. The lower portion will be treated as unweighted, in that all items will receive the same number of points. The score allocated to items in the unweighted portion is calculated as 26 minus the number of items in the weighted portion (this is so that any weighted, unweighted or mixed ballot consisting of 25 items will allocate a total of exactly 650 points).

Tracks list: http://queuebik.com/Tracks2014.txt
Albums list: http://queuebik.com/Albums2014.txt

Voting ends at MIDNIGHT EST on Friday, January 16th, 2015.

Allez hop!

OH YEAH

Can someone post the two Spotify playlists?

Spotify tracks: http://spoti.fi/1AoxN7y
Spotify albums: http://spoti.fi/1AoxLN1

I think I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway: if someone's name is not capitalized on the Tracks list (while most everyone else's is), we just disregard that and cut-and-paste anyway, right?

you can do what you want wrt capitalisation but in general it's safer to c+p

The way things are capitalized/formatted with regard to featured artists/punctuated/etc don't matter much at this point. When the results are tabulated and j0rdan and I are working from a final list, we'll clean up all that stuff.

The way things are capitalized/formatted with regard to featured artists/punctuated/etc don't matter much at this point.

They do for me! The magical autotallying code can handle a degree of variation but exotic departures from the spreadsheet confuse it and make extra work for me.

To clarify, the way things are capitalized/formatted with regard to featured artists/punctuated/etc ON THE LISTS doesn't matter much at this point. Please do c+p from the lists directly to your ballots.

xp Right. I realized I left out a very important clause up there.

Not to worry, I cut-and-paste right from the list. (I did include one song I forgot to nominate...sorry--obviously, just disregard it.)

ballot cast

I'm a little embarrassed that I never listened to Noura Mint Seymali before now. Holy fuck is this great.

No kidding.

I think Orlando Julius & The Heliocentrics album needs to be added to the Spotify albums list? I'm not sure how to do it but here's the link: http://open.spotify.com/album/3DuZcL3Y4InevGw8e6TSEo

Curren$y's The Drive-In Theatreis listed twice, with and without the hyphen. We can't let Curren$y get robbed!

Fixed.

just going through it now - not sure the impact it would have but 'ought - habit' appears twice

good, it's a good song!

Are we having a stanning thread this year?

coming here to ask the same thing - does this double as the lobbying thread?

It can, but no youtube embeds plz.

well my ballot is almost done. i can't listen to yet another same-sounding bleepy-bloop electronica single or R&B track w/out going crazy. anyway i think like almost all my singles all gonna be top 40 stuff. but here are some of the albums that i think ilxors might dig that i'm definitely voting for:

jennifer castle - pink city: xelab turned me onto this - lyrical canadian singer-songwriter for ppl who like kathleen edwards, neko case, joni mitchell aka huge favorite of mine. maybe tough to track down (doesn't seem to be streaming anywhere) but totally worth it.

mamman sani - taaritt - i'm just going to quote the sahel sounds description which is what sold it to me: "Cosmic synth. Polyphonic analog synthesizers and drum machines interpret ancient Saharan folk ballads in an imagined science fiction future. A proposed relaxation guide, sonically lying somewhere between ambient library music and minimal wave. Recorded in Niger and France in the late 1980s and never before released."

VA - Haiti Direct - Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978 - really swinging compilation of a variety of haiti sounds from 60s + 70s, lots of punchy rock + funky compas direct tracks

noura mint seymali - tzenni - hopefully everyone already knows about this one - seymali and husband Jeiche Ould Chighaly on guitar play psych blues from Mauritania - soo good

Michiru Aoyama - 暖かな季節 (Warm Season) - relaxing + gorgeous meditative Zen ambiant music that i fell asleep to a bunch last year

Mordy I know you're putting Braid high on yr ballot right

yes - like #3 i think

no coast is how i feel the most :)

prob my #3 as well

Can someone please add the album I linked upthread to the Spotify playlist? It's not letting me add it.

paging sleeve

gimme a little while :)

I kept the playlist private so that ppl couldn't delete albums they disliked

voted :)))

no nobody vote until you listen to the orlando julius album

i definitely plan on voting for this k-pop song, which also got a late singles jukebox rave, and which sounds derived from an icicle, check it out: iu - sogyeokdong

also there's this song, which i heard very late in the year, a totally enjoyable flexible electro-funk throwback: zo! - we are on the move

rtc suggested in the nominations thread that it might be more of a 2013 track but the video came out in january 2014 and is a total delight incidentally

deep tech was the ~big new thing in uk dance this year and if you want to actually know about it tim f, rtc and co can enlighten you on its thread, but it provided so many incredible anthems this year

hodgson - "babylon system" is all monolithic doomed street preacher authority that's very in tune with ~these times; the break at 5.20 is life-changing

jay baptiste/troy hudson - "real shifters (get down)" was the in-the-moment call to the dancefloor aided by some excellent rubbery basslines. no full version on youtube or soundcloud but it's on spotify

"babylon system" is a total vortex

prob another deep tech song i'm going rep hard for is rs4 - gladiator. so sinewy

I'm probably not gonna get the Spotify albums playlist updated until tonight fwiw

there are still a ton of last-minute nominations on the other thread that I haven't added

also consider including some emotional diddy music on your ballot

this track is from 2013 but i nominated it because year of impact, and Ukraine 2014 and because its awesome and i think lots of ilmers will dig it:

Dakh Daughters Rozy Donbass

i also wanna rep hard for this track, sure to be in my top 3 or 4, such a sublimely weird post-chill/post-witch/post-weeknd lo-fi chopped & screwed teen masterpiece, like some sort of Anti-QT, yet just as glimmering

Spooky Black - Without You

who knew that 2014 would be humbled before a 16-minute solo guitar folk song that so happens to be one of the greatest pieces of music I've heard in my entire life

seriously, if there's one thing I'm stanning for (and there may be more, but if I'm just allowed one), it is Richard Dawson (raucous experimental UK folk racket w/ intense picaresque realness vox)

if you enjoy this song or 'the vile stuff' you could vote for his tracks and his album and i would be just that little bit happier

also vote jute gyte! lol that's a lone war

srs tho if flamboyant goon tie doesn't win the albums poll then this place doesn't even deserve nepotism

I voted. I'd encourage all to listen to the Botanist album before voting. Its a thing of beauty.

https://verdant-realm-botanist.bandcamp.com/album/vi-flora

Voted.

botanist album is fantastic - i add my praise to the chorus

I just really really want to see Phantogram's Fall in Love make the tracks poll. Only reason I'm making a tracks ballot tbh (esp after I fucked up and waited too long to nominate half the songs I wanted to put in it)

xp love the Botanist album as well

I'm voting for "Fall In Love" as a symbolic vote for "Howling at the Moon", which is really the Phantogram song I love but didn't nominate because I decided my yearly railing against "tactical voting" was futile and I might as well try to make it work for me by not diluting the selection pool of the artists I hope place.

<nocollusion> which popcaan + mc bin laden tracks are getting the most attention? i like a few tracks for each but i don't have the ballot space.

"Popcaan - Everything Nice" for me

Michiru Aoyama - 暖かな季節 (Warm Season) will def‘ get a vote from me. Gorgeous meditative stuff that i worked to a lot this year

Can we go ahead and award "Have A Sad Cum" most hilarious song title of 2014?

SPOTIFY ALBUMS PLAYLIST:

http://open.spotify.com/user/sb0ut0n/playlist/0Px5twPcf7IoDACrD09jpp

(not quite complete b/c of the ridiculous flood of last minute album nominations today, I will try to catch up during the week)

crut, Orland Julius is on there now :)

thanks!!!

That Orlando Julius album is a cinch for top 5 on my ballot, maybe top 3. It's so great

14 ballots already! Results so far are...misleading.

xp with regards to popcaan, 'waiting so long' is my personal fav but can't imagine one track would be the collective pick
album should do okay tho

THE Popcaan track is 'The System', but there was some contention as to whether it's a 2014 track as it was released as a single some time before.

I'll probably pick 'waiting so long' too, though I think some of you (gr80?) might also like the non-WWCF track I nominated Fall in Love.

this is a good song, listed twice. idk which is right, id say just combine votes if each gets votes

Hit-Boy ft. HS87 - Grindin’ My Whole Life
HS87 - Grindin' My Whole Life

I doubt anyone else besides me is gonna vote for this freaky-ass Finnish bhangra rap tune by a hippie MC and her brother (especially since you won't understand the lyrics), but it was my jam for the whole year 2014, so I just had to put it as #1 in my ballot...

Yhdentekevää - Pyhä Lehmä anthem

I posted this at the end of the nomination thread but here it is again:

A shade over 1500 singles were nominated. Here's the complete listener's list to ILX's 2014 in singles:

On Spotify (1,230 songs):
http://open.spotify.com/user/mondosalvo/playlist/1w7KqvfFqnB3eplcxtDkW1

On YouTube (241 songs... Bear in mind that YouTube being YouTube, that playlist is likely to lose tracks over the next few months.)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcqiswAZfVPrX-KKTetdFgmiYxT6-AIrw

Not on Spotify or YouTube but Available Elsewhere (32):
18qm - Untitled A1 form Nontron C-38 - https://soundcloud.com/18qm/untitled-a1-from-nontron-c-38
aberrantkenosis - Mambo No. 5 (bike horn version) - https://aberrantkenosis.bandcamp.com/track/mambo-no-5-bike-horn-version
Bamnan - Visionary - https://soundcloud.com/bamnan/03-visionary?in=bamnan/sets/problems
Bludded Head - Pouring Rain - http://bluddedhead.bandcamp.com/track/pouring-rain
Blue Hawaii - Get Happy / Get Happier - https://soundcloud.com/bluehawaii/sets/get-happy-get-happier
Choi Sam - Answer - https://soundcloud.com/kawaiinene/choi-sam-answer
Cool Japan - Tokyo (Fuck Real Life) (featuring Lovely Summer Chan & Sarah Bonito) - https://soundcloud.com/c-ool-japan/tokyo-fuck-real-life
Dawn Richard - Physical - https://soundcloud.com/dawn_richard/physical
Dick Diver - New Name Blues - https://soundcloud.com/fruits-flowers/dick-diver-new-name-blues
Elizabeth Veldon - An Empty Room (Redux) - http://elizabethveldon.bandcamp.com/album/an-empty-room-redux
Fake Blood - 1 - https://fakeblood.bandcamp.com/track/1
Honey Cocaine - Icey Bitch (Syap Edit) - https://soundcloud.com/syap/honey-cocaine-icey-bitch-syap-edit
Hugo Massien - Better Let Her - https://soundcloud.com/hugomassien/hugo-massien-better-let-her
Jack N Danny - Heat - https://soundcloud.com/jackndanny/jack-n-danny-heat-mastered
Jane Weaver - Argent - https://soundcloud.com/finderskeepersrecords/jane-weaver-argent
Jason Lescalleet - Autumn Leaves - https://soundcloud.com/glistening-labs/autumn-leaves-october-2014
Jason Lescalleet - Holiday in November - http://glisteningexamples.bandcamp.com/track/holiday-in-november
Jennifer Castle - Broken Vase - https://www.dropbox.com/s/g26w59t8bnx8rgi/09%20Broken%20Vase.mp3?dl=0
Jessie Ware - You & I (Forever) (Shift K3Y Remix) - https://soundcloud.com/shift-key/jessie-ware-you-i-forever
K15 - Bordeaux - https://soundcloud.com/wotnotmusic/k15-bordeaux-ep
Kacy Hill - Experience - https://soundcloud.com/kacyhill/experience
Katy Gately - Far - https://soundcloud.com/katiegately/far-1
KittiB - Wake Me Up - https://soundcloud.com/kittibitch/kittib-wake-me-up
Lesley Flanigan - Shattering - http://lesleyflanigan.bandcamp.com/track/shattering
lilangelboi - guilty - https://soundcloud.com/lilangelboi/guilty
Linden Jay with Sam Frank - Be Like You - http://vimeo.com/100951685
MATMOS - Weed World - https://soundcloud.com/adhocfm/matmos-weed-world
Mesa Ritual - Procession VIII -https://soundcloud.com/sige-1/procession-viii
Noni Wo - How Can I Plz U - https://soundcloud.com/noniwo/how-can-i-plz-u-1
ponibbi – HEARTSKIP - https://soundcloud.com/ponibbi/heartskip
Tef Poe - War Cry - https://soundcloud.com/tef-poe/war-cry-produced-by-dj-smitty-jay-nixon-diss-record
Thom Yorke - Nose Grows Some - http://vimeo.com/109478381 ….? I think?

Not Available For Streaming (6):
Bryan Eubanks - Enclosed Space Phenomena
Cavern of Anti-Matter - Cluster of Rainbows
Kevin Drumm / Jason Lescalleett - The Abyss
Melchior Productions LTD - Meditation 2
Theo Parrish - Helmut Lampshade

Taylor Swift (10):
Taylor Swift - I Wish You Would
Taylor Swift - New Romantics
Taylor Swift - Out of the Woods
Taylor Swift - Style
Taylor Swift - You Are In Love
Taylor Swift - Blank Space
Taylor Swift - Clean
Taylor Swift - All You Had to Do Was Stay
Taylor Swift - This Love
Taylor Swift - How You Get the Girl

SPOTIFY ALBUMS PLAYLIST:

http://open.spotify.com/user/sb0ut0n/playlist/0Px5twPcf7IoDACrD09jpp

now complete - 9,360 songs, 707 hours

every time I try to post the list of non-Spotify links I get an error, I'm off to the HTML Playground.

Imago, everyone, that Richard Dawson album is something else! Like a Geordie Aeroplane Over The Sea for Derek Bailey enthusiasts only infinitely better than that may sound.

imo it is nothing short of the finest pastoralia the north of england has produced, its folk stylings tempered with something utterly seaborne & untameable. 'nothing important' is a preternaturally brilliant folk-prog exegesis on mortality for god's sake, yet it also feels…slightly improvised?

glad to have you on board, i really think this stuff is the most interesting & emotionally affecting music coming out of this country at the moment

save for the odd bit of dance music, it feels like it's the only thing coming out of the UK i really give a shit about, or have done, in a long time.

it's like u guys have never listened to Tim Buckley or Bill Orcutt

Dawson record is pretty damn good, mind you, not gonna crack my top 25 though.

i couldn't listen to anymore new music from 2014 so i sent in my ballot

if anyone wants to check out a gorgeous single from "new African jazz" singer-songwriter Somi. it's so good i'd hate to be the only person who votes for it - youtube or spotify

it's like u guys have never listened to Tim Buckley or Bill Orcutt

Dawson record is pretty damn good, mind you, not gonna crack my top 25 though.

― some kind of terrible IDM with guitars (sleeve), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 3:02 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

These are quite disparate, superficial comparisons IMO. I see the similarities to some extent, but there's not that much in common. Orcutt, like Derek Bailey, is a lot more abstract than Dawson. Tim Buckley? Maybe, but I'll argue that the locational and historical differences place these two miles apart.

can we go 4 years in a row with a Miguel track in the top 10?

Santana - Indy ft. Miguel

Other than the IU track Brad linked to upthread, my other K-pop choice for the year is Orange Caramel - Catallena, an ABBA-inspired disco romp about a girl crush, with heavy New Order bass and a chorus lifted from a Punjabi folk song. Great video too.

Two tracks and an album for your consideration:

TEMPURA KIDZ vs Charisma.com - ミイラキラー: Party-rapping J-pop, so much fun
Quiltland - Forever: think Air France with added opera singers
Jorge Drexler - Bailar en la Cueva: omnivorous samba/cumbia/folk/pop/LatAmHipShit/etc album that I've been using to banish the winter gloom (title track)

Do people vote with their heart or more tactically?

Last year for instance, no one else voted for my #1 album so it was almost a wasted vote. If I'd have chosen one of the ilxor hivemind albums I liked instead it would have had more of an influence on that album's placing.

i vote with my <3 but that's just me

otoh your hivemind albums will place anyway, voting your less hivemindy places high increases the chance of them sneaking into the list

i vote for the albums i like in the order i like them most

the idea of a 'wasted vote' is specious nonsense obv

I will be wasting all of my votes

every artist u vote for will become 0.0087 % more popular

wait, are we voting for artists or tracks?

we're voting for ourselves rly

I look forward to the Delicate Features and Eleventeen Eston albums placing #382 and #425 on the chart then

It's hard to vote tactically when you don't see what others vote for.

voted selena #1 track a few years back not thinking it had a chance of placing and it ended up #77 kicking adele outta the countdown

I can only think of one other Ilxor who's into the whole Mungo's Hi-Fi / Prince Fatty axis of UK dub, but this tune ruled my world over the summer.

Mungo's HiFi ft. Sugar Minott - Scrub A Dub Style (Prince Fatty Mix)

I am very down and am seeing hollie cook tonight

I put the Hollie Cook album of last year very high in my ballot, because I enjoy her music a lot, but I can't claim that I'm very knowledgable of that scene in general.

i dont like to vote for things i nominated myself, which means so far i only have 2 things I'd consider voting for

Not voting for things you nominated yourself is a bit self-defeating isn't it?

I nominated a few things that won't make my ballot just because I've come across other, better albums since

As a policy, I mean.

Maybe they mean more that they don't like nominating, as if they're the only ones who think to nominate a thing then they'll probably be the only vote? Which makes way more sense than nominating stuff and then refusing to vote for it, but I don't really understand why people mind being the sole vote for something. To be honest, the last few years I've been annoyed that the presence of my boyfriend on ilx means that I stand no chance at being the top 'lonely voter'. I want to be the top something, damn it all.

for that reason, all my nominations were made up and don't exist.

I am voting for at least one of your nominations, dl. Which means yep, definitely doesn't exist. ^__^

vote w/ your <3, i always kinda like my random dance trax that ~2 other people vote for and mainstream country trax that no one else votes for

Strategic voting turns the list from "what did you listen to and like last year?" into "how can special snowflake music board ILM curate an end-of-year list that makes its posters seem like the coolest tastemakers?"

plus it would make ILM less of a special snowflake since, presumably, the records you guess are hivemind ones are because they've been hivemindy everywhere else

my #1 album is probably going to be the new Biota, which isn't on any streaming services so I doubt it will get any other votes

but really, if you can check it out, it's amazing!

imo any ILMer with half a brain and most of a heart cares more about discovering new music and turning others on to new music than seeing their pet favorite place in the top 77-- the nomination process/playlists are the best part

that post sounds completely wrong now that i read it back, but my point is its totally fine to nominate stuff you don't vote for, the noms are the long list and the top 77 are the short list but both represent ILM's 2014

otm

Will vote focussing on stuff I like but feel has a 50/50 chance (or thereabouts) of making 'the cut' (unlike top 20 locks like St Vincent and Todd Terje). I like the balance of strategy and sincerity.

me too!

Cool!

Don't know if this conversation stems from my post but my point wasn't that you should only nominate things you'll vote for but that deliberately not voting for things you had nominated yourself was a strange position to adopt. These ELY round ups are always about hearing new stuff for me, it would be massively disappointing if all you took away from it was 'wow wasn't my taste brilliant again this year'.

*EOY

I'll nominate stuff that I probably won't vote for but think ought to be considered

I'm not sure I'll vote at all this year

imo any ILMer with half a brain and most of a heart cares more about discovering new music and turning others on to new music than seeing their pet favorite place in the top 77-- the nomination process/playlists are the best part

― gr8080

i just vote what i like but yeah the best part for me is maybe turning someone on to something new (really into nenad markovic and mark barrott and young marco!) but more than that listening to some new stuff along the way. i usually catch up on a lot of new music the following year, i miss out on a ton.

Yeah, some of my nominations I hadn't really listened to enough but I still wanted the option of voting for them later xp

I did hear a lot of great music last year and there is some excellent stuff on the nominations list but I'm in a bit of a weird january slump where I just wanna listen to tim hecker and not think about things, just not sure I can be bothered to put a list together

definitely the discovery of good stuff is the key part

omar I got turned onto the Barrott bc of ur nom & voted for it

(really into nenad markovic and mark barrott and young marco!)

otm, all three prob making my ballot

i voted 'weather vibes' up pretty high, great markovic track

agreed re: Markovic.
I've started my complete nomination list listening in between Jazmine Sullivan.
Some hot takes:
The 2NE1 album really holds up well.
5 Seconds of Summer are completely noxious, near unlistenable stuff; "You look so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear" is my least favorite lyric of the year.
I hadn't heard this 8Ball / MJG single ("Mirror") and it's expectedly excellent.
I'm surprised that 50 Cent is making interesting music in 2014, even if he doesn't sound especially different than he did in 2002.
99%'s tumblr rap single "SHABOOYAH!" is rapidly moving into my faves of the year.
I played the A-Wax album a lot for a few weeks and then left it off the hifi till now. on return, this sounds SO jail-penned; lots of introspective, personal reflections. Reminds me a lot of Gene the Southern Child; both are great rap albums.
Ab Soul's "Just Have Fun" is raucous and clever and multi-dimensional and I need to get around to listening to the full album.
Adia Victoria's "Stuck in the South" is solid pistol annies-esque grungy country and i want more of this lady.
http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/adia-victoria-interview/
Alfie Yusuf's "Rinse and Dry" is high-quality mellow house, Akcent's "Boracay" is a bit unctuous for my taste but still qualifies for the same superlatives.
Somehow Against Me! never clicked but this latest exposure did the trick; these are all great songs.
i had never heard of Alcest but "Delivrance" is gorgeous; good music to pass out to. Is the rest of the album this drowny and content?
I think I hate Riff Raff.
Alika and Ana Tijoux are both awesome of course.
I subconsciously avoided listening to alt-J up till now. I'm not sure if I've heard it now? the songs are all over the place but they're also insubstantial and way too low key. Almost every track sounds like it was scored to an EKG.
First exposure to Alvvays as well; "Archie Marry Me" is enjoyable enough but this is a style of music i like in VERY low dosages
Anamanaguchi's is SO SO SO EVERYTHING and is the reason why i do this kind of deep dive stuff. i liked their last album well enough but this is such a fuckin' summery and empty headed gas
I went from never having heard of Angel Olsen to going through the album four times. it's generally too mopey for my taste but I hear what there is to enjoy there. "White Fire" and "Lights Out" sound like highlights
Anushka's "Atom Bombs" reminds me of 4Hero with Jill Scott, which is to say I diggit.
Loved the Aphex album, still love the aphex album.

omar I got turned onto the Barrott bc of ur nom & voted for it

― Mordy

http://www.motherjones.com/files/bush_mission_accomplished.jpg

Loved the Aphex album, still love the aphex album.

otm

Not voting for things you nominated yourself is a bit self-defeating isn't it?

― ewar woowar (or something)

I think people should only have been allowed 5 nominations each and you can't vote for your own.

for alt-J, I will cop to finding something nice in "Hunger of the Pine"
oh and everyone should listen to the Alpoko Don / Scarface collabo; that's a top track.

also i'm a big fan of the track 'Aurorae' by the metal band Triptykon, it hits a lot of sweet spots for me both metal and non-metal related

that long dreamy Excepter track ("The Fence") will probably make my trax ballot, thanks Raymond

love the Mark Barrott album but it has been pushed out of my top 25. at least for right now. who knows how I'll feel the day I submit my ballot.

voted

Nils Frahm, "Says"

one of my favorite tracks of the year

man i guess i missed the nominations window????

Nils Frahm 'Says' is 2013. If it missed last year's poll and is eligible then I'll definitely vote for it though.

I think it got in last year, at least the album did

hmm...well the album was last year but the song seemed all over the place this year (relatively speaking...)

johnny fever seandalai et al i'm cool with resubmitting my ballot if it's not eligible and if it's not too much trouble but nbd if that's not possible.

i didn't hear "says" until this year and i think it got more exposure this year than last (by being what the indie labels sometimes call a 'focus track' or w/e earlier in the year)

8 days left to listen to (at least) 36 albums I'm curious about but still haven't got around to. Not gonna happen, is it? :(

well i voted. upside of the fact that most of the tracks i wouldve voted for not being nominated is that i ended up voting for some cool stuff id kinda forgotten about + will def get to hear some cool stuff i missed when the rundown starts

Albums ballot sent, was only real solid on the first half of the list, the second half ended up being pretty random. For one reason or another, I didn't hear enough albums this year that I had super strong feelings for.

everyone should vote, everyone should vote with their <3, the world will be a better place

@omar: "says" didn't place in tracks last year (it came joint #1039th) so it's definitely eligible, if it places people might complain but w/e.

Tbh Lamp if u wouldn't mind terribly I'd like to see ur hypothetical tracks ballot anyways. xxp

The votes for no type and no flex zone should be combined into one super song, else the vote splitting leave them off entirely

i like no flex zone a lot, no type leaves me cold

just wait

that long dreamy Excepter track ("The Fence") will probably make my trax ballot, thanks Raymond

― some kind of terrible IDM with guitars (sleeve), Thursday, January 8, 2015 12:59 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cheers, bruv!

Not a lot of campaigning going on but I hope at least a few people check this out before voting.

Lola Colt – Away From The Water
Produced by The Bad Seeds’ Jim Sclavunos, this UK group has concocted a stirring hybrid of psychedelic garage noir with a strong female lead (a Danish singer named Gun) who reminds me of Leslie Woods of post-punkers Au Pairs.
A proper rave: https://colourhorizon.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/lola-colt-away-from-the-water-2014/
http://shop.lolacolt.com/album/away-from-the-water

voted!

Fellow perusers of the Balearic Revival thread would probably find much to enjoy on these two albums:

Delicate Features - The Passenger

…our music goes to ambient, and sometimes atmosphere, of disturbance and worry, sometimes meditation. But it doesn’t lie.” So sayeth singer/soothsayer of Saint-Petersburg haunted romance duo Delicate Features, Radmila Nikogosian. We’re of the mind to concur. Nikogosian and bandmate/beau Pavel Diakov-Astvatsaturian have been lurking in the off-grid steppes for roughly two years, scotch-taping microphones to fragile percussive objects and folk flutes amidst glowing grey electric swells of depressive sensuality. The Passenger blurs morose misty synth-jazz with windswept new age memory pop into a love-blind stalk along an ice-scarred river – an experience befitting “two misanthropic dreamers who just like to listen to beautiful music.” The original intention apparently skewed more in a dancewardly direction but their downcast northern locale gravitated the mood into displaced, pensive nocturnal rhythms, often ditching drum forms entirely, like in the keening, cracked classical drift of “Orphan Song” or “Whispering Wind.” The sequencing spills out a story of devotion and dissolve, tracking the whole heavy soul waveform – poetic faith (“Birds Near River”), Sunday morning (“Opal”), body rapture (“Kiss By The Sea”), escape/evolution (“Transparent Shadows”), etc. 10 twilit and tactile songs for staring through stained glass to.

Eleventeen Eston - Delta Horizons

Torn Hawk`s dusty drum machines and teen angst guitars. The New Age Blues of Göttsching and Hillage, updated by Emeralds` Mark McGuire. Patrick Cowley`s San Francisco porn soundtracks. Gay bikers. Boppers can you dig it? Sunset cocktail piano interludes. Johnny Marr`s Honeyman-Scott jangle, and backwards riffs. Tremelo in love. The Cocteaus.

Steely Dan and the heart that Rikki left behind. Selling weed to showbiz kids. Herb Alpert`s perpetual sunshine. Snakefinger`s angular groove. Baldelli`s cosmic swamp. Dirty lowdown`s getting it up for Ned (Dohney). Mick Kahn basslines, kalimbas. A nearly Africa. Software`s “Island-Sunrise”. If Spike had gone surfing. Peace signs and Dogtown pool skaters, Jay Adams, Z-Boys and fuck you heroes.

Perth`s John William Tanner with the best thing that Not Not Fun has put out since Peaking Lights. There was a very limited run of 100 cassettes, which has of course gone, so for now it`s digital only. John told me that if there is enough interest there maybe some vinyl. Can we get a petition going?

I did like the Delicate Features album, especially the big flute jam track ("Transparent Shadows"), but I guess it didn't make my top 25 :(

I was already checking out the Lola Colt album but all the no wave/postpunk connections have really intrigued me now!

Two songs in, Lola Colt is sounding like a goth-country United States of America, with a heavy dose of Savages vibes

It is quite good. DJP, you might like this. Same with you, imago.

Don't really have time to listen to hundreds of albums over the next week, but I would encourage others to check out the Favorite Unheralded Albums thread for pointers to under the radar material. Obligatory campaign plugs (with Spotify links) for some albums that have been unfairly ignored in most of the EOY press: DVA - Nipomo (delightful freak-folk), Emma Ruth Rundle - Some Heavy Ocean (brooding twang-folk), Eaux - Plastics (motorik indietronica), Hundred Waters - The Moon Rang Like a Bell (poised trip-hop), Jozef van Wissem / SQÜRL - Only Lovers Left Alive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (medieval/oriental dronerock), Mica Levi - Under the Skin (Original Movie Soundtrack) (hauting electroacoustics), Lydia Ainsworth - Right from Real (abstract artpop ala Glasser), Clap! Clap! - Tayi Bebba (fictional Afro-footwork), Наадя - Наадя (the Russian Florence is better), Ninos du Brasil - Novos Mistérios (batucada techno)

Ninos du Brasil really is worth checking out, yes.

^^^ on my ballot, recommended

Mine too. Will be cool if this places.

Yep, on mine too. I'm backing that or the Dawson as the 'where did that come from?' entry of the year.

Ninos du Brasil is really cool. Would much prefer it place than the Dawson, because fucking kill me.

Well, okay, if you insist... (RD places higher than NdB on my ballot, for spoilerz)

:)

I didn't even vote for NdB. I'm hoping Orlando Julius & The Heliocentrics is the surprise album.

everyone check out the chris forsyth album for some epic guitar jams, incredible stuff

really wish that whole thing was on Spotify, do you have a link to a full-album stream as opposed to the two tracks that Spotify has?

not sure where to find that...such a good album. put that and the gunn in my top 10.

jesus this Sun Kil Moon shit is godawful, just the worst

two of my favorite albums from this year that may get overlooked:

Klara Lewis - Ett: http://open.spotify.com/album/4L0fc2YXgT11MYf45xEZm3 impeccable abstract pieces made from reassembled field recordings. I just found out she was born in 1993! christ. this album is amazing.
Matthew Shipp - I've Been To Many Places: http://open.spotify.com/album/2JSkES12KzaSlTNsf3LuM5 just Matthew Shipp playing piano, beautiful melodies & harmonies & patterns & flourishes. if you like jazz or piano music at all this is a must.

I bought the Forsyth CD here: http://noquarter.net/shop/. Would be nice if they at least offered it on Bandcamp too, then folks wouldn't have to resort to f-sharing if they don't want physical product. FWIW the package is pretty nice and available in vinyl.

Yeah the Klara Ett record is very good.

Is it also you who nommed the Maurice Louca album crut? Cos that's been a really enjoyable poll discovery for me

Um Klara lewis duh

I didn't nom it but I do like it!

Another album I bought from the Unheralded Albums thread and have been playing a lot is:

Thelightshines – Now The Sandman Sings - Surface similarity with the Allah-La’s as far as 60s jangly psych pop influences. There’s even 80s and 90s elements with The Rain Parade, Shack and Spacemen 3, but also some Middle Eastern melodies and Popol Vuh that make them much more captivating than their peers.
http://www.thelightshinesband.com/now-the-sandman-sings/

I've noticed that once they've heard it, people beyond those usually into psych/prog have been responding to this:

Syd Arthur – Sound Mirror (Harvest) - They’ve toured with Yes but have more in common with Caravan and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Their first album pays tribute to 70s Canterbury prog and the second carries over some of the folky elements, with a focused sound that’s just so rich you want to soak in it.
https://sydarthur.bandcamp.com/album/sound-mirror-3

Syd Arthur

grooooaaan

they do have kind of a dumb name, every time I hear it I think they're some forgotten psychedelic relic from the early 70s, which really isn't the association you want with that kind of music

having said that, they are a pretty great band. kind of a modern take on the whole Canterbury sound. I liked their 1st album, have only heard bits of the 2nd but I get the idea that it's even better

I mean it's kinda clever and tells you everything you need to know about the band! it's just hella corny

Feel like it will take me until February to dig all the great stuff that came out last year. Finding so much great music I'm these lists that I didn't know (Âme remix, Dawson, Vince Staples, endless list tbh). I've not had that for at least five years I think.

I've collated the things i will be voting for on this playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOoBAEkGeyIeENUMMQZrvDEkFA-looiQj

A lot of it won't be to most tastes but i'd recommend the SBPCh single (hypnotic art-pop), Tove Styrke's Borderline (curious Swedish quasi-reggae), Dasha Charusha's 16 (dreamy, nostalgic Russian pop) and maybe Swetshop Boys' Benny Lava (Heems from Das Racist + Riz Ahmed) to a broader audience, along with the MC Bin Laden, Dasha Shults (emotive teen singer-songwriter) and the Tove Lo album.

Of the things on the tracks list i didn't nominate (or necessarily vote for), the Ivan Dorn, Polly Scattergood and Say Lou Lou singles are great.

I've tried the Syd Arthur three times now - can see its merit, but can't quite get into it.

almost done with the "A" singles...

Still finding new gems as we speak... SD Laika's That's Harakiri is SICK. Might make my album list.

I haven't gone through the tracks at all yet.

forks did you have a thread for your trawl last year? would be into reports back. in previous years I've made the attempt (with a lot of "no thanks" at 0:15 tbh) but didn't have the urge this time

My favourite new discovery from the nominations was Romeo Santos "Cancioncitas de Amor" - I have no idea who he is or what his deal is but it sounds like beautiful theatrical music from another planet.

35 ballots in btw, more please

Okay, I will vote 7 more times.

grand job

Did you hear that Ariel Kalma comp seandalai?

I think I will vote for a few re-issues this year, including the Gigi Masin and Luciano Cilio ones.

Meant to check out the Ariel Kalma but haven't as of yet - RVNG stuff isn't on Spotify and that's 90% of my listening these days. In general I tend not to vote for reissues, though Lewis is on my ballot.

damn noone nominated Future - Honest

(the song)

forks did you have a thread for your trawl last year? would be into reports back. in previous years I've made the attempt (with a lot of "no thanks" at 0:15 tbh) but didn't have the urge this time
― rob, Friday, January 9, 2015 1

Are you hitting it in chronological or alphabetical order? Or randomly?

haaaa yesss so glad someone nom'd this one, i had totally forgotten about it

Sean Paul ft. Konshens - Want Dem All

i'm hitting it alphabetical by artist. I figure that way if there's six or seven songs from an artist it's more likely to click but the eclecticism is kept mostly whole.

want dem all is on my top thirty, prob not my top 15

If folks wanna play along, this is my temporary holding deck for immediate listening:
http://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/2pDGMGjDhzec7bIrsAsAk8

And this is the big pile for everything I consider worth keeping:
http://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/3pqC8jL6brDisYjqAHO9Js

ok we def need more poll options next time this is brutal

It's supposed to be brutal! Stakes is high.

yeah, I had to cut Want Dem All at the end. forks i support you continuing to post in this thread

to the ppl listening to the entire list of nominated songs or crusading to get your personal favs last minute votes, while i admire the exuberance in sharing and consuming music, that's not the spirit of this kind of poll IMO. i know i can't do anything to stop your heinous behaviour, but, look... *assumes podium*

it's all about your jams of 2014; the songs you loved between january 1st and december 31st, 2014. not something someone else loved in 2014 and you heard on a spotify playlist in january 2015. that's fucked up. that's not true to you. it's not about some frantic rush to assemble the most objective list of stuff you like that was released in 2014. just admit you overlooked some cool shit, we all do. it's about long-term relationships with pieces of music. when i ask myself whether to vote for a track, or where to place it, i reflect on all the wonderful moments i lived through it. i think about how my relationship to the song evolved through time; did i get sick of it then rediscover it? did i initially hate it then have one moment where it just clicked and i couldn't stop? it's an opportunity to reflect on these beautiful, nostalgic feelings. if the song places, i feel i've shared a profound common experience with the others who voted for it; they, too, experienced such wonderful moments. maybe now, others who are following the poll will hear it, and in the future will have such moments. it kind of cheapens the whole process if people are just voting based on cheap eleventh hour "flings" with songs.

just my 2c

http://www.crossed-flag-pins.com/animated-flag-gif/gifs/USA_240-animated-flag-gifs.gif

preach 'son

lol

I pretty much disagree w/that, but nicely said.

I vote for things, in part, based on what I (in the moment, subjective, yes yes) perceive as the replay value going forward into the future. If I hear something in December (or January) that I like a lot and want to keep listening to, I don't think it's at all incongruous to put it on a ballot.

i.e. the "can't believe I missed this" vote (Ninos Du Brasil, Golden Retriever, Chrome, Bozulich)

or the "didn't come out until December" vote (Biota, Neubauten)

ya idk you also seem to like more pretentious/boring type of music based on those namedrops than me so ymmv

i mean that (if possible) in a non-pej way, just like, golden retriever is synth drone, that neubaten album starts w like 8 mins of gregorian chants. i dont really have the attention span to _lock in_ to music like that, even though i listen to it sometimes. chrome is cool tho

lol did wu tang clan really release an album?

Yes. Got a lot of love for Wu but... It wasn't pretty :-/

done my civic duty

So are we being instructed to weight our ballots more in favor of stuff that came out early in 2014 so we have a longer relationship with 'em?

Nothing wrong with campaigning, especially for stuff that came out late in the year and skimmed under peoples' radar. This is a good opportunity to find something now that you'd otherwise have regretted not discovering.

I've tried the Syd Arthur three times now - can see its merit, but can't quite get into it.

It's appeal was pretty immediate for me. Pleasant enough I can just put it on in the background while doing other stuff, but if I pay attention to it, there are interesting things going on.

My favourite new discovery from the nominations was Romeo Santos "Cancioncitas de Amor" - I have no idea who he is or what his deal is but it sounds like beautiful theatrical music from another planet.

― Vote in the ILM EOY Poll! (seandalai), Friday, January 9, 2015 3:21 PM Bookmark

Possibly the biggest latin music star of the past decade?

The style he works in is called bachata, it's all reverbed-out guitar and minimal percussion like that. Before his solo career he was in a group called Aventura who sold out Madison Square Garden four nights in a row.

huh I guess I don't know anything about contemporary Latin music unless it turns up on ILX

No biggie, I probably pay closer to him than I would otherwise because there are always a couple people at my monthly party that get salty if I don't play any bachatas.

if anyone wants to check out a gorgeous single from "new African jazz" singer-songwriter Somi. it's so good i'd hate to be the only person who votes for it - youtube or spotify

― Mordy, Wednesday, January 7, 2015 7:06 AM Bookmark

btw I'm listening to this it's straight fire

i nominated (and [spoilers] voted for) "cancioncitas de amor", glad others are finding/liking it :)

This Somi album is indeed good, but I'm wishing someone other than Common was invited to do the verse on When Rivers Cry.

the wu tang album was quite good! in places.
somi is lovely both as a person and a musician.
i look at a list as a collection of recommendations, not a canonical placement. i'll vote in this i suppose but really i'm just in it to hear more music.

listening to the Rivulets album, which hasn't been nominated, quite enjoyable so far

it's all about your jams of 2014; the songs you loved between january 1st and december 31st, 2014

what? no it's not. gtfo

my ballot is about my favorite pieces of music released in 2014. whether or not i heard them in 2014 is irrelevant. my "jams" (pfft) of 2014 were largely not released in 2014 and are ineligible for this poll.

i guess i neglected to add its about your jams of 2014 that are released in 2014, i guess that wasn't obvious from the rules of the poll itself

should reiterate that i'm all about the sharing of music that ppl are doing--i downloaded at least a half dozen things while scrolling through the lists--just the last minute scrambling to incorporate things you didn't hear during the year into your ballot seems to be missing the point, to me

maybe this poll is the incentive people need to share the deep cuts they haven't posted much about on ilx, or a second chance for them to remind ppl of something they posted but didn't get much attention, and that's a positive side effect of it for sure. but i wouldn't personally incorporate that into my ballot. ok the # of words i have written about this has far exceeded the amount i actually care lol

the value of a subjective biographical list is lost in tabulation. the common cause for the poll is taste/judgement/interest not shared listening experience. tbh I do prefer individual lists to collective ones but the hivemind provides a good locus for discourse

yeah, individual lists > group lists....
i'm really looking forward to people posting their personal ballots, already heard some great stuff from skimming this thread... somi, jorge drexler.... will dive deeper soon.....

Look the important thing is the music released on the 21st December that you've forged meaningful relationships with, not the music you only heard on the 1st January smh

Why even have a poll if ppl only care about the individual lists?

prioritization

there will be individual lists worth looking at by the usual suspets, but it's all about the aggregation

ya idk you also seem to like more pretentious/boring type of music based on those namedrops than me so ymmv

― flopson, Saturday, January 10, 2015 12:47 AM (17 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is all you had to say m8

saw the video for somi's "last song" on vh1 soul last year! really admired what it was doing, need to check out the record

here is the post where i rep for shift k3y

touch: great house in that it is essentially a pop song that sounds like igniting synapses

make it good: undeniable piano riff --> subterranean drop. technically 2013 (which is why i keep forgetting about it) but year of impact etc.

"touch" also has a sweet lorenzo remix

may prefer "make it good" to "touch" it sounds like it contains its own lorenzo remix in its structure

I see Ed Sheeran's current hit "Thinking Out Loud" was not nominated. I reserve the right to nominate it next year given that it's a hit NOW (#4 in the U.S.A.).

Just heard it for the first time on the radio today; what a great song.

I wish I still had VH1 Soul so much.

"make it good" was uploaded to youtube at the end of 2013 but was formally released as a b-side to "Touch" this year.

troo

vote "make it good" everyone. live your life

imo listen to "make it good" it makes it good

throw your goddamn hands in the air imo

Voted!

voted!

this fucking track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpEF1nWCHrM

More ongoing singles listening:

Apollo Brown still sounds good to me; I didn't quite get through thirty eight (and didn't even try Blasphemy) mostly because these tracks are always great but don't exactly THRILL... it's easy listening rap in some ways. "Reflections" is as nice as dilla-inspired stuff gets tho'.
April Towers "Arcadia" is enjoyable Pet Shop Boys revivalism
This AR "Not Gonna Get Us" remix does the original no favors and hangs out FOREVER
I tried hard to like the Ariana Grande album and couldn't get past the singles. "Problem" sounds surprisingly good on return but i'm so over the looped sample sax hook pop thing (cf shake it off, thrift shop)
I am pretty much down with Ariel Pink when he's in full-on wacko-Zappa mode. pom pom didn't exactly stick with me but I'm willing to cosign "White Freckles" "Put Your Number in My Phone" "Black Ballerina" and "Jell-o". From what I understand, his media persona is pretty horrible so there's another good reason I'm glad i avoid that shit entirely.
Arisa's "Contravento" arrives on tiptoe and blossoms into the sort of anthem that i would likely get tremendously tired of if it was inescapable. as it stands, this is the better sounding side of Grey's Anatomy soundtrack pop
The Daniel Avery remix of Audion's Sky is seven minutes of heaven and is getting a lot of replay around the house; thanks to whoever put this in the mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVGV-_iABfM
I'm more excited about August Alsina's next album than I am the current one but that doesn't mean it's not an enjoyable listen. "make it home" feels like the obvious standout.
Avener's take on "The Fade Out Line" is solid house; recommendable and apparently a monster hit in Germany and Austria.
"Little Fang" sounded like a misplaced cut from pom pom and is good enough that I'm gonna try the Avey Tare album.
Azealia Banks' album is so solid (well at least up to the last quarter) that it's easier to appreciate it as an album than to cherry pick singles but "Gimme A Chance", "Idle Delilah", "Desperado", "Wallace" and "Chasing Time" are all pretty undeniable. "Soda" is a good second tier track.
one of the upsides of being a manga nerd in college is that i kinda THOUGHT Sremmurd was saying "senzu bean" on "One Touch". I'm shocked to enjoy a baauer track at all but damn if this ain't great.
"Give Me......... ....... ..... CHOCOLATE" is A+ and I will totally try the rest of the BABYMETAL album in the hopes that it stands up to this tall order
I find The Band Perry to be hit and miss and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" is too much shmaltz by the dashboard light for my taste
I dig the Banks album quite a bit but (as with Tove Lo and "Habits") the track I find least engaging is the single, "Beggin for Thread". I'd recommend going straight to the more solid cuts dispersed throughout (very roughly in order of preference): "This Is What It Feels Like", "Brain", "Stick", "Drowning" and "Warm Water"
the new Basement Jaxx album went curiously unremarked upon by ILX but Junto was a major step up over Scars imo and had any number of thoroughly worthwhile singles: "Never Say Never", "Power to the People", "What's the News", "Summer Dem", "Buffalo" (Jaxx go brostep!) and "Unicorn" among them. The biggest surprise was that they still had a monster hit in them, a song that could stand up against the best cuts on Rooty and Kish Kash and that's "Mermaid of Salinas" which is narrowly inside or outside my top fifteen for the year depending on when you catch me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnI0JuEBB9Q

my favourite discoveries so far have been mick jenkins - water(s) and d.r.a.m. - cha cha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-4KiszXxHM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pEL9z_VM2E

Is it considered bad form to vote for an album you only know a few songs from? There are at least 100 nominees that fall in that category for me and I won't have time to give them the listening time they deserve. I could listen to snippets of the unknown tracks on Spotify but of course many songs don't reveal their brilliance unless you've heard them in their entirety, often a few times.

damn bros i was specifically avoiding making this a youtube thread

off-topic but I just noticed and can't believe nobody even nominated either of Bad Plus' big albums this year: Inevitable Western and Rite of Spring. Nobody to blame but myself i guess.

i'm withholding youtubes except for the very few that I think demand a listen as they have gotten no ilx press prior

i can't believe we all forgot to nominate Caustic Window, how on earth???

I am pretty much down with Ariel Pink when he's in full-on wacko-Zappa mode. pom pom didn't exactly stick with me but I'm willing to cosign "White Freckles" "Put Your Number in My Phone" "Black Ballerina" and "Jell-o". From what I understand, his media persona is pretty horrible so there's another good reason I'm glad i avoid that shit entirely.

its lyrics probably typify what people find most distasteful about his media persona but 'black ballerina' is amazing. well, the first minute kind of sucks but once it gets going it's a rollercoaster. so fun to sing the verse, and the way the chorus pops off is honestly thrilling. elevators manufac-turers/what goes ooooon. lots of murky underwritten bullshit on the album though, i always get bored when i listen to it all the way through. my keepers were plastic raincoats, black ballerina, one summer night, picture me gone, number, sexual athletics, jell-o. four shadows maybe isn't a great song per se, but the back up vox on 'ONLY DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT' crack me up every time so i guess i love it for that. don't really get why white freckles has been singled out as a highlight by so many. he should alternate between full albums of the goofy 60's psych stuff and the soft pop stuff like #. the whiney g in me is annoyed by his narrative as a chillwave visionary lone genius when he's basically just a really, really good retro act that splits the difference between nuggets & 70's am gold

damn bros i was specifically avoiding making this a youtube thread

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:06 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

while i will refrain from posting further youtubes itt bc i am a gentleman i don't get the desire to make these rules. zing automatically suppresses images and videos, and on a computer you can just roll images off. why should we rely on everyone else's exercise of restraint when we can individually just turn off the embeds? /rant

lol @ "cha cha"

Is it considered bad form to vote for an album you only know a few songs from? There are at least 100 nominees that fall in that category for me and I won't have time to give them the listening time they deserve. I could listen to snippets of the unknown tracks on Spotify but of course many songs don't reveal their brilliance unless you've heard them in their entirety, often a few times.

― Lee626, Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:05 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean do what you want i don't wanna be uptight, but fwiw i do feel like it's pretty bad form to vote for an album you haven't heard in full. actually listening to the music is the only real criteria and we owe at least that much instead of making some kind of weird speculative vote.

he's basically just a really, really good retro act that splits the difference between nuggets & 70's am gold

Cha Cha is amazing btw

i'd be interested to see ppl's top 5 records they haven't heard

btw my favorite fun kinda traditionally house-y thing this year is john barera & will martin - awake

make it good >>>>> touch imo, the latter sounds like unremarkable uk pop house but make it good is amazing

i like Mick Jenkins flow; will need to crack that album. Anybody been talking him up on ilx?

iirc it was a deej rec. he's chance-affiliated i think, they have a track together (which i will politely let you youtube yourself smh) and noname gypsy is on the chance album too

jazz is great; i will try more.

A friendly reminder that these two albums, released early in 2014, were absolutely amazing:

Neneh Cherry - Blank Project
Wild Beasts - Present Tense

Oh shit this Jaxx is HOT! Love them in samba magical realness mode.

Actually pretty sure I heard them play this out when I saw them this summer but I assumed it was older.

Also when I started a "Cha Cha" thread, zero people posted to it and it sank without a trace :(

i mean the super mario world sample is v inspired

like the chameleon that's hangin' with miss frizzle

voodoo chili otm re Neneh Cherry. That album is seriously one of the best things

it might be my #1 if I do a ballot

I think Neneh was the last thing I cut from my ballot. The pathos of #26. ;_;

it was my favorite album of the year for a few months

Fuck, I can't narrow it down to 25 I feel like I'm killing babies.

how did I'm Killing Babies do on the metal poll?

that was actually the chorus to Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Herod 2014 fyi

Do i hear 25 25 25
Fuck, I can't narrow it down to 25
I feel like I'm killing babies.
Infant harmer in the city

phew... well it's been sent. The albums ballot was easier due to the fact I have only heard about 3% of the nominees.

xpost: hahaha

there are over a thousand nominated albums, i don't think anyone could be expected to know a significant percentage of them!

gf & i are bravely battling thru the albums nominations, employing a v harsh trigger-skip policy (you can practically hear the NEXTs!)

gotta say

that Weyes Blood album that crüt nominated is absolutely phenomenal, like, utterly amazing & is a stern recommendation of mine for anyone who likes anything that is in any way 'ethereal', 'folky', 'timeless', 'sad' or 'pretty'

mmm yeah that's nice

Did Tinariwen have 3 albums out this year?

xp
already posted one to yr thread.

one new Tinariwen album and two reissues. No idea why the reissues are on the list.

Is it considered bad form to vote for an album you only know a few songs from? There are at least 100 nominees that fall in that category for me and I won't have time to give them the listening time they deserve. I could listen to snippets of the unknown tracks on Spotify but of course many songs don't reveal their brilliance unless you've heard them in their entirety, often a few times.

― Lee626, Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:05 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean do what you want i don't wanna be uptight, but fwiw i do feel like it's pretty bad form to vote for an album you haven't heard in full. actually listening to the music is the only real criteria and we owe at least that much instead of making some kind of weird speculative vote.

― un chill goon (some dude), Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:35 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah that's what I figured but wanted to see if others felt the same.... I've got lots of listening to do this week, hopefully my time will be rewarded.

voted btw
once (if) i get through the singles, i may go back and ask for help picking out two to three representative tracks from any of the albums without representation on the singles list if anybody feels like being a pedant in that way.

i'd be interested to see ppl's top 5 records they haven't heard

― ogmor

in no order:

The Alvaret Ensemble - Skeylja
Noveller & Thisquietarmy - Reveries
The Inward Circles - Nimrod is Lost in Orion and Osyris in the Doggestarre
Pyrrhon - The Mother of Virtues
Jenny Hval & Susanna - Meshes of Voice

No idea why the reissues are on the list.

They came in the very last day of nominations and I didn't feel like checking to see if they contained any new material that might have made them eligible. My thinking was "Tinariwen has never made the top 77 before, and they're surely not going to do it with a reissue, so fuck it."

gotcha.

Oh shit this Jaxx is HOT! Love them in samba magical realness mode.

Yes, this song rules pretty hard; the whole album is super satisfying, especially after suffering through Scars.

make it good >>>>> touch imo, the latter sounds like unremarkable uk pop house but make it good is amazing

― flopson, Sunday, January 11, 2015 6:51 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

DJ Q's Touch / Teedra Moses "Be Your Girl" is certified the best thing, and I would have nommed / voted for it if it existed in standalone form.

However the original "Touch" is merely great. "Make It Good" is the absolute shit above all others shits and I will prepare one (1) personalised endorsement for anyone who votes for it and provides evidence of same.

DJ Q's album is where I'm putting my chips

iLoveMakonnen - Club Going Up on a Tuesday
iLoveMakonnen ft. drake - tuesday

^ these are the same song btw

Nope. One song doesn't have Drake (and is much better IMO)

That dude is terrible

Still better w/o Drake

seandalai was kind enough to give me a peek at the album results at the 49 ballot point. Eeeeenteresting.

I voted for the Drake version. The original gets really aimless after the first verse.

To add to my 'oh shit I heard Weyes Blood and that stuff is ridiculous' recommendation upthread, the Islaja album sleeve nominated is completely off the chain - the sort of mad outsider brilliance that virtually everyone is going to flee from, utterly repulsed, in seconds. do check it out

I kept the "Tuesday"s separate because people seemed to have strong feelings about the issue, otherwise I would have merged them.

the rule in past years is that the votes for remixes are counted together though, right?

(no idea what that means for the k michelle/chris brown versions of "loyal" - technically k michelle's is a remix of the brown song but it's less an official remix where she adds her vox to the original, à la "tuesday" or nick jonas/tinashe on "jealous", more a different version where she removes everything about the original except the beat)

I would definitely vote for the K Michelle but not if it means throwing a vote to Brown.

voted, and yes i would support the k michelle/chris brown votes being separated, not least because i have already voted for k michelle and do not want those points anywhere near brown

same

Every song released by Chris Brown should have a Chris Brown-free version.

if you play K. Michelle's version on YouTube, Chris Brown still sees royalties off of that. it's not profoundly different from other remixes/freestyles/etc. just because it takes an opposite idealogical stance. this is a silly suggestion imo.

i don't really know who exactly you are all addressing on these threads tbh but to this imaginarily receptive audience i would just like to say that i do not remotely cosign this sudden notion of 'make it good' being superior within the oeuvre of shift k3y, thanks for your time

we are all each other's attentive row of stuffed animals on the opposite side of the room

To add to my 'oh shit I heard Weyes Blood and that stuff is ridiculous' recommendation upthread, the Islaja album sleeve nominated is completely off the chain - the sort of mad outsider brilliance that virtually everyone is going to flee from, utterly repulsed, in seconds. do check it out

― NyQuil Made It (imago), Monday, January 12, 2015 9:39 AM (2 hours ago)

Not listened yet, but just looked this up and apparently Islaja is part of the Kemialliset Ystävät collective, so I will definitely give this a try (the KY album this year is really really good, too).

Yeah I pretty much love the KY album wholeheartedly. I'm starting to see just how stupid great this year has been for albums!

Also K. Michelle Loyal is a lot like Jojo's Marvin's Room, no? Which was treated as its own thing and didnt end up having Drake come near it in the '12 poll... (and iirc its points were counted different than even the J Aiko version, right?)

I'll have to check out the Islaja album too. Keraaminen Pää was very good. I've lost track of Fonal Records a bit recently but they're usually good for 3-4 fine albums each year.

I think Fonal had a phase where they went from putting out at least one for-the-ages-awesome record per year to just putting out some quite good stuff, and so the good stuff seems a lot less interesting. But what I have to remember is that it's still good, and thus worth my time.

fwiw this new Islaja is very different, it's on Morr Music instead of Fonal, is sung in English, and flirts with mutant techno instead of Jandekian folk melodies

Actually on Gudrun Gut's Monika Enterprise label, also home to Barbara Morgenstern.

ah yes thx, Morr is the distro

No biggie. The closest touchstone for S U U I'm familiar with is Gudrun Gut (only the vocals distinguish the two for me), not at all what I was expecting from my past ventures to the free folk sauna.

Maybe it's just me but having to c&p from the noms list is proving to be a massive pain in the arse from my phone.

sleeve, you've struck again! we are agape at Tobacco! :)

imago do u like shabazz palaces?

Went to go vote for pinkprint and apparently no one nominated it!

yo imago if u dig Tobacco you must check out the Black Moth Super Rainbow album from a couple years back called Cobra Juicy, it's my favorite thing from that collective of folks

cool, shall do :) my gf has insisted on their greatness as well, so it seems a dead cert

shabazz palaces are presumably coming up on the playlist - i haven't heard them yet but from what i've read they're an interesting lot

looks like "the pinkprint" was nominated but didn't make it to the albums list for some reason (fennel cartwright nom'd it here)

Oh! I already submitted my ballot. Never mind. I had Nicki's back in the track poll anyway.

Submitted yesterday. Phone was playing up with the c&ps so had to type in as close as possible to how stuff appeared in the list. Just missed the odd umlaut but if there's a problem with my ballot let me know.

http://www.ebeeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/4-DAYS-TO-GO-600x285.png

63 ballots so far, hope to double that by the end of the week. Personally, I can't wait to see who a booty cleaner votes for.

a booty, natch

mine is sent, soon to vanish into the no chance in hell category of baleeting

submitted! phew.

The only half-assed campaigning I'm going to do is suggest people listen to the album Conversations by Woman's Hour (and then vote for it, of course).

tkay maidza's "u-huh" should be heard by anyone who hasn't already - if only she received a quarter of the attention devoted to fellow aussie female boom bapper igloo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvzC4TfsrI0

her continuous SWITCHTAPE mix is a blast

I wanted so badly to put U-Huh on my ballot, but there just wasn't room. I HATE THESE RULES I PLAYED A PART IN DESIGNING!

Shameful question: can I make one change to the Albums portion of the ballot I submitted yesterday? If it's a hassle, or just beyond-the-pale poor form, I'll accept and move on…

That Woman's Hour has a sound palette that's right up my street but I didn't find the songs at all memorable. The only thing I want to stan for is Leon Vynehall's 'Butterflies' for which I forgot to vote.

The thing about the Woman's Hour album for me (and I usually dismiss albums I can't remember when they're over) is that I like it SO MUCH while I'm listening to it and I look forward to liking it just as much the next time I play it because it will all be new again.

i am team U-Huh

If you want to revote, just submit another ballot and post here - I'll delete the earlier one.

Don't really have time to listen to hundreds of albums over the next week, but I would encourage others to check out the Favorite Unheralded Albums thread for pointers to under the radar material. Obligatory campaign plugs ...

Lydia Ainsworth - Right from Real (abstract artpop ala Glasser)

― could at least have the decency to groove (Sanpaku), Friday, 9 January 2015 20:25 (4 days ago) Permalink

This has been in my rotation a lot lately. Glasser is a good-not-great touchpoint; she also reminds me a lot of Kate Bush. "PSI" is the song to hear, but it's a really nice release top to bottom with really unique melodies and big sounding songs. It could have easily ended up sounding really bedroom/laptop, if not for her vocals and some killer drum sounds.

seandalai, my corrected ballot is in; please delete the earlier one. Many thanks!

got it

looks like "the pinkprint" was nominated but didn't make it to the albums list for some reason (fennel cartwright nom'd it here)

― the dreaded Laramie (reddening), Tuesday, January 13, 2015 6:40 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haw i was just kicking myself for having neglected to vote for it

Continuing listening:

Bass Clef's "Fluorescent City Shining City" is another seven minute add-a-layer-drop-a-layer thinky thinky house track that I can completely get behind; definitely worth a listen

Somehow I made it the whole year without hearing Bastille's "Pompeii" and (as far as post-Mumford pip pip guvnuh pseudo-roots pop pub screamalongs go) it's not bad! riyl Chumbawumba, Soup Dragons

Baths' "Ocean Death" is atmospheric anticon and your ability to dig on it will directly reflect on how comfortable you are with that squeaky-ass clouddead warbly sound. i have a high tolerance there and like this a lot, especially the opening with it's leaky ceiling, grumbly belly and jogging pace bassline.

Beach Day have great album covers and a name and band picture that suggested I might as well take a pass. That was an error! Both "All My Friends are Punks" and "Don't Call Me on the Phone" are solid and snarly surftone girlrock pastiches that stuck around a lot longer than i expected.

Bear Hands "Giants" sounds like what happens when weezer and 3OH!3's little cousins get together

"Friendly" suggests that Kirko Bangz has become a viable go-to for very late era Little Wayne gag rap which is kind of a bummer.

Per Beatrice Eli, I said some time ago that "'Girls' is possibly the first song I’ve heard about eating pussy that makes the act sound boring" and I'll stand by that.

I worked hard to like Beck's Morning Phase album following a lot of middlebrow critical rapture but it never felt like anything more than the morning after Sea Changes to me. There's plenty of nice enough tracks on there (my stand outs are "Morning" "Say Goodbye" "Unforgiven" "Don't Let It Go" "Blackbird Chain" "Country Down" and "Waking Light") but I pretty much never want to put this back on. On the other hand, I saw Beck live this year and he was close to my favorite show of the year so i'm inclined to be kind.

Becky G's "Shower" was one of those massive hits that I admired more for its construction and wonkiness than for feeling it in my marrow. "Can't Get Enough" and "Can't Stop Dancin" feel like steps down from a place I could only barely justify visiting in the first place.

xp Not sure how that didn't get added to the nominations list (I said to myself when I saw the post "all minaj all day!") but if anyone wants to go back and vote for the album, just resubmit your ballot and seandalai will delete your previous one.

Yeah consider it nominated...speaking of which, was "Pompeii" nominated? It's not on the list I have.

I forgot to vote for 'Turn Down For What'. Didn't see it when I scanned the noms list. Any way I can edit it in?

easiest if you just submit a new ballot

xp Not sure how that didn't get added to the nominations list (I said to myself when I saw the post "all minaj all day!") but if anyone wants to go back and vote for the album, just resubmit your ballot and seandalai will delete your previous one.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:06 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

could you pop it into my unweighted pile? i didn't keep a record of my ballot

"u-huh" is actually so catchy that it is a detriment

could you pop it into my unweighted pile? i didn't keep a record of my ballot

― flopson, Wednesday, January 14, 2015 12:52 AM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Done

I forgot to vote for 'Turn Down For What'. Didn't see it when I scanned the noms list. Any way I can edit it in?

It's on the list, under DJ Snake.

Just added The Pink Print to the albums list.

thx sean

brutally late gamechanger on my ballot https://soundcloud.com/platform/jack-jutson-something-on-my-mind-boiler-room-debuts

and i voted

heck yeah, jack j! my ballot is in

i'm going to have to resubmit my ballot just fyi

VV poll stunk i'm really excited now for ilx roll-out

resubmitted

Been lobbying this for a while, but fans of new wave / post punk / Television / Radiohead / Talking Heads should def check out the album by Ought before voting. I absolutely love it. This song especially, with extra special attention to lyrical detail.

Ought - Habit

Also - as someone who has been banging on about the banality of War On Drugs quite a lot, I have to admit 'Red Eyes' is a guilty pleasure or diamond in the rough insofar as this band is concerned.

resubmitted mine as well

shameful question part II: Can I submit a separate ballot for tracks under my username? (my submitted ballot was just albums).

yes

Found a typo:

Strands of Oak - Heal

Should be:

Strand of Oaks - Heal

Assuming I should just c+p anyway?

Yeah, use what's there. If it places, we'll clean it up in post.

lol who nommed Echosmith - Cool Kids?

We should have an option to vote for the 10 worst songs of every year as a side poll.

I can't speak for everyone, but I spend a lot of time each year figuring out what's bad/what I hate, so I like the celebratory and positive aspect of our year-end polls. A worst songs side poll would be the turd in the punch bowl.

Yeah... Just thought it would be fun, but I get your point. Some things are better left forgotten.

looking forward to the hilarious negative reactions in the poll thread as much as ever!

99% by you but would not call them hilarious.

on my best behaviour this year m8s

good luck ILM

v o t e d

^ cosign u-huh
awesome track

getting excited. i love this time of year. i get 0 work done.

I think I've finally selected the 25 tracks for my ballot (after much agonising). Albums should be relatively easier, though still a wee bit more (re)listening to do.

It looks like my first batch of nominations has been skipped. I guess if no one noticed that means no one was gonna vote for any of these albums so it doesn't really matter (except for me, since I can't vote for a few of my favs).

shit I'd have maybe voted for New Bums or Ryley Walker.

It sucks that we missed those. I've added them all to the bottom of the albums list because we're past the point of fitting them in alphabetically, but feel free to vote for the ones you'd like to.

Thanks JF. At least I'm guaranteed to get the most unique ballot award now.

Oh my god I think I forgot to vote for Gerard Way

*Brad Nelson silently slips into my apartment tonight and garrotes me*

I forgot to vote for the Homeboy Sandman track I nom'd but its not like it was gonna place anyway.

i did the voting, for albums at least. didn't really pay much attention to singles this year so i'll let the rest of ilm tell me what to like

Oh my god I think I forgot to vote for Gerard Way

:|

been visiting the spotify nominated albums playlist and just hitting shuffle till i hear something that fits my mood, then immediately playing the whole thing first track to last.

some of my favorite discoveries so far (sadly no room on my ballot for them):

Frank & Tony - You Go Girl - the laziest deep house i've ever heard (in the best possible way)
Tobacco - Ultima II Massage - aggro electronic avant pop, some kind of bizzaro dubstep
Tape - Casino - lovely instrumentals, just the right mix of easy listening and interesting listening

that frank & tony album is lush - did you hear the francis harris one as well? (he's the frank in frank & tony)

no but i'll check it out

Was stunned to see that no one nominated Sleep, "The Clarity." None of my singles were nominated, not even the popular chill-out "Waves" remix with Mr. Probz! My fault for not doing so, but I had run out of time. I'll leave the singles voting to those who are into the singles more.

voted!

not sure why I bothered ordering my list since I opted for an unweighted ballot

Oh, I forgot to nominate a bunch (and no one else did), so I won't vote

GIANT CLAW

emil.y's nominations have at this late stage caused me to reevaluate my albums ballot slightly

tunabunny!

ALBUMS
Various Artists - Begin Again OST
(25/30)

― MarkoP, Saturday, December 20, 2014 8:21 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you have caused me avoidable pain and suffering

Voted. Hyped.

Ueno Masaaki's Vortices EP is on the big Nominated Albums list, and Vortex State, a track from that EP, is on the Tracks list. So far so good. But Vortex State also appears, erroneously, on the Albums list. I guess album-votes for either title can be merged.

The whole EP kicks ass, incidentally!

http://www.raster-noton.net/shop/vortices - http://www.discogs.com/artist/3984534-Ueno-Masaaki

^cosign! it's only 13 minutes long, folks

pc worship sound awesome but flopson has spoken up against voting for stuff you heard on the nominations list so sorry m8 i might have to pass

i am so not connected to current music that i only voted for 11 albums as i didn't know many more.

i can't not vote for pc worship, this shit is fucking ridiculous

VOTED. I ended up surprising myself with my #1 for both tracks and albums but in the heat of the moment it just felt right.

Obviousy the track is All About That Bass.

Container's EP is the spiritual twin of Masaaki's, obv - and it might be almost as good

hey JF I don't know how closely yr reading this but I wanna propose combining the votes for tracks GFOTY - Kiss and GFOTY - Secret Mix since Kiss is just a short excerpt of the 9-minute Secret Mix and wasn't even released on its own.

oh pc worship i like them. didn't they do that song HEY QT? great song.

xp I will have to check out the Container EP

Obviousy the track is All About That Bass.

Act like a wasteman that's not me...

Just for fun, a prediction: 5 of my track votes, and 3 of my album votes, will make top 77.

xps that Container EP is amaaaaaaazing; I listened to it while I got a cavity filled and it sounds like it shoulda been awful and traumatic but it was actually really rad

still not heard it but the first two container records were immense head-wrecking brutes

Obviousy the track is All About That Bass.

Act like a wasteman that's not me...

― Matt DC, Thursday, January 15, 2015 9:21 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ooh i'll be very excited if that, and its companion, place

Feel like there are relatively few consensus tracks this year, there's a load of stuff that could sneak in that might not in any other year.

yeah depends who gets round to voting as ever (HINT HINT to the ppl with good taste who usually rock up on the results thread saying "huh i had no idea this was happening")

Gigi Masin - Talk To The Sea

This is old stuff released last year, it is very beautiful. I ended up cutting off the Luciano Cilio re-issue off my ballot to accommodate this gem.

lex don't worry i already submitted my ballot

Voted! Happy with my much tinkered lists, glad I did a draft albums one a month ago (although it changed a fuckload).

hey JF I don't know how closely yr reading this but I wanna propose combining the votes for tracks GFOTY - Kiss and GFOTY - Secret Mix since Kiss is just a short excerpt of the 9-minute Secret Mix and wasn't even released on its own.

― Jennifer 8.-( (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, January 15, 2015 9:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ueno Masaaki's Vortices EP is on the big Nominated Albums list, and Vortex State, a track from that EP, is on the Tracks list. So far so good. But Vortex State also appears, erroneously, on the Albums list. I guess album-votes for either title can be merged.

I've implemented both suggestions - the changes won't show up on the noms list but they'll be merged in the results.

94 ballots now, we're getting there...

95!

VOTED

managed to zen the fuck out and slide from killing-my-darlings mode in to who-gives-a-shit-this-is-always-fun mode with the aid of exactly two beers

stoked

Ladies and gentleguys, the bad news is that j0rdan is taking the year off from rolling out half of the results. The good news is that the tracks rollout will be in the capable hands of gr8080 starting Monday morning. As you were.

http://i.imgur.com/3mLBTOA.jpg

By the way, less than 24 hours left of voting. Get yer ballots in!

Voted. I was obsessing over my tracks list so much I actually dreamt about it last night. Feels like I can relax a bit now.

all right, good luck gr8080!

more listening. This is gonna go well into March if not longer I think, unless i get burned out.

Beep Dee's "From Above" is great EXCEPT for the high pitched alarm noise that punctuates every verse of the goddamn track so that's problematic.

Individual metal tracks shuffled into the midst of exploratory listening are proving really difficult to differentiate and enjoy especially when they're as onyx hard as Behemoth. I tried?

Beldina's "Ocean" is a late surprise add to my faves of the year... who nominated this? Good looking out! Wish she had more to listen to tho'...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhsJxdYeGYQ
riyl fka twigs, banks, tinashe, tkay maidza

I've loved everything I've heard on Ben Frost's AURORA and he was a killer live show but I somehow never took the time to really work the album out. "Venter" is as good as anything else on there.

I had wondered what the New Boyz were up to but this "Save It for the Birds" cut is torpedoed by a pretty painful vocal hook up front. I would very much be down with a resurrection of snap; minimal production is weirdly missing in a lot of contemporary hip hop all of a sudden.

Beneath's "Bored 2" sounds a bit too much like a bored guy playing with a sampler.

Weirdly the Benjamin Bruun track ("Alster Mermaid"), Benno Blome/Ada track ("Zen Cruiser") and Benoit and Sergio track ("Your Darkness") all have the same animus (if different time signatures). It's a shade under 20 minutes of music and if fits well alphabetically, creatively and emotionally. I like.

I'm still going back and forth on this Berner track ("All in a Day"). The production sounds like The Bug but the rapping isn't doing anything for me.

It's unkind but everytime I hear Betty Who I kinda wanna let Australia know we're not even done with Sia yet; can't they wait? Anyways, I like the two nominated tracks ("Just Like Me" and "Runaways") enough to let them play in passing but I can't imagine ever seeking this out.

The Beyonce album didn't impress me much on contact but the songs that I liked have burnished to love ("***Flawless", "Rocket", "Superpower", "Partition", "Haunted") and the ones that I was lukewarm on have turned mostly unlistenably tepid ("Drunk in Love", "Pretty Hurts", "XO", "Jealous")... I can deal with "Blow" in small doses. The Platinum exclusives are quite good tho: I thought "7/11" was dumb as hell on first contact and now I really can't get it out of my head; "Ring Off" is surprisingly strong and the "Standing on the Sun" remix has resurrected that track for me.

i nominated "ocean" -- glad u like it! almost certain i first heard it here on ilx, tho i'm not exactly sure where

The nominations list is unexpectedly excellent this year. There's so much good stuff on there I'm kind of disappointed I can't spend more time putting together my vote.

Voted

Morning all

http://donegalequestriancentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/one-day-left.png

ooh i'll be very excited if that, and its companion, place

'scuse the ignorance but what is the companion to 'that's not me'?

German whip?

y

ah okay. no love for rari workout?

warning to anyone voting for Kayo Dot: the album is listed as 'coffins on Lo' not 'coffins on io' coz someone obviously thought that the letter L made more sense than the letter i in that context ffs

xp love that giant claw record
genuinely enjoyed about 90% of the stuff i heard on the spotify tracks list just sticking it on shuffle for hours on end
great year, well done everybody

http://www.labelvalue.com/images/freedom.gif

I tried to vote 'strategically' this year, not sure if it will make any obvious difference!

Ioi lmago

Just submitted an amended ballot as I'd missed a track I really wanted to vote for. Please delete the old one and sorry to be a pain!

my terrifyingly beautiful ballot, like stone 'cross rockpool from giddy hand of child, is cast

Some late finds: new Soft Pink Truth album is really fun; Velo di Maya from Voices From the Lake - first thing I've really liked from those dudes; Tirzah No Romance EP is dope; Migos, Cross The Country - they have more than just one flow; Daniel Avery's remix of Sky might just surpass the original; Genius Of Time's Juno Jam is my jam; M. Geddes Gengras' ambient psychedelic epic Ishi!

at least I know I won't be the lone Killed By Deathrock voter ;_;

i voted for that one

kind of a shame we blew our wad on beyoncé last year after it was out only a week or whatever, in many ways it feels like AOTY 2014. so many great 'drunk in love' dancefloor moments

I wonder where it would rank this year if we'd excluded it in 2013. As it was, it came in 8th(?), but I fear it might have actually come in lower in a 2014 poll just because of how old it would seem.

be interesting to see where d'angelo and charli xcx place, they came out later in 2014 than beyoncé did in 2013

lol yeah & some people got mad that it didn't win. It wasn't even on spotify!

It finished top five at least.

yeah to YOU! not all of us had the same 2014, mr don't-listen-to-the-nominations

xps

certain ilx poster surely a shout to win this year's albums poll

Ban Momus.

Oh right, it was 4th. Not sure why I'd been thinking it was 8th.

though i agree that the beyoncé singles were what got robbed, not the album, 4-5 trax placing below 40 last year, when at least two of them feel like top 5 of any year

to YOU! so entitled

just warming up for the rollout, folks ;)

no, to ME they feel like top 1 of any given year

top 5 was my concession to others

got no beef w/ bey obv

countdown" and 4 also came 4th as well in their eoy lol. clearly her lucky number.

and she's going to suffer again in the mid-decade poll due to crazy amounts of vote splitting. unless everyone does the right thing and unites behind "countdown".

ILM would rally behind her worst song.

damn I hurriedly sent a ballot and forgot one crucial album. can I just email it to one of you? can't submit a new ballot b/c I don't have a record of it.

xp you really think Countdown is her worst song? Come now.

Certainly the most annoying of her accepted classics.

i hadn't even heard the album until 2014 tbh, but didn't recall that it placed so high. that's cool. still wish i could vote for the singles.

Surely forks calling XO tepid and unlistenable is a bigger crime against taste though

Formally, there's about 5 and a half hours left of voting. Informally, there's until whenever seandalai wakes up Saturday morning. MOAR BALLOTS

i think the only song on it i'm not completely in love with is haunted, on a good day i like it enough but it's the only one i frequently skip

Is the rollout going to be spread over the week or will all the results be splurged in a couple of days?

I wasn't planning to vote for tracks so my ballot was albums only. If I change my mind at the last minute can I just submit a 2nd ballot with only tracks?

JF it says midnight EST. That's like ten hours!

http://stararzeka.bandcamp.com/album/stara-rzeka-vinyl-infinite-greyscale

Stara Rzeka released a single this year with only one song, called "Stara Rzeka" (yeah, I know). It's less lo-fi than last year's album, way more kosmicge and amazingly gorgeous.

Is the rollout going to be spread over the week or will all the results be splurged in a couple of days?

― groovypanda, Friday, January 16, 2015 1:05 PM (19 minutes ago)

77-61 Monday
60-41 Tuesday
40-21 Wednesday
20-1 Thursday

JF it says midnight EST. That's like ten hours!

Oh right, duh. It was noms that ended at 7pm.

y'all got my resubmitted ballot, right?

Voted!

I can't access the ballots, that's all seandalai's domain.

xxxxp i love countdown and xo is tepid

you're tepid

voted for albums. Tried to make a tracks ballot, but it ended being mostly just a bunch of tracks from those same albums, so ultimately gave up.

I think the fact that I'm voting while sick at home influenced my ballot, some calm easy going stuff bubbled to the top.

I don't understand why voting for tracks off of albums you voted for is verboten for some people

tepid hurts

Beyonce tracks placed low because everyone was still absorbing an album and everyone had a different favourite, so there was just mad vote splitting. If just one or two tracks had been nominated then both of them would have gone top ten, no question.

Taylor will probably suffer from the same thing this year, even though her album has been out longer and there are a few more obvious rallying points.

Pls to school a European on EST. Deadline is like 8 hours from now right?

I don't understand why voting for tracks off of albums you voted for is verboten for some people

I can see why people do it, if only because it's super-lame when you look at some publication's favourite tracks list and it's just the big singles off the indie albums everyone voted for anyway.

Pls to school a European on EST. Deadline is like 8 hours from now right?

EST is the time it is in New York. GMT is 5 hours ahead of that, so you calculate as applicable wherever you are.

imho there should be different stuff on yr albums + singles list if only bc for most ppl i'd think the conditions in which you listen to albums v singles are vastly different (living room v car, headphones v party)

Thanks JF!

I'm usually OK with voting for tracks from my favorite albums, it's just that this year my preliminary track list felt very redundant and I figured that the top tracks poll would ultimately be better without my contribution

Like what you like in whatever context you like it. Sometimes, a song will hit me when the album doesn't, sometimes a song is a highlight on an album I love. If you want personal rules for tracks vs. albums then cool, but segregating the two is nothing more than an arbitrary choice.

srsly

it is a trax poll not a singles poll

pls do not attempt to second guess the circumstances in which I hear tracks and albums. for me they are overwhelmingly the same

pazz n jop includes a singles poll but that does not make it an exemplar - its exclusionary, invite-only cross-section of the critical cadre imo disqualifies it from being particularly interesting - ilx's poll is much more unpredictable (at best) and democratic. although maybe some of you prefer to keep the proles out

that hilarious secret rap poll being an ilm nadir

I still have to turn in my shitty tracks ballot.

P&J's poll is "singles" in name only

that hilarious secret rap poll being an ilm nadir

pls do not attempt to second guess the circumstances in which I hear tracks and albums. for me they are overwhelmingly the same

i am second guessing all yr circumstances

not hard - sat at home on a computer, like most of you (caribbean jetset of lex, matt dc etc not necessarily included)

now gods stand up for shut-ins!

that hilarious secret rap poll being an ilm nadir

― rae sredrum (imago), Friday, January 16, 2015 4:04 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that was the best poll ever wtf, most hilarious rollout too

it was a hilarious nadir i fully agree :D

afaict p&j singles poll has been including songs that were not available as singles or even on albums as early as 2000 [springsteen's "american skin" which was just a live performance/mp3 at the time]

Argh, VOTED.

Made my top somethings, now to c&p them from the txt files:-/

Voted!

voted tracks-thanks for doing this, and sorry for separate ballots.

Yes! Voted - for the first time!

voted!

VOTED!

fuuuuuuck I am trying to get this done in time !! :( :(

dunvotin

Git 'r dun Stevie D!

Voted

Forgot to include an album on my eoy ballot, only to just now realize it wasn't nominated. I thought ILM had its fair share of Raveonettes stans? Can't wait for the rollout.

voted

can't stop listening to that beep dee track!

While I was perusing the albums list and copying over my ballot I just noticed Emperor Machine and Vashti Bunyan put out records. I haven't even listened to D'Angelo's new thing yet... FUCK FUCK FUCK my best of 2014 ballot won't truly be ready until 2016, goddamnit.

The Ravonettes - Pe'ahi

It's on the list.

(incorrectly spelled, admittedly)

http://5dias.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/let-me-show-you-how-democracy-works.jpg

Yer only voting for the provision canon. No pressure.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/de/64/2c/de642cf9ad7478960b79f82fb5437c76.jpg

voted...both singles and albums.

heyo I voted way earlier but let it be known that my vote of Owen Pallett in the albums ballot was capitalised, whereas the nomination of owen pallett himself was in lower-case - my only deviation from c&p perfection, I think. If Owen comes lower than your waters tell you he must, check again - you may have missed my ballot!

voted!

don't worry, all is in hand xp to imago

damn I hurriedly sent a ballot and forgot one crucial album. can I just email it to one of you? can't submit a new ballot b/c I don't have a record of it.

― droit au butt (Euler), Friday, January 16, 2015 5:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

shoot me an ilxmail in the next 8 hours or so

Which is to say: voting closes for real when I get up in 7-8 hours. Until then, have at it.

much appreciated by the tail dragging contingent of which i am party

http://i.imgur.com/E4YhQCN.png

Mine is in, last minute of course!

I went unweighted for the first time this year - too much stuff I really liked and couldn't quite nail down an order I felt comfortable with.

I voted and now look forward to seeing the massive impact that my ballot will have on the outcome.

Voted. Here I thought I didn't listen to much new music this year, and yet my shortlist of albums quickly swelled to 35. And several new discoveries bumped off some I thought were surefire contenders for my ballot.

Voted. Wonder if there were other ballots that produced a number one after only being introduced to it within the last 48 hours.

... for tracks; I think my albums were on lock a month ago

And voting is closed! JF and gr80, give me 10 minutes or so. Everyone else, see you on Monday!

We received 147 ballots, which I think might be a record.

heyo I voted way earlier but let it be known that my vote of Owen Pallett in the albums ballot was capitalised, whereas the nomination of owen pallett himself was in lower-case - my only deviation from c&p perfection, I think. If Owen comes lower than your waters tell you he must, check again - you may have missed my ballot!

― rae sredrum (imago), Friday, January 16, 2015 9:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the handful of people who typed out their nominations in all lowercase are pretty annoying imo. why not just put in the minimal effort to make their noms look like all the others or not bother at all?

I was really late but you got my ballot right?

We received 147 ballots, which I think might be a record.

― Vote in the ILM EOY Poll! (seandalai), Saturday, January 17, 2015 12:49 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41058000/jpg/_41058569_williams_147_203.jpg

got it xp

And you only counted the most recent ballots in the cases of people who submitted multiple times, right? Cause I submitted a second one after not being quite satisfied with my initial one.

yep I deleted your first one

seandalai knows what he's doing so don't worry

Euler, binger dabber acid: got your ilxmails

isnt that the start of a def leppard song?

merci seandalai !

the handful of people who typed out their nominations in all lowercase are pretty annoying imo. why not just put in the minimal effort to make their noms look like all the others or not bother at all?
--some dude

lol come on this is the quibbliest of quibbles

just opened my email from seandalai
http://i.imgur.com/dtceHSg.gif

gr80!!!!!

lol

lmao

OMG so excited to see how few of my picks will make it this year!

OTM.

First time since 2009 that I'm submitting a ballot, actually.

haha the perfect gif

147 is auspicious

cheers sean!

email?

^ gr80 is doing the tracks roll-out

ah

WHENWESTARTINGWHENWESTARTINGWHENWESTARTING?

A: Probably as soon as I start my commute home.

at least gr8080 is no longer in hawaii

gr8080's hawaii friends are bummed about that tho :(

but yeah he probably wouldn't be up at this crazy hour in honolulu

to start releasing teh poll results i mean

Is it tracks first, then? I always forget this stuff. Also, I'm horribly busy at the moment so I'll probably miss most of the rollouts. Booooooo.

Were we supposed to get email confirms? :(

no

i might need to take a day off.

traditionally roll outs start just as i'm leaving work. i miss the start and stay up till the crack of dawn staring at a screen, as if i don't do that all day anyway.

ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2014

thanks gr80! :-) I take it back - it's lunchtime here

oh damn, I didn't know the voting was already over. When the album results come out keep in mind there's an unrecorded #1 vote for the Owen P album

still grinding here; up to "CH" on artists' names. will post BE to CE capsules here when a slow moment occurs

never a slow moment. Deep into "E" now. This may never end. Anyway, 257 tracks pulled from that list so far that are keepers.

Your commitment to the cause is exemplary!

I like music!
Last partic interesting find was The Dopplegangaz, i should listen to that album. This is also good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_yv3TX8Zrg

kevlarss222 months ago
very catchy vibe makes me want to walk around like a pigeon

also, this slaps; don't think it's been discussed anywhere on ilx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KJWUELZLaY

and this cyclobe track was one of my favorite songs of the year; so so beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlgVMIejTjU

kevlarss222 months ago
very catchy vibe makes me want to walk around like a pigeon

lmao

man, Emily West's "Made for the Radio" sure is an on-the-nose mess

I'm late to the game but the Eno/Hyde High Life album is AmAAAAAAAAAzing; "Return", "Lilac" and "Moulded Life" are as good as anything from last year

I'm digging into the deep cuts on Eric Church's Outsiders that I didn't get into earlier; it's maudlin but as a card-carrying smalltown country boy in my youth it hits some serious pressure points

The Ekoplekz album doesn't hold up to the promise of the first song but wow that first song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISeZTeQlz8s

"One More" is lovely, just what i want out of slinky euro r&b electropop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx1mHSo7ug4

Eagulls album really growing on me too.

at "J"! Pulled about 400 tracks so far from the list, more than half of them new.

You may be through the whole thing before the first 2015 EOY list comes out.

if i'm lucky. It's a lot of music and I'm still listening to new stuff as it comes out.

This is the last thing I played that destroyed me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5J2_PJoDtw

at "Meek Mill" and still going. Pulled 619 tracks from that list that I'll rep for; probably 400 of them were new to me!
This is the last thing that really got me from yesterday; can't hear this as anything but "HERE COMES THE PIZZA TRUCK awooo HERE COMES THE PIZZA TRUCK awoo HERE COMES THE PIZZA TRUCK awoo rock that pottery HERE COMES THE PIZZA TRUCK"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y49bnoV5hB0

tbh, i will likely be finishing this right about the end of the year. It's not as if this is my only listening project so I won't be 365 days behind the popular kids but dang do i have a love for 2014 music these days.

Mark Barrott album is amazing btw
I had not been listening to Mark McGuire because of the name for some reason and now I like em!
The Mystikal/Mark Ronson track from end of last year is a secret monster hit covered up by the tepid spoon of shit that is Uptown Funk.

Still going strong; on the "P" artists.
i don't like Mac DeMarco. Title track on salad days is okay.
Madonna's album is hot garbage.
MC Bin Laden is fun in small doses; a full album will melt your brain.
Melanie De Biasio's "No Deal" is a great vocal jazz album for late nights.
I am not properly built to enjoy Menace Ruine.
lol "German Whip" wtf how did this get high on the singles list
the grammy for "song i like to listen to that my gf is making me stop playing around the house goes to mic terror's "get off my dick"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-xTOG-Tflw

as undie rap goes, this michael christmas kid is okay.
Mick Jenkins' "the Water[s]" is highly underrated and a legit contender for one of the best hip hop albums of last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV0_UAbeyHs

took awhile and a fair amount of listening but i think i'm ready to agree with deej on migos: they have great singles and are generally overrated
mila j needs to drop an album already
miss modular "reflector pack 4/4" is marching music i can get with
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBnYpxbpges

Moderat's "Bad Kingdom" vs Moderat's "Bad Kingdom (DJ Koze Remix)" is a very hard call
Moodymann would be a lot more fun if it felt a lot less eurochill
Morgan Delt album is GREAT
Mr. Mitch is a cool dude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFN_kRhpImk

Mr. Vegas gives me total mid 90's vibes
TURRRRRRRRN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlCG24EbZCo

Nao's "So Good" EP is rewarding
can't quite get with the neneh cherry album
really can't get with New Pornographers
listened to The Pinkprint like six times now; Nicki's a great technical rapper but i cannot enjoy her on a track to save my life. sure do like the parts where Beyonce is featured on "feeling myself" tho
holy shit nils frahm, can i live in this universe please
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIwwjy4slI8

"Tsekeleke" is awesome; still loving Shangaan in 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xl_Xu2dEwA

point of interest: "CoCo" is still listenable after three spins, "U Guessed It" is not
this dude oceaan is nice riyl fka twigs, james blake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBcOnMNj7v4

artists who released albums in 2014 that were highly acclaimed that i listened through at least twice and simply cannot stomach:
one direction, ought, pains of being pure at heart, parquet courts, perfume genius. now i know.

Good trashy electrodisco: Oliver's "Light Years Away"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djgwyy821SI

You're wrong about Ought

i tried.

Glad you're into nils frahm, forks. that whole album is spectacular but so is all of his work to varying degrees.

i'm discovering that to be true!
I'm also setting up a whole runoff playlist of full albums from many of these artists to listen to after i'm done with the singles; frahm foremost among them.

I cant get into Ought either. I was sold them as Clinic meets Raincoats but they just strike me as a really thin and reedy take on late Talking Heads

"CoCo" is still listenable after three spins, "U Guessed It" is not

Otm

Ha, oh yeah, Future Islands. Remember when people thought they were good!?

i never them

I cant get into Ought either. I was sold them as Clinic meets Raincoats but they just strike me as a really thin and reedy take on late Talking Heads

― the man who posts like Sam Smith sings (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, July 25, 2015 2:29 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not quite as wacky/weirdo as TH. I'd compare them more to Wire or Television.

Future Islands are still good. I think their next album will be the one though.

future islands are great

always have been

Still going! Just got to Todd Terje, about 220 tracks left.

I don't have anything of value to give you, but please accept this imaginary medal!

Flipping back on the pull list:
i really warmed to the protomartyr after a few listens.
pye corner audio's "Bulk Erase" is gorgeous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7WXy7PYqVk
Ray West's "Ray's Cafe" is a great boom bap hip hop album
discovered some lover for the rich kidz album that i missed on the first go round
ricky blaze is so dope
"Corazon" by Robby Hunter Band is the most guilty pleasure G Love and Special Sauce track of 2014
i need to listen to the rest of the album but Robert Ellis' "Chemical Plant" is among the best country ballads i've heard this year
Roland Tings "Swimmer is very lovely
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4DRt1q53s

i had been dancing around it but i guess i really like sage the gemini a lot
need to listen to Sarkology in its entirety, how good is adonal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipZvlG-wwWk
i get the appeal of Seinabo Sey; i gather she hasn't quite blown up in america just yet?
the award for best non-remake remake of "all the critics love you in new york" goes to Seven Davis Jr "P.A.R.T.Y."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vEcKRz53WA

how did i miss all these dope-ass shackleton tracks from last year?
shamir sure is talented.
spectacular disconnect between waka-fied rapping and anime theme song on this Shy Glizzy track (the only one I could stomach):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBgcYRz6Tc8
Skales is about as good as Sarkodie
Slaves' "Where's Your Car Debbie" is my fave throwaway punk track on this list
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vOVfdTjdNY

cannot stomach:
Real Estate, Richard Dawson, Scott Walker, Sharon Van Etten, Shift K3y, Slow Club, Sun Kil Moon's "Benji", Tokyo Police Club

I am pleased by the continuing ascension of Fetty Wap, really wish Snootie Wild had done the same tho' as Go Mode is a great EP
The Soft Pink Truth album is awesome
all of Spice's singles from last year are awesome
Can't get with the St. Vincent album really but "Digital Witness" rings my bell
song that i would've played into the ground in college and still like: Stanley Brinks "Orange Juice"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WihvFtwjKkM

waaaaaaowwwww at the Stara Rzeka eps; this is gorgeous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIn_kDy84ZQ
Stars in Battledress is a little mincing but i think i like it
Steve Gunn album is excellent
Lord Steppington album is dope as is the Stu Hustlah album
both of these electronic tracks are A+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ausZg6DT_Ys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKp_VW5_FNw

Yeah, Stara Rzeka! One of the most perfect acts of the 10s thus far. Haven't listened to the latest/last album yet but I'm expecting it to amaze...

The latest Stara Rzeka is pretty much just as good as all of the rest and I think that the EP track is included on the new one. The guy is ridiculously talented. Cień Chmury Nad Ukrytym Polem made such a huge impression on me that I thought it was going to be hard to match.

The new one, Zamknęły Się Oczy Ziemi, has such a killer opening track that pretty much eliminated any concern that this one wouldn't hold up. This one seems to have a little less of the black metal bits, but it doesn't really seems to lose much because of it.

50 or so tracks left! Getting into X/Y.

more thoughts:

for being such a good album, T.I.'s Paperwork album was pretty highly underrated/under discussed. you could make a case that jet fuel was as good a hip hop track as anything that came out last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bU2Mbo_edc

this talaboman single is fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCQypd0wX3s

this ten walls track is too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rymUSbYQjw8