ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

Here’s the Top 77 Tracks of 2019 Spotify Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CuMPustDhZD9WnDKSqkuK

I will be posting youtube videos - when available - for every winner but I will not be updating a YouTube/Tidal/Apple Music/Amazon Music playlist so if anyone wants to give it a go please post it.

The rollout for this year is brought to you by forks, seandalai and myself. A big round of applause to them for setting everything up.

Last year, additional data included the ilxor thread for the artist, ilxor quotes and review snippets from positive scores on The Singles Jukebox when available. I loved that format so I'm repeating this year. TSJ is interesting because you get different opinions on a single song, I'm not sure if there's other websites that do it in the same level of quality but if you want us to check it out so we can add some snippets please post it.

I'll start posting results in about 15 mins.

let's go!

BALLOON

👍

🎈

💨

Can do a YT playlist if you like.

I completely forgot about Balloon.

Hopefully I don't screw this up on the first result. Let's see:

77: Mount Eerie feat. Julie Doiron - “Love Without Possession” - 157 points - 4 votes - 1 number 1 vote

video
Mount Eerie - No Flashlight


Yes i did forgot to add the image lol. here it goes again.

https://i.imgur.com/52GKjUc.jpg
77: Mount Eerie feat. Julie Doiron - “Love Without Possession” - 157 points - 4 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
Mount Eerie - No Flashlight

4-vote threshold puts a lot of things into play...

oh boy another year of incredible images, way to go moka (i'm assuming you're making them)

Wow, extremely stylish images! Great job.

Thirded.

amazingly sick image design

fifthed

Yep, awesome image design, love it!

awesome design!

Lemme get the (musical) naysaying ball rolling: I prefer Doiron on her own.

Ok, here's the youtube playlist, will update as I listen (so intermittently) - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgY-EgZm23_JMleMrv5Pq42eYRaWrPeVK

very low key start to the year. i haven't been able to sustainedly listen to any of the recent mount eerie records but respect to that dude

Song is OK. They harmonise well together. I liked how the arrangement filled out right at the end. Doesn't make me want to listen to the album though.

https://i.imgur.com/n5Xxv5H.jpg
76: Ariana Grande - “NASA” - 157 points - 5 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
Ariana Grande - "Thank U, Next" (the album)

The way “NASA” ends — gracefully, casually, poignantly, in the middle of a verse — is just exquisite. (“Get Well Soon” did something similar.)― yuh yuh (morrisp)

i'mma need space!

just missed my ballot, but easily the TUN highlight for me

imagine is also good

can i pre-order the images as a collectible playing card set? i guess one with 52 cards and 25 jokers?

Yay! 😊

I didn't hate it.

my favorite part is the intro, in which tommy brown and social house put the chorus through a wormhole.

These lists should be collected outside of their threads with just the great images and made available somehow.

NASA is definitely one of the standouts from the album, but Ghostin is the one that got my vote.

These lists should be collected outside of their threads with just the great images and made available somehow.

usually someone makes a giant imgur post with all of the images in one link. if someone doesn't do it this time around, i'd be happy to do it. i love copying and pasting mindlessly

adding to the chorus on the images: beautifully done!

https://i.imgur.com/bugCeHH.jpg
75: Jenny Lewis - “Red Bull & Hennessy” - 158 points - 5 votes
video
Jenny Lewis - The Voyager

I avoid people for whom Red Bull and Hennessy is a potent potable.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

I really do love the production and general sound of it all, in particular the keys, reverb and drum effects (like Josh brought up, similarities to Aimee Mann's work). A lot of great contributors - besides the Benmont Tench keys, many other seasoned session players, and Beck did some consulting and backup vocals. Definitely feeling those Heartbreakers / Travelling Wilburys / Springsteen vibes. Kind of incredible that Ringo Starr contributed to "Heads Gonna Roll" and "Red Bull and Hennessy".
― Nhex

can't even tell you how routinely i forgot a jenny lewis album came out last year. really like this song still

moka's images look better than 99.92% of commercial book covers

whole album is really great, my vote went for the title track.

I love the assertiveness and the drum sound.

images are excellent!

Glad you are enjoying the images! There's a very thin black line to the left of the images that shouldn't be there. The background base color is actually a rectangle with an enveloping black stroke that shouldn't be there but I didn't note it until now. So most images will have them and it's too minor a detail for me to fix for all 77 images. Sorry for that!

*to the right I mean.

images mood = a pack of John Player Special Lights x Presence

(not a criticism)

I love the assertiveness and the drum sound.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, January 27, 2020 9:18 AM (fifty-seven seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

it's v mick fleetwood

there's a stevie nicks edge to the vocal and songwriting too (repeating ascending chord progression, the way she snarls "i'm about to get wicked" in the first line)

Brilliant designs this year, moka

Voted for 77 and 76. Very pleased to see the Mount Eerie make it!

I voted for Red Bull & Hennessy. Love the whole album really but I feel like that is the standout track.

I wasn't terribly fond of the album -- Jenny Lewis albums tend to peter out for me -- but the first three songs are marvelous.

Also, her songwriting's changed since switching to piano.

hfs at the images!!!

I'm starting to think maybe I'll end up not having heard all 77
which i don't mind :)

https://i.imgur.com/DWaGMMX.jpg
74:Purple Mountains - “Margaritas at the Mall” - 158 points - 5 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
Purple Mountains (RIP David Berman, August 2019)

He definitely is channeling the same existential frustration that he did in "Time Will Break the World," but with so much more backbone this time. That song always felt overly lugubrious to me, like trying to hang out with a goth kid in high school who you knew deep down meant well but honestly you were embarrassed to be seen around. "Margaritas at the Mall" at least looks you in the eye when it talks. ― del griffith

the first of 3-4 PM entries I'm going to assume

I can so imagine a latter-day Steely Dan song called "Margaritas at the Mall."

i have complicated feelings about david berman and will never listen to this album but rip

oh good, I've been meaning to ask: if someone never really listened to Silver Jews would 'starting' with Purple Mountains be a good move or no?

I gravitated most towards "Maybe I'm the Only One For Me" and "Nights That Won't Happen" but stuck to voting for the album

oh good, I've been meaning to ask: if someone never really listened to Silver Jews would 'starting' with Purple Mountains be a good move or no?

― rob, Monday, January 27, 2020 11:27 AM

Unquestionably. You might think he was always a tunesmith of the first order.

Would've maybe voted for 'Nights That Won't Happen' if I'd submitted a tracks ballot.

Woods work extremely well as his backing band.

How long can a world go on under such a subtle God?
How long can a world go on with no word from God?
See the plod of the flawed individual looking for a nod from God
Trotting the sod of the visible with no new word from God

voted for a different PM song that might yet place.

tbh, haven't revisited the alb since he passed.

I would like to now more abt brad's Berman thoughts but I guess this is not really the time/place

they're personal!

I've disliked most of the Silver Jews stuff I've heard but this album is great.

please could we get the Spotify playlist rolling? my new phone hates YouTube for some reason

ah sorry nvm!! xps

Forks has the spotify playlist closed and he's the only one who can update it!

I don't know if search is broken in here but I couldn't find any info inside ILM about the next one.

Also our first of 2 ties in this poll.

https://i.imgur.com/PcvArUR.jpg
72 (TIE):Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)” - 160 points - 5 votes
video
Donato Dozzy

I liked Silver Jews just fine back in the day, but this sort of music is just not what I want to listen to at all these days.

Y'all are right about how good that Jenny Lewis track sounds. Great production. That was my first time hearing it and I can't wait to check out the rest of the album.

Mount Eerie track not doing much for me. Voted for NASA, everything in that tune is a hook and it captures all the best things about Ariana in one song. Love Margaritas but didn't vote for it because I already had 3 other Berman songs that I couldn't bring myself to cut.

i'm glad i could help "parola (rework)" get in, astonishing track

tbh, every artist should record a song called "margaritas at the mall", if they're serious

Oops wrong song title:

72 (TIE):Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)” - 160 points - 5 votes

Moka, you've got the track name as the last one! Do you want me to use mod powers to fix up these slips for you while I'm around, or are you fine just reposting w/ corrected info?

xposts

Ok this is good.

But I agree that every artist should have a song called 'margaritas at the mall'.

Fixed it in the original post.

oooooooh this is VERY nice

there was some talk about parola on the bobbins thread, but was sparked by a youtube link and probably no one named the track in a post

Wow, the Purple Mountains is a track I actually voted for, an unusual feeling.

don't think i voted for it cos i couldn't squeeze it on to my ballot but that's a great track

do love donato

Hm, listening to Mt Eerie/Julie Doiron. My partner loves Doiron. I actually like the Daniel, Fred, and Julie album a lot. This isn't really what I would typically put on a lot but it's pleasant. It's good that the video comes with a transcript of the lyrics, since they seem pretty central to this. The understated way the music builds and changes works with the text.

how do i listen to music if it's not arranged in a dynamically updated playlist for me??

*aimlessly bumps into furniture like a roomba*

My fault for not keeping up with Donato Dozzy since Voices from the Lake. How's 12H?

Always love these bobbins picks. Never go into the thread throughout the year, but know they'll always deliver great tunes in the 77.

Same.

alright KM, some of us just want the easy life! *presses a button, obtains a flute of champagne*

yeah, I never feel too guilty about not taking the time to dive into them cause I know many cool ones will always crop up in the rollout without my help xp

I like that both songs in this Tie could be described as 'avant garde bobbins'. Here's the next one:

https://i.imgur.com/atdP1QO.jpg
72 (TIE):Blanck Mass - “House vs House” - 160 points - 5 votes
video
Rolling Reconstructed Club Music 2019
Fuck Buttons: Pretty/Noisy band on ATP Recordings: Dígame Más Por Favor

I liked World Eater but Animated Violence Mild was a kitsch too far for me.

this was a good album, can really hear what he bought to fuck buttons

I liked World Eater but Animated Violence Mild was a kitsch too far for me.

Same.

can really hear what he bought to fuck buttons

― nxd, Monday, January 27, 2020 11:49 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

fun out of context sentence

uh imo this is great

I was mostly disappointed with the Blanck Mass album (it's sounds like a caricature of his previous album, which is a bit much for me) but I voted for House vs House because in small doses this can be fun

good music for train journeys

My fault for not keeping up with Donato Dozzy since Voices from the Lake. How's 12H?

― pomenitul, Monday, January 27, 2020 11:44 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

haven't spent much time with it yet but a cursory listen was promising. 'cleo' made the top 77 last year i believe and is great, parola rework is his best track since the voices from the lake album tho imo

uh imo this is great

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, January 27, 2020 9:52 AM (thirty-four seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

i do wish it kinda stayed in skinny puppy club music territory though

I thought World Eater didn't push the sound far enough, but this seemed like it was getting there from the one listen I gave this album. I returned to the track 'Death Drop' several times though.

Thanks, karl.

i do wish it kinda stayed in skinny puppy club music territory though

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, January 27, 2020 11:53 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

did you hear the kris baha album brad?

https://i.imgur.com/8eWKh1y.jpg
71: Cate Le Bon - “Daylight Matters” - 161 points - 5 votes
video

Cate Le Bon - classic or dud

The Singles Jukebox

 “The horn and guitar riffs that float through this track lend it a feeling of early spring — stiller than the chaos of winter, but not yet in the full bloom of the season. And with each repeated “I love you” of the song’s hook, Cate Le Bon immerses herself deeper into that feeling, lost in a shimmering dream of things past. It’s a track about sacrificing the realities you live with for beautiful illusions, and it sounds like it too.” - Jacob Sujin Kuppermann

“Despite the surface straightforwardness of all those “I love you”s (even with “but you’re not here”), there’s a woozy kind of contemplative feel to the song itself. It feels more like Le Bon is trying to figure something out than declare anything, which is just about perfect for the overcast, quiet afternoon “Daylight Matters” seems to call for.” - Ian Mathers

I don't know if I've ever listened to any Donato Dozzy before, that track rules.

nice!! xp

did you hear the kris baha album brad?

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Monday, January 27, 2020 9:57 AM (fifty-one seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

i did not!

went for reward on my albums ballot but i love "daylight matters" a lot a lot

Oh, the Jenny Lewis song is definitely likeable. Comparisons to late 80s/early 90s AOR sound OTM; I thought of Stevie Nicks. Nice tone on lead guitar.

I love "No Tears Left to Cry" but this Ariana Grande song didn't make a very strong impression for me.

the blanck mass song sounds a lot better in isolation than when I need to sit through 50 minutes of his thing

generally put some harmonizing saxophones on your track and you got me

many xps

where were you guys on the Blanck Mass thread when I was saying that! thought I was going nuts for a few days there

voted for the album. my fav cut was 'home to you,' but the sighing beauty of 'daylight matters' makes it a very worthy 77 selection.

i did not!

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, January 27, 2020 11:58 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

fix that:

https://cocktaildamoremusic.bandcamp.com/track/a2-living-nothingness

Cate Le Bon: I wanted to like this but it's not a subgenre where generic cuts it for me.

my favorite part of "daylight matters":

come on
come on
come on
come on
come on
come on
come on
come on

I can't really get with anything that's placed so far. We were promised crazy - let's have crazy

fix that:

https://cocktaildamoremusic.bandcamp.com/track/a2-living-nothingness

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Monday, January 27, 2020 10:01 AM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh hey thank you this rules!

https://i.imgur.com/b2z9dKe.jpg
70: Purple Mountains - “Darkness & Cold” - 162 points - 7 votes
video

Purple Mountains (RIP David Berman, August 2019)

Jarvis and Jeremy from Woods brought all the cool guitar parts, all the cool drum parts, all the cool bass parts, all the gorgeous steel guitar parts, all the cool organ textures, the harmonica in Darkness and Cold, the lonesome cowboy falsetto cry in Darkness and Cold, the tranquil horn parts in Snow is Falling in Manhattan, the rousing horn parts in Margaritas at the Mall, the little bit of what I guess you could call "funkiness" in Storyline Fever. They brought everything but David's voice, words, and I guess the chords to the songs. They brought a lot, but still, to focus on just the sound of the record itself is really missing the point when it comes to what I believe is the most thoughtful, most beautiful, most cohesive collection of songs David's ever made. ― del griffith

Never heard of donato dozzy but discovered that track on the spotify playlist and immediately sent it to all my friends.

I've definitely heard some Cate Le Bon tracks I like a lot, but oof that one whiffs.

what's the record for most songs from the same album to make it into the 77? I'm expecting 5 to make it from PM

jesus really?

I wasn't even thinking "Darkness & Cold" would make it!

Hope so. I voted for 4.

Great

im with imago so far. only song id heard is NASA and thats one of my least favorites off her album. found the blanck mass song unlistenable.

Margaritas + Darkness + Nights + Snow I reckon.

Is this the crazy we were promised.

Blanck Mass is one I considered, but didn't make the cut. I really love the Cate Le Bon album, but didn't vote for any tracks, I did vote for this Purple Mountains track.

So far this roll out is much more in line with my own listening preferences than I can recall in any previous years. I'm used to looking at tracks and not recognizing a single one.

We were promised crazy results, not crazy tracks. Crazy results could mean anything in terms of quality!

also we are... seven songs in

wouldn't be an ilm 77 if the complaining didn't start immediately though

I guess it was implied that things would get progressively crazier as we near the summit. In which case this is a sufficiently sleepy start to our statistical Bolero

We were promised crazy results, not crazy tracks. Crazy results could mean anything in terms of quality!

― emil.y

This hahaha I meant the top 20 and the overall results are very unpredictable and somewhat diverse compared to previous years imho.

https://i.imgur.com/9HGkAGO.jpg
69: Mark Ronson feat. Angel Olsen - “True Blue” - 164 points - 6 votes
video

Mark Ronson?

69 not 70 sorry!

nice

the jenny lewis track is good forgot about that one. guess i'll need to listen to that album

lovely song i didn't vote for xp

Also first time hearing this one. Avoided it because I didn't care much about the Miley Cyrus single but this is pretty nice.

Eh.

Great track, and I'd like to take this moment to recommend the next track from that album too (w/ Diana Gordon).

ILM sure likes Track 3 on an album. I think there's been about four of those already.

wouldn't be an ilm 77 if the complaining didn't start immediately though

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, January 27, 2020 12:16 PM (three minutes ago)

yeah sorry about that, I just find 5/77 to constitute a failure of collective imagination not a sign of a good artist, but point taken that I should wait to complain until it actually happens :)

i'm already bored with purple mountains too rob!

(sorry rip db)

how many 1975 songs made it last year?

I listened to like 20 seconds of some Purple Mountains track and had the same reaction as emil.y, just not feeling it

x-post: It was only two songs. Can't be more than three songs. Maybe it was four songs.

To be honest if ever there was a classic 'just vote for the album' pick it's PM.

Dammit, I screwed it up, and missed the window anyway.

otm xp

https://i.imgur.com/zqn426y.jpg
68: Tayla Parx - “Me vs. Us” - 168 points - 5 votes
video

rolling r&b 2019

Ariana Grande - "Thank U, Next" (the album)

ILM sure likes Track 3 on an album. I think there's been about four of those already.

― Jeff W

I'm sure I've read some article about "perfect sequencing" where track three should be the real treasure of a record. Not sure I buy into that but I guess it could be working here...

really enjoyed finding this track through the campaign thread

not heard anything on the list so far. lots of firm ILM mainstays whom I've never bothered to check out before and I guess I really should..

It's hard to describe the visceral discomfort I feel whenever I listen to this kind of music but it never entirely goes away no matter how many times I try to overcome it. I can't imagine feeling the way this song feels and enjoying it.

Btw it's from 2018.

that was discussed

Sorry, I'm just Tuomas-ing in a different direction.

(album is from 2019 and is when the people here picked up on this song) xp

Gotcha.

*drums fingers*

Parola (Rework) is ill, it was my #4. always liked DD, ever since he released K.

I too learned about this one in the campaign thread, and subsequently voted for it.

Yeah I'm excited to hear Parola once the playlist is running and I've finished work!

Yessssss!

xp don't be too excited

https://i.imgur.com/WYZZi6I.jpg
67: Jamila Woods feat. Saba - “Basquiat” - 168 points - 7 votes
video

Jamila Woods

voted for the album but i am def glad to see this

Voted the Jamila album high, but voted for zero tracks (sideways glance at the Purple Mountains voters).

voted for the album but this ALMOST made my tracks ballot separately, AMAZING song

The album ended up right outside my ballot, so ended up voting for this, my favourite track, instead. Amazing.

Decent album, good song.

this album just kept blowing my mind more and more every time i revisited it, incredible songwriting and ocean-deep arrangements

I voted for Jamila. Excellent cut - and a substitute for the album in my case. Too many good albums last year.

Saba's verse one of the most exhilarating minutes of music this year

didn't vote for any tracks, but the album was one of my very very favs of the year and this is a highlight among highlights.

and yes, saba is one of the five-ten best rappers doin' it right now.

I enjoyed it but found the overall songwriting a little too… self-consciously classy? 'ocean-deep arrangements' is otm though.

xps

And Saba fucking rules, yeah.

are you mad? yes i'm mad

The drumming!

I meant to check this album out but never got round to it, this is sounding pretty good so far, though I get what pom is saying about "self-consciously classy".

From my #1 album.

at first the album sounds like a collection of amorphous jams, then it starts to gel; the arrangements are heady without losing sight of the goal. She's a good bandleader.

first track I've heard before! in the voted-for-the-album camp but this is a good choice for an isolated track

https://i.imgur.com/zGNiQ6A.jpg
66: Kasper Marott - “Drømmen om Ø (Forever mix '19)” - 169 points - 6 votes
video

Yeah, one thing about this (xp, still on 'Basquiat') is it sort of fades away into cool blandness but then another hook pops up and I'm back to being really engaged with it, it's an interesting trick.

Denmark!

Never heard

excellent rhyming with mr golden balls here

Liking it so far. It bears repeating that the bobbins crowd always delivers. Thanks, bobbins crowd!

voted for that jamila song. the drums are special. song has three distinctive sections.

it sort of fades away into cool blandness but then another hook pops up and I'm back to being really engaged with it, it's an interesting trick.

― emil.y, Monday, January 27, 2020

otm

Wow, when I nominated "Parola (Rework)", I didn't really expect it to make it to the top 77! Especially since I haven't seen much discussion here on it, nor the Anna Caragnano & Donato Dozzy album back in 2015. It is beautiful, subliem track and IMO better than anything that was on the album... The album's concept of using nothing but Caragnano's sampled vocals was admirable but ultimately kinda thin, where as this tune especially benefits from Dozzy adding a techno beat to it.

https://i.imgur.com/KDlaKql.jpg
65: KH - “Only Human” - 170 points - 5 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
new four tet

setting a personal record for never heard/never heard of this year sheesh

we're really bobbin today

haha rob, same

This is dope and I wish Four Tet had spent more of his career doing tracks like it.

doing a run-through and Parola is fantastic, thread delivers

ohhh KH = Kieran Hebden?

I'd be cool with an all-bobbins top 77.

:|

😈

All bobbins no joggins

lmao

imago is too dejected to properly complain

This is cool, but about 4 minutes too long.

Pretty much.

https://i.imgur.com/dsBnlV3.jpg
64: Vampire Weekend - “This Life” - 172 points - 6 votes
video
Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

The Singles Jukebox

“Ezra Koenig doesn’t wanna live like this, but he doesn’t wanna die — he understands how these days intellectual curiosity depends on the financial means to satisfy it. So he pays for an iLoveMakonnen sample, strums a chordal pattern reminiscent of “Mrs. Robinson,” and hires Chromeo and Ariel Rechtshaid for an expansive, expensive polish. For the Koenig-led project known as “Vampire Weekend,” in which original members matter less than they used to, hybrid is both method and result. A shimmer of a single, “This Life” works, even if I tire of straight men discovering capital-m-Maturity with a vehemence that would astonish women, queer men, and every phylum in the animal kingdom.” - Alfred Soto

Ezra Koenig putting on “Touch of Grey” drag and quoting Makonnen in order to meditate on his own charmed life should be off-putting, and yet “This Life” is effortlessly charming throughout. Vampire Weekend’s success has always ridden on how the band perched on the borderline between irony and sincerity, aware of both their own ridiculousness and the utter seriousness that even ridiculous non-problems can become laden with from their own subjectivity. “This Life” feels like the unraveling of all of those prior Vampire Weekend songs, eschewing the high drama of a “Hannah Hunt” or “Giving Up the Gun” for a beautifully posed shrug on the way out. - Jacob Sujin Kuppermann

gaaaaah I'VE HAD ENOUGH

I've no idea what bobbins is but if the records described here is what bobbins is then no thanks I'd rather go down The Asda

Kasper Marott is great, the best new-to-me thing so far.

KH was on my long list, but I knew it wouldn't need my help. There's a radio edit, JF (in this case, useful).

i was expecting this to be much higher so small mercies lj

Just cray cray.

Jamilla Woods easily the best so far, Jenny Lewis was ok if a bit pastichey. I'm on a bus

Not for me, got off the Vampire Weekend bus with this album.

alfred in vampire weekend review very much otm

I'd just like to say, since I didn't say it earlier, Moka makes beautiful images for these things.

this was my fav tune off this record

Is forks going to fix the year on the Spotify playlists, btw?

OK didn't hate this VW song. A good Paul Simon pastiche.

Yeah this is perfectly fine for what it is.

i hadn't heard the kasper marott before and it's magnificent

bob silent bob deep

https://i.imgur.com/d0Hr4J7.jpg
63: Burna Boy feat. Zlatan- “Killin Dem” - 175 points - 6 votes
video
here comes the AFRICAN GIANT / Burna Boy (2019)
rolling Afropop / Afrobeats / Afrodance 2019
Burna Boy – OUTSIDE (2018)

first of a few to place from this, one hopes

the burna boy sweep begins

All bobbins no joggins

― emil.y

lol nice work

I liked the album. Not one of my favourite tracks but fine

went for a different Zlatan number

speaks to the strength of the album that this isn't a top 5-8 track on it for me.

This is great. I need to hear the rest if what y'all say is true.

yeh ridiculously strong record

I tried and tried with Burna Boy this year but couldn't grow to love any of it

Is forks going to fix the year on the Spotify playlists, btw?
haha maybe that is the right year and he's already mapped out the next decade of ILM poll results playlists. He's probably been updating the 2019 playlist all along

nice! only voted for Anybody from the album, but this is a great track and came out a while before AG

hope every song places off african giant

otm

yeh ridiculously strong record

― nxd, Monday, January 27, 2020 1:20 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye

lol would def have to walk back my earlier complaining in that case

https://i.imgur.com/TisVhx8.jpg
62: Rosalía- “Aute Cuture” - 175 points - 7 votes
video
Rosalía (Post-Flamenco Art-Pop From Spain)

The Singles Jukebox

 As someone who argued a long time ago that Kill Bill is a feminist movie, and was later chagrined to hear that Uma Thurman’s on-set experience did not bear this out, I am officially calling it a trend, of female musicians being inspired to put their own Tarantinoesque spin on things. Three makes a trend, right? The first example y’all know already. The second: Brown Eyed Girls’ more strict take on “Kill Bill,” in which all male roles are eliminated, the plot becomes an excuse for intra-band goofiness, and the first dance shot is of a faceless male dancer lifting his crotch to the camera. And now here’s a third, complete with closeups of feet, dramatic zooms, knife sound effects, overstyled titles announcing new baddies, and the Western motif of the protagonist striding through the dusty town–although unlike Tarantino’s protagonists, Rosalía and her Beauty Gang are here to transform and uplift, not destroy. The song itself is similarly open-hearted: poppier and more static than the precise stories of El Mal Querer, but to a purpose: a widespread drink, a designer label, the fun in self-expression lies everywhere in between. This is why you don’t throw the art out with the artist: because you can’t predict whose art the art is going to inspire. - Jessica Doyle

 After “Con Altura” nabbed the top spot in Spain, it feels apt that Rosalía quickly returns with her own version of a Beyoncé song. Its repetitive nature makes it feel twice the length, and these drums and horns act as a constant reminder of Rosalía’s well-deserved star status. It feels like the opposite of a Shepard tone: instant gratification from the moment it starts, and every second thereafter until it ends. - Joshua Minsoo Kim

All right! My summer banger :)

I quickly made a spotify playlist (mostly for myself) if anyone is interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/304QDi0OQnIIe6pmm9J9Rj?si=EIK-dzlPQrW2J0msFYpkVA

I make no guarantees on keeping this list up to date in the future

couldn't choose between any of the nominated rosalía songs so i ended up voting for none of them :(

she a genius

'Its repetitive nature makes it feel twice the length'

I'm gonna love this then

Fucking Money Man/Millionaria was good, wonder if that's gonna place

my first vote to place; she a genius otm

Not my favourite of hers based on what little I've heard but it's alright. The less American international the better ime.

pvmic

Whew just got up, great results so far! I voted for the Jenny Lewis and Tayla Parx that placed, both outstanding tracks. I enjoyed the Purple Mountains album but somehow none of it made it on my ballot.

totally out of the bobbins loop these days, but this Marott track is nice (well so far, at 6:00)

Ariana Grande is really uninteresting to me

https://i.imgur.com/n2XGpeO.jpg
61: Weyes Blood- “Wild Time” - 177 points - 5 votes
video
Weyes Blood

Thank the fucking lord. My #2

Every time I'd hear a song from this album I'd think to myself "I should listen to it more" and every time I'd forget. That's my fault and not hers. She's making good work.

Great song, great album (narrowly missed my ballot, though).

Three bangers back to back. "This Life," so effortless. Rosalia's jam resists categorizing, Weyes Blood gave the sun-kissed histrionics I wanted from Angel Olsen.

Koenig's OH CHRIST is my favorite in a pop song after John Lennon's CHRIST in "The Ballad of John and Yoko."

love aute couture, tho i voted for a different ro track. will never be the same after hearing the way she sings 'los hamptons' lol

WB narrowly missed both ballots, but she's great.

Weyes Blood gave the sun-kissed histrionics I wanted from Angel Olsen.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, January 27, 2020 11:37 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

*eyeroll*

terrible album and worse artist

completely joking of course, need to listen to this more than i have, i actually have this on my wish list since i liked the last one so much

"wild time" rules ofc

Whole Weyes Blood album is all-time but this in particular is imo some truly special songwriting (and arranging), that second half is breathtaking

I also really like the Angel Olson fwiw, albeit not quite as much

This album makes me think of Judee Sill, but indirectly if that makes sense.

Relistening to it now and mildly regretting not voting for the album, but 25 is 25.

There's isolation buried in the lushness.

*eyeroll*

― american bradass (BradNelson),

besos!

looking forward to giving this another listen. a heartwarming poll story: I got into her last album after dismissing it during that rollout and tangenttangent & imago's defense convinced me to try again

my argument is that the angel olsen record provides no "sun-kissed"ness by design, it's an album of dark shadows reaching over a landscape. "wild time" is going for a different pastoral effect, which she nails xp

https://i.imgur.com/vKYeg0b.jpg
60: Peggy Gou- “Starry Night” - 180 points - 6 votes
video
Peggy Gou

The Singles Jukebox

What a sumptuous mix! The Korean producer weaves an elementary bass line around house chords, 1984-era hand claps, and catchphrases from her native tongue. It sounds like July barbeques, and it’s only April. - Alfred Soto

Slinking, poppy bass sidewinds alongside bubbly, strolling drums as chipper piano chords are followed by ghostly wailing synths and bottled, flat-smacked percussion. Gou breathily sings, then issues soft but firm chants over boiling synths that are finally laid like a blanket over the whole production. - Nortey Dowuona

Peggy Gou walks a specific, sublime line between lush textures and plastic camp. She builds “Starry Night” on a smorgasbord of digital sounds that sit just left of the real; the spiky handclaps, the city-pop synth pads, the chintzy keyboard, the vworp-y bass that defies the rules of physical noise. The beats drive the song forward with a relentless velocity, while she barks with military precision: “Moment. Now. Us.” Her music asks if it’s possible to engineer feeling from sheer determination; my body moves for me, answering yes. - Leah Isobel

I tried to connect with Weyes Blood, but it just never clicked for me. I just couldn't see what people found impressive about it (and tbh there's probably no point in trying to explain theoretically when it doesn't move me emotionally).

titanic rising kinda lost me as an album over the year but the individual moments are still stunning

not sure what y'all are hearing in this KH track but maybe I've just heard enough four tet

why oh why didn't i vote for starry night?

took me a while to figure out that weyes blood album. I voted for another track.

Donato Dozzy and Anna Caragnano seems to be extremely lit

(right, because i made a list of 100 and put starry night at #56. still slaps, tho.)

Next days might be busy for me... so I might do the rollout all the way to 56 today and following days maybe...:

1 - 24 Th
25 - 39 Wd
40 - 55 Tu

I don't think there is anything to "figure out", though. Like, it didn't strike me as particularly complicated or challenging music, and I just couldn't find an emotional connection there either, so it was all a bit of an empty experience for me.

xposts

whoa "starry night" has a video? and it's extremely great?

apologies for not knowing when we were kicking off; the playlist should be fully stocked now.

fix the title por favor

1 - 24 Th

we should let this marinate a lil, imo. maybe 12 a day on Th and F?

love aute couture, tho i voted for a different ro track
ditto

Weyes Blood - voted for the album instead. Love the Liz Fraser-esque ascending "ah ah ah ah"s on this (and other?) cuts.

Peggy - never less than good. Preferred "Han Pan" though.

xps thx ulysses

pure visceral loathing for that VW song ugh

The Starry Night video is simply sumptuous!

Blanck Mass is also pretty hype

I am not used to actually liking the dance selections in the countdown, what is happening

djp you should hear that kris baha record that karl recommended me upthread

i am also voting for 12 on thursday and 12 on friday; i can help with rollout if that's useful moka. but your call!

Blanck Mass album was sooooo gooooood

Preferred "Han Pan" though

somehow missed this. thought it was 'han jan' but with a typo, but no, it's a totally different song lol

1 - 24 Th

we should let this marinate a lil, imo. maybe 12 a day on Th and F?

― culture of mayordom (voodoo chili)

15 maybe?

1-15 Th
16 - 31 Wd
32-55 Tu

Maybe I can go all the way to 53 today which is the less busy day of the week for me. So we do 24 tracks today, 20 tomorrow and 15 the following days.

Really digging Me vs Us. New to me and it's lovely.

I only voted for one Rosalía song and sadly Aute Cuture was not it. I hope this is the first of many singles of hers to place.

the Weyes Blood is very lovely, but yeah there is something idk imposing or overly grandiose about Titanic Rising that I've had trouble getting past

I like that breakdown xps

To 53 would be 25 today

I think the following song is the first song from my ballot to appear so far so be kind to it. Also she's great live.

https://i.imgur.com/QJPuMK6.jpg
59: Charlotte Adigéry - “High Lights” - 181 points - 6 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
Charlotte Adigéry (Adigery)

‘Highlights’ is a rocking meditation on black woman hair and deserves to be an anthem imo ― Fuck the NRA (ulysses)

YES

i love this goddamn song

I'm all for Moka posting things on the most convenient schedule :)

And now my #3! Amazing discovery, ty CAAL

titanic rising kinda lost me as an album over the year but the individual moments are still stunning

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, January 27, 2020 10:44 AM

Captures my thoughts perfectly. There's a track from it on my songs ballot, but it totally missed my albums ballot.

Man! All my favorites appearing.

"Starry Night" was my favorite pop house jam of 2019.

I had the most luck recommending Adigéry's EP to skeptics more than any other album last year.

Could have easily voted for any song from Zandoli - went with a different cut in the end.

I'm all for Moka posting things on the most convenient schedule :)

― babu frik fan account (mh)

To 53 would be 25 today

― opden gnash (imago)

Yeah sorry!

Wait so tomorrow would be 32 -52? I don't know my math is all wrong at the moment hahaha I'm doing the rollout and the missing designs right now so my mind is a bit all over the place.

It's so weird and assured and cool

― imago, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 22:23 (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

add to this anthemic, impossible to get out of one's head and genuinely fresh-sounding in how it's put together - the production is, subtly, wild. and the 'no home no phone no car no bed' bridge is devastating

i'm nobody
i'm nobody
i'm nobody

additionally: it's real funky

whole ep is really amazing though jeff w otm

truly one to unite us all. yeah I voted for the EP too

most out-there fact of all: she met the producer on Tinder

I've only just spotted there's a 17 minute thing by Charlotte called "Yin Yang Self-Meditation" on Spotify. Anyone tried that?

Voted for different Rosalia, Vampire Weekend, and Weyes Blood songs but would stan for just about everything the three put out in 2019

went for a different charlotte track which i hope places

https://i.imgur.com/SG6j0Sj.jpg
58: Shura - “BKLYNLDN - 186 points - 6 votes
video
Peggy Gou

The Singles Jukebox

This is an emergency,” murmurs Shura, before an ascendant orchestral flourish that moves with the same giddiness as does that avalanche of heart-shaped eye emojis when someone decides to respond flirtatiously to your Instagram story. When you’re deep in the nucleus of that kind of desire even the smallest things, like sending or receiving a picture, can enliven the most upending tension. “BKLYNLDN” considers a romance that’s transcontinental, a subject at the centre of 2004’s Before Sunset, probably my favourite film. …Sunrise and …Midnight have things to say about these matters too, of course, but it’s …Sunset that is flooded with the most portent, where two people pregnant with vulnerabilities and infatuation are only willing to release them at the last possible moment, at a point where the somersaults in their stomachs finally become too unbearable. We as viewers aren’t privy to the fireworks that must have ensued after that Nina Simone song ended and the credits rolled, but Shura’s coda serves as the most satisfying form of fan-fiction. (Queer as hell, of course, in adherence to fan-fiction tradition). There, amongst rocketing squawks that’ll make your whole body shiver if you’re not careful, is where all of that restlessness gives way to delirium, where the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred in the most ecstatic way. - William John

“In New York,” an Australian trendspotter once reported, “Thousands of bearded hipsters scamper around Williamsburg or Brooklyn reading Kerouac and drinking whisky.” It’s the kind of geographical goof that comes of imagining places as fashionable synechdoches, and while Shura’s pairing of the borough of Brooklyn and the metropolis of London isn’t quite an error, it seems forced; a foreigner fascinated with the exotics of specificity. (Most of us would say “New York to London” — or, if we were thinking transport — fly out of LaGuardia or JFK, both in Queens. And wouldn’t “Brooklyn to Brixton” hold alliterative appeal? Will there be a sequel, “Staten to Swindon”?) “BKLYNLDN” maintains its languor and, as Shura songs often do, sounds like an Instagram filter, which was a bit more charming when I still used Instagram filters. The tourist really jumps out in the coda, which is sunny and blissful like the first day on vacation. “We could take the subway,” Shura suggests, her cool slipping away. “To the beach!” It’s like a Big Apple version of Lizzie McGuire’s adventures in Rome in The Lizzie McGuire Movie.  - Jonathan Bradley

Oops linked to the peggy gou thread, it's this one:
shura

damn, never heard the charlotte track (or any tracks by her) and i immediately added all of it to my list. what a song.

oh well i imagine many people will complain about this shura track but boy do i love it + the album

tender gay slow jams forevher

Ah shit, where were people talking about High Lights this year? Never heard of it before, and I'm really into it. Love those synthy lines.

xxp What's to complain about? Amazing song and "The Stage" is even better. I voted for the album though.

we can take the subway to the beach where there's a breeze, cuz we're in america! oh yeah!

this track was prob one of my most powerful listening experiences of the year but yeah i ended up just voting for the album

https://i.imgur.com/byGOyVm.jpg
57: Big Thief - “Cattails” - 191 points - 7 votes
video
Big Thief - U.F.O.F. (May 3, 2019)

The Singles Jukebox

At their best, Big Thief’s songs sound like incantations that run on memory, using looping structures and riffs to achieve symbolic power that goes beyond the simple cores that Adrianne Lenker writes. “Cattails” finds Big Thief deep in their own territory, sounding (like many of the songs on U.F.O.F.) like an organic expansion on Lenker’s solo material. It’s insular yet welcoming, a cascade of acoustic guitars that doesn’t quite resolve but instead ends on a question mark, leading you further down into Big Thief’s wilderness. - Jacob Sujin Kuppermann

It’s fascinating how close to the line between hypnosis and tedium this treads. What breaks it free on the right side of the line, for me, isn’t even the more obvious sonic changes towards the end (although those are also well done, if not as sharp as similar transformations you can find in, say, Sam Amidon’s work); there’s something about the guitar line and those basic drums and of course Lenker’s steady narrative that becomes spellbinding, no less because it feels like it easily could have gone the other way. - Ian Mathers

i assume this is... not the last we'll see of big thief

I see what u did there

I was going to say I didn't vote for this, preferring a couple other Big Thief tracks, but nope, I voted for this one as well! Fantastic track.

Cool bit of trivia about this track:

When the band thought they were rehearsing the single “Cattails,” a jaunty ode to making peace with feeling infinitesimal that Lenker had finished that morning, Monks secretly began recording them, and that’s what you hear on U.F.O.F. “We walked into the control room and it was captured, that was it,” she says. “We didn’t have to work at it at all.”

(from: https://www.stereogum.com/featured/big-thief-two-hands-ufof-interview/)

I went with the Adigéry EP instead, but very happy to see High Lights place. Weyes Blood doing even more ethereal and sublime work than usual, but every track was like 10/10 so again just had to vote for the album instead.

love U.F.O.F. so much, my big find of 2019 thanks to ILX and the radio station I do a show at, which had both records on rotation for most of the year

lol I haven't heard a single one of these yet, guess I gotta get listening

"not" deffo my highlight of a very impressive year

I fell hard for Big Thief last fall. Waited too long.

https://i.imgur.com/dwZgars.jpg
56: Raphael Saadiq feat. Rob Bacon - “Something Keeps Calling” - 192 points - 5 votes
video
Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee- "He Was My Mama's Son"
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

ayyyyy

lots of songs by artists i voted for, but this is my first track vote to place.

voted for the album, not mad 2 see this here tho

yah top 3 for me. heartbreaking album and song.

My kids say I'll never come home again
And I know they're right, at least tonight
If I fail, my whole life goes to hell
And it don't seem right, I need help tonight

what i wrote in my personal year-end roundup

Named after his older brother, Raphael Saddiq’s towering Jimmy Lee album examines the personal cost of the crack epidemic, and the outsized role addiction plays in the lives of the destitute. “Something Keeps Calling” is the album’s crushing centerpiece, painting substances as at once a seductive lover and a heavy burden, one that overrides all common sense and decency: “My friends say I can never pull it together/Well they might be right, at least tonight/My kids say I’ll never come home again/And I know they’re right, at least tonight.” The song climaxes with Rob Bacon’s wailing guitar solo, which tries in vain to reach out to those beyond hope.

https://i.imgur.com/0a713Lv.jpg
55: Holly Herndon - “Eternal” - 192 points - 7 votes
video
i want a thread for Holly Herndon

The Singles Jukebox

Proto, Holly Herndon’s upcoming album, is being heavily touted as a “collaboration with AI,” specifically a machine learning suite called Spawn. I usually have two reactions to this sort of thing. The first, generally a grumbled “have none of you ever heard of Vocaloid,” is petty. The second is less, I’d hope: there’s a whole field of artists collaborating with machines, whose insights can be pulled in. In Emily Short’s The Annals of the Parrigues, explicitly billed as “collaborating with a machine,” she outlines five principles of procedurally generated writing: salt (systems for systems’ sake; perfectible code over perfectible output), mushroom (repetition, scads of data, Markov chains, bowls of oatmeal), beeswax (homespun/hand-crafted elements), venom (tight editing, surprise, connotation; a fish hook, an open eye), and egg (coherence, authorial intent, human curation). She applied the principles to prose, but they could easily be applied to music. Sampling is beeswax. MIDI may be salt. “Soundscapes” are mushroomy. Choruses are venom or egg (compare “Smells Like Teen Spirit” vs. “…Baby One More Time”). None of these are value judgments, or if they are, they only are because of what you value. I gravitate toward venom and egg — thrilling music with a purpose — but so much experimental/”AI-enhanced” music doesn’t seem to. “Eternal” gets closer than most, the beats thrill, the vocals stab. There does seem to be a point, albeit one that is mostly “this exists.” Mostly it just sounds like Miriam Stockley (who herself has a Vocaloid), but is anything really ever new? - Katherine St Asaph

“I don’t want to live in a world in which humans are automated off stage. I want an A.I. to be raised to appreciate and interact with that beauty.” Part of being genuinely avant-garde is that Herndon isn’t quite there yet, probably, but equally part is that you can hear and appreciate how this and her other work is moving us closer. I’m not sure how many others here will have been coincidentally listening to Sacred Harp singing just before playing “Eternal”, but try looking some up just after playing this song (and maybe throw, I don’t know, some Glasser or some of Julianna Barwick’s more outre moments in the mix) and see what kind of connections you start forming. - Ian Mathers

love holly
chorus still is all time <3

oooooh one of mine showed up finally! towering track.

vaguely remember being underwhelmed by Adigery on Patenipat, but this is cool and a lot odder than I expected

By a distance the third-best of the three Herndons nominated imo; still good

that video is cursed

And on a similar theme, Patenipat is by a very great distance my least favourite track on the EP but the rest is amazing, check it out!

couldn't deal with the herndon at album-length but "eternal" fuckin rules

"Eternal" is like one of those "all the instruments replaced with 'eeyit's been'" type goofs except it sounds fucking awesome

Yeah, the album was patchy but the highlights were high

Voted for the HH album, didn't pick out any tracks from it to vote for, still very glad to see it here.

And on a similar theme, Patenipat is by a very great distance my least favourite track on the EP but the rest is amazing, check it out!

― opden gnash (imago), Monday, January 27, 2020 2:47 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah I think I already like Cursed & Cussed more than Patenipat and Highlights

ooh that Vampire Weekend track was surprisingly low. unpopular opinion: it's one of the best tracks off their best album. everything before that was just warming up. Father Of the Bride is the record that converted me from 'meh' to 'okay this is interesting' to 'okay this is one of the most fully-realised pop rock albums of all time'

think I voted for Patenipat. not heard that Charlotte Adigery tune

Just catching up. Great results so far.

Something Keeps Calling is a highlight from Jimmy Lee. Still not sure why so many critics slept on that album last year. It's probably the best thing he's ever done.

Shura is one of the few artists who I had on both lists. BKLYNLDN wasn't really the direction I was expecting her to go in, but it suits her so well. It's so gorgeous and that switch up at the end is pure joy. Shura in loved up mode was one of my favourite things about music in 2019.

Also voted for the Mark Ronson/Angel Olsen track. The whole album was a bit of a revelation really. Beyond the odd track (especially that Boy George single in 2010), I haven't really enjoyed much of Mark Ronson's work. He seemed to be able to get the songs and production right for the talent he worked with. The title track with Lykke Li is brilliant too.

Father Of The Bride was half a good album. This Life is on the good side.

Didn't vote for Weyes Blood, Cate Le Bon, Big Thief or Peggy Gou but I'm happy to see them all here. 2019 was a crazy strong year IMO.

the Adigery thread is amusingly filled with similar "I like track [x] and hate track [y]" followed by "y is best, x is worst" sentiments

yeah I think I already like Cursed & Cussed more than Patenipat and Highlights

― rob, Monday, January 27, 2020 12:51 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol i was about to say, "wait'll you get a load of 'cursed and cussed'!"

https://i.imgur.com/f3Q541y.jpg
54: Normani - “Motivation” - 194 points - 8 votes
video
rolling r&b 2019

The Singles Jukebox

Motivation” just refuses to sit still. It snaps, fizzes, sways, pops, bounces off every wall in the building. It’s an unadulterated hit of pure summer that makes me want to dance in ways that would be deeply ill-advised for me to attempt. It’s incredibly immediate and possesses at least two instantly iconic pop moments (“ain’t regular, that ain’t regular!” and that sweet, delirious trumpet hook), and yet it’s sonically rich and intensely intricate. It’s irresistible, and really, why would you want to resist this? - Vikram Joseph

As someone who came of age in the 2000s, I remember a time when the radio played good R&B to dance to; it was the soundtrack of every bar mitzvah and prom I attended. There’s been a dearth of those sorts of songs since — we’ve had some EDM bangers, but I’ve longed for a song that was less like a rave and more like a late summer block party. This is everything I could’ve wanted: the best song Beyoncé never released, a powderkeg of energy and fun that overwhelms and delights. The video choreography is already classic (I’ve been thinking about the basketball-bounce move for a week solid), I anticipate seeing this memed to death, and I’ll enjoy every variant I see of it. Moreover, it’s so wonderful to see Normani finally get a song where she can let loose — rather than “Love Lies,” which I found rather wet, “Motivation” is an actual showcase of Normani’s talent. We’re witnessing the bona fide birth of a star. - Alex Clifton

xp to Herndon: oh hey, an artist I voted for and saw this past year!

this is obviously good even if it is manifestly Not My Thing

I loved this.

destined to be overrated, good song nonetheless

Eternal <3 Such an absolute jam. All melody and punch.

Yesss Holly made it! I felt SWIM and Frontier were better tracks, and voted for the former, but it's nice to see at least this one make it.

Last one for the day!

https://i.imgur.com/yXxu9iX.jpg
53: Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club. Mix)” - 195 points - 6 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
Erika de Casier - Essentials

The production comes from Casier herself and DJ Central, and there's definitely a textural influence from deep house. Casier's voice is soft and tender, it makes me think of #cassiefanclub in its unshowy plainness. I can imagine comparisons to Jessy Lanza and Kelela but this is much more of a purist's interpretation of r&b. ― boxedjoy
I totally love this. It’s like the sensuous yin to Abra’s yang
― Tim F
Also I was NOT prepared for the 1994 Neil Trix jungle realness of the club mix of “Intimate”!!!
― Tim F
Seriously this remix is one of the absolute best things I've heard this year. It has me flashing on Janet's "Empty".
Generally speaking the album is so lovely. I've often thought about how even before "One In A Million" came out some of the more sensuous, sumptuous R&B arrangements were almost there, stuff like TLC's "Diggin' On You" is the softest breath away from it. And I feel like this album really leans into that particular crossover point, everything is simultaneously involving and relaxing, seductive yet murderous.
― Tim F

Something Keeps Calling was good, but when Kings Fall came on after I was immediately like "what is THIS?"

Motivation is a great song that's made even better with the video. The basket ball dance scene in particular is a highlight.

here it is, my first "too low"

intimate was one of my favorite discoveries of the voting period. i'm pretty sure i've listened every day for the past two weeks (after i voted, natch)

damn I should have listened to this album huh

Well I missed out on this Erika de Casier but this is an amazing track!

this is dope

Didn't vote for this, but it definitely caught my attention during campaigning. Production on the whole album is tight, but I'm particularly hyped for the immanent DnB revival.

Moka, the images are stellar <3

Loved the track ‘Drive’ that she did with DJ Central a couple of years back, not heard anything off this record though

Things I voted for today:

lots of stuff to check out but just want to say early doors thanks all poll runners, and to double down on the brilliant images x

God, the images are amazing. I did get a couple of Magnetic Fields auras as they crept into view, though!

Favourite finds: Dozzy, Jamila, Adigery.

Hey two of my votes already placed, Jamila and Peggy Gou. I really like the Purple Mountains and Jenny Lewis albums but saw no reason to vote for any individual tracks. Good day!

Saadiq track is a nice surprise. The way the organ surges is almost Talk Talk-esque

Things I voted for today:

― ymo sumac (NickB), Monday, 27 January 2020 20:13 (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Nothing I have ever voted for has placed! However I have it on good authority that this is about to change as this time I was smart, I embedded a mirror in my ballot which meant I was able to see around the corner of the internet. It was a frightening sight but It means I now know which way the goalkeeper is going to dive for the next 125 years. Heavy is the knowledge

yesss

Spotify is up to date; dig in!

ty!

saer, your recommendations regularly and inevitably change my life in direct proportion to how much time I take with them; hopefully that is payment enough.

Nothing I have ever voted for has placed! However I have it on good authority that this is about to change as this time I was smart, I embedded a mirror in my ballot which meant I was able to see around the corner of the internet. It was a frightening sight but It means I now know which way the goalkeeper is going to dive for the next 125 years. Heavy is the knowledge

― saer, Monday, January 27, 2020 9:22 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

<3

20% of my ballot has placed so far. Pretty unusual. But I listened to way too few singles this year, so probably only heard consensus hits.

I had 1 placement today but expect 5-6 more.

Depending on how well coordinated the South African fraction has been I could see nearly everything on my ballot placing.

I think I voted for the Big Thief track but can't recall, I did an unranked scattershot tracks ballot for the most part (except for my top 3)

I voted for Jenny Lewis and Kasper Marott. I said earlier that I voted for Blanck Mass, but looking back at my ballot it looks like that fell to to the 26th spot right before I voted.

Some really good stuff placed today.

yessssss great track

The images look like a particularly refined cassette tape anthology that I would like to own.

This Vampire Weekend song actually sounds adorable (though it might have something to do with following 22 minutes of virtually progressionless techno).

lol

that's how they get you, stay strong

I don't know how to predict these things--I assume I can write off all the dancehall as per usual (and if Balloon gets in and not Toast, I will injure myself rolling my eyes) but I have no sense how much of the massive wave of stellar afropop that came out in 2019 connected with you all

The images look like a particularly refined cassette tape anthology that I would like to own.

yes!

(and if Balloon gets in and not Toast, I will injure myself rolling my eyes)

... i didn't vote for "toast" bc it's 2018

sorry!

i feel like you're gonna injure yourself rolling your eyes btw

Not to belabor the point, but when we gonna fix the thread and spotify playlist titles? The 2020 instead of 2019 is driving me nutty.

"if Balloon gets in"

I'm very confident that my entire ballot, apart from the 2 that already showed up, will be #1-#23 on the final countdown as you are all right thinking individuals.

I voted for it! xps

Kasper Marott didn't really click for me, maybe I need to hear it in the right context?

xp to Johnny Fever: it's fixed, refresh your browser.

i would like some balloon toast to make my butterburger
https://milwaukeerecord.com/comedy/joe-pera-explores-milwaukee-in-latest-episode-of-joe-pera-talks-with-you/

oh I know Balloon will place...anyway I'm preemptively complaining again, sorry

and I'm glad people like Busy Signal :)

gonna float all the way to the top

Seeing three of my faves place here -- including/especially Tayla, whom I wasn't expecting to land on the countdown -- has already made up for the disappointment of Grammy night :)

Good results today, I like most of these songs, Aute Cuture and Basquiat my only votes but I should definitely have had High Lights on my ballot too.

Great images and I also appreciate the video links, I hardly saw any new music videos last year but some of these are great (thinking Peggy Gou and Zlatan x Burna Boy especially).

only one of my votes made it so far, but i've been very hivemind-y this year. hopefully this means good things for shootergang kony.

Thought I only had two of today's placements on my ballot (Charlotte Adigéry and Tayla Parx), but I apparently also voted for Cate Le Bon too—forgot I'd done that—so glad I could help it get in.

i'm surprised you guys like Jamila's Basquiat as much as I do! The whole album is amazing but that's the song i keep coming back to. Thought it was just me!

Wait did I put 2020 in the thread title? I was certain I wrote 2019 and found odd forks had 2020 as the year in the playlist. I hadn’t had my cup of coffee so I might have been half asleep.

Can mods edit the title please? And thank you for fixing my errors through the day.

I'm seeing 2019 on bookmarks and 2020 everywhere else...?

It's fixed! But I think bookmarks aren't fixable?

bumping. Somebody tell me if the bookmark looks fixed to you?

I closed and reopened my browser and everything and it still says 2020.

bookmark says 2019, thread title says 2020 for me at least

my bookmarks says 2019, but that is actually correct, no?

*agent cooper voice* what year is this

Yeah, the bookmark says 2019, but the title of the thread on the main page still reads 2020.

xp
see you could have voted for Toast after all

ithink that Cooper quote on him in the flintstones movie is my fav tweet this year

I voted for Cate le Bon, Jamila Woods and Charlotte Adigéry so far.

I didn't even think I liked CLB before 2019. Kinda wish I'd gone weighted now to give her a heftier shove.

Now it's fixed. Ta!

The Jamila Woods track is great. Thanks folks!

i really do not find the roll-out crazy at all. there is lots of good stuff to disover (eg the mark ronson, the vampire weekend, the raphael saadiq or the peggy gou), i am surprised about the almost complete lack of rap until now which i don't miss though. already three tracks of my ballot made it. wild time, cattails and intimate. i think wild time is elegant and profound at the same time. probably the best song on titanic rising though i voted another song higher which will surely show up in the top 20 or something.

to discover

last year was also pretty light on rap iirc (or at least I remember it being noted during the first couple days of rollout)

goon cru only assemble when there's a thread to title

I voted for 4 rap songs but don't think any will place alas. Also I don't think any of them are goon cru approved (Teejayx6 maybe?)

It was a bad year for rap for me. I ended up placing on rap-album on my ballot, and now I regret it because it really isn't as good as the Jamila Woods one.

i sure hope "swipe story" makes it but who knows

despite there being a lot of good rap released in '19, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of ILM consensus around hip hop this year.
wondering if blaming the growing schisms between pop and street shit and abstract/experimental is worthwhile but what defines those terms is in such constant upheaval (dababy is street shit or pop now?) i doubt it.

A good first day today and - apart from the bobbins stuff which I never follow in year - pretty representative of what I was seeing in New Answers week on week.

xp. but somehow that jamila woods song does not sound like rap to me at all. where is the rhythmic spitting of words - that would be rap for me - in there?

It fell to me to nominate the Danny Brown and Maxo Kream singles I wanted to vote for, which surprised me. Probably a bad sign. Somewhat more confident about Rapsody though.

Swipe Story was my vote, yeah. Didn't give it much so hoping others have made up the difference

i also voted for "ballin" and i'm hoping to see it but not holding my breath

voted for 8 rap tracks or so.

but ballin and teejay just missed for me.

y'all should've voted for shootergang kony

I do regret not voting for "Meet Again"

Overjoyed to see Charlotte Adigery place, although I voted for Okashi.

The Rosalia that's placed so far is my favourite of the three big ones this year, but I expect all of them to show up.

^ mine, too

Okashi is amazing too. Followed a strict one-song-per-artist policy tho alas

Jamila Woods sounds to me closer to beatnik jam poetry than rap.

okashi my pick too, guess we'll see it

xp Jamila Woods comes out of the same Chicago poetry scene as Noname and Chance the Rapper.

certainly a bit of an odd assortment today. did people just fill the empty slots in their ballots with random selections from their local organic noncommercial community station after switching over from npr? jk that was mean and the results were not that bad.

Jenny Lewis - “Red Bull & Hennessy”
i'm sure i would have completely forgotten this already if it didn't have a nice + energetic arrangement but it does and i therefore kinda like it

Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)”
my interest starts to dissipate as it continues to chug forward for its xth minute but it's quite an immediately gripping track

Blanck Mass - “House vs House”
kind of a mess? i understand how it can be appealing tho

Cate Le Bon - “Daylight Matters”
i like the last 15 seconds but could do without the rest

Tayla Parx - “Me vs. Us”
i love this one; it appeared high on my ballot. i guess i'm glad if questioning its eligibility in the voting thread helped spur additional votes? :) anyway, it's such a tight, well-rendered portrait of the anxiety that comes with the onset of infatuation, the worry that you're suddenly losing a hold on your own sense of self and autonomy. once she accepts that she's already given in, express permission be damned, she has no choice but to beg for at least a little empathy. i appreciate the robotic delivery on some of the backing vox + the timbre of the skittering percussion resembling that of interlocking mechanical parts, as the song's concept very well mirrors my own anxiety about how our lives and experiences continue to become even more inextricably intertwined with technological systems that take more from us than we can even notice. i always appreciate an artist who can skillfully cast a neon-colored sheen over robo-unease (cf sky ferreira's first classic single, "one"). slight but appreciable side-eye at the song being described as "this kind of music" -- what kind? kindly direct me to more.

Jamila Woods feat. Saba - “Basquiat”
the saba verse definitely kicks it to the next level. i'd never heard of him before!

Vampire Weekend - “This Life”
shockingly dull even for them. can you imagine this band having become famous if this is what they were serving up on their first record?

Burna Boy feat. Zlatan- “Killin Dem”
the grit in his voice is excellent

Rosalía- “Aute Cuture”
i'll expose myself as a lamestream churl by saying now that the only rosalía single i even want to see placing is "con altura", lmao

Weyes Blood- “Wild Time”
someone should get an award for that album cover. no particular thoughts on the song, tho

Shura - “BKLYNLDN"
this act is still at it huh. the first 15 seconds, with the little swells that instantaneously evaporate, are by far the best part of the song

Raphael Saadiq feat. Rob Bacon - “Something Keeps Calling”
really gorgeous and moving song; also high on my ballot. i love what you wrote about it voodoo chili. my favorite hit on adult r&b radio this year.

Holly Herndon - “Eternal”
i respect this more than i can actually appreciate it

Normani - “Motivation”
i imagine this would have been much higher had it become the smash that her label were probably hoping it would be. wonderful video -- it seemed to catch a lot of people's attention when i saw it at a bar -- but the song itself is just competent

Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club Mix)”
this is quite striking, so ethereal and propulsive

also new to me + quite enjoyable:
Kasper Marott - “Drømmen om Ø (Forever mix '19)”
Peggy Gou- “Starry Night”
Charlotte Adigéry - “High Lights”
Big Thief - “Cattails”

so yeah, actually the results have been pretty good so far! some of those snoozers just had me a little nervous :X and thanks to the pollrunners for starting a great rollout!

what is the other rosalía single that's going to place? (besides "con altura" obv)

can you imagine this band having become famous if this is what they were serving up on their first record?

Yeah! Super-adult, super-catchy, with more high life-inflected guitar, excellent harmonies -- what about it?

"yo x ti, tu x mi" has a solid chance i assume xp

FUCKING MONEY MAN.

also yes

i voted for 7 rap tracks (not including urbano), of which i expect the vast majority not to place. seems like there's little enthusiasm for rap hits specifically here in recent years, like everyone tacitly agreed it was all downhill after "black beatles" or something

i love what you wrote about it voodoo chili

<3

seems like there's little enthusiasm for rap hits specifically here in recent years, like everyone tacitly agreed it was all downhill after "black beatles" or something

― dyl, 27. januar 2020 22:58 (thirty-four seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

It... kinda was, though?

"fucking money man" (or whatever its actual title is) placing would be some of the strongest evidence that people need to listen to more music that is not by hyped artists

street rap is flourishing, not always ilx's cuppa tho

don't get me wrong, i love "black beatles", but there are still plenty of quality rap songs breaking these days

"fucking money man" (or whatever its actual title is) placing would be some of the strongest evidence that people need to listen to more music that is not by hyped artists

― dyl, Monday, January 27, 2020 3:00 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

she a genius though

like rosalía is more than a "hyped artist" at this point imo

x-post: Sure! It's just that trap reached such euphoric heights a few years back, it's really not unusual for that to be followed by a cool down period. It's like sitting in 1993 and saying that rock went downhill after Smells Like Teen Spirit. I mean, there were a lot of good things going on in rock in 93, but still.

^ that's fair

rosalía is a genius but that particular song is just... cute? (the 'fucking money man' single technically consists of two tracks, one of which i'm referring to as gimmicky/'cute'. the other is quite good.)

Four rap tracks made my ballot, I just checked, one in my top #2.

my #1 is a rap track and while it's not unusual for my #1 vote to miss the countdown entirely i will be a little sad (and judgmental) if this one doesn't make it

I didn't end up voting for any Rosalía in the end, mostly I think because despite the fact that everything she put out last year was very high quality it still didn't have the same impact for me as did the big singles from El mal querer. I've also found her insistence on treating herself as a "Latin" artist for awards show purposes somewhat confounding - I'm not sure whether it leaves her totally "cancelled" or whatever but it does blot the copybook somewhat.

Thoughts

77: Mount Eerie feat. Julie Doiron - “Love Without Possession” - This is good, but also something I don't know how to use in my life, like everything else Mount Eerie (but Doiron softens a bit, in a good way)
76: Ariana Grande - “NASA” Slightly embarrassed to say this is new to me as might be my favourite Ariana so far
75: Jenny Lewis - “Red Bull & Hennessy” - I really have a blind spot for this stuff, it's not bad though
74:Purple Mountains - “Margaritas at the Mall” - Good, but, really think voting for 3 or 4 tracks from same artist is a bit odd and a bit off, sorry. I actually voted for one PM track, not this one.
72 (TIE):Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)” - Despite doing a considerable amount of lurking on bobbins, somehow missed this, a shame as it's brilliant, can just picture an Eyes Wide Shut themed rave playing this sort of thing.
72 (TIE):Blanck Mass - “House vs House” - the blanck mass song sounds a lot better in isolation than when I need to sit through 50 minutes of his thing - you should really try only listening to tracks and never albums, works ok for me. This is very good, bit of a step down from World Eater for me though.
71: Cate Le Bon - “Daylight Matters” - I wanted to like this but it's not a subgenre where generic cuts it for me. - I have exactly the opposite reaction, this sort of thing usually leaves me cold, but the orchestration here really just gets me.
70: Purple Mountains - “Darkness & Cold” - See #74
69: Mark Ronson feat. Angel Olsen - “True Blue” - Liked this more than most of the Angel Olsen LP, however...
68: Tayla Parx - “Me vs. Us” - This is the kind of stuff I come here to find out about.
67: Jamila Woods feat. Saba - “Basquiat” - As is this!
66: Kasper Marott - “Drømmen om Ø (Forever mix '19)” - As is this! Fucking hell this is a good run.
65: KH - “Only Human” - Almost voted for this, even though I'm tired of it by this point.
64: Vampire Weekend - “This Life” - A pleasant-enough pastiche, can't imagine working up the enthusiasm to actually vote for it, but w/e
63: Burna Boy feat. Zlatan- “Killin Dem” - Something else really good which I somehow overlooked, damn.
62: Rosalía- “Aute Cuture” - Still not getting Rosalía as much as I feel like I should be, feeling like she will sneak up on me sooner or later though, like this all feels like buildup to something that doesn't happen.
61: Weyes Blood- “Wild Time” - Ok, finally I get to disagree with something. Feel like the fact that I'm not down with the upmarket 70s AOR she's riffing on means that I'm never really going to appreciate this. <-- wrote this while listening and actually you know what, it's much better than I remembered now I'm listening on my good headphones.
60: Peggy Gou- “Starry Night” - Like this more than the one that won last year
59: Charlotte Adigéry - “High Lights” - YES! My #1! But also Too low! But also glad I relentlessly stanned for it throughout the process. Ah shit, where were people talking about High Lights this year? Never heard of it before, and I'm really into it. Love those synthy lines. - I heard it on Lauren Laverne every few days while I was eating my breakfast, switching from R4 to that was my best decision of 2019. BTW, unfairly slept-on Charlotte track = Cursed And Cussed.
58: Shura - “BKLYNLDN - So much love for Shura, best cut from Forevher
57: Big Thief - “Cattails” - Not interested, sorry.
56: Raphael Saadiq feat. Rob Bacon - “Something Keeps Calling” - New to me. Pleasant enough but bassline makes it 200% more special.
55: Holly Herndon - “Eternal” - This sounded a bit dull on my crap earphones, on decent headphones.... fucking hell.
54: Normani - “Motivation” - I like this, a lot, but feel like it's going to be one of those tracks we get excited about then forget completely within the year.
53: Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club. Mix)” - D&B in the 77?! And has some of the annoying 4Hero stuff which ruined it (IMO) in the late 90s? But actually seems to be pretty good anyway? Um, need some time to process this. The sub-bass is def brilliant though.

really think voting for 3 or 4 tracks from same artist is a bit odd and a bit off, sorry.

This is a side effect of nominating a bunch of tracks from the same album. I'd have been happy to vote for a consensus PM track, but I have no idea which one that is, so end up hedging.

I've also found her insistence on treating herself as a "Latin" artist for awards show purposes somewhat confounding

Does she "insist" on that, or is she nominated for those awards (and accepts them)?

i guess the counterargument to that generally is just "well vote for the album instead!" but at the same time if those really are four of your favourite songs from a particular year it's hard to begrudge giving them votes

RE: Purple Mountains, there were no David Berman songs at all for like a decade, and there will never be any again, so everyone can deal.

^^^ yeah this is why i feel bad complaining

I guess if you see placement as important above "this is a list of songs that people like" then strategic voting gets the job done to raise a particular work up the list

my main strategy was to vote for a bunch of stuff I listened to and liked :)

xps she's certainly nominated for those awards and accepts them but she's had plenty of opportunities to rescind them and/or to say "hey, actually i'm not latina, and shouldn't be involved in this"

Uh, they're not the "Latinx Grammys"...

Which product can participate in the Latin GRAMMY?

Any product that has been released in the eligibility period (see the AWARDS section) and which is recorded in Spanish or Portuguese. The committees, formed by volunteers from the Latin Recording Academy® and by majority vote, may accept a product that has been recorded in languages and dialects such as Catalan, Nahuatl, Quechua, Galician, Valencian, Mayan, etc. As for instrumental music, any recording containing works by Ibero American authors and composers (no matter who plays) or it is interpreted by Ibero American artists, even though the work is authored by someone other than an Ibero American, can be entered.

right, but maybe they should be, because I think it's generally accepted these days that "Latin" isn't a term that applies to people from the Iberian peninsula and refers instead to the people from the lands they colonised.

So glad you’ve enjoyed the Charlotte Adigéry! For those of you discovering her for the first time I highly recommend you to listen to the full EP. Every song in there is great.

xp Tell it to the Latin Recording Academy, not her.

The Latin Recording Academy® recognizes recordings released anywhere in the world with the only condition being that they were recorded in Spanish or Portuguese. Besides, the members of the Latin Recording Academy® are located in more than 30 countries.

Yeah, Alejandro Sanz (also from Spain) has a ton of Latin Grammys. It makes more sense when you think of it as an industry award. These are artists that are marketed to the Spanish-language market in North America and getting played on Spanish-language radio, regardless of their country of origin.

Concerning the amount of Purple Mountains songs:

Yes this happens every year and I think at one moment I suggested that only the most voted 3 songs per artist inside the top 77 gets featured and the rest gets cut off to make place for other things. The counterpoint is that then it isn’t a “real top 77” and if people want to see what’s below they can at any given time when the full results get posted.

Maybe if the limitation was made in the noms thread it could work but then if someone nominates the 3 least liked songs it sort of effs up the process.

I guess self-control could work but it depends, this year I wanted to nominate like 5 different SAULT songs since they released 2 really good albums this year but I decided against it as to avoid vote splitting. In the end there were 4 tracks to vote for iirc and I just voted for two of them.

I think the results every year seem perfect just as they are

D&B in the 77?!

this placing made me wonder if the CFCF album will show next week. It was too successful at doing what it was setting out to do for my taste (if that makes sense), but there's a growing enthusiasm/lack of shame around D&B

yeah that album should place, even though naughty flopson forgot to vote

Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)
Blanck Mass - “House vs House
Kasper Marott - “Drømmen om Ø (Forever mix '19)
Charlotte Adigéry - “High Lights”
Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club. Mix)

really like all these that i havent heard before good job folks

i haven't listened to the CFCF but would be super into wallpaper dnb making a comeback

then you definitely should!

the relevant thread: cfcf - liquid colours

I didn't vote, but it probably would've been my #1. At least top 3.

Updated youtube playlist, forgot to re-post earlier - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgY-EgZm23_JMleMrv5Pq42eYRaWrPeVK

slight but appreciable side-eye at the song being described as "this kind of music" -- what kind? kindly direct me to more.

Seconding dyl's side-eye + request here (...awesome write-up, dyl!)

I didn't vote, but it probably would've been my #1

aww jaymc! cfcf made a sad tweet the other day about fruitlessly looking for his album in end-of-year lists, and here was i hoping we could come through for the guy

YAY ILM 77! GREAT IMAGES MOKA!

Stray thoughts:

Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)": Voted for this - what an amazing rework of the Macarena.

Peggy Gou- “Starry Night”: I might marginally prefer "Hungboo", but this is another lovely track.

KH - “Only Human”: This was kind of a big track for me just because I heard it out so much and it was a top choice for several of my friends. Very much the return of lamestream-minimal a la Samim & Michal, which I am totally okay with. I agree that outside of a mixed context it does go on a bit long.

Normani - “Motivation”: I was vaguely sceptical of this on first contact because it's such a blatant rip of "Check On It" but repeat exposure (largely at the gym) wore me down. There's a certain... effervescence to it that (duh) feels very early 00s to me. And the video is simple but gorgeous.

Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club. Mix)”: My number one! As I said in my short review of it wherever that is, this feels pretty sui generis to me (though you could draw links to Janet Jackson's "Empty" or alternatively Dawn Richard's "Black Lipstick"), an homage to an R&B-jungle fusion event that never really happened, rather than something that fits squarely within a lineage of songful D&B, let alone the enjoyably chintzy revivalism of cfcf etc. - perhaps because the beat, while as scintillating as anything from 1994, is designed to keep the song moving forward, whereas by the time D&B actually adopted an equivalent rhythmic straightjacket the scene would really have struggled to produce anything as simultaneously delicate as this manages to be (without listening to it to double-check, one possible exception might be Global Communications' remix of Lamb's "Gorecki"). The track maintains a real R&B sensibility despite all of its junglist sonic (neil) trix, every element dovetailing so simply but beautifully.

Other stuff I love but don't have anything specific to say about right now: Ariana, Cate le Bon, Jamila Woods, Burna Boy, Rosalia, Charlotte Adigery, Weyes Blood, Shura, Big Thief, Raphael Saadiq.

Songs I'm most keen to hear after work: Kasper Marott, Tayla Parx.

what an amazing rework of the Macarena.

wait whaaaa?

also "The track maintains a real R&B sensibility despite all of its junglist sonic (neil) trix" is otm and my bringing up CFCF wasn't intended to imply much real continuity there

haha it's not, but you won't be able to unhear the resemblance, trust

what an amazing rework of the Macarena.

wait whaaaa?

― rob

X2

it does have some similarities

I love the lyrics

Trascinò pensiero
Profondo parola
Protratta ritratto
Promessa ritorna
Protratta trascinò
Pensiero profondo
Parola protratta
Ritratto promessa
Ritorna protratta

re cfcf yeah I totally agree with "if you like the idea of unashamedly pretty and fun d&b making a comeback check out the cfcf" as a general proposition.

It reminds me of Sofi Tukker’s drinkee more than Macarena.

Translation btw:

I drag a profound thought, a protracted word, a portrait, a promise, i return protected

OMG dying now

I like the ghostly operatic background vocals in that track

thought the video for Starry Night was really nice. that track grew on me like It Makes You Forget (Itgehane) did last year

Chris L profoundly OTM re Berman.

Starry Night video is gorgeous.

Lol, after starting to actually read the thread, I see the Stevie Nicks comparison had been made.

NB: I am in meetings and doctor's appointment all day tomorrow so the playlist is gonna need to wait to be updated till about 3pm. Be patient, you'll be able to find the music on your own until then.

yes

Oh wow, the Donato Dozzy track is really distinctive and cool.

Enjoyed the Blanck Mass too. The melodic line is simple but pretty memorable, a bit reminiscent of 80s synthpop/new wave stuff. Couldn't make out the words on first listen.

Surprised myself by liking "True Blue" a lot. Pretty melody and voice, pleasant disco beat and lush sound with those tremolo chords. Tayla Parx and Cate Le Bon songs not for me. Second Purple Mountains song made a stronger impression than the first.

Yeah Darkness & Cold is one of my favourite PM songs

Overjoyed to see Charlotte Adigery place, although I voted for Okashi.

Same! I had wondered if I shouldn't nominate it but maybe it'll pay off.

I loved the Anna Caragnano & Donato Dozzy album that came out a few years ago but I always gloss over remix tracks so didn't pay attention to this rework before, but this rules

Yay for "Daylight Matters," a track 2 on par with "Are You With Me Now," incredibly.

[/post-work thoughts]

Yeah, Alejandro Sanz (also from Spain) has a ton of Latin Grammys. It makes more sense when you think of it as an industry award. These are artists that are marketed to the Spanish-language market in North America and getting played on Spanish-language radio, regardless of their country of origin.

fantastic work on the images moka, you've really outdone yourself this time

this placing made me wonder if the CFCF album will show next week. It was too successful at doing what it was setting out to do for my taste (if that makes sense), but there's a growing enthusiasm/lack of shame around D&B

― rob, Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:07 AM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

The question's not if it will place, but where imo. Seems like a lock.

slight but appreciable side-eye at the song being described as "this kind of music" -- what kind? kindly direct me to more.

Lyrically naïve, vaguely optimistic mainstream r&b songs by conventionally attractive young people about relationships. We went over this during last year's rollout (apologies for being a broken record) but: it brings back madeleine-like memories of being a high school pariah; to me it is the sound of enforced teenage and young adult conformity and faux-positive emotions, just about the most oppressive and superficial aesthetic there is. I've given this subgenre more than a chance or two over the years and have been pleasantly surprised on occasion but indifference is usually the best I can muster. I am of course aware that not everyone relates to this stuff in the same way and am not trying to make an objective claim here.

heard before:
77: Mount Eerie feat. Julie Doiron - “Love Without Possession” - this was the best track on a somewhat underwhelming album. really lovely once more instrumentation fills it out 2/3 through it
76: Ariana Grande - “NASA” - fine but if any ariana album track was going to show up it should have been "ghostin" surely?
74: Purple Mountains - “Margaritas at the Mall” / 70: Purple Mountains - “Darkness & Cold” - the purple mountains album was too real in its depression for me to spend much time with but i understand why people love it.
69: Mark Ronson feat. Angel Olsen - “True Blue” - oh i probably should have voted for this, my favourite Angel Olsen track of the year. completely slipped my mind though
68: Tayla Parx - “Me vs. Us” - almost made my ballot after dyl's post in the campaigning thread, great track. chorus is very similar to a jessie ware track i think?
67: Jamila Woods feat. Saba - “Basquiat” - probably the highlight from this album, nice to see it show up
65: KH - “Only Human” - fine but overstays its welcome a fair bit
63: Burna Boy feat. Zlatan - “Killin Dem” - only the 4th best burna boy single this year but still great
62: Rosalía - “Aute Cuture” - feels like rosalia can do no wrong at the moment
61: Weyes Blood - “Wild Time” - this whole album sounds very well made but somehow ends up feeling a little bit hollow, never really connected with it
60: Peggy Gou - “Starry Night” - better than "It Makes You Forget"
58: Shura - “BKLYNLDN" - still adore the shift to the outro
57: Big Thief - “Cattails” - surprised this was the UFOF track people rallied around, would have gone for "Strange" or "From" but i don't think they were nominated?
56: Raphael Saadiq feat. Rob Bacon - “Something Keeps Calling” - album is great, didn't occur to me to vote for any tracks from it but the hook on this one does get lodged in my head
54: Normani - “Motivation” - shame this wasn't the hit it seemed destined to be on release

voted for:
64: Vampire Weekend - “This Life” - thought this was probably a lock for top 20, VW at their very best
55: Holly Herndon - “Eternal” - really delighted by herndon moving into vaguely pop-adjacent territory, this was breathtaking
53: Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club Mix)” - gorgeous, singular, r&d&b

hadn't heard:
75: Jenny Lewis - “Red Bull & Hennessy” - this is fun, cool propulsive drum sound and a nice closing solo
72 (TIE): Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)” - interesting but probably a little too minimal for me to get into
72 (TIE): Blanck Mass - “House vs House” - this is really cool, favourite discovery of the day. perfect balance of beauty and ugliness
71: Cate Le Bon - “Daylight Matters” - left very little impression on me
66: Kasper Marott - “Drømmen om Ø (Forever mix '19)” - pleasant enough techno but a bit underwhelming
59: Charlotte Adigéry - “High Lights” - not bad but doesn't really do anything for me either

Briefly catching up:

60. Peggy Gou - 'Starry Night': pleasant enough, little lasting appeal; I'd rather explore the city-pop classics first.
59. Charlotte Adigéry - 'High Lights': now this is a fun song, with just the right amount of mildly sinister weirdness coursing through the background.
58. Shura - 'BKLYNLDN': more like BLND amirite?
57. Big Thief - 'Cattails': impression: stationary, i.e. I'd love this band if they hired a different singer.
56. Raphael Saadiq - 'Something Keeps Calling': could these melodic lines get any more predictable?
55. Holly Herndon - 'Eternal': overwrought faux-transcendental heroism marring an otherwise attractive premise.
54. Normani - 'Motivation': see above post on Tayla Parx.
53. Erika de Casier - 'Intimate (Club Mix)': the album's a little patchy but this is one of the definite highlights: low-key d&r&b that recalls the downtempo of yore will always get my vote (never mind that I didn't vote).

To recap, of the stuff I hadn't heard yet, so far I've enjoyed: Burna Boy, Kasper Marott, Donato Dozzy & Anna Caragnano, Charlotte Adigéry.

Already, enjoyably acquainted with: Purple Mountains, Jamila Woods, Weyes Blood, Erika de Casier.

W/ roll-out happening late afternoon, early evening for me, I'll sadly have to play catch-up the next morning.

No matter though. Very glad to see some bobbins, Dozzy, Charlotte Adigéry, Purple Mountains and Weyes Blood turning up (only Dozzy a surprise it did imo).

Any hopes I had for the one track I voted for placing are p much diminished by now.

Any clue as to what it was?

58. Shura - 'BKLYNLDN': more like BLND amirite?

tick.jpg

People not getting Shura is one of the most eternally baffling things on ILM, just such blissful music.

ok fine but I voted for at least 4 of your nominations m8 :P

last year was also pretty light on rap iirc (or at least I remember it being noted during the first couple days of rollout)

― rob, Monday, January 27, 2020 9:05 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

goon cru only assemble when there's a thread to title

― ||||||||, Monday, January 27, 2020 9:07 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

lol

It is the suspect sound of Pavlovian sensuality: 'you are henceforth aroused and desirous of your lover, with whom you will lovingly make love. Make love. Now.'

2xp

it was my #3 track and I don't find it particularly sexy ftr

*clicking metronome*

Any clue as to what it was?

― opden gnash (imago), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 11:40 AM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I stumbled upon it dilly-dallying through Asda, in the mars bar isle. Escaping the off-side trap, I ran home with it, got the deckchairs out and blasted it m8s.

old town road then

Anyway, my round-up is that, apart from the two songs I absolutely adore (aforementioned) and voted for extremely high, I don't *love* anything else that's placed - Rosalia and Burna Boy probably the closest - and again, I wish I knew myself better so as to express why. I guess none of these songs are doing much to interest me compositionally - whether texturally or melodically. I guess the Dozzy Donato rework had an interesting texture, but I found it be some sort of anti-ASMR - quite unpleasant to listen to. Curious if anyone else had that response

Care to elaborate on this, pomenitul?

I wanted to like this but it's not a subgenre where generic cuts it for me.

I'm not sure what subgenre it is. Is "I love you" x 3, etc, the sort of 'generic' you were getting at?

I'd listened to Jamila Woods before and filed it away as one of those 'clearly good but I'm not especially enjoying it' records but this song in isolation is fantastic.

Also listening to that and the Raphael Saadiq song back to back really highlights this importance of production, every sound on the Jamila record really leaps out at you and has so much impact, the Raphael Saadiq song is good but the drums in particular are like soggy cardboard in comparison.

Lightly eccentric British singer/songwriter indie pop, for lack of a better designation. My assessment upthread was a little harsh: I mostly enjoyed hearing the album, I just have no desire whatsoever to revisit it.

xp

nothing wrong with 'i love you' - my #5 is a song (that i'm probably sole voter for) where those words, repeated, solely comprise the chorus

I stumbled upon it dilly-dallying through Asda, in the mars bar isle. Escaping the off-side trap, I ran home with it, got the deckchairs out and blasted it m8s.

Did you vote for Saer?

I guess the Dozzy Donato rework had an interesting texture, but I found it be some sort of anti-ASMR - quite unpleasant to listen to. Curious if anyone else had that response

Yeah, exactly the same here (and that was through speakers rather than earphones), would probably like it otherwise.

I still don't get the distinction between a frisson and ASMR.

this importance of production, every sound on the Jamila record really leaps out at you and has so much impact

Nice to hear something not made out of biscuits.

The bobbins records were largely characterless and lifeless again

lol now I'm curious to hear your picks.

I retract that, only like talking about things in the singular, grouping things together isn't so good!

aww jaymc! cfcf made a sad tweet the other day about fruitlessly looking for his album in end-of-year lists, and here was i hoping we could come through for the guy

It was in my top 3 and I'd be stunned if it doesn't make the cut

Did you vote for Saer?

― Matt DC, Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:24 PM (fifty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I did!

One of my favorite moments from this record has become the gloriously self-deprecating American Hustle reference
"Got a combover cut circa Abscam sting
Make a better Larry than a Lizard King"
http://media.hollywood.com/images/433x650/2069933.jpg
https://2jnjpz34p77w1q3shs2fsoem-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Music_DavidBerman-1024x536.jpg

Much as I love Big Thief, Cattails is not one of my fave tracks despite having listened to a very interesting Song Exploder episode about it.

Fuck, I meant that for the Purple Mountains thread, sorry. - The Purple Mountains Guy

Interesting how many like the Kasper M track - I nominated it as I think it came thru on my Discover Weekly a while back then noticed it was in pitchfork 2019 tracks list. Its length is unusual and might normally be off-putting for me but it doesnt feel as long as it is and I hadn't heard a Kompakt redux type thing (at least that is what makes me think of) like it for a while.

Didn't Keflavik do quite well last year?

yes

it's weird what bobbins stuff seems to rise to the top at EOY. Not that these are not good tunes, just quite arbitrary IMO

I voted for quite a lot of bobbins this year but no idea if any of them will show up (only one has so far)

I like Drommen om O much more than Keflavik which always felt a bit, I dunno, busy

it's weird what bobbins stuff seems to rise to the top at EOY. Not that these are not good tunes, just quite arbitrary IMO

I think all the things we've had so far from that sphere have placed on previous polls? Donnato Dozzy, Blanck Mass, Kasper Marott, Kieran Hebden, Peggy Gou, Holly Herndon have definitely all appeared in the past

way too early in the poll to jump to any conclusions obv but maybe it's been a name recognition thing so far?

I might have to start posting earlier than usual because I have a flight in 4 hours!

Is it cool if I start posting in around 15 mins?

Herndon is electronic but not bobbins - if anything she's time travel

Early is good!

It's very okay, Moka :)

Hell yeah, Moka!

Yea.

Yes.

bobbins adjacent then - she's covered in the bobbins media way more than anywhere else afaict, or at least has been up to the last record xps

I thought the “bobbins” threads are an artifact of the post-kompakt, post-beardo disco ilx era that catalog indie-friendly danceable crossover music, generally?

You could maybe stretch and throw Blanck Mass in there but Herndon is more than a stretch

yehhh

ehhhh

noting again that the playlist will update at end of day as i'm ooo until 3 or 4 or so. It's a fun and diverse lineup for today; lots to pick at!

i don't really read the bobbins threads here tbh so i have no idea of the exact definition. 'indie-friendly danceable crossover music' sounds horrible though

Aight here we go!

that is exactly how purists like saer view it, yes 😝

Bring on the crazy!

my body is ready

https://i.imgur.com/54MQSEj.jpg
52: DaBaby - “Suge” - 195 points - 7 votes
video
DaThread for DaBaby

The Singles Jukebox

““Suge” is relentless because DaBaby is. Despite the brilliance of JetsonMade’s beat (especially that little 808 figure that chimes in like a reward every few bars), the main attraction of “Suge” is purely in the artist formerly known as Baby Jesus. His delivery is perfectly balanced — just intense enough to let his lines hit you like combo attacks, never giving you a breather, but still leaving the impression that his tossed-off jokes and ad libs aren’t his final form. It’s a breath of fresh air in an overcrowded rap scene, the rare fluke hit from a rapper who’s neither one-note nor overthinking it.” - Jacob Sujin Kuppermann

nice!

Nice.

I liked both DaBaby albums a lot though I didn't vote for much rap this year

ehhhh

― pomenitul, Tuesday, January 28, 2020 2:43 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

As an aside, I wish I'd nommed and campaigned for PNL's 'Au DD' and TripleGo's 'Dior'. There's gotta be room for French hip-hop 'round these parts.

just quite arbitrary IMO

― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 6:13 AM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

what's arbitrary about "only human," which was everywhere?

that is exactly how purists like saer view it, yes 😝

― babu frik fan account (mh),

Sir, this is a Greggs. purists are one step removed from police informants,

https://i.imgur.com/B1KKhv7.jpg
51: SAULT - “Up All Night” - 197 points - 7 votes
video
Sault - What's the story?

we're all voting for "up all night" as the song to represent sault at the 77 best tracks ILM 2019. i said it first that means you have to do it
― budo jeru

Thought this was 'White Rabbit' at first.

Didn't vote for anything Sault, but I dig this.

I approve of its constituent elements but am not sold on how it all comes together. Sweet coda, though.

Ooh, not vote-splitted to death then! The first of six, maybe?

Hey something I voted for!

I'd LOVE to see Why Why Why Why Why show up

I didn't vote for any of it, but Sault was a nice discovery from the playlist for me. (My favourite was 'Threats')

https://i.imgur.com/rFf4jgc.jpg
50: Purple Mountains - “Nights That Won’t Happen” - 204 points - 6 votes
video
Purple Mountains (RIP David Berman, August 2019)