ILM Top 100 2000-2004: TRACKS

Points: 123
No. of votes: 6
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: MYSTIKAL
Title: BOUNCIN' BACK
Label: JIVE
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/bouncinback.jpg

Rasping over a standard Neptunes production but with a cool brass hook, Mystikal manages to respond to, amongst other things, the hataz holding him back as ever AND the events of 9/11...

Comments:
'Bouncin' Back' totally won me over to Mystikal. A great shame about his predicament. (read more)
Alex in NYC

Points: 124
No. of votes: 6
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: MUM
Title: THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS
Label: TUGBOAT
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/thereareanumberofsmallthings.jpg

Whimsy melodic lullaby for baby robots, from the album Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK.

Comments: n/a

Points: 127
No. of votes: 6
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: STEREO TOTAL
Title: L'AMOUR A TROIS
Label: Analog Baroque
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/lamouratrois.jpg

Kitsch electro pop done only as a French/German girl/boy duo could possibly know how.

Comments:
The only non-English-speaking track in the top 100.
blueski

Points: 127
No. of votes: 7
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: SUGABABES
Title: RUN FOR COVER
Label: London
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/runforcover.jpg

Quirky trio foretelling their impending but brief spell in the pop wilderness? Hindsight a wonderful thing, as is this busy piano-led string-laden mournful ode with obligatory 'angry' bit (check that middle eight).

Comments:
It's much better than you might remember, and it atones for the omission in the nominees list of EVERY OTHER SINGLE THEY'VE RELEASED (apart from 'Shape' obv.).
blueski

Points: 136
No. of votes: 6
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: THE SILVER JEWS
Title: I REMEMBER ME
Label: Domino
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/irememberme.jpg

From the pictured album Bright Flight, a charming nostalgic net of an anecdote capturing the hapless butterfly of lost romance, plodding but never losing it's generally satsified perspective.

Comments: n/a

Points: 141
No. of votes: 4
No. of #1 votes: 2

Artist: BRITNEY SPEARS
Title: ANTICIPATING
Label: Jive
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/anticipating.jpg

Ms Spears with a vague Chic vibe and predictable sexually-orientated lyrics (albeit tame compared to her later efforts) for a lighter more pedestrian result but retaining that all important feelgood factor. Alan Braxe worked his electro-disco magic for a superior remix.

Comments: n/a

i wonder who was the other ilm'er that picked "Anticipating" for #1...

overall, nice'n'varied selection so far - hope it stays that way right til the end.

Points: 145
No. of votes: 8
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: THE WU-TANG CLAN (FT ISAAC HAYES)
Title: I CAN'T GO TO SLEEP
Label: Sony
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/icantgotosleep.jpg

From the pictured album The W, a vivacious thundering epic of a song - in a fit of desperation the Clan turning to the paternal, even Godlike composure of Hayes and his version of the glorious 'Walk On By'. In the video Hayes acts as a benevolent Sandman re-assuring the RZA (practically bawling his eyes out brilliantly here) and co. as they toss and turn throughout the night, at their wits end from recollecting lifetimes of oppression. Despite it's earnest, even pompous bluster it's potential to draw lumps in the most cynical purists' throats should not be underestimated.

Points: 148
No. of votes: 5
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: QUANNUM (FEATURING LATYRX & LYRICS BORN)
Title: I CHANGED MY MIND
Label: Quannum Projects
Year: 1999/2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/ichangedmymind.jpg

That opening guitar lick and the bar that forms the bones of this instant classic (I'm addressing the Stereo MCs Rattlesnake mix in particular)...it almost sums it all up in the opening seconds. But then the beat drops, with the taut resilient but gentle bass...get walking son. When Lyrics Born breezes in it's as if everyone who already started dancing to this out of sheer compulsion has turned to face the intruder, but they don't stop nodding and strutting for a second. You almost expect LB to croak "I've been thinking bout what you have done to me" such is the similarity to Stretch's moody funk classic of the same name, but we get essentially an update on that with a more upbeat, defiant message. Like whatever dude, just keep nodding. And walking. And full marks to the Shadow once again.

Points: 148
No. of votes: 7
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: ARCHIGRAM
Title: CARNAVAL
Label: Crydamoure
Year: 2002

http://www.base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/archigram.gif

The way this track shuffles in so understated - you have no idea what's it going to go and where it's going to take you. I'm not sure I've ever heard a house/disco track build in such subtle fashion, just like the carousel grinding into motion, lights glowering into life and then throbbing in perfect time to the persistent beat. When the bassline drops you feel it here (points to gut), soft but satisfying. And what then? A blast from a blaring diva? No. An electric guitar solo ala 'Aerodynamic'? No. A fanfare. A cavalry, charging from the horizon straight into your bombarded mind, and your helpless feet. And it gets clearer and clearer, until one final minute where your brain, your feet, your entire being becomes completely spaghettified. One more time...

MY ROCKIST SHAME!!! So I'm tidying up and "Carnival" by Archigram comes on and as you do I find myself bopping around the room, and then it suddenly dawns on me that I'm not just dancing, oh no, in fact I am playing air guitar to the track. You can take the boy out of the indie, etc etc. Tom Ewing

Points: 150
No. of votes: 8
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: AALIYAH
Title: MORE THAN A WOMAN
Label: Virgin America
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/morethanawoman.jpg

Released after her tragic young death and subsequently topping the UK charts, doing a lot better than several previous singles all just as worthy of the same success if not more so (inc. Try Again, noticeably absent from the nominees list). Timbaland takes SWV's chilled 'Can We' and adds tuffer beats, boisterous brass and bold strings to pleasant effect. Aaliyah does her usual thing, a sweet if unremarkable performance (maybe she'd weep if she wasn't just too damn cool) but the trick with this partnership was they always managed to make a product greater than the sum of it's parts.

It annoys me that I can't tell if I've been influenced by the images of her on a motorbike in making this analogy.

Points: 153
No. of votes: 10
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: TOGETHER
Title: SO MUCH LOVE TO GIVE
Label: Roule/EMI
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/somuchlovetogive.jpg

I want to post some comments Ronan made on this track ages ago here but ILX won't let me just yet. But basically they helped convince me this track was more than just a monotonous joke stretched too far. What's exciting is picking up on the subtle changes unconsciously while lost in this groove - the synth like a running engine sweeping and swirling in and out and in again. Do Bangalter and Falcon view photographs like static memories they want to climb into and explore? They seem to treat music this way too. SMLTG is like an audio snapshot of a revolving roller-disco - mirrors on every wall projecting infinity like a TV picture within itself, fruit machines jammed and paying out in abundance, sucking you into the memory like a vacuum, to a place so gleaming with joy and life you want to preserve and playback the moment forever.

It's beautiful

Points: 157
No. of votes: 5
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: GRANDADDY
Title: THE WARMING SUN
Label: V2
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/thewarmingsun.jpg

From the pictured album Sumday, a glittering, sprawling recollection of a lost dream - the sadness doesn't seem to come right through (maybe he doesn't know how to let it) but the sentiment is there.

haha, i felt so dirty after i clicked the submit button!

No, we weren't.

No, no, I realize this. I understand it being nominated if it was one person's favorite track on Sumday. What I don't get is five whole people agreeing with such an unconventional choice. I mean, I like that album, but I can't even think of how that song goes: I'd have been more tempted to vote if "Now It's On" or "El Caminos in the West" was nominated.

Points: 158
No. of votes: 9
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: KYLIE MINOGUE
Title: COME INTO MY WORLD (FISCHERSPOONER REMIX)
Label: EMI
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/comeintomyworld.jpg

If the intention was to mash-up 'Emerge' with 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' - two of the best dance tracks of the decade - here then respect is due. It doesn't quite come off as good as either of the aforementioned songs though - caught between the two stools of club cred (the stark zero-resonant synths and thudding 909 beats are retained) and pop sensibilities (Kylie's rinsed vox still scattered throughout) as it is - but seeing as they're not around right now...

Jay - surely people will often vote for whatever tracks by a favourite band are available to vote for, even it it wouldn't be their personal choice. I was like that with Superpitcher.

x-post

I had Kylie as my number 18 or whatever, so glad to see she made it without me.

If I really didn't like a nominated track or album by an otherwise favoured artist then I didn't vote for it. (like with B&S's last, which has a handful of great tracks and some guff that prevents me from really wanting to listen to the whole thing).

Points: 162
No. of votes: 7
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: OUTKAST (FEATURING KILLER MIKE)
Title: THE WHOLE WORLD
Label: LaFace
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/thewholeworld.jpg

I remember this being one of the first hits I heard with an obvious (if not literal) reference to the political situation at the time. Andre's heavy sigh at the beginning the perfect 'well, on with the show" statement before confessing he's afraid as well. There's a back-to-basics feel about the whole thing yet at the time it felt quite different to everything else out there in mainstreamland, rhythmically, vocally and lyrically...the point at which Killer Mike is introduced halfway through seems to act as a little 'sit up' point for anyone slumping from the effortless plod of the track up to that point, but it's lively stuff throughout - even Big Boi's monotone tongue-twisting rhymes at the end.

Is the "Come Into My World" remix mentioned here the same one that's in the video? If so, shame on me for not voting for it.

Points: 165
No. of votes: 9
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: DEAD PREZ
Title: HIP HOP
Label: Loud
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/hiphop.jpg

Like classic PE, militant noise you can roll, bounce and shake to.

Points: 166
No. of votes: 10
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: THE STREETS
Title: THE IRONY OF IT ALL
Label: Locked On
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/theironyofitall1.jpg http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/theironyofitall2.jpg

One of the highlights from 'Original Pirate Material', Mike Skinner's amusing social commentary on the hypocrisy and double-standards surrounding the culture of drinking and smoking in society...the beauty being it transcends that to touch on class and character divides (middle class student vs about-town hooligan), with the change in music highlighting the conflict and contrast further but the tongue always remaining in cheek. It may not be the most inspired, radical observation to make but that doesn't make it any less true. And more importantly, it's bloody hilarious (as is the video natch).

Points: 168
No. of votes: 9
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: BLUR
Title: OUT OF TIME
Label: Parlophone
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/outoftime.jpg

(ILX server too busy again for search results...help!)...I don't know, perhaps this will be considered one of the most surprising appearances in the list for many. Something you either love or loathe? If it CAN stir one of those emotions in you then it can't be all bad. What I do like about it is some of the effects - Albarn's ghostly echoes of himself when 'feeling the sunshine' a confused mix of relief and despair, the subtle change in tone of the track as it turns, slowly, that corner from A to B, it's disregard for conventional song formula (when is a verse not a verse? can a bridge be a bridge if there is no chorus? if a tree falls in the forest but only Damon Albarn is there to hear it, does anyone still give a shit?) and the way it somehow ends with a cool sun peeking out from the grim overcast nature of the previous three minutes. I don't know how relevant it is that it's a Blur song...it seems to be trying not to be a Blur song, or even a song at all, which can be construed as intriguing, five out of every ten seconds...wait I've got it. If a tree falls in the forest ON Damon Albarn, THEN this song would make sense. Maybe THAT's why it's here.

Points: 173
No. of votes: 8
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: BLACK DICE
Title: THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
Label: Fat Cat
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/thingswillneverbethesame.jpg

From the pictured album Beaches & Canyons, just under 10 minutes long, tall, dark waves of...something else. Emoceanal, you might say, if you're looking for a slap.

Comments: This (album) rules, straight up. It could use a little more variation, but the screaming feedback/drone/noise/electronic bleeps n' blips make a great soundtrack to being stoned out of your gourd, going to sleep, or driving late at night. The only complaint I've ever heard by someone I've played it for is that "YOU PLAY THIS ALL THE TIME. I AM SICK OF IT. IT SOUNDS LIKE ELEPHANTS DYING." by my girlfriend... Ian Johnson

Grrrrrrrr.....

I would have voted for Music Is My Radar if it had been nominated.

Points: 180
No. of votes: 13
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: TWISTA (FEATURING KANYE WEST & JAMIE FOXX)
Title: SLOW JAMZ
Label: Atlantic
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/slowjamz.jpg

There are huge tunes and then there are HUGE TUNES, tributes and TRIBUTES, cheeky digs at Michael Jackson and CHEEKY DIGS AT MICHAEL JACKSON. This is a kitchen sink affair that not only incorporates the aformentioned elements but adds comedy bongos, sexy low female voices talking, sexy high female voices talking, laid back smooth soul chorus, classic sunshine flavour of bygone eras and breakneck rhymin' from debutant Twista to result in one hell of an anthem. In fact it packs so much into such a small space you might even be left wondering what the fuss is all about just because your ears 'blinked' for that one moment. Apparently though it's all about the Collipark remix. Now, with Vandross being cool again, how long for the Ray Parker Jr and Oran Juice Jones comebacks?

I can't believe anyone could pick out any one Grandaddy song from the rest of their fucking boring songs to nominate or indeed vote for.

Points: 180
No. of votes: 7
No. of #1 votes: 3

Artist: SHELLAC
Title: A PRAYER TO GOD
Label: Touch & Go
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/aprayertogod.jpg

Comments: This is the story of Steve losing his girlfriend, but it also manages to show an unseen side of Shellac. Steve is plaintive, almost humble, initially but manages to conceal his feelings of betrayal. When he turns to the man his ire rises, culminating in the plea for his death that dominates the track. That said, his spite is kept restrained till it can be kept in no more, and explodes over the penultimate repetition leaving a shattered man making one last desperate effort. Closes with 'Amen'. Quietly. I actually prefer the cover by Maestro Echoplex, but this is the song to play to people you want to convert to Shellac. aldo cowpat

Glad to see my nomination ("Things Will Never Be The Same") made it. I can't remember if that #1 vote was mine.

Points: 184
No. of votes: 12
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: JAMELIA
Title: SUPERSTAR
Label: Parlophone
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/superstar.jpg

Comments: Common sense suggests that if you laud enough British R&B hopes one of them will end up producing a great single. Plucky Jamelia's breakthrough hit is pretty unassuming, it was only after hearing it about a dozen times that I realised how much I loved the chorus, and it still feels like a sturdy bit of craft in the midst of all these more spectacular pop triumphs. It's a reliable banker for the party DJ too, even if it never raises the roof. But perhaps we should take a moment to appreciate the modest, hard-working pop song - and give three hearty cheers for British engineering excellence, too. Tom Ewing

Points: 198
No. of votes: 9
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN
Title: FACE OF THE EARTH
Label: Desoto
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/faceoftheearth.jpg

From the pictured album Change, more charged but staid indie fodder for those that find they like it.

Comments: (All I could find was:) Face of the Earth by the Dismemberment Plan is about your lover disappearing in front of your eyes in a sci-fi stylee...Tom Ewing

Points: 201
No. of votes: 10
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: ANDREW WK
Title: SHE IS BEAUTIFUL
Label: Mercury
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/sheisbeautiful.jpg

Is she ever. The guitars nag and push more than the rock cliches they reference by being more stripped down harmonically and melodically and more beefed up sonically to the point of being this mass of pop texture. More of a 'real tune' here but not so much so that it's not still something you could beat your head inwards to. Sundar Subramanian

Points: 202
No. of votes: 14
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: UNDERWORLD
Title: TWO MONTHS OFF
Label: Junior Boys Own
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/twomonthsoff.jpg

What if you listen to the full length version of this from the A Hundred Days Off album right now? What will it do, if anything? I am listening to it as I write, looking for that same feeling I got when I first heard the radio edit on Radio 1's Essential Selection (again and again a crucial source for hearing the big tunes by the big guys first) over two years ago now. Instant satisfaction. A perfect moment (and I was just kotching at home not doing anything in particular except thinking about where to go later that night). Being able to attach a memory like that to a track always seems to be a major factor in shaping your view of it's quality. On a technical level this is classic Underworld - the influence of Darren Emerson lingering - a broad, nagging, simplistic synth hook (inviting inevitable comparisons with Stardust's 'Music Sounds Better With You', Pete Heller's 'Big Love' and other copycat anthems) suggesting a desire for a 'hit' as much as a return to margin. But add the tumbling bells, the somewhat incongruous, observational speech extracts and a more straightforward, obvious message of love from Karl Hyde and you've got a Summer banger with mass appeal. And I can still get that feeling.

I am a Blur fan and 'Out Of Time' is merely average.

Points: 205
No. of votes: 10
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: THE STARS
Title: ELEVATOR LOVE LETTER
Label: Setanta
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/elevatorloveletter.jpg

Sixpence None The Richer meets Dubstar uptown.

Comments: (It made m tear up) especially the "... I'll take her home after midnight, and if she likes I'll tell her lies, of how we'll be in love by the morning" part. I'm welling up thinking about it right now. Spencer Chow

in other news, I THINK I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE! it's not catastrophic at all but it will mean I need to recount votes for one track and the eponymous album it's form. If the missing points remain missing then everything from 86 upwards will move up one place and what would've been 75 will now be 86. Argh. And sorry.

i'll mail you tho cheers

Sorry stevem, perhaps this is not the proper thread.

In respects its best defender/exponent, Mr. Ewing himself, has taken that to FT instead of here, though admittedly he made a very interesting post there today regarding reacting to music which I can sympathize with.

That Stars track is magnificent. More indie records like this please.

And I have this weird feeling ballboy probably won't be looming on the rails to snatch this. Curse me for not noticing the deadline.

(I didn't vote for it)

cdr available soon too, YEAH

Swygart and Miccio, post what you would've voted for here! It would be interesting to see...

of course being drunk I could've been FIBBINF. Assume NOTHING...

No. 86

Points: 163
No. of votes: 8
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: THE JUNIOR BOYS
Title: LAST EXIT
Label: KIN
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/lastexit.jpg

Comments: one of the most amazing and spacious drum tracks in recent memory. one of the few tracks in 2003 to push the rhythmic angle of electronic music forward. discuss. vahid

This thread is so great, the anticipation is like reading the run-up to the Oscars in Entertainment Weekly or something!

mine too :(

Points: 210
No. of votes: 9
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: SUPERPITCHER
Title: HEROIN
Label: Kompakt
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/heroin.gif

Comments: n/a

also it sounds like a seal caught in an oil slick trying to swim

I can't think of anything to say about 'Heroin' in particular, but I will say that Superpitcher's is the best walkman music in the world for transfiguring a mundane street scene into something quite voyeuristically beautiful.

Points: 211
No. of votes: 15
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: MIA
Title: GALANG
Label: Showbiz
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/galang.jpg

Gruelling, exotic, intoxicating, MIA's got a lot of promise on the evidence of this stormer. Inauthentic/faux dancehall maybe, but could still provide a handy link to that other world. It's got a more XFM-friendly lean tho, what with the Frischmann and Fat Truckers connections - a trivial factlet that shouldn't undermine the power of the track, particularly the brazen wailing and hollering at the end which reminds me of a hundred different things. No mean feat, so no mean feet.

It reminds me of Bow Wow Wow for some reason (and it's nebulous origins even suggest a kind of McLaren-esque conspiracy).

Is 'Galang' still destined to be a hit?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/albaalba/ilx/galang.jpg

Points: 213
No. of votes: 12
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: BRITNEY SPEARS
Title: I'M A SLAVE 4 U
Label: Jive
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/imaslave4u.jpg

It seemed for a lot of people that this was a watershed moment regarding views on Spears and her music. Some of us weren't so impressed with 'Baby One More Time', or 'Lucky', or 'Born To Make You Happy', perhaps too consumed by the idea that is wasn't for us to be impressed by in the first place, or at least bemused by the way in which indie fans were switching alleigance in droves to a neo-pop renaissance and the triumphant return of the female teen idol. I found her over-rated and pretty vacuous anyway. Then N-Sync's 'Pop' surfaced and I was quite taken by the production values and relatively novel take for a boyband hit. Then I saw that MTV VMAs performance, with the Neptunes being so hot right now (sorry I just saw Zoolander for the first time last week), then - and yes suddenly it all made a lot more sense (by sense i really mean 'wtf?!'). Britney, making that transition from not girl to not yet woman, the Neptunes making their own transition from renegade rap twiddlers to true popstar puppeteers - dreamy Amazonian beats, a hit song slowly heaving and sighing with sexual suggestion but also an exciting collision of underground and overground forces you may not have deemed likely even a year beforehand. It felt like something interesting and different was happening in the pop domain, this track a portent and symbol of what seemed like a bold new direction in megastar production (plucking edgy dudes from somewhere, throwing money at them and at least seeing if the output was marketable rather than just dismissing the very notion outright). Maybe piracy had an impact too - it was time to take more risks to keep people interested, and convert the cynics. Worked pretty well.

Steve should out the various voters at the very end, besides some peeps have owned up to some of their mistakes :-).

Points: 221
No. of votes: 11
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: AIMEE MANN
Title: SAVE ME
Label: Reprise
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/saveme.jpg

Comments: n/a (anybody?)

Points: 222
No. of votes: 13
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: SMOG
Title: DRESS SEXY AT MY FUNERAL
Label: Domino
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/dresssexy.jpg

From the pictured album Dongs Of Sevotion

Comments: n/a (anybody?)

Points: 227
No. of votes: 16
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: NELLY
Title: HOT IN HERRE
Label: MCA
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/hotinherre.jpg

Comments: A ?Pull Up To The Bumper? for the 2000s, but with Grace Jones? deliberate freezeout superseded by Nelly?s bumptious warmth." Marcello Carlin

(I neither nominated or voted for it btw.)

xp

um..

I fear for virtually all my album picks now though.

Also the general ILM jaxx-love seems to be dying down a bit. :(

Am utterly psyched that my track hasn't appeared yet. Despite the fact that I didn't end up giving it my #1.

Points: 229
No. of votes: 10
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: MCLUSKY
Title: LIGHTSABRE COCKSUCKING BLUES
Label: Too Pure
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/lightsabrecocksuckingblues.jpg

From the pictured album Mclusky Do Dallas, I think this says it best...

Points: 233
No. of votes: 12
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: LIFE WITHOUT BUILDINGS
Title: THE LEANOVER
Label: Tugboat
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/theleanover.jpg

From the pictured album Any Other City. It's great hearing stuff for the first time on account of compiling this Tracks list. This is the fourteenth (!) time that's happened, and though it means any insight in these comments is thwarted by lack of history between me and the song, first impressions still count for something, especially in a list like this. This song provokes a few question - what is this girl on? Did Pete Voss and Claire Grogan have a daughter? Hard to tell whether the vocals fit around the track or the other way round, the vocalist's erratic stream of garbled, vaguely poetic nonsense treading that line between endearing and annoying with an admirable abandon - sounding like someone who thinks they know everything about the world around them but constantly finding it impossible to take it all in. Backed by re-assuring, pleasant guitars and skipping drums to match her mood, it's like a tenuous acquaintance steaming up to you blind drunk to tell you how important and wonderful you are to them, which can be funny if you've had a few yourself.

Points: 233
No. of votes: 21
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: SEAN PAUL
Title: GET BUSY
Label: Atlantic
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/getbusy.jpg

I think he's a very charismatic vocalist; I think there's a kind of posh twang in his tone which makes him immediately distinctive; I love the way he shoehorns girls' names into Get Busy; I think it's the best Diwali track even counting Lumidee and Wayne Wonder; I think he's quite a handsome fellow; he has the knack of chatting fast without a non-patois-speaker losing the thread OR the sense of otherness which isn't essential for good dancehall but explains his crossover status. Tom Ewing

I don't think Sean Paul is handsome at all. He's slightly pudgy. Still awesome though.

Points: 235
No. of votes: 8
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: RADIOHEAD
Title: LIKE SPINNING PLATES
Label: Parlophone
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/likespinningplates.jpg

When they said they'd been influenced by the likes of Autechre and Boards Of Canada during the recording of 'Amnesiac' they weren't kidding. This track is exemplory of the pivot for the see-saw upon which people tend to be divided on Radiohead in the 21st century (gasp) - because first and foremost it's not a song, it's a dream in sound, and like dreams it makes little if any sense. Vocals running in both directions (I assume the plates are spinning clockwise and anti-clockwise too) with tense strings and dull but nimble synth notes. Perhaps the problem for others is that it sounds like a bad dream, a nightmare for little Thom - again your position on the see-saw (also a sliding scale) determining whether you want to spend time recognising and appreciating the beauty of surreal nightmares. Then again maybe you choose not to perceive it as a bad dream at all, putting you off the see-saw altogether, out there, with the band, wherever they are.

Points: 243
No. of votes: 20
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: THE WHITE STRIPES
Title: HOTEL YORBA
Label: XL
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/hotelyorba.jpg

Not the only act in this list represented by a track that's far from their best, curse you nominating masses. But for people who love over-rated rip-off merchants peddling jolly electrified folkrock to the mainstream (hello), the Stripes are great fun, with or without their silly clothes and enigmatic (at least initially) dynamic as a duo (or indeed couple). Take those material elements away and this song, like so many of their others, still stands up on it's own for quirky content and delivery, and a raucous spirit lacking from a lot of other rock bands (retro or nu) sharing similar success but too obsessed with overegged production or making sure everyone understands THEIR PAIN, to the detriment of good hooks and pure rock n' roll thrills. I could not give a toss about Jack White's pain, and on this occasion he doesn't either, the twee fucker.

Points: 248
No. of votes: 15
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: THE AVALANCHES
Title: FRONTIER PSYCHIATRIST
Label: XL
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/frontierpsychiatrist.jpg

Searching for this one on ILM brings up some interesting results, pretty much all negative perception. It's just as easy to criticise this track as it is to praise it I suppose. Oh the DYS! The novelty! The monotony...but come on, didn't you love playing with scissors and glue back at school? I don't want the enthusing of this track to be entirely based on nostalgia but it's difficult. Because it IS Saturday morning 80's TV, damn those ace Cartoon Network ads. In reality it's not so great a track to dance to, but it's one of the few tracks from the dizzy brochure that is the 'Since I Left You' album that stands up best as a single. Great moments; the meta! And when that delay echo comes in on the drums halfway through it's time to break stuff. I also love the way it just maintains some elements and drags and drops others on a whim...the use of the 'frontier' snippet alternating with the spooky choir for centre stage (and if you've seen the 'literal take' video that's a bonus) really kicks, and the switch at the end, new things moving into view, the previous events fading further and further into the background. When it ends it feels like the door's being forcibly closed on you but the carnival of batshit lunacy's still going on - probably best to move on tho eh?

Points: 250
No. of votes: 13
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: BROADCAST
Title: ECHO'S ANSWER
Label: Warp
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/echosanswer.jpg

Released nearly five years ago but from the 2000 album The Noise Made By People. And one of my favourite songs of the last few years for sure. Both lyrically and sonically this song's simple premise concerns time and nature's effect on things. A celebration of the sound after the sound, an answer's echo, the echo as an answer (if the question is 'am I alone?' at least). Multiple connotations that demonstrate to me an impressive sophistication in songwriting when relying on such open references. In just over three minutes you can recognise the sense of progress throughout the song as Trish Keenan observes the passing, the approach and the return of 'the wind' (stop smirking at the back there). It feels like an age old poem and probably is derived from one. The imposed feedback would seem un-necessary were it not for the fact we know that when a room full of instruments but no people is exposed to rushes of air, those instruments can resound. And the feedback here is as beautiful as it's parent and a wonderful compliment to it. Something about heavy chorusing and that flange effect on the guitar (making it more violin-esque) cuts right to my backbone, whether it's heavy rock or something as docile as this beatless wonder. Those dying seconds, where Keenan's soft and ever so human voice melts into the shadows, engulfed by noise like a pebble in an advancing tide, a monument persisting against the elements, still send shivers every time.

Points: 254
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: LUMIDEE
Title: NEVER LEAVE YOU (UH-OH)
Label: MCA
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/neverleaveyou.jpg

I didnt vote for this one but Steve asked me to write it up, I'm not
surprised he shirked the responsibility, everyone in the whole world
is surely talked out about gorgeous Lumidee even if they're not tired
of HEARING it. Oh the Summer of 03 and the can she cant she sing
debates! But, OK, one more try - this song is beautiful because she
makes the Diwali Riddim sound like a clapping game she and her friend
had just that second invented while a field recording A&R man with a
mike crept furtively around. Hey do you remember when "faux-naif" was
ILM's insult of choice? How joyful those days now seem... Tom Ewing

Points: 257
No. of votes: 16
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: LAMBCHOP
Title: UP WITH PEOPLE
Label: City Slang
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/upwithpeople.jpg

Comments: n/a (anybody?)

Points: 269
No. of votes: 16
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: TWEET
Title: OOPS (OH MY)
Label: Elektra
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/oopsohmy.jpg

Comments: The trouble with these kids making music today is they always wanna make the big expansive statement. But what usually hits home (for me anyway) is something utterly specific - one little moment or situation so perfectly described that it cuts through all the clutter with absolute clarity. "oops, oh my" is one of those moments. It's not about love, it's not about pain, it's not about how fucked up the world is, it's not even about the pain a g feels every day doing the shit he's got to do. It's about catching yourself in the mirror and thinking "damn I'm hot". But waaaaay more than that this is one of those songs that just delivers a "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT" moment. Her intention is undeniable. You know what she's talking about. And because she does it so vividly it's more shocking than a million merzbows on the biggest sound rigs in the universe.

Thanks Tweet for adding something a little bit specific and a big bit
surprising to the 21st century... Jacob Wright

Two simple guitar chords chug into a train of horns and choir.

Whitney Houston sang that she believes “that children are our future”. Well, DUH! Kurt Wagner reminds us that we are the past. Lambchop’s “naive” soul is fully realized on “Up With People”. The song has a bleak world view, but is forced into optimism as a last resort. Who would’ve thunk that I’d find myself singing “c’mon progeny”, over and over and over again?
-Peepee

i don't even recall the nomination process happening. i had no idea this was happening at all until these threads started appearing. it must've happened at a time when i wasn't really checking the boards obsessively. (which is...when? someone know when this whole thing got started?) i like like glue a lot.

20. "No Good Advice" - Girls Aloud
19. "Yeah!" - Usher f/ Ludacris, Lil' Jon
18. "Birthday" - Junior Boys
17. "Cry Me a River" - Justin Timberlake
16. "Silver Screen Shower Scene" - Felix da Housecat
15. "Stan" - Eminem
14. "Pyramid Song" - Radiohead
13. "Romeo" - Basement Jaxx
12. "Work It" - Missy Elliott
11. "Weak Become Heroes" - The Streets
10. "Toxic" - Britney Spears
9. "Losing My Edge" - LCD Soundsystem
8. "One More Time" - Daft Punk
7. "Get Ur Freak On" - Missy Elliott
6. "Digital Love" - Daft Punk
5. "Hey Ya!" - OutKast
4. "Crazy in Love" - Beyonce
3. "Ignition (Remix)" - R. Kelly
2. "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)" - OutKast
1. "I Luv U" - Dizzee Rascal

I guess it's pretty unlikely that four of the five songs would be from last year.

I'd still put money it being top ten, though. And "Hey Ya!" will still be top five.

I'd say top 20 is at least very possible.

I can certainly see "I Luv U" winning, because I think it will get more votes than any other song. Everyone knows it and likes it.

I was listening to the new FdHcat today and it got me thinking that "Silver Screen Shower Scene" is a sleeper -- I'll be bold and say that it'll make the top five.

"I Luv U" has good odds because it's not going to suffer from vote splitting. Unless you count "Lucky Star," the only other Dizzee song nominated was "Vexed," and I really can't see a US bonus track beating out one of the most adored singles of this half-decade on too many lists.

The Jaxx are gonig to suffer serious vote splitting between "Romeo" and "Lucky Star". The same could theoretically happen to Daft Punk but I think there'll be more people to vote for both than with Jaxx.

How much higher could "Losing My Edge" be? Top five? Doubtful.

And I'd be surprised if "Ignition (Remix)" isn't exceptionally high.

Hahahahaha, not on ILX it wasn't!

Haha we'll see just how high "Fight Test" places. (I, um, voted for it)

Points: 276
No. of votes: 12
No. of #1 votes: 3

Artist: TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS
Title: WHERE HAVE ALL THE RUDE BOYS GONE?
Label: Lookout
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/heartsofoak.jpg

From the pictured album Hearts Of Oak.

Comments: A near-perfect anthem for aging indie-rockers, mods, and power-poppers, for those who remember when those genres were cool, another one of those "in-a-perfect-world-would-be-a-top-ten-hit" kind of songs, a feel-good track that gets used in bumpers for MTV but you never see the video...but most of all: a song about when punk was tough, but without the faux-toughness of the punk revivalists..."Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone" is all of these things. Cameron Metz

Points: 282
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: THE STROKES
Title: LAST NITE
Label: Rough Trade
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/lastnite.jpg

Comments: There's something about the Strokes, the way that all the instruments are in metronome-perfect rhythm and Julian's voice is scrawled all over them, that gets me everytime. It's some kinda weird, inside out, reverse emotion through coolness effect. Maciej Kasperowicz

Points: 286
No. of votes: 18
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: DESTINY'S CHILD
Title: SAY MY NAME
Label: Coumbia
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/saymyname.jpg

Is there a DC track more perfect and succinct than this? Maybe, but they're not here and this is. And right now it sounds like the best thing they ever did. It's pretty much Beyonce's show as usual and typically her strength is not really deployed until the end - the music not really rising with her though, preferring to remain in it's regimented but bounceable sync-pop groove, comfortable as it is. As pure Summery modern pop with soul tones it's flawless in conception and execution.

Points: 293
No. of votes: 15
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: GOLDEN BOY & MISS KITTIN
Title: RIPPIN KITTIN
Label: Illustrious
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/rippinkittin.jpg

Murder on the dancefloor. Such poignancy is rare to encounter in tracks designed to make you move but together Golden Boy and Miss Kittin, conveying such quiet, numb despair and longing (esp. 'can I go out and hunt tonight...like you do...on Sunday morning....') so effortlessly here, nail it. The scorching swoosh at the start provides a goosebump rush you would not expect to re-occur again and again, but it does, and combined with the poised two note whistle and strangely cheerful chord progressions and resigned melody further on, it all makes for a danse macabre par excellence.

Points: 296
No. of votes: 14
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: THE JUNIOR BOYS
Title: BIRTHDAY
Label: KIN
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/birthday.jpg

From the pictured album Last Exit.

Comments:...the junior boys are amazing. the best group around at the moment. they totally erase the "dancefloor soul"/"bedroom introspection"/"glittering abstraction" non-divide like it weren't nothing but a thing. they're everything i love most about music, in fact (luscious textures, mopey singing, stuttering beats), minus rapping. THE JUNIOR BOYS ARE FUCKING GREAT, GIVE ELECTROKIN ALL YR MONEY. Jess Harvell

i guess so

Points: 303
No. of votes: 13
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: BIG & RICH
Title: SAVE A HORSE, RIDE A COWBOY
Label: Warner
Year: 2004

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/saveahorserideacowboy.jpg

From the pictured album Horse Of A Different Colour.

Square Table comments

Points: 309
No. of votes: 18
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: LADYTRON
Title: SEVENTEEN
Label: Telstar
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/seventeen.jpg

Comments: Ladytron are four people, with electronic instruments. Some come from Bulgaria though their music sounds nothing like Bulgaria. The vocals go with the track really well. I like this song very much because it makes me want to lie down. The opportunity cost of buying this is a decent lunch. David H

How can people like music like this so much?

Yeach - 'Playgirl' has just come on my iTunes. It sounds like the Smack The Pony crew doing an Electroclash parody at the end of the show.

Points: 309
No. of votes: 20
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: M83
Title: RUN INTO FLOWERS
Label: Labels UK
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/runintoflowers.jpg

COME AND HAVE A HUGGG ALBA AND JESS AND WHOEVER ELSE IS HERE, YOU ARE MY TRUE FRIENDS NOT THE OTHERS, FROM NOW ON IT'S JUST US AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. OMG! OMGOMG! LOL

xpost, cool.

I'm trying to give Daft Punk another chance, I really am. So much luv and high hopes are surrounding them. But first, I was listening to "Dead Cities ... " as the sun went down. I don't know where else to turn when I want to deafen myself with a choir of synths. It's got to be either this or the instrumental version of "The Perfect Kiss". In the meantime, "Run Into Flowers" got played twice, the second time twice as loud as the first. Aspiring trance producers can learn a lot from the mid-song break here. It rarely fails to get me to my feet, air guitaring (to a synth) and cheering.

Then I gave "Discovery" a spin while watching the Olympics and putting off cooking dinner. Suddenly, the rot of the day sat in as the apartment became darkened due to the lack of sun. And I was reminded about little I've actually done today in comparison with what I intended to do. So I'm done with *these* Frenchmen now, I'm returning to the others.

So now "Run Into Flowers" is deafening the neighbours again. I think I'll play the break twice this time.

also, the jackson remix of "run into flowers" is quite possibly the best thing ever

I've now downloaded it and I do understand.

An instrumental version should be the end credits music for the last episode of a new series of Blake's Seven.

oh yes.

Points: 310
No. of votes: 14
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: SAINT ETIENNE
Title: HEART FAILED IN THE BACK OF A TAXI
Label: Mantra
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/heartfailed.jpg

What does Sarah Cracknell possess in that limited range of hers that appeals so much? Nothing more than a subtle and effortless ability to deliver a warm and reassuring vocal performance, no matter what tracks Stanley and Wiggs have cooked up for her to sing over. So here's a bit of an anomaly, a Saint Etienne single in which she sounds borderline sinister, refusing to let her voice trail off, where even the "doo doo doo's" are clipped and cynical. Saint Etienne loves their nostalgia, loves looking back, but here they're looking back at the life of a miserable bastard who made everyone around him miserable and then died and wasn't that such a waste of the possibilities of a life? Gear!>

Actually, I could have sworn I DID give this one a #1 vote. Though maybe I voted for something by Missy Elliot instead. Or maybe my ballot never went through???

I listened to the album a couple times, and actually, "dead" seems like a pretty good explanation to me for how lifeless it sounds.

Points: 313
No. of votes: 19
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: FELIX DA HOUSECAT
Title: SILVER SCREEN SHOWER SCENE
Label: City Rockers
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/silverscreenshowerscene.jpg

Like Thunderbird 2 you wonder how something so heavy can soar so gracefully. The tempo is just beautifully judged, the wobbly bass perhaps the most powerful in this field since 'Da Funk', and well, replacing a standard snare with a synapse-shattering scythe... The industrial rhythmic sound recalls Kraftwerk's Metal On Metal but it's even starker, with Miss Kittin's voicemail mantra seductive to the power of ten. I'd call it super-sexy but that's quite enough s words already. As I said on the Kittenz And Thee Glitz entry for the Albums list, hearing this track as I did (not in a club alas) provided one of the top 'wtf' moments this decade for me. It felt like it was something that was going to annoy a lot of people but delight others, and I was in the latter group from the off. By the time Jacques Lu Cont put all other remixers to shame with an extraordinary rework of the track that stripped it to it's skeleton before reconstructing an entirely different prog-house retro-futurist disco warrior in drag over the top, it was my favourite dance track of the 00s - because sometimes you know, when we're having the time of our lives, we like to look as if we're not - but with Lu Cont's mix it's just impossible to hide the joy. You will never be home again.

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/runintoflowers.jpg
http://www.radiopfm.com/IMG/arton215.gif

Stay the same, dude, stay the same.

Points: 314
No. of votes: 12
No. of #1 votes: 3

Artist: MIRAH
Title: COLD COLD WATER
Label: K
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/coldcoldwater.jpg

From the pictured album Advisory Committee.

Comments: Cold Cold Water is one of the best songs Phil Spector never had a hand in. I'm amazed that they managed to keep her voice above all the musical craziness in the background. Mr Noodles

Points: 314
No. of votes: 14
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: RADIOHEAD
Title: KNIVES OUT
Label: Parlophone
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/knivesout.jpg

Comments: John Darn1elle can talk about the lyrical themes that weave throughout Radiohead's underrated "Amnesiac," but here are a couple of musical reasons that "Knives Out," in some ways the centerpiece of that album, works so well. (1) The descending chromatic of that first line: "I want (Eb) you (D) to know (C)." A simple trick, but one that's fairly rare in modern pop music (save for Blonde Redhead and, oddly enough, the Chili Peppers, when Frusciante's around), and one that's very effective at creating a creeping unease. (2) From the lightly brushed cymbals to the jazz guitar lines that slip and snake around Thom Yorke's voice, "Knives Out" has an engaging looseness that the band can't always capture in their overly meticulous moments. Even as the straitjacket is tightening, the paranoia setting in, the song still sways. jaymc

Points: 317
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: KANYE WEST
Title: JESUS WALKS
Label: Roc-A-Fella
Year: 2004

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/jesuswalks.jpg

From the pictured album The College Dropout.

Comments: ....I don't think there's anyway that anyone could listen to something as powerful as "Jesus Walks" and think "tasteful regression." Josh Love

Warks: http://uglyfootballers.com/content/images/footballers/80
http://www.londonspeakerbureau.co.uk/media/speakerPics/Wark22.jpg

As I've muttered elsewhere, I think you're onto something. But I can't even remember THAT much about it.

Points: 318
No. of votes: 18
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: BASEMENT JAXX (FEATURING DIZZEE RASCAL)
Title: LUCKY STAR
Label: XL
Year: 2003

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/luckystar.jpg

It feels like such an event, and it was frustrating that a meeting of the minds such as this - the most innovative production force in British dance music and the most exciting British MC in years - did not seem to capture the record-buying public's imagination as much as one would hope. It was number one for a month in my world though. Such an incendiary command to just react, and an indicator of the depth and density that is both to the benefit and detriment of Kish Kash it seems. 'Round, round, round we go' insist Dizzee - his tone often quite despairing then defiant - just like the music, but this track is all round the houses and weaving through every alleyway and thoroughfare like the kid who just snatched your mobile, using all kinds of canny tricks to keep evading. The playful nursery-rhyme approach lyrically and the kitchen sink crafting of the track reminds me of boisterous kids who just won't shut up, which would usually be annoying, but when they're this imaginative and bursting with life I just wish I was that young again.

Points: 318
No. of votes: 19
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: JAY-Z
Title: IZZO (H.O.V.A.)
Label: Def Jam
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/izzo.jpg

Comments: n/a (anybody?)

Points: 322
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: ROOTS MANUVA
Title: WITNESS (ONE HOPE)
Label: Big Dada
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/witness.jpg

A thoroughly British bounce. Everything about this track is perfect. Over a killer bassline, dubby gameshow klaxons and what sounds like harps plucked through a mile-long spiralling tube of crystalline glass in outer space Roots earnestly lays down the law of his land, numerous culinary references (it's about the 'jerk chicken, jerk fish' as much as the ten pints of bitter and cheese on toast - maybe the reason I love this so much is cos it makes me so hungry) and a rallying call for anyone stuck in a similar rut. The rhymes as strong as the beats, as the man puts it, 'discipline maketh the geez'. Dopest man in Walworth backing up the promise of the previous album in style. Oh and see the video before you die.

Points: 337
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: BELLE & SEBASTIAN
Title: I'M A CUCKOO
Label: Rough Trade
Year: 2004

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/imacuckoo.jpg

Comments: n/a (anybody?)

Points: 337
No. of votes: 22
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: BOARDS OF CANADA
Title: IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE OUT IN THE COUNTRY
Label: Warp
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/inabeautifulplace.jpg

Boards Of Canada have an unparalleled knack when it comes to wringing and heightening the inherent pathos of organ sounds and synths in general. I still don't know whether it's just my flaw that I find their attempts at evoking tranquility never without a tinge of the eerie. One continues to assume it is intentional. In any case it makes the material all the more remarkable and fascinating, despite the tendency to plod on without any real progress or particular direction. Children's laughter veers between heart-warming and spine-chilling depending on the company it keeps. Here it seems fervent in it's temerity (I've been at the dictionary loads). On this occasion, there's a deep, rich vocal that's engulfed by warm foamy water, at one point isolated from all other events, constituting the peak of this glazed vista. Mesmeric.

Points: 340
No. of votes: 19
No. of #1 votes: 3

Artist: PHOENIX
Title: TOO YOUNG
Label: Virgin
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/tooyoung.jpg

Comments: A brilliant pop song sounding remarkably like a forgotten 80s gem. Like, when I drove around with some eyeliner-wearing college boys back in February, and it was snowing and we blared Take on Me out the car stereo and sang along, it could just as easily have been this song. jaymc

Points: 351
No. of votes: 26 (most votes for a track so far)
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: AALIYAH
Title: WE NEED A RESOLUTION
Label: Virgin
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/weneedaresolution.jpg

Comments: after reading tom's review in nylpm i listened to aaliyah's "we need a resolution" and thought it was one of the greatest things i'd ever heard. it suppose was one of the first times since pre-teenhood that i really connected with r&b emotionalism. mitch

Points: 353
No. of votes: 18
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: ANDREW WK
Title: PARTY HARD
Label: Mercury
Year: 2001

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/partyhard.jpg

Comments: ...I finally heard Andrew WK's "Party Hard" and was blown away. It's stupid as all hell, but so mega-catchy you won't be able to resist. It's kinda like Kiss with new-wave keyboards on top, and Glitter Band-style chanting background vocals, but way more amped up. It's great! Sean

Points: 363
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: RACHEL STEVENS
Title: SOME GIRLS
Label: Polydor
Year: 2004

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/somegirls.jpg

Comments: Richard X is like GI Joe - knowing is half the battle. Here, he has a mandate to produce a top 10 hit that isn't one of his trademark mashups of white synth heroes and adored 80s r'n'b/electropop classics, and with a one-time teen-pop group mainstay, who is seemingly bound and determined to remain in the big time with only one previous and compelling reason to do so. So, they team up They both like to dabble in schaffel, Rachel, because she got to no. 2 with it's first bona fide pure pop hit, Richard, because
any revival in tune with his childhood fancies (and his DJ sets) is fine with him. X's sense of knowing humour is naturally at play - if 'Sweet Dreams (My LA Ex)' was Goldfrapp's 'Train' for any and everyone, then 'Some Girls' is 'Strict Machine' and fairly deliberately at that. But it's a rousing success. Rachel's strengths and limitations are thrillingly utilized or sidestepped as she sings her little heart out and easily nails the spoken parts and vocal agility the phrasing calls for. But all she really needs is that chorus - between the way she sings it and the lyrics that perfectly
mirror her own situation and then some, it's instantly hummable, endlessly memorable. And of course, X's production is a marvel, adding his modern-classics sonics arsenal to a glam stomp that's as 80s as he likes it (Chris Moyles' only worthy moment: singing "Dr WHOOOOOO" over this on it's Radio 1 premiere) and above all showing all that pop junk absorption can help him stand confidently alone. So there you have it. Rachel and Richard. Together.Taking on all comers. And I'll tell you what, they bloody well win. Barima

It did and then didn't. ;-)

I voted for it

Out of the largely disappointing (to these ears) fifth Belle & Sebastian album comes this old-school epic from Stuart Murdoch. A sprawling mess of self-analysis and disjointed, unresolved feelings dressed up in bouncy bouncy indie disco riff-a-rama.

It's easy to take not much notice at first as Murdoch spits out his barrage of lines; to just get caught up in the exuberant swing of the thing. But he's all over place, by turns reflective, weary, flippantly self-effacing, and bitter. Sometimes it seems like he's getting somewhere, only for it all to fall apart with a desperate, stark, blurted "And I loved you / You know I loved you / It’s all over now." Suddenly you hear what's gone before with different ears; you hear someone struggling on the edge, choking back the tears, back to square one again and again. Blue-eyed soul, I guess.

Points: 364
No. of votes: 19
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: CLIPSE
Title: GRINDIN'
Label: Arista
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/grindin.jpg

Comments: n/a (anybody?)

[SPECIAL MODERATOR ANNOUNCEMENT: The next 100 or so posts have no actual top 100 entries in and are mostly the kind of chit-chat that drives people to listen to Grandaddy records. Please ignore and accept our divers apologies.]

I was just about to say something along those lines.
-- roxymuzak (emilysu...), August 23rd, 2004.

Damn this all got good again pretty quickly :)
It did and then didn't. ;-)

-- Ned Raggett (ne...), August 23rd, 2004.

i am suddenly very very worried about the outcome of this list
-- jess (wt...), August 23rd, 2004.

in the course of THREE ALBUMS, weve hit stratospheric highs and sub-crustular lows!

Well, it is - numbers of votes cast are being listed as well as total points. It might not be a very meaningful figure, but seeing as steve told us somewhere how many people voted, one could work out the number of votes still to be allocated amongst the remaning 35 tracks.

Except it wouldn't work after all, as not everyone used all their 15 votes.

Carry on.

And don't forget, 10 points deducted every time a track received a HATE VOTE

even 7 seems harsh Tico!

I think my estimates a few posts up should be halfway decent. 25% consensus on the top tracks would be good, IMO, considering there were 200 or so tracks to choose from.

(xpost)

Barry, you are quite right and I am a fool.

I suspect that any calculation will fail to take into account the possibility that everyone except jed voted for 'Digital Love'.

it was your suggestion!

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/albums/tracksupdate.html

I'm d/ling things now I hadn't heard.

I had NO IDEA "Anticipating" sounded like that!

Phoenix is OK but Ruffus' "80s Coming Back" did the same thing better.

And yeah, I voted. (A few of my records have shown up.)

Mainly, the lists make me wonder why so few people here likes rock music very much. (Not that I voted for mainly rock myself, but what the hey..)

Can't we have a bit of a break?

xpost

xpost

Fine, three weeks. Four weeks tops.

Any longer and you run the risk of running into end-of-year listmaking.

What are three good recent rock records, just so I know what we're talking about here?

Stereo Total - like this a great deal, to my surprise, ramshackle 60s stuff going on, also the French language is reliably attractive.

Kylie vs Fischerspooner - just about alright but very theoretical

Mirah - pretty but far too bitty.

The couple of writeups I've submitted have reminded me that I once loved being a student music journalist.
-- R.I.M.A. (b4rim4_...), August 18th, 2004.

However, I'm ashamed and frustrated to admit that I missed everything from Rachel and Sport Relief's publicity blitz to the video. Repeatedly.

Tom, I have this awesome Stereo Total 2x7" and one track breaks into 'Song 2' in a moment of inspired roXor riffing.

this explains alot.

The poll says both that a) there aren't enough jazz/country/avant lovers on ILx but also, just as tellingly b) the ones that are here can't form a consensus as to what the jazz/country/avant landmarks from 2000-2004 are.

I agree with Rockist's and Alba's most recent posts, which was actually my point - The Pazz and Jop lists are WAY more varied and less stuck in their own little rut, which really surprises me. (Isn't the vast majority of the stuff on here basically Pitchfork music??)

xpost (the first question was of am't'r'st)

My three favorite rock albums this year are probably the ones by Black Lips, Red Swan, and the Living Things. But if you look at this link, and link to all the other lists at the bottom, you'll learn about LOTS of good rock albums this year, of many kinds. (EPs, too!!)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0433/eddy.php

xpost Jess really? That makes me happy.

(post made for benefit of Alba alone I expect)

What does it explain? (Not that I'm disagreeing with you, exactly.)

Um...I'm a little confused here: what does what explain? I'm just sorta unclear about who and what this was referring to.

(thanks, btw, chuck - I understand now.)

i think pazz and jop is more varied because the voting system is different. i'm pretty sure i'm not the only one who voted for stuff that never would make it into my own personal fifteen. another difference wrt to p&j is that those polls only take into account one year as opposed to five. i wonder how the p&j would look if the votes for the past five years were tallied and then ranked.

xp, haha alba.

I don't understand this question...

I hope these comments don't bum out stevem. I think we are all impressed by how thoroughly you organized this, stevem. (I am at any rate.)

is screwed up.

It should be:
"Otherwise, except for ILM's slightly less than enthusiastic response to MOR rawk critical darlings, this poll is far more varied than P&J."

So anyway, maybe I'm WRONG about Pazz& Jop being more varied, at least last year; somebody should do a mathematical comparison, if that's even possible. But this list sure STRIKES ME as more one-dimensional. And P&J has definitely been more varied in the past.

did i tell you what a great job you were doing btw....?

xpost

Points: 370
No. of votes: 17
No. of #1 votes: 0

Artist: VITALIC
Title: LA ROCK 1
Label: Gigolo
Year: 2002

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/larock.jpg

Comments: ...La Rock is the true earth shaker, so many memories, at my friends 21st they had some cheesey dj all night obviously cos parents and all were present but at the end he asked the dj to put on "number 25 please" on the 2 many djs cd that was in his discman, and the whole place went insane. the table with his parents were looking at all the young people and it was like the generation gap was opening before their eyes, half the room thinking "this sounds like a broken appliance" and the other half thinking "gehao;chasdckesdhgfcied WOOOOO Ronan

La Rock 01 is the one on As Heard On Radio Soulwax vol 2 (2 Many DJs)

his parents were looking at all the young people and it was like the generation gap was opening before their eyes,

wow, that still happens!

-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), August 23rd, 2004. (later)

Also jazz/'avant' (hate that word), despite being of an album lenght affair, is kind of 'funny' as an 'album'. Leaving that aside it really is all about a) --> there just aren't enough people for threads to go beyond 10 answers. If there are enuff ppl, there could've been a consensus.

(though I'd like to think that ppl who like this stuff and don't like to canonize but its prob not true)

Points: 378
No. of votes: 16
No. of #1 votes: 1

Artist: PHOENIX
Title: IF I EVER FEEL BETTER
Label: Virgin
Year: 2000

http://base58.com/ilx/ilm/top100/20002004/tracks/ifieverfeelbetter.jpg

Breaking up never sounded so good. Deft production and an overall sublime feel make this one of the best melancholic pop songs you can dance to of the last five years. With Buffalo Bunch and Todd Edwards remixes equally strong.