ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2012

beez itt

SUCK IT, GOTYE!

lol

Woop woop!

oh man yeah

Yup.

hit me

http://i.imgur.com/bDRh52Q.jpg?1

77. DAWN RICHARD "Pretty Wicked Things" [188 points, 6 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

Bangin' start!

Jordan better do the youtube links only.

i forgot about emebeds, i'll use the shortener

just copy and paste the share link on the vid.

a+ op.

this will be the first of many formatting issues, i assure you all

Somehow I knew it wd be Dawn. And that's the one I voted for. :D

can a mod tidy up the code in that post?

yay :) hopefully more of hers has also placed

great start

oh i'm so glad "pretty wicked things" placed, as a non-armor on single

KINDA FELT LIKE THUNDER
KINDA FELT LIKE RAIN
KINDA FELT LIKE HIM AND THE STORM WERE THE SAME

<3

Should be tidied up now. 'Pretty Wicked Things' is probably my least favourite Dawn track but stoked for the madness.

thx!

Yessss

http://open.spotify.com/user/awesomewells/playlist/0MVP8scsWPfbXQ4ji7RoUI

^^^ Collaborative Spotify playlist, feel free to add things as and when they come up. Hopefully we're in before the thread cut here.

PWT is maybe the only track on goldenheart that works better as a single in isolation than on the album

hmmm that's how i feel about 86 but then again i don't really "get" the album yet (maybe i won't ever)

gonna try and stick to 10 or so minutes in b/w the results

Great start. Might have voted for it, but assumed the Dawn crew would be in force.

first tie coming up btw

Is it a 76-way tie?

I'd guess that Dawn will have suffered from vote splitting to some extent but I'd expect at least two more entries from her.

http://i.imgur.com/nWMdruL.png?1

(TIE) 75. CHROMATICS "Kill For Love" [188 points, 7 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

cool font btw

Not particularly been into Dawn Richard, but those breakdowns/glitches/effects in the chorus are FIERCE.

That chromatics track sounds like something from 1991?!?

Hill for love?

Two artists so far where I voted for an album instead of tracks; in both cases (despite the meandering overlong nature of the Chromatics album) I feel the album is greater than the sum of its parts.

Probably my least favorite single by Chromatics this year (Into the Grave should have been a single instead of this one imho) but happy to see them. I hope Cherry or Lady make it higher.

i like the chromatics record but nothing on it feels particularly single-ish to me

yeah that k is looking a bit h-ish... oh well

i like "kill for love"... that album is a good make out album but it's entirely too long

I think I voted for "Kill for Love" last year, but maybe my memory is strained.

I've not paid any attention to the Chromatics at all over the last year but that song is pretty nice, if a bit Drive soundtrack.

drat! I saved my ballots, but only on my home pc. :(

I think I voted for Kill for Love, but maybe not.

if a bit Drive soundtrack.

Johnny Jewel did a bunch of work for the original draft of the Drive soundtrack fwiw

love 'kill for love', but i just voted for the full album

Expected "Pretty Wicked Things" to place a lot higher, my favourite Dawn Richards song no contest. Dramatically the best.
Plus glitches are cool.

I went for "86"

http://i.imgur.com/jCLcLy1.png?1

(TIE) 75. ALUNAGEORGE "You Know You Like It" [188 points, 7 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

I did not check out any of the non-Armor On singles before sending my ballot in but I can see voting for PWT, that was sweet

i really like that song and alunageorge in general, it turns out

relistening and i still don't feel alunageorge, it's so weak and timid, esp following so soon after how fierce/cathartic/at the top of your head "pretty wicked things" is

ha xp :/

hmmm i like this. i had only heard one other alunageorge song before. i don't remember what it was called but i think it was pretty boring.

I voted for it. I love the way that song moves. Not usually my type of thing - I think I credit Spotify for exposing it to me.

The vocal on Pretty Wicked Things sound so *weary*, like Dawn's really slogging her way through the track, whereas I like the insouciance of the AlunaGeorge vocal, it's way better than Your Drums, Your Love.

British vocalists, enough with the fucking mockney though.

AlunaGeorge is okay imo, but this track is definitely in its own league in their catalogue so far.

Wow, this Chromatics song is really blah. Nice pick, ILM.

lol

I tried several times to get into the Chromatics album, but 'blah' is the best way I can describe it, too.

yeah that vocal is british as fuck

Definitely a step up from Aluna's prior band My Toys Like Me, which I like as well (at least the debut LP). I went with "Your Drums, Your Love", and unreleased/unnominated track "Disobey" is my favorite so far.

YKYLI is def my favourite AlunaGeorge track, would have been in my top 50.

not feeling nu-chromatics

Kill for Love sounds kinda like the fifth best song on Psychocandy

The Chromatics album was the most puzzling (to me) regular feature of EOTY lists - I feel like I've been hearing this kind of stuff for years now, and done better. Love the Dawn and Aluna songs though.

The vocal on Pretty Wicked Things sound so *weary*, like Dawn's really slogging her way through the track, whereas I like the insouciance of the AlunaGeorge vocal, it's way better than Your Drums, Your Love.

dawn conveys effort and struggle without sounding effortful

alunageorge convey nothing, really, apart from something it's easy to ignore

Nu-Chromatics is all about atmosphere, rather than actual songs (although to some extent they always were). If it catches you in the right mood, it works well.

As someone who should by all accounts love the idea of J&MC produced by New Order, I pretty underwhelmed by the Chromatics.

fifth best song on Psychocandy

pshhhh they wish

when i listened to the chromatics song i was like, oh, here's a hitherto unnoticed strand of lana del rey's dna (otherwise they sound as they did last time i paid attention to them; it's not an objectionable song though)

Yeah, songs are pretty weak. When they get a decent song such as 'Hey Hey My My' then it works really well otherwise it's just a drag.

FWIW if that's what nu-Chromatics are like in general they are better than old Chromatics but I can't say I'm in a rush to check out the album.

xp Hmm, I hear so much effort in Dawn's stuff - it's why, PWT aside, I find it hard to love. AG are playful and slinky. But they're gunning for such different things that comparison's not very helpful.

http://i.imgur.com/NuaEDHq.png?1

74. ANDRES "New For U" [190 points, 6 votes]

Youtube

i liked cold hazy robo-punk chromatics better

effort is turned into drama by DR which is why her central conceits are so effective, Alunageorge vocals sound way too wan to support the adventurousness of the production; i'm with Lex here xp

hey lex, OT but did u check out that artist i bumped your C/D thread w/?

The intro's the best part of the Chromatics song.

never got into the years-long chromatics record but i really like "kill for love," that pinging, oscillating synth that opens and closes the track, the thudding simplicity of the drum programming, both of which leap out at me and sort of transform the otherwise unremarkable haze.

"New for U" was #1 in the FACT and Resident Advisor EOY lists btw. Not really a standout for me, iirc people say it works well in a club?

hey lex, OT but did u check out that artist i bumped your C/D thread w/?

got round to d/lding but not listening yet

"Nu" Chromatics isn't drastically different from anything they've made in the last 7 years or so. I guess you're either into what they do or you're not.

I feel like I would like this Andres track better in the context of a really good mix

BEST TRACK OF THE YEAR ACCORDING TO FACTMAG AND RESIDENT ADVISOR Andres - "New For U" is only #74 in our poll??!? That sounds about right.

i need to stop making the mistake of reading youtube comments (in this case ppl arguing over whether this is "really" the best dance track of the year)

Don't get the appeal of 'New For U' at all.

could only previously get with alunageorge via a particularly insistent remix of "your drums, your love" but i'm enjoying "you know you like it," mostly for the springing bass that helps shape the rest of the track (mostly clouds imo)

i remain pretty thoroughly unmoved by "new for u" but it's cool that other people like it a lot

New For U isn't even the best dance track of the year but come on those strings are so gorgeous. I've never actually heard it on a dancefloor but I can well imagine the rooms full of loved-up grinning it would provoke.

This Andrés track isn't so bad.

Chromatics is the sort of aesthetic wash that I find pleasant on the ears, but it's not got enough about it to make it stand out in any way.

I didn't vote for it (didn't fully come around to it til very recently) but I really hope "Au Seve" beats this. "New For U" is alright tho.

"au seve" will surely place? so much better

New for U is fun, I'm boppin

Chromatics is really really nice aesthetic wash imo. Like, you could give it as a Christmas present.

it's a gorgeous sample, but they just hammer you with it. there is little else to the song. no structure, very little variance in the drums. I like repetitious music, but I found it hard to make it through the whole five minutes of it.

'New For U' probably is about context, I imagine. I've never heard it out.

The Alunageorge track just makes me wish it was by Jessie Ware.

got round to d/lding but not listening yet

let me know when u do! i'm curious to hear what u think. esp the track "life happens"

If 'Au Seve' doesn't place then there'll have been a really poor showing for dance music this year.

hadnt heard new for u before but i like it. could listen to that string sample all day

More of a DJ tool than a fully realized track.

is anyone updating a spotify playlist for this thread?

The Alunageorge track just makes me wish it was by Jessie Ware.

oh, otm

yeah, andres lacks subtle variation needed for a near 6 min track. many xps

A couple weeks ago I was listening to a mix in my truck on the way to a party that had "Au Seve" in it, then was singing it walking down the street, then when I walked into the party "Au Seve" was playing. It was a very synchronistic moment in my life.

i am intrigued about where the first really good song will place.

xp http://open.spotify.com/user/awesomewells/playlist/0MVP8scsWPfbXQ4ji7RoUI

i don't think i've heard 'new for u' out either but it captures a certain dance floor moment and def. makes me feel like i have. quite charming really.

probably at #77 becuase all songs are really good

The Alunageorge track just makes me wish it was by Jessie Ware.

jesus christ yeah it'd be a great track with a stronger voice carrying it, thank you for bringing me this revelation rev

yeah, andres lacks subtle variation needed for a near 6 min track. many xps

― xyzzzz__, Monday, January 21, 2013 1:52 PM (36 seconds ago) Bookmark

i feel this

cmon hot cheetos and takis

the new alunageorge single "diver" is dope tho

yeah, andres lacks subtle variation needed for a near 6 min track. many xps

― xyzzzz__, Monday, January 21, 2013 10:52 AM Bookmark

Someone said it sounds like a hiphop producer's first stab at a house track, which yeah, it kinda does in exactly that way.

None of these have me scrambling to remember my thisismyjam password.

it is def a strange choice for track of the year for sure but i think it's nice enough. works great on the excellent deetron ra podcast.

http://i.imgur.com/BLFCU92.jpg?1

73. JAVIERA MENA "Luz de Piedra de Luna" [190 points, 7 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

this shit is awesome wtf

Yeah! So good, great video as well.

My first vote to place! Kind of conflicted given that it originally came out as an album track in 2010, but it's still great.

Love this one!

yeah, fun video

the synths at the end of this are dope

first holy shit wow of the list so far, track and video go the lengths

whoa she had an awesome disco song in the tracks poll 2 years ago right? or am i thinking of someone else

yeah, I dont remember what it was called though

this is rad too but i liked that other one better

"Hasta la Verdad" iirc

yeah i remember she had a song in a previous poll that i wasn't bowled over by but this is really excellent

a necessary condition for a good song would be that i listen to it till the end when i hear it first. this didn't happen to any of the first 5 songs. for a really good song i would need to want to listen again. obviously this did not happen neither yet...

"Luz de Piedra de Luna" video is by ILX-approved misogynist CANADA btw.

Yeah, this song is v v good. The best to place so far.

Someone tell me which thread this was being discussed on so I can bookmark it. I love it when these out-of-the-blue picks appear.

"Hasta la Verdad"'s placing in the 2010 poll inspired latin american hipster shit but I don't recall "Luz de Piedra de Luna" being discussed much on ILX since then. It was the highest-scoring song of 2012 on the Singles Jukebox though.

Yeah, I was going to say, The Singles Jukebox got me onto it: http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=6030

I'm guessing javiera mena and maybe latin american hipster shit xxp

oh yeah I forgot she had her own thread

http://www.clubfonograma.com innit

The synths are a little too cheesy-rave for my liking, but the Javiera Mena song is fun, yeah.

Love this utterly ludicrous blurb from the Jukebox:

Andrew Casillas: Pardon the (slight) hyperbole, but what can I say about this song that hasn’t already been said about the Sistine Chapel? Everything about this is configured exactly right — the house piano, the Miami Sound Machine percussion, the disco boot stompin’ beat, the steady ebb and flow of the vocals, etc. Yet this song feels naturally big and epic without the cold precision of so much dance floor filler. This is the best kind of pop music — the type which, at its most primal and satisfying, makes its listeners lose their inhibitions and surrender to the power of the beat. By that measure, “Luz de Piedra de Luna” is one of the greatest pop songs of this young century.

nice :) hadn't heard this before even tho i loved "hasta la verdad"

j0rdan you do such a fantastic job with the images

She has her own thread: javiera mena

nm, i see rev beat me to it

did jf do the images? well whoever it was they are indeed great :)

It was Club Fonograma's best song 2 years ago! Andrew Casillas writes for both Club Fonograma and Singles Jukebox which is how it wormed our way here I guess. Yay!
http://www.clubfonograma.com/2010/12/club-fonogramas-best-songs-of-2010-part_13.html

http://i.imgur.com/ZAHfTzy.jpg?1

(tie) 71. PULP "After You" [192 points, 6 votes]

Youtube

J0rdan made these. I'm doing albums this year. xp

I guess it's time to finally hear this Pulp song.

j0rdan you do such a fantastic job with the images

― Z S, Monday, January 21, 2013 2:08 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

thanks! glad to hear, esp from the gif master

(there was a new Pulp single??)

urgh pulp

Javiera Mena was the single of the year (the one with the best global rating at least) on thesinglesjukebox.

the whole javiera mena album is really v. good!

Wait, Pulp put out a song last year? When did that happen?

pulp!

First song I haven't heard before, let's do this.

her first album is a bit indie pop for my tastes, but the second 'Mena' is just something else.

pulp being sandwiched in b/w javier mena and the next track is pretty funny

I feel like this is the 2010 poll all over again with people being introduced to Javiera Mena. ^_^

I have to be the only person ever to ever mix up Javiera Mena and Maria Minerva, right? u_u

This Pulp song isn't terrible at all! I think that's because it was written a long time ago or something and just recently unquarantined.

my boyfriend put on 6music yesterday afternoon as we were chilling at his place and jarvis fucking cocker was so intolerable on it that i had to insist we turn the radio off. and he wasn't even singing!

Came out on Christmas Day so I missed it until recently. Produced by James Murphy while they were on the Coachella cruise. It's a good fit.

This is decent.

Wouldn't expect Pulp + DFA to be a good fit at all but that actually works really well. This is great.

pulp? they are still around? another band whose appeal i have never understood. this song does not make an exception though it is probably one of their best and the best of this thread yet.

switched off at the "party in hackney" line. cocker sounds like dog latin

Pulp song is jaunty and insufferable in equal doses, ie exactly what I expected, admittedly gets better in the last two minutes

takeaway = shes shakin her booty

I didn't know Pulp had released a single this year either. It's good, actually! I like the clattering pace.

cocker sounds like dog latin

― lex pretend, Monday, January 21, 2013 2:19 PM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark

dying

"Nu" Chromatics isn't drastically different from anything they've made in the last 7 years or so. I guess you're either into what they do or you're not.

I agree and I'm the former. I think Kill For Love the album is full of great simmple but catchy songs. Psychocandy produced by New Order is a pretty good description.
It is weighed down by the long instrumentals though.

*checks calendar*

Is it really "Pulp" or is it just Jarvis and James Murphy in the studio with his DFA crew?

lol rev

2010 poll was my introduction to Javiera Mena. loved it then, love it now.

oh god this pulp song is terrible.

jarvis cocker is just the worst

I like Pulp and Jarvis in general, but not this song.

This Pulp song is actually alright.

I checked out the 2010 Mena song and it isn't nearly as good as the 2012 Mena song.

I like the dramatic strings in the background of the Pulp.

cocker sounds even more smug in his old age than when he was archly smugging all over the 90s

at least murphy had a genuine peak once though on the basis of this it's firmly in the past

jarvis cocker is just the worst

― tpp, Monday, January 21, 2013 7:23 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the actual worst, and symptomatic of so much wrong with british culture in 2012/13

fuck james murphy too tbh

blur is still to come, lex!

lol I think I actually like this track more after reading lex's and tpp's reactions.

i really hope you're joking. if not i need to start practising my deep breathing exercises now

Thank god there was no Oasis single this year.

this dawn richard song is the best thing i've heard from her (certainly better than anything i heard on the new album)

Under the Lexway

http://i.imgur.com/MgBX2TW.jpg

(tie) 71. G-DRAGON "Crayon" [192 points, 6 votes]

Youtube

Whatever you guys are gonna vote for next? A Noel Gallagher b-side?! xps

Erm, that Dawn Richard song is on the new album.

I ha no idea Alunageorge was in My Toys Like Me. Always enjoyed them

this g-dragon is fucking insane + amazing, jeeeeesus

yes!!! to G-dragon, that is

you're right! i must've missed it xxxp

I love "Crayon". It makes me happy.

this dude (g-dragon) is like my gf's hall pass

i nearly voted for "crayon" and i'm really glad it made it. song is batshit.

also i really love that the pulp song is a disco song but i don't know if 2012 jarvis is an effective disco diva

wth, I didn't know there was a new Pulp song last year either, and I travelled 12 hours to see them live! This is fab. many xps

ugh this pulp song has killed my javiera mena good mood, may as well be the guy from the divine comedy. i quite like the g dragon

"Dieses Video ist in Deutschland nicht verfügbar, weil es möglicherweise Musik enthält, für die die erforderlichen Musikrechte von der GEMA nicht eingeräumt wurden. "
thank god i don't have to listen to this. what was it, hip-hop?

thank god i don't have to listen to this.

Your loss. It's amazing.

Didn't vote for this but YESSSS!

Crayon - one of those, never heard of it, wtf is this moments, and then I look at YouTube counter: 18,773,967.

at this point my inability to get k-pop is all me rather than it, but while i can appreciate the batshitness i can't really get past how everything seems like a novelty record

the 2ne1 song from last year is a v honourable exception

Relevant thread: BIGBANG: K-pop princes of gender-fuckery and family dysfunction

I prefer the other G-Dragon track where he's biting Weezy and has a BABY TIGER ON A LEASH. And a baby bear just wandering round looking cute.

This G-Dragon is fun but kind of a mess. I don't know if I can do Guetta-pop bosh and tarp beats in the same song. Cool that a non-Gangnam K-rap song made the list tho.

is this the same? if yes then i didn't miss anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crtcCDqdMyk

crayon I take it is a reference to crazy?

I took it as an entendre

alex - why don't you click on the actual link and check?

(no reason it can't be both tho) xp

http://i.imgur.com/jaFYYSI.jpg

70. TY DOLLA $IGN "My Cabana" [193 points, 8 votes]

YouTube

haha I think I accidentally voted for 'kill for love' instead of 'into the grave' , and I had itp retty high up too

chromatics fans can blame me if it ends up being theo nly song that places I guess

first thing i voted for on the list!

This G-Dragon is fun but kind of a mess. I don't know if I can do Guetta-pop bosh and tarp beats in the same song. Cool that a non-Gangnam K-rap song made the list tho.

― The Reverend, Monday, January 21, 2013 2:35 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd put good money on some BIGBANG tracks appearing later

because in germany that link contains a copyright violation and is forbidden!

The main problem I have with 'Crayon' is that the pun is so laboured. For a good pun, you need both sides to be resonant, not just "oh yeah, get your cray on", and a fucking child's drawing implement. BAH.

btw as starter of the javiera mena thread I unreservedly recommend both mena and esquemas juveniles, both excellent front-to-back, some of the best music released last decade

how many HOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEES

love "my cabana" tho i think it juuust missed my ballot due to assuming others would pick up my slack

how many HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES?

How many HOOS?

for some reason i didn't realise til now that he styles his name "ty dolla $ign" these days rather than "ty$"

I don't actually like My Cabana very much at all but the 'HOW MANY HOOOOOEEEEEEEES' bit is hilarious.

haha that bit makes the song

iirc everyone in the ty$ thread had differing interpretations of it. mine was

- it's the second "HOOOOOOEEEEES" that pushes it over the top - like you have the first sudden passionate one cutting through the ~party smoke~ and then the second descending one is like "no i REALLY mean it"
- i initially envisaged a situation where ty$ has stockpiled all these hoooooooeees in his cabana and is feeling pretty smug about life and then he suddenly looks around and they are all talking to each other and none of them are looking at him - it has this sudden solitude about it

― lex pretend, Thursday, October 4, 2012 9:12 AM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he is on some serious drugs, the way his eyes are totally fixed...

My Cabana was released too late for one of the cooking scenes in Breaking bad.

So Jarvis being smug is symptomatic of everything that's wrong with society, but blatant misogyny is cool, and in fact something you enjoy singing out at the top of your lungs? Is this what we're saying?

- it's the second "HOOOOOOEEEEES" that pushes it over the top - like you have the first sudden passionate one cutting through the ~party smoke~ and then the second descending one is like "no i REALLY mean it"

Yeah, this is key. Also Skrillex x Mint Condition samples.

it's funny how the video answers ty$'s question with "three"

lol

emil.y otm

Everybody over here fucked up.

http://i.imgur.com/aNeioAE.jpg

69. FUTURE "Same Damn Time" [194 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote]

Spotify Youtube

cocker sounds like dog latin

― lex pretend, Monday, January 21, 2013 2:19 PM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark

dying

Wondering whether it's wise to ask for an explanation or not

FERRAGAMO COVER ME
PUERTO RICAN, JAPANESE, WE LAID UP AT THE DOUBLE TREE

oh god the split screen in this video lolol

Ty$ is really creepy and has serious issues with women and I don't think anyone denies this but this song is amazing regardless. I find his misogyny too much over the course of his full album tho. :/

i love the intro to this

Oh damn, I don't think I've seen the "Same Damn Time" video.

Progress: from 3 hos to 2.

I love the beat and backing track on "Same Damn Time". Is there an instrumental out there?

Same Damn Time is amazing and narrowly missed my list. The album is excellent.

more motherfucking hip-hop shite

I like other bits of the Future album here and there but I'm happier having resigned myself to the fact that massive lumbering bombastic fanfare rap production isn't for me whoever's over the top.

hip-hop so shite

Yeah, it's a shame ALL 77 SPOTS can't be something you personally voted for. : /

the album turned me off future in a big way but relistening to this in isolation i remember how much i loved it to start with

(I'm into this Future track, btw...hadn't heard it prior to today, but I see his name all the time here at work.)

future in banger mode >>>>>> future in garbled space ballad mode

i like the garbled space ballad genre, myself

That sounds like something I'd like more than this.

well this won't be the only future song in this poll..

I love the beat and backing track on "Same Damn Time". Is there an instrumental out there?

― EZ Snappin, Monday, January 21, 2013 12:04 PM Bookmark

It's all about how Future's vocals become progressively more unhinged as the song goes along tho.

There will be garbled space ballads.

I like the drugged quality of the Ty$ backing track better than the ott bombast of same damn time

I fucking love Javeria Mena, but I have trouble thinking of "Luz de Piedra de Luna" as having anything to do with 2012. Even though it was officially a single this year, it's not like I came across it on the radio or anything.

I have no use for Future's vocals. I'm tired of him long before he becomes unhinged.

boy your money and my money AIN'T THE SAME DAMN KIND

I think he's my second-favorite vocalist of the year after Miguel. He's so blues (although less so here than elsewhere).

future in banger mode >>>>>> future in garbled space ballad mode

― lex pretend, Monday, January 21, 2013 8:08 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

this is so, so wrong

The one garbled space ballad off Pluto that i really liked was I'm Trippin'

the song that won me over to future was 'no matter what' which is neither a banger or a garbled space balled.

balLAD

http://i.imgur.com/fgvVlY4.png

68. NICKI MINAJ FT. 2 CHAINZ "Beez in the Trap"

Spotify / Youtube

Rev - maybe I have to check out a different track. This is all I've heard from him and it put me off, vocally. Maybe I need a space ballad for him to click.

Surprised at the lowness.

(tru)

more hip hop shite

no spoilero but nicki was the one artist absolutely slaughtered in this poll by vote splitting

nicki rapping the states of america at the end of this is some of my fav rapping of the year

haha yeah that part is pretty fantastic

Future's I WANT GUCCI I WANT BALLY makes me 5/9 so far. me = ilx hivemind.

i remember not being particularly impressed by this at first but it sounded good on the radio

i went back & forth on this song... it's so weird structurally and sonically that i give it props objectively but i never was like OH SHIT IT'S BEEZ IN THE TRAP, TURN IT UP BRUH when it came on the raadio

Yeah there wasn't really a Super Bass to rally around, although I will be gutted if Gun Shot doesn't place.

xp Kinda feel the same way.

one thing that's amazing & unique about this song IMO is that it sounds PERFECT no matter what the temp is. in the hottest of summer heat it feels like you're hearing sweat hit the bleachers in slow motion while in the coldest of cold winter it sounds like an igloo slowly melting

I think he's my second-favorite vocalist of the year after Miguel. He's so blues (although less so here than elsewhere).

also seems very dancehall, i discovered the other day? although i also don't really know anything about dancehall so i could just be way off

not that i didn't love beez in the trap already, but her appearance on graham norton made me love it infinitely more. also surprised by its lowness.

yeah, the dancehall aspect of future was overlooked. in my early reviews of his i tried to make it a point cuz there's more, idk, demarco in future than there is t-pain. but i don't know tons about dancehall.

Loving this Nicki song so far

IF I GET HIT SWINGIN ON A BIG BITCH
I'ON'T KNOW, MAN, I'M SHITTIN ON YOUR WHOLE LIFE

i think 'i luv dem strippers' might have overtaken 'beez..' as the chainz & nicki masterpiece of the year.

not too bad, weird that a girl saying motherfucker is so much more fun than a guy. it's a little repetitive though.

nicki rapping the states of america at the end of this is some of my fav rapping of the year

otm at first i was like what a cop out, i want another proper nicki verse but really she embeds that rhythm of the states in your head

i can't remember if i voted for a track or just the album but if i had i would've voted for a non-album track - prob "the boys"

i hope to see a lot more nicki as the poll progresses

Never heard this before, but yeah it's sweet.

I think he's my second-favorite vocalist of the year after Miguel. He's so blues (although less so here than elsewhere).

also seems very dancehall, i discovered the other day? although i also don't really know anything about dancehall so i could just be way off

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, January 21, 2013 12:18 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hadn't even thought of this but yeah. Also he's Haitian-American iirc? Caribbean connection.

late to this thread but...

The main problem I have with 'Crayon' is that the pun is so laboured. For a good pun, you need both sides to be resonant, not just "oh yeah, get your cray on", and a fucking child's drawing implement. BAH.

might help to know that it's a double pun - it's also a play on G-dragon's real name, Kwon Jiyong (Crazy + Jiyong). The division between GD and Jiyong is a recurring theme in his songs, actually.

Anyway... NICKI. YES. And love that Javiera Mena track, why hadn't I heard it before?!

http://i.imgur.com/Tn8MsrE.gif

I kind of feel like Beez is a great first half of a song in search of a great second half of a song.

Poll has been really underwhelming so far but I love those clicks and pops on the Minaj track (as well as Nicki). Best track so far by quite a margin.

that nicki/2 chainz gif! my fav bit of the video, where SHE'S the static pivot that HE dances around

might help to know that it's a double pun - it's also a play on G-dragon's real name, Kwon Jiyong (Crazy + Jiyong). The division between GD and Jiyong is a recurring theme in his songs, actually.

It does help, thanks Roz!

Nicki is awesome, not much else to say, really.

nicki rapping the states of america at the end of this is some of my fav rapping of the year

it's delaware, connecticut, it's newjersey got hellabricks
it's queensbrooklyn and yeahtheywildin
it's BRONX HARLEM AND STATEN ISLAND

she just hits every syllable in the perfect way

I have no use for Nicki. I'm checking out Future on youtube and definitely like the space ballad stuff more.

especially "staten island" xp

Here I was looking for entomological/botanical metaphor, and she's just singing about being a drug stockroom.

^ being in a drug stockroom.

...

fuck so upset I forgot to include "gun shot" in my ballot ;_;

have read other people on here being dismissive of 2 chainz' verse on this which is just crazy imo

i don't know man fuck is on your biscuit?

that gif : D

my only criticism his his repping for true religion trousers

Here I was looking for entomological/botanical metaphor

the apiarian metaphor is the beat

my only critcism is he changed his name from tity boi

have read other people on here being dismissive of 2 chainz' verse on this which is just crazy imo

― 乒乓, Monday, January 21, 2013 12:29 PM Bookmark

srsly!

GOT MY TOP BACK SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT I BEEN THINKIN/ AND IF YOU KNOW ME YOU KNOW THAT I BEEN THINKIN FRANKLINS

also essential: http://soundcloud.com/schwarz420/beez-in-tha-ha-ft-kevin-jz

speaking of the devil...

http://i.imgur.com/c7B3TJr.png

67. NICKI MINAJ "Starships" [200 points, 8 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

i've just realised how sad i'll be if "the boys" misses the 77

xp YES though!

if it weren't pimpin I'd be gettin i
PERIOD

tity boi historians, what does T.R.U. stand for?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

"starships" is pretty dope, redone is a mad genius

I have totally succumbed to Starships at this stage. As a bit of enormous pumping Guettahouse it works in a way that so many of these things don't. Having a chorus that isn't utter shit helps.

i thought this was gross when it first came out but by the end of the year all i ever wanted to do was to get really really drunk and dance to it in communal settings

AND I AIN'T PAYIN MY RENT THIS MONTH - I OWWWWWWWE DAT

contra so many other memento mori club pop the beauty of "starships" isn't that we're dancing cuz the world is about to end, it's that we're dancing because tonight will never end

q: how many redone songs can people admit to loving while still pretending they think he is an awful producer?

a: apparently limitless

"higher than than a motherfucker" and than the ludicrous drops, i can't not dance to it, i am actually going to dance a bit around my room right now

still can't stand "Starships" :/

weird thing is i like all the other edm-pop songs on RR tho

yeah i only barely started to tolerate this song, surprised by the legit love for it

was fortunate to almost never hear this outside of my own volition, i.e. on like my first two passes through RR and just now

That song was inescapable and is horrible.

this song is completely tacky and ridiculous and also the first thing here that i voted for, hmmm

that fucking bass

that kind of hip-hop is quite ok as party music, it has a nice, positive vibe. and it is even melodic. to dance to this i'd have to be very, very drunk though...

still can't get over how bad the video is

Actually, I don't really like 'Starships'. Nicki makes it an okay song, but it's not quite enough.

It's a little too LMFAO for my liking but Nicki elevates it.

yes thank goodness y'all, our first example of non-shite hip-hop, good ole starships

still can't get over how bad the video is

― prolego, Monday, January 21, 2013 10:40 AM (2 minutes ago)

lol it won a VMA

???

in a fan-voted category i have to assume

i can't see it, german copyright law, the strictest in the world!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_for_Best_Female_Video

top comment on vevo: "this porn has fucking awful music"

Occurs to me that 'New For U' is like a half-finished Metro Area track...

"Starships" was absolutely massive live at the Nicki concert I went to, which helped me come around to it. I voted for it, and I genuinely can't remember if I voted for "Beez in the Trap" or not!

"Beez..." is the only Nicki track I voted for, would really rather see "Gun Shot" or "The Boys" over "Starships".

fun fact: valley in "starships" video same shooting location for this

that kind of hip-hop is quite ok as party music, it has a nice, positive vibe. and it is even melodic. to dance to this i'd have to be very, very drunk though...

― miesepeter (alex in mainhattan), Monday, January 21, 2013 8:40 PM (9 minutes ago)

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1nr5dneK61r1bcejo1_r1_500.gif

http://s7.postimage.org/ah6cwcfkb/Screen_Shot_2013_01_21_at_14_46_54.png

66. DAWN RICHARD "Faith" [202 points, 7 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

the drop in faith was drop of the year

Tune.

"faith" is such amazing build-and-release

it's even more so 3/4 of the way through the album

didn't vote for this but for the album instead, but it really deserves to be higher

Okay, yeah, this is one of the Dawn Richard tracks I'd heard before, and I still don't like it. I quite like her use of "cheers to you", though, hahaha. It is a shame, though, b/c from the other track I was hoping I'd been missing out on something and she was actually up my alley to some degree.

god, that is boring.

Who pissed in your corn flakes today?

"faith" is pretty much nothing like anything else on armor on, and therein lies its power

she repeats the trick on goldenheart to a degree

he does this in the trax countdown every year

Yeah the drop in Faith is absolutely masterful, as is its positioning in the album. Love how it's brazenly stolen from that Gil Scott-Heron/Jamie XX track and boshed up. You only really need one track like that on your album, the perfect balance of bombast and restraint.

She doesn't pull the trick off anywhere near as well on Goldenheart.

lol Matt DC's "dick in your face post"

Does "Faith" really fade out like that or is that just the YT link?

Pleased to find the extended version on YouTube the other day, doesn't add a lot, but is unmixed: here

Tbh it is quite boring. I mean, obviously the build/drop structure is designed specifically not to be boring, but... with overuse it becomes a boring technique, and without anything else to back it up... it's boring.

this song (faith) will forever be associated with taking the subway in tokyo for me. it's amazing.

I like the fact that most of the bass is withheld. It adds to the feeling of anticipation

I've really tried to get into Dawn Richard, and I know everyone's going to disagree with me here, but there's just something about her voice that just seems really anonymous to me. Just can't connect to the songs at all. :/

'faith' is not bad, but yeah it's largely because of that drop.

Does "Faith" really fade out like that or is that just the YT link?

― pun lovin criminal (polyphonic), Monday, January 21, 2013 12:58 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

on the album version it just kind of quickly transitions into the next song

for me it's not even abt the big drop but when that rhythm kicks in at around 1.40

Tbh it is quite boring. I mean, obviously the build/drop structure is designed specifically not to be boring, but... with overuse it becomes a boring technique, and without anything else to back it up... it's boring.

But isn't overused, not in the track itself, nor in context of the album which really does flow like a DJ set with that as its euphoric peak. I mean if you listened to it in the middle of a load of other eurohouse R&B it wouldn't work anywhere near as well but context is everything in all dancefloor-oriented music really.

Also yeah the whole verse-chorus-verse technique can get totally boring after a while. So formulaic!

i'll give alex in mainhattan one thing: he's making me miss dog latin's wide-eyed naivety

change ---> heaven ---> faith was the most amazing sequencing of the year

(I'm not even that annoyed by Alex here, random grouches add to the gaiety of the nation at times like this, the opportunity to use that gif was just too tempting)

enjoying this a ton. that future track kills, it's the combination of monster bombast production and relatively laid back in the cut verse imo, kick-ass video too. love the pulp song and j.c.'s vocal (?!) but then i never listened to them much.

Yeah great list this year so far,

change ---> heaven ---> faith was the most amazing sequencing of the year

faith ---> scripture made it even better!

I'm a little behind here (was at out while most of these were unfolding), but so far I particularly like the Javiera Mena track. I'm not particularly into the main dance beat structure, but I like the song blowing through it. But it's the kind of thing I might otherwise easily turn off shortly after it begins, which is probably why I don't remember hearing it.

http://s9.postimage.org/k794o3rn3/Screen_Shot_2013_01_21_at_15_02_17.png

65. JAPANDROIDS "The House That Heaven Built" [203 points, 7 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

(I like but don't love the Dawn Richard I've heard.)

Also yeah the whole verse-chorus-verse technique can get totally boring after a while. So formulaic!

I know this is sarcasm from you, but it's true.

ive never heard japandroids before and this is not what i would have expected them to sound like from the name

mskcouric 1 week ago

Sounds like shit you hear at the end of a Coors Light commercial.

Japandroids is the type of thing I'm sure I'd have tons of fun if I saw them live but don't care to listen to on record.

xp: That Dawn vocal, however impassioned, is kinda anonymous compared to the one in PWT.

A few weeks ago I realised I had zero idea what Japandroids sounded like but that album is a blast.

who is that? bruce springsteen's son? i'd prefer to listen to the house that jack kerouac built.

p sure his thing was not building houses

i like the japandroids song but i feel like they're a band that's a step away from letting themselves be totally emo and that kind of restraint bothers me

There are so many better rock bands around than Japandroids.

i never heard japandroids before. sounds like a wimpy version of hot water music. i don't mind it actually

I feel like Dawn, as a singer, is most distinct when she's going for sensuous, which neither "Faith" or "Pretty Wicked Things" aim for. My favorite songs by her this year are "Black Lipstick" and "86".

i heard this song for the first time the other day. i like it but the overwhelming acclaim surprised me a little.

i would love if "black lipstick" or "86" placed but meh who knows

Screaming that TELL EM ALLLLLLLLL TO GO TO HELL part is the reason this song is cool

sounds like a wimpy version of hot water music.

No band deserves a slam like this.

I don't remember them having such a trad rock sound on their last album

not my thing but I thought this would be higher actually - seem to recall coming across a lot of talk about this song here (and everywhere else).

Also yeah the whole verse-chorus-verse technique can get totally boring after a while. So formulaic!

I know this is sarcasm from you, but it's true.

― emil.y, Monday, January 21, 2013 4:08 PM (47 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm!!

actually that 'oh oh oh oh oh' bit sounds like the fucking lumineers.

lol

haha i always mix up japandroids with japanther. think i'd prefer japanther tbh

I really want japandroids to go on tour with japanther and japancakes. also, for bands to stop with the japainful japunny japandnames.

Japandroids track was #2 in Spin, #4 in P+J, #5 in Pitchfork

Then we had our say.

xp considering which, well done ILM

(I voted for it iirc, so it's not like I wish death upon it.)

when i saw their name i thought of japancakes. their loveless cover album was bliss whereas this is dross.

this srsly sounds so much like the bands i used to listen to when i was 15. feel really old if this sound has come back again.

like, this song is totally missing something, it's very insistent and very anthemic and all but there's an absence, something being held back, and for all its earnestness it's kind of a distant earnestness, which makes it unfulfilling? it is totally pitched as "cathartic rock song" and just falls short imo

We're now at the point in the Andy Kaufman-style bit where the gag is wearing thin. xp

love that japandroids song

ugh, japandroids are so SINCERE in a way that is very put on to me. i don't buy their shtick at all.

it's a pretty good track tho all things considered... i can only do them one song at a time tho

While I agree with emil.y that the structure itself is boring on paper the anticipation-release on Faith is worked to perfection and the voice is engaging, the corny 'you never lost faith..' is writing that is again, made to work. Templates are almost always boring on definition and then they are made to work time and again with great execution...why they are templates to be used in the first place.

Would have loved to listen to this on the Tokyo subway that's for sure. The Tube doesn't quite have it somehow.

alright let's all forget about japandroids now

http://s2.postimage.org/jbcbc4jjd/Screen_Shot_2013_01_21_at_15_19_32.png

64. GURU "Lapaz Toyota" [204 points, 6 votes]

Spotify /Youtube

Also, I heard (from a propositionee) they're pretty skeezy about trying to pick up girls in the audience after shows. So are most bands, I guess, but anyway. There's that. xps to Japandroids

Chromatics - lasted about 10 secs.

Japanoroids lasted 15 secs.

tune! hopefully more afrobeats to come

So glad to see Lapaz Toyota on here, even though I voted for Karaoke. Yeah, more afrobeats!

This is a fun one!

Chromatics - lasted about 10 secs.

Japanoroids lasted 15 secs.

This is why I've decided to just stop commenting for now unless something I really like comes up. I think only one track I voted for will make it.

shed a tear when i saw that 'obuu mo' wasn't nominated.

this is fun but I can't get over there being a new artist named Guru RIP ;_;

On first listen "Lapaz Toyota" is very cool. Well done, ILX!

rev otm

Is he singin "lick my dick"?

singing

rev otm

ez also otm

excellent work ilm

The Guru thing definitely made me raise an eyebrow. But the song is great.

This is neat.

ooh i like this v much

best thing so far I hadn't previously heard.

ugh, japandroids are so SINCERE in a way that is very put on to me. i don't buy their shtick at all.

There was an article that seemed to suggest that there was something disingenuous about Japandroids' fetishization of youthful tear-your-heart-out urgency. The argument's kind of disjointed, but there's a worthwhile point in there:
http://www.spinner.com/2012/10/26/japandroids-celebration-rock-essay/

Ive done karaoke with one of the guys from japandroids, they are mos def sincere dudes. xp

nice beat, funny video, good dance. one of the best yet.

fuck i love lapaz toyota

This is pretty informative: http://www.thefader.com/2012/05/02/lungu-lungu-lapaz-toyota/

possibly best thing so far, regardless. xps to me

looking forward to the next 63 entries of rappin with alex in manhattan

shouldn't we make a poll after the poll when everyone has listened to all tracks which have placed?

no

TUUUUUUUUNE, such great fun to dance to this. Lapaz is a suburb of Accra, works as a nice counterpoint to "Gangnam Style" in terms of an ironic evocation of a locale.

Would feel stupid going on at length about it when Tim F nailed it in his EOY thread:

"2. Guru - Lapaz Toyota

"Lapaz Toyota" is consummate azonto not merely in the sense of being tremendously good, but also in the sense of taking to their logical extremes all of the style's most winning qualities, or rather that one quality of its qualities, the way that everything that happens - the tense string riffs, the metallic pings and scrapes, the ricochet beats, the cacophony of different voices all chanting different earwormy hooks - happens at once, in a barely coherent yet somehow flawless explosion of ideas, or perhaps less an explosion then the largest, most confusingly spiraling set of falling dominos ever. At first, "Lapaz Toyota" is like a carnival ride that moves too fast for you to feel sick, to even absorb much other than the constantly mutating dazzle of colour and shape. After a few replays, though, you get a sense of its motion and patterns, and the fun shifts to anticipating each new development, an oddly angled synth riff signaling the arrival of a drum build-up which seems to trigger a shouted vocal interjection which itself sets off something else again in an endless loop of breathless excitement, the sheer inevitability of each new trick almost as enjoyable as the tricks themselves - how could its creators ever imagine it, and keep it all in their heads long enough to commit the result to tape? For a more subtle, sinuous take on the same idea check Guru's hypnotic "Anything Goes" from 2011, which but for its release date would be my second favourite azonto tune of the year."
― Tim F, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 05:38 (2 weeks ago)

cheers for that sendalai - I was always confused this ghanaian was singing about a toyota in the capital of bolivia.

(x-post with seandalai's link)

There's a fair few things I like about the Guru track, but fucking house stabs! Again! Argh! Tear out my ears!

Lapaz Toyota: yesss, a Ball J Beat made it!

ball j made it

Actually, the more I listen to it, the more I can ignore that one sound, b/c it's full of lots of other sounds that are fucking ace.

i have such a stupid smile on my face whenever i listen to this

http://s9.postimage.org/k61106lkf/Screen_Shot_2013_01_21_at_15_40_58.png

63. DONKIE PUNCH & LORENZO "Snapbacks n Tattoos" [206 points, 6 votes]

Youtube

well if this isn't the best thing in the world

yep. hadn't heard it before i assembled my ballot but it was definitely the most fun song among my last-minute listens

There's a fair few things I like about the Guru track, but fucking house stabs! Again! Argh! Tear out my ears!

― emil.y, Monday, January 21, 2013 1:36 PM Bookmark

but house stabs are the best thing in the world tho

was gonna say

Obv the last two tunes are my two favourite things ever.

I remember seeing this on the noms list, but thought "Donkie Punch? Next..." and didn't listen to it. I should've.

not as good as actual stabs

xposts

not as good as actual stabs

Scott Walker + machetes to thread...

http://i.imgur.com/6NTuEEP.png

Lol, Rev, they're pretty much my least favourite sound in the world. Aside from maybe smooth '80s 'soulful' sax solos. (Which I'm sure you're going to say you love too, hahaha.)

xp yes please to some Scott Walker in this thread.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

was resigned to no jackin tunes in this thing, so pleased :)

lol i was not aware of this existing. i hesitate to mention that i actually liked the driicky graham song

lol @ gr8080

lol i tried to vote for the driicky graham song but no one nominated it

"keep calm and carry on" posters are the single worst, most unfunny meme on the internet

would have voted for the original - did I? was it nominated? hmmm

oh no i laughed at an unfunny meme on the internet

*bites nails*

yeah it wasn't nominated xp

"keep calm and carry on" posters are the single worst, most unfunny meme on the internet

― The Reverend, Monday, January 21, 2013 9:50 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're a national fucking plague

I really like this song from around 2 minutes on, but the first two minutes were tough to get through.

Lol, Rev, they're pretty much my least favourite sound in the world. Aside from maybe smooth '80s 'soulful' sax solos. (Which I'm sure you're going to say you love too, hahaha.)

I'd say they're more hit and miss personally.

Is this "jackin' house"? I didn't pay tons of attention to UK dance musics this year. This is dope as fuck tho.

you guys seem pretty worked up over those posters

"keep calm and carry on" posters are the single worst, most unfunny meme on the internet

― The Reverend, Monday, January 21, 2013 9:50 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're a national fucking plague

― lex pretend, Monday, January 21, 2013 11:52 AM (14 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://i.imgur.com/rxmKNvf.jpg

touche

gr8080, doubling down

http://www.penguin.com.au/jpg-large/9780140260656.jpg

certified jackin

that's quite decent too. not really the kind of music i listen to every day, a wee bit too repetitive but it has something about it. there is enough variety in that track that it keeps my attention until the end. i like that ringing, echoing background noise.

i hesitate to mention that i actually liked the driicky graham song

― teledyldonix, Monday, January 21, 2013 9:49 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah the original's a serviceable banger, i like it, if i'd heard it more in the wild i'd probably like it a lot more. the jackin remix just makes me want to hear the original instead (as per every jackin track i've heard)

love this but hope the original places too

oh wonka meme >

I think I've said this before but all internet memes that don't originate from the rap internet are terrible.

The rap internet?

rapinterest.com

http://i47.tinypic.com/poo03.png

http://i.imgur.com/dKZiBst.gif

http://i.imgur.com/8I2h6sM.png

http://s9.postimage.org/apqdkwkof/Screen_Shot_2013_01_21_at_16_05_01.png

62. NICK HANNAM & TOM GARNETT FT. TOM ZANETTI "You Want Me" [214 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote]

Youtube

this is also fucking great, damn

literally never heard of "jacking house" in my life, how many of these are going to place?

LET'S JACK

i guess that youtbue isn't the full version, if someone wants to post a good link...

im still not sure what defines jackin house but these are pretty good

Can someone provide a quick definition of jacking house? Acid house would be one root?

I could just do a search of course.

seems kind of like bassline house without the crazy basslines? i don't like this track as much as the last

OK THEN WATCH WHAT I SAY THEN
IF YOU LIKE CHAMPAGNE SWING MY WAY THEN

I'm with Rev. last track was much better.

seems kind of like bassline house without the crazy basslines?

yeah this is what it all sounds like to me too. (but with really obvious samples instead.)

i guess that youtbue isn't the full version, if someone wants to post a good link...

― J0rdan S., Monday, January 21, 2013 10:09 PM (4 minutes ago)

Should be able to stream it via http://www49.zippyshare.com/v/58211553/file.html , hopefully.

This is the actual tune of the year 40% of the time.

had i been able to find the full version before voting i definitely would've thrown it on my list

I am so so so fucking happy to see Lapaz Toyota in here. It was played at about 3am at my NYE party when everyone was battered and my front room broke out into this spontaneous azonto. Top 10 of the year for me and the video is great too.

This is the actual tune of the year 40% of the time.

― Tim F, Monday, January 21, 2013 2:17 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm gonna call "you need more people" on this one.

OK THEN WATCH WHAT I SAY THEN
IF YOU LIKE CHAMPAGNE SWING MY WAY THEN

^^^^

uk funky seemed to get much more traction on ilm than jackin and yet "It's What You Do" barely got into the top 77 a few years back so i wasn't expecting any jackin here, glad to be proven wrong! best music atm by far

Last two tracks are fantastic & have impeccable dancefloor logic obv.

I wasn't familiar with the last three tracks but they're awesome at first listen. Specially liking Lapaz Toyota.

Should note "You Want Me" is like the absolute opposite of an instant tune though.

I first heard it way back in Feb or March or so and was like "yeah this is a pretty nice follow-up to Hannam's "Love You Girl" remix", and then found that it just grew in my estimation fairly consistently over the course of the year.

Just this deeply compulsive hypnoticism that eventually feels totally hardwired into yr nervous system like when it's playing the blood is pulsing in time in the veins on the top of my hands.

uk funky seemed to get much more traction on ilm than jackin and yet "It's What You Do" barely got into the top 77 a few years back

i can't recall where the best uk funky trax placed? "in the air", "do you mind", "bongo jam", "fallin' again" etc

this is the greatest thing

xp What years were they? I don't remember any of those titles.

goofy wiley raps + choice r&b sampling...

Love those eeeerie sounds building around then it breaks onto the rap 2mins in...just unexpected, seemingly out of place yet totally appropriate. xps

That love you girl remix was so dope too

If pre-2010 then ignore my q

sweet victory

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/c0.21.403.403/p403x403/318560_10152377029720006_1613004091_n.png

Haha Tom zanetti Facebook wormhole

Can't keep up. Some thoughts so far:

Dawn Richard - the musical equivalent of "Battlestar Galactica" - so much bathos. Lighten up a little?

AlunaGeorge - the track itself is so much better than "Pretty Wicked Things". UK dubstep better than US shocker. I like the vocal and it allows the track to shine through.

Andres - lacking variation? The heck? There are so many little details. What's that voice whispering? Admittedly it would work much better in a mix than on its own.

Javiera Mena - amazing song. But I thought it came out in 2010? I definitely put it on my best of 2010 mix.

G-Dragon - the hypertrophied commercialism of K-Pop really turns me off. It's kinda cool how their videos "sample" other videos. As with other K-Pop I doubt anyone would give a shit about the song if the video didn't exist though the chorus is fun and quite ravey (makes me think of "Poing").

Ty Dolla $ign - I love that the tradition of signing off with your name continues in hip hop

"Same Damn Time" - love the bombast and the cheap video. I gotta admit I love shouting in hip hop especially as compared to the blunted affect of "My Cabana" (for example).

"Beez In The Trap" - refrain reminds me of Schoolly D's "PSK". How many guest spots did 2 Chainz do last year? Seems like he is everywhere.

also london had a really terrible 2012, no?

ok can someone traversing the wormhole post the Tom Zanetti + tiger pic :D

I think the #32 placement for "In the Morning" is the best a UK funky track ever did.

http://s7.postimage.org/dpr0ek7nv/Screen_Shot_2013_01_21_at_16_24_07.png

61. TAME IMPALA "Feels Like Only We Go Backwards" [214 points, 8 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

japandroids are such a token rock band for critics who don't really like rock music

that's it for today

i can't recall where the best uk funky trax placed? "in the air", "do you mind", "bongo jam", "fallin' again" etc

Strictly speaking "It's What You Do" is actually slightly better than even the best of those, but yeah I don't think any funky ever did astonishingly well on the poll.

Possibly more vote-splitting at work though, it seems to me that with jackin' there's a bit more consensus around what constitutes the absolute cream of the crop (i.e. I don't expect any other jackin' tunes to place now that these two have).

ok can someone traversing the wormhole post the Tom Zanetti + tiger pic :D

― Mind Taker, Monday, January 21, 2013 10:26 PM (3 minutes ago)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/p480x480/523157_10151552476595006_1173554887_n.jpg

tame impala is kinda token rock too. them and japandroids are the frank ocean/miguel of rock

Can take or leave Tame Impala, don't really get the hype. Cool video though.

i enjoy the overwhelming psychedelia of the tame impala track but it can't totally distract me from the pointless tune

these guys really really like john lennon, huh?

oh well at least it's unlikely that there'll be a 20 minute wilco song on this year's list

tame impala are really good but i have no idea how anyone can tell one song from the other

Tame Impala - another 10 secs I need back.

my eyes spent so much time glossing over tame impala as the most irrelevant bit of sundry EOY lists that it actually surprises me to learn they have a following on ilm

these guys really really like john lennon, huh?

― The Reverend, Monday, January 21, 2013 10:31 PM (56 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post

what's up with the bragging about how little you made it through a song? listen!

But I already own the Dukes of the Stratosphear record.

The video is really cool, actually, and almost puts the song into a context where you can forget it is a sub-par Beatles-obsessed nonentity. Almost.

Hadn't heard Tame Impala before - is this what Modular sounds like these days? As a Kiwi I think I'm passively exposed to enough Unknown Mortal Orchestra/Opossum for me to relish engaging w/the Aussie equivalent.

Very very cool video, decent song

How many guest spots did 2 Chainz do last year? Seems like he is everywhere.

that gif posted upthread is great for the reversed gender dynamics that lex noted, but it also captures why he works so well on Beez: he's like the pixie-stick snorting younger brother buzzing around his deadpan calm older sister. It's a classic comic strip/cartoon kind of combination.

yeah tame impala is very "oh ok that's nice but i won't remember it in 5 minutes and will never want to listen again"

lots of good-but-not-great for me in today's results, still excited to hear the rest tho. "lapaz toyota" is my pick of the day easily

what's up with the bragging about how little you made it through a song? listen!

it's less bragging and more an exclamation of disgust

for the record i lasted five seconds into it so i have xyzzzz beat

That Tame Impala has exactly enough awesome to fit into a car-commercial. And then nothing happens. Hate it.

You could make sure no-one one-ups you by just not listening at all.

everyone discovering Lapaz Toyota might want to bookmark Afrobeats 2013

tame impala are really good but i have no idea how anyone can tell one song from the other

I think "Feels Like..." got traction on EOY lists and such just b/c it was a single and has a cool video. But the other single, "Elephant," stands out from the album a bit more, IMO.

ILM poll is the time each year where I'm confronted with things I ordinarily wouldn't hear (even with the Spotify noms playlist, I can't devote attention to everything). I'm with J0rdan in that giving everything a shot is the best way to experience these rollouts. You're not going to like everything, but boastful hating is lame imo.

I really want japandroids to go on tour with japanther and japancakes. also, for bands to stop with the japainful japunny japandnames.

― Frederik B, Monday, January 21, 2013 4:17 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is otm, will never listen to any of these bands

Stood through an hour of Marcus Nasty mixing jackin last Thursday (expertly, must be said) and was left pretty unmoved. "You Want Me" is making a lot more sense tho. Perhaps these things really need an MC over them to be interesting to me. Same with "Au Seve" actually, only makes sense with Maxwell D being super dorky over it.

recap:

77. DAWN RICHARD "Pretty Wicked Things" [188 points, 6 votes]
75. CHROMATICS "Kill For Love" [188 points, 7 votes]
75. ALUNAGEORGE "You Know You Like It" [188 points, 7 votes]
74. ANDRÉS "New For U" [190 points, 6 votes]
73. JAVIERA MENA "Luz de Piedra de Luna" [190 points, 7 votes]
71. PULP "After You" [192 points, 6 votes]
71. G-DRAGON "Crayon" [192 points, 6 votes]
70. TY DOLLA $IGN "My Cabana" [193 points, 8 votes]
69. FUTURE "Same Damn Time" [194 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote]
68. NICKI MINAJ FT. 2 CHAINZ "Beez in the Trap" [198 points, 9 votes]
67. NICKI MINAJ "Starships" [200 points, 8 votes]
66. DAWN RICHARD "Faith" [202 points, 7 votes]
65. JAPANDROIDS "The House That Heaven Built" [203 points, 7 votes]
64. GURU "Lapaz Toyota" [204 points, 6 votes]
63. DONKIE PUNCH & LORENZO "Snapbacks n Tattoos" [206 points, 6 votes]
62. NICK HANNAM & TOM GARNETT FT. TOM ZANETTI "You Want Me" [214 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote]
61. TAME IMPALA "Feels Like Only We Go Backwards" [214 points, 8 votes]

I haven't heard most of these but I'm waiting for the spotify playlist to be done so I can listen to all of them at once.

Thanks so far Jordan. Bit underwhelmed at the beginning but there are five killer tunes in here.

As for the rock tracks we should all stop this and go back to our Sun City Girls stash.

rmde

even though i agree re: rock

only one of mine to show up so far is "Same Damn Time," which was my #1. pretty lame that it actually did better on P&J than on ilx.

Tame Impala was more fun in 2010 when the band was just the Aussie equivalent of Dungen and not such a critics' darling. But I still like 'em.

Which ones are the rock tracks? Tame Impala and Japandroids? Maybe Pulp and Chromatics could slip in under that designation, but barely.

people probably vote-split between 'same damn time' and 'turn on the lights,' obv the latter's gonna do much better xp

I actually think TA is fine but I don't get what's special about them

"Same Damn Time" easily my fav so far

Japandroids straight up suck though

i voted for both, problem solved :)

Not my favourite day ever in an ILM pollout; just one of my votes placed (Javiera Mena) and just one new discovery I really loved (Lapaz Toyota). Roll on tomorrow!

Nicki Minaj - Starships. Is this a fucking joke? Rhyming "fly" with "sky" and THEN "high"? And the terrible Guetta breakdown. Awful awful awful.

Japandroids - soooo boring.

"Lapaz Toyota" - decent. Wish the drumrolls and "lapaz toyota" bits weren't there. When is this "Barbara Streisand" shit gonna end? Although it's interesting how it's pretty restrained here and is just another element among the mountain of hooks in this song.

"Snapbacks n Tattoos" - sounds so reserved after the previous track. Whoa...how did this become a hip-hop track?

to return to the chromatics, I agree that prob not as good as their earlier neon ice palace work, but still good, and it helps to watch the music vids, they probably have my favorite aesthetic out of any band in music rite now, warm fuzzed out 8mm revivalism

http://i.imgur.com/Yk0NblH.jpg

Wait...there's a difference between "Funky" and "Jackin'" house? Hair-splitting, IMO.

digitaldjigit you ought to listen to the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BayLotJJeXE

of all the aussie stuff to take off i never would have expected lame impala to be the biggest. also worst production, fridmann must die

x-post

Those jackin house tracks (and others I've heard) don't sound like funky to me at all, and I'm not remotely a specialist in this stuff.

I do like how restrained those two jackin tracks are, with just the right placement of sounds and vocals

Anyone care to tumblr these? the way they did with the electronic poll?

http://ilxpolls.tumblr.com/

only one of mine to show up so far is "Same Damn Time," which was my #1. pretty lame that it actually did better on P&J than on ilx.

― the legend of bigger yansh (some dude), Monday, January 21, 2013 2:43 PM Bookmark

As much as I love "Same Damn Time", voting for Pluto and "Turn on the Lights" and "Loveeeeeee Song" felt like enough.

I bet loads have voted for their (TI) album as well. This shit is even more unbearable than Jarvis Cocker.

voted for 'my cabana' and 'you want me' so far. love 'luz de piedra de luna', but think of it as a 2010 song.

Wait...there's a difference between "Funky" and "Jackin'" house? Hair-splitting, IMO.

― DigitalDjigit, Monday, January 21, 2013 2:47 PM Bookmark

Funky is more syncopated in a rigid 16th-note grid, more prone to dotted-note cross-rhythms and usually abandons 4x4. Whereas jackin' (correct me if wrong) is based more on a 4x4 triplet-feel garage shuffle. I suspect jackin' doesn't have much truck with funky's r&b-isms and funky never really was sample-based like jackin' seems to be.

Which ones are the rock tracks? Tame Impala and Japandroids? Maybe Pulp and Chromatics could slip in under that designation, but barely.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 21 January 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

those four yeah not being genre tight or anything.

(I say this while not knowing jack about jackin', but bear with me)

Enjoyed almost everything so far but these are standouts:

ALUNAGEORGE "You Know You Like It"
FUTURE "Same Damn Time" (especially this)

I was thinking of mentioning syncopation, but glad I left it for The Rev to explain better. Actually, funky makes me want to dance more than most house (not that I've ever heard it out, and not that I am able to get out much any more), but it's closer to the more "organic" feel of the Latin dance music I like, so that makes sense.

love 'luz de piedra de luna', but think of it as a 2010 song.

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Monday, January 21, 2013 5:57 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

like I was gonna see 'javiera mena' on a list and not vote for her

Yeah, I definitely notice the snares in funky doing that Caribbean thing. But that seemed like a pretty small difference to hang a genre division on. I wouldn't say "Snapbacks & Tattoos" is free of r'n'b-isms. I know how British people love to categorize everything especially as it seems that there's a geographical north/south divide going on between funky & jackin.

There are some attempts to lay a def in the rolling 2012 UKG interzone bubblers thread, but its an evolving thing, UK garagey based.

genrefication is an essential part of how dance music works in general tho. fairly minor tweaks in genre logic completely change how a track fits in with others (or doesn't) in a set.

I don't hear the r&b-isms you hear in "Snapbacks and Tattoos" but at any rate, it's not the kind of melodic vocal tune funky frequently trades in.

hmmm noticing that none of today's were on my ballot has made me more excited for the rest of the results

lapaz toyota & luz de piedra de luna are both new to me & awesome, kudos everyone. not really made any effort w/ afrobeats stuff but i've enjoyed everything that's fallen into my lap. voted for beez because it's the track i've caught myself singing the most this year, & the two jackin tracks. warms my heart to think i live in times where a peculiar transatlantic monster like snapbacks&tattoos is possible. love same damn time also but voted for other future

"Yeah, I definitely notice the snares in funky doing that Caribbean thing. But that seemed like a pretty small difference to hang a genre division on."

uk funky - caribbean + afro flavoured, veers from 4x4, "organic" sounding

jackin - descendent from bassline + electro-house, straight 4x4, up norf ravey plasticky sound

if you consider that a "pretty small difference" then i guess you're... not into house music at all?

Wait...there's a difference between "Funky" and "Jackin'" house? Hair-splitting, IMO.

― DigitalDjigit, Monday, 21 January 2013 10:47 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The two sound nothing alike, and Jackin didn't evolve out of Funky. I can understand people not getting why Jackin' needs its own genre term but not them conflating it with Funky.

I suspect jackin' doesn't have much truck with funky's r&b-isms and funky never really was sample-based like jackin' seems to be.

This is probably correct only to the extent that jackin' doesn't have much truck with fully fledged vocalists (i.e. is unlikely to produce a Katy B, at least at this stage); conversely, it's probably less instrumental-heavy than funky, and there are a billion bootlegs of R&B tunes (e.g. the excellent jackin' version of "No Diggity").

House and dance rivals only metal for having the most inane subgenres.

how 'inane'

The two sound nothing alike, and Jackin didn't evolve out of Funky.

But both came out of garidge, no?

No.

nice list so far

i for one am really looking forward to what fresh unsolicited opinions from befuddled daytripper fucknuts tomorrow might bring

xpost except in the broad sense that people who were into funky in 2008 and people who are into jackin' now are each likely to be people who were or would have been (given the primary audience for each is quite a bit younger than that) into UK garage in 1999.

explain yourself tim? i'd say they both did, but they evolved in separate directions. a wolf isn't a coyote.

was never properly into uk funky, still feel like a traitor to the cause :(

i mean, yeah yeah "the cause and the cure" whatever, but funky took most of its non-rhythmic trappings from garage

The idea that these genres come from garage is based on the myopic assumption that UK producers only take cues from past UK dance music.

If you listen to a "funky" set from 2006 or so it's 90% US house music with a very small sprinkling of homegrown stuff aping US house music. There is no UK garage there.

it's a great list so far.
would like to see more: latin american hipster shit, k-pop and afrobeats. Other than the big crossover hits of the latter two genres, I think I'm being a little optimistic?

This is me if this conversation goes on for much longer... xp

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I agree that the beats come from Ferrer and friends! but everything else about it is pretty much part and parcel with what UKG people had been doing, which duhhhh they were taking cues from American producers in the first place. it seems odd as fuck to be all line in the sand "no this has nothing to do with ukg"

RIP Johnny Fever :'(

r|t|c - oh sorry, I didn't realize one must be quiet until spoken to by a seasoned ilx-er, who drops wisdom with every utterance.

RIP JF, his dick fell off when they hung him

x-post

JF, this is a good conversation! And seriously, if you can't hear the difference between funky and jackin house, you need a rhythmic tune-up.

RIP JF, his dick fell off when they hung him

But at least he came like crazy just before.

lol

I can tell the differences in some instances, actually, but the fact that every variation of electronic and/or dance music needs its own name and that people will argue about whether or not something fits squarely into a specific category drives me bonkers.

definitely digging the genre discussion. more please.

it seems odd as fuck to be all line in the sand "no this has nothing to do with ukg"

I'm not doing that. Obviously the links are pretty strong. But it seems even odder than fuck for people on this thread, in the absence of all the actual connecting factors that make up the UKG ancestry (pirate radio sets, MCs etc.) to say "oh this jackin sounds the same as funky" rather than "oh this jackin sounds like Afrojack et. al." (or in 2008 "oh this funky sounds like some insipid wine bar vocal house shit" - which as it turns out is what people in fact were saying").

people will argue about whether or not something fits squarely into a specific category

no one's done this itt. and i like i said earlier, genrefication is actually a very important driving force in dance music, which is driven more by scenius than by individual auteurs. i'd say it's also very important to the way dance music evolves. genre logics have to reset themselves every few years to keep things from becoming stale.

JF, I'd normally be more sympathetic to your view. It's just this particular case. It doesn't really bother me that there are all these subtle genre distinctions though. If anything though, I find it amusing, not exasperating. Perplexing but amusing. But I also accept that if I were more immersed in dance music, the distinctions would presumably be much more meaningful, in general.

ha tim, tbh i was kind of exaggerating what you said in hopes that you'd elaborate further and it worked! (and i agree with the rest of your post)

doesnt JF rep for an area of music in which partisans argue about the differences between sadcore and slowcore

surely if you were really sad you wld choose to occupy a more liminal bit of genre space

I think if this was a case of border-policing then JF's suicide might be justified.

But there's a difference between, say, the question "is Grimes witch-house yes/no" and the question "do the terms "witch-house" and "chillwave" refer to different things".

The answer to the first question is contestable. The answer to the second question clearly is "yes", and while no-one is obliged to demonstrate that they understand the differences, railing against them is pointless.

Would've liked this better with the tracks listed first, then the comments

doesnt JF rep for an area of music in which partisans argue about the differences between sadcore and slowcore

― moët plaudit (Nilmar Honorato da Silva)

i think it's something like all sadcore is slowcore but not all slowcore is sadcore. for instance there is a lot of slowcore that isn't particularly sad, despite the glacial tempos.

funky blew my tiny little mind when i finally heard some mixes. the jackin tracks i've heard sound so drab and clunky in comparison, though i'm warming up to "you want me," it's more consummate than i'd thought. i guess comparison between the two is sort of unproductive, it's cloth-ed my ears i think because i love funky so much.

doesnt JF rep for an area of music in which partisans argue about the differences between sadcore and slowcore

You must have me confused with someone else.

I buy Rev's argument that some genrefication of sects within the larger dance genre makes sense in a way, but I still find it largely academic. He's right that there haven't been any instances of such in the thread—instead, just a discussion about what microgenres came out of or didn't come out of a previous one. It's the same kind of thing that metal people do which drives me up the wall (in addition to the music itself, more often than not).

Carry on. I've died already.

gr8 poll so far, everybody