ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2024

Hello everyone, welcome back to the ILM top 77 EOY poll! The only EOY poll that matters.

We received 66 tracks ballots and 72 album ballots this year. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Your pollrunners are once again Seandalai on poll organization and vote tabulation and myself running the poll results thread and graphics.

Special thanks to tipsy mothra and Nag! Nag! Nag! for helping out with the nominations playlists this year. It's one of the most time-consuming tasks each year and I didn't have enough time to pull them off this year. It was immensely helpful of you both to do them. Thank you.

Here's the playlist that I'll be updating with the tracks results:

Top 77 Tracks of 2024 Playlists:

Spotify Playlist
Apple Music Playlist
Youtube Playlist

If anyone wants to build a matching YouTube / Tidal / Apple Music / Amazon Music - please share it. I'd like to request the mods if said playlists are shared please be so kind to add them to this opening post for visibility.

Same drill as last year, we'll do tracks this week, albums next. Poll starts at around 8am EST tomorrow... so 11 hours from now. See you soon.

Exciting!

The most wonderful time of the year.

Last year we had 71 voter's for tracks and 73 for albums.

Hopefully seandalai shares that graph with all the years stats too.

Whoop!

Massive thanks as always to all who helped run this. Can't wait

Drill, baby, drill

Yeah, Central Cee for the win!

I’ve never volunteered for anything like this, but I’ll handle the Apple Music playlist.

Apple Music playlist

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/ilms-top-77-tracks-of-2024/pl.u-pMylAbaH4edgMZb

Wasn't able to do a tracks ballot this year, so am excited for the results

I can do youtube playlist if nobody else is.

Yooooooo

Here we go.

note: Our top 77 is actually comprised of 78 tracks since we start with a tie.

https://i.imgur.com/d5Iw4uV.png
TIE 77. James K - Blinkmoth (July Mix) 114 points - 5 votes
Video
This year, no artist has made downtempo more appealing than New York producer James K, whose breathy, lilting vocals have floated across some of 2024’s best music. It makes sense that amid sustained geo-political violence and economic turbulence, we’d again find solace in shoegaze—music that slows the anxious heart while holding a mirror to deep-rooted angst we prefer to leave unspoken.
“Blinkmoth (July Mix)” commanded repeat listens this year for an instantaneous pull that sucks you into the muted vortex of James K’s romantic solitude. As she sings about the endless transference of love, a trip-hop beat glides and gallops, tactfully situating us in the ‘90s. But really, it’s the heavenly vocals that we’re here for. Her delivery glistens with the Elizabeth Fraser effect: carried foremost by feeling, the curvature of her indecipherable lyrics capture the fleeting moment in which euphoria sinks into quiet melancholy. Additions like this to the electronic shoegaze revival should give any non-believer proof of its enduring relevance.

oops seems like there's an error with the bbcode in the links... have no idea what I did wrong.

GREAT START!!!

I did prefer scorpio from last year's poll just a little more thna this one (that bassline) but this is wonderful too. absolutely love James K's vocal delivery

and yeah, for once Elizabeth Fraser comparisons are warranted

xp Moka - it looks like you forgot the 'https://' in front of the URLs

(I hate to be that guy so early on, but I got a new work machine and it looks like my ballot got lost alongside it - would someone mind mailing it to me please please? i'll be forever in your debt)

https://i.imgur.com/SAc4tNB.png
TIE 77. The Cure - Alone 114 points - 5 votes
Video
The synths coast alongside the guitars like fighter jets leading a passenger jet to a runway, while the drums pound their irregular patterns. The slow opening crawl — how Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me of them. “This is the end of every song we’ll sing,” Robert Smith lies. Not so long as he can thatch his hair, apply moist lipstick, keep his global audience, and keep writing and singing songs this confidently.

hell yeah

perfect intro to a wonderful record

i voted for "blinkmoth", it's wonderful

"alone" is fine but really let down by the mix

you people and your mixes

i expected this to be higher but suspect this isn’t the last we’ve heard of bobby and the boys

victim of "i voted for the album instead"

james k appeared on a priori album i liked last year
great vocals

'And Nothing Is Forever' is the one song I've kept listening to, but it was nice having them back.

https://i.imgur.com/7Z1XiDH.png
76. Camila Cabello - I Luv It 116 points- 4 votes
Video
“I Luv It” is a perfect example of once avant-garde sounds being absorbed into the mainstream — which is why people hate it — but the way all involved fail makes it much better than it otherwise would be. Everyone involved doesn’t know how to work outside the lines of pure pop, and it shows. We have a IV-I-V-ii chord progression, normally too melancholic for upbeat electronica outside of “Off-World”, and we have a classic AABB chorus, only the AAs are iluvitiluvitiluvitiluvit and the BBs are Gucci Mane samples. Cabello is much more fun in this mode than crooning nicotine-Halloween-morphine “Never Be The Same” mode, and if she still comes across as try-hard, that adds to the song’s bizarre alchemy. Carti’s dispassionate mumbling nearly kills it, but listen to the beautiful synth arpeggio he’s up against. “I Luv It” is too structured to be incoherent, too clean to be overwhelming, and all those contradictions make the song legitimately captivating, far from the trainwreck intended.

hadn’t heard “blinkmoth” til today, that’s some real baby-making music

OK, here is a YouTube playlist - will try to keep it up to date.

p much every time I heard this I stopped midway and put lemonade on instead

james k. voter here, she's brilliant <3

https://i.imgur.com/6ptauX4.png
75. Mica Levi - slob air 122 points - 6 votes
Video
You never know what to expect from South London composer Mica Levi. Their last solo record, 2021’s Blue Alibi, was a spiky, lo-fi grunge affair, while their score for Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 chilling film The Zone of Interest unleashed nightmares through experimental found sound.
This summer, Levi once again opted for unpredictability with their Hyperdub debut, the 12-minute dream pop epic hypnotically circles around a loop of undulating synths, a rumbling bass hum and an assertive, locked-in beat. Occasionally, the transcendental melody is interrupted by a slight key change or the growing swell of indecipherable voices, but it’s never enough to unseat the song’s steady, meditative pace. “slob air” is like watching the sun rise on the top deck of the bus after a bleary night out—life-affirming.
https://ra.co/features/4401

“i love it” is fun, but i enjoy the fact that it exists more than i enjoy listening to it

Blinkmoth (July Mix) was one of only about 70 of the tracks that I liked and saved for consideration. Good stuff. Also enjoy the Cabello and I'm generally a big Levi fan too. So yeah. Good start! Shame half the Cure album will place but what can you do

don't think i've heard mica levi before but this has piqued my interest

https://i.imgur.com/pGWTxnJ.png
74. RYUGUJO - Deep Wave 123 points - 4 votes
Video
Deep Wave‘s biggest charms occur before and after that disorienting slowdown. The beat here goes off, ornamenting its house influences with rhythm guitar and a festival-like atmosphere that grows bigger and bolder as the track continues. The rap verses are as thrilling and catchy as the repeated melody, delivered with impish charisma that chews on the groove with relish. The transition back into the beat, just after the two minute mark, is one of my favorite musical moments this year. Then, apocalyptic sirens enter the mix to give the track an otherworldly tension. Deep Wave is very ‘push and pull’ all the way through, piercing its straightforward moments with left turns that keep your ear constantly off guard. It’s this blend of brilliant pop sensibilities and surreal exploration that makes the song so compelling.

"i luv it" is kinda terrible but in an endearing way

i didn't vote for "deep wave" but i'm glad to see it show up

hee hee

got this one in. roll up roll up get your microprog jpop

Nice. Possibly the first jpop boyband here, but haven't checked.

https://i.imgur.com/XIfETpn.png
73. Vanishing Twin - Life Drummer 124 points - 5 votes
Video
While we remain engrained in the world built on Vanishing Twin’s Afternoon X, released last October, the London based trio return with Life Drummer, their illustrious entry into this year’s Sub Pop Singles Club. The experimental pop band has been transforming post-punk, kosmische, and discombobulated dream-pop with ingenious results for the better part of the last decade, and their new single remains as explorative as ever, comprised of three songs that glide and contort between glitchy minimalism and effervescent lounge rock displacement. “Life Drummer” revolves around a sinewy beat from Valentina Magaletti, adorned with patchwork samples and a serene split between alien melodies and stark mechanical pulse as hypnotic as it is fluid.

Aww yeah, 'Deep Wave'! Really pleased to see it made it.

Just starting listening through the youtube playlist (thank you CaaL), 'Blinkmoth' is very dreamy and lovely.

life drummer is nice. i hope valentina magaletti projects will be a recurring theme throughtout these rollouts

'deep wave' stood out to me from the nominations playlist as a partic wild track, i like it. idk what i expected, b/c seeing the video now it makes sense, but i would not have guessed it was a boy band just from the music

Wow so happy “Deep Wave” is on here! I didn’t vote this time (sorry, life got in the way, have a newborn at home) but very glad you nommed it, emil.y and that people liked it, def one of my fave tracks last year.

https://i.imgur.com/HowjTdD.png
72. Dlala Thukzin, Funky Qla & Zee Nxumalo - Ama Gear 126 points - 3 votes - 2 º1 votes
Video
Are you ready to change gear ? On the strength of last year’s iPlan, a mostly instrumental piece driven by percussion and tapestry-like pitched notes, Dlala Thukzin returns with Zee Nxumalo and together they hammer in their first hit.
The long version offers a unique integration of Amapiano tropes in an overall Gqom structure. Subdued synth layers, piping jazzy flourishes, soulful guitar strings accompany Zee’s entrance with a sea-rolling House beat reminiscent of last year’s hit Osama by Zakes Bantwini.
Her unique slightly nasal vocals steal the show. Gently aligned on the instrumental elements through repeated lyrics, she seems to emerge from the background, before her motifs are suddenly elevated and carried fluidly into the chorus: Mama shiya shiya, namhlanje ang’shintshi ang’shintshi. Ay shintsha amagear. Namhlanje mama thina sizo giya ey yeah ya. The rest is flawless mechanical groove, a long ride with melancholic tones, and a last big oomph when the DJs say their only words to propel the wave once more. - Nabozo
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/dlala-thukzin-funky-qla-zee-nxumalo/ama-gear

So excited the poll is here! I voted for I Luv It (unweighted tracks this year) - sorta reminded me of the singles from Selena Gomez’s ‘revival’, but with a light dusting of hyperpop. Love the droning synths running through it. Fun!

Ooh, I somehow missed voting for Life Drummer

ah

lol

ooh "control" is wonderful, my favourite discovery yet

voted for both "hell of a ride" and "she's leaving you"

"mum does the washing" is mildly amusing but i don't know how someone could want to listen to it more than once

gwan then why's the lenderman good

(control was nice)

it's just really good at the thing it does, which admittedly isn't exciting at all. it was stuck in my head all year

https://i.imgur.com/AointO9.png
22. Annie - Sky Is Blue 193 points - 7 votes
Video
“When there is too much confusion and you just need to get away. It can all be a bit overwhelming sometimes. Chaos, intrigues, family issues and when you can’t find any peace of mind… the only thing that could save my week, month and days was to go outside, try to leave all my troubles behind…look up at the sky, feel the strength of the sun, the heat, the wind and start all over. A new beginning, a new day.
The sky is blue is about getting a new chance. Open your mind, and try to leave your problems behind, if only for a moment. Remembering why you are here, and all the beauty in life.” - Annie

it is loud, rambunctious, has a lot of heart and a pretty melody. lots of bands try to get at the dino jr and neil young feeling, but they miss the je-ne-seis-quois, but lenderman has it.

Last one for the day… see you tomorrow for the top 20.

https://i.imgur.com/i8X4FSe.png
21. Sabrina Carpenter - Taste 196 points - 5 votes
Video
I wasn’t sure before, but OK: I’m on board with the Sabrina Carpenter character. She’s a fantastically campy high femme train wreck: neurotic but assertive; condescending but kinda dumb herself; uptight, but doing her best to be flirty. As an introduction to an album and a persona, “I leave quite an impression/five feet to be exact” is an all-timer, up there with “Teenage angst has paid off well/now I’m bored and old” or “Been through the ringer a couple times/I came out callous and cruel.” On “Taste,” Carpenter is sunny and mean, like a great soap opera villain, and she accentuates her ’70s adult-contempo arrangement with some great melodramatic touches: the Greek chorus appending “la-la-la-la-la” to the description of cunnilingus, say, or the sudden appearance of a girl gang to turn “know I was already there” into a shouted accusation. (It tries for the gleeful kitsch of Chappell Roan, but it’s really bratty in an Olivia Rodrigo sense, which is delightfully unbecoming for a 25-year-old.) The theme of possession so intense it takes sensory form, as Britney Spears demonstrated on “Perfume” can be serious emotional territory, but Carpenter is happy to be frivolous with it. It’s fun to be bad, and pop’s Julie Cooper is ready to do her worst.

^^^ her best single and a karaoke monster

i had no idea annie had released anything this year, this is alright

RECAP 21-77

21. Sabrina Carpenter - Taste 196 points - 5 votes
22. Annie - Sky Is Blue 193 points - 7 votes
23. Nourished by Time - Hell of a Ride 191 points - 7 votes
24. Open Space x Laura Groves - Control 190 points 5 votes
25. MJ Lenderman - She’s Leaving You 185 points 8 votes
26. SZA - Saturn 178 points - 5 votes
27. Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby 176 points - 8 votes
28. Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather 176 points - 5 votes
29. Clarissa Connelly - Give It Back 174 points - 6 votes
TIE 30. Dina Ögon - Orion 174 points - 5 votes - 1 º1 vote
TIE 30. Joshua Idehen - Mum Does The Washing 174 points - 5 votes - 1 º1 vote
32. Pa Salieu - Dece (Heavy) 173 points - 7 votes
33. Vampire Weekend - Capricorn 172 points - 6 votes - 1 º1 vote
34. The Blessed Madonna & Kylie Minogue - Edge of Saturday Night 172 points - 5 votes
35. Geordie Greep - Holy, Holy 170 points - 6 votes - 1 º1 vote
36. Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy) 170 points - 6 votes
37. Sabrina Carpenter - Bed Chem 170 points - 5 votes
38. Tems - Burning 170 points - 4 votes - 2 º1 votes
39. Fabiana Palladino - Stay with me through the night 163 points - 7 votes
TIE 40. Billie Eilish - LUNCH 162 points - 7 votes
TIE 40. Chappell Roan - Hot to Go 162 points - 7 votes
TIE 42. Ariana Grande - Yes, And? 158 points - 5 votes
TIE 42. Machinedrum & Tinashe - Zoom 158 points - 5 votes
44. Bullion & Charlotte Adigéry - World_train 156 points - 5 votes
45. Clairo - Sexy To Someone 155 points - 6 votes
46. Florence Adooni - Otoma da Naba 154 points - 5 votes
47. ILLIT - Magnetic 152 points - 5 votes
48. Underworld - denver luna 150 points - 5 votes - 1 º1 vote
49. Mk.gee - Alesis 147 points - 5 votes
TIE 50. Adrianne Lenker - Sadness as a Gift 144 points - 5 votes
TIE 50. Kaeto - DISTANCE 144 points - 5 votes
TIE 50. ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT. 144 points - 5 votes
53. Magdalena Bay - Death and Romance 144 points - 4 votes
54. NewJeans - How Sweet 143 points - 6 votes
55. Ariadna - Bezodnya 143 points - 4 votes - 1 º1 vote
56. Nilüfer Yanya - Like I Say (Runaway) 142 points 6 votes
57. aespa - Supernova 141 points - 6 votes - 1 º1 vote
58. The Cure - Endsong 141 points - 4 votes - 1 º1 vote
59. Jane Remover - Magic I Want U 137 points - 6 votes
TIE 60. Mabe Fratti - Enfrente 136 points - 5 votes
TIE 60. Magdalena Bay - Image 136 points - 5 votes
TIE 60. Rema - OZEBA 136 points - 5 votes
63. Tove Lo & SG Lewis - HEAT 136 points - 4 votes
64. Arash & Quasar - Double Moon 133 points - 4 votes - 1 º1 vote
65. Little Simz - Mood Swings 132 points - 5 votes
66. Kesha - Joyride 130 points - 7 votes
TIE 67. Doechii - Nissan Altima 130 points - 5 votes
TIE 67. Tems - Love Me JeJe 130 points - 5 votes
69. The Cure - A Fragile Thing 128 points - 4 votes
70. The Tubs - Freak Mode 127 points - 4 votes
71. LL Cool J ft. Saweetie - Proclivities 126 points - 5 votes - 1 º1 vote
72. Dlala Thukzin, Funky Qla & Zee Nxumalo - Ama Gear 126 points - 3 votes - 2 º1 votes
73. Vanishing Twin - Life Drummer 124 points - 5 votes
74. RYUGUJO - Deep Wave 123 points - 4 votes
75. Mica Levi - slob air 122 points - 6 votes
76. Camila Cabello - I Luv It 116 points- 4 votes
TIE 77. The Cure - Alone 114 points - 5 votes
TIE 77. James K - Blinkmoth (July Mix) 114 points - 5 votes

Annie song gains pathos for coming out in 2024. Innocence is over for everyone except Annie. May she never change

i can guess like half of what's yet to place but i have no idea about the rest

i really should have voted for "give it back"

I know that Kate bush comparisons are handed out like halloween candy these days to any female artist who’s a little bit quirky so apologies for that, but the last few minutes of ‘give it back’ really do take me to Aerial-esque zones. And that’s not just the voice but the way it’s conceived and then executed. And I keep saying this about Connelly but for work that feels so considered, the result is so light and airy and ALIVE, incredible artist imo

yeah very aerial-esque but also "breathing"

Saw Nourished By Time twice this year, was great both times - as a performer he’s just lovely, super chatty and funny as hell. That said, Catching Chickens didn’t really click for me like EP2 did. Am enjoying Hell OF A Ride atm though

ep2 was my fav album 2023, and i agree that catching chickens isn't quite as good, but i was encouraged by the way he was able to iterate on his sound. and to tastefully use the new xl recordings budget to expand and polish, without sacrificing his one-man-band charm

I feel pretty confident that “Bye Bye” will place tomorrow.

Annie <3

Toughest call in making a ballot this year was whether to go for "Hand On me" or "Hell of a ride"

Didn’t vote for Hell of A Ride and I am regretting it

That Sabrina Carpenter video was hilarious.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the music but she's funnier than I anticipated (I somehow managed to avoid hearing ANY SC last year). I also giggled at "where art thou? why not uponeth me?" in 'Bed Chem'.

She is way more interesting to me than Taylor Swift in any variation *ducks* and I am glad she took the pop crown from her at least for a year.

agree

updated the youtube playlist, sorry for the delay

xp i think (and hope) she has a long career ahead of her

I originally thought Sabrina Carpenter would place three songs in the Top 77 but now wonder if more then one will make it?

― Bee OK, Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:27 PM (yesterday)

I should have been patient but didn't see three or possibly four songs in the Top 40. My number one is also from her and not "Espresso."

Very, very happy for her and my most played album from last year.

The Sabrina album is actually incredibly charming and funny, I think my favourite track is the one that sounds like a Joni rip where she talks about a guy who’s “holding space for her tongue in your mouth”.

Yeah of all the very explicit pop that made the list so far, I'm digging the Sabrina tracks the most. They're very playful and sexy and feel less generic and trite than I Luv It, as an example. Bed Chem is also funny and I'm sad there's no music video to go with it.

Top 20 Predictions

for starters, in no particular order

Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso
Charli XCX / Lorde - Girl, so confusing
Waxahatchee ft. MJ Lenderman - Right Back to It
MJ Lenderman - Wristwatch
Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Charli XCX - 360
Charli XCX - Von dutch
Jessica Pratt - Life Is
Charli XCX / Billie Eilish - Guess
FKA twigs - Eusexua
Nick Leon / Erika de Casier - Bikini
Two Shell - Be Gentle With Me
Charli XCX - I Think About It All The Time
Kim Gordon - BYE BYE
Kelly Lee Owens - Love You Got
Kabin Crew - The Spark
Jade - Angel of My Dreams
Joy Orbison - Flight FM
Kim Deal - Crystal Breath

Good guesses. I thought maybe "Denial is a River" and "Pink Skies" would place but not sure anymore.

I hope Tinashe still has a shot of showing up. "Nasty" is my #1.

Denial is a River is a lock in surely

an obvious (to me) high placer missing in that list, but I won't say what it is.

If that top 20 happens I'm leaving ILX

Even if I voted for one of them

If Leash makes it, however, then I'll allow anything

lol

It will absolutely make it.

Okok lol

There's another of my votes (by an artist that's already placed...twice...) that I'm semi-expecting, but yeah besides the implied three, well, it's going to be a day of hopefully not too distressing rediscovery

The longest tracks provided both my faves (Open Space x Laura Groves, Clarissa Connelly) and the worst tracks (Geordie Greep) today.

no way 3 mj lenderman tracks place

You all used to be good at spotting joke placements and didn't notice one of our results today was fake.

Wait if A Bar Song is fake why did you put it in the roundup then? It is A Bar Song right? Right?

I’ll never tell

j/k there is no fake out this year. or is there?

For your FYIs I'm very much at peace with Shaboozy being a fake out

i will be upset if "lucky" doesn't place

ideally both it and "bikini" place though