ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2016

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Stars was my pick from that record, I voted for it

All these Weezer and "Teenage Dirtbag" mentions re: Mitski make me sad. Y'all, this song is so much better than any of that moldy old shit.

I'm listening to it now and... not really? It's fine and all but eh.

re: "Black Beatles", this is the best Rae Sremmurd song I've heard to date; I would rate it a 5/10.

honestly i don't get the Mitski hype either, can't shake the suspicion that it's '90s nostalgia?

80% of the songs on this list are 90s nostalgia in some way

well okay I will grant "better than Weezer" but 2nd-best song of 2016? noooooope

xposts

Those Voice Coils EPs are wonderful!

Mitski layers this incredible power and beautifully candid lyrics onto any recognisable chord structures. She knows how to create tension in a song like nothing else too. Lol at someone thinking it was supposed to be patriotic.

black beatles is actually a very bad song
― marcos, Thursday, January 26, 2017 9:02 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this saddens me. I thought we were pals

― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, January 26, 2017 4:04 PM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol we still are. kind of changing my mind tbh:

lol "Bad and Boujeeblack beatles"

my reaction to it was basically "what is this nonsense"/plays it 5 times in a row/"well I guess I like nonsense now"

― (The caption: “fine dining.”) (DJP), Wednesday, January 25, 2017 3:25 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

10% are 80s nostalgia and the other 10% are nostalgia for 80s nostalgia

80% of the songs on this list are 90s nostalgia in some way

― na (NA), Thursday, January 26, 2017 1:13 PM (five seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And most of it is crushingly boring.

Black Beatles really does seem very trance-like, I can kind of understand the mannequin challenge meme

well okay I will grant "better than Weezer" but 2nd-best song of 2016? noooooope

As someone who voted it #1 and listened to it approx 2000 times, I will politely disagree.

i didn't vote but i'm surprised there are no blood orange songs on the list, was it a 2015 release that i was late to?

Mitski my #19 but I'm so glad to see it at #2. Or rather #1 of all the songs not by total cunts

All about how the second chorus kicks in so quickly and even more intensely than the first one, such a rush

Oh and thanks Gr80/sean!

Song I'm most surprised and disappointed didn't make this list: "OOOUUU"

Blood Orange was 2016. But ILM isn't really keen on him.

Well, that was something. I dunno what, but it was certainly something.

super dope how mitski perpetuates cultural apartheid thru millenial self-absorption. volkshambhala uber alles

super dope how rae sremmurd are total cunts

super dope how mitski perpetuates cultural apartheid thru millenial self-absorption. volkshambhala uber alles

wtf

i didn't vote but i'm surprised there are no blood orange songs on the list, was it a 2015 release that i was late to?

― na (NA), Thursday, January 26, 2017 2:16 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thank u ilm

Beyonce or Tribe had best win albums

i think blood orange might show up in the albums poll

xp Yeah, seriously

I liked the Mitski song a lot more once sund4r told me the lyrics in the chorus. I ended up voting for it

Black Beatles was my #4. Feels very vaporwave to me

huh i would have guessed blood orange would be popular here

super dope how mitski perpetuates cultural apartheid thru millenial self-absorption. volkshambhala uber alles

wtf

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Thursday, January 26, 2017 1:20 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

o_O

super dope how rae sremmurd are total cunts

― left hand hierarchy (imago), Thursday, January 26, 2017 4:19 PM (two minutes ago)

can't think of a more righteous way to express disgust at perceived sexism than using a phrase universally seen as a misogynist slur in the country the song comes from

Fantastic and unpredictable list overall but with two or three exceptions the top 10 is pretty unremarkable.

Black Beatles itself is a decent enough song, I came around to it a bit. Its goodness is 100% down to MWMI

super dope how mitski perpetuates cultural apartheid thru millenial self-absorption. volkshambhala uber alles

wtf

―

I was assuming it was a troll post...?

I voted Blood Orange v high on my album ballot, nothing seemed like it had a life on its own outside the album to warrant a singles mention.

Black Beatles itself is a decent enough song, I came around to it a bit. Its goodness is 100% down to MWMI

― left hand hierarchy (imago), Thursday, January 26, 2017 1:24 PM (thirty-six seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

alt-facts

thank u gr808/sean

Making a list of people sniffing at "Your Best American Girl" with Weezer comparisons and the like so I can remember to mistrust everything they say about music from now on.

"Black Beatles" sounds fabulous on the radio. It makes the Biebs and the rest sound sickly. That's all.

What is it that people find charming and/or addictive about Rae Sremmurd's personalities? IDK I'm overreacting coz of all the ridiculous shit being flung at Mitski but to me they seem repellent over like all of the other artists in the 77 except Bruno Mars

blood orange on my albums ballot too. i didn't vote in the tracks poll but if i did i might've put "best to you" on there

weezer did not even remotely cross my mind when first hearing this mitski song wtf

Catching up...

YAY!! @ Rae Sremmurd and Shura. The video for "What's It Gonna Be" was my favourite art of 2016.

black beatles is the pinnacle of meme rap it's all downhill from here folks

"Black Beatles" sounds fabulous on the radio. It makes the Biebs and the rest sound sickly. That's all.

A farting goat on the radio would make Biebs sound sickly; it's not a particularly high bar to clear.

Speaking of, pouring one out for "Whose Billy Goat Is This?"

the amount of low & high end that gets sucked out of Black Beatles and compression that gets added in for the radio is really apparent

What is it that people find charming and/or addictive about Rae Sremmurd's personalities? IDK I'm overreacting coz of all the ridiculous shit being flung at Mitski but to me they seem repellent over like all of the other artists in the 77 except Bruno Mars

― left hand hierarchy (imago), Thursday, January 26, 2017 2:28 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

didnt this get discussed in the 2015 poll?

What is it that people find charming and/or addictive about Rae Sremmurd's personalities?

tbf this seems to be a problem a lot of people have, generally you're either down with their puckish vibe or you find them totally repellent

see also the 1975 lol

I'm not familiar with Weezer because they were fucking dreadful but whatever Mitski's doing with her guitars and melodies it's not interesting. I really thought I'd like it after reading about it but no.

"Cranes In The Sky" was a really great antidote, for me, to that ubiquitous social media thing of celebrating excellence in marginalised groups, which is obviously a good thing in general and if you're having success can be very uplifting but if you feel like shit it just makes you feel worse. "Cranes In The Sky" was so careful in its sound and words - the whole album was - that it felt like someone picking their way delicately through sadness to get to the other side, rather than bashing it over the head with self-help aspirational quotes.

I cosign the Lotic remix of "Formation" heavily - he uploaded it the day after the election and it was all I could listen to, interspersed with the Solange album, as I kept veering between rage and numbness. So much music I listened to this year has a political context.

"Black Beatles" doesn't but it's a tremendous song, tremendous production, love the Rae Sremmers. Solange or Beyoncé would've felt a more fitting #1 but still no complaints.

oh and lol I love 4 of the top 5 but voted for none of them bc I voted for their albums. We live in auteurist times!

The 1975 is essentially the cool version of Maroon 5 at this point

didnt this get discussed in the 2015 poll?

― Spottie, Thursday, January 26, 2017 2:32 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and wasn't lj the engine of this discussion

yes let's not do it again please

your country breakdown

USA (38⅔): Rae Sremmurd, Mitski, Solange, Beyoncé (4), Ariana Grande, A Tribe Called Quest (2), Maxwell, Mr. Fingers, Angel Olsen (2), Avalon Emerson, Migos, Kanye West, Weyes Blood, Kevin Gates, Fifth Harmony, D.R.A.M., Chance The Rapper (2), YG, Young Thug, Britney Spears, Anderson .Paak, Grouper, Bruno Mars, King (2), Jeremih, Brandy Clark, Abra, Miguel, Cellars, Case/Lang/Veirs (⅔), The Weeknd, Chairlift
GBR (16½): Shura, David Bowie (2), The xx, Pet Shop Boys, The 1975 (3), Anohni, Radiohead (2), Låpsley, Robyn & Kindness (½), Riton, Danny L Harle, Underworld (2)
CAN (4⅓): Leonard Cohen, Jessy Lanza, Carly Rae Jepsen, Comet Control, Case/Lang/Veirs (⅓)
NOR (4): Lindstrøm, DJ Sotofett, Röyksopp, Jenny Hval
BAR (3): Rihanna (2), King Bubba FM
BEL (1): Melanie De Biasio
POR (1): DJ Marfox
CHI (1): Alex Anwandter
FIN (1): Oranssi Pazuzu
GER (1): Traumprinz
RUS (1): Kedr Livanskiy
JPN (1): Famm'in
NGR (1): Yemi Alade
TTO (1): Olatunji
FRA (1): Christine And The Queens
SWE (½): Robyn & Kindness (½)