ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2017

2017, amirite??

We had 105 tracks ballots cast this year, down a bit from the previous few years, which may or may not have made for a more esoterically ILM-centric list than usual. Rollout begins in about 10 minutes...

77-61 today
60-41 Tuesday
40-21 Wednesday
20-1 Thursday

Follow along with ulysses' Spotify playlist here.

gawd bless you johnny fever

woooo

ayyyy

man troll gas beany jim-jam

Best behaviour ;)

https://i.imgur.com/NEZxFhP.jpg

77 LUIS FONSI ft. DADDY YANKEE "Despacito" [146 points, 8 votes]

ahaha

Is this the ILM version of the Arcade Fire album at #100 in the Drowned in Sound list?

this feels ominous

Favorito favorito baby.

was this the funny at-one-point #78 mentioned?

i guess this was one of the better chart hits this year

excited! although I never ever need to hear this song again

Good start :)

this is the first time i've heard of this song
looking good for the 77 :)

WAY TOO LOW!

(and no, I didn't vote for it)

I don't dislike it, never choose to play it, glad Bieber remix didn't make it.

was this the funny at-one-point #78 mentioned?

Nope.

when i heard about that song first i thought it was much worse than it actually is...

https://i.imgur.com/XldI32c.jpg

76 AVALON EMERSON "One More Fluorescent Rush" [149 points, 7 votes]

been rather disappointed with the 2017 reggaeton craze. I remember when it became really popular over here back in 2005, the hits felt a lot more bitey and driving whereas everything I heard more recently sounds watered down and very commercial-in-a-bad-way

No youtube link as per usual? (Yes, I need a direct link to find this obscure track 'Despacito')

Song is/was fine, obviously will never actively put it on in the future

I voted for both of these.

Someone in the RA comments mentioned they thought OMFR sounded like The Crazy Frog; which bothers me from time to time, but it’s great. Good video too.

I like the avalon emerson but i forget if i voted for it or not

oh good
i've enjoyed everything by or remixed by avalon emerson so far and haven't got to this one yet

Misspelling in the image card is going to drive me nuts. Dammit.

"Despacito" is ok and I voted for it but I thought "El Perdon" deployed this same chord progression to more satisfying ends

love avalon emerson in general but 'one more fluorescent rush' is a bit meh imo. b-side is great though!

oh Simon h and I would like to remind everybody that they can still vote in metal/rock poll

The 2017 ILX Metal n' Heavy Rock Poll VOTING + CAMPAIGNING thread! Ballots due Saturday, Feb. 3rd!

OMFR is not exactly subtle in its charms but it works imo

Despacito has nearly five billion views!

I voted for a different Emerson-related track but this is great too.

https://i.imgur.com/4cx3fno.jpg

75 MINOR SCIENCE "Volumes" [150 points, 5 votes]

ah glad this placed!

Despacito has nearly five billion views!

yes, that was mostly my son :(

I never listened to this until I had the noms playlist going on Saturday. It gets more ott as it progresses, and not in a good way.

not nuts about minor science either really but two whities releases in a row - hoping that lanark artefax will show up too?

found out about 'Volumes' via the noms list and I knew I had to take something off my initial list to find space for it. Well decent. Love the teutonic-sounding vocal clips 'loudest'; 'softest'

Actually it's nice to see 2 x straight bobbins instrumentals in a row. last years' was distinctly lacking in house and techno IIRC

Overjoyed that One More Fluorescent Rush placed, but that Despacito placing is like woah.

(xpost - Avalon Emerson placed last year as well iirc)

you're right. and lindstrom was in the top ten as well.

https://i.imgur.com/yFMU5Ko.jpg

74 GOLDLINK ft. BRENT FAIYAZ & SHY GLIZZY "Crew" [151 points, 5 votes]

lol I might have voted for "Despacito" had I noticed it on the list, which stands nicely for how I experienced the song this year: good song but once it was over I never remembered it. my dad loves it, I shoulda voted for it for him

Would love to see a youtube link under each entry like earlier years, if possible. If it's all set in stone though, no worries.

re: youtubes...sorry I didn't put those together in advance (forgot, tbh), but I'll add them going forward

Here's GoldLink- https://youtu.be/nhNqbe6QENY

Great song.

Not heard this one before. Short and sweet, but I can see it becoming a grower.

damn, this poll is amazing so far

excellent image on Crew! love this song. I kind of thought this had caught on more widely than only 5 votes though.

I don't remember 'Volumes' from the playlist but listening again now and it's lovely, the vocal clips actually took a bit of getting used to though!

https://i.imgur.com/iTgFcgz.jpg

73 KELELA "LMK" [151 points, 7 votes]

https://youtu.be/ePi5BLJogyA

I love this track from my favorite album of 2017.

wow i thought this would be way higher. i voted for the album and couldn't quite make room for it though

don't think i voted for LMK so maybe i shouldn't be too surprised to see it so low but good god, TOO LOW

great tune
think it just missed out my 25

wow this IS low. nice tune

The albums I really loved made me skip voting for individual tracks of it tbh. Great song.

Yeah this is great too.

fully on board with a one-track-per-artist policy but album-or-track feels insane to me. anyway we've done this to death

It's not album or track per se, just that personally it played out that way for me this year (also ran out of time to do it properly etc)

Kelela's stuff went right over my head in a similar way to FKA Twigs' stuff a few years ago. Shame because with both those artists they were touted as big innovators but there's something that doesn't quite click it for me.

i guess that at times i employed that strategy as a tiebreaker for some of my track selections. fine fine it's all fine

ha different strokes i guess
always go 'album or track' personally

Kelela, like FKA twigs, is not for me. This track's pretty decent though.

I'm generally an "album or track" person as well, though I made an exception this year

https://i.imgur.com/Nrs1jrJ.jpg

72 LAUREL HALO "Moontalk" [142 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
https://youtu.be/sLcQ8zxyTTo

I like Moontalk a lot better than the other stuff I'd heard from this album, reminds me of YMO somewhat

Oh, good, I had a feeling I'd be Moontalk's only voter. Also voted for Despacito - we use the Bieber version every night in our panto (at my suggestion!) and, having never overheard it before, I find myself enjoying it more and more.

I'm generally an "album or track" person as well, though I made an exception this year

Same here - a big part of it for me is wanting to give credit to things like non-album singles or just one-off moments of brilliance. Also I think it makes both rollouts more interesting if there's less overlap between them.

I just vote for the songs I like the best, lol.

Same.

Within reason, though. There are a lot of songs I like each year that I don't even bother to nominate, much less vote for, because I am an island.

If it's a matter of choosing one track over another due to space, I'll take the one I voted the album for off, otherwise WGAF?

https://i.imgur.com/J4abuI1.jpg

71 TORNADO WALLACE ft. SUI ZHEN "Today" [153 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
https://youtu.be/1W9Wn1RSp4c

niiiiice

now here's the real patrick bateman shit

oh this is lovely

i listened to the tornado wallace record at the beginning of the year but never really revisited it. it's so lovely

didn't really "get" the larger project of the laurel halo album but "moontalk" is nice

Nice. Think I voted for Voices over this but both are great

I realised today that these end of year lists are my favourite thing about January (maybe the only thing I like about this time of year).

Cool results so far. Avalon Emerson is one the songs I discovered going through the Spotify playlist in the last month. It didn't quite make my final list. Happy to see it place.

Take Me Apart is an album I enjoyed, but didn't spend enough time with before voting. Definitely an album where I'd find it hard to pick out individual highlights.

This is good!

This Tornado Wallace song is gorgeous.

Just realised that the version of Despacito I've been subjected to on a daily (see: hourly) basis over the last months has been the Bieber version. This version is so much better

hm maybe i should go back to the laurel halo album, i loooove "moontalk"'s sorta deconstructed scritti polittiness now

I have actual terrestrial college radio to thank for turning me on to Tornado Wallace. God bless the handful of stations left that haven't been relegated to streaming-only status.

yeh this tornado wallace song is so gorgeous

i didn't really click with the tornado wallace album, maybe it was just a bit too emotionally neutral for me

loved all of the laurel halo album, but moontalk sounds a lot more focussed that much of the rest of it and yeah, i totally get the ymo shout. didn't vote for it though

https://i.imgur.com/Wmw70pz.jpg

70 TAYLOR ALXNDR "Nightwork" [153 points, 6 votes]
https://youtu.be/ZsKhfKYrbc8

yessssssss

list slaps so far

This reminds me of 2011 in a good way. Sits somewhere sonically between Azari & III, Jamie Woon and Hercules & Love Affair

never heard of this before but i love it

Lots of great tracks so far! Been adding a few new discoveries to my lists.

Nightwork rips

just over 3,000 views on YT, so I'm curious how you all heard this one? I know Tim posted about it on his year-end thread

tune *really* reminds me of something else, can't think what. do like it though, that understated vocal suits it pretty well

ah yeah i completely underestimated the laurel halo record

Assuming Tim voted for it (I haven't laid eyes on the ballots), that means only 5 people would've had to have seen his thread and voted for it.

I love this song now, but didn't hear it until yesterday.

good point!

https://i.imgur.com/urtoMBY.jpg

69 KEDR LIVANSKIY "Ariadna" [156 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/3kM-NXin1Ec

Niiice

haha i think Despacito turned up at the wrong club

i have no idea what this is but it's gorgeous

sounds a bit like a glummer zola jesus

haha i think Despacito turned up at the wrong club

― faust apes (NickB), Monday, January 22, 2018 3:52 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was just thinking this. There's definitely a 'vibe' going on with this list so far, Despacito notwithstanding

recognise this name, not sure where from (i guess here)
anyway this song is all kinds of lovely, adore the final couple of mins

i remember being interested in her ep last year but completely missed that there was anything new

similar feeling to the kelly lee owens album

the first song of the list, to which i listened to till the end. Some nice ethereal dance vibes.

but two whities releases in a row

Wow, racist much? Oh wait.

Everything is amazing so far - though I voted for the Kedr Livansky album over the single, I’m not sure I usually have as many votes placing in the full 77 as I have in the first eight.

lol rudipherous

it's a label fyi

kedr livanskiy song has a lovely sound/feel, even if the melody is a bit repetitive - those are the vibez i guess ^_^

https://i.imgur.com/IjtuYgc.jpg

TIE-67 BULLION "Blue Pedro" [158 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/Ow8cLdgJ5LE

lol yesssss!

Ahhhhh!

Totally misread that as BLUE RODEO at first.

NB: i've built out the playlist for this and for the album list for the top 177 winners and will update fully when we hit the end of the countdown.
Sign o' the times alert: less than 3% of the top 177 singles/albums aren't on the service

lmao I would have died xp

ah lol this thing

fuck i love this so much

lmao yesss

Lol, I can never work out if this is infuriatingly good or infuriatingly bad. Think I plumped for the former in the end but it didn't make my list. I mean, it is very silly and I could see it getting on anyone's nerves if it caught them on the wrong day but in the right context it's great.

every time i've listened to this i've been unsure quite what to make of it until halfway through when i realise it rules after all

haha this is charmingly daft but you basically voted Cotton Eye Joe 2017 into the traxpoll

ridiculous catchy though. Can't remember who it was on my Facebook feed who summed it up as 'good, but it's a bit Dreadzone, innit?'

Sign o' the times alert: less than 3% of the top 177 singles/albums aren't on the service

sigh, i wonder tho if this is just because nobody bothers checking stuff out if it's not on spotify

yeah that's me

you basically voted Cotton Eye Joe 2017 into the traxpoll

actual lol

A few number 1's shown up already, including mine (Tornado Wallace). Knew the first time I heard it back in the spring nothing would top it. Spotify confirms it's my most played track of the year too

sigh, i wonder tho if this is just because nobody bothers checking stuff out if it's not on spotify

― brimstead, Monday, January 22, 2018 9:10 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i hate this, yes, (dl try harder) but i also think there's just.. generally more that's accessible on streaming each year. k-pop for instance; every single i voted for this year is on spotify which was extremely *not* the case in like, 2015

Nice bobbins showing so far. Avalon Emerson is the business but I voted for one of her remixes

ridiculous catchy though. Can't remember who it was on my Facebook feed who summed it up as 'good, but it's a bit Dreadzone, innit?'

more like mike oldfield in espadrilles

Wow what a stinker

Hadn't heard the Avalon Emerson or Minor Science tracks before and really like them.

Almost voted for Kelela but didn't, and completely forgot about Laurel Halo, oops.

<3 <3 <3 Kedr Livanskiy, though I think I voted for 'Fire & Water' instead, album placed high on my list so hopefully will see that there.

sigh, i wonder tho if this is just because nobody bothers checking stuff out if it's not on spotify

anyways, yes: this section of the countdown DOES have a "vibe" dunnit

There's basically just so much stuff that I do want to check out that is on spotify that it makes it easy to ignore the rest. In future polls, stuff that isn't on spotify should probably just get double the points automatically.

not in love with Blue Pedro as a song but I love the video!

https://i.imgur.com/DpcF3TU.jpg

TIE-67 TWICE "Likey" [158 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/V2hlQkVJZhE

oh shit

And speaking things not on Spotify.

i've completely come around on this sensory overload jam

Ha, okay, Twice are not my K-bias group but nice to see them all the same.

Just catching up - WTF @ this Bullion track, guys?

The choreography in this video is spectacular in a very low key way.

voted for this, it's extremely catchy & i love the kitchen-sink production. at first the chorus was kinda underwhelming but it grew on me so much. lyrics are good too

oh sweet, this has made me optimistic for a few later appearances then :D

same :D

bb cream pa-pa-pa?

Choreography indeed great.

Likey is grrrreat

xps yeah we're already doing better than last year

Oh god (not in a good way).

these is bb creams

I....don't think I can rock with this chorus

I do like the rap though

the utterance at the end of each chorus phrase is somehow redolent of that in 'no way no way'

I think if Twice can make it then surely Blackpink will hit it this year? (Though tbf their nominated single is nowhere near as good as the '16 stuff)

i don't really understand why ppl think that blackpink song is good but i won't be mad if it places

ahem

Anyways, yes: this section of the countdown DOES have a "vibe" dunnit

― Chocolate-covered gummy bears

Not anymore!

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/MarriedCooperativeGalapagossealion-size_restricted.gif

pink + red will hopefully place

The first time I heard Blue Pedro I thought 'wtf is this' after about a minute and then realise I'd played it all the way through. And then played it another five times in a row. The "all aboard!" bit just slays me. Didn't expect to see it anywhere near this list.

xps Blackpink as a group are way better than Twice, come on now!

lol brad the blackpink track is literally my fav chorus of 2k17 >:(

I like "Blue Pedro" and everyone who voted for it is insane (and I love you)

they are! "as if it's your last" is still real flimsy to me though xp

Which Blackpink track?

Despacito makes me think of the much better reggaeton-with-a-light-touch tracks are out there. Have people heard the Angel y Khriz's old "Carita de Angel" for instance? Also, there have to be at least 100 better Daddy Yankee-involved tracks.

Awesome! Laurel Halo and Tornado Wallace made it! Thinking this might be the only ones of my top votes to make it :/

I'm now obsessing over the question of whether Cotton Eye Joe would have placed in an ILM 1995 poll and I'm guessing that yes it probably would.

As If It's Your Last is by far the best Blackpink song, hopefully it's still to come though

yeah I wondered that too, and I agree xp

oh it would have placed for sure

Yeah, it definitely would!

need to poll cotton eye joe vs blue pedro

yes

The first time I heard Blue Pedro I thought 'wtf is this' after about a minute and then realise I'd played it all the way through. And then played it another five times in a row. The "all aboard!" bit just slays me. Didn't expect to see it anywhere near this list.

― Matt DC, Monday, January 22, 2018 4:29 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Definitely. It's a matter of 'I can't work out if I like this but I MUST PLAY IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO FIND OUT'

The main chorus opens "Likey" but then spends more than a minute on its return, after several detours. Contemplative bridge then a rap bridge. The BB cream thing. There's a real "let's put all the catchy stuff in here" vibe to this song and I like it, more than the individual parts.

Btw, I just realised that I hadn't listened to the Taylor Alxndr on my catch-up. Rectifying that now and it's really sweet. Poll has my approval so far.

I was going to start slowing the pace for the remainder of today, but, as usual, ILM seems to predict itself...

https://i.imgur.com/irUX9yd.jpg

66 BLACKPINK "As If It's Your Last" [159 points, 6 votes]
https://youtu.be/Amq-qlqbjYA

BLACKPINK IN YR AREA

lmao

As someone coming from a Spanish speaking country: Despacito was huge in the first quarter of 2017 (even before the Justin Bieber useless version appeared) but was displaced by other reggaeton artists and tracks. If you ask me the biggest reggaeton hits in 2017 came from either Maluma, J Balvin (who also had huge hits in 2016) or newcomer Danny Ocean.

:D
my first nom!

This really reminds me of something. Is it 'Hair' by Little Mix?

blue pedro is the first totally new find for me; this is great but the cotton eyed joe comparison is otm

The greatness of Likey is its joy in trying to have and eat four cakes

Looks like we're getting a different "vibe" at this point.

rest of the list is k-pop

Blue Pedro melody = the theme from Blue Peter, right? I am confused that no one has mentioned this yet

hahaha

great throwback to the 'three songs in one' ~2012 kpop trend and i love the chorus

If anyone is new to Blackpink and likes this I strongly recommend you listen to 'Whistle' and 'Boombayah' straight after.

Btw K-popsters, I can't believe nobody nominated Yezi.

I really like the all-too brief K-soca section on this BLACKPINK track and the groovy tom fills. Not sure I love the rest. TWICE seemed a bit more bonkers and I like that

I'm going to laugh real hard if the next two songs are Red Flavor and Girl Front.

Holy shit, "Whistle" is my new favorite song ever.

Yeah I was down on this Blackpink initially - it's nothing new, really - but it's many catchy songs in one wore me down and I'm freely jamming to it now.

Blue Pedro melody = the theme from Blue Peter, right? I am confused that no one has mentioned this yet

― rob, Monday, January 22, 2018 4:39 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The song is called 'Blue Pedro' (Blue Peter) and someone said it was a direct sample of the BP theme but I don't hear it. It's definitely in the same key as the Jolly Roger theme and done in a sea shanty style but it's not quite the same.

ah i really hope "girl front" makes it

xp I really like LOONA's 'Sonatine' (which wasn't nominated)

In light of Blue Pedro I'm slightly regretting not nominating Neil Cicierega's Wallspin mashup. It might have broken ILX

i voted for three loona tracks lol hopefully at least one of them will make it

i voted for girl front fwiw

"T.I.M.E." absolutely deserved a nom xxp

ya

ha i was thinking about TIME and smooth

thanks dl, as someone who knows what BP is but has never seen it, I wasn't sure to what extent this was like Chance the Rapper covering the Arthur theme (i.e., is childhood nostalgia a factor here or not)

And this is exactly why doubling points to non-spotify tracks would be a bad idea.

I voted for 'Girl Front' but I just can't get with Red Velvet.

i'm fully expecting both to show up

Blue Peter Theme through the ages

just catching up

that avalon emerson video is gorgeous, great tune too

despacito, eh, idk. it's fine. never really understood why it blew up as opposed any other catchy reggaeton tune

that was partly due to the bieber remix wasn't it

the very utterance of his name has cleared the room

Blue Pedro sounds like something a trying too hard high school music teacher would play in class.

https://i.imgur.com/wGTbcHB.jpg

65 FRENCH MONTANA ft. SWAE LEE "Unforgettable" [160 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
https://youtu.be/CTFtOOh47oo

Whoop!

Hashtag SwaeLeesolo2018 hashtag swaecation

great song

another good video too!

this is the point in proceedings where I'd usually say something a little impetuous

thank god you haven't

Ironically, song is actually forgettable.

But it was someone's #1, so I'm not gonna rag on it too hard.

mine! can't understand anyone being ambivalent or hateful towards it

i voted for one song w/ french montana on it and this is not that

Ambivalent, but not hateful. Beat, melody, flow feels very plug-n-play for 2017.

Blissful song, mellow and sweet

Video helps too yeah

Video definitely raises it a level above.

every swae lee hook i heard in 2017 transformed the song it appeared on

a fuckin' good time never hurt nobody

https://i.imgur.com/bF8RiAI.jpg

TIE-63 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS "Wear Black" [160 points, 6 votes]
https://youtu.be/o05_TpRaCsA

Xp. It has a very nice groove though. Is that a new dance? So physical.

well thats out of nowhere

His best release of 2017 was a novel, but this is p good too

I voted for it!!

Every year a couple of big American radio hits don't get played down here, and "Unforgettable" is one.

ilm confession: i don't think i've ever really listened to these guys before but this is decent. sounds kind of like phil ochs singing a prefab sprout song

Darniele would be flattered

Didn't vote for it but pleased to see it. DJP did some arrangements for this album, right?

At least you didn't compare them to They Might Be Giants.

Still convinced if there were no ILX connection, they would not be so popular here.

yeah but do you like it?

FW I wasn't wild about the album as a whole but this is one of his best songs

*fwiw

I can see a reverse argument. Joan Crawford has a legendary reluctance to discuss her music on here and I feel that the rest of us only do so tentatively out of respect

yeah this is a lovely song

idk about that, i was into the mountain goats before i joined ilx, and didn't know about the ilx connection when i joined here either

My jams from Goths were 'Rain In Soho', 'We Do It Different on the West Coast' and 'Shelved' FWIW

I loved Tallahassee but that has been a while. Since then I have tried but found nada.

they're a pretty popular act out in the real world!

the full-length Ariadna (i.e. on Spotify/the album) is really lovely and better than the edit imo btw

x-posts

No. But I have some bias due to old ILX grudges. Really not my thing though.

i'm not a mountain goats fan but because of real life events this year i am beyond thrilled that his new album is called "goths" and appears to be about goths

"Rain in Soho" rules.

the whole album rules

Darnielle’s Kaputt

DJP did some arrangements for this album, right?

Just one track, I believe, but I could be incorrect.

What I will say about Wear Black is that it has a really satisfying bridge

Darniele would be flattered

well i didn't mean it as an insult. but let's be really real here guys, this song is no blue pedro

I'd probably be bored shitless by an Anglophone track in the vein of this Kedr Liviansky song but this is fantastic and it's all in the way the vocal line weaves around the rest of the music.

https://i.imgur.com/biT2CFF.jpg

TIE-63 JESSIE WARE "Midnight" [160 points, 6 votes]
https://youtu.be/MJz8mtImzdc

I had completely forgotten she released anything last year.

Album really came and went. It's the least best of the three, but not awful by any means.

"Your Domino" should've been the single.

tornado wallace track way back is v nice

midnight wasn't a highlight on that album

i'm looking forward to finally giving this album a spin at some point. love her, but have yet to get around to it.

Ariadna was my #7 i think?

Midnight is my first vote to place. I was excited about the album based on the first two or three singles, but I found it a slog. Probably if I were to make the effort I'd find more tracks there that I like.

If I had voted for any JW it would have been "Thinking About You" but maybe expectations were just too high.

I voted for Your Domino over this.

same, your domino is a jam.

Our next track is the one that was oh so close to being 78'ed before it was (unfortunately?) rescued by one last vote at the buzzer...

oh boy

https://i.imgur.com/RqovWEx.jpg

62 TAYLOR SWIFT "Look What You Made Me Do" [163 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/3tmd-ClpJxA

lmao

Ewww

lol

Huh. Expected some TS tracks to make it, not necessarily that one.

"look what you made me do" getting 78'd would've been hilarious. i guess this is funny too

"I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now" (Ooh, look what you made me do)
"Why?" (Look what you made me do)
"Oh, 'cause she's dead!" (oh!)

worst ghost story ever

i'm prob not revealing too much by noting that taylor is the artist who probably suffered the most from vote splitting on this poll.

I just thought she suffered from having a lousy album.

ooooof

^ this

there it is

:D

it's been a real rollercoaster of a day lol

The album was a disappointment in several ways, a mixed bag, but I kinda find TS more endearing than ever... I'll save that discussion for the album thread, I think.

I'd listen to ya because endearing would probably be the very last word to come to mind re TS2018

this song could’ve been okay if only it hadn’t gone and opened the imtoos.exe email attachment

looooooool

Last one for today...

https://i.imgur.com/jYuWjMu.jpg

61 BRIAN ENO with KEVIN SHIELDS "Only Once Away My Son" [163 points, 6 votes]
https://youtu.be/HJlmCtpOfNU

ilm vmic

This is another one I heard for the first time over the weekend. Sounds very much like both of them phoning it in.

didn't vote for this (voted for the Eno album) but this is good.

oh yeah i forgot they put this out

v excited for new mbv this year. not v excited for this but hey, glacial bliss or something

the two k-pop tunes are good. Thanks to the voters - I completely spaced on k-pop this year and obviously that was a mistake.

That is just the product of a sound generating software, isn't it? The emperor's new clothes if there ever have been any.

Lest we forget:

Sounds like the answer to some sort of football question

‘have man u ever lost to mk dons dad?’

‘only once away my son’

― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, October 25, 2017

I think the Kelela track is the only one on the list so far that I've listened to prior to today. Lots of catching up to do.

Monday recap:

77 LUIS FONSI ft. DADDY YANKEE "Despacito" [146 points, 8 votes]
76 AVALON EMERSON "One More Fluorescent Rush" [149 points, 7 votes]
75 MINOR SCIENCE "Volumes" [150 points, 5 votes]
74 GOLDLINK ft. BRENT FAIYAZ & SHY GLIZZY "Crew" [151 points, 5 votes]
73 KELELA "LMK" [151 points, 7 votes]
72 LAUREL HALO "Moontalk" [152 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
71 TORNADO WALLACE ft. SUI ZHEN "Today" [153 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
70 TAYLOR ALXNDR "Nightwork" [153 points, 6 votes]
69 KEDR LIVANSKIY "Ariadna" [156 points, 5 votes]
TIE-67 BULLION "Blue Pedro" [158 points, 5 votes]
TIE-67 TWICE "Likey" [158 points, 5 votes]
66 BLACKPINK "As If It's Your Last" [159 points, 6 votes]
65 FRENCH MONTANA ft. SWAE LEE "Unforgettable" [160 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
TIE-63 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS "Wear Black" [160 points, 6 votes]
TIE-63 JESSIE WARE "Midnight" [160 points, 6 votes]
62 TAYLOR SWIFT "Look What You Made Me Do" [163 points, 5 votes]
61 BRIAN ENO with KEVIN SHIELDS "Only Once Away My Son" [163 points, 6 votes]

Looking forward to any and all critical rundowns

Really good day apart from the very end and beginning of today (Despatchio and those couple of 5+ min eelctronic tracks, which I think are ok but wasn't in the mood for).

Despacito stil has the most votes...

TIE-67 TWICE "Likey" [158 points, 5 votes]
Damn, that's a tune! Good stuff ILM...

TIE-63 JESSIE WARE "Midnight" [160 points, 6 votes]
This is totally a highlight on the album! Whole album was great though, grabbed me more than anything else I've heard by her.

that eno + shields track is kind of garbage

hey, glacial bliss or something

p much

that eno + shields track is kind of garbage

Fixed

That Bullion thing is a Limmy sketch surely?

lol

shields/eno track feels like ballot filler

it feels good man

That Bullion thing is a Limmy sketch surely?

― Algerian Goalkeeper (Odysseus), Monday, January 22, 2018 7:00 PM (thirteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kudos. It might as well be.

I must admit though ive played it 5 or 6 times as it is a bit addictive

Limmy's best bits work like that

i reckon dee dee would love it

ha, I don’t take the limmy thing as an insult, the gurning wonkiness of it is a huge part of its charm imo

Limmy's Turkish Delight techno track ought to have been nominated in one of these

I deeply regret voting for Bicep’s Glue over Blue Pedro, having now seen the video for the latter.

:D

I absolutely adore Wear Black. The album concept is a+ too although I'm not taken by every song but that song man... Just perfect

This Laurel Halo track is much warmer and more playful than other stuff I've heard by her, is the rest of the album in this vein?

Excellent first day btw.

Votes thrown at this Eno + Shields thing feel like a lifetime achievement award. Like, "I wish I could vote for Discreet Music and Loveless in every poll, so this'll have to do."

^^A respectable position imo

Surprised to enjoy the Kedr Livanskiy thing. Kelela is p interesting as well. I didn't get around to the Laurel Halo in 2017; unsurprisingly enjoyable.

Matt, the rest of the laurel album is nothing like this track

it's good but most of the rest of the tracks on it feel a lot looser, more kind of an arthur russell-ish approach to melody maybe

From what I can see, Blue Pedro has one single solitary ILM mention prior to being nominated for this poll. Is that some kind of record?

Last year, the Comet Control track that somehow got in hadn't been mentioned at all before I nominated it!

chelsea should adopt blue pedro as their club tune instead of that bubbles rubbish

More of a Pompey vibe really.

great now i have visions of steve claridge dancing the hornpipe

does anyone have much of an idea about what's going to win this poll?

I do

Cotton-Eyed Joe (Kevin Shields Remix)

The Arcana

ft. Swae Lee

Swae Lee saves that boring French Montana song. He's a fucking treasure

I specifically voted for Delicate of all the t Swift songs because I thought it had the best chances, did not expect LWYMMD to place and seriously hoping it's not the only one off the album to show up

Ha it just occurred to me that I nominated Blue Pedro

Didn't vote for it

Despacito would have made an excellent #78, for the following reason

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-viewed_YouTube_videos

i fucking KNEW that number was unusual

also, while the Avalon Emerson isn't quite my thing, the video is a strong candidate for video of the year

Minor Science making sense late at night, it's p sick in fact

missed the rollout today, prob will tomorrow too :( But I was skiing so I can't really complain.

Lots of songs that I like but did not vote for today. I fell in love with the Tornado Wallace album from the nominations list, and the Shields/Eno song was one I forgot about because it's not on Spotify. Pumped to see the Mountain Goats, the album just missed my ballot but I hope the enthusiasm for this track carries over to the other poll

That Bullion track is adorbs. Still waiting for him to best his amazing EP You Drive Me to Plastic though.
https://youtu.be/Le2FLDa27ss

I know Bullion mostly as one of the people in Nautic and also the guy who produced and released the last few Laura Groves records, so he has my eternal gratitude for that alone

On second view/listen, these are almost all p good, and I hadn't heard basically all of them before. Great stuff!

The Tornado Wallace, for all my Bateman talk upthread, is a really funny video. Blue Pedro I've decided is not only a hilarious video but a great song that I'd have probably voted for

also, while the Avalon Emerson isn't quite my thing, the video is a strong candidate for video of the year

thank you for making me watch this btw, some crucial botanicals going on there

and zoologicals!

I have no idea whether my evangelising played a part or not but either way I'm super pleased that Taylor Alxndr made the list. It's surprising how rare it has been for the drag culture that intersects with broader popular culture to be so serious (or, perhaps more precisely, so irreducible to novelty or humour value), but I think we'll look back on this period as being a kind of tipping point for that sort of thing.

off to a good start

77 LUIS FONSI ft. DADDY YANKEE "Despacito" [146 points, 8 votes]
should be higher

76 AVALON EMERSON "One More Fluorescent Rush" [149 points, 7 votes]
hadn't heard this track, but one of the best new artists of the last couple years. Tim's blurb was essential reading Emerson’s grooves frequently feel dangerous and unpredictable, complex contraptions threatening to fly apart at any moment but sustained by a commanding internal logic "It Is Happening Again": Tim writes about songs from 2017

75 MINOR SCIENCE "Volumes" [150 points, 5 votes]
take partial credit for having posted this in the bobbins thread, although someone else beat me to nomming it. a headturner for sure

74 GOLDLINK ft. BRENT FAIYAZ & SHY GLIZZY "Crew" [151 points, 5 votes]
anthem. should have been higher (although it didn't make it onto my ballot lol). both verses are killer

73 KELELA "LMK" [151 points, 7 votes]
kinda forgot to check out this album.

72 LAUREL HALO "Moontalk" [152 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
this was pretty high on my ballot. incredible song. the album (her best by an order of magnitude) is worth listening to imo, even though this was the only track from it i kept in rotation

71 TORNADO WALLACE ft. SUI ZHEN "Today" [153 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
this is killer. never heard it before

70 TAYLOR ALXNDR "Nightwork" [153 points, 6 votes]
heard this on Tim's thread. haven't fallen in love with it tbh

69 KEDR LIVANSKIY "Ariadna" [156 points, 5 votes]
not my thing

TIE-67 BULLION "Blue Pedro" [158 points, 5 votes]
lol this is pretty good

TIE-67 TWICE "Likey" [158 points, 5 votes]
this bangs

66 BLACKPINK "As If It's Your Last" [159 points, 6 votes]
this also bangs

65 FRENCH MONTANA ft. SWAE LEE "Unforgettable" [160 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
brad otm about swae lee hooks

TIE-63 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS "Wear Black" [160 points, 6 votes]
pretty nice. tight band

TIE-63 JESSIE WARE "Midnight" [160 points, 6 votes]
damn pretty great chorus

62 TAYLOR SWIFT "Look What You Made Me Do" [163 points, 5 votes]
worst song of the year

61 BRIAN ENO with KEVIN SHIELDS "Only Once Away My Son" [163 points, 6 votes]
only listened to it a couple of times but this album was pretty satisfying. i disagree with Votes thrown at this Eno + Shields thing feel like a lifetime achievement award. Like, "I wish I could vote for Discreet Music and Loveless in every poll, so this'll have to do." (although i didnt vote for it or any tracks off it) the album seemed more like, 'this is exactly what i expected a collab between these two to sound like, and i wouldn't have wanted them to make anything else'. having said that this is sounding pretty boring rn

re. avalon emerson/minor science: this was my favourite whities release of the year, will post because i don't think it'll place now. really good track imo, even though those cut-up vocals are suspiciously reminiscent of a holly herndon tune:

lanark artefax - touch absence

Does anyone else think the beat in the Tornado Wallace track sounds like "When Doves Cry"?

I'd also never heard it before and think it's quite good.

yes <3 flop takes

<3 flopson <3

Actually a fair amount of the first stretch made by ballot:

"Despacito": I'm sure that there were better reggaeton / latin songs last year (I even know some) but this was such a fantastically social, hammy song of the summer. I suppose that basically places it on the same level as "Uptown Funk" but, well, that was a great tune too.

"Today": I ultimately didn't listen to the Tornado Wallace album as much as I was expecting, probably because it just seems so resolutely part of the general cosmic balearic balneario disco vibes continuum that it's easy to overlook how great it is for the most part (sorta feel like TW would have done better to keep running with the rainforest house vibe of "Circadia" from a few years back) but I voted for "Today" because its low-key understated intensity is totally captivating for me - IIRC there's some delectable minimalist hi-hat action here.

"Unforgettable": Yes all about Swae Lee. I could listen to this forever. One of two songs I loved last year where the singer promises he's only "trying to do what lovers do" but Swae is by far the more believable.

Didn't vote for the Emerson (she appeared elsewhere on my ballot0 but I loved both sides of that single.

swae's part on unforgettable is truly sublime... in that very french montana way i went from thinking his verses merely didn't fuck the song up to thinking that he brings a certain goofy charm to the song in certain parts

i wish there had been a proper studio version of the og swae/wizkid demo but the moderate in me understadn why this turned out the way it did

thx guys. i wish i had pither meaner things to say but alas, the trax are good (or i'm in a good mood). now that i'm on the west coast i don't even have a chance of catching the roll-out as it happens

there's was something so alluring about swae in 2017... idk some feeling like he had tapped into a higher power, or saw the world w/ a kind of clarity that felt elusive to me in a lot of music i heard last year. his part in "unforgettable" plays w/ the conventions of the standard rapper POV... i find a certain empathy in its lucid honesty and also relate to the internal tug of war of its internal monologue. he knows the game ultimately but also attempts to view the situation outside of himself... in the way alcohol influences his thinking, the way the woman might feel about her brief relationship w/ him etc

i think this was threaded thru my fav guest spot from him... on ty dolla's "don't judge me," which is a sad but commiserative song about the addictively therapeutic elements of substances. ty's part is defensive & future's is predictably manipulative... swae sings about being sober & flushing his drugs down the toilet but he also celebrates casual hedonism as well. swae's verse kind of steps outside of the song's fucked up haze but also still exists inside it... his part is spacey but also calm, almost like the song has been briefly visited by an oracle, but it's also not quite settled. he seems to be leveling w/ himself but also finding it hard to disconnect from his lifestyle. but he's getting there! anyway i loved that the verse sits in that same sort of zone as his parts on on "unforgettable"... morally honest but without a tidy resolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu5dMw88Ne4

he just knows how to use his voice in the best way possible. Still sounds like a teenager at 24 but sing-raps in a way that suggests he's beyond his years

I'm at home with a cold and really bored, so let's do this. Most are first impressions (I haven't heard most of the tracks before):

77 LUIS FONSI ft. DADDY YANKEE "Despacito" [146 points, 8 votes]
It has long reached it's airplay saturation point so kind of impossible to be objective about this. I'll just say it's perfect-sounding track, if a bit by the numbers. 77 is about right.

76 AVALON EMERSON "One More Fluorescent Rush" [149 points, 7 votes]
It's got some interesting sounds but it mostly bores me. Though I have to admit 'bobbins' instrumentals are generally not my thing.

75 MINOR SCIENCE "Volumes" [150 points, 5 votes]
Same thing as above. I like it slightly better.

74 GOLDLINK ft. BRENT FAIYAZ & SHY GLIZZY "Crew" [151 points, 5 votes]
It's alright.

73 KELELA "LMK" [151 points, 7 votes]
Like some here I quite like it but I don't remember if it made my ballot. If it did, it's near the bottom.

72 LAUREL HALO "Moontalk" [152 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
I appreciate it more than I like it, would probably never listen to it on my own.

71 TORNADO WALLACE ft. SUI ZHEN "Today" [153 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
I need a few more listens to properly digest it, but so far it sounds excellent.

70 TAYLOR ALXNDR "Nightwork" [153 points, 6 votes]
I think this is my favorite track from what has placed so far. Would've voted for it had I heard it before. :/

69 KEDR LIVANSKIY "Ariadna" [156 points, 5 votes]
I quite like it, but I suspect I'd probably get tired of it within a few listens.

TIE-67 BULLION "Blue Pedro" [158 points, 5 votes]
Godawful

TIE-67 TWICE "Likey" [158 points, 5 votes]
Usually I find this brand of K-Pop a little too hectic for my taste, but this is undeniably catchy. Bangs indeed!

66 BLACKPINK "As If It's Your Last" [159 points, 6 votes]
It's OK. A little generic.

65 FRENCH MONTANA ft. SWAE LEE "Unforgettable" [160 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]
Nothing special about this, but a very pleasant listen.

TIE-63 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS "Wear Black" [160 points, 6 votes]
Not my thing at all

TIE-63 JESSIE WARE "Midnight" [160 points, 6 votes]
There's a certain quality standard to everything Jessie Ware puts out (and this is no exception) but nothing here is really grabbing me.

62 TAYLOR SWIFT "Look What You Made Me Do" [163 points, 5 votes]
It has grown on me but still not a very good song.

61 BRIAN ENO with KEVIN SHIELDS "Only Once Away My Son" [163 points, 6 votes]
Maybe bit of this it would work within a soundtrack, but as a stand alone track it's pretty meh.

Lol at "bobbins instrumentals"

So far, #61 is my first vote to place.

I do like the Goldlink single, but not quite enough to vote for it.

Lol at "bobbins instrumentals"

I sometimes lol at bobbins instrumentals. GET TO THE POINT ALREADY, JEEZUS

So far, #61 is my first vote to place.

Same

bullion track is good

lcd anna by them is also top notch

glad swae lee is getting love. his part of unforgettable is 80% of the song and yeah, Montana's goofyness adds something to it as well. I just couldn't stop playing it all year.

great writing by jordan up there

I didnt really buy into the whole Goths album concept--a little too LCD for me--but "Wear Black" has a real Warren Zevon vibe to it, so Im stoked that it placed.

Also all the rap songs that have placed so far are choice

61 BRIAN ENO with KEVIN SHIELDS "Only Once Away My Son" [163 points, 6 votes]
only listened to it a couple of times but this album was pretty satisfying. i disagree with Votes thrown at this Eno + Shields thing feel like a lifetime achievement award. Like, "I wish I could vote for Discreet Music and Loveless in every poll, so this'll have to do." (although i didnt vote for it or any tracks off it) the album seemed more like, 'this is exactly what i expected a collab between these two to sound like, and i wouldn't have wanted them to make anything else'. having said that this is sounding pretty boring rn

What album are you getting at, flopson? There wasn't a whole album of this, just this one song!

Despacito - Worst fears about this confirmed with the very first record. Unlistenable. 0
One More Fluorescent Rush - Crap film on aeroplane. 4
Volumes - Audi advert punctuated with shards of garbage. 5
Crew - They sound like they are West Bromwich Albion season ticket holders. two minutes of this dirge and I feel the same. 2
LMK - Sounds like the resignation of passengers on a boat that has run out of fuel. 2
Moontalk - Music might be ok, ruined by vocals. 5 and a half
Today feat. Sui Zhen - advert for chocolate ice cream. 3
Nightwork - sounds like it was made inside a toilet roll. 3
Ariadna - nothing here. 3
Blue Pedro - People in clown suits outside boots collecting for something except theyre not collecting for anything. 0
Likey - touch of Putin about this, 3
As If It's Your Last - Sounds like being in a market, bearable. 4
Unforgettable - no idea. 2
Wear Black - didnt mind this, needs better vocals. 5 and a half
Midnight - idk, 4?
Look what you made me do - pointless, 4
Only Once Away My Son - no, 2

I'm sorry but almost every one of these just sounds like anxiety in a box

id like to downgrade volumes from a 5 to a 3

the last two need to come down a point or two as well

<3333333333

I'm not sure I love the Tornado Wallace song much either saer. You had the guts to come out and say it though

I don't hear moontalk as warm or, heaven forfend, playful, it's blunt & jarring. always appreciated the distance laurel halo injected into her tracks, the oblique ways at which she'd position things towards each other, the coldness in the confrontation, but on top of something slick and tight and liquid. liked most of dust but moontalk's hollow brightness feels like sitting in the doctor's waiting room first thing in the morning head hurting from the stark lighting and ambient television, feeling like i need to go back to bed

Omg you're not wrong pic.twitter.com/YO4NhQRSLh

— Yung El Paso (@MitchWadeCole) January 12, 2018

ogmor OTM. Not heard the new album but I did really like Quarantine for reasons you mention (even though lots of ILMers consider it bad and hated)

I liked Quarantine too - I've only listened to Dust once and there's some good stuff on it but I've got to admit I found that phone noise on Moontalk really really irritating.

Surprised that Halo's work has attracted the P word that much. Still not got much at all out of anything she's done since Quarantine frustratingly, but Moontalk is alright.

my tolerance for indistinct fuzzy freeformness seems to drop year by year so I'm a bit sceptical about trying this third album but I'm still gonna give it a go

the guitar in blue pedro isn't an actual mike oldfield sample is it? it is v fine and much more deft than the rest of the track

It sounds like a sort-of interpolation of the Blue Peter theme, but not quite the same.

To be fair I only said the Laurel Halo track was playful compared the rest of the stuff I've heard by her, which is anything but.

The Blue Pedro sample is from Barnacle Bill by Herbert Ashworth-Hope, which the Blue Peter theme is based on but it's not a direct sample or an interpolation.

as it's the only thing i voted for that's appeared so far, and fyi for one brief (drunken) moment on friday night it was as high a first place on place on my ballot, i suppose i ought to say a bit more about blue pedro

have actually really enjoyed people mocking it tbh and it hasn't shaken my love of it at all - it's something that revels in its own absurdity in the tradition of lieutenant pigeon or penguin cafe or leyland kirby in his v/vm guise or even aphex twin (is it just me or does that grinning guy in the video not have the same sinister edge as afx on the cover of the richard d james album?)

dog latin mentioned dreadzone yesterday and i think you'd really have to squint your ears for a whiff of their ciderdelic skank, but you could perhaps argue that it's maybe coming from the same place as a track like 'little britain', which also plays with ideas of british heritage by fucking about with traditional military-associated music. and although i think it might be taking it too far to see blue pedro as some sort of lampooning of the ukip mindset, literally every other thing that my eldest boy sees when he's watching 'the inbetweeners' or whatever on All 4 catch-up is a fucking recruitment advert for the royal navy, so I definitely welcome our daft hornpiping around the kitchen table together to blue pedro as an accidental corrective to that.

also i genuinely carry an enduring (crum)horn for pretty english folk music be it john renborn or indeed mike oldfield in blue peter/portsmouth/moonlight shadow mode (and let's not forget mike's own cosmic disco credentials with foreign affair), and this hits exactly the same bit of my brain and i don't really care if it's ironic or not (i'm not sue it is?)

ogmor, i don't know if it's bullion himself, but this is someome playing the guitar line, it's def not a sample:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcKplEIhi__/?taken-by=bullionness

xp that's been bugging me, cheers. i've now read a whole wikipedia entry about Blue Peter trying to work it out

Nice writing NickB. 'Dreadzone' wasn't my comparison (Maybe Tom E's?), although despite loving it to bits it does skirt dangerously close to the pip-pip chappiness of electro-swing, albeit with its tongue firmly in cheek.

sometimes the diddle-diddle is grandiosely presented in a way which makes it hard not to cringe, but the embarrassment has gone too far, sometimes it's tight and syncopated and nutritious, gurning optional

gr8 post nick

Indeed.

I don't think its tongue is in its cheek, I think it's sincere in its appreciation. It'd be insufferable otherwise.

Obviously there only needs to be one record like this ever.

could be a banner year for the english pastoral, with stuff getting in on 5 votes i almost wonder if there's an outside chance dbh's funny might slip in, but I don't think brigadiers vote

I'm sorry but almost every one of these just sounds like anxiety in a box

― saer, Tuesday, January 23, 2018

are you sure this is true about "Despacito"?

That's closer to "Dick in a Box."

Yeah great writing NickB. My problem with Blue Pedro is entirely down to my dislike of the reels and jigs side of UK folk.

the best side

my fav swae lee feature of the year (non-“perfect pint” bracket, was it rtc who compared that hook to sade?) was prob his hook on davido’s “pere,” whole song shifts around him

saer winning EOY so far (would we expect any different?)

Day 2 begins at the top of the hour...

xp until ienjoyhotdogs inevitably shows up

great day yesterday, lots of songs i had no idea existed which i immediately fell for
ariadna probs my fav of the bunch, volumes is a very interesting one

"Wear Black" has a real Warren Zevon vibe to it

I was trying to place it. This sounds OTM.

https://i.imgur.com/9VHaKBf.jpg

TIE-59 DRAKE "Passionfruit" [164 points, 8 votes]
https://youtu.be/UfCuu-dp2Bw

are you sure this is true about "Despacito"?

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 January 2018 12:23 (twenty-nine minutes ago) Permalink

Perhaps more than any of them. The minute it came one I felt my core tense up like when the phone goes and its someone selling insurance for a car I don't have (which is partly why I gave the phone away to a local fistfighter)

Though there are two kinds of anxiety in a boxes out of these. The visceral ones like that one where the wrongdoing is happening in real time, and then the foreboding boat capsizing West Brom type ones. In these ones its like the terror is partly about the dismal resigned moroseness currently happening and knowing that a despacito like kick to the face is imminent in the next one. In this case the wrongdoing is a half today and half tomorrow like feeling, and that never works, might be better to get it over with. its a dilemma

As far as Drake songs go, this is one I made it all the way through.

damn it I was hoping we might have a drake-free countdown for once

Aubrey is forever.

saer winning EOY so far (would we expect any different?)

OTM

passionfruit is decent but i kinda wish it had a bridge or something, it just drifts along without going anywhere

the yaeji & paramore covers were both much better

The minute it came one I felt my core tense up like when the phone goes and its someone selling insurance for a car I don't have (which is partly why I gave the phone away to a local fistfighter)

reading these words is sweet respite from drake

I wanted to start a Drake thread similar to this one: post your made-up tom waits lyric but I realised that by now it would be way too easy and not very funny

Though there are two kinds of anxiety in a boxes out of these. The visceral ones like that one where the wrongdoing is happening in real time, and then the foreboding boat capsizing West Brom type ones. In these ones its like the terror is partly about the dismal resigned moroseness currently happening and knowing that a despacito like kick to the face is imminent in the next one. In this case the wrongdoing is a half today and half tomorrow like feeling, and that never works, might be better to get it over with. its a dilemma

― saer, Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Come over around 6:30 p.m. and explain this to my seven-year-old niece.

the yaeji & paramore covers were both much better

This isn't too bad as far as Drake songs go but yeah, OTM.

I might have voted for Blem. Passionfruit is cool though.

this song is total knobrot, and i quite liked Hotline Bling

https://i.imgur.com/qDedGlO.jpg
TIE-59 CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG "Deadly Valentine (Soulwax Remix)" [164 points, 8 votes] [80 points for original]
https://youtu.be/wISc326_7OM

much better

(haven't heard and won't listen to passionfruit)

This Soulwax remix reminds me of Robbie Williams' "Rudebox."

I prefer the original I think

this one is good

This just snuck on the bottom of my ballot. Nice chill build, nice appropriation of Rise bassline

it's quite long innit?

reminds me a little bit of a disco edit of Why? by Carly Simon but not as catchy or as good

https://i.imgur.com/F0jZpuh.jpg

58 BURIAL "Rodent" [165 points, 7 votes]
https://youtu.be/wqBiYJIlyzo

so it's gonna be controversy day huh

Re: Gainsbourg, was it a 50:50 split votes wise? I voted for the original (first of my votes to show), but the remix is good too.

This is alright. I can't imagine it being one of anybody's favorite 25 songs of last year, tho.

80 points for the original, 84 for the remix, apparently xp

we're going back to a 'vibe' and that 'vibe' is ILM c2009

same, JF

Re: Gainsbourg, was it a 50:50 split votes wise?

Almost. The remix edged it out by 4 points, so it got the official placement.

this is controversial?

we're going back to a 'vibe' and that 'vibe' is ILM c2009

2006 if people are still repping for Soulwax remixes.

rodent feels like a mediocre imitation of burial, everything post-rival dealer has been really disappointing

Not sure about combining points for originals and remixes that can be voted for separately. What's to stop someone heaving 98 points onto a single placement? Anyway, it's decent-ish disco so w/e

xxxp yeah, I meant numbers of voters. But never mind.

I mean 50-42 is just going to be solid Kendrick album tracks so let's get the controversy out of the way before then.

just saying, if #78 is something I like, imma be peeved

this burial is dullsville sorry

the remix thing has never been an issue afaik

It propelled Friendly Fires into the top three one year but I'm not sure anyone actually voted for the original in that case.

Not sure about combining points for originals and remixes that can be voted for separately.

I don't what musically's rule was in the pre-2010 polls, but we've been doing that way since. Not new.

don't *remember

the near 50/50 split is rare isn't it? usually one is fairly dominant when there's votes for multiple versions like this

Yeah, typically there's an overwhelming favorite.

that's fair. as long as nobody's been crass enough to vote for both it's ok

Is it too much of a spoiler to drop #78 now?

I don't know how "automatic" the process is by which the votes are tallied but I'd think the poll-runners would spot that?

*"that" being votes for different remixes of the same song

Nah, we don't do that until the full stats thread on Thursday. xps

Anyway, the original Gainsbourg snuck into the bottom of my ballot, it's basically just p nice.

I don't know how "automatic" the process is by which the votes are tallied but I'd think the poll-runners would spot that?

seandalai is eagle-eyed

I prefer the original 'Deadly Valentine', which was my #2 vote.

I voted for all three so far today. 'Passionfruit' and 'Rodent' are both cases of the artist doing the essence of they do better than anyone else. I find both very moreish.

I hope the #1 voter reveals themselves in the thread, but this track was my #2 and that means we're largely responsible for it placing... thank u mystery person.

https://i.imgur.com/x1Q87qp.jpg

57 JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT "If We Were Vampires" [166 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
https://youtu.be/ivYkyC8J29M

My top eight or so is basically just a load of different remixed of Galway Girl so we'll find out how eagle-eyed when we get to the top 10.

woah

This song did me in this year. I probably listened to it a couple hundred times.

Isbell generally writes a stunner or two per album and this is one of 'em

Never heard of this but the band looks like Mumford & Dads.

I've never knowingly heard anything by Jason Isbell.

xp that's mostly why. Will give it a whirl.

wasn't sure about this at first but the droning sounds that gradually take over are extremely stilling

lyrics are yer typical sad existentialist musing but nicely put. it does hit home, but that's more to do with the music than the lyrics i think. the emotional climax of the song is the wordless bridge

I just appreciate the central conceit of the lyrics. If we were immortals, relationships wouldn't mean anything. But when set up on top of that splendid guitar pattern, it's one of my favorite things ever.

that is the central conceit of greek mythology tbf ;)

but yeah, the music is very fitting for the sentiment

The Isbell was my #2 as well.

It's by far Isbell's best solo album, but would've picked "Cumberland Gap" had it been a single, somewhere in the low 90s.

https://i.imgur.com/krPOIrA.jpg

56 NILÜFER YANYA "Baby Luv" [168 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/lmmQuNl_8xc

oh wow nice

Voted for Gainsbourg remix but preferred the Subtemple / Beachfires release from Burial.

I hadn't heard this before. it's nice!

What circles was this popular in? I never heard it, or of her, until I was making the above image on Saturday afternoon. But now I'm addicted.

is this minimalist day?

I like this! It has a really lovely chord sequence and arrangement, and I don't mind the vocals although I could see how they might be an issue for some

My first to place! Such a good song.

cool voice

she's had a bunch of buzz from p4k

it's a good song, i like the synths in the chorus especially

Johnny, she had two songs on p4k tracklist, I think, and was also nominated for BBC sound of 2018 iirc? She's going places.

this has me hoping maggie rogers places in some capacity

Cool. The only thing I go to p4k for anymore is the Over/Under videos.

I love her voice, made the usual mistake of reading comments on youtube ,though, and apparently there are people out there who feel differently

and yes Simon, hopefully there will be some imago-approved maximalism soon, just for balance, like

https://i.imgur.com/Ljdzwgv.jpg

TIE-54 YEMI ALADE "Mon Lo" [170 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/sDZgZE1TG0E

oh shit I've not heard this one. Oh shit how did I not know she had an album out this year??

this is dope!

I'm merely an afropop tourist, but I like this a lot.

soundcloud says the release date for this was 15 December 2017, that's cutting it pretty fine for the 77

nice song btw

Nice!

Yay! The album didn't make my ballot but this one was pretty high up on my tracks list.

this song is amazing

soundcloud says the release date for this was 15 December 2017

VERY, considering noms opened on the 14th.

That's part of the reason for the bonus 10 noms allotted in the final 24 hour stretch, though.

https://i.imgur.com/ZJni5lz.jpg

TIE-54 L'RAIN "Which Fork/I'll Be" [170 points, 5 votes]
https://youtu.be/RqAbjGd-OpQ

!!!!!

This is destined to be the most interesting stretch of the whole poll folks, so savor it

imago-approved maximalism, as promised

(my #6)

this is awesome

Oh cool - in a reversal to the last one, I didn't vote for any L'Rain tracks but the album made it very high on my list!