Yo P&J, I'm really happy for you, Imma let you finish, but ILX had the greatest 2009 poll of all time! All time! (2009 ILX Trax Poll Results: TOP TEN TODAY)

could, wouldn't bet on it

some ppl in the nom thread were saying that they'd dropped terius off their singles list to make room for other stuff, but left him on the albums ballot. alex in mtl was saying he had 'fancy' as number one, but it wasn't a big rallying point iirc. me, i'm rooting for 'sweat it out.'

i only voted for "rockin that shit", and while i'm a little disappointed that it placed so low i think it would be dumb if a non-single like "fancy" placed above it. i'd be really baffled if "sweat it out" beat it

I am still pondering Guido a little and I find it surprising that some people (lex in particular) are emphasizing his melodies (which I just don't hear as very impressive but maybe in the "dance"* context they are). I would have thought it had more to do with the particular combination of sounds he pulls together. If someone had said, "Well, you have to recognize all the sources he is alluding to: the disco strings (which you probably hear clearly enough as it is) and the blah blah blah blah and the this and that," I probably would have thought: okay, that makes sense. Sounds kind of like an intellectual approach, but I can sort of see how it would work. Anyway, to me, the most appealing thing about that Guido track (not that I love it) is the way it combines sounds in unusual ways.

*I still really resent the appropriation of "dance" as a label for what is actually a narrow segment of music people dance to and I'm never going to get over it.

Oh yeah, to disco strings you could add smooth jazz saxophone, but then this really blatantly electronic sounds almost like primitive academic electronic music of yore, and then the heavy bass underneath it all, which I guess would be one of its key connections to dubstep.

Sorry I keep calling it "that Guido track" instead of "The Way U Make Me Feel." (It has a Christian name!)

It feels a little like transmorgified early 80s TV theme music maybe.

Also, my favorite track here is the Kid Cudi one (which was new to me--actually I may have checked it out once before earlier in the year via ILM and then forgotten it), which I liked before Vevo blocked it because it contained some of their content.

"Inflation" - also pleasant enough. I like the beats but it doesn't really do a whole lot with them. I don't like the snipped echoey "Woo!" which comes off as too ironic or something (but I guess it's just a normal "dance music" thing).

Not going to bother to listen to all the stuff that looks like hip-hop or all the stuff that looks like indie rock.

"Love Story" is my least favorite Taylor Swift single, I think, but I can't remember if I voted for it or not.

Not going to bother to listen to all the stuff that looks like hip-hop or all the stuff that looks like indie rock.

ha i kinda admire this, you know what you like

I'm glad all the roots rock is saved for the end. I figure there's gotta be at least 3 songs by the Avett Brothers, some Wilco, maybe a little Wussy. Can't forget Neko Case Middle Cyclone and probably 9 songs from the Jay Farrar project.

Great job guys!

"Inflation" - also pleasant enough. I like the beats but it doesn't really do a whole lot with them. I don't like the snipped echoey "Woo!" which comes off as too ironic or something (but I guess it's just a normal "dance music" thing).

The "Woo!" is kind of Crazy Cousinz trademark. It appears in pretty much all their productions.

Rudi: Check out "Hey Playa!" I could imagine it being up your alley.

I'm glad all the roots rock is saved for the end. I figure there's gotta be at least 3 songs by the Avett Brothers, some Wilco, maybe a little Wussy. Can't forget Neko Case Middle Cyclone and probably 9 songs from the Jay Farrar project.

Taylor Swift is kinda rootsy, no?

re guido, i know we aren't supposed to be putting youtubes in here that aren't on the list but beautiful complication is URGENT and KEY to this discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vL487qSmOo
for my money, it's ten times better than way u make me feel

if i had known there was so much guido love on here i would've absolutely nominated

so what's the highest rated hip hop song on this poll gonna be, ya think? cuz if it's fucking drake or fucking empire state of mind i will be hella http://media.bigoo.ws/content/gif/music/music_139.gifhttp://media.bigoo.ws/content/gif/music/music_139.gifhttp://media.bigoo.ws/content/gif/music/music_139.gif

It's gonna be either 9x or ESoM. Drake might place, but not higher than either of those

Esom?

oh, right. yeah, kinda hoping empire state doesn't place; i really don't like that song

ehh, I'm just kinda resigned to it

Reverend, I listened to "Playa" and think it's okay, and you are right that it's at least closer to my type of thing, between the Moroccan (I guess?) sample and the somewhat circa 1990 feel to it all.

It's sampled from the Morocco episode of Bizarre Foods!

Skip to 2:10.

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

how did you ever make that connection!?

someone on a blog discovered it

i think quik has openly talked about it.

Now I want Moroccan food. (I've got a Thai shrimp salad in the refrigerator for later and it will have to suffice.)

something with preserved lemons, my favorite. speaking of which, I was kind of hoping "Lemonade" would make it on this list, but I guess that's not likely at this point.

thai shrimp salad! oh man, I'll be over there asap

This thread is a rollercoaster.

ok that guido track that forks just posted works for me a hell of a lot better than the one that made the cut. thats a fucking great song.

thai shrimp salad! oh man, I'll be over there asap

I have to warn you Albuquerque's standards for Thai food are not high.

(It's still pretty good though.)

xxp yeah I like this guido track better

i mentioned "beautiful complication" and "orchestral lab" and "cat in the window" way upthread re: guido, i was hoping that i wouldn't need to post actual youtube embeds

who the hell will vote for empire state of? do peoples' mums read ilx?

i certainly didnt vote for it but it like, won P&J - it's definitely going to place

sorry, why do people hate on empire state of mind? i really like it.

I think it's fine, but I prefer "Death of Autotune" as far as Blueprint 3 singles go.

ugh "death of autotune" is even worse

Empire State Of Mind is the official coming out of Jay-Z liking Coldplay and U2 more than he likes hip-hop.

though ESoM was "uhh, Blueprint 3 isn't very...oh wait, this one is okay...yeah, dude has still got it!"

tbh even repping for the big alicia keys chorus is unimpressive when her own "try sleeping with a broken heart" has a chorus which is bigger, better and has a power which isn't totally hollow

^ iawtc

^ another acronym I don't understand

One thing I've noticed about this list, and I guess I might be pointing out the obvious and inevitable, is the heralding of a serious early-90s revival across the board. Girls sounds like something off a Matador compilation from 94, Azari & III is about as N-Joi'd up as it gets, House of House could've been an early Warp single, Fuzzy Logic somehow reminds me of club classics like K-Klass or Robin S.

didn't know esom topped p&j

really?!

House of House could've been an early Warp single

No it couldn't. Yes it's revivalist - but not of Warp. It's just songful, disco influenced deep vocal house. a la Dubtribe Sound System's "Do It Now".

There's danger in drawing too many conclusions about 90s revivalism from dance music, mainly because about 80% of 90s dance music styles and sounds never went away, and as such have been enjoying "revivals" ever since the beginning of the 00s.

e.g. the Chicago house pop revival Azari & III point to has been sputtering on for ever.

You're possibly right insofar as last year a lot of 90s sounding stuff started to get more attention outside of its immediate fanbase.

didn't know esom topped p&j

really?!

tbh even after the discussion we had on it, that result still baffles me.

If I could be bother wading through stats I'm sure you'd find there's lots of people with that as their one rap choice - which makes it perform better than either better rap (which has a smaller voting bloc plus vote splitting) or indie (which has a much larger voter bloc but also vote splitting).

AKA The Outkast Effect.

Tim, I'm sure 90s-sounding stuff has always been coming out, but you're right, it's resurfacing under a wider radar now. Incidentally I used Warp as an example as it's one of the few reference points I could think of (not too up with my various dance styles unfortunately).

But what I mean is that there appears to be a marked aesthetic change from this year's list to previous years in that the only 80s-electro sounding track is that Royksopp thing which, while a very nice track, does sound a bit heard-it-before.

Seems a lot of the dance/hiphop on this thread is starting to take on a certain retro flavour (be it intentional or not). Take the signature "Woo!" samples in that Crazy Cousinz track. Someone was complaining that it sounded snipped and ironic, but it seems like this was the intention all along - it's like a flashback to 1990 when half the dance records in the charts used the same "Ah Yeah" and "Woo-yeh" samples (not to mention Utah Saints trademark "U-u-u-utah Saints"). IIRC this kind of faddy vocal resampling fell out of fashion by the mid-90s (probably after Jungle). Personally, I'm all for this ostensible revival if it exists.