ILM Top 100 2005-2009: TRACKS

Could lose the guitar tunes imo (though I do like Arming Eritrea) but yeah, you've been dj'ing at casa Klata tonight and it's been nice.

so far only song I voted for is "Ridin." but I voted for THREE other Ne-Yo songs (plus another he wrote), so as much as I dislike "Because Of You" I'll take it as a good omen for the chances of his other songs.

kinda surprised by the heavy presence of 2009 tracks so far, but maybe they're just getting out of the way early.

The first time I heard "Hyph Mngo", I thought it was really weird and original, but in a passively appreciative way. I didn't really care for it at all. Now I think it's fairly ordinary track (like jj said, more like some kind of early 90's rave thing) but I actually like it. Go figure.

(I didn't vote for it though)

I'd have voted for the remix of "Because Of You" with the Kanye intro, but I took this to be the original; instead I went with another Ne-Yo song.

like if you just took the "lust for life" instrumental and had the len girl saying "steal my sunshine" every once in a while, it would be awesome.

― interstellar overdraft (contenderizer), Wednesday, June 30, 2010 4:26 PM (32 minutes ago)

would listen!

i'm 2/20 ("rollin'" and "arming ertirea", though i could have sworn i voted for "ridin'"). like a bunch of these tho

and i'm pretty positive at least half of my other picks will place

I think 0 of mine will

(actually I have no idea)

i'm surprised that people haven't been demanding that the "lust for life" voters be outed so we can be hanged in the city square

a la 2009 poll

J0rdan has a good point

Who do we blame by default?

nice. glad "fancy" made it. probably my favorite Dream track. this list is awesome so far and only 2 of my 40 have made it at this point.

I guess my favorite new-to-me discovery in the first 20 is the Jackie Chain track. I said it above, but that song's beat and cadence is so hypnotic. I let it loop five times in a row before I even realized it.

that jackie song is so classic -- it creates such a perfect atmosphere -- that beat is truly amazing

you've heard the track it samples, right? robert miles' "children"?

Yeah bonus points for sampling a truly horrible track and making it listenable. I think only Eminem has done it better before. I'm not crazy about it TBH but I have to admit it's got a great flow.

Yeah bonus points for making sampling a truly horrible terrible track and making it listenable. I think only Eminem has done it better before. I'm not crazy about it TBH but I have to admit it's got a great flow.

yeah, most inspired sample of anything that will end up in this poll

100. NE-YO "Because of You" (2007) [195.5 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote]
I'm very surprised at myself for quite enjoying this one. A nice catchy hook, a real swing to the rhythm, and while I didn't listen too closely to the lyrics, they sound a bit more interesting than a lot of stuff I'd generally write off as landfill contemporary r'n'b.

99. DAMIAN "JR. GONG" MARLEY "Welcome to Jamrock" (2005) [197 points, 11 votes]
This is a big stomper - really goofy. Overplayed, perhaps - and the initial oomph disipates on repeated plays. Still it's a big summer party anthem and I like it.

98. CHAMILLIONAIRE ft. KRAYZIE BONE "Ridin'" (2005) [198.5 points, 10 votes]
Don't have an opinion on this yet. It hasn't grabbed me or anything. Will report back.

97. RÓISÍN MURPHY "Overpowered" (2007) [199.5 points, 10 votes]
Hmmm... This is nice in a post-Knife, post-Moloko, post-Melody AM kind of way. Actually this is pretty great!

96. THE KNIFE "Marble House" (2006) [204.5 points, 10 votes]
Not my favourite off Silent Shout as I mentioned. Still, as Dan P says, this does not make it a bad track.

95. CAMERA OBSCURA "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" (2006) [204.5 points, 11 votes]
I assumed this band were going to be some kind of shoegaze revival thing, but instead it's nice upbeat summery jangle pop, and on a day like today there's nothing wrong with that. It reminds me of the Concretes a little bit.

94. THE-DREAM "Fancy" (2009) [205.5 points, 8 votes]
Never got the hang of this guy. His stuff is just that bit too smooth and formica-finished for me. It's like what would happen if a bunch of high-spec kitchen appliances decided to make silver-tongued sex music. Guess that's why people like it.

93. BIG BOI ft. GUCCI MANE "Shine Blockas" (2009) [206 points, 8 votes]
Remember this from the 09 poll - really great.

92. CORTNEY TIDWELL "Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson Objects in Space Remix)" (2007) [207.5 points, 10 votes]
More moody Knifey stuff, this time with a bit of a Bjork influence too. Keeps you guessing and doing things you don't expect it to.

91. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "45:33" (2006) [208 points, 10 votes]
Possibly my favourite moment of LCD Soundsystem. The piano chords, the "Shame on you" bit... it's a wonderful bit of music. Been jamming it loads recently.

90. WASHED OUT "Feel it All Around" (2009) [208.5 points, 10 votes]
This band is overrated. The fact this is the best track off their mini-album is testament to that.

89. GIRLS "Lust for Life" (2008) [209 points, 8 votes]
Hahaha! The vitriol this track has caused, oh my! Yes it's the epitome of lame, cloying, ulcer-mouthed complaint rock; something we thought we'd seen the back of a long time ago. But now it's back in hipster clothing. I kind of decided I'd force myself to listen to the Girls album and get some objectivity about it, because this to me neither boils my blood nor makes me want to go gaga. It seems the whole record rests on stripped-down sunny jangle-pop with almost consciously self-pitying lyrics, that sits somewhere between the Kinks, Ariel Pink, Times New Viking, and some third-rate grunge band. But given its dues, there's a keenness of melody and even something endearing about the fact they're doing this kind of thing without too much hassle. The songs themselves all resonate in a way that makes them seem almost familiar, like he's taken the tune from somewhere else and adapted it.

88. LADY GAGA "Paparazzi" (2009) [209 points, 10 votes]
Missed the Gaga craze to be honest. I don't see what makes her supposedly so amazing when we've had Christina, Madonna, Grace etc doing better songs with better fashion imo. Still this is really really really catchy. I daren't even think about it or it'll get stu...papa..paparazzi.. too late.

Also, this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEiXdOOTaFs&feature=player_embedded

87. ROBYN "Be Mine" (2005) [209 points, 12 votes]
Haven't heard this yet.

86. THE HOLD STEADY "Stuck Between Stations" (2007) [210.5 points, 8 votes]
I keep meaning to find out about this band, but there's something so interminably dull about the prospect of doing so that each time I try, I pass out before I get to soulseek. Well I can see why. I think this is the kind of music you've got to listen to when you're bored and you just want something boring to complement the mood. The only thing that stops it being entirely tedious is the guy's vocal, which I'm sure a lot of people won't like but I'm kind of digging.

85. JACKIE CHAIN ft. JHI ALI "Rollin'" (2008) [212.5 points, 7 votes]
I'd never heard this before, but in a way I felt like I didn't need to. From the intro I knew exactly what it was going to do and where it was going to go and how the drums were going to sound and what the guy's voice was going to sound like. Even the "Children" sample, rather than lifting the track makes it sound generic as hell. Aren't you guys bored of this kind of thing yet?

84. FEVER RAY "Seven" (2009) [212.5 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote]
Fever Ray's had a lot of hype, but nothing on that album has moved me like Silent Shout. Maybe I just OD'd on that record and Heartbeats, so now I hear her voice and it's like being trapped in 2006 all over again.

83. FUTURE OF THE LEFT "Arming Eritrea" (2009) [213.5 points, 10 votes]
"Booooo! Angry rock music! Oh no! He'll damage his voice, mummy make it stop. Why?!!! Can't we put on The Dream again??" Shut up you horrible little bleeders and let these Welsh wonders do what they do best - being the best fucking punk rock band in Britain today, bar none. Loving this album - tough, intellectual, experimental, funny, what's not to like?

82. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE "SexyBack" (2006) [216 points, 9 votes]
Like someone pressing pause on and off on a cheap tape player. This is a really weird track to have done so well.

81. JOY ORBISON "Hyph Mngo" (2009) [219.5 points, 9 votes]
It took me a short while to completely get into this post-dubstep piece of disco-ball fluff, but I love it. Who on earth said it was abrasive upthread? This is smooth as silk!

I mean Hyph Mngo isn't abrasive the same way, say, Lightning Bolt is, but its repetitive nature kind of feels like rubbing steel wool on my brainstem.

Damn a lot of the songs at the bottom are really popular. Sort of regret not ranking my ballot... I assume only the populist songs on my ballot will make it. Either way turning out quite interesting.

tbf, we're working with five years crammed into 100 spots. The odds of some super obscure choice clearing that threshold are slim (though I won't say it doesn't happen...Cortney Tidwell remix and Jackie Chain, for instance, aren't commonly cited songs among even the talkiest music folks).

btw can i just say...

OUT IN THE STREETS THEY CALL IT MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAA

:-D

the "welcome to jamrock"/biggie mash up probably would've made my top 10

Here's the first half, btw, for anyone who wants to catch up: ILM Top 100 2000-2004: TRACKS

I just noticed, though. Why the heck did we do it in August of 2004? There are probably a few songs that fell in the gap between the two polls.

LIVE FROM THE WAL MART

LETS GO GET SOME VIDEO GAMES

OOOH OOOH AAAAAAHAAAA

dog latin, I like your break-down, even though you're dissing the one track of mine that's made it (Stuck Between Stations).

everyone's heard the Jamrock sample source, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aBopPKr6uU

Just listened to the songs I hadn't heard before...

Liked: Girls, Big Boi (unexpectedly!), Cortney Tidwell
Meh: Ne-Yo, Washed Out (if you're just going to pick one chillwave song, why this? Oh, wait...), The Dream, Camera Obscura, Chamillionaire, Future of the Left
Disliked: Hold Steady (most inexplicable appearance), Jackie Chain (like a happy version of that Salem thing)

e-rob - I like that much better than anything in the results so far.

ha, well it's not entirely fair judging against some of Sly & Robbie's best work.

[i]"Booooo! Angry rock music! Oh no! He'll damage his voice, mummy make it stop. Why?!!! Can't we put on The Dream again??"<i/>

lol and not far off from my reaction to that song...alright, being half-Welsh I'll try it again

It reminds me of the Concretes a little bit.

they share a producer. and bodily fluids

wow i'd never heard the cortney tidwell track before, it's great. with a few exceptions i am liking this list a lot so far.

Cortney made my top five! :D

10 people voted for Washed Out??!!?!?!

they just did it to wind you up

so far two of my votes, Marley and Jackie Chain. "Hyph Mngo" was literally the last track I removed from my ballot.

two for me too, just Big Boi and Jamrock. lots of different tracks making it by artists I voted for tho.

I wish I had ranked my ballot. I was all twisted up about the difficulties of ranking songs from totally different styles, but I should have just not worried so much about that and given lots of points to the tracks that needed my help the most. I would like to have seen some reggaeton on this list but doubt any will make it (except maybe Gasolina).

80. YEAH YEAH YEAHS "Zero" (2009) [221.5 points, 9 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmGNo8RL5kM

Alright let's goo!!

alright, a new day!

boo, another boring '09 GAPDY pick! something we didn't just see in last year's list a few months ago please!

Amazing - something people liked before makes the list! Quit moaning.

lots and lots of 09 stuff. was last year a sea-change year for music or something; so much so that things from before sound old hat?

i'm just kidding. but seriously, i'm looking forward to seeing more stuff from '05-'08, it's just not as exciting to see repeats from the yearly poll we just did. (xpost)

"Zero" is a great choon though.