ILM'S TOP 77 TRACKS of 2010

also i made it clear my 77 comments were for flopson's benefit only

the images/results archive of ILM's top 77 tracks of 2010

It's gonna be funny in a few years when tinypic reassigns some of these urls (I've noticed they do that).

gr8080's tip abt changing to old.css in prefs is worth mentioning wrt the img archive

the best thing itt is the video for 'dynamite' which is kinda perfectly 90s

cant even remember what i voted for tbh but this list is a p good approximation of stuff that i wouldnt be annoyed ppl were playing at a party but theres not v much i really care abt

whoa what a bizarre #1 yall have some weird taste

Listening to the tunes I hadn't heard yet.

Azari & III - "Reckless With Your Love (Tensnake Remix)" I have to admit I wasn't really feeling this, but about 3 and a half minutes when the samples really take over I was feeling it. Think I need to check out the original version.

Marina & The Diamonds - "Shampain" Really didn't think I would make it through the first 30 seconds of this, but once that chorus came in I was hooked. I think I would grow really tired of it if it was being forced down my throat, but I really like this!

The Fives f. Vanya Taylor - "Its What You Do (Hottest By Far)" Um, it turns out I have heard this. I don't know how, why, where or when, but I definitely heard this a few weeks ago. This isn't really my thing, though I can see why some might really love it. Think I'd love an instrumental version a lot more.

Yung Humma f. Flynt Flossy - "Lemme Smang It" OH MY GOD I can't believe I avoided this for so long. This is SO great. I mean, the video is all-time classic. And I love that his voice is like the opposite of a rapper, but he does it anyway. Flynt's verse just takes it to another level. So would have voted this if I hadn't avoided it assuming it was awful (stupid me).

Games - "Strawberry Skies" Okay, this had been on my list for a long time because I love Oneohtronix, but I never got around to it. I like this, kind of reminds me of where I was hoping M83 would have spent more time. Don't think I'll come back to this as much as OPN, but I appreciate the groove.

checkin' in late and my number 1 was the number 1 yeah

totally not a dance music kinda guy, but i'm hearing wut for the first time and its greatness is undeniable

like you know how we look back at ppl who voted for Kool Keith and Deltron 3030 and weird rap 10 years ago all lollerpops about how they totally avoided 'real rap' and get all smug gatekeeper of the art about it. Wondering if we'll be saying about Lil B ca. 2020.

Kool Keith and Deltron 3030

Both still very listenable imo

def gonna wake up in a cold sweat 10 yrs from now recalling in horror how i liked a lil b song once

other noteable omission: yahzarah

― flopson, Thursday, January 27, 2011 1:35 PM Bookmark

Yahzarah was my #1! She came like 10 spots from placing, too. My #2 "Watagatapitusberry" only got one other vote. >:-|

I think it's funny that Lil B of all people has by far the most trad rap song in these results. It's like some only Nixon could go to China shit.

hahah

Man, "Wut" is ok and all but I don't get it. I think I just prefer my dance music a lot lighter than that tbh (this goes for "Katy on a Mission" too). If I want hard and heavy beats, I'll listen to rap.

i think "wut" is cool too but it's sorta one trick to me

WELCOME BACK LAMP

i think "wut" is cool too but it's sorta one trick to me

― J0rdan S., Friday, January 28, 2011 5:55 AM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark

like 12 different one tricks

My problem isn't that it's one trick, it's that it doesn't make me want to dance and thus, as dancefloor-oriented music, fails its most basic task.

I mean, it sounds ok and all, but so wut.

i basically agree

is it played in dance clubs? to me it's basically mood music, in the same general category as Burial's stuff, with similar heightened emotional sense, downcast euphoria

I don't really care about Burial either.

Btw, I do have to echo those who say these are the most bizarre results ever.

Wut more like Butt amirite

yeah, more interesting than P & J and pitchfork tho
I do like the top four tracks a lot, they seem like good choices for ilx

WUT WUT

love the way everyone comes into the thread, like some tracks & hates others all under the posture of SEEIN THRU THE BULLSHIT as if there's some group of ilxors who literally like all these songs -- not pickin on gr8080 & i did it too at first, its just sorta *pats self on back*

― *kl0p* (deej), Thursday, January 27, 2011 9:09 PM (Yesterday)

so glad deej has learned not to ever state any of his opinions about music under the posture of seein thru the bullshit

ha! i wonder is the scene is anything like that at clubs in the US

xpost

like looking at an alien civilization

lol gr8080 owned by unionjackdoffingbowlercap.jpg imo

random thoughts part 2:

60. TAYLOR SWIFT "Mine" [250 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote]
better lyrics than 'mean' but worse vocals, still doesn't get through to me

59. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "I Can Change" [250 points, 8 votes]
i like this guy most of the time but can't really imagine getting as gushy about his stuff as a lot of rock critics are. this is a fine song, though not as good as the slow burners from his last album.

58. GIL SCOTT-HERON "Me and the Devil" [254 points, 10 votes]
yeah this is rad, not much else to say about it. he almost gets into tom waits territory with the clackety beat but it's a bit more hiphop and a lot less theatrical than waits. the intro very briefly sounds like that boulderdash album that i keep forcing on people in the listeningroom.

(TIE) 56. KE$HA "We R Who We R" [254 points, 11 votes]
i'm cool w/ ke$ha but this song is basically following the same formula as tik tok with a slightly weaker chorus. her 'rapping' is obnoxious yeah but i don't think it's quite bad enough to be unlistenable.

(TIE) 56. NICKI MINAJ ft. EMINEM "Roman's Revenge" [254 points, 11 votes]
my aversion to grocery bags isn't quite as strong as whiney's but it does keep me from liking nicki as much as i want to. this is fun regardless, though eminem's pees and a tripod line gives me the same uncomfortable feeling i get from watching those youtubes of the fat awkward kid trying PUA techniques on hot girls in the street

55. JUSTIN BIEBER "U Smile (Ambient Version)" [256 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote]
this is more amusing to me if i think of it as 9 votes for fast fourier transforms

54. DRAKE "Fireworks (Deadboy Slo Mo House Edit)" [260 points, 10 votes]
not what i expected at all, this is deep. the 'all i see is fireworks' sample is decoupled from the beat just enough that it's bothering me a lot, but everything else here sounds very pretty.

53. LADY ANTEBELLUM "Need You Now" [262 points, 11 votes]
i appreciate that this breaks taylor swift's monopoly on ilm-approved country, and i do like it better than the 2 taylor songs so far but still not my thing

52. BEACH HOUSE "Zebra" [266 points, 9 votes]
had the idea of looking at my last.fm stats while i was putting together my tracks ballot, and found that this was my most listened to track of 2010. despite that, i don't have much to say about it, it's just an incredibly pretty piece of indie pop with some unusual harmonic twists in the chorus that keep it from sounding generic. i'll probably have more to say about the album if (when) it places in that list.

51. GAYNGS "The Gaudy Side of Town" [266 points, 13 votes]
don't know anything about this group. the beat is lovely so far but they really could take it next level by dropping in a fat bassline...and there it is. really enjoying this on first listen. ending is a bit disappointing, it just sputters out kinda

50. TAIO CRUZ "Dynamite" [270 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote]
somehow i didn't know this song by name, was half expecting it to be a new listen but nope! heard it at bars/clubs all fall. it stood out in that setting as having a much better hook than most of the other stuff being played, but it doesn't sound quite as revelatory as part of a ILM list.

(TIE) 48. KANYE WEST "All of the Lights" [270 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]
i guess it probably says something about how much the guest appearance has proliferated in popular music, that when kanye tries the wall of sound approach he builds his wall out of celebrity musicians instead of session musicians

(TIE) 48. ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI "Bright Lit Blue Skies" [270 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]
seems like mining the 60's was in style for a long while for indie acts, but that's mostly vanished in the past 5 years in favor of 80s mining. which makes this cover seem a lot fresher than it would have back in 2000. i like when bands lift non-obvious/nugget-y songs for their covers instead of the same old touchstones that i already knew.

47. TAYLOR SWIFT "Back to December" [270 points, 10 votes]
this is my favorite of the t-swift songs, the gated/tremolo guitar is always one of my favorite sounds in any guitar-pop song. and it's got better hooks than mean/mine, and a 4-bar guitar solo. and most importantly, unless i'm imagining things, a church bell. rock on.

46. JANELLE MONÁE "Cold War" [272 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote]
i like the monae album but this track did a lot towards confusing people as to what she's trying to do, i think, since it doesn't play to any of the strengths of the record. the 60s influence is more hidden here than in her other tracks but it still exists: listen to the drum sound, especially on the fills.

45. NICOLAS JAAR "WOUH" [274 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]
whenever i hear a dance track that's sloppy and sparse like this one it always gives me a 'hey i could have done that' feeling on first impression. the great ones are the ones that open up in a way such that by the 5th or 6th listen 'i could have done that' becomes 'i wish i could do this'. this track hasn't made that leap yet for me but i won't be surprised if it does, there's just barely enough going on that it could be deceptive in that way.

44. CARIBOU "Odessa" [278 points, 11 votes]
i tuned out caribou for a couple albums once it was clear he wasn't going to make something as glorious as 'up in flames' again, but this track re-sold me on him. i like how it can sound either comforting or creepy on any given play depending on which instruments you concentrate on in the mix.

43. EL GUINCHO "Bombay" [280 points, 11 votes]
this song plays right into my weakness for steel drums. i like it. i think i like the corny new-age intro to the video even more than the song though.

42. HOT CHIP "One Life Stand" [288 points, 11 votes]
this got stuck in my head the day after my cursory one listen, and i can still play it back in my head. there's gotta be some value in writing hooks that only take a single run through the song to set in. the band in the video is not at all what i expected hot chip to look like. i f/w this.

41. LADY GAGA ft. BEYONCÉ "Telephone" [294 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote]
better than some gaga songs, worse than others. can you believe it. i prefer 'alejandro' to this one if we're just considering '10 gaga. i would like to hear some more sonic variety in her tracks from one to the next but i guess that's not really the point is it.

its funny to see 'dynamite' and 'bombay' place so closely to each other bcuz they both feel like mediocre efforts standing in the shadow of tremendous videos

u smile (meme verz) is probably the most irksome track itl cuz it feels like some 'professor bros. youtubes are the singles of our age' shit & i dont think the track is all that successful as an 'ambient' track or all that interesting as an e.g. of process music

As "Dynamite"'s biggest defender here, I don't give a shit about its video tbh.

"Bombay" vid is great tho obv.

I do have to say that even tho The Archandroid is one of my favorite albums this year, "Cold War" is probably my least favorite song on it.

also i made it clear my 77 comments were for flopson's benefit only

― gr8080, Thursday, January 27, 2011 9:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is almost as weak a dodge as calling queer singing 'vampire music' or w/e

ilxor needs to get off my nuts & stop posting

"its funny to see 'dynamite' and 'bombay' place so closely to each other bcuz they both feel like mediocre efforts standing in the shadow of tremendous videos"

otm

is it played in dance clubs? to me it's basically mood music, in the same general category as Burial's stuff, with similar heightened emotional sense, downcast euphoria

― Dan S, Friday, January 28, 2011 12:42 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

exactly why i cant stand this stuff. why is non-ukfunky dance the most un-danceable stuff always

I hate gays, gangbangers, and fuckin vampires.

(But seriously vampire boy is terrible.)

I like "Wut" and rather like Lunice's "Hitmane Anthem" which seems to be the biggest-hyped post-"Wut" track, but it's kind off strange to see this sound emerging as a fully-fledged trend. One track in a DJ set with these psuedo southern rap beats would be the maximum sustainable I would have thought. OTOH I'm not so into DJ sets where the nature of the beat keeps changing up so maybe it's for the best that it becomes its own thing?

I haven't seen the "Dynamite" video, it's really a car radio song for me. Most Guetta-ish material sounds best of all via car radio (though whether that means it actually sounds good is a different question - on a case by case really). "Who's That Chick" works excellently in that context too, which I would never have imagined when I first listened for review purposes.

it's really a car radio song for me. Most Guetta-ish material sounds best of all via car radio (though whether that means it actually sounds good is a different question - on a case by case really). "Who's That Chick" works excellently in that context too, which I would never have imagined when I first listened for review purposes.

^^^v v otm

Also the other thing I've just realised about this poll is NO JAMES BLAKE. HIGH FIVES ALL.

ha! yes i realised that last night too

yeah good thing u all saved two spots for kesha and like eight for taylor swift

could not possibly ever be moved to feel shame by plax's disapproval itt tbh

No Die Antwoord
No Salem
No Yeasayer
No The National
No James Blake
No Deerhunter

why is non-ukfunky dance the most un-danceable stuff always

actually get why in isolation, and out of a club context, people wouldn't think "wut" is danceable, but in every set i've heard it's used to rupture a set, to take it suddenly up to another level rather than keep the same groove going. the moment when the bass drops is incredibly danceable, which you probably don't get on a youtube. anyway british non-uk funky dance that's more traditionally danceable -

ikonika - psoriasis
funkineven - heart pound ( <= the one song that, if i could redo my ballot, i'd put on or near the top, and that i'd rep for a lot more on ilm - ACID)
jam city - arpjam
t.williams ft. terri walker - heartbeat
ikonika - they are all losing the war
joy orbison - ladywell
floating points - people's potential
deadboy - if u want me
braiden - the alps
doorly ft. lady chann - the one
optimum - crash riddim

idk if you don't find any of those compulsively danceable the problem is with you.