ILM'S TOP 77 TRACKS of 2010

"everything is danceable (with the right drugs)" would be a more defensible statement imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Q-4adwVck

context bro, context xp

(Oops, sorry, I thought I dis-embedded that.)

'Wut' is so obviously influenced and inspired by US rap that I find the idea of it being inaccessible over there (in the ways deej claims at least) kinda ironic. I consider it an instrumental tho which would be a factor and partly why it's popularity in this poll is unusual and interesting imo (altho not that surprising as i suspected it might win back in October).

Deej not understanding that the creative output of the whole world does not revolve around American audiences seems to be the problem here. He's just sticking pins in the rhetorical map blindfolded basically.

Find it kinda strange that people say "Wut" is undanceable. I've made this criticism of all sorts of tunes and styles throughout the years, but I seriously don't see why shit wouldn't go off if this were played on a decent speaker system at the right time of night.

Deej not understanding that the creative output of the whole world does not revolve around American audiences seems to be the problem here. He's just sticking pins in the rhetorical map blindfolded basically.

― Matt DC, Friday, January 28, 2011 10:39 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark

except that as i said im talking about 'in america' so ...?

i mean matt dc i read your comments upthread, its not like u are incorporating some sort of universalist outlook when u listen to gucci or waka

'Wut' is so obviously influenced and inspired by US rap that I find the idea of it being inaccessible over there (in the ways deej claims at least) kinda ironic. I consider it an instrumental tho which would be a factor and partly why it's popularity in this poll is unusual and interesting imo (altho not that surprising as i suspected it might win back in October).

― idgi fridays (blueski), Friday, January 28, 2011 10:38 AM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i cant imagine dancing in a club to rap instrumentals either

theres prob something to be written about how rap's lyrics helped balance out the slowed down tempo in dance music by engaging another part of the brain or something

I can totally understand why people would call "Wut" undanceable. At any rate, I don't find it very inviting to dance to. (On the other hand, I could easily imagine myself getting up to dance to UK funky.)

'Wut' is so obviously influenced and inspired by US rap

I don't hear this. I know by my own admission I don't listen to much rap, but it's not as though it's all that avoidable even for someone as disconnected as I am (and I do still actively check out at least some of it out of habit). The thing that seems most closely related is maybe the effects on the vocals, but if anything they remind me more of old electro stuff.

The "you can't really find this that inaccessible" slant of a lot of the comments from British posters about this issue just serves to highlight that there is some kind of UK/American divide here.

xpost torn on that issue because i don't particularly value 'Wut' as a Dance Track (see also the similarly great 'You Don't Know What Love Is' from last year and other stuff with greater ties to dubstep rhythmically) more it's anthemic vibe and general prettiness. the lack of vocals isn't an issue for me but the slowness might be.

i thought "girl unit" was just a phrase the game or fat joe came up with to make fun of 50 cent

i mean matt dc i read your comments upthread, its not like u are incorporating some sort of universalist outlook when u listen to gucci or waka

Yeah but sitting there and listening to a track going "how would this work in a cultural context in my country and would I like the people involved?" is a really weird way to approach working out whether or not you like something personally.

I can totally understand why people would call "Wut" undanceable. At any rate, I don't find it very inviting to dance to. (On the other hand, I could easily imagine myself getting up to dance to UK funky.)

If people can dance to dubstep, r'n'b and crunk and whatnot, why would they not be able to dance to Girl Unit? Massive beat, huge breakdowns, revving buildups - it's pure hands-flicking-in-the-strobelight chaos. UK Funky isn't really something to compare it to as essentially Funky is very similar to house.

Admittedly hen I played Wut out on NYE, I overlayed and cut it with Skream's "Wibbler", itself not a particularly good tune, but it did give it a stronger edge.

I don't think very many British people are listening to J-Stalin/Yelawolf/Jacka & Laroo either and certainly not in a club context but it's not stopped me enjoying them this year.

robyn - hang w/ me: o god it's robyn again. everyone knows what robyn sounds like. robyn knows what robyn sounds like. and she still sounds like it. neutered processed dancepop w/ arpeggios. WHO KNEW. not even a production curveball? not even a melodic tweak to slap us outta leftfield? this is DULL. bugger off robyn. i wish 2 hang w/ ppl other than u.

gyptian - hold yuh (you) (u): military dream-reggae, not v interesting 4 me. a charm is revealing itself as it goes on. probably needs a setting to really work - it sounds like it should be soundtracking something - on its own there's not much to hang onto. as lex says, to have this blaring at a student protest would be kinda wicked. wtf @ the remix! can't work out whether I prefer it - on the one hand it's a big noisy mess, on the other it's kinda ravesome. on the OTHER hand it uses that same flipping sample that katy b used. come on, whither originality! not the worst thing i've heard on this list by a long chalk tho - it has real drive, and some great foghorn sounds - think that if they changed that sample i'd far prefer it to the original. actually, what WOULD the worst thing be? there are a few great contenders. will think abt this.

ciara ft ludacris - ride: ok much as i have <3 for the lex n the dancepop rnb swagsters, shit like this being lauded 2 the skies is a thing i just cannot personally understand - it's boring and crass and the synths are so so so so so unoriginal as i find myself saying about so many songs here! oh and it's about sex! sex sexy sex. weird tho how these depictions of sex rely on such rote bump'n'grind beats, and such identikit vocals. it's like there's no other way of depicting it. it's like this is the only way of portraying eroticism. touchdown! coz yeah it's all abt scoring. fucksake this is foul. argh. dnw. no.

lindstrom/xtabel - lovesick: hello, 2004 called, it wants scissor sisters back!

kanye west - runaway: the 'song' part of this is good, one of the best songs (maybe the best song) on an album i don't like (altho that melodic cycle gets weeeearing). the message is repugnant and the autotune solo is the worst 3 minutes of music ever made ever in the history of all things

tinie tempah - pass out: you have annoyed me enough on spotify. begone.

think i'm getting burnt out, lol :/

but this has been a run of stuff i just can't get w/

doesn't manner

ok tinie tempah has continued and it's actually not so bad now. goes thru a few nice little change-ups, a few memorable lyrics. hail to england. and the main synth riff, altho the tone itself is dull, is nicely minor-key - this is EDGY BRITAIN SPEAKING. drums are neat as well. but rly this is bling-rap w/ trendy dubby shit and some good drums, plain and simple. stood up to a second listen.

kanye west - power: :( just leave me alone, k? oh wait the single versh was 1:43 wtf! gets points for sampling like one of my 10 favourite songs ever. OF ALL TIME. actually returning to this one now, especially in such a shortened form, I like it hahahahahaha WHO SAW THAT COMING. wish kanye's entire album had been like this. rly short and sweet songs with killah samples and neat backing vox, and a nice, terse statement. THUMBS UP! great video too. ok this is easily the best thing to come out of MBDTF. EASILY.

sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.

and hey what we rly needed in 2010 was the militarization of love. GUNS ARE SEXY

-_-

ke$ha - tik tok: oh just fucking fuck off. *starts the song* FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. THIS IS IMPORTANT, THAT YOU FUCK OFF. *stops the song* FUCK OFF.

joanna newsom - good intentions paving company: yeah I voted for this, who ya lookin at. gr8 song.

Yeah, I'm kind of confused with the "Wut"/hip-hop comparisons. "Wut" sounds much more like dubstep with some lighter house elements mixed in. In other words, not at all surprising that it would be a club hit in the UK and met with indifference in the US.

xposts And the fucking rave horns! I guess the closest thing "Wut" comes to is a chopped'n'screwed version of early 90s ardkore.

i thought "girl unit" was just a phrase the game or fat joe came up with to make fun of 50 cent

think this is where the name actually came from! + back in the day he made it into the Girl U No It's True acronym.

ke$ha - tik tok: oh just fucking fuck off. *starts the song* FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF. THIS IS IMPORTANT, THAT YOU FUCK OFF. *stops the song* FUCK OFF.

joanna newsom - good intentions paving company: yeah I voted for this, who ya lookin at. gr8 song.

descriptions for these two should be switched imo

robyn - hang w/ me: o god it's robyn again. everyone knows what robyn sounds like. robyn knows what robyn sounds like. and she still sounds like it. neutered processed dancepop w/ arpeggios. WHO KNEW. not even a production curveball? not even a melodic tweak to slap us outta leftfield? this is DULL. bugger off robyn. i wish 2 hang w/ ppl other than u.

Yeah, I'm gonna track down most of the tracks on this list I haven't heard yet, but I might skip this one for these exact reasons. Robyn is so asinine to my ears. Factory-belt electro-pop which was okay in 2004, but so dull now.

Yeah but sitting there and listening to a track going "how would this work in a cultural context in my country and would I like the people involved?" is a really weird way to approach working out whether or not you like something personally.

― Matt DC, Friday, January 28, 2011 11:20 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

its not whether i would 'like' them, im friends w/ ppl into this stuff here (im assuming -- last time they were fucking w/ dubstep), its just that they tend to have wack taste -- not in terms of i-hate-that-genre, but their constellations w/in those genres is boring (im sure someone here could make a comp of night slugs ish where id be like, well, i still dont love this stuff, but this gives a good story/map of what works w/in this genre)

Louis, have you been listening to Manowar recently or something?

listened to the last 20

Songs I Already Liked:

E-40 ft. CLYDE CARSON & HUSALAH "Lightweight Jammin'" - wow i thought this would be #1 by a huge margin, anyway it's obv just a thrilling and exciting and awesome and funky and funny song and seems like the song of the year

LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean - I only heard an LCD soundsystem this year and this was the album. i like this song. dance music is getting old and i guess so are ppl that listen to dance music and it seems like its time for stuff like this.

School of seven bells - I L U

Kanye West - Monster --- ok so Kanye is just garbage on this, but Rick is solid...Jay doesn't embarrass himself which is about as good as he gets now...Nicki does kill it on this, no question. wish it was just a nicki song. god every song on this album has a boring ass outtro tho stfu "i i crossed the line line" blah blah blah...without nicki this would be pretty bad but she's that good on this.0

janelle monae/big boi - tightrope -- ultimately, her voice is a little too "jazz hands" for me to be a great R&B singer, so i like her more on stuff like Cold War but anyway this is a funky track. but she does seem like a theater person in high school kinda.

ariel pink - round and round

waka flocka flame - hard in da paint - prefer bustin at em but hey this is waka....i ended up kind of admiring the sheer lunacy of the record but i can't imagine ever wanting another one.

Girl Unit - Wut -- lex did a thread about this and I absolutely love it for some reason, tho understand peep's probs with it....still i'm a sucker for chipmunk vocal samples stuff

Big Boi - shutterbug -- catchy as fuck, and just one of the best rappers ever IMO...classic. good for scott storch, i know he's been in a rough patch

Songs I'm Surprised I Liked:

Willow Smith - Whip My Hair -- never really heard this in total, but the vocal loop on the chorus is awesome...i think partially this is benefiting for being listened to right after boring old Katy Perry, Willow can sing better than her too...hey why not! tween power. would almost seem uncharitable to hate on kids having fun.

Crystal Castles ft Robert Smith - Not in Love - well hell! this is amazing! i kinda expected to hate it because as far as i've heard dude hasn't done anything worth a shit since disintigration but i do admit for ppl my age everyone had a "Cure phase" and so his voice kinda resonates like bob dylan or ppl like that...anyway this is great, maybe if the Cure had broken up early like Joy Division and Robert had done his version of New Order it woulda been like this?

rhianna - rude boy -- most of her new stuff i've heard doesn't do much for me....this is catchy for sure, or at least i can dig why it's a big hit....sounds expensive......i guess pretty soon every R&B song will be about rigorous sportfucking huh?

robyn - dancing on my own - i thought the other robyn song on the list was boring (see my other post) but this is nice...the sequenced synths are nice, it kinda reminds me of Flashdance for some reason. nice song. the chorus really builds nicely at the end.

the dream - yamaha - man i don't know, this sounds neat but jeez isn't this just like "i would die 4 u" without an actual song there? hope he sent prince a check. nice synth sounds though and good drum programming. the ending really builds into something, wish it got there faster

Songs That I Didn't Like:

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream...just kinda perplexing. she can't really do anything well, and she can't dance or look cool or anything like ciara, who at least picks really futuristic tracks even if she's not the best singer. kinda confused as to why this song would even register with anyone. huh.

Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill -- music came on and i was like oh hell yeah and then the singing came on and i was like oh hell no

Songs That I Don't Feel Strongly About Either Way:

Erykah Badu - Window Seat -- it's pleasant enuff and she is so cool but sometimes i wish i felt more strongly about her stuff....i love the first new amerykah but the stuff off the new one kinda sound sleepy to me at least what i heard. i already can't remember it :/

Scissor Systems - reminds me of "Obsession" by Animotion from the 80s in the verse...didn't know these guys, always got them confused with Fischerspooner. But anyway this is ok i guess, not as catchy as i'd like it to be. In the pictures on this youtube i'm watching they look like they are dressed to be in the Bruno movie....

Cee Lo Green - Fuck You - the customer is always right

arcade fire - sprawl ii mountains beyond mountains -- the synths are kind of a good look for them, maybe they are building up to their "tunnel of love" or "young turks" but anyway the lyrics are so dumb and omg suburbs i can't hang

Yeah, I'm kind of confused with the "Wut"/hip-hop comparisons. "Wut" sounds much more like dubstep with some lighter house elements mixed in.

house elements? the pattern of the bass drum is its main connection with southern rap i'd say (altho the synth sounds and space in it reminded me directly of that too).

dance music is getting old and i guess so are ppl that listen to dance music and it seems like its time for stuff like this.

gr8 description of lcd soundsystem

Yeah but sitting there and listening to a track going "how would this work in a cultural context in my country and would I like the people involved?" is a really weird way to approach working out whether or not you like something personally.

― Matt DC, Friday, January 28, 2011 11:20 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i have more to say about this but im at work & dont have time right now, but suffice it 2 say that my thought process isnt really working like this

Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill -- music came on and i was like oh hell yeah and then the singing came on and i was like oh hell no

Probably should buy Maggot Brain then, if you don't already have it.

sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead. this is unarguable.

If you guys feel the need to argue with every clueless LJ pronouncement we're gonna be here for 20,000 posts.

― Matt DC, Monday, January 24, 2011 12:44 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark

can't a brother troll

oh and it's about sex! sex sexy sex. weird tho how these depictions of sex rely on such rote bump'n'grind beats, and such identikit vocals. it's like there's no other way of depicting it. it's like this is the only way of portraying eroticism. touchdown! coz yeah it's all abt scoring. fucksake this is foul. argh. dnw. no.

Imagine like King Crimson writing a song about sexy sex. King Crimson presents Work It.

just google-searched that :/

wanted to do a KIP list of all the trax I rly dug but plumped for the 40-21 instead, sorry for any offence caused, these are just my personal opinions

xpost

what song k3vin?

haha oops sorry you were quoting i'm dum

If people can dance to dubstep, r'n'b and crunk and whatnot

I don't really get why people want to dance to dubstep though, and don't see how R&B (and maybe crunk) fits in here (i.e., I don't see why it would be considered difficult to dance to, or uninspiring for dancing).

oh and it's about sex! sex sexy sex. weird tho how these depictions of sex rely on such rote bump'n'grind beats, and such identikit vocals. it's like there's no other way of depicting it. it's like this is the only way of portraying eroticism. touchdown! coz yeah it's all abt scoring. fucksake this is foul. argh. dnw. no.

this seems like a p legit and honorable objection to ciara's thing, imo. i don't agree, but i can see why a reasonable person with tastes different from mine would feel that way. it's kinda crass and obvious, and those are qualities that people often object to in popular art.

In the spirit of KIP, however, here's a list of stuff I hadn't heard and really liked from the main 77. Anything particularly mindblowingly amazing is in bold.

69. YUNG HUMMA ft. FLYNT FLO$$Y "Lemme Smang It"
63. JAVIERA MENA "Hasta La Verdad"
58. GIL SCOTT-HERON "Me and the Devil"
56. NICKI MINAJ ft. EMINEM "Roman's Revenge"
46. JANELLE MONÁE "Cold War"
45. NICOLAS JAAR "WOUH"
39. LIL B "The Age of Information"
38. KATY B "Katy on a Mission"
34. M.I.A. "Born Free"
31. EARL SWEATSHIRT "Earl"
24. KANYE WEST ft. DWELE "Power" IN THIS FORM
20. E-40 ft. CLYDE CARSON & HUSALAH "Lightweight Jammin'"
18. ERYKAH BADU "Window Seat"
17. SCISSOR SISTERS "Invisible Light"
15. WILLOW SMITH "Whip My Hair"
4. THE-DREAM "Yamaha"

lindstrom/xtabel - lovesick: hello, 2004 called, it wants scissor sisters back!

and hey what we rly needed in 2010 was the militarization of love. GUNS ARE SEXY

these are the jagz that made the eyes roll out of my head. with love, lj.

xxxxxp @ deej I know technically I'm from not-America, but I can't imagine that Canadian club scenes are *substantially* different from US ones/more similar to the UK, and while you're not going to hear Night Slugs/Wut/etc. in big mainstream clubs, there are a number of weekly and monthly club nights that rotate around the bass/dubstep/post-dubstep/WUTever we're calling this stuff nowadays, and they don't strike me as particularly male-dominated. Perhaps in terms of the DJs - fewer female DJs in this scene at the moment here, but the crowd tends to be a good mix of straight/queer girls/dudes...Kingdom was in town last weekend and it was a pretty big cross-section of people - I missed it, but my all friends went.

So, basically, I mean. I'm not entirely sure what yr assertion is about the make-up of the audience for this stuff in North America, but while it's certainly not (and will never be) 'mainstream', this isn't exclusively bedroom music for Pitchfork readers who can't and don't dance. It remains club music first and foremost. Incidentally, and interestingly, my friends who don't really go out dancing got really into James Blake - love CMYK and the LP, etc. - but 'don't get' the appeal of Kingdom, Girl Unit, etc.

sade - soldier of love: lets be frank, we'd have all preferred it if morcheeba had come back instead.

haha i always forget ur the only other dude on this board that loves morcheeba

kinda surprised u dont vibe sade tho its technical in a way i think ud like

fwiw the two places that in toronto that ive heard night slugs shit the crowd is majority female and most of the dudes are gay.

Well there are two Canadians who've released stuff on Night Slugs in Egyptrixx and Jacques Greene, so they've got that over America

while it's certainly not (and will never be) 'mainstream', this isn't exclusively bedroom music for Pitchfork readers who can't and don't dance. It remains club music first and foremost.

taking yr word on the tastes of clubbing vs. non-clubbing canadians, but i'm still waiting for someone to explain what might be wrong with music that superficially resembles dance music but appeals largely (let's not say "exclusively") to non-dancing, blog reading types. i get the "different tribes" thing, but not the implication that one type of appreciation is more honorable than the other.

where is the cosmopolitan urban gay dude coming across night slugs? is it an internet thing? what kind of numbers are we talking about?

i should probably get around to going to a 'ghetto division' party in chi at some pt

(not night slugs esque btw but i imagine its what keeps night slugs from happening here, they already cover the young-hip-ppl-into-juke thing)

i'm still waiting for someone to explain what might be wrong with music that superficially resembles dance music but appeals largely (let's not say "exclusively") to non-dancing, blog reading types.

i guess you might have to wait for james blake's album to place next year! (god, hope it doesn't tho.)

(kingdom is american and has released stuff on night slugs)