ILM'S TOP 77 TRACKS of 2011 (Los resultados!)

Germany still feels like a hub, it just happens that this year's dance anthems were by people who don't actually *come from* Germany, though Steffi lives and works there and Talabot has released his album on a German label

one of the most fun things about music is having group anthems that feel like they're personal to your circle of friends.

Huh. I don't think I have ever had this experience.

Less and less so for me I think - maybe when I was a teenager. I really need to get some IRL friends who like decent music.

Huh. I don't think I have ever had this experience
butter rolls!!!

Ha, I don't know if that counts, but maybe.

that Blawan track is amazing! cant remember a track poll with so many songs i wasnt familiar with!

that Blawan track is amazing!

Yes, totally. Hadn't bothered checking it out cos I wasn't really into his other stuff that I heard this year but damn. Has been totally lodged in my brain for the last 24 hrs w/ no sign of leaving any day soon.

Blawan is the guy who makes big clonky drum-led post-dubstep, right? Don't know if I've heard this track yet.

Yeah that's right. This is just a liiiittle bit catchier though.

Bass is still pretty aggro though.

uggh must stop writing though

any chance of the complete results or did i miss them?

different thread: 2011 Tracks Poll: Conclave of Stats, Ballots and Debriefing

I think the very ILMness of this list reflects how songs work in real-world social spheres rather than critical ones, one of the most fun things about music is having group anthems that feel like they're personal to your circle of friends. That's what Drumz in particular feels like.

― Matt DC, Friday, January 27, 2012 3:22 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes exactly

maybe what i'm recognizing is just the 'group of friends' happening to also be a 'group of critics' but part of my purpose here is to highlight the element of subjectivity & randomness of these kinds of things (which is the point I think Lex is missing)

Al I know "Sure Thing" was a big song but it also is one of several big songs that didn't make this list at all, and it beat motivation which for ex. i think is the better song. I didn't lose that war b/c i'm wrong, I lost it b/c more people agreed with you and j0rdan than agreed with me. there was lots of stuff that was good & charted that didn't come w/in a stones throw of this list, like "Ima Boss"

& fwiw these aren't in any way criticisms of the results, just an observation that this subjectivity/randomness feels more evident to me in the results at LOTS of polls / year end lists I've read this year than ever before, like the critical 'canon' is really breaking down to a lot of different perspectives

then i'm recognizing that maybe I'm just noticing it more this year, but it *feels right*

I think deej has a point, but I'm coming at it from the opposite perspective. In the last two years, I have felt more alienated from the results of the ILM poll than I had in years previous, and I'm guessing that it's because a lot of the excitement around certain songs is built up socially in threads I don't frequent, and therefore I'm not aware of them. It seems like that the growth of specialist cliques on ILM has resulted in the emergence of unofficial voting blocs, rather than just individual dilettantes, in the year-end poll.

(I guess I'm also probably not digging as deep as I used to.)

We occasionally share around YouTube music videos on a Friday afternoon at work; I went with Invisible Conga People (OK, not much of a video), Battles and Azealia Banks - keepin' it 2011 for once. Azealia got the most +ve reaction from my 50yo Swedish lesbian colleague - "I honestly hope you play this sort of stuff to your girls - maybe not just yet but soon; they'll hear all the misogynist stuff anyway, it's everywhere, but they need to hear this as a remedy."

xp But, OK, here is the ILM top 20 of 2006:

1. Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
2. T.I., "What You Know"
3. Justin Timberlake, "My Love"
4. Hot Chip, "Over and Over"
5. Peter Bjorn and John, "Young Folks"
6. Nelly Furtado, "Promiscuous"
7. Junior Boys, "In the Morning"
8. Lily Allen, "LDN"
9. The Knife, "Silent Shout"
10. Lupe Fiasco, "Kick, Push"
11. Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack"
12. Cat Power, "The Greatest"
13. Cassie, "Me & U"
14. TV on the Radio, "Wolf Like Me"
15. Beyonce, "Irreplaceable"
16. Ghostface Killah, "Shakey Dog"
17. Hot Chip, "Boy from School"
18. Liars, "Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack"
19. Chamillionaire, "Ridin'"
20. The Hold Steady, "Stuck Between Stations"

This seems a lot closer to whatever would've been on the P4k/P&J lists at the time, without a whole lot of ILM-specific fare.

this year was the ilxiest list ever

almost the entire top 25 of this year's pazz & jop featured in the ilx list. notable exceptions: adele (and when has ilx EVER enthused about her), foster the people (i remain happily oblivious about this group), lady gaga (we've talked about why she might not have shown already)

xp But I guess the point that I want to make is that because ILM isn't monolithic, "ILM-y" influences on the poll tend to be passionate factions that by definition don't represent the entirety of the voters.

Don't get me wrong: this isn't a bad thing. There are lots of songs on the poll I never would've heard otherwise. But when the poll is described as "very ILM," it makes me (as someone who doesn't participate in the goon crew or the bobbins threads) feel aloof from ILM.

when the poll is described as "very ILM," it makes me (as someone who doesn't participate in the goon crew or the bobbins threads) feel aloof from ILM.

THIS.

there wasn't a huge influence from either of those threads?

maybe bobbins

this year felt like there would've been mycrossover with resident advisor than p4k which, well, that's only a positive. why is p4k a litmus test again?

what even were the ilx-specific oddities? desloc obv. the memes showed up in a lot of places. the lulu cover. jojo? but no one even stanned at length for that on ilx, it just happens to be the kind of track that pushes ilx buttons, and would have in 2006 too.

a lot of the stuff on old lists seems obvious in retrospect for various reasons - ilx being ahead of the game (critically), a particular aesthetic becoming absorbed into ilx &c &c.

that said this year's list did feel fragmented, and i think the relatively low number of voters needed to place quite highly bears that out. but pop in general was pretty fragmented! "countdown", which was a consensus pop pick in every list i've seen, wasn't even a particularly big hit!

*more crossover

the thing is i don't feel like the bobbins that placed here was talked about in the actual bobbins threads - i don't remember anyone repping for invisible conga people, steffi, danny daze or jacques greene to a particularly massive extent on ilx. the bobbins crew represented by voting for this year's big dance tracks in the world outside ilx. as for todd terje, tuccillo, benoit & sergio, creep, terror danjah, john talabot - they all had their own threads.

the goon crew influence is actually way smaller than it could've been b/c half of them didn't bother to vote.

(the rolling bobbins thread is very slow moving and discussion-light, tbh) (whereas the rolling rap thread is 500 new answers every morning)

i really wish more of the goons would vote

invisible conga people, steffi, danny daze or jacques greene

^^only steffi is "bobbins" imho

did goons do their own invite-only thread this year? can they still?

the rest is "partisans" i guess xpost

This list didn't seem particularly insular to me. If anything it's less insular than PFork or P&J. I think of ILM as a place with a definite sensibility - though it's hard to pin down, it's a sensibility that embraces music that plays well on a big stage, is inclusive, generous, perhaps a bit theatrical, that functions well in a social space (like a club), that uses the machinery of pop rather than disdaining it. I think this list, among other things, advocates well for that sensibility.

and then there's Destroyer...

That's why I said "among other things" - like all generalizations, this one is false.

well yeah - i'm not even sure where all this *should* go let alone where it *did* go. their presence here isn't to do with ilx cliques!

i know there was very little steffi talk cuz i mentioned her in passing when her album dropped and remember no one really responding, lol. "yours" was just a legit huge house track.

If anything it's less insular than PFork

otm look how many tracks on that list have little to no relevance outside it?

o.nate sums it up well

the thing is i don't feel like the bobbins that placed here was talked about in the actual bobbins threads... they all had their own threads.

Yeah, but as you say, it's still part of the rolling bobbins world, it's just that that crew branched out and put that stuff in a dedicated thread.

I think of ILM as a place with a definite sensibility - though it's hard to pin down, it's a sensibility that embraces music that plays well on a big stage, is inclusive, generous, perhaps a bit theatrical, that functions well in a social space (like a club), that uses the machinery of pop rather than disdaining it.

This is nuts and completely exclusionary.

Well, that may be less true now than it was a few years ago, and this is based on my own personal experience, but when I first came to ILM that was the sensibility that struck me. Of course it wasn't shared by all, but I had not seen it so passionately and persuasively expressed before as it was by certain posters on this board (some of whom no longer post much).

OK, I compared the ILM top 20 of 2006 with the ILM top 20 of 2011, looking at which songs also placed in the Pazz and Jop or Pitchfork top 40.

Rank / Song / (P&J, P4K)

2006
1. Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy" (1, -)
2. T.I., "What You Know" (2, 3)
3. Justin Timberlake, "My Love" (4, 1)
4. Hot Chip, "Over and Over" (17, 16)
5. Peter Bjorn and John, "Young Folks" (25, 5)
6. Nelly Furtado, "Promiscuous" (6, -)
7. Junior Boys, "In the Morning" (-, 13)
8. Lily Allen, "LDN" (40, 21)
9. The Knife, "Silent Shout" (-, 2)
10. Lupe Fiasco, "Kick, Push" (9, 15)
11. Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack" (7, -)
12. Cat Power, "The Greatest" (-, 27)
13. Cassie, "Me & U" (-, 22)
14. TV on the Radio, "Wolf Like Me" (13, 4)
15. Beyonce, "Irreplaceable" (17, -)
16. Ghostface Killah, "Shakey Dog" (-, 19)
17. Hot Chip, "Boy from School" (-, 7)
18. Liars, "Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack" (-, -)
19. Chamillionaire, "Ridin'" (27, -)
20. The Hold Steady, "Stuck Between Stations" (-, 11)

2011
1. Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay - 212 (6, 9)
2. Lana Del Rey - Video Games (7, 19)
3. Nicki Minaj - Super Bass (3, 4)
4. Beyoncé - Countdown (2, 7)
5. Todd Terje - Snooze 4 Love (-, -)
6. Miguel - Sure Thing (-, -)
7. Britney Spears - Till The World Ends (7, -)
8. Desloc Piccalo ft. Adiah - Drumz (-, -)
9. M83 - Midnight City (4, 1)
10. Kreayshawn - Gucci Gucci (24, -)
11. Blawan - Getting Me Down (-, -)
12. Cass McCombs - County Line (22, 8)
13. JoJo - Marvin's Room (Can't Do Better) (-, -)
14. Kelly Rowland ft. Lil Wayne - Motivation (-, -)
15. Emeli Sandé - Heaven (-, -)
16. Benoit & Sergio - What I've Lost (-, -)
17. Frank Ocean - Novacane (16, -)
18. EMA - California (15, 3)
19. Destroyer - The Laziest River (-, -)
20. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers (10, 16)

I would say 'uses the machinery of pop rather than disdaining it' is probably the closest you get: the poptimist influence is pretty firmly ingrained here, and that wording allows for stuff that is not at all pop in any traditional sense. The rest of the descriptors - I don't know how you get there unless you spend all your time in certain closed sections of the board.

otm look how many tracks on that list have little to no relevance outside it?

Tracks that appear on the P4K list have plenty of relevance outside of Pitchfork precisely because Pitchfork is popular and influential.

Didn't bobbins split in two? bobbins and partisans? actually are the partisans bobbins-splitters or a separate entity - steffi is definitely bobbins, not sure some of those others were particularly tho

FYI "getting me down" and "motivation" are just outside your arbitrary top 40 cut-off point in p&j; "sure thing" and "snooze 4 love" are in the top 100. i think at this point we're just moving the stat goalposts to prove our point - let's get into specifics, what point are you making about those particular songs?

I can't really see whats apparently so strikingly different about the 2006 list to the 2011 one

Whatever poptimist influence once permeated ILM has been subdued over time, I think. Either that, or its become so all-encompassing that no one recognizes it anymore. I don't, at least. I think the indie-minded and pop-minded and even the outsider-minded people around here have learned to converge in ways they never will in other communities like this. That's why I love ILM so much.

Top 40 isn't arbitrary -- I can't find P&J results for 2006 beyond the top 40 posted on Xgau's site.