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

All I am saying is this:

I am someone who keeps up with music (in a dilettantish way) well enough to know most of the tracks in the top 20 of P&J and P4k each year.

In 2006 this meant that I also knew pretty much all of the tracks in the top 20 of the ILM poll. However, in 2011 I can no longer say this is true.

Since I have used objective data to determine that the ILM poll no longer resembles P&J and P4k as closely as it once did, I think it's fair to make the case that ILM has changed.

― jaymc, Friday, January 27, 2012 5:38 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

all motion is relative. perhaps it is ILM which has moved away - by standing still.

I think when ILM started in 2000, there was a distinct difference from the critical orthodoxy (poptimism, etc.). And then perhaps by mid-decade, the orthodoxy had shifted so that it was more closely aligned with the ILM sensibility.

Within the past few years, there do seem to be more discrepancies, but because the board has expanded and diversified so much, I'd argue that it's much more difficult to encapsulate an "ILM sensibility" and that any notion of such a thing is merely the inevitable influence of the board's most dominant factions.

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

― ⚓ (gr8080), Friday, January 27, 2012 4:34 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i don't want this to get lost--goon poll last year was great imo

I always feel like ILX broke p big with Pitchfork/P&J/"mainstream critical consensus" in 2008--based on my intuition after checking out the albums EoY poll--but when I actually try to take an analytical look at this based on evidence, it tends to fall apart...

I do feel like there is a massive difference between the 2007 albums poll and the 2008 one, but I can never be for sure whether or not that's because music changed, or criticism, or just ILX...

Yeah, there are a lot of factors, probably!

xp I think there's a lot that has to do with that: for instance the metal poll started in '08, and while only three metal albums placed in the countdown that year, there were also at least two Fonal Records albums that placed, that I suspect were voted in by the same group of people...

Also, in retrospect, 2008 was the big annus mirabilus for what I cheekily refer to as 'ILX R'n'b revisionism'--the whole (correct imo) idea that Badu/Terius/Quik are the geniuses of our time--that I think became a widely disseminated idea around these parts and helped lots of non-goon listeners take R'n'B seriously...

It's hard for me to say this with any kind of certainty: iirc in '08 I was still a goofy oddball who just wanted to post about Kim Deal and the Fall--but I've been following the polls since 07 (tracks one more since 09) and these are the vibes I was picking up on.

might some this analysis be a little premature? iirc, the albums results felt a lot different from the tracks results last year.

yeah i'm probably mistaking apples w/oranges here. my bad...

Albums results used to be mostly a rock/indie-rock affair with a little rap and pop sprinkled in. I think that's been changing over time as well. I haven't seen this year's results (I asked seandalai to keep them a secret), but I bet it will be more exciting than previous years' results.

the goon influence def felt lighter on teh poll this year. last years, it was like every three songs was from a difft crew: dance, goon, pop/critic pop.

Yeah and this ties back to lex's comment upthread that a lot of the dance tracks here weren't really ones that the bobbins crew got that excited abut (though in honesty the bobbins crew's taste can be a bit stuffy and doctrinaire at times) - I sorta feel like one of the things that make this a very ILM-ish year is the way that a lot of the songs arguably exist in the overlapping bits of venn diagrams of groups and aesthetics... Coalition choices if you will. Rather than the poll representing a kind of pro rata style electoral breakdown of distinct groups.

There really wasn't a lot of "who the hell voted for this shit?!" this year (in comparison to previous years, anyway). Mostly it was "I don't recognize this. I think I'll check it out." That's my favorite thing about these polls each year (though, in truth, I do enjoy some of the outrage from time to time).

last years, it was like every three songs was from a difft crew
-deej

Rather than the poll representing a kind of pro rata style electoral breakdown of distinct groups.
-Tim

Am I wrong in my contention, though, that there didn't used to be "crews" at all until the last few years? Or am I misremembering?

Well bobbins crew started in 2004 and had a kind of wax and wane arc of aesthetic unity and enthusiasm over the next few years. Goon crew started in 2007 I think?

So it's been a while.

There are even fossilised remains of old crews buried in dormant threads like the teenpop crew. Does Poptimism still do an end of year poll?

i don't want this to get lost--goon poll last year was great imo

― call all destroyer, Friday, January 27, 2012 6:21 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

deej and whiney and i were kicking around emails about this... maybe we'll actually do it for real

hella crews.

I'm just waiting for the outloud crü to gain its rightful place as the alpha and omega of all crews.

deej and whiney and i were kicking around emails about this... maybe we'll actually do it for real

― J0rdan S., Friday, January 27, 2012 7:36 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah! it gave me quite a few records to check out and i have no idea what yall have been into this year

emil.y otmfm (come on in btw e--I have something to play for you)

deej and whiney and i were kicking around emails about this... maybe we'll actually do it for real

― J0rdan S., Friday, January 27, 2012 7:36 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah! it gave me quite a few records to check out and i have no idea what yall have been into this year

― call all destroyer, Friday, January 27, 2012 7:46 PM (11 minutes ago)

drake

plus 19 other records i hope

i finally listened to that yesterday. would be a great album if it was by someone else!

I'm just waiting for the outloud crü to gain its rightful place as the alpha and omega of all crews.

If we rise to power too quickly, we'll fall as fast. Nurture it like a babby.

I can't actually seem to get in tonight, btw. My computer's being pissy about loading a few threads, even. Not sure what's going on.

Emil.y super otm. I started actually talking to people this year! It showed in my (first ever) ballot.

I've been on ilx for 6 yrs btw.

I'm glad you became more chatty. You're cool.

I've come out out of my comfort burrito just to mess w/ ilx polls. Seriously though there may be more people like me than one would imagine.

where can you buy these comfort burritos

I think I posted once or twice a week for years

don't remember anyone repping for invisible conga people, steffi, danny daze or jacques greene to a particularly massive extent on ilx

Yeah and this ties back to lex's comment upthread that a lot of the dance tracks here weren't really ones that the bobbins crew got that excited abut (though in honesty the bobbins crew's taste can be a bit stuffy and doctrinaire at times)

all of these except steffi got posted to the chillwave or avant threads i think so did the cheaters remix and walk and talk. id hesitate to cite this as c influential since like 5 ppl read those threads and its not like ital or maria minerva or any of what i thought were 'big' h1pster dance tracks made the countdown but its maybe interesting?

"walk & talk" technically had its own thread all year:

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?showall=true&bookmarkedmessageid=2276828&boardid=60&threadid=85284

i think lamp has def been a much more influential tastemaker this year

lex was big last year.

prob still this year to a degree. tim f is obv always a presenec

presence

don't remember anyone repping for invisible conga people, steffi, danny daze or jacques greene to a particularly massive extent on ilx

Yeah and this ties back to lex's comment upthread that a lot of the dance tracks here weren't really ones that the bobbins crew got that excited abut (though in honesty the bobbins crew's taste can be a bit stuffy and doctrinaire at times)

all of these except steffi got posted to the chillwave or avant threads i think so did the cheaters remix and walk and talk. id hesitate to cite this as c influential since like 5 ppl read those threads and its not like ital or maria minerva or any of what i thought were 'big' h1pster dance tracks made the countdown but its maybe interesting?
― Lamp, Saturday, January 28, 2012 1:32 AM (1 hour ago)

I'm not a writer or musician and don't really post on ilm much, but I just wanted to say that these were among my favorite threads this year (along with the bobbins and individual trax threads), and they definitely influenced my voting.

the goon influence def felt lighter on teh poll this year.

maybe if they, including YOU, had voted, this would not be the case. that would have been welcome actually.

there is no other ilx poster who makes such a big show of being unbothered to vote but who is so keen to dissect the results afterwards, is it a means of pre-emptively absolving yourself?

I sorta feel like one of the things that make this a very ILM-ish year is the way that a lot of the songs arguably exist in the overlapping bits of venn diagrams of groups and aesthetics

yup plus the crews are not distinct entities: most people on ilx have diverse tastes (fancy that) and will be in more than one crew, even if they're less vocal in some than others

Does Poptimism still do an end of year poll?

it's on freakytrig. can't be bothered to type out but the top two is the same. people appear to largely believe azealia banks to be a talented rapper, it seems

i honestly don't know how people can pay attention to each others' tastes as much as they do here, and i don't mean that in a snarky way (much). i can barely keep up with all the music i want to listen to, can't begin to try to follow what anyone else wants to me to listen to.

id say youre pretty far on the side of not really using ilx to find out about music compared to most ilxors

there is no other ilx poster who makes such a big show of being unbothered to vote but who is so keen to dissect the results afterwards, is it a means of pre-emptively absolving yourself?

lol lex otm

that said,

i honestly don't know how people can pay attention to each others' tastes as much as they do here

certain posters are def tastemakers, and despite being a pain in the ass a lot of the time, deej is one of the best at tipping people off to shit both new and old

people appear to largely believe azealia banks to be a talented rapper, it seems

its a TRACKS poll not a BEST RAPPER poll

Also remember the crews aren't monoliths. I voted for mostly dance stuff but was unfamiliar with half the dance stuff that placed. (I guess the dance folks might be at the extreme for fragmentation among themselves though, but such is the nature of the genre. I wouldn't be that surprised if the metallers are the same way.)

I think jaymc and deej and others are right that the results of the tracks polls have changed over the last few years, have become more eccentric and subjective...more uniquely ilm and less p4k/p&j-centric (and much more ecclectic and interesting). To me it seems like it's a not a result of separate cliques and fragmentation so much as increasing confidence and influence and interaction of multiple voices here from all ends of the spectrum – maybe because people have gotten to know each other better as the board evolves resulting in more amalgamation of distinct tastes? - that kind of shepherds the flow of energy on multiple levels/in diff spheres into unusual places, directing everybody to listen to new things. I think that explains a lot of what showed up in this year's tracks poll

i honestly don't know how people can pay attention to each others' tastes as much as they do here, and i don't mean that in a snarky way (much). i can barely keep up with all the music i want to listen to, can't begin to try to follow what anyone else wants to me to listen to.

i use the time i wouldve devoted to polling every one of staind's studio albums

yes, i also think that the poll results themselves are sort of pushing ILM to listen to/champion and ultimately vote for a wider array of stuff

that was an xpost

most people on ilx have diverse tastes (fancy that) and will be in more than one crew, even if they're less vocal in some than others

I would wager that "most people on ilx" are not in any crews at all.

they're in the biggest crew of all - the lurker crew

"crews" are just people who have similar taste to each other, as one will naturally find if one posts on a music board for nearly a decade. there's nothing scary or untoward about the word