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

jaymc i was wondering whether you'd rather the ILM list was more like P&J/P4K? b/c those lists certainly have inbuilt biases of their own that means they overlook a shit ton of amazing music. the ILM list has traditionally excelled at unearthing a lot of that. it's not designed to be a reassurance that you're still keeping up like you did when you were younger.

Ultimately, no, I'd rather it not be like P&J/P4K. As I said before, I'm glad that the ILM list is different enough to expose me to music I wouldn't have otherwise heard.

If I'm looking for a reassurance at this point, it's a reassurance that I fit in on ILM, despite not self-identifying with any of the crews that are now apparently the chief organizing factor of social interaction on the board.

The thing is, for all the talk of ILM's list being eclectic, it isn't really as eclectic as all that. Where is the modern jazz? Where is the classical? Where is the DIY punk? Where is the avant-garde? Where is the non-mainstream/major-label indie? And I'm sure the metal crew will be happy to point out - where is the metal? And for me, well, I'm asking, where is the J-Pop? Where is the experimental folk?

I know that a lot of these genres will be covered in the albums list, and I'm sure some people will argue that these genres are better suited to album-length format, but I don't think that's true of all of them at all.

I think ILX is eclectic - I definitely don't think the list is eclectic (this is not a criticism of the list - and my own ballot was far far narrower than the overall list)

sorry that didn't read well, I think the board is eclectic, but not the EOY list

Oh yeah, I agree with that. And I do think the EoY list is reasonably eclectic in comparison to some others, but it's not the shining beacon of eclecticness that some people have seemed to claim.

I think when ILM started in 2000, there was a distinct difference from the critical orthodoxy (poptimism, etc.)

Was 'poptimism' the critical orthodoxy then? iirc, it didn't become a thing until the middle of last decade.

A lot of classical/modern jazz/avant-garde is v difficult to isolate in track like chunks that you could include in a poll.

I think he was saying that poptimism influence was an ILM thing, not the critical orthodoxy?

agree that the ILM list is probably mostly eclectic in comparison to others. No list is going to be as diverse as individual tastes

ILM doesn't seem to be a big forum for classical, jazz, improv, field recordings, etc. I Hate Music focuses on that but doesn't have a lot of traffic. I kind of wish IHM would do it's own poll (of albums) because I think it would be an interesting list

Oh yes, of course...totally misread jaymc there.

ILM has had its ups and downs on the improv/classical/jazz front - depends who is about but I've always liked that this stuff could be discussed alongside all the threads on R&B/rap/pop in a single page.

If I were to make a rub generalisation, as a msg board ILM has always been set up from the outset to encourage people to look at music in a very open and generous way (that sensibility that o.nate talks about and finds it hard to describe) which means that everything is up for discussion. So I wouldn't want an IHM poll.

I've posted a bit on classical boards and (looking back, so another bad generalisation) because of the general outlook on music that the people posting on it had it seemed to shoot itself. That board is no longer in existence.

So a message board has to encourage a wide range of music and subjects - which this does, even if this isn't reflected in its annual poll.

Not saying its all hunky dory by any means, talk earlier on this thread on how to bring a bigger mass of people together to talk about things will always be a problem.

There always seems to be more threads and music than people.

Is I Hate Music some weird brother in the attic of ILM? On first glance I can get into a lot of what they cover but I could never imagine spending time there. It all gives the impression that music is serious and never fun.

i think spotify is annoying too. 90% of what i want to listen to isnt on there, not the other way around, at least when it comes to new music

lol brother in the attic, yeah I agree, but some of my favorite recordings of 2011 were ones they covered, stuff that wouldn't have been appropriate to even nominate in the ILM poll

seandalai - yes, I always wondered about who put that msg board up in the first place. As a sometime lurker (just couldn't be arsed after posting about 50 threads over the years on stuff that is covered there) it has its factional arguments, like every board. Maybe its because it has crappy board design, is in black, etc. But its not that serious. xp

(er I mean it would've felt like re-posting stuff I had already 'covered' on ILM threads, etc.)

i used to post there years and years ago

But seriously:

http://vimeo.com/28460433

― Tim F, Saturday, January 28, 2012 4:25 AM Bookmark

Whoa.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread and listening to the Spotify. I could have done without hearing that annoying cat loop atrocity but other than that great work.

I feel like I need to address the elephant in the room though. I can't be the only person who had his/her mind blown by the documentary on Mexicans in really long winkle-pickers. That was so whacked out I had an acid flashback. The dude going on about his seven foot long boots. It just snapped something in my head.

If you want Doran I'll see if I can get you a pair.

Nice! I'd be well up for a pair that were about 4ft long. Nothing too flash or excessive you know?

With matching hat and belt, I assume?

Send me a shoe size and I'll keep an eye open. As Dallas is apparently one of the hotbeds for the scene it shouldn't be too difficult.

But you have to promise me you'll wear them to every metal show.

Awesome!

loved the poll, altho a lil sad there wasnt more dancehall since the 2011 rolling thread was so great

loved the poll, altho a lil sad there wasnt more dancehall since the 2011 rolling thread was so great

― just sayin, Saturday, January 28, 2012 7:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

THIS. But I think consensus was tricky.

The dancehall crew (as such) is probably the only crew I felt totally part of last year.

i want to get a crew of dudes to wear long pointy cowboy boots this halloween

I'm on board. Can we have pirate hats too?

No, cos then you'd look ridiculous.

the way selena gomez pronounced "baby" in that song is one of the coolest in music history. "I I love you like a love song BEBBIH"

i think sharivari said on the pop thread that she sounds like a russian singing english lyrics in places (and in that thread there's also a russian version!)

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

I think in this case the medium is the message and and the ends justify the means. It's pop-art in a very post-modern sense. Here you have this lightly-accompanied piano ballad sung in an "old-fashioned" voice; cinematic strings and then these samples are spliced in which of course make more sense with the video but still give it an unsettling twist. "Haunting", yes well that's the idea. I worry that the song itself is force-feeding me "haunting". But what's more interesting is the ominous way it's being presented, contextually. Lana Del Rey is presented as this kind of mythical Marilyn Monroe-style figure - the ghost of a tragic heroine with Video Games her swansong - the last thing she sang before that terrible car accident in '63. The world mourned.

But then wait - this song is about video games, it couldn't have been made in 1963. It turns out LDR is a fake. She's not real. She's the pixellated product of a boardroom meeting attended by Simon Cowell, Drs. Andy Hildebrand and Jean Carruthers, the team behind Tomb Raider and some ASSHOLE who thinks he's David Lynch. Bleurgh yeuch! Get your filthy GM fabrications away from me! Right? Or maybe I've misunderstood whatever controversy's behind this song. I probably have. All I know is that if this is plastic pop, it's gripped me hook, line and sinker. For me it's the big sweep and decline when she sings "I heard that you like the bad girls hon-ey/Is that true?". It sounds like a fairly complex device, musically speaking, but it's brutally effective.

I'm not a lyrics man, so I had to look up the words just now: A love song from the female lead in an HBO TV drama. Very fitting.

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

Yeah, this is okay and everything, but I was much more impressed by A$$. I really like Nicki's rapping style - cartoonishly indignant and in your face, but I think the chorus lets it down a bit - the big, sparkly sound and that dull 4/4 bass drum does nothing for me at all.

Beyoncé - Countdown
Now this is by far the best thing I've heard for the first time since the poll was announced, and it's quite aptly called "Countdown". I just... It's just fucking amazing from beginning to end. Absolutely berserk - a million amazing ideas crammed into one song.

Todd Terje - Snooze 4 Love
Just quickly, how do I say his name again? I end up saying "Turkey". Anyway, the thing about listening to dance music at home, is, well, you're kind of doing it wrong really. That's not to say I don't do it. But my enjoyment of dance in a home-listening environment is often limited by the nagging thoughts that I WANNA HEAR THIS IN A CLUB!!! Right now I'm sitting here listening to it through monitor speakers in my bedroom at a reasonable volume. So far it's a fairly pretty little house tune with blinking arpeggios. I like how relies on these elegant, subtle variations. A touch of delay here and there meddles with the track's internal makeup, making it snake and morph around, feeling out different forms. I'm sure this would sound brilliant in the right setting, but this isn't it. I'll be sure to play it nice and loud next time I get the chance.

Miguel - Sure Thing
Yeah, cool. I like the warm, creaky organ sound that hums and revs in the lower end and gets juxtaposed with Miguel's expressive soprano.

Blawan - Getting Me Down
I enjoyed the 116 and Rising comp but I'm still not quite sold on a lot of the Hessle Audio sound. I guess the idea is it's a continuation of the original dubstep sound - keeping bass music dark and spacious and perhaps a little specialist. That all said, this is a pretty special little tune. Those mangled vocals give a completely new dimension to Blawan's bang-on-a-can dub-tech.

Cass McCombs - County Line
The '70s country-rock equivalent of Video Games. Reminds me of the late-seventies Beach Boys, songs like "Full Sail", and that makes sense because they were closely affiliated with people like Glen Campbell, although I'm not hearing him channelled so much as Dennis or Carl Wilson.

Rihanna - We Found Love
This general obsession with bad Ibiza trance has got to stop.

Jacques Greene - Another Girl
Pretty, but boring. I can't seem to make it through the whole thing without slipping through the end.

Nyan Cat - Nyan Cat Theme
Nein Cat.

Joe Goddard - Gabriel
I've finally worked out it's the guy's voice that's been putting me off Hot Chip all this time.

Destroyer - Kaputt
This is to the Pet Shop Boys what Sowing The Seeds Of Love is to the Beatles. Bejam probably had more fun making it than I did listening to it, so indie points awarded there. Also "Smash Hits!". I guess this wouldn't be so gratuitous without the saxophone. I might end up coming back to this one all the same.

Fucked Up - Queen Of Hearts
I was lolling quite a bit at the reaction to this track - particularly the vocals. I really don't have a problem with them, that's exactly how they should be. There's quite an art to singing like this - it really isn't very easy and not a lot of people can actually do it. This isn't so much a cookie monster growl as a more mid-ranged bark, but there's quite a bit of expression in there. I wrote quite a bit about it further upthread, but it dismays me when I hear people moan about a track cos it's in a particular genre, or it displays subversive tendencies like this vocal style (which is pretty regular stuff for hard rock), or the song is OMG 20 minutes long... I dunno...

Rebecca Black - Friday
Sure about that?

2NE1 - I Am the Best
Kind of cool and quirky, but I'm not hearing anything mindblowing here.

Gotye ft. Kimbra - Somebody that I Used to Know
This is to Sting's "Shape Of My Heart" what Destroyer are to the Pet Shop Boys. I much prefer the baa-baa-black-sheep five-on-one-guitar cover version which I heard first. It's weird hearing a new song like this get popular in 2012.

Nadia Oh - Taking Over The Dancefloor
Is it supposed to be this slow? I quite like the fact it's this slow, gives it a proper militant bounce. Not sure I know how I'd react to this on the dancefloor. I'd probably want to check my pockets on account of its insistence on taking my money. I guess I've always hated the whole "WE GOT LOADS OF MONEY" sentiment that gets expressed in some music.

Waka Flocka Flame ft. Kebo Gotti - Grove St. Party
On the other hand the OTT arrogance of this man is his trump. The guy just doesn't care about anything but drinking, fighting and fucking in the name of a good time. It's like being put in the mind of a mindless buffoon for 4 glorious minutes.

Locussolus - I Want It (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Remix)
I'd love this track to bits if they'd get rid of those Smurf-y "I Want It/You Got It" vocals.

Tuccillo - Disco En Paradiso
This sounds really timeless to me.

Barbara Panther - Moonlightpeople
Kind of like what I want ESG to sound like.

Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj - Dance (A$$)
Fantastic. Love the minimal production and the skatty miami-bass sound. This kind of track suits Minaj's rapping style a lot better than Super Bass.

Selena Gomez & The Scene - Love You Like A Love Song
Incredibly catchy - I had it stuck in my head all day. While it's not really my thing, I do like the wubby bass in the chorus.

Just quickly, how do I say his name again?

its a scandinavian pun on famous DJ/producer Todd Terry

oh it's a pun? right, that's pretty confusing.

its not that confusing

What if they're in the same room and stuff?

i think you meant baritone

nothing (much) against ldr but it's pretty depressing to see cass mccombs songs framed by their relation ldr songs.

Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj - Dance (A$$)
Fantastic. Love the minimal production and the skatty miami-bass sound. This kind of track suits Minaj's rapping style a lot better than Super Bass.

yes yes yes

lex: assuming you mean Miguel, let's meet half-way and say tenor.

I can't stop listening to the Blawan track. I can't wait to hear this in a clubbing situation and I'm pretty sad I didn't get to hear this for the first time on the dancefloor. I love the way the beat kicks in so decisively after that coolly detached intro.

i'm so excited to be excited by 212!

i'm excited to see jed get excited to be excited by 212

just a heads up that the albums results will get going somewhere around... 11 am EST

*anticipates furiously*

I had completely forgotten about the albums poll! Something to look forward to this week...

The EOY polls are the gift that keeps giving!

huzzah wz robbed

Mates just played the Blawan track on the local radio on my suggestion thanks to this thread.

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, Saturday, 28 January 2012 00:46 (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I dunno about the poll but one thing I would recommend is trying to get in touch with tpp or find one of his 'round up' posts from last year. Basically once every three months he'd do a round-up of goon-approved mixtapes or things for people to check out and I think they were v. important for guiding the listening of many people like me who love rap and try to follow the thread, but get bogged down as the rep bookmark grows bigga.

Just now finally really digging into this list via the Spotify playlist (which is great and super helpful, though missing a couple of things that maybe weren't yet on Spotify on the time, mainly "212"). As always, the pop and hip-hop stuff was no surprise but I really groove on the chance to touch in with, and cherry-pick, the mysterious goon and beach factions. Thanks, y'all.

This time last year, I was already chomping at the bit for vote for favorite tracks. This year, I have no idea what will be on my ballot. I'm not out of the loop entirely, but I haven't been as proactive this year as in years past about finding good things.

Feel the same johnny. This year's been a little more tepid - there's still stuff out there I just don't feel as whizz bang about this year as last year. Honestly I think 2011 was my favourite year for music since a long time