ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2012

this cher lloyd track is the worst thing i've ever heard, everything else is rly good

the EEUUUNGHHH!'s really make the cher lloyd!

i love the kfw track, not the kinda thing i'd vote for in this, but thanks to those who voted it in for reminding me to listen to it. love the haim remix and voted for it (also voted for 'don't save me' and i suspect we'll see it soon.) love 'toccata' but voted for the album instead. hadn't heard 'new york' before, first pleasant surprise for me so far.

not really down w/twin shadow unfortunately

oh yeah, meant to say the keith fullteron whitman track is great. i don't really listen to drone anymore but that made me wonder why (probably because it doesn't strictly drone)

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49. SANTIGOLD "Disparate Youth" [241 points, 9 votes]

Spotify / Youtube

This one was the first big single of the year for me.

It wasn't until just a few weeks ago that I realized it's basically a rewrite of "Making Plans for Nigel". I know mashups are passe, but I'd love to hear one made of these two.

when i'm reading other people's whiny bullshit i don't really care if they voted or not but don't let me stop you from making awesome insightful comments like "this list is now on a four-song stretch of BORING"

oh i love "disparate youth" - it was one of those songs that really stuck with me over the year, that i kept going back to, which i hadn't expected. there are some gorgeous, elegiac melodies on her latest album, those songs are pretty special - "the riot's gone", "this isn't our parade", "god from the machine" too. really like how it feels like it has a really wide scope but is really intimate too.

that hot chip song is for real boring

somehow i've avoided this santigold song the whole year but i like it a lot! those guitar stabs!

It wasn't until just a few weeks ago that I realized it's basically a rewrite of "Making Plans for Nigel". I know mashups are passe, but I'd love to hear one made of these two.

― Johnny Fever

Mindblown. I hadn't noticed.

n/a it's obvious you have a problem with me specifically, given that you're not scolding anyone else, and you're acting like that's all i'm posting. i suggest you just killfile me or something? you sound very bitter.

when i'm reading other people's whiny bullshit i don't really care if they voted or not but don't let me stop you from making awesome insightful comments like "this list is now on a four-song stretch of BORING"

― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 20:59 (38 seconds ago) Bookmark

jeez stfu already man no one cares

guess i just have deeper issues

Rollout is really missing some DJP imo

how is bizarro world this time of year?

whining about whining

"disparate youth" is pretty dope... really great drums

Twin Shadow is pretty bad IMO. It's like a more dressed up D'eon and really both of them showcase the problems with underground music in 2012 pretty well: garageband production and ironically terrible vocals.

As for Grimes, she does this too but I must admit that her nostalgia for Orbital and Aphex Twin puts her in my favorites of the year. We'll see what she does next, but if the artist trajectories of the last few years are anything to go by, it's probably all downhill from here.

Three things are a constant in ILM end-of-year polls. 1) Lex whining about the results 2) N/A getting defensive about people complaining about the songs he likes and 3) Hot Chip singles.

Still really like Disparate Youth but Santigold doesn't really feel like she made much other impact in 2012. There's nothing interesting about the Twin Shadow song at all.

the twin shadow song is like 8 bad songs played in 30-second increments

There are interesting things about the Twin Shadow song. I like some of his synth choices, and I think it propulsive in a good way. Not the best track on his 2012 album by far, but it's decent.

Santigold made more impact in my realm with "The Keepers," but I don't know if that's still to come or not. This wasn't as good an album as her first.

santigold does jaded better than just about anyone else right now imo

i have missed the twin shadow/d'eon songs that overlap on their venn diagram

Catching up:

60. KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN "Issue Generator (for Eliane Radigue)"

I haven't felt a need for more drone for some time. Hell, I'm not sure If I ever finished Eliane Radigue's Trilogy from a decade+ back.

59. HAIM "Forever"(Lindstrom remix)

Love this. The clipped vocal reminds me of early Phoenix. I tried once to put together a list of Lindstrom & Prins Thomas's remix work for further investigation, and gave up after 50 or so titles...

57. MUNGOLIAN JETSET "Toccata"

This could have come off the Reich Remixed comp.

56. JESSIE WARE "Running"

I voted for this (first so far this poll), and for the original track. My favorite so far from the album, but I must admit I'm a latecomer. So its Sade in new sonic trappings. That's a plus for me.

55. JESSIE WARE "Wildest Moments"

Not as strong a song as "Running" to my ears. The shadow of trip-hop looms long over this album.

54. CHER LLOYD "Want U Back"

Like the grunts, and the backing, but not enamored with Lloyd's gum chewing persona here.

53. HOT CHIP "Let Me Be Him"

Hot Chip hasn't particular caught my attention since the afrobeat experiments on a few tracks on Made in the Dark. This one doesn't play up their strengths.

52. GRIMES "Genesis"

Went with "Oblivion" here. Sounds like a demo/sketch from a gifted but naive songwriter. The album is nice sketchbook, but Grimes sorely needs a sympatico producer to hone the backings.

51. BURIAL "Kindred"

I'm sure this would be great on headphones in a room lit only by fire.

50. TWIN SHADOW "Five Seconds"

Billy Idol without the snarl. S'okay.

49. SANTIGOLD "Disparate Youth"

I'm a sucker for white reggae. Might have voted for this. Not up to par with the highlights of the debut before she was forced to change her name to a hygiene product.

So far, today's been a better set than 61-77, which is a first for one of ILM's wrapups for me.

Sounds like a demo/sketch from a gifted but naive songwriter.

i suspect this is part of grimes' appeal

You could describe most Zola Jesus stuff the same way.

the twin shadow song is like 8 bad songs played in 30-second increments

― an eagle named "small government" (call all destroyer), Tuesday, January 22, 2013 4:07 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol

Three things are a constant in ILM end-of-year polls. 1) Lex whining about the results 2) N/A getting defensive about people complaining about the songs he likes and 3) Hot Chip singles.

― Matt DC, dinsdag 22 januari 2013 22:06 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Actually it is more like this:

1) Lex whining about the results (aka whining about the songs he doesn't like/didn't vote for)
2) N/A getting defensive about Lex whining about the song N/A does like
3) Others getting defensive about Lex's whining
3) Lex falsely denying whining
4) Others truthfully saying he really does whine but coming on too strong
5) Next song to place
6) Repeat from 1)
7) We're still alive

am i the only person who can see my positive posts (about MOST of the songs so far) or...?

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48. PURITY RING "Fineshrine" [244 points, 8 votes, 2 first place votes]

Spotify / Youtube

this song is a song

Expected to like this album more than I did (which was not so much).

yay Santigold!!!

this song is a song

lol

In isolation, this songs sound pretty good to me right now. Hmm.

*song

i find it impossible to endure purity ring's "thing" over the length of an album but this song is kinda neat

*sounds

Of today's songs, I liked the Haim and "Wildest Moments", but neither of them struck me as much as some of yesterday's songs. Well acquainted with the Grimes record, which I like but not enough to get mad if someone hates it. Burial all sounds the same to me but it hits the spot at times. Cher Lloyd song has some nice grunting but otherwise sucks shit. Santigold song is significantly less fun than others on the record.

don't really get picking tracks off the purity ring album as they are all similar (a strength in this case imo)

I voted for this, but Megan's little lost girl vocals are a bit wearying over the course of an album.

should be said that i'm really into the body horror lyrics

love the purity ring album so much but i kept it to the albums poll for the same reason as cad

That Purity Ring song was played to death on 6music and everyone in my office developed such a massive hate-on for it. It makes me understand where the Grimes haters are coming from.

all of you who need a shot of perspective re: how uncivil it is virtually anywhere else on the internet shd check the comments on that santigold youtube link

because O_O

imho you are all v mannerful and lovely

Its worth mentioning that neither the "Alison Shaw recites her poetry book" or "UK bass music from Alberta" bits would work individually.

lol that's true xp