ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2012

NNNNNGHHHHGGHH

like a helicopta brrrrrrr

yay 'stupid hoe'! my #2 i think. "LOOK BUBBLES GO BACK TO YOUR HABITAT" is the best. i've had four songs place and two of them are nicki.

today >>>>>>>>>> yesterday

with the minor exception of:

beez >>> stupid hoe

^^

lol @ people not being able to tell the difference between oblivion or genesis or at least remember what each is called

Five Seconds is kinda cool! Sort of a weird cross between Rick Springfield and Interpol :D
Like a dude with emo-bangs Footloose-dancing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBKqCTJ64RM

yesterday >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> today

kindred is probably my least favourite thing on that burial EP. probably the most burial-ly burial track though so i can understand its popularity

I don't normally pay attention to EOY polls but I think I'm gonna make it a habit. Dunno how I got so embarrassingly unaware of so much new music

prob would have voted for 'oro y sangre' off the talabot album

xp yeah ilx year end poll is like essential for me, thanks jordan + other poll ppl

I don't normally pay attention to EOY polls

o_O

This is ILM CHRISTMAS!

(I might be biased because I'm a co-runner)

Everyone seems to mentions Haim and 90s, but a 70s sound jumps out. (I'd have to listen again to try to be more specific about where it is in the song.)

― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 22 January 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like how it seems people can't quite place the decade on HAIM? I had an 80s Sixteeen Candles vibe to this maybe? Last saw 10 years ago though, so way less than half-recalling.

oh bollocks, just realised I forgot to nominate/vote for Micachu in either trax or albums poll

her best work so far, too

The Thing & Neneh Cherry - somehow they work up a South African vibe on that track...totally thinking Louis Moholo and the like.

definitely into Haim

i liked that micachu album but i'd be lying if i said i preferred anything on it to "golden phone"

nicki screencap made is a masterpiece

dream baby dream def one of the songs of the year, never heard anything like that album before

Hmm, I think I'm coming around on Locked Out Of Heaven

i liked that micachu album but i'd be lying if i said i preferred anything on it to "golden phone"

I only gave it a cursory listen, but this is otm

"Lapaz Toyota" was directed by Xbills Ebenezer.

so far the only things to really grab me have been the keith fullerton whitman and the andres (which is really kickass AND really subtle, way2go housemusic)

currently struggling thru grimes, gonna give everything beneath a fair crack too

threw hey jane on the bottom of my list because i like how it reconfigures itself in the final movement, as my list was quite short it probably got more points than it perhaps deserved. good song tho, will defend

wrt Anwandter I thought of as a sequel to this film except with Marc Almond impersonator in the lead. Damn it isn't.

Anwandter has just joined KFW and Andres in the 'approval' bin - really digging this

sounds like what Air should be doing about now

and the Cherry Thing song, after a slow start, has become something rather mighty indeed, gorgeous sonics, amazing production depth, aural synaesthesia...holy wow

fwiw, to wrap things up my end for the night, there are about 3 or 4 incredible songs on the micachu album, most notably 'holiday', 'heaven' and 'nothing', and I plain forgot about the album in a '2012' context when I hurriedly scrawled together some last-minute nominations

glad to see that the Anwandter placed. for me that track is all about the Kelley Polar strings. worth noting that Kelley Polar was also responsible for the strings and some of the production on the Javiera Mena album. don't know if he had anything to do with Luz de Piedra de Luna, but it would make a lot of sense to me if he did.

I really like the idea of Kelley Polar as the go to guy for Chilean pop stars.

listening through the rest of the stuff now

Hot Chip - this isn't any less anemic than anything else I've heard by them
Grimes - idgi
Burial - this keeps getting prettier as it goes along but I can't help wishing it were more functional
Twin Shadow - I don't really have time of day for anyone's Ian Curtis impression
Santigold - this kind of reminds me of the Res album she wrote, which is a good thing
Purity Ring - wake me when the reverbcore bullshit section of the list is over
Haim - this is aight but not nearly as good as the other Haim song
Bruno Mars - everybody otm, verses >>>> chorus, the latter tips it far into Bruno's usual cornball territory. kind of think it's funny that two of the year's biggest hits bore a pronounced Sting influence without really sounding like one another tho.
Alex Anwandter - damn, this is what's up. latin american hipster shit crew, y'all are killin' it
Spiritualized - I wish this was just the part where it got all noisey
John Talabot - this feels pretty staid, doesn't make me want to dance
Nicki Minaj - so glad this beat out fucking "Starships". I appreciate that Nicki chose to come back with a completely insane track by a female producer
Neneh Cherry & the Thing - this doesn't feel like it's going anywhere even as it builds? it doesn't groove enough to support such a static tune

this stretch kinda sucked, Anwandter and Nicki aside. so far the only thing I've voted for is "My Cabana", but there have been seven songs from albums I voted for and three artists I voted for different songs by.

We're about halfway through now, and theres a bunch of stuff on my ballot which I know is coming up and a bunch which I know isn't. But now its time for Drugs A Money Annual Tracks Poll Wishlist:

Some stuff I hope to see in the top 40:

5 Miguel songs (including the 3 in my top 10)
"Wut"
ZZ Top
...mmmmaybe Ab Soul

And:

TOY

Twin Shadow - I don't really have time of day for anyone's Ian Curtis impression

There is ZERO about this song that brings Ian Curtis to mind. Lazy reference, Rev.

Purity Ring - wake me when the reverbcore bullshit section of the list is over

Reverbcore? It's mixed a little wet, but this ain't exactly The Raveonettes we're listening to here.

Pulled up my ballot to see what's placed so far...turns out I didn't vote for "Don't Save Me" like I thought I had! Glad that mishap didn't keep it out of the top 77. Angel Haze and AlunaGeorge are the only two tracks I voted for to make the roll-out so far, but I suspect a large portion of my ballot will turn up Wednesday and Thursday.

Purity Ring is a snooze imo

Angel Haze - it's like she is rapping over a Fever Ray track. She's definitely talented but I can't really get into it as music.

Mungolian Jetset - it's so pretty and light, it's like IKEA music. Had to struggle to overcome initial dismissal when listening to the album. I settled on "Revolving Door" as being my favorite. Thanks for pointing out "Tocatta" is a remix.

Hot Chip - pleasant. It's got a bit of Orbital/Two Lone Swordsmen ("Smokebelch") thing going on under all those vocals. Vacation music. A warm up for "Warm & Easy".

Bruno Mars - took my by surprise. Quite like it. Video is strange, like a beer commercial - people having too much fun for the situation. It's an uplifiting song for sure but more fitting for dancing in your room than in a basement full of people. Love the "woop woop" and the smooth way it blends a modern soaring chorus with the Police backing track. I agree verses are better than chorus.

Alex Anwandter - whoa! Never enough early 90's revivalism for me. "Pump the Jam" bit kills me. So hard to pull off this kind of joyful sound.

Neneh Cherry - happy to see her in this if only because rooting for her in the '92 hit parade is one of my cherished memories

Loved "Running". "Destiny" was definitely one of my jams of the year. Pleased to see something like "Issue Generator" show up in the poll. I was about to say that I liked yesterday more on balance but the last few songs pulled it out. This Four Tet remix is banging!

yeah not sure about some of these references - what fever ray tracks use handclaps? and the sprightliness of twin shadow is more new order than joy division, but both are tenuous comparisons

Angel Haze backing track sounds absolutely nothing like Fever Ray to me.

So fucking o_O about ilx's love for Haim. Jesus.

The only one I voted for so far is 'Stupid Hoe' but really pleased about KFW making it. Thought about voting for Cherry Thing but I'm too much of a fan of the original - it's a nice version, but it's too nice. I mean, I don't have a problem with re-workings but... I dunno, in comparison to the original it's so nothing.

Angel Haze - it's like she is rapping over a Fever Ray track.

o_0

Hardly anything I knew in this run, and only one thing I voted for, but plenty of things I've been meaning to listen to over the year.

60. KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN "Issue Generator (for Eliane Radigue)" [216 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote]

Haven't been grabbed by anything by KFW for about a decade (Playthroughs was the last thing I really loved), and Elaine Radigue is always someone I mean to listen to rather than actually listen to, but this is really good. Not sure why people are describing it as drone, though.

59. HAIM "Forever" [218 points, 8 votes]

This is kinda fun but not vital - the Lindstrom/PT remix is great though. I hadn't got round to listening to it because there are just so many good L/PT remixes out there, but this is a keeper.

58. ANGEL HAZE "New York" [218 points, 9 votes]

Great, not the Angel Haze I voted for though (which is presumably higher).

57. MUNGOLIAN JETSET "Toccata" [220 points, 6 votes]

My #19; yes it sounds like Steve Reich, but that's not a bad thing at all. Would happily have a whole album of tracks just like this, or a 35 minute version.

56. JESSIE WARE "Running" [224 points, 7 votes]

Jessie Ware is someone I've been meaning to listen to all year. This is much more restrained than I imagined; on first listen I like the vocals a lot, the guitar less so. Disclosure remix is decent but speeding up the vocals loses a lot of what I like about them.

55. JESSIE WARE "Wildest Moments" [224 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote]

OK yeah this is really nice. Feels like the kind of thing that might have been inescapable at dinner parties if I had friends who listened to current music, but in a good way.

54. CHER LLOYD "Want U Back" [225 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]

I don't think this has much going for it apart from the nnngh noise.

53. HOT CHIP "Let Me Be Him" [227 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]

Sounds nice enough, but as ever with this band, I don't really see the point.

52. GRIMES "Genesis" [229 points, 11 votes]

Had avoided this all year, although I'm not really sure why. I listened to the album a bit in the last month, but it hasn't really grabbed me; this is much the same. I don't hear the references that people make (I think I've seen this compared to Orbital/Aphex Twin before, which I don't get at all).

51. BURIAL "Kindred" [236 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]

A month ago I listened to this alone in the dark in a hotel room in Austin, looking out over the river and the city, and it sounded awesome. I can't really imagine listening to it in anything other than that kind of setting, though, and I think it's ultimately pretty empty.

50. TWIN SHADOW "Five Seconds" [236 points, 9 votes]

I don't like this at all.

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

Fun! Haven't heard anything by her in ages. It sounds less like Making Plans For Nigel than I expected from the above, probably because of the different tempo.

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

I can imagine this being tiring over an album, but I like it a lot on first listen - don't have a problem with the vocals at all, seems potentially really catchy.

47. HAIM "Don't Save Me" [244 points, 9 votes]

I like this enough (in combination with their song above) that I'll have to investigate further! Have a suspicion that once again a L/PT remix would improve it, though, so probably I'm missing the point of it.

46. BRUNO MARS "Locked Out of Heaven" [246 points, 7 votes]

Didn't think I knew this, but I heard it all the time on the car radio at Christmas. I like it well enough, but the chorus isn't as good as the verses, and the verses sound a lot like the Police to me, without being a big improvement on them, so it feels a bit uneccessary.

45. ALEX ANWANDTER "Como Puedes Vivir Contigo Mismo?" [250 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote]

Sounds OK but nothing special - fun, but not enough to come back to.

44. SPIRITUALIZED "Hey Jane" [251 points, 10 votes]

I really don't see the attraction of this at all. One of the worst records so far.

43. JOHN TALABOT FT. PIONAL "Destiny" [253 points, 9 votes]

Voted for the album.

42. NICKI MINAJ "Stupid Hoe" [256 points, 9 votes]

This is why I should have gotten around to hearing her album by now. Really good.

41. NENEH CHERRY AND THE THING "Dream Baby Dream" [257 points, 9 votes]

Have been meaning to listen to this all year, and expecting to love it, and now that I've finally heard it, I do.

I'm wondering if the point of the Fever Ray remark is "this beat sounds weird to me, Fever Ray sounds weird to me, so it's a bit like that"? But I can't really make any sense of it at all.

a bit confused about everyone happily comparing bruno mars to sting/the police and acting like that's a great thing

as opposed to a very extreme case of DO NOT WANT

The Police (early) had some jams lex! One of the greatest drummers to ever do it as well.

http://i.imgur.com/oApbLTF.png

Been busy but going to post my thoughts so far, still not quite caught up with the countdown. Good mix of stuff in the list so far and A+ images, nice work.

77. DAWN RICHARD "Pretty Wicked Things"
I love Armor On but was completely unaware of this track before now. It's good though! The build in the middle especially.

75. CHROMATICS "Kill For Love"
Love this but voted for the NY cover instead as it's the only thing on the album that really works as a standalone track.

75. ALUNAGEORGE "You Know You Like It"
This one's new to me, like it a lot, would listen again.

74. ANDRÉS "New For U"
Not quite my favourite dance song of the year but still awesome, I don't go clubbing though fwiw.

73. JAVIERA MENA "Luz de Piedra de Luna"
Really cheered by the positive response to this, it was my #3, was a contender for #1 but it felt weird having an older track in the top spot. Thanks to the Singles Jukebox lot for this one. The album’s great too.

71. PULP "After You"
Er, yeah, this is pretty lacklustre, sounds like an album track from Separations. I still like peak-era Pulp a lot but Jarvis Cocker seems to have become this really uninteresting and curmudgeonly 'national treasure'-type figure in the last decade or so.

I'd say he needs to make an actual damn Pulp album, or forget about it.

I saw his two solo albums in the HMV sale, £14.99 each