ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2012

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

yeah the bruno mars song is arse

as is somebody that i used to know

who were they?

Compared to the past couple of years, I feel a good deal more connected to this list so far; i had already heard 23 of the 37 before the countdown began. As the 2012 tracks list in particular made me feel hopelessly out of touch, this is a good thing.

The ILM favourite 15 songs rolling collaborative playlist has also helped a good deal in this regard; it's where I first heard Javiera Mena, Alex Andwandter and several others.

Thought about voting for Cherry Thing but I'm too much of a fan of the original

What's the original, a Neneh Cherry solo track?

The Four Tet remix is certainly nothing to bother with.

It's a 1979 single by Suicide.

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

― Mark G

His first solo album was one of the most disappointing albums I've ever bought. Never bothered with the second one.

Alex Anwandter *just* missed the cut on my ballot so pleased to see it so high. I should totally have voted for Bruno Mars as well, am a bit ashamed of myself now for not doing so. "Destiny" is OK but I voted for another Talabot & Pional track which I really hope will place.

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

The titles on the Grimes album are completely arbitrary and it's a pretty samey record in general, I like it but I've not bothered with track names at all.

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

This is terrific, and the better of the two Haims for me. If they can keep this up I'm really looking forward to the album. As I mentioned on their own thread, they're better at nailing a particular kind of 80s credits-of-the-teen-movie bittersweet rushiness than many of the bands who try their hand at that sound.

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

Ah the perils of bundling your anthemic chorus, it's got a bit of lumpy Killers stadium holler about it, and yeah the verses are better although I've never been a fan of the Police either. I'll never bother to listen to this again.

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

This is fun, but I prefer the Javiera Mena by miles.

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

I loved Spiritualized up to about 2001. Lazer Guided Melodies and Ladies & Gentlemen were really important records to me. But Spiritualized in rock mode have always been boring and the first part of this is phoned-in even by late Jason Pierce standards. Gets better when it gets all noisy in the second half but really quite poor overall.

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

I liked rather than loved the album but this is one of the better things on it. It's not transcendent like his Teengirl Fantasy remix from last year though.

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

Still awesome, although she really should have thought twice about the "I am the female Weezy" bit. That has not been anything to brag about for years.

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

I can't really rate this fairly because the original Dream Baby Dream is one of my favourite records ever and this doesn't match its glorious momentum, but it's nice enough on its own terms. The Four Tet remix is surprisingly banging by his standards, I like the second half where it goes both warehousey and skronky.

It's a 1979 single by Suicide.

Ah yes!

lol and a further search unviels a Springsteen cover too! wtf, no idea he had it in him.

Heh, I can imagine exactly how that Springsteen cover would sound.

Dream Baby Dream isn't exactly far out so I don't see why he wouldn't cover it.

ok i think we've reached consensus now, the bruno mars has better verses than chorus. quick someone do a re-edit so peepz can stop pointing it out.

xp The whole of Springsteen's Nebraska is heavily Suicide-influenced, as the Boss himself has acknowledged.

Given Streets of Philadelpha it isn't so surprising.

Can see how the Suicide original is better: the emotion is conveyed by the electronic drone in a way that an improv trio simply can't, as the urge to carry out minor, subtle breaks in the continuity the vocal demands is possibly too great. Quite a re-working though.

I quite like Luna's cover of "Dream Baby Dream"; bit of a standard, heh.

I've had Talabot's album on my iPhone nearly all year, so why I don't recognise Destiny very well is anyone's guess.

Nothing I've voted for has placed, so either I've suddenly became the hivemind or more likely most of my picks will miss the list. Expect 6 of mine to definitely place and and another 6 or 7 possibles.

71. G-DRAGON "Crayon"
I don’t think I get K-pop (or at least the few songs I’ve heard). This annoys me for the same reasons most EDM-pop does.

70. TY DOLLA $IGN "My Cabana"
Everything about this song is totally depressing.

69. FUTURE "Same Damn Time"
Only listened to the Future album once and wasn't too impressed but this works pretty well on its own.

68. NICKI MINAJ FT. 2 CHAINZ "Beez in the Trap"
Didn't vote for this but still love it a lot. I have no idea how popular she is over here beyond the ubiquitous hits - according to Wikipedia this got to #131 :(

67. NICKI MINAJ "Starships"
Not so keen on this one, it’s ok I guess. gr8080's Jurassic Park fact is awesome though!

66. DAWN RICHARD "Faith"
Didn't vote for any individual tracks off Armor On but this is a good pick.

65. JAPANDROIDS "The House That Heaven Built"
Wow, that "OH OH OH OH" hook is annoying. Reminds me of bad '90s britrock, 3 Colours Red or someone.

64. GURU "Lapaz Toyota"
Don’t know anything about afrobeats but this is pretty likeable.

63. DONKIE PUNCH & LORENZO "Snapbacks n Tattoos"
Don't know anything about Jackin' House either, I assumed it would be some sort of Trax revival thing. This is ok, gets really good about 3mins in.

62. NICK HANNAM & TOM GARNETT FT. TOM ZANETTI "You Want Me"
Not blown away by this but it’s decent enough.

61. TAME IMPALA "Feels Like Only We Go Backwards"
I can hear what they're aiming for here but it sounds kind of flat. The video is great though.

60. KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN "Issue Generator (for Eliane Radigue)"
I have this guy’s Multiples CD but never investiaged further, this is cool, if not something I’d listen to loads.

59. HAIM "Forever"
This is pretty good as far as ‘80s revival stuff goes, it’s not quite ‘Boys of Summer’ or ‘Love Is a Battlefield’ but it’s better than I expected (I think I heard another song of theirs I didn’t like).

Hopefully I'll get caught up with 59-41 before the countdown recommences.

here's hoping

threw hey jane on the bottom of my list because i like how it reconfigures itself in the final movement

The last part of the song always reminds me of Blur's "Tender."

yeah I had the same thought

The Fever Ray thing...take away the hand claps and you got this slow, churning drone going on which I found similar to something like "If I Had a Heart" and maybe something about the way she sings the chorus.

I'm expecting much good today my friends. I'm trying to see some dance music on this run.

Why are people acting like verses being better than the chorus is an unusual event? It happens all the time.

sure. it's maybe a little unusual for big chart hits, though.

"Starships" a prime example.

Nicki Minaj verses being better than Nicki Minaj choruses is VERY common

I was one of the #1 votes for "Fineshrine"; I played that song and "Obedear" (which I forgot to nominate) so many times

I have been meaning to track down some live Purity Ring videos because I'm really, really curious how their aesthetic transfers to a performance; a lot of the production revolves around drenching the vocals in reverb and almost burying them under massive waves of bass so that they pierce through due to the difference in register and I wonder how effectively they can capture that live, plus I wonder if the vocals are as clear as they are on record or if her voice is fuzzier outside of the studio (which I think would kill some of the tension I vibe off of in the songs).

they have these glowing lamp things that are hooked to midi triggers and the guy plays them, its kinda neat looking

watching a clip of "Obedear" now, it's pretty fantastic

I really adore Megan's voice; the women in Dirty Projectors could use a little bit of her clarity of tone