ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2012

Yeah Norse was a bit of a mystery: lots of people who liked the video plus the Inspector MORSE factor (esp given there was a "drugs" EP).

Maybe we could bring John Thaw from the dead to resolve it.

Either that or just lol democracy and go home.

Whereas Call me Maybe is totally an ILM #1.

http://i.imgur.com/ZfHxirY.gif

― ❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Friday, January 25, 2013 7:34 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh so todd terje is seapunk

#emergingvisualculture

http://youtu.be/jpd_Hdm2CTs

ships can u have a go on this as well for a lil experiment cos really i couldnt agree more about champagne & seltzer

haha this is just like irl where it's only until you've handed the earbud over that you fully realise they're not at all gonna see the big deal

lol

haha, the worst feeling

not hating on this tho

eh, I feel like if ILM just had to anoint a eurodisco track they could have done infinitely worse than "Inspector Norse" and this is much ado about nothing.

77. DAWN RICHARD "Pretty Wicked Things" -- not into it, big messy production just sort of bores me and i lose attention, maybe it sounds better with better speakers
75. CHROMATICS "Kill For Love" -- i swear i first heard this in 2011. not even that late in 2011. yeah... november 3rd. how was it eligible? i liked it then and i still like it, stand by my opinion that it's the only song here reminiscent of springsteen in any way. 7/10
75. ALUNAGEORGE "You Know You Like It" -- brit stuff that will never gel with me, just sort of pleasant. and i hate their name so much.
74. ANDRÉS "New For U" -- have put it on twice and both times forgot to listen to it
73. JAVIERA MENA "Luz de Piedra de Luna" -- i think with closer listening mena will click with me but i haven't given her the time. i think i might need to listen to the whole album with headphones in bed before i sleep. all of this seems counter-intuitive.
71. PULP "After You" -- no, stop it
71. G-DRAGON "Crayon" -- this is really great except for the chorus! :(
70. TY DOLLA $IGN "My Cabana" -- not into it sry
69. FUTURE "Same Damn Time" -- not as good as turn on the lights, not as good as its own intro
68. NICKI MINAJ FT. 2 CHAINZ "Beez in the Trap" -- haven't listened to it since it left the radio, my ears are having a renaissance with it. there is nothing about it that isn't 10/10 perfect. everything. nicki perfect, beat perfect, 2chainz perfect. it gives me chills.
67. NICKI MINAJ "Starships" -- i came around to it like everyone else but not as much as everyone else, maybe just 6/10. have no desire to ever click play on it.
66. DAWN RICHARD "Faith" -- much better than PWT, gorgeous and moving in a massive way. she does so much with low throaty notes, her delivery of "meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" is strange and wow. omg those drums
65. JAPANDROIDS "The House That Heaven Built" -- i love music that is really obsessed with the sounds they make but this would only be decent if it were half as long
64. GURU "Lapaz Toyota" -- this is gorgeous THANK YOU
63. DONKIE PUNCH & LORENZO "Snapbacks n Tattoos" -- this is pretty great too but not as much, 3:10 is p heavenly
62. NICK HANNAM & TOM GARNETT FT. TOM ZANETTI "You Want Me" -- also good but i need to listen to it when it isn't in the proximity of ^^^
61. TAME IMPALA "Feels Like Only We Go Backwards" -- oh god this is tame impala? i just want to listen to "nine in the afternoon" by panic at the disco

music obsessed with the sounds *it makes

how was it eligible?

It was on their album from 2012.

o ok

remember "jackin"

60. KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN "Issue Generator (for Eliane Radigue)" – would love to hear KFW doing this or something like it live, will probably never listen to the whole thing again
59. HAIM "Forever" – this is nice but the guitar and her voice just get in each other’s ways and too many vamp weekend vibes. the remix is much much better
58. ANGEL HAZE "New York" – I like all the parts but it’s more a respect thing, for some reason it never gets my heart pumping
57. MUNGOLIAN JETSET "Toccata" – this is GORGEOUS slumps in the middle for me but starts great and comes back for a killer ending and those parts are GORGEOUS AND MAGIC. songs like these, I hate getting to a point where I’m waiting for payoff – wld prefer if the chillout went even more minimal and sparse so it sounded like its own part in the sequence rather than the last part of the first half.
56. JESSIE WARE "Running" – noooo doesn’t work for me. registers as quiet storm but doesn’t really excel for the reasons I like quiet storm. actually maybe I can just say “she is not sade, and that’s okay, but where is some sade.” remix is not any better.
55. JESSIE WARE "Wildest Moments" – first time hearing this one, like it much better. should listen to the album w/concentration cause her lyrics/character hasn’t become approachable for me yet
54. CHER LLOYD "Want U Back" – UNGH 10/10
53. HOT CHIP "Let Me Be Him" -- :/ sry love ready for the floor and one life stand but this isn’t it for me, better than the single we covered for jukebox tho. I just like them in full clear pop hooks mode.
52. GRIMES "Genesis" – oh I like this better than the first time I heard it but lacks the cohesion/clarity/direction of oblivion. sounds like she’s noodling though she noodles with v pretty sounds. when the piano sample hits around 2:00 it reminds me of lolgarageband nights. wish the snares were way quieter.
51. BURIAL "Kindred" – have never found any pleasure in burial, but I actually liked this fine until I got bored halfway and switched.
50. TWIN SHADOW "Five Seconds" – so sick of this sound but I like it when he sounds like peter gabriel and the parts where I can squint and convince myself it’s TVOTR
49. SANTIGOLD "Disparate Youth" – never worked for me
48. PURITY RING "Fineshrine” – this is pleasant but I’d never think of it as voteworthy. it weird me out when purity ring/grimes/elite gymnastics et al claim to be inspired by asian pop and then use these sounds/melodies that they play in like north american chinese/japanese restaurants/movie scenes and never in current asian pop. maybe I’m just hearing things
47. HAIM "Don't Save Me" – proclaimed my love at TSJ, like it more now, but I don’t think I’ll ever like a song by them nearly as much.
46. BRUNO MARS "Locked Out of Heaven” – have found myself with this in my head v often at random moments but especially in the shower
45. ALEX ANWANDTER "Como Puedes Vivir Contigo Mismo?" – oooh this is starting to make sense. love his falsetto. want to hear it on actual speakers but w/o too much bass because pretty sounds
44. SPIRITUALIZED "Hey Jane" – ugh no I want so much to hate this but I love his whole dumb shtick even if it hasn’t changed in almost two decades. guitar melody in the free jazz bullshit part sounds so nice. lyrics might be terrible, haven’t checked, oh yah they are
43. JOHN TALABOT FT. PIONAL "Destiny" – what is “pional” is this a sequel to burial ugh. my ears aren’t really cooperating with this but it doesn’t seem like a huge loss
42. NICKI MINAJ "Stupid Hoe" – YES INDEED YES my #2, perfect, LOOK BUBBLES, GO BACK TO YOUR HABITAT is the best anything of 2012. BUT worried – I’ve only ever listened to this song in my car very loud, and it sounds like the version on spotify is a bit different. maybe it’s my crappy car speakers but in the song I fell in love with, the bass drum hits are all equally loud and heart attacky, where in earbuds it sounds like they actually have different settings on the volume. let it be known that you’re not listening to this song right unless it is constantly making everything around you shake.

it’s 4 AM and I’m going to sleep rather than listen to 17 minutes of neneh cherry, will probably pick this up sunday or monday

eh, I feel like if ILM just had to anoint a eurodisco track they could have done infinitely worse than "Inspector Norse" and this is much ado about nothing.

― The Reverend, Friday, January 25, 2013 8:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's much ado about "Adorn," man. i thought you understood.

Adorn is great but let's not kid ourselves that it couldn't have been used over a mushy scene in OG Miami Vice. The only thing in an excellent top ten that couldn't be attacked on the grounds of "tastefulness", should you so wish, would be Gangnam Style.

tasteful/inoffensive is not really a good place to have taken this, and if i was the one that introduced either term into the discussion (don't really remember at this point) i apologize. i was just grasping at straws trying to figure out why anybody would love "Inspector Worse" so much.

"Inspector Worse"

surely we can do better than this

"Inspector Better"

thanks for this, based j0rdan

i crashed s friend's lolcollege radio show last nite and played a lot of this stuff on the air, it was fun

cool

Hey, I know: "Inspector Morse"! - because it sounds like Morse code, get it? Dit-dit-dah-dit Dit-dit-dah-dit.

Seriously though... It's hard to hate on "Norse" - it's kind of like a puppy that just wants to jump up and lick your face. I'm not sure it really deserves it's placement, but it does sound like it would be fun to dance to. At least it's got some energy in it. Is this the most mellowed out ILM tracks poll ever? A good half of the stuff on here sounds like the Pet Shop Boys to me: sophisticated Euro-disco-soul. And that's not counting all the R&B that sounds like the Pet Shop Boys (some of which I voted for - cf. Frank Ocean). I do like most of the unabashed pop: "Call Me Maybe", "Gangnam Style", "We Are Never Getting Back Together" - stuff that's not afraid to get its hair mussed and spill its drink. "Springsteen" may be corn but it's well-written corn - I like a song that can tell me a story, set a scene. Country is one of the last refuges for the lyricists' craft on the charts (hip hop being the other). Unfortunately, there's not a lot of story-telling hip hop on this list - though you can always count on Nicki for some genius one-liners. Maybe Kendrick Lamar tells stories - I have a hard time getting past his voice. I guess this wasn't a good year for goofy novelties: only "Bring in the Katz" by my count - which is good for about one listen. Not much of a year for rock either, though I enjoyed Haim's retro stylings - people mention Fleetwood Mac but I hear more of the Pretenders. What else? Miguel is good, I guess, but so far the lyrics don't really grab me. I guess the one that goes "Do you like drugs?" is kind of interesting.

The version of the Cher Lloyd song on Spotify is so distorted. I don't know if it was mixed/mastered like that, but if so, that is some serious clipping.

it’s 4 AM and I’m going to sleep

silly, silly boy, little did you know you'd be lying in bed until 8, in large part because of the bruno mars song stuck in your head

It's hard to hate on "Norse" - it's kind of like a puppy that just wants to jump up and lick your face

i think that description could apply to the other two tracks in question just as easily tbh (this is in part why doglatin's corny description of IN quoted upthread was actually pretty much spot on).

on that note 'Norse' does its thing as well as 'Wut' imo whether you much prefer one over the other comes down to your particular priorities in dance production or more likely the genres and scenes they're attached to. it's only these kind of conventional anthemy numbers that can really reach enough people to top polls. still nice to see instrumental jams can prove that popular in this way (considering their disappearance from the charts and pop landscape otherwise), even if the tracks themselves aren't really standout tunes from their respective quarters.

i heard inspector norse out probably more than any other track this year, people singing along to the synth line strikes a nice balance between euphoric and hilarious.

it's much ado about "Adorn," man. i thought you understood.

― some dude, Saturday, January 26, 2013 3:46 AM Bookmark

haha, I'm offended by "Adorn"'s loss, but I'm not offended by Terje's win, if that makes sense

btw, I did a bit of research on past placements by artists in this year's list

Todd Terje: "Snooze 4 Love" (#5, 2011)
Miguel: "Sure Thing" (#6, 2011)
Katy B: "Katy on a Mission" (#38, 2010), "Broken Record" (#26, 2011), "Easy Please Me" (#47, 2011)
Usher: "Yeah" (#4, 2004)
Blawan: "Getting Me Down" (#11, 2011)
Cassie: "Me + U" (#13, 2006), "Official Girl" (#40, 2008), "Skydiver" (#66, 2010)
Taylor Swift: "You Belong With Me" (#1, 2009), "Love Story" (#21, 2009), "Back to December" (#47, 2010), "Mine" (#60, 2010), "Mean" (#73, 2010)
Frank Ocean: "Novacane" (#17, 2011), "Swim Good" (#49, 2011)
Saint Ettiene, "Stars Above Us" (#40, 2005)
Bat For Lashes: "Daniel" (#2, 2009)
Scott Walker: "Jesse" (#41, 2006)
M.I.A.: "Galang" (#3, 2004), "10 Dollar" (#23, 2005), "Pull Up the People" (#32, 2005), "Bucky Done Gun" (#35, 2005), "Paper Planes" (#3 2007, #3, 2008), "Boyz" (#39, 2007), "Jimmy" (#50, 2007), "Born Free" (#34, 2010)
Kanye West: "Through the Wire" (#34, 2004), "Gold Digger" (#7, 2005), "Gone" (#49, 2005), "Stronger" (#43, 2007), "Love Lockdown" (#17, 2008), "Monster" (#10, 2010), "Power" (#24, 2010), "Runaway" (#26, 2010), "All of the Lights" (#48, 2010), "Niggas in Paris" (#35, 2011)
Rihanna: "Umbrella" (#1, 2007), "Disturbia" (#35, 2008), "Rude Boy" (#9, 2010), "What's My Name" (#71, 2010), "We Found Love" (#22, 2011)
Nicki Minaj: "Roman's Revenge" (#56, 2010), "Super Bass" (#3, 2011)
John Talabot: "Families" (#65, 2011)
Santigold: "L.E.S. Artistes" (#12, 2008)
Burial: "Burial" (#13, 2007)
Hot Chip: "Over and Over" (#4, 2006), "And I Was a Boy From School" (#17, 2006), "Ready for the Floor" (#16, 2008), "One Life Stand" (#42, 2010)
Javiera Mena: "Hasta la Verdad" (#63, 2010)
Chormatics: "Running Up That Hill" (#40, 2007)

I think the most ridiculous discovery that came out of that is that "King of Hearts" placed only five spots lower than "Me + U"

"Paper Planes" (#3 2007, #3, 2008)

this is so retarded

A+ sleuthing, btw!

Burial: "Burial" "Archangel" (#13, 2007)

"Paper Planes" (#3 2007, #3, 2008)

this is so retarded

― d'eejban (J0rdan S.), Saturday, January 26, 2013 3:24 PM Bookmark

Yeah, so glad the rules now preclude something like that.

iirc the remix 12" was released in '08 and a lot of those votes were for that

Not sure, but I remember that's where the "year of impact" argument came to a head due to its use in the Pineapple Express trailer and subsequent ubiquity.

John Talabot: "Families" (#65, 2011)

this was maybe my fav discovery ever from the poll

the ubiquity argument would stand if it were like #75 in 2007, not #3

I may have argued FOR its inclusion in 2008, but I completely see now why it shouldn't have happened.

i hadn't heard mungolian jetset before this list introduced it to me i should be allowed to vote for it next year

Yes because mungolian jetset is synonymous with ubiquity.

has anyone else had the problem of having background vocals going "oooooh fuerte" running through their mind continuously since monday?

BUMP for zach to finish his rundown and for others to start theirs

If I have one complaint about Bring In The Katz, it's that the guy's voice is mixed just a bit too loud - like a radio DJ cutting the rest of the music out so he can talk over it. Other than that, it's mega.

ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2012

If I have one complaint about Bring in the Katz, it's that it ends

^ this

If I have one complaint about Bring In The Katz, it's that the guy's voice is mixed just a bit too loud - like a radio DJ cutting the rest of the music out so he can talk over it. Other than that, it's mega.

― more like bog satin (dog latin), Monday, 28 January 2013 14:02 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

this is like the entire point of the tune ffs