ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2014

My voting significance to top 77 placements seems exhausted with Ana Tijoux and Holly Herndon this year. I've perhaps 6 votes left to place, but they're lost in the chorus.

Ana Tijoux / Shadia Mansour: Sure, I get a contact high off the militant Chavista politics, but the amazing thing is how adroitly it blends Andean and Chaabi horns, beats, and ululations as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Its a great template for a post-everything global music, far more organic than some of M.I.A.'s similar ventures.

Holly Herndon: What if Paul Lansky listened to Autechre? I'm fond of contemporary composers remembering there's an audience to meet halfway, and accessible entries from the electroaccoustic left-field.

Otherwise, I'm pleased to see Owen P., Ninos du Brasil (both more album picks for me), King (its no "Hey"), Katie Gately (its no "Pipes"), Davido (also would like an instrumental version).

"Chorus" is maybe the only Herndon track I've really warmed to.

by the wayyyy

katie gately and holly herndon get compared a lot but if we're crudely reducing to women who make experimental techno in 2014 don't sleep on karen gwyer, she might be the best one anyway nuff said

i keep wanting to like herndon more than i do but it just seems like pleasant electronic background stuff to me

it's lovely when it sort of turns into sehnsucht part of the way in

Cosign on the Gwyer respect from me to

didnt like the holly herndon, tiring is definitely the word

Preferring the Herndon track to the Gately one, mostly because there are no farty mouth noises.

Yeah, I didn't vote for any individual songs from it, but Transgender Dysphoria Blues was my #1 album until D'angelo suddenly appeared and tbh I'd probably put it back there if I could redo it. It's been so helpful to me this year in sorting through a lot of my own emotions, and I've been surprised to find myself connecting so strongly with a band I never previously had any interest in. And as Louis says, the poppiness of the tracks is one of their greatest strengths. Usually as trans people, we don't get catchy singalongs that directly speak to our interests, concerns, loves, and fears.

― The Reverend, Monday, January 19, 2015 4:08 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, totally: art by trans people about their lives typically struggles for visibility, but it's been so important (especially trans women's writing) in helping me come to terms with my experience. I'm glad TDB was emotionally useful to you, too, Rev!

Voted for Holly Herndon... The HH album from a couple of years ago didn't do much for me, but her singles from 2014 were tremendous, feels like she's crystallized the thing she hadn't yet fully found on that album. And yeah, I like that she feels for us beat-lovers too, not just for the electro-acoustic crowd.

I like Karen Gwyer, but I don't see much reason to lump her with HH besides their gender... Gwyer's music is much more in line with trad techno. It's still great though, I voted for her single too.

sorry i mentioned holly herndon below katie gately i wasn't trying to compare them

lol i was just referring to how both singles are oblique and ponderous

idk they seem totally comparable? based on these two songs, at least.

gwyer's track got nice about halfway through though

XP *too

The Katie Gately stuff is so fierce and dynamic, almost nauseatingly so in places but it a ruddy thrilling ride

Holly Herndon was a kind of ideal primer for loving the fantastic Giant Claw record from last year. Looking forward to finding kindred stuff in 2015.

Agreed re Gwyer not really being as closely comparable as the above.

Holly Herndon also someone I admire in theory, and she's obviously very onto important issues (including cool collabs, esp. Metahaven), but there's something also a bit art school po-faced about it all. Appreciate 'Home', more than Chorus, for obvious political reasons.

Feel like you might get trapped in a conversation about gluten with her.

Or she might say, "oh my god, you're funny", after you tell a joke.

Johnny Fever, Dyl was confusing my comment on Karen Gwyer with Katie Gately, but I commented on Imago comparing Herndon with Gwyer. Gately is roughly in the same genre as Herndon, I guess, but Gwyer isn't.

oh lol i'm totally lost between the kgs

I felt good about wasting my #1 vote on a song only I was going to vote for at the time, but now I wish I'd played it a little differently.

The other great kg of the year was koo koo by gabi - Craig, imago, go watch that video

imago said katie gately and holly herndon get compared a lot but if we're crudely reducing to women who make experimental techno in 2014

That's what I was responding to, I guess. I don't think comparing those two women in particular is crude or sexist. They're definitely speaking the same musical language to my ears.

having your #1 not place builds character imo

yes

haha tru

Am familiar with GABI - that track is mint.

would like to thank everyone for getting us brought day one with only a single Hot Chip joke

Didn't vote for Katie Gately but her + Julia Holter was my favourite concert of 2014.

― seandalai, Monday, January 19, 2015 4:19 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I got completely mixed up, now I realise I meant Karen Gwyer here :(

*through day one

If I'd been online I would have posted one when Robyn placed xp

My #1 was a Finnish rap tune, so it never had a chance of placing here... But I listened to that song in 2014 twice as much as any other tune, so it would've felt like cheating not to put it at the top of my list.

Fantastic imagery gr80.

This has been a very interesting first day - I think i only voted for "tchelete" but who cares when the results feel unpredictable in a good way.

The Holly Herndon video tickles me in all-new ways.

Catching up now, no tracks I've voted for yet. Prince Johnny was a late scratch.

Two tracks I voted for, Water Fountain and Tchelete. Lots of good discoveries, most of all Ninos do Brazil and Ana Tijoux.

My #1 was a Finnish rap tune

Yhdentekevää? Really really liked this stuff on the Spotify playlists, as did my gf (who is in fact saying right now: "it was the best!") :)

69 NICKI MINAJ "Anaconda" - voted for this. defensively qualifying that vote by saying that most of the stuff i really loved in 2014 wasnt nominated so its probably not in my personal 20 best but i still really like this a lot. trying to explain why makes me think about this article erstwhile ilmer tom ewing wrote for the music website pitchfork about music that 'stands the test of time'. ewing felt like that was kind of a meaningless or maybe nonsensical way of praising music but i disagree i think theres something really great about music thats 'lasted' long enough to ingrain itself into both public and private consciousness. its a testament. also i like the way she rhymes troy and boy

61 HOLLY HERNDON "Chorus" - thinking about girls with woven gold belts, indoor carpeting, a painting of the old microprose logo, anne carson, eating with paper utensils, cheap white wine, annie ling, laughing at jokes you cant quite hear, square leather backpacks in soft pastel colors, the ice trilogy. voted for this, really love it.

lamp ffs dont deprive us of knowing which tracks you havent heard

that style of rundown didnt seem v well received last time...

I think I was the only grumpus in that regard, but I'm over it this year.

My #1 was a Finnish rap tune

Yhdentekevää? Really really liked this stuff on the Spotify playlists, as did my gf (who is in fact saying right now: "it was the best!") :)

Yeah, that's the one, glad to hear someone else liked it too. It doesn't help that I find the female MC in the group is ridiculously cute, though it feels kinda silly to have "musician crush" at the age of 35. :)

The day I stop having crushes on musicians is the day I've died inside.

This was brought up in a revive of the 2008 albums results thread, but would a mod like to go back and hunt down the pre 2010 albums & tracks poll results and standardize the titles of them like we've done for the past five years? It would make them much easier to find when searching. Hint: musically liked to spell tracks as "trax".

Good start to the list! My only votes were Tijoux and R&R, but I had fun discovering Sombra da Lua and Tchelete. That Shakira song placing seems totally random.

Just caught up. Voted for Ninos du Brasil and Holly Herndon (though 'Home' was much higher on my ballot). Obviously I was the Katie Gately #1 voter.

Favourite new discovery: Ana Tijoux by a long chalk, but I'm also pretty into the Davido track. The Usher rhythm is really cool but I felt like it didn't go anywhere with it.

really cool to see people liking the ana tijoux, definitely check out her other stuff esp the new album. but don't just take my word for it:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32863603/Screenshot%202015-01-18%2022.11.33.png

lmao oops

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32863603/2014-08-15%2017.38.44.jpg

well if waste man likes it