ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2014

TUESDAY:

Against Me! – "FUCKMYLIFE666" – Glaringly misplaced among these results, which I suppose means completely alienated from contemporary pop. Not my favorite track on the album, but damn I'm a sucker for this kind of turbocharged heart-stomp.

Holly Herndon – "Chorus" – Pleasantly dissociative and strongly reminiscent of recent Oneohtrix (both the music & the video). Nothing to write home about.

Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk – Sure, it's an 80s R&B pastiche, but fake can be just as good, right? And folks are right in describing it as a clutch of momentarily appealing bits with little by way of songwriting to hold it all together, but I'm okay with that, too. (Rev OTM about Jame's Brown's "Living in America" as a reference point, tho I do hear a fair bit of MJ in here too.)

Jennifer Lopez – "I Luh Ya Papi" – Gak.

Against Me! – "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" – This one, this one right here. This is what I'm in it for, much more so than FML666, which isn't bad by any stretch. I'm not proud of the helpless pleasure I take in this sort of formally constrained yet fired-up country punk, but in their defense, Against Me! freight it with an emotional intensity and resonance few acts in any genre can match.

Nicki Minaj ft. Ptaf – "Boss Ass Bitch" – Can't hold a candle to "Lookin Ass". Her rapping is excellent here, no issue w/ that, but the production is just so static. :/

Haim – "If I Could Change Your Mind" – Perfectly adequate sub-Fleetwood Mac something or other. Okay, but clearly second tier even in its niche.

Migos ft. Young Thug – "YRN" – Hilarious and endearing in the best way, one of my favorite tracks to place so far. Could happily listen on near-endless repeat.

Alvvays – "Archie, Marry Me" – Would have sounded GREAT c. '92 on Egg Records or Slumberland or w/e. Sounds okay now, but I'm inclined neither to swoon nor fulminate. Melody reminds me of Game Theory's "Like a Girl Jesus".

Spoon – "Inside Out" – My ideal Spoon track still = "I Turn My Camera On", which is to say minimal, funky and playfully relaxed. This is all those things, only less so.

D'Angelo & the Vanguard – "Sugah Daddy" – I criticize Spoon for riding on vaporous vibes, but love this unreservedly. Why? Because the funk here is bottomless, not some decorative accoutrement. Like the Migos track, I could listen all day.

FKA Twigs – "Pendulum" – Oh hell yes. The album's uneven, but the best tracks are stupendous, unlike anything else I heard in 2014.

QT – "Hey QT" – I can't help but hear this as Uffie 2.0, though with two scoops of ironic distancing and half the trashy fun. It's fine, catchy as hell, but nothing I need in my life.

Katy Perry – "Dark Horse" – Can't deny that it's got pop appeal, hooks, etc., but still a gloppy, directionless mess. Unwanted.

Jessie Ware – "Champagne Kisses" – Awesome and news to me. Rest of the album anywhere near as good?

ILOVEMAKONNEN – "Club Going Up On A Tuesday" – Love the amateur weirdo vibe and can't deny the hook, but it all gets annoying p quick.

Rita Ora – "I Will Never Let You Down" – Was enjoying this until the grossly overstated chorus kicked in. Yuck.

Aphex Twin – "Minipops" – Impeccably arranged and rather chilly, which is to say par for the course.

Todd Terje – "Delorean Dynamite" – Love this track, but I'm a complete sucker for the arpeggiated space disco thing. When properly executed, the sound bypasses my critical faculties (such as they are) and mashes some internal "like" button over which I have no control. Not Terje's best, but still works just fine.

Katy B – "Crying for No Reason" – Have yet to really like anything by Katy B, and this isn't breaking my streak.

Shamir – "On the Regular" – J0rdan hilariously OTM about "Tuneyards R&B", and I imagine it would quickly become horrid if overplayed, but having only heard it twice this past year, my memories are still fond.

Javiera Mena – "Otra Era" – Gorgeous. One of the most welcome discoveries of the rollout so far.

Didn't see this on the nominations list or I would have voted for it.

never heard of this.

happy that Phantogram's placing was apparently helped by my cheerleading for the song, was really the best thing on alt-rock radio last year, which I know doesn't really count for much around here

Also very happy to see Indiana place. I've seen her live many times over the last three years, including her first ever show, and I've written about her often - so there's a strong sense of personal investment.

was it you who said that the dude who co-wrote tasmin archer's "sleeping satellite" also co-wrote "solo dancing" mike?

So you seem to be well informed on her, mike. What was the reaction she had about the label turning solo dancing into a sexual innuendo in the vid?

I am probably the only person who keeps trying to listen to Phantogram and realizes I accidentally have Pharmakon on my phone and listen to that instead and keep forgetting to load up Phantogram :/

WEDNESDAY

Pooley – "Guru" – Speaking of pleasant discoveries, this is excellent. Liking it quite a bit more than Monday's Davido track.

D'Angelo & the Vanguard – "Prayer" – What I said about "Sugah Daddy", only moreso. Would probably have gone top 10, had I voted.

Tkay Maidza – "Uh-Huh" – Oh hell yeah. Another brilliant track by an artist of whom I've never so much as heard. More, please!

Phantogram – "Fall in Love" – I do not like Phantogram. There, I said it.

Young Thug – "Stoner" – A bit too thematically on-the-nose to work for me, though I do like the staccato verses and vaped-out sound palette. Prefer YT as added flavor in other people's tracks, tbh.

Shift K3Y – "Touch" – Have no use for candy-glossed, pseudo-romantic dance pop, so I'll leave the evaluation to those who do.

Indiana – "Solo Dancing" – Nice! Like D'Angelo's deep-fried funk, Terje's space disko and Against Me!'s country punk, Indiana are playing with a sound I'm predisposed to love (floridly carnal after hours electropop a la "Call Me" and "Invisible Light"). It's not like they're doing anything all that interesting with it, but I am what I am.

okay, back to yr reg sched prog...

yeah that phantogram song is a banger, i didn't expect it to place at all

Have no use for candy-glossed, pseudo-romantic dance pop

this is perhaps the worst opinion i've ever read

xpost to Lex: Yeah, John Beck. He also co-wrote "Gabriel" (best known in Joe Goddard's version) and Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On". They started collaborating after he saw her cover of "Gabriel" on YouTube, and got in touch. This was before she had ever done anything in music, other than post covers on YT.

(Well, not so much of a co-write with Indiana, more general guidance - the ideas are all firmly hers.)

NB Solo Dancing absolutely isn't about masturbation. At all. She's confirmed that to me in person. It's in dancing-as-empowerment-metaphor territory.

I do not like Phantogram. There, I said it.

Same.

Have no use for candy-glossed, pseudo-romantic dance pop

this is perhaps the worst opinion i've ever read

― J0rdan S., miércoles 21 de enero de 2015 16:13 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I thought you said I was winning on this front today.

xp re: john beck i guess the shock to me is that 22 years after "sleeping satellite" he's still writing significant pop songs. 22 years! and where is tasmin archer now, i sometimes wonder.

xp - you are, but i get an honorable mention for poor taste in music

I am probably the only person who keeps trying to listen to Phantogram and realizes I accidentally have Pharmakon on my phone and listen to that instead and keep forgetting to load up Phantogram :/

― mh

Pharmakon is way better, so no real problem there.

When's Pharmakon going to place?

xpost to Moka: She was diplomatic about the video, but made it quite clear that the idea wasn't hers, and that in all other respects she controls her visuals. She alluded to some struggles with the label re. autonomous artistic choices, so perhaps this was the concession she had to make.

xxp otm

NB Solo Dancing absolutely isn't about masturbation. At all. She's confirmed that to me in person. It's in dancing-as-empowerment-metaphor territory.

― mike t-diva, miércoles 21 de enero de 2015 16:14 (43 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I know it isn't! I got it was about dancing the first time around. But, was she annoyed at the label for sexing up the song and completely missing the point via the video?

Oh got it nevermind!

guys masturbation and dancing are both cool/great releases no need to choose

Ha! I'd never thought of it before, but "U-Huh" really does sound like "Numb". Good call, whoever that was way upthread.

guys masturbation and dancing are both cool/great releases no need to choose

― lag∞n, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 4:20 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

best appreciated at the same time, amirite?

You don't get a threadban warning for poor taste in music unfortunately, contenderizer. But you can still try.

rip tasmin archer, truly you flew to the moon too soon

emil.y vmic :)

Pharmakon! Pharmakon!

http://i.imgur.com/RCmxN2g.jpg

33 TAYLOR SWIFT "Shake It Off" [339 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote]
http://youtu.be/nfWlot6h_JM

lorenzo mix of 'touch' was my number 1 / is the best thing ever but both are essential and need each other. follow-up was the excellent 'i know'.

ha well at least this is the lowest tswift song placing

And it begins

too high

lol

the "pharmakon! pharmakon!" chant goes nicely over this chorus :)

welp

1 first place vote smh

let's move on

I like this song. It's the first TSwift song I've heard I can say I genuinely like

ha, turns out i did say that:

loving that Tkay Maidza-- has sort of a zooropa vibe to it

― ╲╱\/╲/\╱╲╱\/\ (gr8080), Friday, August 22, 2014 8:41 AM (4 months ago)

The Swiftstep has arrived.

the moment i really "got" young thug's deal was "try me" (the trae single not dej loaf) which is a song literally only i seem to give a shit about

― lex pretend, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 10:07 AM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Super late response but Try Me is great. Know it from lagoons mix so you're not alone

my ex was rly into "Solo Dancing" so I don't like it v much

I didn't vote for any Taylor Swift in this poll but I don't mind "Shake It Off"

Bleah, "Shake It Off" gives me the hives most of you seem to get from "All About That Bass"

hot takers gonna take take take take take

"shake it off" is great but i never considered voting for it

i wish the production was richer and the bridge didn't exist but otherwise it's kind of impeccable

I voted for "Shake It Off" idc idc

why do people hate 'shake it off' so much? i'm not really that invested in tswift but is it because it's quite a different style for her? i find it ludicrously catchy.

"Solo Dancing" was beloved by the Singles Jukebox; its novelty wore off damn quick.

Not a fan of 'Shake It Off' but how is it so low?!?!?! I have clearly misread ilx.