ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2014

and as I keep saying, it's unfortunate when dull indie places and gives indie an undeservedly bad name

oh, ilx

First place!

Ayyyy

Indiana song is a fat slug on the garden path in the way of life. Chris Lake remix is like someone drew on the slug with a marker pen. unpleasant experience

taylor swift and war on drugs boring, he sounds like the guy from u2

becky g, is it one of the competition winner things?

def the best song on the EP. one of the best nighttime driving jams of the year.

yassssssss

Oh good, I was worried that I might actually like War On Drugs when I finally heard them and that would be horribly embarrassing, but nope, this is very poor.

― emil.y,

Why would you be worried you might like them?

Well you started ok, Wednesday. See you tomorrow.

Glad Monument placed. And a bit surprised as apparently everyone itt hates Do It Again and Robyn and Royksopp.

gr80 otm about the sax. Burn the lp version, ep version 4eva.

jesus this royskopp record is plodding. a resounding no

Oh wow "Monument"! Didn't think it would placed this highly. Glad it placed ahead of the dull "Do It Again."

Royksopp + Young Thug

Surprised this was so much popular than Do It Again.

ok saxophone makes this

otherwise yeah more soothing blankness

wd def play this again

I actually heard "Shake It Off" for the first time earlier this week, didn't hate it!

I voted for red eyes (and the album). I also like: Wilco, The National, and Country music (if that helps). And I pay a mortgage.

The things that most appeal to me about the song are the hook, the momentum, the "drop" (which is excellent for what is essentially an acoustic rock song), and the way it plays with volume. The latter is so well done in comparison to, say, an Arcade Fire, which has perfected the art of beating you over the head with loud.

Overall I have not even heard of so many artists here though

yes those rarified quiet-loud dynamics xpost

I voted Monument but my fav Royksopp thing this year was Goodnite Mr Sweetheart by a mile.

Is there a better realised version of what Red Eyes goes for from recent years? Like in the same style, speed and scale?

Not expecting 'Arcade Fire' as an answer to that because I really don't hear significant difference.

Most of the hate seems for the concept than the execution as per.

Robyn again? Lol ilm you so ridiculous.

why would anyone give pity points for execution

i own the EP and most of the other tracks don't do much for me but this one pretty much lives up to its somewhat epic aspirations

For such a middling-successful band, My Morning Jacket sure seem to have spawned a solid core of influenced bands, WoD included.

i don't see the similarity personally

This Royksopp/Robyn is more interesting than the other one but the video is less so. It's not the same track she's been making over and over for years so I'm content with it.

xpost Yeah, My Morning Jacket were who came to mind when I first heard this album. Same as when I heard Fleet Foxes too. Would much rather listen to Z or It Still Moves than either of them.

i think WoD and MMJ share common influences in 70s & 80s rock music but i don't see a direct line between them

war on drugs sound nothing like my morning jacket

Omar Little, I dunno but I hear bands like MMJ, Band of Horses, WoD and to a lesser extent Bon Ivor and Fleet Foxes as all coming from a similar pod. Something about the vocal style mostly.

Is it common knowledge that Kurt Vile is a former WOD member? Up until this year, he'd garnered far more credibility with music critics, but don't know what ILM thinks about him.

I think I enjoyed the War on Drugs simulacra more than Robyn/Royksopp blandness.

late period MMJ is def closer to WoD than early period but it's still a flimsy comparison

xxp I tried WOD b/c of the Vile connection, I like his work a lot. WOD left me totally cold, just completely uninteresting to me

every year it is a joy to watch all the posters who rip people for not microanalyzing every tiny difference between electropop 'genres' lump everything with a guy and a guitar into one box of indie rock shit.

i spend my life posting on internet forums, i fear death and disease, and i don't have any mortgages to worry about

― ciderpress, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 12:34 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sad that WOD fans are hopeless

To be fair i have put them all into one box, just outside the back door

war on drugs record was/is very well-liked on ilm iirc, most of those people just aren't hanging out on the tracks rollout thread

I could definitely live without either of these last two tracks though. Seems to confirm by impression that you had to dig deep this year for interesting stuff.

Honestly this isn't the worst thing ever but I just can't imagine what it would be like having any use for this sort of thing. Like what kind of lives do War On Drugs fans lead? What are their hopes and fears? I imagine they spend a lot of time thinking about mortgages.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 11:32 AM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The War on Drugs album was one of my favorites of 2014. I don't have a mortgage, though.

yeah but have you ever been in a war.... on drugs?

Is it common knowledge that Kurt Vile is a former WOD member? Up until this year, he'd garnered far more credibility with music critics, but don't know what ILM thinks about him.

― Indexed, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 9:59 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i love (some of) kurt vile's solo records since leaving war on drugs. i haven't listened to much war on drugs but haven't heard anything to interest me in them yet.

Xpost Deerhunter and Grizzly Bear and lots of bands my band mates seem to like so much too. I file all these under 'twig rock' because it seems to be going for a big sound that just ends up sounding brittle and indistinct, like it's buried under leaves or something.

like looking at the end of a party through leaves

i like 'twig rock' i'm gonna jack that term

For me, War on Drugs is all about the driving beat and the atmospherics.

yep

i do not have a mortgage fyi