ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2014

"Turn Down for What", directed by Daniels
"Big Bad Wolf", directed by Keith Schofield

Wareheim type oddities with actors thrusting about in underwear (or less) have been a zeitgeisty thing since 2008. I'm coping.

don't headphone-shame me

gonna sremmurder you anyway

i enjoy the trend of thrusting

Daniels, however, may have started the trend in their first video, for FM Belfast's "Underwear".

love 2 on but i can't wait till stet gets fp working in itunes cos i wanna permaban schoolboy q from that song so much

― why you gotta be so rmde (NickB), Friday, January 23, 2015 11:14 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tru

decided to take the imgur album and "share on gallery" for the first time ever, already got one comment, lookin good:

http://i.imgur.com/A7OhSXL.png

I havent even been negative about any songs itt bar spoon and a yawn at loads of t swift placing, have I? That is nothing compared to others.

It's more than you didn't appear to be engaging very much with the music in the poll while it was happening, and then turned up at the end to discuss the music that WASN'T in it.

I posted a few times but not much granted. I just seemed to engage with what was being written about today plus it hasn't been as fast moving.

weirdest (grossest) thing about the "turn down for what" video is that it starts off with rape and proceeds to partying

I only flipped over to it for a bit when listening and it was a woman with large breasts, which were moving of their own volition to the beat. Oh the fucking hilarity.

decided to take the imgur album and "share on gallery" for the first time ever, already got one comment, lookin good:

― gr8080, Friday, January 23, 2015 11:24 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao

I'm really trying to strike up enthusiasm for the top 3. It's a big anticlimax compared to the rest of the top 10. Haven't worked out whether I find Rae Sremmurd interesting or just irritating, much in the same way I feel about Tune-Yards. Matt DC OTM about 'No Flex... ZONE' though, I like that.
I can't get my head around FKA Twigs for similar reasons I couldn't enjoy the XX or Frank Ocean in previous polls. I crave bold statements in music and this vapourised soul is about as satisfying to me as Caribou's mid-range house or all those twig-rock indie bands I mentioned above.
I tried the Tinashe track and it's not bad but I found the DJ Q mix more enjoyable. Guess I don't much like winky slow jams very much either. Have a feeling this one could grow on me a lot though.

There's plenty of great stuff too of course! I'm kind of a bit in love with Kiesza's vocal style in Hideaway. She infuses a fairly enjoyable pop-house number with tons of character. Really like that track.

what the lex said earlier about weirdness being in the majority of the placing pop and rap has stayed with me

is young thug a great innovator? 'stoner' stands out for me of his songs here - that and his bit in 'danny glover' which my current dn is taken from (lol I know)

in these songs he comes off to me like a rogue element within a fairly conventional structure - does, then, a song need to comprise a synthesis of unusual elements to count as 'weird' or 'interesting' (false equivalence obv)? I suspect not. the recontextualisation of conventional elements can be fantastically diverting (Hey QT being a personal example).

in conclusion, it is entirely possible that young thug is a great innovator, an interesting artist and maybe even a weirdo. I cannot quite see it to an especial extent myself, but I will keep listening.

stuff like Run The Jewels might not be weirder within its context, but its dramatic, shifting musicality and sonic flourish - its torrential attitude - catches my attention more immediately, which I suppose makes it my pop music, my comfort.

i don't think "weirdness" or even "innovation" is an inherent positive

maybe pop is all, yeah, but maybe weirdness is my pop

is young thug a great innovator? 'stoner' stands out for me of his songs here - that and his bit in 'danny glover' which my current dn is taken from (lol I know)

in these songs he comes off to me like a rogue element within a fairly conventional structure - does, then, a song need to comprise a synthesis of unusual elements to count as 'weird' or 'interesting' (false equivalence obv)? I suspect not. the recontextualisation of conventional elements can be fantastically diverting (Hey QT being a personal example).

Future Islands are a good example of standard, possibly even bland backing music juxtaposed with a weird performer/singer. I think it amplifies the weirdness. I've made the comparison already, but Talking Heads were the masters of this.

i don't think "weirdness" or even "innovation" is an inherent positive

I like new sounds and experiences. I see shock and awe as an important factor in music. Without it you're left listening to the National. Maybe this is a more diplomatic way of putting it?

on the other hand pursue that too hard and suddenly you're listening to mike patton side projects

Without it you're left listening to the National.

No greater case has ever been made with a single argument.

btw i really enjoy the vic mensa track (and also the video is one of the best-executed music videos i've seen in a while) so thanks for that one ilm

i like a good exclamation mark as much as anyone but constantly seeking for them and ruling out everything that doesn't provide them surely gets a bit wearying, no?

also, imago got it when he said that "weirdness" can be your comfort blanket

personally, i think becky g is by far the weirdest artist to have shown up

idk if innovation is an inherent positive more like it often correlates with greatness

an argument for a different thread but -oi!- talking heads did not have standard or bland backing music when they were at their best

neither does young thug

Innovation is important, but has a pretty poor success ratio. There's been plenty of music in my lifetime that sounded like "the future" when I first heard it and sounds incredibly dorky now.

Its more like "what lex said has stayed with me" then LJ is still looking for this lame horror movie shock and awe so it hadn't stayed with him? ...is what I was driving at.

previous winners of the albums poll JF?

ppl like louis and other run the jewels fans who who tend to think of innovation in terms of showy loud dissonant noises and yelling are prob not gonna be able to detect innovation in styles of music they dont really follow too closely anyway

the future is kaputt

i don't think "weirdness" or even "innovation" is an inherent positive

I like new sounds and experiences. I see shock and awe as an important factor in music. Without it you're left listening to the National. Maybe this is a more diplomatic way of putting it?

― quinoa: how's it spelt? (dog latin), Friday, 23 January 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can I have the non-diplomatic version?

jho I said I was trying ok! have already conceded that point. I'm a sonic hedonist

talking heads' backing music is bland. huh. i didn't know that.

hmmmm the convo's moved on a bit and I have already been otm twice about this itt yet I feel compelled to join those reiterating once again that the supposed wailing and gnashing of teeth over indie &c placing quite, simply, didn't, fucking, happen, as the fact that contenderizer had to resort to using brad's completely innocuous post about how he votes as an example of oppressive ilm orthodoxy hilariously shows. Every song got negative remarks, cherrypicking "rev said that thing about mortgages then there were a bunch of jokes" or "strychnine said they hated all indie" from a 5000-post thread and extrapolating that into "nastiness" or whatever is fucking delusional*

as I said I have no idea where this baffling behaviour comes from but certainly the impression is sometimes given that ppl *want* this to be the case, witness the smug assertion that "ilx" "tried its best [and failed presumably]" to like a song that it voted 14th best of the year and that nearly everybody was positive about

oh and the reason hey qt provoked the most heated argument might be something to do with the fact that its voters actually did keep arguing with ppl who didn't like it, whereas with every other song that received negative comment, which, I'll say it again, was EVERY OTHER SONG, the positive and negative comments coexisted somehow

*representation is a diff conversation and not one I'm interested in, ilx prob does skew not-indie who gives a shit the poll is still pretty diverse a lot of that stuff will place in albums &c &c &c lex and everyone otm

jho I said I was trying ok! have already conceded that point. I'm a sonic hedonist

― my shoes are deception (imago), Friday, January 23, 2015 12:06 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

im sry u are going to have to TRY HARDER

I don't like pitting RTJ against a lot of the rap that generally shows up in the ilm polls (or is just generally admired most on ilm), because it seems like a pointless fight. Some people just prefer rappers on the more dynamic end of the spectrum, quicker flows, more interplay with fellow participants, instead of slow, stoned, marble-mouthed performers and prefer beats that are more dense and musical rather than the same sparse 808 patterns and tinkly keyboards. The reasons to prefer one style vs. the other are valid simply because every listener has different demands on what they want to hear.

lol I already realize I shouldn't hit submit post, but I'm gonna anyway.

wins otm

as i said, one of the songs that got dragged the most BY POP VOTERS was a taylor swift song

thank you for that, wins

rtj is the hateful platonic ideal of i dont listen to rap but

I wish they had called themselves R.A.P. Music instead of Run The Jewels

bruce springsteen rap music

r.a.p. music for people who never learned how to feel

rtj is the hateful platonic ideal of i dont listen to rap but

lol not true

I can see not liking RTJ aesthetically but man Killer Mike is just a great mc

I voted for 3 rap songs, none of them RTJ - Vince Staples, Le1f and Lil B

I'm just using RTJ as an example because they'd already been brought up previously. I'm a big fan of rap styles that don't get much traction anymore (boom bap, boisterous P.E. style stuff with really dense beats, etc) and really give no shits about basic-ass trap beats. That doesn't mean "I don't listen to rap but", it just means I want more from it.

p much my position but willing to accept trap has more to offer

good post wins, tho I protest I am not gnashing and wailing abt the reception of music I like - I am mostly just glad it placed in a pop poll, justifying it as pop maybe

an argument for a different thread but -oi!- talking heads did not have standard or bland backing music when they were at their best

― why you gotta be so rmde (NickB), Friday, January 23, 2015 5:00 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sorry, should've clarified. TH are among my favourite acts in history, but it's the whole 'so normal it's weird' aesthetic (Chris Frantz wearing Lacoste shirts at art school etc) they went for as opposed to the backing music, which is great and amazing.

but willing to accept trap has more to offer

Truth be told, I really really like Quan's crying rap style. Wish the beats were better.

re: 'tried its best' u shd read the responses to dawson, most of which were a little dismissive, mostly of the vocals, I mean cmon here it was received ok but u cannot deny an incongruity. fwiw I tried my best w everything here, it is not meant smugly or in a derogatory sense, it is genuinely affirmative