ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2014

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

dawson seemed pretty well receieved to me compared to some other stuff on there

The fact that most people commenting on it got all the way (or most of the way) to the end of the Richard Dawson track on spotify should count as a victory imo.

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

― ciderpress, Friday, January 23, 2015 8:56 AM (40 minutes ago)

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

did we have to love it? you got the best of all possible worlds dude, ppl engaged with it

of course u didn't have to love it!! hence my 'affirmative' words. I AM NOT CIMPLAINING IT WAS A GR8 POLL

feel that my cheerful analysis has been conflated w slop's grousing. anyway enough of me, let's talk abt idk German Whip and its EN volk swag

my post wasn't really aimed at you, iirc you didn't make any ridiculous false claims about everyone throwing fits at indie/whatever placement. I was basically just repeating what lagoon lex rob & others had already said so maybe shouldn't have opened my mouth but for whatever reason those posts didn't seem to sink in

also i had heard 2 on but didnt realize how great it was so thanks 4 that ilx
― lag∞n, Friday, January 23, 2015 4:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the album's really good too. underrated

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

― Wu-Tang Clannad (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, January 23, 2015 12:22 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what makes it so sad

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

lol not true

― Johnny Fever, Friday, January 23, 2015 12:20 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

u may listen to other rap but it is very much true

Yo, thanks for organizing this guys! Had a blast as always.

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.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, January 23, 2015 12:24 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol tho i mean

Glad that I missed all the RTJ convo on ILM until now so let me say that that RTJ album is dreadful :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQswfILThsY