ILM's 2018 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / VOTING THREAD

Not many of my favourite tracks will make it in all probability, but depending on how much ILM likes monstrously climactic emo gothgaze and Joy Division keyboards (paging DJP!) I think Snape - Waiting For Death could have its fans

I'd also like to root for the following widescreen-metalcore-falling-into-a-Cardiacs-blender brilliance, from an album that I hold very dear: The Armed - Luxury Themes - jawdropping, I'm sure you'll agree

Next, and also from albums I love, are two take-or-leave ten-minute jobs. You know me by now. Machine Girl - A Decent Man is digital hardcore that swallows the Vision Creation Newsun pill halfway through, and Thumpermonkey - Make Me Young, Etc is PROGGE - a swelling, symphonic paean to the end of the world that stands alongside the mastery of prime Genesis and *waffles on for thirty increasingly awful paragraphs*

And Young Dreams - My Brain On Love is probably my favourite pop song of 2018. Genre: BAROQUE VAPORGUM. Pure Shambhala

My best discovery from others' track nominations is undoubtedly Jimothy Lacoste - Subway System, which doubles as video of the year, breakout UK star of the year and a worthy ILM poll successor to Blue Pedro I HOPE. FFO comedy rap that's actually good, and metro systems the world over

lol, I probably will throw Jimothy a vote. Will check out your other recommendations too, I only know JL and MG.

And I'll certainly check out yours - not sure I've heard any of them yet!

'I Can Speak Spanish' is the best Jimothy fwiw.

My biggest discovery so far listening to the nominated tracks on shuffle is Joanna Wang - I Dream We Will Be Together Again. So simple and elegant and amazing.

I'm amazed you're not already a JW fan!

had somehow not even heard of her up until a couple of days ago

what

check out her previous two albums this instant

I have no fondness for what little I've heard of Trippe Redd elsewhere, but Alison Wonderland lures him into a soup-y, sticky treacle of a song that sneaks up on you and turns everything it touches into something irresistible Alison Wonderland - High

For a promotional occasion like this, it's fortunate that Emilie Nicolas - Feel Fine gets to the best part of the song right away.

This song would get many #1s if performed by Dua Lipa. The ready-to-go-big video is already there, but somehow it hasn't blown up yet Glowie - Body

Singing 'German' is fun and EO knows it EO - German

Grime veteran D Double E always manages to make his creative choices surprising, playful and addictive in all their simplicity, year after year. Gorgon City x D Double E - Hear That

dear ILX: i got to the end of the alphabetical song list and this came on

Муся Тотибадзе — Останусь с тобой

WHY DO I KNOW THIS SONG?????????

was it used in something? a tv show? commercial? I KNOW IT AND I DON'T KNOW WHY I KNOW IT

Voted

In my desperate searching for why I know this song, I have determined that it is a cover of a 90's Russian pop song, but that still doesn't explain why I, a Canadian who has never been to or delved into the pop history of Russia, know it.

Russian memory hack

smitten with "I can speak spanish"

Damn, I guess I just figured someone (anyone?!) would've voted for the closest thing to a good New Order 2018 single - The Liminanas' "The Gift" (featuring Peter Hook!). Granted, it's not apex New Order, but definitely in the top end of "Waiting for the Siren's Call"-era New Order.

Also, there are two albums there by "Johnny Greenwood" and "Jonny Greenwood", I presume it's the same guy?

― Tuomas, Monday, January 7, 2019 9:24 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes it is

the closest thing to a good new order single last year was krystal klear - neutron dance

That's true in that it is similar to a specific good single by new order but false in that it is bad

so lowest common denominator it's a jam because of not in spite of its australiosity, blew up in 2018, v powerful hair and energy in the vid: the chats - smoko https://youtu.be/j58V2vC9EPc

that is a superlative video

Smoko is excellent and I’m bending my normal aversion to ‘year of impact’ to vote for it.

“neutron dance” hate itt is only going to make me vote for it harder

moonshake miner on the flip is so much better than neutron dance though, huge joy bomb

the whole ep is great but "neutron dance" is the standout, it's no "inspector norse" but it's still a fantastic new order rip

Decided I was wasting too much time internally debating placement/inclusion for my ballots so just voted.

just a couple recs for songs and albums i'm gonna be voting for highly:

Superchunk - Black Thread -- the cathartic closer to the best Superchunk album in 25 years.

Sada Baby ft. Drego - Bloxk Party -- goon-friendly voters would do well to rally around this one, the most fun rap single (and video) of the year

H.C. McEntire - Red Silo -- No relation to Reba, the best song from the Mount Moriah lead singer's solo album. a warm love song with strikingly specific lyricism and a fantastic organ tone.

Petal - Magic Gone -- sweet and melodic indie rock with real emotional oomph. brad started a thread but no one commented, ce la vie. but this record is gorgeous and worthy of attention if you like Big Thief or any of the boygenius brigade.

Hermit & The Recluse - Orpheus & The Sirens - Ka's latest, and it's a unique thrill to hear him emerge from his hermetically sealed world (production is handled by Animos). it's still pitch black, but has a sweeping cinematic quality that Ka usually works hard to avoid.

yeah that petal record is great, kiley one of the best indie rock songwriters going right now (...if not the best). i regret not pitching it to pfork lol

Decided I was wasting too much time internally debating placement/inclusion for my ballots so just voted.

― silverfish, Friday, January 11, 2019 9:37 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I always end up doing this too and usually have regrets. E.g., I'm listening to the Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids album right now for the first time in a while and wish I'd put it much higher

oh, I'm sure I'll have regrets, but I'll always have those no matter how long I wait to cast my votes. Also, as far as regrets go, leaving that DJ Koze album off my ballot probably won't haunt my dreams.

I heard that neutron record when I got locked in the changing rooms at superdry in birkenhead and I overheard some people saying "this is Limmy"

I've not heard of anything else on the list even though theyve all got 26 million views on youtube, though even my nan is up to 225K subscribers now this is why I dont go online much which is how I ended up in superdry in the first place

I am really out of the loop this year, its been great to catch up thru the noms list, a lot of great stuff this year.

One thing that I nominated this year that I would campaign for is Ghoomar I love the chaotic chanting swirl the song ends up in. Its my favourite bollywood hit this year.

Adikia ft. Mon-Sala, Yas Lo, Sofa, Yeboyah, Nisa, Donatella, F - Koskematon

I guess I should rep for this song, since it's probably gonna be my #1, but dunno if anyone else is gonna vote for it, since it's (partially) in Finnish... "Koskematon" is pretty much the Me Too -anthem of this country, with a whole bunch of fucking tough up-and-coming local rappers doing their take on sexual harrassment and self-determination. "Koskematon" is "untouchable" in Finnish, and the chorus goes something like "the daddies try to get on my skin / but they get seized up / you know the fact is / the matriarchate is untouchable". As for the rest of it, I'm sure you can figure it out from the (rather awesome) video, and a couple of the choruses are in English.

Oh and the PERFUME album is really underrated! "Let Me Know" is low key a classic Perfume single.

xpost to Tuomas: Love it! Aw, there's "Kvinnenes Kulturhistorie" at 0:17, Tootikki + Tove at 1:04, but most of the remaining masks and references elude me, shamefully. I guess it's Nurmi there, running, before getting a new face? Would love some pointers towards other parts. Thanks!

lol this downtown boys selena/pretenders cover is amazing: https://youtu.be/GO-KkVgxhK4

The first mask is Tarja Halonen, the former Finnish president (who also used to be the head of Seta, the national LGTBQ organisation back in the '80s). The second is Tuutikki and Tove Jansson, as you know. <3 Third is Sofi Oksanen, probably the most popular living novelist in here at them moment, and an outspoken feminist. The fourth statue is of Paavo Nurmi, a runner who won several medals in the olympics in the 1920s, so the mask they use is of Enni Rukajärvi, a snowboarder who's won silver and bronze in the olympics. The fifth statue is of Lenin, which for some reason we have in Helsinki, so the mask they put up is of Hertta Kuusinen, one of the most prominent communist politicians from the '40s to the '60s. So basically all the statues are of Finnish historical men, replaced with masks of respected women in the same profession.

(xpost)

hadnt heard this Prins Thomas flip of the De Lux tune and it is making my day awesome

Talaboman Superpitcher remix is sweet

who the fuck nominated this Audrey Chen asmr track that sounds like someone gagging on spaghetti?? My night is ruined now.

Thanks, Tuomas! (multixpost)

Seconding imago's shout-out for stellar indie-pop band Trust Fund. It is just the cutest and most dynamically hook-y final album imaginable. They continuously progressed their sound throughout their short career, but this is particularly ambitious and crushingly personal and the songs sink in and stay for months. I really hope more people hear it and love it.

I do like Trust Fund (and have played w/ them several times) but seem to always miss the full albums. Will make sure I check it out but have so many albums in the running I doubt it'll make it with such a short time to go.

Poll-runners, what is the policy on write-ins? I nominated an EP for the albums list but would prefer to vote for a single track off it - I know I'll likely be the only vote but I like having my ilx ballot be as "accurate" to my year as possible.

Aaaw, it's lovely you've played with them! Maybe its charm will still work in time... Any standouts to speak of from your favourite albums this year? xp

I voted :)

I should have nominated the Alva Noto album.

xp: this poll runner says "if it feels good do it"

Write-ins are not guaranteed to be counted (if everyone's ballot was all write-ins the system would break down) but in practice they always are.