ILM's 2019 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD

ballot submitted

the one item I want to share with everyone is Chanctonbury Rings, which is a great collaboration between Justin Hopper, Sharon Kraus and Belbury Poly. It's mostly spoken word with mystical electronics, exploring the occult history of the English countryside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgExKIpy4ZA

ooh thanks

shoulda coulda woulda - it escapes me that my favourite single for the year Danny brown dirty laundry wasn't nommed - oh well

I should've nommed juneunit's s/t but I discovered it too late (thanks to the 'Fork, incidentally – gotta give credit where credit is due).

High Lights is one of my best discoveries of poll season, will be bunging it plenty of points. It's so weird and assured and cool

Given the noms thread is locked I'll use this thread to give a shout-out to or something, breastcrawl and rob for some excellent nominations.

some local (or somewhat local) tracks ballot suggestions from me:

Sampa The Great - Final Form
Sampa's album The Return (also worth a listen and/or vote) sees her examining her personal relationship with Africa, and more particularly with Zambia, her nation of birth, and Botswana, where she was raised. This is honking braggadocio built around the Sylvers’ “Stay Away From Me" - it's probably not my favourite of her songs but it's her most forthright and packs a punch.

Ngaiire - Shiver
I've done plenty of talking to myself in the Ngaiire thread over the past half-decade or so and it still baffles me that she hasn't crossed over beyond Triple/Double J circles given the quality of her voice, which she here employs to literally bellow demons out of haunted corners and cobwebs. Allegedly her new album is coming this year.

Chela - Losing Belief
This is the sort of track that, you know, I'd hoped might turn up in the Popjustice end of year list or something just to give it a bit more of a boost. Chela's a Kitsuné alumna who came storming back this year with a new EP, entitled Delivery. This single was its highlight - in the face of adversity and winding synth patterns, Chela decides the best course is to spit out affirmations in a militaristic fashion.

J-E-T-S ft. Tkay Maidza - Real Truth
A collaboration between Jimmy Edgar, Machinedrum and the "U-Huh" should-be-superstar was always going to slap.

Thandi Phoenix - Cleopatra
"Say It", covered by the Singles Jukebox, is probably the more obvious hit, but I liked the kinetic nature of "Cleopatra", which feels like it has about three different choruses.

I really like that Ice Cream track! Saw the Alina Pash track on another thread and will definitely be voting for that one.

I guess I should rep for some stuff before everyone gets their ballots in, I'll do a couple of tracks first:

* Tóc Tiên - Không Ai Hơn Em Đâu Anh (KAHEDA)
Mentioned this a few times before, but this is my big pop banger of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU4s65RAAKQ

* Porridge Radio - Lilac
Intense emotional indie/DIY shout-along from B-town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3BrQzmBF1w

Some recommendations from me:

Jenny Hval - High Alice clear highlight on The Practice of Love imo
Kelsey Lu - Poor Fake See also Kelsey Lu - Blood
Richard Youngs & Raül Refree - Time Is An Avalanche spirals
Oren Ambarchi, Mark Fell, Will Guthrie & Sam Shalabi - Oglon Day 1 pitter-patter

Lankum - The Livelong Day
There's a thread called rfi-traditional irish music that sounds a bit like drone rock that only I seem to post to these days. If you like the sound of that, you may like the sound of this.
The Wild Rover
The Dark Eyed Gypsy

Fire! Orchestra - Arrival
Lush, deep, beautiful chamber jazz.

Blue Crystal Fire
(I Am A) Horizon

Just realized I had mistaken the “catching up” thread / playlist for the “EOY Noms” playlist / thread, sheesh. Having a rough go of the EOY threads rn

main thing i want to advocate for is the kpop track of the year which is red velvet's "sappy" (though it's in japanese its still from a korean group)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJ3Pq74H4c

I'm a little biased against local-ish-to-me acts, but as with Stella Donnelly and Sampa the Great above, I've come to realise, song by isolated song, that I like Julia Jacklin's 2019 longplayer quite a bit. Not least this nominated track that doesn't seem to involve a third chord until a few minutes in, and which came with this amusing one-shot promo clip I first saw by chance on TV at 3:00am last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZFyqzTCt-I

Speaking of 'Ju-' acts, thanks also to whoever nominated Jute Gyte's Dissected Grace. It's beautiful and I now find myself a member of #TeamJuteGyte2019

Welcome aboard! That was one of mine. I like Jute Gyte usually, but especially when he's writing blissful shoegaze epics.

I nominated one of his industrial-electro-lullabies this time around (tt: "wtf this is ambient!"), but Dissected Grace is awesome too!

if you like melodies, and chords, and sweet synth textures, and nice things, and romance, you might like The Scary Jokes btw

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

between us tt and I nominated two of the best tracks as well (death, thrice drawn and no leverage/no pleasure) if you want to pick sides (just like with jute gyte lol) (i might end up voting for all four songs, we'll see haha)

This was easily my most listened to reissue compilation this year and hoping it gets some love from the Balearic/Ambient/New Age ilxors

‘Broken Belief’ brings together a selection of recordings by Japanese multi-instrumentalist Toshfumi Hinata drawn from a body of work originally recorded between 1985-1987.

Attending Berklee College of Music after spending time living in both the United States and the United Kingdom, Hinata would study under the tutelage of pianist Patricia Laliberte, graduating from the esteemed American school in 1982. Returning to Japan after becoming disillusioned with his classical training, Hinata experimented with many different forms of music. Moving away from depending simply on acoustic instruments, he would instead become entrenched in the possibilities of the latest analog synthesizers being developed at the time.

Toshifumi Hinata’s initial idea was to make his first album with just a Prophet 5 and Linn Drum Machine. Tweaking filters and creating intricate sequences, Hinata would record various sounds on analog tapes and overdub many different layers; recording violin, piano and other accompaniments separately later on. It would become a method of working for the musician which he would apply almost entirely throughout this period. A deeply submerged process; one in which he would seek, as he himself puts it, to "weave musical images".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os1Kv6Y9Jlk

if you like melodies, and chords, and high cardiacs/opeth fantasies, you might like wilderun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBntCIvFM8c

also,

imperial wax - turncoat. it's cool what the guys from the fall are doing now

little simz - boss. stop fucking with my heart

waste of space orchestra - wake up the possessor. one person handles all the vocals on this song, if you can believe it

clipping - la mala ordina. your third act falls apart

holly herndon - SWIM. one thing tt and i do agree on is that this is the best track, possibly that she's ever done

prince rama - love in kontrol. this from ShariVari's nomination array is another favourite of ours - a mini darkpop odyssey

vote Balloon, vote High Lights, peace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7KEhdLXOg

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bologna, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 53 min. 9% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 12 min, while 16% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 5.4 km, while 7% travel for over 12 km in a single direction

Prince Rama - Love In Kontrol

Definitely the best band i've discovered via news reports of their lead singer claiming to have been savaged by raccoons in Central Park.

lol what

I enjoyed Ioanna Gika's album, "Thalassa" this year and I haven't seen much mention of her on ILX. Uh, I guess I'd call this dark ethereal synth pop. She toured with Chelsea Wolfe, but aside from their live set up and somber/romantic tone, they didn't share much in common. Anyway, the production on this album is kind of thin sounding and doesn't do the songs justice, but there are some top notch tunes here. I recommend starting with Out of Focus and trying Roseate next if you liked that.

Given the noms thread is locked I'll use this thread to give a shout-out to or something, breastcrawl and rob for some excellent nominations.

oh I missed that post, thanks Tim! and thanks breastcrawl too, who was the reason I heard a bunch of those noms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LZG1lrDBBQ

I love County, so maybe not a well balanced review...!
Not a modern, flash new stadium but then that's half of the appeal. It's a proper football ground.
Depending on where, or if you sit in the Main Stand, walking from the turnstile to your seat you cross the players tunnel, as the players come out they'll shake hands, sign autographs, and where else would you get a club manager stopping for 'selfies' with young fans minutes before kick off?
For me, the game against Fylde September 2016, when Scott Spencer equalized, was the highlight of County's non-league 'adventure' and the start of what felt like a turn around for club and team. (Typically County eventually lost 2-1 to a late free kick scored by an ex-player...)
My Edgeley Park highlights - The whole 1996 - 97 league cup semi final run.
My worst Edgeley Park moment - 1-0 home defeat against Dartford, all but sending County down to Conf. National / division 6 regional football.

I saw three beings walking out of midfield towards me...

Retro-synth-electronic artist Andy Fox released a small EP that I have been listening to a lot called Dataismo. It's only 3 tracks and they're all great, it sounds kind of like Art of Noise making Italian disco. Here's my fav. track --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU6sN7MJ47E

I forgot what post or list or whatever brought this my way, but Kokoko!'s Fongela has been a lot of fun and pretty wild. I think I listened to it for the first time while biking in the city and it was a perfect soundtrack

huh it's actually Fongola, original nominator must have typo'd

^ I hadn't heard their their nominated track ('Buka Dansa') until 48 hours ago, but I pretty much immediately put it on my tracks ballot. I should totes spend some quality time with the rest of it...

I made a yt playlist for the year - 99 tracks, not sure how many are nominated, also presented in chronological order so could be some odd transitions, some videos are nsfw

Purple Pilgrims - Sensing Me

Out on Flying Nun. I've been talking this act up in a few places. Video has a real strong goth component, which was not my impression at all from listening to Perfumed Earth--more like a trippier/spacier take on Arrival-era ABBA (the album's next track, "I'm Not Saying", makes the connection explicit). The chorus is undeniable imo and thr production lives up to copy which cites the duo's preoccupation with 'synthesized nature and ancient futurism'

https://purplepilgrims.bandcamp.com/

― PLEB AF (Drugs A. Money), Monday, January 6, 2020 2:02 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'd not heard of them before, but they'll be playing in my town in a fortnight. I should probably see them live, shouldn't I? Have you?

Really like the album on first listen btw. 'Ruinous Splendour' (w/ Roy Montgomery) is a standout.

I thought it was a relatively disappointing year for country music. Loved Wildcard but it's at best Lambert's 5th best solo album. Most of the other critically acclaimed releases were too conservative and unmoving for my liking. I will probably vote for The Highwomen somewhere toward the bottom of my ballot.

One that I discovered during list season and would strongly rep was Michaela Anne - Desert Dove, a dusty, reverby, Southwestern country rock record that reminds me of Emmylou Harris's Elite Hotel at times. I'm voting for the album but also nominated the song "One Heart":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukl8yi10g3U

A few tracks I want to briefly stump for

Martha, "Love Keeps Kicking"
The whole album is wonderfully nimble and wry but this title track was a huge anthem for me all year, cause, you know, it really never stops kicking the shit out of you.

Sha Sha ft Samthing Soweto "Abondaba"
Of all the songs I heard on the wonderful rolling Sun-El and co. thread, this was the one that brought be right back to "Akanamali" levels of chills down the spine. Gorgeous, starlit, etc.

Fat White Family, "Kim's Sunsets"
A lot of people seem to hate these guys for some reason I can't quite fathom, but I liked a lot of their most recent album and this was the clear highlight for me, a blissful mid-tempo number with an impossibly lush arrangement and an infectious build.

Origami Angel, "The Title Track"
The platonic idea of uptempo emo, in 151 seconds.

Clipping, "Blood of the Fang"
Daveed Diggs gets ragged on for having a clinical, academic style of rapping, but if you aren't dazzled by the final verse (3:00), I don't want yr ears.

lmao i forgot to nominate my actual song of the year

lol what was it

mandy moore "when i wasn't watching"

not that i would've expected *anyone* to vote for it

Fireboy DML's "Jealous" might be my favorite of the year, a perfect example of how effortlessly beautiful and elegant but still super catchy Nigerian pop can be:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00R4dOtzDIA

Campaigning for albums feels kind of fruitless in January, but the Resavoir album is about half an hour long, and in an overwhelmingly good year for jazz, it persisted as a personal favorite. Recommended if you ever liked any of the Tortoise-related Chicago jazz-ish scene plus 70s stuff like Phil Ranelin or Steve Reid

I should probably see them live, shouldn't I? Have you?

I haven't. Not even sure they've ever played anywhere near me, but I mean, I'd go if I could

"Sensing Me" is v nearly my song of the year, but I love the whole album and will be voting for that as well

Just submitted, and noticed that the form says rollout will start on the 21st, which is three days before voting closes.

I forget who nominated Jimmy "Duck" Holmes's Cypress Grove but this is my kind of blues. Really hitting the spot right now, so thanks.

I got lots of bobbins recs I want to share, but probably one of my favorite albums of the year is also one of the best mixes of the year:

Kölsch - Fabric presents Kölsch

Probably one of the most pristine, beautiful and consistent mixes I've heard all year, and it's all new material in album form. Best thing he's done since 1977, and as a complete work I think this eclipses it. Not sure yet where it will be in my ballot but certainly the top half of it.

Aside from all the metal stuff, which I'm already repping for in the appropriate thread, may I also suggest Dmitri Kourliandski's Non-lieux? Kourliandski is a composer of contemporary classical music and usually writes for traditional instruments, so Non-lieux gives us a glimpse of what resonates through his mind when samples and electronic devices take over. Its first soundscape is to baroque music as The Caretaker is to British dance bands of the 1920s and 1930s, but it soon moves into an even busier and more abstract sphere of its own, which spins and diffracts itself for a fascinatingly disconcerting hour. And if you think hauntology is passé, well – duh?

https://dmitrikourliandski.bandcamp.com/album/non-lieux

Just submitted, and noticed that the form says rollout will start on the 21st, which is three days before voting closes.

― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 10 January 2020 20:48 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

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which is to say: thanks, corrected

Feels kinda late but I probably should give a push to some things I actually nominated...

Kit Sebastian. Haven't seen any mention of it here apart from in a handful of pasted-in EOY lists. It shares some vibes with the Altin Gün record (also on my ballot) in that they both draw upon an Turkish psych. Fuzz-bass and M/F vocals in multiple languages. Hurrah!

People Like Us has been doing the plunderphonic collage thing forever, but The Mirror is downright purty in its layering of often familiar source material.

Carl Stone, on the other hand, I've only come to this year. Finely sliced and diced samples FTW.

MIKE - the production sucked me in: some seriously roughly hewn sampling. Overarching lyrical theme of mortality and grief this time. He has a terribly search-resistant name so I've little sense of whether there's any love here.

Hannes Kerschbaumer - Schraffur [and other works]. Music for a variety of mostly small ensembles in a somewhat percussive post-Lachenmann et al vein, perhaps? Conventional instruments often rendered largely unidentifiable. More forward momentum somehow than some 'squeaky door' chamber music. I'd say the same for Ryan Carter (which was happily already nominated by pomenitul, IIRC.)

that Kölsch mix is fabulous, thanks octobeard

please don't let rosalía be the sole/token spanish-language representative.

reflect on what you've heard. dig deeper if compelled. surely you'll find more.

my humble suggestion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxOTsiV4tkQ

j balvin & bad bunny - "la canción"
a somber, contemplative reggaetón piece that's at times haunting