ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

lmao

imago is too dejected to properly complain

This is cool, but about 4 minutes too long.

Pretty much.

https://i.imgur.com/dsBnlV3.jpg
64: Vampire Weekend - “This Life” - 172 points - 6 votes
video
Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

The Singles Jukebox

“Ezra Koenig doesn’t wanna live like this, but he doesn’t wanna die — he understands how these days intellectual curiosity depends on the financial means to satisfy it. So he pays for an iLoveMakonnen sample, strums a chordal pattern reminiscent of “Mrs. Robinson,” and hires Chromeo and Ariel Rechtshaid for an expansive, expensive polish. For the Koenig-led project known as “Vampire Weekend,” in which original members matter less than they used to, hybrid is both method and result. A shimmer of a single, “This Life” works, even if I tire of straight men discovering capital-m-Maturity with a vehemence that would astonish women, queer men, and every phylum in the animal kingdom.” - Alfred Soto

Ezra Koenig putting on “Touch of Grey” drag and quoting Makonnen in order to meditate on his own charmed life should be off-putting, and yet “This Life” is effortlessly charming throughout. Vampire Weekend’s success has always ridden on how the band perched on the borderline between irony and sincerity, aware of both their own ridiculousness and the utter seriousness that even ridiculous non-problems can become laden with from their own subjectivity. “This Life” feels like the unraveling of all of those prior Vampire Weekend songs, eschewing the high drama of a “Hannah Hunt” or “Giving Up the Gun” for a beautifully posed shrug on the way out. - Jacob Sujin Kuppermann

gaaaaah I'VE HAD ENOUGH

I've no idea what bobbins is but if the records described here is what bobbins is then no thanks I'd rather go down The Asda

Kasper Marott is great, the best new-to-me thing so far.

KH was on my long list, but I knew it wouldn't need my help. There's a radio edit, JF (in this case, useful).

i was expecting this to be much higher so small mercies lj

Just cray cray.

Jamilla Woods easily the best so far, Jenny Lewis was ok if a bit pastichey. I'm on a bus

Not for me, got off the Vampire Weekend bus with this album.

alfred in vampire weekend review very much otm

I'd just like to say, since I didn't say it earlier, Moka makes beautiful images for these things.

this was my fav tune off this record

Is forks going to fix the year on the Spotify playlists, btw?

OK didn't hate this VW song. A good Paul Simon pastiche.

Yeah this is perfectly fine for what it is.

i hadn't heard the kasper marott before and it's magnificent

bob silent bob deep

https://i.imgur.com/d0Hr4J7.jpg
63: Burna Boy feat. Zlatan- “Killin Dem” - 175 points - 6 votes
video
here comes the AFRICAN GIANT / Burna Boy (2019)
rolling Afropop / Afrobeats / Afrodance 2019
Burna Boy – OUTSIDE (2018)

first of a few to place from this, one hopes

the burna boy sweep begins

All bobbins no joggins

― emil.y

lol nice work

I liked the album. Not one of my favourite tracks but fine

went for a different Zlatan number

speaks to the strength of the album that this isn't a top 5-8 track on it for me.

This is great. I need to hear the rest if what y'all say is true.

yeh ridiculously strong record

I tried and tried with Burna Boy this year but couldn't grow to love any of it

Is forks going to fix the year on the Spotify playlists, btw?
haha maybe that is the right year and he's already mapped out the next decade of ILM poll results playlists. He's probably been updating the 2019 playlist all along

nice! only voted for Anybody from the album, but this is a great track and came out a while before AG

hope every song places off african giant

otm

yeh ridiculously strong record

― nxd, Monday, January 27, 2020 1:20 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ye ye ye ye ye ye ye ye

lol would def have to walk back my earlier complaining in that case

https://i.imgur.com/TisVhx8.jpg
62: Rosalía- “Aute Cuture” - 175 points - 7 votes
video
Rosalía (Post-Flamenco Art-Pop From Spain)

The Singles Jukebox

 As someone who argued a long time ago that Kill Bill is a feminist movie, and was later chagrined to hear that Uma Thurman’s on-set experience did not bear this out, I am officially calling it a trend, of female musicians being inspired to put their own Tarantinoesque spin on things. Three makes a trend, right? The first example y’all know already. The second: Brown Eyed Girls’ more strict take on “Kill Bill,” in which all male roles are eliminated, the plot becomes an excuse for intra-band goofiness, and the first dance shot is of a faceless male dancer lifting his crotch to the camera. And now here’s a third, complete with closeups of feet, dramatic zooms, knife sound effects, overstyled titles announcing new baddies, and the Western motif of the protagonist striding through the dusty town–although unlike Tarantino’s protagonists, Rosalía and her Beauty Gang are here to transform and uplift, not destroy. The song itself is similarly open-hearted: poppier and more static than the precise stories of El Mal Querer, but to a purpose: a widespread drink, a designer label, the fun in self-expression lies everywhere in between. This is why you don’t throw the art out with the artist: because you can’t predict whose art the art is going to inspire. - Jessica Doyle

 After “Con Altura” nabbed the top spot in Spain, it feels apt that Rosalía quickly returns with her own version of a Beyoncé song. Its repetitive nature makes it feel twice the length, and these drums and horns act as a constant reminder of Rosalía’s well-deserved star status. It feels like the opposite of a Shepard tone: instant gratification from the moment it starts, and every second thereafter until it ends. - Joshua Minsoo Kim

All right! My summer banger :)

I quickly made a spotify playlist (mostly for myself) if anyone is interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/304QDi0OQnIIe6pmm9J9Rj?si=EIK-dzlPQrW2J0msFYpkVA

I make no guarantees on keeping this list up to date in the future

couldn't choose between any of the nominated rosalía songs so i ended up voting for none of them :(

she a genius

'Its repetitive nature makes it feel twice the length'

I'm gonna love this then

Fucking Money Man/Millionaria was good, wonder if that's gonna place

my first vote to place; she a genius otm

Not my favourite of hers based on what little I've heard but it's alright. The less American international the better ime.

pvmic

Whew just got up, great results so far! I voted for the Jenny Lewis and Tayla Parx that placed, both outstanding tracks. I enjoyed the Purple Mountains album but somehow none of it made it on my ballot.

totally out of the bobbins loop these days, but this Marott track is nice (well so far, at 6:00)

Ariana Grande is really uninteresting to me

https://i.imgur.com/n2XGpeO.jpg
61: Weyes Blood- “Wild Time” - 177 points - 5 votes
video
Weyes Blood

Thank the fucking lord. My #2

Every time I'd hear a song from this album I'd think to myself "I should listen to it more" and every time I'd forget. That's my fault and not hers. She's making good work.

Great song, great album (narrowly missed my ballot, though).