ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

Yeah, Alejandro Sanz (also from Spain) has a ton of Latin Grammys. It makes more sense when you think of it as an industry award. These are artists that are marketed to the Spanish-language market in North America and getting played on Spanish-language radio, regardless of their country of origin.

fantastic work on the images moka, you've really outdone yourself this time

this placing made me wonder if the CFCF album will show next week. It was too successful at doing what it was setting out to do for my taste (if that makes sense), but there's a growing enthusiasm/lack of shame around D&B

― rob, Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:07 AM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

The question's not if it will place, but where imo. Seems like a lock.

slight but appreciable side-eye at the song being described as "this kind of music" -- what kind? kindly direct me to more.

Lyrically naïve, vaguely optimistic mainstream r&b songs by conventionally attractive young people about relationships. We went over this during last year's rollout (apologies for being a broken record) but: it brings back madeleine-like memories of being a high school pariah; to me it is the sound of enforced teenage and young adult conformity and faux-positive emotions, just about the most oppressive and superficial aesthetic there is. I've given this subgenre more than a chance or two over the years and have been pleasantly surprised on occasion but indifference is usually the best I can muster. I am of course aware that not everyone relates to this stuff in the same way and am not trying to make an objective claim here.

heard before:
77: Mount Eerie feat. Julie Doiron - “Love Without Possession” - this was the best track on a somewhat underwhelming album. really lovely once more instrumentation fills it out 2/3 through it
76: Ariana Grande - “NASA” - fine but if any ariana album track was going to show up it should have been "ghostin" surely?
74: Purple Mountains - “Margaritas at the Mall” / 70: Purple Mountains - “Darkness & Cold” - the purple mountains album was too real in its depression for me to spend much time with but i understand why people love it.
69: Mark Ronson feat. Angel Olsen - “True Blue” - oh i probably should have voted for this, my favourite Angel Olsen track of the year. completely slipped my mind though
68: Tayla Parx - “Me vs. Us” - almost made my ballot after dyl's post in the campaigning thread, great track. chorus is very similar to a jessie ware track i think?
67: Jamila Woods feat. Saba - “Basquiat” - probably the highlight from this album, nice to see it show up
65: KH - “Only Human” - fine but overstays its welcome a fair bit
63: Burna Boy feat. Zlatan - “Killin Dem” - only the 4th best burna boy single this year but still great
62: Rosalía - “Aute Cuture” - feels like rosalia can do no wrong at the moment
61: Weyes Blood - “Wild Time” - this whole album sounds very well made but somehow ends up feeling a little bit hollow, never really connected with it
60: Peggy Gou - “Starry Night” - better than "It Makes You Forget"
58: Shura - “BKLYNLDN" - still adore the shift to the outro
57: Big Thief - “Cattails” - surprised this was the UFOF track people rallied around, would have gone for "Strange" or "From" but i don't think they were nominated?
56: Raphael Saadiq feat. Rob Bacon - “Something Keeps Calling” - album is great, didn't occur to me to vote for any tracks from it but the hook on this one does get lodged in my head
54: Normani - “Motivation” - shame this wasn't the hit it seemed destined to be on release

voted for:
64: Vampire Weekend - “This Life” - thought this was probably a lock for top 20, VW at their very best
55: Holly Herndon - “Eternal” - really delighted by herndon moving into vaguely pop-adjacent territory, this was breathtaking
53: Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club Mix)” - gorgeous, singular, r&d&b

hadn't heard:
75: Jenny Lewis - “Red Bull & Hennessy” - this is fun, cool propulsive drum sound and a nice closing solo
72 (TIE): Anna Caragnano & Donnato Dozzy - “Parola (Rework)” - interesting but probably a little too minimal for me to get into
72 (TIE): Blanck Mass - “House vs House” - this is really cool, favourite discovery of the day. perfect balance of beauty and ugliness
71: Cate Le Bon - “Daylight Matters” - left very little impression on me
66: Kasper Marott - “Drømmen om Ø (Forever mix '19)” - pleasant enough techno but a bit underwhelming
59: Charlotte Adigéry - “High Lights” - not bad but doesn't really do anything for me either

Briefly catching up:

60. Peggy Gou - 'Starry Night': pleasant enough, little lasting appeal; I'd rather explore the city-pop classics first.
59. Charlotte Adigéry - 'High Lights': now this is a fun song, with just the right amount of mildly sinister weirdness coursing through the background.
58. Shura - 'BKLYNLDN': more like BLND amirite?
57. Big Thief - 'Cattails': impression: stationary, i.e. I'd love this band if they hired a different singer.
56. Raphael Saadiq - 'Something Keeps Calling': could these melodic lines get any more predictable?
55. Holly Herndon - 'Eternal': overwrought faux-transcendental heroism marring an otherwise attractive premise.
54. Normani - 'Motivation': see above post on Tayla Parx.
53. Erika de Casier - 'Intimate (Club Mix)': the album's a little patchy but this is one of the definite highlights: low-key d&r&b that recalls the downtempo of yore will always get my vote (never mind that I didn't vote).

To recap, of the stuff I hadn't heard yet, so far I've enjoyed: Burna Boy, Kasper Marott, Donato Dozzy & Anna Caragnano, Charlotte Adigéry.

Already, enjoyably acquainted with: Purple Mountains, Jamila Woods, Weyes Blood, Erika de Casier.

W/ roll-out happening late afternoon, early evening for me, I'll sadly have to play catch-up the next morning.

No matter though. Very glad to see some bobbins, Dozzy, Charlotte Adigéry, Purple Mountains and Weyes Blood turning up (only Dozzy a surprise it did imo).

Any hopes I had for the one track I voted for placing are p much diminished by now.

Any clue as to what it was?

58. Shura - 'BKLYNLDN': more like BLND amirite?

tick.jpg

People not getting Shura is one of the most eternally baffling things on ILM, just such blissful music.

ok fine but I voted for at least 4 of your nominations m8 :P

last year was also pretty light on rap iirc (or at least I remember it being noted during the first couple days of rollout)

― rob, Monday, January 27, 2020 9:05 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

goon cru only assemble when there's a thread to title

― ||||||||, Monday, January 27, 2020 9:07 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

lol

It is the suspect sound of Pavlovian sensuality: 'you are henceforth aroused and desirous of your lover, with whom you will lovingly make love. Make love. Now.'

2xp

it was my #3 track and I don't find it particularly sexy ftr

*clicking metronome*

Any clue as to what it was?

― opden gnash (imago), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 11:40 AM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I stumbled upon it dilly-dallying through Asda, in the mars bar isle. Escaping the off-side trap, I ran home with it, got the deckchairs out and blasted it m8s.

old town road then

Anyway, my round-up is that, apart from the two songs I absolutely adore (aforementioned) and voted for extremely high, I don't *love* anything else that's placed - Rosalia and Burna Boy probably the closest - and again, I wish I knew myself better so as to express why. I guess none of these songs are doing much to interest me compositionally - whether texturally or melodically. I guess the Dozzy Donato rework had an interesting texture, but I found it be some sort of anti-ASMR - quite unpleasant to listen to. Curious if anyone else had that response

Care to elaborate on this, pomenitul?

I wanted to like this but it's not a subgenre where generic cuts it for me.

I'm not sure what subgenre it is. Is "I love you" x 3, etc, the sort of 'generic' you were getting at?

I'd listened to Jamila Woods before and filed it away as one of those 'clearly good but I'm not especially enjoying it' records but this song in isolation is fantastic.

Also listening to that and the Raphael Saadiq song back to back really highlights this importance of production, every sound on the Jamila record really leaps out at you and has so much impact, the Raphael Saadiq song is good but the drums in particular are like soggy cardboard in comparison.

Lightly eccentric British singer/songwriter indie pop, for lack of a better designation. My assessment upthread was a little harsh: I mostly enjoyed hearing the album, I just have no desire whatsoever to revisit it.

xp

nothing wrong with 'i love you' - my #5 is a song (that i'm probably sole voter for) where those words, repeated, solely comprise the chorus

I stumbled upon it dilly-dallying through Asda, in the mars bar isle. Escaping the off-side trap, I ran home with it, got the deckchairs out and blasted it m8s.

Did you vote for Saer?

I guess the Dozzy Donato rework had an interesting texture, but I found it be some sort of anti-ASMR - quite unpleasant to listen to. Curious if anyone else had that response

Yeah, exactly the same here (and that was through speakers rather than earphones), would probably like it otherwise.

I still don't get the distinction between a frisson and ASMR.

this importance of production, every sound on the Jamila record really leaps out at you and has so much impact

Nice to hear something not made out of biscuits.

The bobbins records were largely characterless and lifeless again

lol now I'm curious to hear your picks.

I retract that, only like talking about things in the singular, grouping things together isn't so good!

aww jaymc! cfcf made a sad tweet the other day about fruitlessly looking for his album in end-of-year lists, and here was i hoping we could come through for the guy

It was in my top 3 and I'd be stunned if it doesn't make the cut

Did you vote for Saer?

― Matt DC, Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:24 PM (fifty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I did!

One of my favorite moments from this record has become the gloriously self-deprecating American Hustle reference
"Got a combover cut circa Abscam sting
Make a better Larry than a Lizard King"
http://media.hollywood.com/images/433x650/2069933.jpg
https://2jnjpz34p77w1q3shs2fsoem-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Music_DavidBerman-1024x536.jpg

Much as I love Big Thief, Cattails is not one of my fave tracks despite having listened to a very interesting Song Exploder episode about it.

Fuck, I meant that for the Purple Mountains thread, sorry. - The Purple Mountains Guy

Interesting how many like the Kasper M track - I nominated it as I think it came thru on my Discover Weekly a while back then noticed it was in pitchfork 2019 tracks list. Its length is unusual and might normally be off-putting for me but it doesnt feel as long as it is and I hadn't heard a Kompakt redux type thing (at least that is what makes me think of) like it for a while.

Didn't Keflavik do quite well last year?

yes

it's weird what bobbins stuff seems to rise to the top at EOY. Not that these are not good tunes, just quite arbitrary IMO

I voted for quite a lot of bobbins this year but no idea if any of them will show up (only one has so far)

I like Drommen om O much more than Keflavik which always felt a bit, I dunno, busy

it's weird what bobbins stuff seems to rise to the top at EOY. Not that these are not good tunes, just quite arbitrary IMO

I think all the things we've had so far from that sphere have placed on previous polls? Donnato Dozzy, Blanck Mass, Kasper Marott, Kieran Hebden, Peggy Gou, Holly Herndon have definitely all appeared in the past

way too early in the poll to jump to any conclusions obv but maybe it's been a name recognition thing so far?

I might have to start posting earlier than usual because I have a flight in 4 hours!

Is it cool if I start posting in around 15 mins?

Herndon is electronic but not bobbins - if anything she's time travel

Early is good!

It's very okay, Moka :)

Hell yeah, Moka!

Yea.

Yes.

bobbins adjacent then - she's covered in the bobbins media way more than anywhere else afaict, or at least has been up to the last record xps

I thought the “bobbins” threads are an artifact of the post-kompakt, post-beardo disco ilx era that catalog indie-friendly danceable crossover music, generally?

You could maybe stretch and throw Blanck Mass in there but Herndon is more than a stretch