ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

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

yehhh

ehhhh

noting again that the playlist will update at end of day as i'm ooo until 3 or 4 or so. It's a fun and diverse lineup for today; lots to pick at!

i don't really read the bobbins threads here tbh so i have no idea of the exact definition. 'indie-friendly danceable crossover music' sounds horrible though

Aight here we go!

that is exactly how purists like saer view it, yes 😝

Bring on the crazy!

my body is ready

https://i.imgur.com/54MQSEj.jpg
52: DaBaby - “Suge” - 195 points - 7 votes
video
DaThread for DaBaby

The Singles Jukebox

““Suge” is relentless because DaBaby is. Despite the brilliance of JetsonMade’s beat (especially that little 808 figure that chimes in like a reward every few bars), the main attraction of “Suge” is purely in the artist formerly known as Baby Jesus. His delivery is perfectly balanced — just intense enough to let his lines hit you like combo attacks, never giving you a breather, but still leaving the impression that his tossed-off jokes and ad libs aren’t his final form. It’s a breath of fresh air in an overcrowded rap scene, the rare fluke hit from a rapper who’s neither one-note nor overthinking it.” - Jacob Sujin Kuppermann

nice!

Nice.

I liked both DaBaby albums a lot though I didn't vote for much rap this year

ehhhh

― pomenitul, Tuesday, January 28, 2020 2:43 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

As an aside, I wish I'd nommed and campaigned for PNL's 'Au DD' and TripleGo's 'Dior'. There's gotta be room for French hip-hop 'round these parts.

just quite arbitrary IMO

― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 6:13 AM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

what's arbitrary about "only human," which was everywhere?

that is exactly how purists like saer view it, yes 😝

― babu frik fan account (mh),

Sir, this is a Greggs. purists are one step removed from police informants,

https://i.imgur.com/B1KKhv7.jpg
51: SAULT - “Up All Night” - 197 points - 7 votes
video
Sault - What's the story?

we're all voting for "up all night" as the song to represent sault at the 77 best tracks ILM 2019. i said it first that means you have to do it
― budo jeru

Thought this was 'White Rabbit' at first.

Didn't vote for anything Sault, but I dig this.

I approve of its constituent elements but am not sold on how it all comes together. Sweet coda, though.

Ooh, not vote-splitted to death then! The first of six, maybe?

Hey something I voted for!

I'd LOVE to see Why Why Why Why Why show up

I didn't vote for any of it, but Sault was a nice discovery from the playlist for me. (My favourite was 'Threats')

https://i.imgur.com/rFf4jgc.jpg
50: Purple Mountains - “Nights That Won’t Happen” - 204 points - 6 votes
video
Purple Mountains (RIP David Berman, August 2019)

My fave from the album but… yeah, I wouldn't mind something more cray cray.

The dead know what they're doing when they leave this world behind.

There was actually some mild attempt on the Purple Mountains thread to coordinate votes, but it turned out everyone had a different favorite on that album.

People sure liked this Berman dude...

I ended up voting for a different SAULT track, though picking one of the tracks to vote for felt almost arbitrary, they're all good.

"Nights" seemed the clear highpoint of the album to me, so... I voted for this one. And it made me weep a bit around August. Decent criterion for inclusion IMHO.

Agreed.

yeah, as aforementioned I went for the album but this was the clear apex to me. I'll be almost let down if either of the remaining noms tops it.

https://i.imgur.com/ezRcOnM.jpg
49: Clairo - “Bags” - 206 points - 8 votes - 1 number 1 vote
video
Clairo - Immunity

Pitchfork BNM:
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/clairo-bags/

““Bags,” Clairo’s strongest song to date, ups the ante significantly. She delivers oblique, stream-of-consciousness lyricism about a deteriorating relationship, singing in a characteristic deadpan that seems to contradict the emotional weight of lines like, “Pardon my emotions, I should probably keep it all to myself,” and, “Can you see me using everything to hold back?” But the instrumentals tell a different story; unlike the gauzy, synth-heavy wash that usually cocoons her vocals, “Bags” is sonic splatter paint. Clairo and Rostam’s production is a mishmash of choppy helicopter synth, chugging electric guitar, Danielle Haim’s drums, and keys that sound as if they’re being banged by a kindergartener. Though it sounds busy on paper, it’s executed beautifully, each twinkling element bringing new vibrancy to the mix. With the dewy turbulence of a monsoon rain, “Bags” marks a new kind of Clairo energy.” - Vrinda Jagota

Nice!

SAULT and more Purple Mountains! Not the ones I voted for though.

Good song imo.

*drums fingers*

― opden gnash (imago), Monday, 27 January 2020 17:32 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

This is nice! The little sad guitar line in the chorus is good. Must have missed this on the playlist. Misheard the lyrics as 'walking out the door with your parents', which gave a preferred mystery to the situation tbh.

https://i.imgur.com/ABVPYbr.jpg
48: Lana Del Rey - “Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For A Woman Like Me To Have - But I Have It” - 210 points - 6 votes
video
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019)

NPR:
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/11/778226694/the-5-best-songs-from-lana-del-reys-norman-f-rockwell

“In a world still overrun with male violence, a woman's survival sometimes depends upon her learning how to fashion weapons from materials other than brute force. Love can work, as can art, or ridicule (at some point on NFR!, Lana Del Rey tries any and all of these three) but the all-powerful quantity she conjures on NFR!'s closing track is hope. "I have it, yeah I have it," she warns in the waning moments of this unforgettable song, which by its end has become nothing short of an incantation: In just under six minutes, she has transformed optimism into something as sharp as a switchblade.” - Lindsay Zoladz

"nights that wont happen" is a quietly devastating one. i went for another PM track though (which hasnt appeared yet)

Woot! My #2!