ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

I'm way behind in this thread, but "Parola (Rework)" is pretty mesmerizing. The standout so far.

Ohhh sorry, this is the Born Slippy one, yeah

forgot to vote hatchie but would have gone for the album

https://i.imgur.com/zbbVvh0.jpg
35: Stormzy - “Vossi Bop” - 255 points - 7 votes - 2 number 1 votes
video

Stormzy - Big For Your Boots

“Gleeful, warped synth work floats in the back, plying its trade in the kindergarten music room as popping, dribbling drums slide in. Stormzy surfs over it with an easy grace, a big, warm smile as he raps each word.” - Nortey Dowuona

“Maybe this is a cultural thing, but why are British (male) rappers so weird about sex? To be fair, I’m both American and a huge virgin, but body shots and facials sound like a horny teenager’s idea of adult intimacy. Yet you almost don’t notice, because Stormzy sounds so smooth, so self-assured, so fucking cool on this song. I appreciate the intensity of Gang Signs & Prayer in small doses, but it’s nice to hear him ease off the throttle and settle into the beat. There’s more space for his bars to breathe, but the Möbius strip they loop around the beat makes it clear he’s in full control. This is the quickest I’ve ever cottoned to a Stormzy song, Chuck Norris line be damned.” - Julian Axelrod

https://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=27552

I wish the Hatchie love had come a couple years ago when the songs were better.

Enjoyed this video for some reason. Love those fluid camera moves.

not the Stormzy track that got my vote but an undeniable banger

his videos are great

Sweet.

the recent koffee single w/ gunna is excellent

oh good, "Vossi Bop" was a late cut so glad it's made a decent showing without my help.

Updated youtube playlist = http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgY-EgZm23_JMleMrv5Pq42eYRaWrPeVK

Yeahh, Stormzy. Didn't vote for him but a top lad.

happy that rob doesn't have to permanently roll his eyes. also this song rules

― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 11:56 AM (twenty-one minutes ago)

I am truly thankful!

I ended up really coming round to Vossi Bop in the last month. I really wish his albums were as great as his best moments (this, Shut Up, Big For Your Boots, Know Me From). An Ed Sheeran collaboration is the last thing I needed from him.

Koffee has about the best flow and delivery I heard all year and I unabashedly love her

Both of my remaining definite placements are necessities and I think they'll both place on the last day. Meanwhile...let's see. Stormzy not even close to making the best grime of 2019 imo but he is a top lad

That Hatchie song emotionally obliterates me every time. My #4.

sorry I'm still on yesterday's songs, did you already talk about how the KH song samples a (bomb-ass) Nelly Furtado album track

we didn't but i meant to bring it up, when i first heard "only human" i was so fuckin gassed over that sample

That's exactly the point at which it starts sucking.

the recent koffee single w/ gunna is excellent

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:23 PM (one minute ago)

it is! IzyBeats had a fantastic year

MattDC: for me it's her effortless sunny charisma plus she can spit (or what forks said); what did you think of her J Hus feature?

for reference: https://youtu.be/DfPvPAbN--E

the kids come in at the end

I've got the Underworld/Necks thing playing quietly on my laptop speakers and it sounds surprisingly excellent that way...just got to the organ business Brad mentioned, very nice

What number are we going down to today btw? 31?

did you already talk about how the KH song samples a (bomb-ass) Nelly Furtado album track

No, because I had to go look up what the sample was as I recognised it but couldn't work it out!

this has been such an enjoyable day, i’m practically euphoric over this section of the rollout, even though nothing from my ballot placed! good work everyone

Kisloty People is the first bobbins to really get my attention this year

:|

It doesn't really go anywhere as per but the sonic set-up is bracing enough

https://i.imgur.com/Z91LvQn.jpg
34: Caroline Polachek - “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” - 260 points - 9 votes
video

Chairlift - Bruises (This year's "Heartbeats"/"Young Folks")

“So good it’s hurting my feelings: I keep wanting to save my 10s for songs that feel Big and Important, like “Slip Away” or “The Joke.” Maybe something that doesn’t have immediate political importance but stands on its own, like “Cellophane.” (Being co-written by a transgender woman when the Supreme Court is about to decide whether transgender people can be fired on the basis of their identity might qualify this song, but I don’t want to reduce Teddy Geiger to her gender.) From the opening line, which seems to swipe from Robin Williams’ character in mid-2000s Blue Sky Studios comedy Robots, it’s clear that this isn’t exactly a deep song. Instead, “So Hot” is perfectly goofy songwriting, down to a bridge where Polachek chants “show me the banana, na na na na na” while also performing a guitar solo with her voice. Even better, it’s a three and a half minute pop song, so it doesn’t have time to meander like “Door.” There isn’t anything personal or political about this, but that doesn’t even seem to cross Polachek and co’s mind. Losing oneself in a pop song is just about the most overused trope in all of music criticism, but there’s something to not being serious or even defiantly silly. It’s just fun for the sake of fun, which is hard to justify as a 10. Except maybe that was the whole point of this poptimism thing. In that case…” - Joshua Copperman

“I’ve been listening to “Door” a lot lately (a 10, by the way), and one of the many things that’s grabbed me about the song is how impressively detailed it is: I’m still discovering nuances in the production after a double-digit number of listens. “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” is a less complex experience than “Door” — a name-brand lollipop instead of a box of chocolate truffles — but it has the same attention to detail that makes playing it over and over and paying close attention so rewarding. The three claps in the verses, the “aah-aah”s panning right and left, the electric guitar strum (I think) at the end of the chorus, the gasps and “Woo!”s peppered throughout — god, inject this shit straight into my veins. And, of course, Polachek’s vocals are on point, even behind the tasteful vocoder; her voice climbing and falling on “it’s so emBArrassing” is an entire journey on its own. “So Hot” is sparkly synthpop designed to go down easy, but there’s substance in it too, for those who want to look for it.” - Kayla Beardslee

https://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=28405

I'm more of a "Door" man

Awesome! I ended up putting this lower down on my list with Door a lot higher.

Apparently she directed the video too and it’s great. Warmed me up to the song and now I love it.

I say nay.

feeling slightly gladdened that some of these singles jukebox ppl don't post to ilx

this is a jam that also fell off of my ballot

also: relatable

I also say nay. Danny L Harle has done incredible work in the past but I don't rate Polachek as a songwriter and her presence is irksome at best imo. A shame as this is easily something I could have liked

Koffee is too low. Like way too low. wtf ilm

Sums up my reservations exactly.

xp

I don't rate Polachek as a songwriter and her presence is irksome at best imo. A shame as this is easily something I could have liked

You don't like the songwriting or the performance but you could easily have liked it???

lol I'm assuming he means its trappings are to his liking.

not deconstructed enough for y’all eh

I'm more of a "Door" man

― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:43 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

me too

I could have liked what was being aimed at! Arty playful pop with attitude etc etc

Vossi Bop is the only one of these records I've ever heard before! (and quite a lot). Sort of endearing, best one so far along with Jamila Woods.

https://i.imgur.com/Pbk6c6S.jpg
33: Lizzo - “Juice” - 263 points - 12 votes
video

Lizzo - Big GRRRL Small World

“Lizzo releasing a clarion call to the ballroom this luminous in early January might seem perplexing, but I think it can be rationalised in one of two ways — either she’s particularly fond of her fans in the southern hemisphere and wished to impart on them a summer’s gift, or she figured that in early January, where most of us oscillate between feeling hopeful for new beginnings and hopeless at the thought of another year ahead on this slowly burning furnace of a planet, songs which resolutely emphasise the joys in drawing confidence from oneself become imperative. No matter the reason, it’s here, it’s big, and it sounds at once like the beach and a wedding and a rainbow-lit club and the sort of thing I’d wiggle my bum to while washing up. Whether it will stick around long enough to impact the northern hemisphere summer is a question yet unanswered, but we can hope and dance contentedly in the meantime.” - William John

“I had to go back and check, but yeah this may be even more unrestrainedly, exuberantly joyful (not to mention motivating – I might need to start playing this for myself every Monday morning) than “Good As Hell”, and that song already made me feel like I could punch the ceiling off of whatever room I’m in.” - Ian Mathers

https://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=26919

I voted for a different Lizzo track, but I could have easily had this one in its place.

NFM (Not For Me)

wondering if "truth hurts" is gonna place and bend time backwards again