ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

Uh, that was meant to be :)

I went to get some supplies and we went past a grassy area outside City Hall and there were some people doing what I later found out is called Buttigiegaerobics. It is the closest I have ever come to calling the police
― saer, Wednesday, January 29, 2020 12:31 PM (three hours ago)

v underrated saer post here btw

yes yes I'll hear Tricot, on the list, pre-sent, etc

yes i loved that saer post so much lmao

also their white bass player had cornrows.

― na (NA), Wednesday, January 29, 2020 4:01 PM (eight minutes ago

this was a factor in my reluctance

Dawson at his best when channeling ragas imho.

Kicking myself for not putting the Sun El track on my ballot. Pretty much anything this guy touches is sunshine and happiness. I truly hope he has a solid mainstream breakout in the next year or two

I'm still holding out for "Sondela". Think the Black Coffee Surprise isn't going to happen. Also, "Lover" will definitely place.

I found Two Hands harder going than its two predecessors; I wanted more "Not," more stuff like "Shark Smile."

not a major fan of 'jogging', i know it's there in ironic contrast to the lyrics but that whole fist-pumping yellalong quality makes me queasy

I played Jogging on the radio a few times cuz 2020 is in the rotation and Jogging is one of the only clean tracks under 10 minutes, but it doesn't work very well in isolation imo

I'd check out the rest of the album if I were you. 'listen before i go' and 'i love you' are both lovely little ballads.

― pomenitul, woensdag 29 januari 2020 21:14

The very first line on 'Jogging' is 'recently I've been struggling with anxiety'... 2020 is a bit too much for me, but as an attempt to create a current version of the big british rock album, it's second only to A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. So many hooks.

Also, I kinda adore that it feels about as much of a concept album as the one with story-songs about people from ancient Bryneich. There's a pretty amazing sense of history and shared destiny in the juxtaposition.

Very happy to see Jealous at 22 - it is truly sublime.

OK, caught up with today's listening. No LDR-level revulsion toward anything that placed today, but I really just don't get Billie Eilish.

I was Big Thief apathetic until UFOF. Those horror screams on "Contact" shook me out of this daze I feel like I previously fell into every time I'd put their music on. Then "UFOF"'s chord progression/resolution around the lyrics "To deepen our love/ It isn't even a fraction" and the sheer beauty of "Cattails"...I was captivated.

If I have a critique, it is a bit frontloaded, but I still played it through too many times to count this year.

much as I like all the Big Thief albums, they do all tend to trail off towards the end

"Black Diamonds" is fine.

haley, mary, black diamonds is one of the album's strongest stretches imo

some interesting picks so far in this year's rollout, but still following the pattern of previous years where the most interesting stuff is in the upper and middle sections.

Funny how consensus works

So pleased to see "Jealous" so high! Such a great and distinct song, and though I love love love all the south african material it's nice to have a nigerian track so high up as a contrast.

re Ariana, "Break Up With Your Girlfriend" feels like a bigger track to me than it probably actually was just because it's her second most meme-ish track after "thank u, next" (especially among gay guys).

Hatchie is my find of the poll so far. Really lovely. Can hear some New Order as was disputed above, but as filtered through I don't know, Even As We Speak. Cool

Definitely check out "Sure" and "Bad Guy" from the preceding EP and "Secret" and "Obsessed" from the album - all as strong or stronger than "Stay With Me" in my opinion.

Also she is excellent live!

haley, mary, black diamonds is one of the album's strongest stretches imo

― culture of mayordom (voodoo chili), Wednesday, January 29, 2020 3:05 PM (twenty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm, "black diamonds" is a good closer, kind of like taking a breath after the rest of the record's scenes of intense horror and intimacy

lenker's a great lyricist as well and this is particularly a feature of capacity

It's not the last song on U.F.O.F. but "Jenni" tears me up.

Jenni is my fave

i hadn't figured "break up..." would be in the running to place but who really knows! i see from lex's twitter that he put it at #1 on his own EOY list - not sure if he silently entered a ballot

was the "crazy" part of the results the fact that there now likely to be five purple mountains songs included?

I like "Cut My Hair" as a closer on Two Hands. Pretty and mysterious and heavy all at the same time.

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

Definitely check out "Sure" and "Bad Guy" from the preceding EP and "Secret" and "Obsessed" from the album - all as strong or stronger than "Stay With Me" in my opinion.

Also she is excellent live!

― Tim F, Wednesday, January 29, 2020 4:28 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

To echo both of these points, I initially didn't like the album as much as the Sugar & Spice EP, and "Stay with Me" didn't even strike me as a standout track. But then I saw her live, and "Stay with Me" slayed.

I'm still where jaymc was at, so obvs that means I need to see her live.

"Andromeda" was my number one, I had a really emotional year and I have bawled my eyes out to that one a whole lot. It kills me.

one of those songs where the first 5 seconds confirms its brilliance

I'm coming around to Weyes Blood through this thread

feels like that happens every year she puts out a record

andromeda is lovely for sure

yeah I'm reneging on what I said upthread about Everyday being the clear standout

the one I voted for that showed up today was 'Jealous'

hadn't heard 'Violence' before or seen the video. it's pretty awesome

my Billie Eilish vote went to 'I Love You', which I think is a really beautiful song

I guess there will be no Octo Octa in the top 77?

I'm not entirely sure I get Weyes Blood but I think "Andromeda" was the very last thing I culled from my ballot, with some regret. I'm on board as soon as that wobbly synth appears. And the helpful advice on what "Andromeda is..." I wish I found the remainder of the LP as effortlessly appealing.

2020 is a bit too much for me, but as an attempt to create a current version of the big british rock album, it's second only to A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

Agreed here except the albums I grouped it with were Serf's Up & Braindrops (though I ended up liking it less than either of those)

I fully expected Money Machine to show up today, so it's cool that it's going to show up tomorrow. maybe Octo Octa was a vote splitting thing? I don't remember, but I think those are the only ones left that I voted for that have a chance.

I voted for "Harmony Hall," what of it?

(I mean, it could have been "This Life" just as easily. I don't love the whole album but it has 3-4 songs that stick in my head often, most of them on the first half.)

haven't heard the album, but I like both of the VW tracks that have appeared here

Can't remember if I voted for "Money Machine" but probably

I voted for "Harmony Hall," what of it?

I've been coming back to it since it placed, listening more to the lyrics.

I didn't vote because I probably couldn't scrounge together 20 tracks, but "Snow is Falling in Manhattan" needs to place. Also I love saer's contributions to the year end threads. Where do they post otherwise?

I love reading saer's posts