ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

anyway, changing subject, if I'd heard that Black Coffee tune posted way upthread in time, I'd have totally voted for it. Maybe needs a renom next year, Koffee style

I found a picture of a balloon which also seems to be making some sort of political statement, maybe we could all come together and unite in appreciation of this

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3026/2638678618_2151aeefe6.jpg

lool!

Is that a Robert Del Naja original?

ballons that make you think

ah Banky, the REDACTED of indie street art

yes this absolutely makes me think something

Balloons signify happiness- and Banksy makes that very clear by making it the only aspect of the image that has color. Balloons often remind us of happy occasions and celebrations. When inflated, balloons only go up- but after a short amount of time they deflate and go down- an unavoidable occurrence. This mimics the behavior of a child’s imagination. A mind that pushes beyond limits, but then eventually hits a point of adulthood and loss of that innocence.

Fucking balloons, how do they work?

I'm listening to "Jogging" now and you know how people kept complaining about how Meg White sounded like toddler banging on pots and pans in The White Stripes? That's what this beat sounds like to me and it undercuts everything else about the song except for dude's voice, which is making me grind my teeth.

His falsetto is an audio crime

it's an abstruse listen, I'll give you that. in context of his other,
more folky work it makes more sense, like he's deliberately reaching way beyond his comfortable range. I find it quaint/charming but it's the old Joanne Newsom love/hate thing again

After having successfully spirited away Big Thief to the lower-ranking Octo Octa entry in his bid to obtain the ILM Track of the Year award,
here is footage of Richard Dawson trying to get rid of the remaining competition.

Amazing. And what a finale!

omg that video :D

i walk into the abbatoir

world class striker but sadly no ballon d'or, son

it's an abstruse listen, I'll give you that.

There isn't anything difficult to understand about this. This isn't Diamanda Galas making up a vocal vocabulary; it's a dude with an unpleasant voice singing extra-unpleasantly.

i don't listen to richard dawson at home at all and i didn't vote for him in this poll either, and that's mostly because i find his records to be somewhat ugly and overly lumpy like a misshapen potato, but i've got to say (and i think i say this every year), go and seem him live if you get the chance cos he's an amazing perfomer and his music makes a lot more sense when you're in the same room as him

aka "The Arcade Fire Effect"

wow impressively horrible song wtf. re: Jogging

yeah i like it too

lemme shit on this list further:
#1: annoying
#2: boring, already forgot what it sounded like
#3: impressively horrible
#4: boring, sadsack sht but not awful, has some pretty momemnts
#5: boring poptimist pick
#6: annoying af, make it stop
#7: decent, but depressing to think it's 7th best song any of the Earth's inhabitants created last year
#8: this is good
#9: this is good but I'd never listen to it again, not my style
#10: this is ok, ditch the high notes

I saw Dawson in a room with about 40 people around the time of Glass Trunk and he was fucking transcendent - playing with his eyeballs popping out, like he had his chest ripped open and all these rainbows were flying everywhere. As someone else said upthread, his wisdom is more acute when it's an abstracted, something closer to kitchen-sink mysticism - all of which makes more sense close up. I'll post some lyrics and someone will say it's the fucking Sleaford Mods but baws to that.

My neighbour Andrew lost two fingers to a Staffie-cross
Whilst jogging over Cow Hill with a Pepperami in his bum-bag
He's a junior partner at James & James no-win-no-fee solicitor
Thinking of relocating to a Buddhist monastery in Halifax
He reckons I should try meditation
He reckons it could benefit my peace of mind
My bedroom walls are papered with the stripes of Newcastle United
Between which I perceive the presence of a horse-headed figure
Holding aloft a flaming quiver of bramble silhouettes
He is the King of Children
Singing like a boiler: 'Tomorrow is on its way'

(I still can't get on with jogging. It's too on the nose.)

I saw Dawson in a room with about 40 people

great job leaving it be

tbf I saw a bunch of shows that might be qualified as Dawson-esque in my early 20s and every single one was in someone's living room or a dungeon-like room in the basement of student housing

xp thanks!

I haven’t been following this thread too closely but I’m disappointed that this Busy Signal song is nothing like the other Busy Signal song I know (“Text Message”), which I love.

we really need a busy thread; there are at least ten great busy songs i can recommend without trying

do iiit

or everyone could follow the dancehall thread cos, ofc he's not the only person doing things. but I agree, he's consistent

it's a dude with an unpleasant voice singing extra-unpleasantly.

If this is not on a sticker on the cover of his next album I'd ask for my money back.

Listening to the Dawson album now and criticising any of the songs on account of his singing voice seems to me to be missing the point entirely. Rather like, say, Darren Hayman, he seems entirely comfortable with his style and range. But anyway, I have a question. This is trying very hard to be a "state of the nation" type record, but it's unlikely to be entirely a reflection of first person experience. So, are some lyrics borrowed from other people's narratives - which would be a positive - or are they entirely imagined by Dawson? (yes, asking ILM to do my research for me thank you in advance)

I didn't say they were bad songs because of his singing; I said I didn't like them because of his singing. (Although the lyrical excerpts posted don't overly thrill me, lyrics in isolation almost always look bad and corny.)

lemme shit on this list further:
#1: annoying
#2: boring, already forgot what it sounded like
#3: impressively horrible
#4: boring, sadsack sht but not awful, has some pretty momemnts
#5: boring poptimist pick
#6: annoying af, make it stop
#7: decent, but depressing to think it's 7th best song any of the Earth's inhabitants created last year
#8: this is good
#9: this is good but I'd never listen to it again, not my style
#10: this is ok, ditch the high notes

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, January 31, 2020 5:04 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sadly, this is 100% OTM

Not a terrible list overall, though.

the top ten songs are never very exciting, consensus works like that. though i am too quite surprised about the horribleness of some of those tracks. without jessie ware and the purple mountains the top ten would be without any appeal for me.

ah yes thank god purple mountains placed

yes very boring apart from them

feel like i experience reality in a significantly different way than people who find "balloon" annoying

🎈 🎈 🎈

yes

busy signal

Maybe if the balloon emoji was purple it would be more relatable

"this is good but I'd never listen to it again" is even more perplexing to me

I think that's a 100% understandable reaction to anything that isn't Prince, The Cure, Orbital, A Tribe Called Quest, Portishead, or clipping.

the balloon song should be played to trump. after the only word he could ever utter would be balloon. and the world would become a better place.

My goodness that Tresor -Sondela is a tune

lol @ "poptimism" in 2020. Are you trolling?

What year did it get retired?

I am up to Samthing Soweto and pals in the playlist and think I like this the most so far