ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2019

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

1: Busy Signal – “Balloon” – 831 points – 24 votes – 2 #1 votes
8: Tresor featuring Msaki – “Sondela” – 413 points – 15 votes
9: Burna Boy – “Anybody” - 407 points – 13 votes – 2 #1 votes
12: Octo Octa – “I Need You” – 370 points – 10 votes – 2 #1 votes
22: Fireboy DML – “Jealous” – 327 points – 9 votes – 1 #1 vote
27: Sun-El Musician and Ami Faku – “Into Ingawe” – 314 points – 13 votes – 1 #1 vote
30: Zero12Finest featuring ThaMagnificent2 – “Baby Are You Coming?” – 312 points – 11 votes
35: Stormzy - “Vossi Bop” - 255 points - 7 votes - 2 number 1 votes
36 (TIE): Koffee - “Toast” - 254 points - 9 votes
41: Rema - “Dumebi” - 243 points - 8 votes - 1 number 1 vot
42: Samthing Soweto feat. Sha Sha, DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small - “Akulaleki” - 237 points - 7 votes - 1 number 1 vote
45: HAIM- “Summer Girl” - 214 points - 8 votes
53: Erika de Casier - “Intimate (Club. Mix)” - 195 points - 6 votes - 1 number 1 vote
55: Holly Herndon - “Eternal” - 192 points - 7 votes
63: Burna Boy feat. Zlatan- “Killin Dem” - 175 points - 6 votes

ifw

I don't find "Balloon" annoying. I'm just not sure I find it much of anything?

Definitely been coming back to "Jogging" and the rest of 2020, though.

I don't find "Balloon" annoying. I'm just not sure I find it much of anything

Yea, I'm the same. It's OK I guess but I don't hear anything remarkable about it

floating floating everyeverybody

Much of this year's results, and the music I've heard in general, just feels very fleeting and temporary to me. Little to really sink into. I'm sure that's due in part to the headspace I'm in, but I don't think that accounts for all of it.

It seems like a lot of the tracks that placed also come up quite early in the playlist - don't know if that's always been a thing (probably).

I mean, yeah I don't truly imagine myself listening to 'Balloon' much in ten years' time, but I'm enjoying it right now considerably

ILM tracks of the year 2010-2019

2010 Girl Unit - Wut
2011 Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay - 212
2012 Todd Terje - Inspector Norse
2013 Daft Punk - Get Lucky
2014 Tinashe ft. Schoolboy Q - 2 On
2015 Grimes - Realiti (Demo)
2016 Rae Sremmurd - Black Beatles
2017 Charli XCX - Boys
2018 Peggy Gou - It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
2019 Busy Signal - 🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

7 different nationalities there I think? Not bad

has anyone deliberately revisited to "Get Lucky" in the last 24 months

err extra "to" there

"Get Lucky" came on the radio at a lunch spot I went to the other day. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've heard it since 2014.

song of the summer

Disliked that song in 2013, and still disliked it when it was played in a bar a few months back.

Thomas Bangalter had a good 90s-ish dance track on the Climax soundtrack. Kind of wish they’d crank out a Daft Punk album that sounded like their early stuff for the hell of it

Would anyone care to say some more about Big Thief at number two? I'm hardly anti-indie and feel I should be capable of grasping what's going on. But I probably understand this high placement less well than anything in the top 10.

It’s an outstanding rock song.

BT's music is not the style I usually listen to but I quite liked the album and loved that song in particular. Hard to explain exactly what makes it stand out, but I think it deserves high placement (I didn't vote)

the band is very locked in to each other, the vocal performance is stellar, the lyrics are good, sure the 2nd half is a 3-minute guitar solo and that may put people off, but it works for me. it was the lead track form the album when it came out and was personally important to me this year, I had no qualms about putting it at #1.

The part that really struck me first listen was the vocal delivery in the verses. Over a few listens, the lyrics, the chorus started to take hold

it's an anthem of supreme negation and it's 2020

(no but seriously I think it's Mordy that called BT 'freak folk' & for me at least it was a revelation. Woods Family Creeps & maybe Sung Tongs are crucial context here. Viewed through that filter, it fairly leaps at you with killer songcraft and that peculiar Californian unease, like something off of On the Beach or whatnot)

has anyone deliberately revisited to "Get Lucky" in the last 24 months

lol, me

I watched the Grammys rehearsal video with Stevie Wonder a few months ago.

I rarely play "Get Lucky" on its own, but I still listen to RAM occasionally. It's a good album!

I've listened to Get Lucky on headphones a few times this last year, I still like it

also, Wut was the greatest of these tracks for the whole decade imo

although on second thought Realiti (demo) equals it

Out of this list, I'd probably still fuck with 212 the most... even though Azealia can fuck right off at this point.

I think Inspector Norse is my current favorite, although I maybe would choose Realiti if it were the album version. *ducks*

Inspector Norse is also a really great ilx #1

Inspector Norse, Call Me Maybe and Adorn is still the strongest top three we've ever had.

still fw w/all the winners except DP, grimes, and XCX. 2 on is the best tho

Boys was such a great winner, along the lines of Balloon. Half a novelty song, but also just undeniably good pop writing, and endlessly fun

boys was probably the most underwhelming winner there's been, not even the best charli xcx song that year. it's not a bad song just baffling that it ended up winning

I think what happened with boys is that a majority of people put it in mid-ballot and it just defaulted its way to the top

Perhaps, but I think it was my #2 iirc

Also, Charli XCX had a great year, and Pop 2 especially was loaded with good songs, and some probably put that on the album ballot, then put the non-album single on the track ballot

Balloon is the only song there that I really like

Realiti (Demo)>212>Inspector Norse>Balloon>It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)>Wut>2 On>Boys>Get Lucky>Black Beatles

Glad you said it. Rae Sremmurd winning was some nadir-of-ILM shit