ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2020

I've had zero votes/noms place. Seeing tracks show up with only 4 votes gave me some hope that I might finally get some niche-ier dancehall to place, but if my quick mental math is right, most of those had rather high enthusiasm?

Nothing placed for me, though I voted for the album ‘Rose Rouge’ features on.

true, I did vote for the Cleo Sol album iirc

Also, it's become very difficult to gauge enthusiasm around here though. In some ways the most surprising thing today was so many people saying they didn't know Sundfor, an artist I only know about because of ILM, had a new one out.

sorry that im way late to this but

I wouldn't go as far as dog latin -- I like amapiano's sustained tension thing a lot and I wouldn't really call this "chilled" -- but this (very good) song does encapsulate why I threw my hands up at sorting out all the SA tracks this year: like 90% of the songs on the amapiano thread are good but they all merged into a single tasty soup as the year went on.

― rob, Monday, January 25, 2021 12:01 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this and the posts above it strike me as kind of funny bc the reason "Jazzidisciples" stands out so much to me is that it felt like a dramatic shift in the sound amapiano had been moving towards -- where earlier records held onto this forward momentum, they figured out how to make a record that felt almost still and static while not rhythmically being that way at all -- all negative space, slow-motion. i think that's why it became such a huge record. If you're looking from a distance it might seem like a minute change, but if you're following all the records that become hits it had this really revelatory feeling, like oh look at all the possibilities this is opening up

i can think of at least one dancehall song that i voted for that i'd expect to place

not as confident in any of my hip-hop votes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

xps

i can think of at least one dancehall song that i voted for that i'd expect to place

Same! though that is why I specifically wrote "less populist" (also cuz of balloonballoonballoon)

that's a great post deej, and yeah def part of the problem is not following the scene at that level

Thanks Fred!

though that is why I specifically wrote "less populist"

ha fair enough, i don't spend enough time in the rolling dancehall to pick up on the less populist stuff

not as confident in any of my hip-hop votes

speaking of hard-to-gauge enthusiasm: I have no clue if even WAP or The Box or etc. will place, and I admit my own interest in rap is at something of a nadir right now

WAP not placing didn't occur to me

yeah, I think deej is hitting on why “Jazzidisciples” doesn’t seem to fit either the “Sweet” mode of amapiano (think “Emcimbini” or the Samthing Soweto/Sha Sha songs that placed last year) or the rougher “Dust” mode (think “John Vuli Gate”, posted by longneck upthread) and why it’s such a fantastic track.

did you vote for it, deej? that would make you the fifth voter if so, I think

xps

what kind of savage *wouldn't* vote for WAP?

maybe #78 is WAP and Savage Remix?? xp

tho if Savage doesn't place then I don't know what ILM is anymore

“WAP”, “Savage (Remix)” and “The Box” will all definitely place (and I say that as a non-voter for either of them)

sorry sleeve, I am secretly B3n Sh@piro

Jessie Ware: Not the best thing from this album but very ILMy. (voted for)
Destroyer: Only hear this guy during 77 Trax season. Still not great.
Avalon Emerson: Same, but here I like it more than normal. Kind of a microhouse-y feel?
Westerman - This is quite nice. The other one (the one I'd heard before) will probably place higher.
Taylor - This is free of her tendency to immediately repeat a hook over and over but it's not good either.
Thundercat - This is bad. His voice is weak and lyrics are cringe.
Cleo - Oh this is one of the SAULT vocalists. Didn't know that we knew who they were yet. Will get the album.
Khruangbin - Liked their first two record, do not like this. There's no identifiable guitar lick and the vocal is very boring. Bunch of samba percussion but it's buried in the mix.
Jorja Smith - Absolutely gorgeous St. Germain track, not sure how much points-for-creativity the rework ought to get but I liked it. (voted)

i'm not expecting "the box" (didn't vote for it, anyway)

i did vote for jazzidisciples yea

ah cool, it placing is making me so very happy

xp
love all three of ‘em, but loved others more. I did actually consider “The Box” for my ballot, but figured it didn’t need my help, so I’ll be sad if it misses out, but I don’t think it will

I’d have to check my ballot but “The Box” might be the only hip hop track I voted for this year

good song but more of a top 100 type than top 25 type for me this year

@voodoo chili: https://www.iol.co.za/entertainment/celebrity-news/local/tweeps-mock-tiwa-savage-21-savage-is-the-only-savage-we-recognise-31823220

“WAP”, “Savage (Remix)” and “The Box” will all definitely place (and I say that as a non-voter for either of them)

xp

nobody tell them about dan or macho man randy

re: deej’s amapiano post

my favourite negative-spacey (albeit in a totally different way) track of the year was this one from Brazil (I voted for it, but it won’t place, so):

Niack • Ta Raba Toma Tapão

I love that, wonder if it vote split with oh Juliana

ha! this one’s miles better tho

Kinda surprised one of my tracks made it so far (it was Disclosure)

I was also unaware of the new Susanne Sundfør single - and it's lovely! So thanks for that.

not a particularly exciting batch of results honestly. "rose rouge" and "rotting hills" were welcome discoveries for me but i'm a little alarmed at how dull some things can be and still place. like literally if that thundercat song can make it then how have vulfpeck et al not been populating the poll results for years already? (this is not me endorsing vulfpeck's music.) i found myself enjoying the khruangbin song by the end somewhat but mostly b/c the vocals started going away

i voted for "jazzidisciples" (my only vote to place so far) and am glad to see it here. perplexed at those saying it's not particularly distinguished and contrasting it on that front w/ a track that (imo) is going to make the countdown largely b/c a thread got named after it (i do really like that song btw). but what else is new

"surpriser!" was interesting but one of my thoughts while listening was along the lines of 'cool but i'll never bother w/ this again' like some of y'all

the dagny song is cute and you know what i kinda like it tho i doubt i'll return to it much. as far as generic well-past-expired pop fluff goes it works. horrified by "supalonely" of all things sneaking in.

"cardigan" is a good song imo. like yes, if it were 'just another album cut' instead of a single it probably would not have posted as strong a showing here, but honestly, i'm sure multiple undistinguished album cuts from tay's lps will still manage to show up on the countdown so i don't feel it's a great injustice

i voted for two victoria monét tracks but not "jaguar". it's pretty good but i'll be hoping for one of the others to show as well

"what's your pleasure" a mid-tier track from a good-but-overrated album, surely an eyeroll-inducing number of others from the album will be coming

it's amazing how in recent years we always manage to get some big uk hip-hop hit or two that's fine but not *that* great showing up but zero us rap hits have any chance of showing up anymore unless they inspired thinkpieces or got highlighted by like npr et al as culturally significant come year-end. ("wap" is not very good. sorry. it's not. i did vote for the two other obvious ones that will make it.) i realize that most of the ppl who actually really like rap music here are more enthusiastic about stuff that's a little more under-the-radar but it's still bizarre that nothing that doesn't fit the aforementioned mold can manage to muster even modest consensus when dishwater tunes can manage to place without effort. i mean, yeah, i'm a bit of a lamestream-calibrated lizardbrain, but frankly a good number of the run-of-the-mill songs that i'll hear on a rap station during an average shift at my j*b are significantly more compelling than some of what can seen here :\

like, IF a lil baby song were to place (a big if) is it safe to say it would probably be "the bigger picture"? i actually nom'd that one, but i nominated two others by him that i far prefer and now i almost wish i hadn't nominated it

i'm probably handwringing too much. looking forward to tomorrow's results

Dagny sounds like someone who hates music.

The Jorja Smith track is v good otoh. V cool guitar vamp and bass groove, nice layered sounds, great horns. Probably the track from this stretch that I will be most likely to come back to.

some really awful pseudo-subjective negativity itt re “what’s your pleasure”

I think "What's Your Pleasure" and 2020 Jessie Ware in general are mediocre and overrated. I don't pretend that's anything other than subjective though.

can it be otherwise

I dunno, but then again I don't know what pseudo-subjective negativity is anyways

I like “Supalonely” a little better than Dagny or Jessie Ware; at least it has some swing,
a little personality, a hook that grabs the ear... idk, that other stuff just isn’t for me.

I voted for Thundercat and Khruangbin. Ridiculous pastiche perhaps, but pretty durable ridiculous pastiche in my experience. Though that Khruangbin LP felt way less interesting overall than past efforts.

Seriously considered giving Headie One and Cleo Soul some points, but it appears they eventually slid off my ballot.

That Benee song is almost certainly the song I heard most via passive exposure, from this batch. Possibly a regional thing. I still kinda sorta don't mind it even though part of me objects quite strongly to the vocal affectations.

Jorja Smith - “Rose Rouge”: only heard this thanks to Tim's thread, incredible re-imagining. i want a whole album of this jazz-via-house-via-jazz sound
Dagny - “Somebody”: perfectly serviceable but this sort of shambhala needs to do much more than that to get my interest these days
YOU’LL MELT MORE - “Surpriser!”: pretty surprised that there was consensus around a jpop track i hadn't heard. i'm not that huge on this hyperactive end of jpop and while there's some interesting stuff going on, it's messy even by its scene's standards (the second verse is really disjointed from the rest, for example) so i'm a little confused that this of all things is the first of its sort to make it to the 77
Victoria Monét - “Jaguar”: this is cool (very nice horns) but not the track from her i expected to place, maybe the other will show up later?
Reece Madlisa and Zuma with Mr JazziQ and Busta 929 - “Jazzidisciples (Zlele)”: i do understand people saying that amapiano tracks can have a tendency to all blend together but this felt distinctively cool to me, deej otm about the weightless feel of it. though it didn't quite make my ballot i'm glad to see it here
Thundercat - “Dragonball Durag”: still do not really get thundercat
Khruangbin - “Time (You and I)”: hadn't heard this but it's frustrating because i think i could enjoy it if there were a bit more substance to it but it sounds way too washed out as is

pseudo-objective

I mean, I don’t like most of these songs but I don’t care if I’m right or whatever. What’s your pleasure?

Stop
Go
Fast
Slow

I voted for a different Khruangbin track

My cat died last year but this was his dying bop.

― nashwan, Monday, January 25, 2021 12:14 PM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

sorry you lost your kitty. this was the post I related to most today :'(

The “it all sounds the same” criticism vis a vis amapiano should be one of those thoughts that set us on guard when they come into our head: it’s often a sign that we’re not currently wired to be attuned to what the music is doing, to hearing the subtleties and nuances and distinctions that excite the fans.

This is not to say that the fans are always right or that amapiano doesn’t have some objective tendencies that somewhat exacerbate the issue (like albums that are too long), but if a criticism feels easy it’s often too easy.

Nice, varied start to the poll so far - nothing I voted for but a few (Cleo Sol, Avalon Emerson, Victoria Monet) were on my longlist. 

Jazzidisciples is really good! I'm frequently overwhelmed by the amapiano/afro threads and yes, I admit that I sometimes find it difficult to single out one track among others but this def feels like a standout. very hypnotic.
  
Jorja Smith track is very nice too. 

And I know this is unfair but I cannot bring myself to be enthusiastic about Dagny, simply because her name reminds me of Ayn Rand.   

I nominated + voted for Supalonely, pleasantly surprised to see it make the list. Wouldn't normally be my thing really, but my gf played it a lot during lockdown and I grew to really love it. Think the vocal delivery is really interesting from both BENEE + Gus Dapperton, and I like the little adlibs ("GRRRR!"). It was a nice piece of brightness in a dark year.

Westerman is probably my favourite new discovery of this bunch, really liked Confirmation from last year's poll too.

Rotting Hills reminds me of the theme song to the cricket coverage from an Australian TV channel lol