Hype and Slander: What are you voting for in ILM's 2021 End of Year Tracks and Albums Poll?

Spotify playlists:
ILM 2021 Tracks Poll Nominations
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6pdEOuQY93Cfg75I4NiaA8

ILM 2021 Album Poll Nominations
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ogkGSVMJL9OCrKePshxZp

Defend your taste!

ILM's 2021 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD

Track Nominations

Album Nominations

this is the most amazing thing I heard this year and will probably be my #1, extremely deep telepathic improv

https://anarchiveslabel.bandcamp.com/album/eihwaz

gonna rep for 4 of mine and 5 of yours

MINE:

Rhododendron - Last Of The Painted Hills
yknow when you have a particularly killer music dream, like when it's a band you love and they've made this incredible ten-minute song that soars above and beyond anything you'd think of consciously, and then you wake up and can't remember it...well here it is, this is the ten-minute song Smashing Pumpkins made in your dream, and it's played by teenagers, and one of them has come up with a guitar solo to rival anything else in rock history, and it's real: the core, the heart music

Backxwash ft. Ada Rook - I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES
you're allowed to make the rap soty or you're allowed to make the metal soty. you're not allowed to do both. bad Backxwash.

Springtime - Will To Power
genuinely one of the best songs Gareth Liddiard has been involved with. whether it's the same for Jim White or Chris Abrahams i do not know, but i suspect it must be. there's a moment in it that's like falling out of your chair and into another dimension

Black Midi - Slow
state-of-the-art zine-approved jazz-prog banger with the video oty, dive in folks the water's irradiated

THINE:

Death's Dynamic Shroud.wmv - Last Minutes Of The Memory
vaporwave hero Keith Rankin aka Giant Claw dismantles Ariana Grande song and reconstitutes it as 24th-century pop drama of the most exquisite order

Fely Tchaco - Cawe Yoko
the enormous, careening Afro-techno strutter you didn't know you needed to hear repeatedly, def my pick of nominations playlist discoveries so far, and being the deluxe edition of this sort of thing, is fitted with *quite* the guitar solo

Yes Junior 24 - We Are Next Up!
are we going with 'k-hyperpop' or 'hyperk-pop' then

Kam-BU - Black On Black
showing that it's possible to make UK hip-hop with a string section and have it be elegant and poetic rather than portentous and corny. no shade whatsoever

Ola Kvernberg - Arpystarts off like a fairly typical although particularly lovely Norwegian post-jazz-prog exercise, then suddenly someone flicks a switch and we are RIDING A HORSE THROUGH SPACE

plenty else besides, but this'll do for now

Will rep for some stuff soon but am definitely going to check out RIDING A HORSE THROUGH SPACE and if I don't get a full and satisfying cosmic whinny vibe I'll be sad.

These are the two 2021 tracks I ended up listening to the most this year, somehow randomly they are both electronic tracks based around a piano riff

Paul Frick - Neo Biedermeier (Daniel Brandt's Version)
Gooooose - 搂起来

i fed the Spotify playlists to "smarterplaylists" to make a shuffled playlist of the overlap: max 1 nommed track per nommed album. 411 tracks.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7kOWSSt3Nls0yKUd58DAiZ?si=ff5ec5b5822b4769

just helps me parse through some album highlights. let me know if this isn't welcome here.

oops fixed that. the overlap is only 112 tracks.

nice, thanks for that!

Silverfish, I have been listening to Neo Biedermeier for a few days. What a great, driving track! I like the Gooooooooooooose song toooooooooooooo

Papolious Jones - We're the OG Ghosts
Saer shared this lovely playful slice of fun on the Bobbins thread and I love it so much. Not available on digital (I wrote to the label) so I bought the EP on vinyl. Played it out at my pub DJ gig that week and two people separately came up to ask what it was. One of them, the bar server, also bought it there on the spot.

There is just an insane amount of music on that playlist, I'm having fun just playing random tracks in the albums playlist and finding a ton of good stuff I haven't heard.

Stuff I nominated that I want to rep:

georg-i - YCO002
Especially because it's NOT on Spotify. My favorite electronic EP of the year, on a label run by aya (who also has a big album on Hyperdub this year) and BFTT, the perfect blend between body music and next-level sound design.

aya - im hole
Varied and heartfelt album from a master of sound design who can make synths sing. If I wanted to had to only give someone two words, they would have to be "IDM SOPHIE".

Sam Gendel - Fresh Bread
Representing the L.A. lo-fi ambient jazz contingent, he had a big year with this monumental release (50+ tracks), More Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar w/Sam Wilkes (also nommed), and Pino Pallodino's album (also nommed). The textures alone, he's incredibly good at making a saxophone never sound like a saxophone. All big 'first half of 2021' lockdown-ish music for me.

Sunareht - Amorama
French producer who has a totally unique style of deconstructed French house, often without drums, very ecstatic.

I could go on and on and on but want to keep it tight.

Stuff I didn't nominate that I want to rep:

Illuvia - Iridescence of Clouds
Gorgeous swoony ambient drum & bass, which is better than that sounds since both the breaks and the synths are brilliantly done.

I was really honored to see my album on the playlist (thanks Sund4r!), so what the heck, check out Chants - Poly Pointillism if you're interested in rhythmically obsessive, minimal programmed kalimba pieces.

Btw dog latin I'm waiting for you to rep the Howie Lee album.

:) Good album! xp

a few to start off with

Albums
Yuta Orisaka - State of Mind
jazzy singer-songwriter with gorgeous melodies and an incredible sense of space. i recommend these two live performances as an introduction.

dltzk - frailty
"emo hyperpop/digicore", something like clarity, perfume's discography, and a bunch of video game soundtracks all thrown in a blender. this is a good introduction

Tracks
Tyla feat DJ Lag & Kooldrink - Overdue
one of last year's amapiano highlights. this is probably going to be overlooked in favour of "getting late" which was her earlier hit but "overdue" is even better

batten girls - watashi koi hajimetatteyo!
soaring, meditative, breakbeat j-pop

thanks to imago for shouting out "we are next up!" too

BTW, I am done with both playlists; let me know if your music isn't on there and you think I can add it.

Here's the ILM Hivemind Awards aka Vote Splitting Alert for the most nominated tracks by the same lead artist. If you don't know any of these names, this is who you should most likely get familiar with.

at least 2 tracks - 42 Dugg, Ada Lea, Agnes, Amyl and the Sniffers, Arca, Ariana Grande, Arooj Aftab, Ashley Monroe, Bachelor with Jay Som and Palehound, beabadoobee, Beach House, Black Midi, Blxst, Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak are Silk Sonic, Burna Boy, Cardi B, Cate Le Bon, CFCF, Christine and the Queens, CHUNG HA, Ckay, Clairo, C. Tangana, DARKSIDE, DJ Black Low, DJ Manny, Donato Dozzy, Drake, Dry Cleaning, Dua Saleh, Fred again..., girl in red, Hannah Peel, HEALTH, HTRK, Indigo De Souza, Javiera Mena, Julian Lage, Kabza de Small, Kenz and Ami Faku, Koffee, Koreless, Laura Mvula, LAYCON, Lil Nas X, Lily Konigsberg, LOONA, Lorde, L'Rain, LSDXOXO, Marie Davidson, MARINA, Matt Sweeney and Bonnie Prince Billy, Megan Thee Stallion, Men I Trust, Mitski, Moses Boyd, Nicolas Godin, Nightmares on Wax, Overmono, Pale Waves, Parquet Courts, Paul McCartney, Polo G, Pop Smoke, Rauw Alejandro, Rema, Remble, Remi Wolf, Richard Dawson, Roza Terenzi and D Tiffany, RXKNephew, Rx Papi, Sam Fender, serpentwithfeet, Skepta, Soccer Mommy, Sofia Kourtesis, Spellling, Squid, Sun-El Musician, Syd, Taylor Swift, Tems, Torres, TRI.BE, Tropical Fuck Storm, Tyler the Creator, UNIIQU3, Victoria Monet, Vince Staples, Weeekly, Wet Leg, WILLOW, Wizkid, Young Thug, Yu Su

at least 3 tracks - ABBA, Baltra, Big Thief, Brent Faiyaz, Cassandra Jenkins, Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul, dltzk, Duke Deuce, Genesis Owusu, Grouper, Isaiah Rashad, Jack Ingram and Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall, Japanese Breakfast, Jazmine Sullivan, Jessie Ware, Lady Blackbird, Lana del Rey, Lil Ugly Mane, Little Simz, Nas, Nite Jewel, Pa Salieu, Phoebe Bridgers, Real Lies, serpentwithfeet, Summer Walker, SZA, Wolf Alice, Yola

4 tracks - Charli XCX, CHVRCHES, Courtney Barnett, Dawn Richard, Erika De Casier, Kacey Musgraves, Magdalena Bay, Olivia Rodrigo, PinkPantheress, Tirzah

5 tracks - Low, Tinashe

6 tracks - Cleo Sol, Doja Cat

7 tracks - Billie Eilish

i do like that batten girls track ufo, do they have any other stuff with that sort of recipe?

not that i'm aware of unfortunately, from what i've heard they're not the sort of idol group that really sticks to any one sound at all

yeah i watched a live set and it wasnt really like that song at all. still fun tho

Scanning through the nominations, I noticed a few things that might be of use in a data-cleaning sort of way:

ALBUMS
-- "Nicholas Godin - Concrete and Glass": this was released in January 2020, ie nearly two years ago, it seems?
-- "Rachika Nayar- Our Hands Against the Dark": The last word in the title should be "Dusk", not "Dark".
-- "sund4r Subramanian - Electric Currents": Maybe our guy's name should be de-searchproofed in the list, lest someone inputs this name into e.g. Spotify and wrongly concludes the album is not available?

TRACKS
-- "Kerwin Du Bois - See Dem" / "Kerwin Du Bois & Teddyson John - See Dem": possibly a duplicate, with and without the TJ credit? Maybe nominator dog latin can elucidate whether the TJ-free entry refers to a separate thing?
-- "Insides - Undressing" / "Insides - Undressing": obvious duplicate.
-- "Beak> - Oh Know" / "Beak> - Oh No": apparent duplicate; the only trace I find of the latter title is a tweet from the band, where they clearly refer to the former track.

To be clear: I refer to the googledoc lists, which ought maybe to be linked prominently in this thread as well?

added up top

swift work, thanks!

Jordan I will absolutely rep the Howie Lee album - Birdy Island It's fantastic.

Think of Smile-era Beach Boys instrumentals composed by a Chinese leftfield grime producer and that's kind of getting there, but it's just a total trip.

This wasn't a big year for albums for me but this is very much up there

Re: See Dem - yes I think those are duplicates. Left Teddy Johnson off by accident when I nominated.

7 tracks - Billie Eilish

We gonna coordinate, avocadostans(?)

aya - im hole is wonderful and I'll be voting it high. Very much love.

oh wow "cawe yoko" rules

Voting is open! ILM's 2021 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / VOTING THREAD

under the radar stuff y'all need to check out:

Albums

DJ Manny - Signals in My Head
Footwork/Juke AOTY imho. U Want It is one of my favorite songs of the year and is catchy as all hell

Arushi Jain - Under the Lilac Sky
Probably my AOTY of electronic music - this is a transcendent album of gorgeous modular electronics, much more lush and immersive than recent Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, and incorporates Jain's voice using South Asian musical inspiration. This album is far more therapeutic and ready for a trippin' than Jon Hopkins' latest effort.

Nite Jewel - No Sun
Heart breaking. Minimalist R&B perfection. Can't get over how good this is front to back.

Koreless - Agor
This has been mentioned elsewhere here, but want to bring it up again as it's seriously that good. Ambient deconstructed club record that sounds at once futuristic and nostalgic.

Altin Gün - Yol
This Turkish retro funk band BRINGS it. Every time I throw it on I'm blown away again.

Sofia Kourtesis - Fresia Magdalena
This EP has more bangers than most great albums. Easily my favorite dance record of the year, most of the songs here will probably be on my tracks ballot. Drop anything here in a set FTW.

Songs

Kind of obsessed with these couple songs - again more dance/hip hop oriented stuff, but these are the tracks that just get me excited to DJ

Mano Le Tough - Man of Aran
Herbert - Fantasy (feat. Verushka)
Nightmares on Wax - Creator SOS (feat. Haile Supreme & Wolfgang Haffner)
Nightmares on Wax - Wonder (feat. Haile Supreme & Shabaka Hutchings)
BASSIDE - NYC2MIA (SOPHIE REMIX)

More tracks (the Eomac in particular is an awesome hard hard banger):

Brijean - Hey Boy
Eomac - Mandate For Murder

+1 on Nite Jewel and Kourtesis.

Find of the day on shuffle was DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ. 2 hour albums of uh.. is 'future funk' still a thing? This is the one that came on first and hooked me.

i'll hype up my very faves later on if they havent been covered... and they don't change while i'm shuffling.

the most wonderful time of the year

(oh i fixed my playlist and i'm not tinkering with that smarterplaylists junk no more. it's 266 nommed albums that had nommed tracks, on Spotify. thank u)

Sans Soucis - On Time For Her (album)
I saw this London artist recommended on Twitter and was surprised she had not been mentioned here. Good, breezy indie soul w/ diverse influences.
I nominated a different track but this is the catchiest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBQaGZzZ6-8

I am going to do my best to try to get through every nominated single. Bear in mind that I have a tendency to listen to tracks four or five times apiece unless I utterly hate them on contact so this is a bit of a process.

Is Tim F not active anymore? Enjoyed his eoy thread.

Xpost: First time hearing the Arushi Jain and loving it. Thanks.

I'm not gonna campaign for much this year, because eh, but by golly that Mabe Fratti album blew me away. Spare some votes for it if you can. I'd love to see it in top 77, even if it's in the low reaches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjmlYPC2-g

A few tracks that not everyone may have stumbled over

Tinashe – Small Reminders – cascades of r&b sensuality over angular rocks of bass, follow the thread in the labyrinth
Dunnie feat. Oxlade – Overdose remix – pure charm poured directly over your face
Maria Arnal i Marcel Bagel - El Gran Silencio – flying into the night to explore the icy, dreamy and lyrical regions on the artistic side of electro-pop
Linn da Quebrada – I míssil – if you're missing the astuteness and sensuality of a Brazilian trans artist in your ballot
Lost Girls – Real Life – Phantomatic reverberations of krautrock by the best Scandinavian narrator talking about her email inbox
Marina Sena - Voltei Pra Mim - If you know about Marisa Monte, Céu, Tulipa Ruiz, Luia Maita and are looking for an additional album to listen to, consider 'De Primeira'

Just want to say that UK Drill made some incredible pop music this year. There's no shame in voting for Body even though it went to #1 and Tion Wayne later did a track based on an Ed Sheeran sample. Still a great great song.

Also, give the BackRoad Gee album a chance. His focus on ad libs and onomatopoeia over flows perhaps makes it lyrically weak, but the sound of it was incredible. Check the dog samples on Lost in the Flesh for instance.

Tapestry Of Sound - Maypole Theme (Surrealist Piano Roll Mix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_qNpm5bCMM

breakbeat, garage, trance, or big piano house anthem? I feel like 2021 was a really good time for bobbins despite barely being able to go out dancing, this one managed to tie together so many different influences and styles, in both a classic and a fresh way.

Finn & India Jordan - The Big B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3TnDqwKNLo

big-room, hi-energy, relentless banger, made of thick bass and a hook as catchy as "Inspector Norse" or "Rej"

Very much enjoying the Spotify Tracks playlist. Definitely more hits than misses for me and lots of new discoveries. Thanks everyone.

“Getting Older” is my Billie jam.

Speaking of the Local Action crew, I want to stump for Anz - You Could Be (feat. George Riley). It's both throwback and fresh, perfect pop dance, and the bassline reminds me of Levert's Casanova.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E36658KPKac

Tyla feat DJ Lag & Kooldrink - Overdue
one of last year's amapiano highlights. this is probably going to be overlooked in favour of "getting late" which was her earlier hit but "overdue" is even better

― ufo, Tuesday, January 4, 2022 6:06 PM (yesterday)

This is nice! I don't know what ~ILM taste~ is anymore, but a few years back I would have said this had potential to be a borad anthem (though I'm not sure I personally think it's better than Getting Late)

a great punk/post-hardcore album I'll be voting for is BUMMER - Dead Horse
https://bummerkc.bandcamp.com/album/dead-horse

for fans of Pissed Jeans, Scratch Acid, Drug Church, Killdozer etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8xUxcoO2js

also, this is another one I'll surely vote for. could be a good metal/regular poll crossover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4kqVYnB04

Local Action/2 B Real is probably my favourite label this year - "Microdosing" and "Wish It Would Rain" and "Baby" were all standout bobbins for me too

Sofia Kourtesis - Fresia Magdalena
This EP has more bangers than most great albums. Easily my favorite dance record of the year, most of the songs here will probably be on my tracks ballot. Drop anything here in a set FTW.

― octobeard, Tuesday, January 4, 2022 8:38 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

+1 (my nom). I will be voting for the EP, I think; too many good tracks to just pick one.

Find of the day on shuffle was DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ. 2 hour albums of uh.. is 'future funk' still a thing? This is the one that came on first and hooked me.

― maf you one two (maffew12), Tuesday, January 4, 2022 8:47 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Nice - another of my noms. Found it in the EOY list cycle and couldn't resist it. Reminds me of the first Avalanches album, especially bouncier songs like "Electricity". Sample-heavy dance album. Here's one of the tighter songs, as many run over 10 min.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER7g9hWCOxs

I will rep for two country tracks:

Carly Pearce - "Next Girl"

My pop country SOTY. Clever, double entendre-laced songwriting with a muscular beat. Co-written with Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, the tandem behind many of the great Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark, and Sam Hunt songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5KKh5gFock

Jason Eady - "French Summer Sun"

A beautiful, patient acoustic song from one of the most talented country songwriters of the last decade that delivers it's plain message about the costs of war through vivid narrative. I do believe John Prine would've loved this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGevzDkqhVk

Next year I'm just nominating artists that start with the letter A

Huge thanks to whoever nominated that Hardfloor track as it's ace and I'd not heard it before but it appears to have come out 5 years ago?

Loving the Bethan Lloyd track. According to a friend she does these wild singing workshops out in the Welsh mountains. Sounds terrifying

I’ve got about 200 left to go on the playlist, heard so much great music, yet my every waking hour is still haunted by the Backardigans.

Is there a YouTube playlist?

Huge thanks to whoever nominated that Hardfloor track as it's ace and I'd not heard it before but it appears to have come out 5 years ago?

― groovypanda, Friday, 21 January 2022 10:32 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

That was me, and you're right. In my defence, I mostly buy off Juno and this shows it as being released this year - https://www.junodownload.com/products/hardfloor-25-gyeahrs/5155335-02/.

Isn't it good, though?

xp, there is!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg5Jd-S3s1GE4z_e7plH3u1sAPEsew2DS

Again, this is my problem with this stuff. Whilst the music is perfectly pleasant it's in this narcissistic indie mode of not wanting to engage in dialogue with the culture it's referencing. I can link hundreds of records that sound exactly like this from junglists who have continued to do their thing through the 00s. Now as devils advocate you can say, yes, but it is all that comes out of the speakers that matters. And whilst that is true enough, it's also the problem with the people who became graduates of Reynolds and Finney's writings, in that they don't have the contexts that both of these authors have. So whilst Si knows about Bassbin and Inperspective, yer average twitter personality who pontificates about hardcore continuum nick land jungle doesn't, because they haven't hooked onto the narritive arc of a genre but its snapshot in a particular spatiotemporal configuration. And therein lies the implicit limitations of the rockist/poptimist culture wars so beloved of the majority of indie refuseniks on this forum, that both approaches are essentially predicated on an overwhelmingly American epistemic foundation, where the brand becomes the thing. Sounds can be abstracted from their contexts rather than sound being the sonification of environments (not the images conjured.)

tl;dr: I am miserable and don't enjoy anything.

didn't we ban that guy fairly recently

Eh, I don't agree but I don't mind the perspective.

i think the POV is kinda similar to but less aggro than the guy that was banned

Nah it’s the same dude

I think this might be the third form he's taken on the ilx

sir, this is a Jack in the Box

forks keep em coming. I think I'm loving your own, bold selections of highlights more than what I'll enjoy the actual results.

You're the MVP

Almost certainly too late to convince anyone to add it to their list but this is my favourite by a wide distance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ehw-bUuj_M
It's just fun, which is what I needed in such a shitty year.

Ah yeah that's a good one too!

I think I'm finding my actual 2021 favorite songs of the year in this thread.

aw thanks Moka. I'm enjoying the deep dive and the incentive to think more on these.

Faves in bold. This is a particularly good batch.

Bree Runway - HOT HOT: Pop dancehall that leans harder toward the former than the latter in a way that smacks of Rihanna’s early day, though “ride a boy’s face like a Yamaha” is more later era Ri-Ri i suppose. Didn’t care for this at first, then the cadence earwormed me.

Breeze Brewin - King Oxymoron: Killer New York 90’s-style indie hip hop with (jugga)knotty flow, bars for days with clever emphasis (“if you declare me moron/better be there with sword drawn”) and similarly vintage Marco Polo production. This is entirely in my lane and I will for sure be listening to the whole album.

Brent Faiyaz - MERCEDES, Show U Off, Wasting Time (with Drake): I like Faiyaz’ voice a lot; there’s some Maxwell there, filtered through a loose-throated Baltimore (?!) accent. Both Mercedes and Show U off are honeyed treats that give him center stage, though Wasting Time treats him as a feature and Drake sucks, so…

BRÍDÍN - Floating: Another “only on ILX” find from an Irish artist who I’ve never heard of. This is a lovely ballad of looped and altered vocals, percussion, electronics and harp, floating and swooping like a bird in a parlor searching for a window, all feathery ballet and sweet sound with no aim other than to please itself. Kudos for the recommendation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HRH_qVODSg

Brijean - Hey Boy: An exceptional chill-out mix of samba and blunted seventies funk disco sensibility that would make for manna from heaven at that transitional moment when people are filtering back onto or off the floor for or from the next drink. Is it a vibe? I think it’s a vibe.


Brothertiger - Heaven: My first comparison was Mike and The Mechanics but my partner said Mister Mister and I think that Soul Sister is onto something. Even without the patina of lived or false nostalgia, this is talented enough stuff that it’s still quite enjoyable. I might like it better if it had a bit less fidelity to its 80’s source material so maybe I should try something else by the same artist?

Bruise - Joy: Ecstatically thudding house gospel that’s happy to lather on dancefloor schmaltz until it fairly bubbles. Joy indeed!

Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak are Silk Sonic - Leave the Door Open, Skate: I would go so far as to call myself a fan of A.Paak but would also go so far as to say I frankly loathe the music of Bruno Mars. Everything I’ve heard from the Silk Sonic project reminds me of the old adage that an ounce of horseshit mixed with two gallons of ice cream results in two gallons and an ounce of horseshit. These tracks are immeasurably corny and funk-faking to me, pastiche of the worst variety.

The Bug with Flowdan - Pressure: Predictably dark, filthy nightmare dub from the guy who does it as well as anyone. I don’t think I’ve heard Flowdan anywhere except with The Bug but together they’ve been consistently grinding out obsidian scaffolding with deft footwork and wordplay for like 15 years or so. I’ve been sold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN9k6Dz1SX0

Burial - Dark Gethsemane: Overpacked cinematic trip that shifts gears more than once on the way to a sudden but not unpleasant dead end. The journey is the goal here I suppose and, cliche or not, there’s enough thought and care that goes into this lengthy series of ideas that the pieces are fully enjoyable even embedded in this very mannered presentation. I didn’t try the EP when it came out and I’m curious enough to hear what this sounds like in situ that I’m dog-earing the cover for future exploration.

Burna Boy - Kilometre, Question: Each a big chune in its own way. Kilometre is a stuttering, gyrating party starter; Question is a soft exhale of smoke and echoing bass at the park barbecue. If you can only listen to one, I suppose I’d pick the last on the strength of its exceptionally charming video. I cherished both dearly this year and either would fit perfectly on any best of the year ballot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rOer3k2DWg

Busta 929 - Ngixolele, Mmapula: A New Amapiano Challenger Appears! I was mostly AWOL on the always-worthwhile amapiano thread this year with other distractions and just look at what I missed. Both tracks are A+ material from a producer who finds new and original means of expression while coloring within the lines. I clearly need to put Busta 929 permanently on my radar. Did you know about him? You should know about him! I should probably also get up to speed with the vocalist Boohle; she sounds amazing on Ngixolele.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_xsdC6iYgM

Busy Signal - Bring Rum: ILM's favorite balloon artist has been grinding out good music all year but Rum all by itself is one of the five best pop songs I heard this year. I listen to it at least once a week. It’s still fucking amazing in that way that Busy’s best work is, infinitely replayable. I hold out some hope maybe this will place in the 77. Grab a woman every man every woman grab a man and just
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll5aPrf2zE0

Cabiria - DISCO-CAFÉ: Indie-psych-dance with a distinct Broadway streak and Spanish weirdo flair. By the time the sax comes in, I bet you’ll probably be in too deep to only like it ironically.

Cake Pop - Black Rum: This was my nomination, this year’s Gecs that I will ride or die for. Sped-up absurdist nihilism that slaps is most of what I’m looking for out of hyperpop and this morsel of adult swim feels like a signpost demanding better from music, from life, from our diversions and our dreams. It’s also a track that I genuinely enjoy listening to but that I could simultaneously see alienating any gen x parent that doesn’t understand why junior thinks playing Ride the Lightning in the F150 is hella lame. Keep pushing those little daisies, kiddos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edp0LIUcq28

Camp Cope - Blue: Lo-fi Aussie indie with a country twang and emopunk backbone, surprisingly good.

Cardi B - Up: My nomination and another one I’d argue as a top ten pick. Cardi is probably the biggest name in hip hop, even in a year when she only released one solo track, way back in February. Fuck though, what a great song: minimal and perfect production that puts Cardi at the center so she can absolutely rap her ass off. Somehow I don’t think I ever saw the video! Let’s watch it together?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCiBgLOcuKU

Carly Pearce - Next Girl: I fell hard for Pearce’s debut album and, even though I haven’t given enough time to her 2021 LP, I expect nothing but high quality pop country anytime her name is on the product. Next Girl fits the bill, well constructed both lyrically and musically. If you’d like to hear what radio country sounds like when it’s good, you could do worse than starting here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5KKh5gFock

Caroline Loveglow - Patience Etc…: Bedroom pop via The Cure, lots of glam and languor and velour. Holds up pretty well to the fifth play.

Caroline Polachek - Bunny Is a Rider: The hype on this track was so inflated that I gave it a quick spin, rated it mediocre then forgot about it. But what do you know, on repeat it really proves quite good. Yeah, the lyrics are nonsense (“dirty like its earth day”?), but who cares? A deft synthesis of a lot of gimmicks (the whistle, the marimba, the chimes, the autotune, the baby chirrups, the scratching) held together with a solid bass line and entirely effective vocals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_V2ccs_Urk

I'm listening to lots other than this nomination list just now and I imagine the poll rollout is going to dominate my non-work/non-physical therapy attention for awhile but I could see coming back and doing more of these later in February as long as anyone's getting anything out of them. Me included!

do it!

voted on tracks this year for the first time. But was still too focused on albums to really do it justice.

Would've voted for Mungo's Hi-Fi too!

the Busta 929 (f. Boohle) song I really liked was Ekseni

The Bevis Frond - Dreams of Flying: I stopped three times to check to see how long this was gonna keep playing for, but it wasn’t until now that I looked to see the name of the artist. Hard pass.

This is really on me cuz I think I nominated the wrong track but if I had the chance to do it again I'd nominate the entire album bcz its legitimately incredible and wdve easily made top 15 if not top 10

yeah I somehow missed that in the options so didn't vote for it, but it's good

everybody please vote for the maria arnal i marcel bagés album
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Friday, January 14, 2022 4:34 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

I highly recommend their previous album as well. Fantastic incorporation of Spanish music into art pop / ambient singer-songwriter, and what a full-bodied voice she has. Should appeal to fans of Mabe Fratti for example.

(Not nominated in 2017 on ILM, so I guess we are all catching up)

Glad to see Gardna getting some EOY love, he’s been doing some consistently chipper music (and club nights here in Bristol) for a while now. Bit biased as he’s a pal of a pal but seems like a good egg.

I didn't vote, guys, sorry, I just didn't vibe with the nominees I listened to enough to get excited about voting but I am still really looking forward to the rollout where I always find some exciting tracks!

I'm really excited for the rollout, tbh— I always discover some faves from that thread.

still need to check out Gardna but he seems like a great lad

Good job with this year's final winning lineup btw. There's lots missing that I both voted or and/or should have voted for but after some rigorous listening, there's definitely not more than 10 songs out of 77 that I just don't like.

Oh sick, ten of my votes made it ;)

MC Boing made it to the top 77 then

wait... am i missing something? we haven't rolled out yet have we?

lol

wait... am i missing something? we haven't rolled out yet have we?
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:20 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

No, it's just forks and moka discussing the results over coffee and telling us how interesting it all is :D

Do 77-60 tomorrow and then 15 a day next week imo

No no it's fine, we can all wait, namaste

wait... am i missing something? we haven't rolled out yet have we?

That Wet Leg one two surprised me

We're starting on Monday.

VOTE BITCOIN

can we put the results on the blockchain?

Will the graphics be sold as nfts?

The graphic for our #8 placement which is a song called “player of games” by Grimes will be sold as an NFT, yes.

That Wet Leg one two surprised me

I went to POLL and I got the big D

if the blockchain is how we get rid of fakeouts, then I'm a cryptobro now

ahoy
ILM's Top 77 Tracks of 2021

So I am deep listening to the "F" artists now, about 350 tracks out of 1110. Maybe will go back to posting reactions here?

Go for it, I enjoy your write ups