**********Just the trax, ma'am: THE ILX 2007 POLL RESULTS, part 1**********

I think that's fine, but there's a difference between "not as good as it's been in previous years", and "worst year in the history of recorded music". Jaded people get in my craw, that's all.

ethan otm?

reverend is cool with me hes just kinda crotchety

-- and what, Wednesday, August 1, 2007 12:42 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark Link

It's for a good cause?

(haha for a second I thought the "ethan otm" was part of the quote, and was like "wth, you can't otm yrself!")

Conrad Flynn wrote a blurb for The Underdog which I carelessly forgot to append to the track post when it appeared, so here it is in all its glory:

36. Spoon - The Underdog (72 points, 6 votes, 1 number one vote) (link)

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9519/gagagagagafv7.jpg

The Underdog is the type of uplifting and delightful song Belle and Sebastian used to release all the time (and stick primarily on their EPs and b-sides) but stupidly stopped making around 2002 or so. It's like a camp-fire sing-a-long that almost becomes power-pop but at the last minute decided that that would be too aggressive and so exchanges loud guitars for acoustic strumming, maracas, and horns. Producer Jon Brion might have helped Spoon make that adjustment and a lot of bands would improve overnight if they did what Spoon has done here: stop with the non-stop indie posturing and focus more on just making a song that is pleasant to listen to above all else.
-Conrad Flynn

I'm happy Gui Boratto placed relatively highly. Such an obvious sound but it just WORKS.

22. Spoon - You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (91 points, 10 votes) (link)

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9519/gagagagagafv7.jpg

"You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" is compact, lean, economical -- that's what Spoon do. But there's a lot going on in this track. For starters,
there's one of Britt Daniel's most engaging melodies, marrying angular
verses with a more linear chorus (built, as it happens, on the tail
end of the verse). Compared to the minimalism elsewhere on _Ga Ga Ga
Ga Ga_, the arrangement is downright lavish: the rhythm section --
snare drum, piano and rhythm guitar -- is brightened by a tambourine
jangle and augmented by vibraphone and horn parts. It sounds like
Motown, in fact, which is fitting for this bittersweet song about
breaking up ("It was the longest day that I ever known / I watched you
start that drive alone") and moving on ("Life can be so fair / Let it
go on and on").
-Paul in Santa Cruz

-'what goes around' is awesome

-jon brion produced the new spoon??

Just The Underdog, I think.

21. Of Montreal - The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (93 points, 10
votes) (link)

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2341/o480487fp4za9.jpg

I can honestly say I don't get the love for that song. I think I read some end-of-year track list (Pitchfork, maybe?) that chose it, and I can't figure out why. There are some great songs on that album, but the 11 minute albatross in the middle puts me off listening to the whole thing.

i was actually just thinking i should have voted 'grotesque animal' way higher. i put it at like 19 or 20.

20. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are (93 points, 12 votes) (link)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/The%2Bway%2Bi%2Bare.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/2282654959_e7f6571a89_o.jpg

you ain't got 8 AmEx cards? wtf does that even mean? god I hate the nonsensical math on some of those rap graphs.

let's not go somewhere exotic SEVEN TIMES

sorry, six

my proposed webbie graph> all other graphs

19. Brave Kylie - 2 Hearts (& Studio Version) (96 points, 8 votes) (link and Studio Version)

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/694/kylie2heartsaw2ly0.jpg

The publicity surrounding Kylie's illness and subsequent recovery
seemed to elevate her into some untouchable Everywoman of pop.
Claiming you don't like Kylie nowadays gets about the same reaction as
saying you like having sex with little baby kittens. Whilst listening
to The Wombats.

It seems to have given her an incredible confidence as a performer,
which is evident here. Her vocals swagger and though it starts slight
it builds into a stomping, cock-sure GETOUTOFMYWAY!! The obvious
glam-rock related comparisons are Goldfrapp and Rachel Stevens, and
Kylie offers a personality and warmth here that trumps either of those
interlopers.

That said, I may have voted for this erroneously - I thought it was
the single version. But, though that wasn't technically in the poll,
it damn well should have been. So it’s still okay. Yes. Really. A
shame people preferred wibbling X-factor finalists singing Celine
Dion-esque nonsense and she didn't get the number one she deserved.
-Hobart Paving

(Studio Version) If Balearic does prove to be the sound of 2008, the
stream of consistently great remixes the Scandinavian duo have been
putting out will go a long way towards cementing that position. This
is the finest of the lot though, Kylie's vocals freed from the
constraints of the lumpen original and allowed to float through a haze
of lovely intertwining acoustic guitar lines and lush electronic
flourishes. Plus points to Studio for having the audacity to use those
two most overused of pop remix devices, the ticking clock and beating
heart, at the same time.
-Matt DC

<3 studio but i wasn't that impressed by '2 hearts' remix. i thought it sounded like a mountain of one, and not in the greatest way.

I'm not sure what the distribution of votes was regarding the single edit versus the remix, especially since "studio version" is a particularly misleading name for a remix, so let's count it's place at #19 as a win for both.

18. Caribou - Melody Day (99 points, 9 votes) (link)

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5122/893861nl3.jpg

'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal' is amazing. Still. Every listen. I don't get the Spoon love though.

17. Panda Bear - Bro's (104 points, 12 votes) (link)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cb/214_442.jpg

16. Pantha Du Prince - Saturn Strobe (110 points, 9 votes, 2 number one votes) (link)

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4297/o768903lh3qo1.jpg

15. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (114 points, 10 votes) (link)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Northamericanscum.jpg

Re: Saturn Strobe - that was my number one, which I really didn't expect when I started putting my list together. I don't know *why* it works so well, possibly because the all the minimal house elements have been quietly slipped under the strings rather than one element grafted on top of the other, or because they seem to move together so well.

Also, that bit around 5:19 when that hissing noise pans right across = like seeing the bright white lights bathing the dancefloor at 5am for a few seconds to allow everyone to put their hands in the air. It's beautiful.

Jesus, North American Scum? And Get Innocuous? And I bet Someone's Great and All My Friends are still to come. I want variety!

I still don't understand why he says "North American". So awkward.

what

Canadians are scum too?

don't get him started on those Greenlanders

14. Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Mix) (116 points, 10 votes) (link)

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3052/o829678yb9vk9.jpg

Production-wise at least, I'd kind of written Ewan Pearson off as a past-it electrohouse producer by the start of 2007, but this remix obliterated that perception. Pearson takes his initial sound palette from minimal and lets it flower and wilt, drifting from icy shudder of beats and slowly thawing into a glorious nu-Balearic 7am anthem and back again, via one astonishing collapse into a swarm of electronic drones and swirls. Cortney's Bjorkish vocals help too, soaring over the top of it all as Pearson treats us to pay-off after pay-off after pay-off.
-Matt DC

xpost, It's awkward because I don't know anyone who self-identifies as a "North American". I don't think anyone externally refers to anyone as that either.

Wow, nice to see Pantha du Prince over Panda Bear, tho I didn't vote for it on the singles ballot.

'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal' is amazing. Still. Every listen. I don't get the Spoon love though.

-- Mister Craig, Thursday, February 28, 2008 5:04 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

OTM, too.

I think my top three records just clocked in one after another?

One more for today, and then the top 12 will be tomorrow:

13. Burial - Archangel (128 points, 12 votes, 1 number one vote) (link)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/BurialUntrue.jpg

Hi, I think 2007 was the worst music year ever. And I don't think my opinion will change in hindsight, unless 2008 turns out somehow worse, which it very well might be. I thought 2004 & 2006 were not-so-great at the time, but now looking back at this or this, I was surprised how many songs I actually enjoyed.. whereas this list I consider hugely disappointing.. especially the top 10. I really would love to be proven wrong about this, but in my own opinion, I don't think there was a single solid album from 2007. A few good singles here and there, but overall, it's definitley the worst of this decade so far.. I looked back to the 90's, 80's, 70's and 60's to try and find a year that was worse, and I couldn't find one. I was hoping this thread would be the saving grace that would change my opinion, but so far it looks like it's just more of the same crap.

I do think that "Out There" by Studio is really effin good.

so far this list might be more indie than Pitchfork's 07 tracks list.

*UPDATED*
50. M.I.A. - Jimmy (58 points, 5 votes)
49. Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song (58 points, 5 votes, 1 number one vote)
48. Jens Lekman - The Opposite Of Hallelujah (61 points, 5 votes, 1 number one vote)
47. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing! (61 points, 7 votes)
46. Malcolm Middleton - We're All Going To Die (62 points, 5 votes
45. Björk - Earth Intruders (62 points, 6 votes)
44. Low - Murderer (64 points, 5 votes
43. Kanye West - Stronger (67 points, 5 votes)
42. Von Südenfed - The Rhinohead (68 points, 6 votes, 2 number ones, + 1 vote for Pilooski Remix)
41. Rich Boy - Throw Some D's (69 points, 5 votes)
40. Chromatics - Running Up That Hill (69 points, 6 votes)
39. M.I.A. - Boyz (69 points, 7 votes)
38. National - Fake Empire (69 points, 8 votes)
37. Feist - My Moon My Man (72 points, 5 votes + 2 for Boys Noize Remix)
36. Spoon - The Underdog (72 points, 6 votes, 1 number one vote)
35. Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya (73 points, 7 votes)
34. Radiohead - Reckoner (74 points, 6 votes)
33. Lil' Mama - Lip Gloss (75 points, 6 votes)
32. White Stripes - Icky Thump (79 points, 8 votes)
31. Roisin Murphy - Overpowered (79 points, 10 votes)
30. LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous (82 points, 8 votes)
29. Britney Spears - Piece Of Me (83 points, 7 votes, 1 number votes)
28. Gwen Stefani Ft Akon - The Sweet Escape (84 points, 6 votes, 1 number one vote)
27. Radiohead - 15 Step (84 points, 8 votes)
26. Studio - Out There (87 points, 9 votes, 1 number votes
25. Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around... Comes Around (88 points, 8 votes)
24. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (90 points, 7 votes, 1 number votes)
23. Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life (90 points, 10 votes)
22. Spoon - You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (91 points, 10 votes)
21. Of Montreal - The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (93 points, 10 votes)
20. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are (93 points, 12 votes)
19. Brave Kylie - 2 Hearts (& Studio Version) (96 points, 8 votes)
18. Caribou - Melody Day (99 points, 9 votes)
17. Panda Bear - Bro's (104 points, 12 votes)
16. Pantha Du Prince - Saturn Strobe (110 points, 9 votes, 2 number one votes)
15. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (114 points, 10 votes)
14. Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Mix) (116 points, 10 votes
13. Burial - Archangel (128 points, 12 votes, 1 number one vote)

man, 2007 was a lot worse than I remembered

Oh fucking Jesus. Why do people unfailingly manage to think themselves clever by decrying the current or previous year as the worst year for music ever, especially when, by fact of reality, it's only possible to hear a tiny fraction of what's available or even tiny fraction of what is great?

-- The Reverend

^

2007 had a lot that i loved...its just not totally comming through on this poll

I don't think there was a single solid album from 2007.

That's funny, I managed to hear probably about 50 of them.

gman kind of otm, though

Actually, I guess I count about 15 or so songs I like in there, so not too bad.

i think 2007 was a really strong year for albums, not so much for singles. i voted for <5 singles on the current list, but i like a great deal more. my statement up thread was solely about pop music— the truly ubiquitous songs of last year. i think those songs were weaker than years past, yes

I do think 2007 was a bad year for music, even though I like to avoid making such sweeping generalizations. I guess it has to be wrong, because there is so much going on that I just don't know about, but in most areas I looked, there wasn't much to like. Also, it's not unusual for me to discover a few songs I like, sometimes really mainstream ones (since I can be pretty disconnected from pop), as a result of checking the winners of these end of the year polls. This time there's nothing on the list (so far) that I can get excited about.

50 solid albums? Yeah? I doubt I'd agree.

i think 2007 was a really strong year for albums, not so much for singles.

I agree with this.

Oh, God, I can't believe Saturn Strobe actually made it, and at 16 nonetheless. By the time it got down to the 30's (especially the indie/popist fest it is) I was ready enough to post "NO PANTHA NO CREDIBILITY" but wow, ILM got me on this one. I'm really, really glad people aren't overlooking this (especially as it was released in January). As I've said many times before here, he reminds me why I like music in the first place, and right now that seems more important than ever.