ILM’s Top 77 Tracks of 2018

really happy to see Andrew WK make the list. way to go, buddy. you did it

I'm still so surprised how much I ended up enjoying the MGMT album. It's their first album that actually manages to be good all the way through.

i'm guessing this is one of those tracks that did well mostly because of the video

how many are we doing today folks

77-61 as usual, right?

Thoughts so far: Kali Uchis & Laura Jane were new on me, nice in a Shambhala way, both w/ pretty sad narratives if I'm reading them right, but I don't know that they'd stick. Red Velvet have never been close to my favourite Kpop and again "nice" is about the maximum I can muster. In previous years I'd have been enthusiastic about Andrew WK despite not caring about his music but apparently he's still friends with Gavin McInnes so can go fuck himself if that's true.

Hauff is the first of my votes to place, for me it's all about squelches and whoooshes and if you don't dig a good squelch or whoosh then I don't understand you.

The DJ Koze and MGMT are both really great but I voted for the albums instead (if I'd had room for MGMT on my songs ballot I'd probably have gone for the title track).

I wish "Your Teeth in My Neck" had been a single.

― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, January 28, 2019 9:02 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is the Kali song that I voted for. if the industry is gonna anoint a new pharrell, i wouldn't be mad if steve lacy is that dude.

catching up--I'd never heard the Laura Jean or Red Velvet songs, but they're both very nice, especially RV, which reminds me of a happy version of SZA's Love Galore

Hey! Sorry I missed the first part of the rollout! Glad you’re enjoying the images they were picked with love and extra care... there’s a couple of artists in the rollout for which it was extremely hard to find a decent video still or photo, there’s also the opposite, great photos or very photogenic acts that work extremely well with the format and were a breeze to work with.

love the images!

For all you Andrew WK fans, he performed a solo piano version of Music Is Worth Living For for Stereogum early this year (along with Party Hard).

https://www.stereogum.com/1978436/watch-andrew-w-k-perform-bach-and-his-new-single-in-a-stereogum-session/franchises/stereogum-sessions/

The McInnes association alluded to above is really troubling.

the images are stellar.

I mean, maybe it's one of those "Andrew WK is friends every person he's ever met" scenarios, but still xp

WK seems like a pretty stand-up guy from everything else I've heard so I'd hope this was an exaggeration or a massive oversight on his part

I know there's a lot of WK conspiracy-theorising out there (see: Andrew WK doesn't exist), but the "he's still friends with McInnes" seemed to come from a different set of people. I don't know for sure that it is true, but w/o certainty it's enough to move my previous goodwill far far away.

I would not read too much into that - he tries to be friends with everyone and will appear pretty much anywhere he's asked to, and none of the segments he did on FOX or TheBlaze were in any way political (the only politician he ever supported was Obama, IIRC). I really, really doubt he's in line with right-wing values in any way.

(he's unfollowed McInnes on Twitter, btw)

the mgmt track isn't really my thing but it's weird and unique enough that i respect its appearance

Uchis – I wanted to like this album, but it never clicked. I get why people like this track though; it sounds like a fully formed version of the kind of tossed-off album-finishing half-song that fades out too soon. I agree with voodoo on: “if the industry is gonna anoint a new pharrell, i wouldn't be mad if steve lacy is that dude”. Hopefully we'll see that Ravyn Lenae ep too--I liked the energy on that much more than Isolation.

Red Velvet – I should probably have a thesis on why I don’t fuck w/ kpop. I’m sure I’m missing gems, but a lot of it, like this, sounds v stiff to me.

Laura Jean – I said upthread I’d never heard of this, but I think I did listen to this once. This dream-version-of-the-80s TSJ-core ;) isn’t my thing, but this is nicely done if not exactly thrilling. I might like it more if I paid attention to the lyrics?

WK – This is so far outside my personal taste, I don’t have anything to say about it. Like when I tell people I’m vegetarian, and they respond with “but what about hot dogs?!”

Hauff – Very cool. Not being up on my house/techno history, my closest touchstone for this is Legowelt, who ilm got me into a while back. As with Legowelt, I think this stuff works best when it’s not too po-faced.

Drake – As much as I appreciate Drake as a major node in a musical network I am super invested in, his own music is irredeemably dull and takes up space someone more exciting could be occupying.

Koze – Love this, voted for the album.

MGMT – I know MGMT are a band that exists, but I’ve never registered more than that fact. This is alright. Tbh my attention drifted after the first couple minutes. Lyrics seemed pretty aggro for such a mellow tune.

his own music is irredeemably dull and takes up space someone more exciting could be occupying

Nicely put

when you die has some nice Rundgren energy. it's a fun album, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. Me and Michael narrowly missed my ballot.

http://i.imgur.com/Yyv1gFv.jpg

69: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – “Talking Straight” - 173 points – 6 votes
video

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

nice

the album was too much of one thing, but I got this one stuck in my head

the EPs were so thrilling, the album was a bit of a step down. my fav track was "the hammer"

when you die has some nice Rundgren energy

It does! Some psych Beatles vibes too. I haven't listened to them at all since Oracular Spectacular (which I liked well enough) but I'm pretty into this tune.

The other metal track = "Honeycomb"?

The French Press was agreeable enough, but I can't recall a single song from the LP.

the plan is to get this to 61 today.

or "Luxury Themes" xxp

Another one from my album ballot, not sure if this is my favourite track on there but it's the one that first grabbed my attention. Didn't realise how much I missed this sort of sound in indie rock.

(emily, here's that MRF thread, I'll update as i err: Ongoing fixes for the ILM 77 Tracks Poll)

omg PLEASE xxp

That Rolling Blackouts tune sounds like decent 3Ds album filler. Nothing wrong with that.

Damning with faint praise for the 69th best track of the year though.

rolling blackouts: thoroughly all right

http://i.imgur.com/4DEPx8v.jpg

68: Parquet Courts – “Total Football” – 173 points – 7 votes
video

Can we talk about how awesome Parquet Courts are?

Not sure what to make of that (RBCF) tbh. It's not unpleasant and has a hook but also doesn't seem that exceptional. Might just need more time. xps

lmao i was just gonna mention parquet courts after hearing that rolling blackouts song

"fuck tom brady" -- otm

The indie run seems more quarantined into a single patch on the list this year.

my rbcf opinions are probably more scathing than most but i generally reserve my greatest ire for the indie that gets in instead of the indie i like. you do not need to hear my rbcf opinions

omg FUCK parquet courts

I don't really care about parquet courts but I like this song a lot

I think I do, imago.

laura jean track is wonderful and certainly my favorite new find so far. i was going to say it seems to end a bit too soon but it seems the edit in the video is quite a bit shorter than the full-length album version.

andrew wk is still like a novelty act to me. don't get it.

i find it funny that some ppl turn their noses up at freemasons-like sample-based disco revivals circa 2006 yet find this dj koze track compelling. not much to say about it.

mgmt track is all right tho i'm not sure there's much i'll want to revisit. nice video though.

"total football" at least better than that dance punk song they did this year ("wide awake??!?!?!" iirc)

lol yeah "wide awake" is terrible

The indie run seems more quarantined into a single patch on the list this year.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 28 January 2019 16:58 (twenty-one seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I really hope this is not that patch.

my rbcf opinions are probably more scathing than most but i generally reserve my greatest ire for the indie that gets in instead of the indie i like. you do not need to hear my rbcf opinions

nor do you need to hear my parquet courts opinions

oh and i def need to echo the sentiment that the image cards are outstanding, huge props to moka