ILM's 2010s Tracks & Albums Decade Poll / CAMPAIGNING THREAD

I guess it's my bad for missing the noms (i always regret that), but how did the wrong Oranssi Pazuzu album end up on this list? I figured imago had that angle covered.

― enochroot, Wednesday, 13 July 2022 21:16 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Their latest album is my top record of the 20s so far, but I'd not planned to vote for Varahtelija!

Its longest track is a very different matter, however...

(so this is my reminder for all of a psych metal persuasion to vote hard for Vasemman Kaden Hierarkia)

I'll even post a link!

I really only want to campaign one album and that is Kuedo's Severant (2011). Never really resonated with reviewers much at the time, but hit a sweet spot for me and was one of the most influential of the "post-dubstep/footwork" slate that would be popular during the first half of the decade. Ital Tek's Nebula Dance is a close 2nd here, but Severant is all time for me and has honestly aged extremely well since.

https://kuedo.bandcamp.com/album/severant

Glad to see a ton of K-pop nominated but there are only two I'd really like to campaign for: 

IU & Seo Taiji - "Sogyeokdong"

a dreamy ballad with floaty vocals and some of the most gorgeous synthwork I've ever heard. lyrics are ostensibly abt remembering a childhood romance, but the video makes direct allusions to the songwriter's (Seo Taiji, widely credited as the progenitor of modern Kpop) own experiences growing up under S. Korea's military dictatorship, which adds unexpected emotional heft.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHu39FEFIks

Infinite - "The Chaser"

Basically K-pop at its maximal, melodramatic best: New Order bassline, clean 80s synths, a massive chorus, and even when it goes back into the verses, it just builds and builds before exploding into that incredible final key change. Still sounds amazing even after countless listens.  

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

(Also, if you like this, I highly recommend seeking out production team Sweetune's discography - they specialise in exactly this kind of 80s-but-the-future maximalism. Can start with KARA - Step which is also nominated in the poll.)   

campaigning a bit for this album. I thought it was super fun then and still sounds great to me. I don't remember it getting much love on here back when it came out.

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

I'm sure this isn't really the bag for the ILM hive, but if you're a fan of folky/alt-country/songwriter stuff, I humbly ask that you give Josh Ritter's The Beast in its Tracks, which I nominated and is my personal favorite of the decade (along with Arp's The Soft Wave... for those who prefer Cluster/Harmonia-esque exercises).

This is Ritter's "divorce" record and I think he hits on an angle that really resonates. He doesn't wallow or even really miss his ex - most of the album he is trying desperately to move on, to find someone new, to be optimistic and healthy. But the lyrics about the pain and regret of the divorce creep in throughout, and almost every song is directed at "you" - i.e., his ex-wife, which to me is a really genius way of undercutting the message of nearly every single song. He's really not over it at all, and the majority of the album feels like a lie he is willing to be true. The whole album is almost like a concept album because it really never wavers from this line - it's a dozen attempts to get over his past and only near the end, on "Joy to You," does he finally feel like maybe he means it.

This record was kind of a blip when it came out. It got so-so reviews and Ritter's discography is big, with other albums that are a lot more lively, so it's an easy album to look right past. But all these years later whenever I put it on, I still feel like it has a very unique and strong emotional punch.

reminds me a bunch of Battles (Fang Island)

Yeah some of it does for sure. What really sets it apart for me is how celebratory and over the top some of the arrangements (particularly the guitars) get. It's just very positive and reminds me of why I love music in the first place. I get a similar feeling from Carly Rae, will be voting for both of these artists. But I always felt this was underrated. I went back to an old Fang Island thread from 2011 which is very short and has maybe 2 of us praising em. One of the guitarists went on to get some fame from his other band, Daughters, but I wonder if he'll reunite with FI after all the horrible recent news involving them.

one more. i know this project is pretty loved here but wanted to post this in case you forgot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSNbbuq8AmY

Yeah, that Fang Island video is interesting stuff. Some i liked quite a bit, will return.

People who like Battles and contemporary math rock might also like this track that I nominated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCYVefhsjH0

the main thing i want to advocate for is salyu x salyu - s(o)un(d)beams

salyu x salyu is a collaborative project between cornelius & japanese singer salyu - largely him writing & producing for her, and the album they put out is by far the best thing cornelius has ever been involved with. it being billed as 'salyu x salyu' instead of just 'salyu' is a nod to the project's emphasis on intricate vocal overdubs - when performing live salyu was joined by three additional singers who shared lead vocals. the end result is intricate, heavily syncopated art pop, reminiscent of cornelius's solo work but still distinctively apart from it thanks to salyu's vocal prowess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQBDFZtAKa0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzIhuImk8Ls

also sakanaction's "yoru no odoriku"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I25AFSBm2g

kinda where i imagine bloc party would have ended up if they hadn't gone totally off the rails

riyl: bloc party, cut copy, 00s dance-punk more broadly

Maja S. K. Ratkje's Sult was one of the albums I listened to most, without ever really knowing the story or the ballet it was written for originally. More intimate and gentler than some of her other work, it was done with her voice and a heavily modified detuned pump organ, from which she is able to get percussive rhythms and wind-like timbres as well as more enveloping organ textures. More beautiful melodies in the vocal parts than I was used to from her, offsetting the dissonant and sometimes noisy organ.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2pOvUnCYm8MyYkUgagCYhG?si=R9p9EMS6RwiRMOEg2Gk8Gw

Haha I actually meant "wind-like" in the sense of 'the sound of wind", not "wind instrument-like".

for the past few days ive been listening to the spotify tracks playlist and very charitably trying to think like someone thinks this is 1 of the best songs of the decade

its a good mindset imo

so far best discovery to me is octo octa i need you wow

yeah me too, think we should only boost tracks we haven't nominated.

First from me then is NTO - The Sand Dealer.

Thanks to whoever nominated the Wolfgang Voigt remix of that Robyn track, think it may be heading for my ballot.

Favorite discoveries from tracks I had never heard before and I’m considering voting for are

D. Tiffany - How RU Plush
Genius of Time - Rymd01
Kate Bush - misty

i've discovered a few previously unheard tracks that i am enjoying very much. but with only 50 songs, it will take a miracle for a new one to crack the list.

so far best discovery to me is octo octa i need you wow

awesome! i loved that album a lot.

that one will be on my ballot for sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_am3VRZsc

almost forgot magdalena bay's "good intentions"

holy shit. like this already wasn't hard enough...

whoever nominated No Reptiles, by Everything Everything: thank you. thank you thank you thank you.

fucking thank you

Jenny Hval is an artist I know to be one of a kind, but relistening to the Practice of Love tonight, I feel like the poppier she writes, the artier she sounds. Childlike, adult-like, all so fluid. "Six Red Cannas" is such a jam, and the closer is mesmerizing (sounds like Dead Can Dance). So she goes in both my ballots, since Spells is already a contender for song of the decade (but I nominated that, so I'll shut up).

discovered omar s heard'chew single, thank you ilm

I forgot to nominate "Summon the Fire" by The Comet is Coming, but someone else did, so let me encourage you to vote for this absolutely unstoppable track

My albums ballot is a little thin, because usually I'll end up finding my two or three albums for a year and just stick with them. So last night I went combing through the noms for things I might have overlooked.

And I was like "Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs? Well, I do see that thread get bumped a lot. Should probably check it out." That album packs an icey, synthy, wallop. I had only planned on checking out a track or two, but couldn't stop listening. I didn't know what I was in for, or what I had been missing.

I realize based on the album's place in that year's poll, that everybody else on ILM knew this already except me. But just to illustrate the value of trying out things from the nominations list that you haven't heard before.

ten love songs is absolutely one of those ilm cult hit albums where we absolutely adored it but it didn't get that much attention from the wider music press

Yeah, because they're idiots. I can't think of a better pop album in recent years

Although I still dream of it being Eight Love Songs and thereby completely perfect

I still haven't been able to get into Ten Love Songs. I will listen to it again

An albums list is easier to assemble for me than a tracks list

ten love songs is absolutely one of those ilm cult hit albums where we absolutely adored it but it didn't get that much attention from the wider music press

― ufo

I always like these kind of word of mouth success stories on here. We Are King is another good example.

Huh, I didn't realize Ten Love Songs didn't get much attention outside our site. Certainly here it was a big deal. Good album, though it didn't make my ballot

otoh, I had a pretty good idea "Balloon" was an ILM-only deal

sundfor gets a little bit of attention from the uk press (though that little attention was just as enthusiastic about 10 love songs as here) but that's about it outside of her native norway, unfortunately

still don't quite get the "balloon" meme honestly

so far best discovery to me is octo octa i need you wow

― johnny crunch, Wednesday, July 20, 2022

I Need You gets to me every time I hear it

JUST IN:

The people in Panama are urging you to vote for Burna Boy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UtXl-Rs0vM

...and Wizkid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzWoLkQ4mj4

There is really nothing to get with Balloon, it's just a joy.

also not a meme, that I know of

Toyboy & Robin's Jaded and the accompanying video are so great

There's no way I'm getting through even a third of this playlist. Sorry but I'm gonna put together a ballot of almost all songs I already knew (but truly love.)

You should be sorry! (I didn't even try to listen to the playlists.)