ILM's TOP 77 TRACKS of 2015

came around to fetty wap in q a big way in 2015 but rae sremmurd never no nay. but that is ok it takes all sorts ^_^

i love "no flex zone" as much as anyone but yeah i thought most things sremmurd this yr (including their album) were perfectly serviceable but not as much of a revelation as many here seemed to think

http://i.imgur.com/766DZnF.jpg

65 DJ KOZE "XTC" (204 points, 6 votes, 1 first-place vote)
Pitchfork - 94 / P&J - 107 / Youtube

Sweet

Radiohead - Spectre

I didn't vote for this and had no idea there was any interest about this song on ilm. Johnny Greenwood's string arrangements which sound very influenced by middle eastern/spanish composition are what makes the song stand-out. Not the most interesting Radiohead song but I definitely prefer it over the Sam Smith one. If I have one complaint I'd say the drums sound very forced and thin.

Someone upthread commented that Radiohead making a bond song was weird. Everytime a Bond movie comes out fans bet on Radiohead as the theme song artist. This goes back to the OKC days when they were working on an unreleased song called Big Boots that was a tribute to James Bond themes. Everyone just assumed they were interested in doing a Bond theme ever since. Seems like it was partially true.

Never rated The Killers yet I love the Brandon Flowers album. Not sure I can really explain why. I voted for Still Want you. Fingers crossed for it placing.

Voted for The Blacker The Berry. I spent most of the year thinking King Kunta was my favourite song on the album but that overtook it in the last month.

Also they used to do 'Nobody Does It Better' live occasionally iirc.

xp (re Radiohead)

this dj koze track is interesting, would have preferred the vocal sample being used only once but still like it

"xtc" rules

I like how XTC becomes kind of feral-sounding at the end

okay yeah the vocal sample being used a 2nd time is really unnecessary

Agreed on the sample.

This single's bside is super cool. Better than XTC imo.

cheekbones

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, January 18, 2016 10:45 AM (1 hour ago)

learning about alfred's taste in men is always a nice little sub-narrative in these results threads

no flex zone!

UNLEASH… THE CARLYYYYYYYYYY

http://i.imgur.com/Ue3JJQK.jpg

64 CARLY RAE JEPSEN "Making the Most of the Night" (206 points, 6 votes, 1 first-place vote)
Pitchfork - DNP / P&J - 233 / Youtube

iirc that's the best crj

this one wasn't even a standout to me on the record

I had a week in July when I'd gel my hair singing MTMOTN and going HEY into the mirror.

That Koze track is tremendous!

The best CRJ track didn't get nommed :(

This one is still great though

good song :)

i kept my crj track votes to the singles since i figured i'd just be complicit in the absurd vote splitting otherwise

HIJACK U

this song is not as amazing as "Black Heart" or "When I Needed You" but it is very amazing

Dj Koze is the cool dj/producer already cool djs/producers use to remix their songs but as a songwriter/producer he still feels so underrated to me. I know he's probably making music for a niche audience but I keep expecting him to break into wider recognition. He has kept a consistent quality in his releases/sets/remixes for more than a decade and he has a very recognisable style.

I just listened to the DJ Koze song but I didn't notice it playing :(

I heard Michael Mayer drop XTC at Glastonbury and it was instantaneously both enhanced and ruined by my friend asking if the vocal sample was Margaret Thatcher.

lol

So is this guy like the son of Mike Flowers? He sounds like him.

― Tuomas, Monday, January 18, 2016 4:41 PM (2 hours ago)

Genuine world-class deadpan here.

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

63 ALESSIA CARA "Here" (206 points, 7 votes, 1 first-place vote)
Pitchfork - 32 / P&J - 18 / Youtube

this song recently earned some chatter in the rolling worst songs 2015 thread so let the bickering begin :D

ps i voted!

oh huh

I don't know what to think of it. I gave it a middling score in June but it sounds cool on the radio.

ow wow i hate this song. she just keeps going on and on in with that same cadence and it never ends.

i voted for that! i like it. it's a fun song and at least a couple of my friends say it's their "anthem" of 2015 (idk, #FOMO or whatever). i still can't conjure it in my mind without accidentally hearing Hell Is Around The Corner, though.

xp i think the consistent cadence is one of my favourite parts!

not FOMO, FOGO.

I think some of the lines in here are cringe-worthy but at the same time hell yes do I identify with the punchline of "I'll be over here". Didn't even consider voting for this and the only thing I remember about her other songs is that I don't remember them, but yeah.. some on the nose introvert pop going big actually does feel kinda good.

It's a bit like hearing a really self-involved teenager talk at you at a party, but that's sort of endearing in a way? I reserve the right to disown this opinion when she turns into this generation's Kate Nash.

Using that sample is kind of a cop-out but we're talking about a singer literally young enough to have been played Glory Box in the womb so I'll let her off.

I literally just heard this for the first time the other day when we were listening to the radio in the car; I liked it primarily because I was mentally singing Glory Box and Hell Is Around The Corner over it.

This was my #1, but I just love bland MOR pop in general for some reason.

as if she's not entitled to have a song using the same sample as glory box if she hasn't heard it before lol

I cannot fn stand this new wave of singers w/ that Dave Matthews vocal affectation where it sounds like they're singing every vowel as an "ah" sound w/ their mouth open v v wide (Alessia Cara, Hailee Steinfeld, Clean Bandit/Jess Glynne, etc, etc)

do we have a name for this trend yet?

oh this was the glory box one

fucksake

"Here" is basically kidz bop trip hop. sounds like an executive slammed their fist on the table and said "Lorde is platinum! BRING ME MORE DARIA TYPES!" but it's not bad, just kinda smh.

I cannot fn stand this new wave of singers w/ that Dave Matthews vocal affectation where it sounds like they're singing every vowel as an "ah" sound w/ their mouth open v v wide (Alessia Cara, Hailee Steinfeld, Clean Bandit/Jess Glynne, etc, etc)

do we have a name for this trend yet?

― police patrol felt the smell of smoke and found that goat burns (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, January 18, 2016 2:30 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Progressive Winehouse? Deschanel Vowel Syndrome?

this song is very young/juvenile to be sure but its perspective is more observant than anything i've heard from lorde

I had this big theory planned out about how this song is what happens when the children of first-generation British rave kids grow up and go to stage school, and then I found out she's actually Canadian.

Using that sample is kind of a cop-out but we're talking about a singer literally young enough to have been played Glory Box in the womb so I'll let her off.

born in 96 appaz, too young for that

i'd never heard it before and it definitely wasn't what i was expecting. the song felt very sellotaped over the sample but maybe that's bc i know "glory box" too well?

"making the most of the night" ended up my fav CRJ by some way, fucking love how the drums SNAP on top and patter underneath it

think dj koze is very overrated by critics and would not be a fan of hearing that sample if i was actually on e, but it's otherwise fine, just not really a standout for any reason

still disapprove of kendrick (and kanye) using dancehall mcs for ~gravitas~ and then not crediting them

also i roll my eyes now at ppl who think they're above whatever party they're at but i imagine i'd have been well into it when i was 19

her vocal is very...insistent and foregrounded, that took me by surprise, imagined something less in-yr-face