ILM Top 77 Tracks of 2018 Poll Afterparty: Ballots, Recrimination, Statistics and Damned Lies

kind of amazing that any "industry product" description of ariana's work, ESPECIALLY thank u next and no more tears to cry ignores the terrorist attack that intersected with her life only a year and a half before. both those songs are easily read and recognizable as deeply human responses. pop can be commercial and honest and it's silly to refuse to acknowledge that.

yeah I def reacted to "no tears..." specifically with that context in the front of my mind

and the association is still there

Tirzah – “Holding On” - wasn't sure how i was gonna dig it when they started playing 3 blind mice on a default synth setting but this one really comes together nice! i really like how clear her voice comes thru, it's a low key wonderful voice. if other songs are similar i could for sure see myself getting into this (in a way i didn't with e.g. nite jewel b/c i only liked one song)

― they're not booing you, sir, they're shouting "Boo'd Up" (Will M.)

This was one of my favorite songs of the year and one of my favorite albums of the decade. If I were a musician this would be the kind of album I’d love to create. It sounds like two good friends having fun with a 4-track and most of the time that’s the sort of vibe I look for in music.

Tim and jaymc tied for most votes in the top 77

― rob, Thursday, January 31, 2019 7:55 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hivemind, baby! Unweighted ballot (bold did not place):

The 1975 - Love It If We Made It
Ariana Grande - No Tears Left to Cry
Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B - Finesse
Christine and the Queens - Doesn’t Matter
DJ Koze - Pick Up
Empress Of - When I'm with Him
Haley Heynderickx - The Bug Collector
Hoodboi ft. Tkay Maidza - Glide
Hop Along - Somewhere a Judge
Iceage ft. Sky Ferreira - Pain Killer
Jessie Ware - Overtime
Kacey Musgraves - High Horse
Kacey Musgraves - Slow Burn
Laura Jean - Girls on the TV
Lizzo - Boys
Meshell Ndegeocello - Sensitivity
Natalie Prass - Short Court Style
Rae Morris - Do It
Raevyn Lave - Sticky
Robyn - Honey
Roisin Murphy - Plaything
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Mainland
Soccer Mommy - Your Dog
Sun-El Musician ft. Mlindo the Vocalist - Bamthathile
Tove Styrke - Say My Name

Just noticed that Phoebe Bridgers' "Motion Sickness" finished #94. I love it, but it came out in 2017, no?

i like the tirzah largely bc it reminded me (4 obv rzns) of mica levi's feeling romantic feeling tropical feeling ill tape, which is my favorite thing ever

do i need to post my ballot or will the overlords do this for me

Thursdays too forks got up early
and posted results in the blueblack cold,
then with jittery hands that ached
from perhaps an office job, who knows, made
ilxor hearts blaze. Everybody thanked Moka.

I’d wake and hear the votes splintering, breaking.
When the receptions were warm, he’d taunt us with fake-outs,
and slowly I would compose and then delete posts,
fearing the chronic angers of ilm.

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out Childish Gambino
and 78’d my #1 vote as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of music’s austere and lonely prejudices?

respect!

kind of amazing that any "industry product" description of ariana's work, ESPECIALLY thank u next and no more tears to cry ignores the terrorist attack that intersected with her life only a year and a half before. both those songs are easily read and recognizable as deeply human responses. pop can be commercial and honest and it's silly to refuse to acknowledge that.

i was going to post a glib suggestion that everyone stop 'overreacting' to my 'obviously' unserious quip but thank you for reminding me of this. y'all, i'm really sorry i went there. in retrospect i'm a bit ashamed i did. i hope i'll do better.

lol at "The Middle" only getting 36 points. One of the most ubiquitous songs around for at least part of 2018.

A lot of my votes came in at 78-150.

You know the drilo:

Kacey Musgraves – High Horse
Tropical Fuck Storm - You Let My Tyres Down
Thalia & Natti Natasha - No Me Acuerdo
MGMT - One Thing Left to Try
Yves Tumor - Noid
Pardison Fontaine ft. Cardi B - Backin' It Up
The Breeders – Dawn: Making an Effort
Cavern of Anti-Matter - Phase Modulation Shuffle
Ariana Grande – Breathin'
Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids - Land of Ra
Parquet Courts - Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience
Pusha T - The Story Of Adidon
Meshell Ndegeocello - Waterfalls
Royal Trux - Every Day Swan
Becky G and Natti Natasha - Sin Pijama
Greeicy - Mas Fuerte
Cardi B ft. Kehlani - Ring
Ariana Grande – God Is a Woman
The Armed - Luxury Themes
Ozuna - Unica
Cardi B ft. Bad Bunny & J Balvin - I Like It
Tropical Fuck Storm – Rubber Bullies
Gang Gang Dance - Lotus
Grimes ft. HANA - We Appreciate Power
Kagney Necessary - Bombshell is Atomic

Thursdays too forks got up early
and posted results in the blueblack cold,
then with jittery hands that ached
from perhaps an office job, who knows, made
ilxor hearts blaze. Everybody thanked Moka.

I’d wake and hear the votes splintering, breaking.
When the receptions were warm, he’d taunt us with fake-outs,
and slowly I would compose and then delete posts,
fearing the chronic angers of ilm.

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out Childish Gambino
and 78’d my #1 vote as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of music’s austere and lonely prejudices?

― budo jeru

This is awesome

Thank you for posting my ballot, seandalai!

More poetry from Black Dresses fans in the next rollout, please. Great work!

Seandalai, would it be possible to send both my tracks and albums ballot to the email address I provided with the ballots? (I forgot to save the weighted lists.) Thanks!

mine, weighted

Talaboman - Dins El Llit (Superpitcher Remix)
Simmy ft. Sun-EL Musician - Ubala
Nazar ft. Shannen SP - Airstrike
Autechre - all end
Donato Dozzy - Cleo
Burna Boy - On the Low
Kasper Marrot - Keflavik
LSDXOXO – Freakquency
Daniel Avery – Quick Eternity (Four Tet Remix)
Amen Dunes - Miki Dora
Peach - Silky
Octo Octa - Beam Me Up (To the Goddess Mix)
OCB – Aquaquest Pt.2 (The Anticlimax)
700 Bliss – Cosmic Slop
Omar-S - Games That We Play
Tessela - Glisten
Nego do Borel - Me Solta
ANNA – Hidden Beauties (Original Mix)
Eris Drew - Hold Me (T4T Embrace Mix)
Jon Hopkins – Singularity (ANNA Remix)
Loidis – In the Place I Sit
Fabiana Palladino - Shimmer
Lone - Pulsar
Bruce – What
Bicep – Opal (Four Tet Remix)

First time hearing Black Dresses and they’re great. Where do you usually discuss them in here? Is there an esoteric thread I’m missing?

We haven't started a time-travel thread (i.e. weird/alt shit) this year yet but there's a dedicated BD thread basically: OUT OF FLUX WITH THE UNIVERSE: the canada trans electropop scene

new album in 4 days!

Uhhh any link to the stats yet? I didn't save my ballot locally. If not I'll just post my ballot here after the albums results I guess. One thing I do recall is that probably more than half my tracks list placed, which is an ILM first for me.

Oh never mind found the link!

Full results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HzfsaI__ThO3bvcUt4lYYTPBmNFDFteyVSzYgNlVvwE/edit?usp=sharing
Voter stats: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qead3e_uylrHxeAMI1pzfuVUqu-F6USOzpN8TJv9hlM/edit?usp=sharing
Artist results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11H0HCDx5tfKMNrlZyDyh1UHb7jtJwjYkgAyNKtfksBE/edit?usp=sharing

― seandalai, Friday, 1 February 2019 01:33 (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thank you poll runners for another great poll! Electro/bobbins and afropop selections again held the best surprises for me - work kept me busy throughout 2018 so I mostly stuck with my comfort genres.

I went from mild indifference to the 1975 to active dislike throughout the rollout, thank fuck Peggy Gou saved us all.

Weighted ballot:

Mitski & Xiu Xiu - Between the Breaths
Peggy Gou - It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
NCT U - Baby Don't Stop
Red Velvet - Bad Boy
SHINee - Good Evening
Tracey Thorn - Queen
Lucy Dacus - Night Shift
Wednesday Campanella - The Bamboo Princess
Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To Cry
Let's Eat Grandma - Donnie Darko
Sunmi - Siren
(G)I-DLE - HANN (Alone)
Hyolyn - See Sea

Kimbra & DAWN - Version of Me
Robyn - Baby Forgive Me
Mariah Carey - GTFO
Melody's Echo Chamber - Desert Horse
Kamasi Washington - Fists of Fury
Keyakizaka46 - Moumorihekaerouka?
Troye Sivan ft. Ariana Grande - Dance To This
DJ Koze - Pick Up
Adrianne Lenker - symbol
Rina Sawayama - Cherry
Simmy - Umahlalela
William Doyle - Millersdale

Lighting a candle for NCT U's "Baby Don't Stop", beloved favourite of K-pop thread regulars, absolutely no traction anywhere else.

Wow, I'm positively surprised that two other people besided me voted for "Koskematon", that's two more than I expected for a feministi rap tune (mostly) in Finnish. :)

Sad to see that only one other person besides me voted for Nao's "Drive and Disconnect"... For some reason I thought she was well-liked here? Hopefully the album'll do better in the poll.

eh these are the sad ones - each had 50 points / 1 voter:

Anatomy - Anatomy Theme
Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Promises
Chief Keef - Bestie
Christine & The Queens - 5 Dollars
Django Django - Champagne
Fisher - Losing It
Julia Jacklin - Head Alone
Kacey Musgraves - Love Is A Wild Thing
Kidd Kenn - Slide Remix
Little Big - Skibidi
Low - Fly
Luckison - Mysticbanana
Noga Erez ft. Sammus - Cash Out
Sauti Sol - Short and Sweet
Sharda ft. Shanique Marie - Wanna Know
Shreya Ghoshal & Swaroop Khan - Ghoomar
They Might Be Giants - Last Wave (Demo)
Tirzah - Guilty

Why does Christine & The Queens appear twice in the artists results (41 & 50)?

well, it was either that, "Latin," or "Global" and then fold in the K-Pop and Afropop and none of those things felt appropriate. I suppose I coulda gone with "Flamenco" but then that's just Rosalía and nothing else!
I hear you though. I could use better definitions when it comes to some of this stuff.

― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), 1. helmikuuta 2019 2:23

I think it would make sense to simply put them in the appropriate genres, for example the Rosalía tracks clearly are (among other things) pop, so why not file them under that? Lumping her with Latinx artists and styles is especially problematic, since she's from Spain and does pop music inspired by Spanish idioms - I think this kind of thinking might be a bit offensive to Latin Americans, who obviously have a very different and rich history of popular music styles, and many of whom have no great love for Spain, for obvious reasons.

For example, my wife (who's Costa Rican) found it problematic that in my record shelves, arranged by genre, I had a separate shelf for "world" music, i.e. records in non-Western genres. So I'd have Fela Kuti albums there sitting next so Elis Regina and Sheila Chandra and Johnny Pacheco. And she's right, "world" is not a genre and lumping all these artists together is quite Eurocentric, so nowadays I try to organise them according to their actual genres.

Anatomy - Anatomy Theme

ha, i'm listening to this now and i didn't even have to scroll up to know this was an emil.y pick <3

here's my mixed ballot

Die Wilde Jagd - 2000 Elefanten
t e l e p a t h & Agia - Desolation Of Darkness
Keyakizaka46 - Moumorihekaerouka?
Red Velvet - Power Up
Domenique Dumont - Sans Cesse, Mon Cheri
Pilar Zeta - Moments of Reality

700 Bliss – Cosmic Slop
ACT! - Para
Bastion - Molitva
Dawn Richard & Mumdance - Guardian Angel
Doja Cat - Mooo!
Dumblonde - White Hot Lies
Fire-Toolz - ? iNTERBEiNG
joey B - stables
Mitski & Xiu Xiu - Between the Breaths
Mother of Mars - Hera In The Valley
No Death - Angel Tech
Reckonwrong - Half A Pill
Robyn – Missing U
Simmy - Umahlalela
Sophie - immaterial
Shy Layers – Gateway
The Internet - Roll (Burbank Funk)
UNINAMISE - Rise of the Wolves
YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - Yandere

just two votes placed, doja cat and surprisingly my #1

forgot to vote for peach who did place, but also surprised not to see immaterial in the top 77

great year all round, many thanks to forks, seandalai and moka
big shout out to "stables" too

oh haha i had another 2 place that i hadn't realised i even voted for

Thanks poll-runners, brilliant job.

My unweighted ballot

Melody's Echo Chamber - Quand Les Larmes D'un Ange Font Danser La Neige
Kero Kero Bonito - Only Acting
Lizzo - Boys
Mac Miller ft. Thundercat - What's the Use
Simian Mobile Disco, Deep Throat Choir - Defender
The 1975 – Love it if we made it
Videopath - And So Do Eye
YOTA ft. MF DOOM - Drop the Bomb
MEUTE - You & Me (Flume Remix)
Sigrid - Sucker Punch
Daphne & Celeste - BB
Ella Mai – Boo'd Up
Andrew W.K. - Music Is Worth Living For
Caroline Rose - Jeannie Becomes a Mom
Empath - The Eye
Gila – 106 Slipper
Hoodboi ft. Tkay Maidza - Glide
jimothy lacoste - subway system
Jon Hopkins – Emerald Rush
Childish Gambino - This Is America
MNEK - Tongue
mr twin sister – jaipur
Natalie Prass - Short Court Style
Shackleton - Wakefulness And Obsession
Daphne & Celeste - Alarms

die wilde jagd a great time travel success story. start this year's thread and i may even chip in a bit

eh these are the sad ones - each had 50 points / 1 voter:

i know we don't rly get to be part of this as we basically double our voting power every year (to what avail?) but tt and i were the only voters for each other's #1s as well

oh i was wrong! DWJ were only rly ever mentioned on the 'your ten favourite albums of 2018 so far' thread

haha rip time travel (i'll start a new one in the next couple of weeks when i've done listening to the new euglossine and mukqs)

Just realised that (a) I forgot to vote for Doja Cat - Go To Town and (b) my vote would've put it up to #70.

what is this Doja Cat thing? People refused to vote for Gambino but went for this instead?

And Baby Shark? Ilxors are so old these days

Rosalía - Pienso en tu mirá
Wizkid - Soco
Teni - Askamaya
Prince Kaybee - Banomoya
Niniola - Bana
Koffee - Toast
Burna Boy - Gbona
Skepta ft. Wizkid - Energy (stay far away)
Rosalía - Malamente
Kali Uchis - In My Dreams
Prince Kaybee - Club Controller
Burna Boy - Ph City Vibration
Julia Holter - Les Jeux to You
Mount Eerie - Earth
Kali Uchis - Tomorrow
Drake - God's Plan
Tropical Fuck Storm – Rubber Bullies
Kali Uchis - Tyrant
Kendrick Lamar & SZA - All the Stars
Julia Holter - Why Sad Song
Popcaan - Bulletproof
Busy Signal - Stay so
Jenny Hval - Spells
Ella Mai – Boo'd Up
King Princess - Pussy Is God

Had I known about them, I would have definitely voted for: Itgehane, Octo Octa, potentially Hop Along and Powerglide. Feel a little bad for not giving votes to Sun-El, Simmy or Musgraves. Others: All my Dreams (Roísín Murphy), Le Soleil dans le Monde (Dumont).
My album poll should be more conventional.

nice list. I feel bad about Sun El too. I just didn't think anything on the album was quite (quite!) up to the majesty of Akanamali, but Sonini and a few others came very close.

thanks for running the poll! not a lot of traction here but just happy kkb made it!

Chief Keef - Bestie
Open Mike Eagle - Microfiche
Oso Oso – gb/ol h/nf
Kero Kero Bonito - Only Acting
Deafheaven - Worthless Animal
JPEGMAFIA - I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies
Mitski - A Pearl
E-40 - The Pots & Pan Man
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Middle America
Rae Sremmurd - Touchscreen Navigation
Swearin' - Future Hell
70th Street Carlos - Change on Me
Lana Del Rey - Mariners Apartment Complex
Rae Sremmurd ft. Juicy J - Powerglide
Doja Cat - Mooo!
Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake - King's Dead
Faith/Void - Theme from 'Embrace Nothingness' (Part Two)
No Age - Stuck in the Changer
Half Man Half Biscuit - Harsh Times in Umberstone Covert
Hoodboi ft. Tkay Maidza - Glide
Beach House - Black Car
SOB x RBE - Paramedic!
Grimes ft. HANA - We Appreciate Power
Z-Money ft. Valee - Two 16's
The Armed - Luxury Themes

Unweighted, in descending order of chart position:

1 Peggy Gou - It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
5 Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To Cry
8 Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel
16 Krystal Klear - Neutron Dance
25 Christine & The Queens ft. Dam-Funk - Girlfriend
28 Lizzo - Boys
34 Tracey Thorn - Queen
39 Simmy - Umahlalela
47 Natalie Prass - Short Court Style
69 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Talking Straight

87 Raveena - Honey
95 Chaka Khan - Like Sugar
126 Tracey Thorn - Dancefloor
133 Kamasi Washington - Fists of Fury
140 Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
147 Calvin Harris ft. Dua Lipa - One Kiss
146 Neneh Cherry - Natural Skin Deep
149 Robyn - Because It's in the Music
155 Disclosure & Fatoumata Diawara - Ultimatum
353 sun-el musician – sengimoja
373 Ashley Monroe- Hands on You
373 Róisín Murphy - Jacuzzi Rollercoaster
532 Joe Armon-Jones - Almost Went Too Far

And I was the only voter for:
676 The Shapeshifters ft. Teni Tinks - When Love Breaks Down
676 Jayda G & Alexa Dash - Praise The Groove

I'll be sure to check out your neglectorinos, saer. I've an anal quibble, however: Mihai Pol's 'Sfârșit' appears to be from 2015.

weighted, bold dnp:

Christine & The Queens ft. Dam-Funk - Girlfriend
Ella Mai – Boo'd Up
Barker – Look How Hard I’ve Tried
Donato Dozzy - Cleo
Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore - Fair Annie
Empress Of - When I'm With Him
Peach - Silky
Nathan Micay - First Casualty
The 1975 – TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME
Wednesday Campanella - The Bamboo Princess
Vendredi sur Mer - Ecoute Cherie
Toni Braxton - Long As I Live
Ariana Grande – God Is a Woman
Holy Ghost – Anxious (A Tom Moulton Mix)
Fabiana Palladino - Shimmer
Octo Octa - Beam Me Up (To the Goddess Mix)
Panama Keys - Panamarama (Joeĺ Clausell's Harvest Remix)
James Blake - If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead
Joe Armon-Jones - Almost Went Too Far
Eris Drew - Hold Me (T4T Embrace Mix)
Gang Gang Dance - Lotus
Calvin Harris ft. Dua Lipa - One Kiss
Delicate Features - Attached
DJ Koze with Roisin Murphy – Illumination
Ghost - Danse Macabre (Carpenter Brut Remix)

Ffs bolded Ella Mai instead of Barker

Tuomas, first off: I don't think I knew you were married! Mazel! I've been on this board too long; still think of everybody as being in the same state in their twenties that they were when i first came on board.

Second, I don't argue with any of your points there; my designations of genre there follow the radio standards of the early aughts moreso than my own listening tastes and were intended at least partially as didactic enough to incite just the sort of comments you made. Certainly part of what makes Rosalía's work so interesting is how it takes an out-of-the-pop-sphere style and infuses it with the contemporary... but I don't think it would get pop radio airplay stateside. Influx of Bad Bunny and BTS and a bunch of other things may be changing that now tho'!

And yes, "global" is increasingly unhelpful as a demarcation of style, if it ever was. Classifiers gotta classify!

Mixed:

Peggy Gou - It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
The 1975 – Love it if we made it
Carly Rae Jepsen - Party For One
Mr Twin Sister - Echo Arms
Mr Twin Sister - Power of Two
Rae Morris - Dancing With Character
charlie puth ft. kehlani - done for me
Simmy - Umahlalela
Raveena - Honey
Georgia - Started Out
Datarock - Feathers and Wax
Pale Waves - One More Time

Charli XCX and Troye Sivan - 1999
Krystal Klear - Neutron Dance
Peach - Silky
Man Power - Barranquila Trife (Ruf Dug Zouk Mix)
The Regrettes - Helpless
Omar-S - Games That We Play
Kasper Marrot - Keflavik
Sade – Flower of the Universe
Farao - Marry Me
The Orielles - I Only Bought It For The Bottle
The Aces - Volcanic Love
mewithoutyou - Julia
Jimothy Lacoste - Subway System

Poor old Jimothy Lacoste. Same number of votes as Robyn & Julia Holter yet finishes way down in 108th place

Sauti Sol - Short and Sweet
Moses Sumney - Rank & File
Julia Holter - I Shall Love 2
Janelle Monáe - Americans
Kanye West - Ghost Town
Ella Mai – Boo'd Up
BTS - Idol
Daphne & Celeste - BB
Dirty Projectors - Break-Thru
The 1975 – Love it if we made it
Naira Marley - Issa Goal
Naza - Putain de merde
EXO - Tempo
Yves Tumor - Noid
Migos - Stir Fry
Simmy - Umahlalela
Rosalía - Pienso en tu mirá
Cardi B ft. Chance the Rapper – Best Life
Aya Nakamura - Djadja
Oneohtrix Point Never - Black Snow
Childish Gambino - This Is America
Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness
Post Malone - Sunflower
Charli XCX and Troye Sivan - 1999
Rae Sremmurd ft. Juicy J - Powerglide

I don't quite get what happened here. How did something like Idol not place? I'm getting old :(

My favourite song in the Top 177 that I hadn't heard before was 'Dancing With Character' by Rae Morris.

"Idol" not placing is just the usual kpop problem of 'too niche and too much vote splitting between the few fans here'. even though BTS have had actual US chart success and even some radio play now i get the impression that's more from just having a huge cult fanbase rather than truly having made it into the mainstream as anything more than a fringe presence