ILM’s Top 77 Tracks of 2018

nice to see Banomoya, which I like a lot but didn't listen to enough during the year to vote for it. only 5 votes...maybe we'll get some more afropop today?

I'm certainly waiting on this year's Akrakabo

if this year has an Akrakabo i haven't heard it yet so hopefully i'll be surprised

well I voted for Awkwaaba, but it's not as wild as Akrakabo xp

Akwaaba rather

Hadn't heard/heard of this one either. Nice song, very unfortunate about the Dr. Luke connection.

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

57: Jon Hopkins – “Emerald Rush” – 184 points – 7 votes
video

Jon Hopkins

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=25283

To experience Jon Hopkins’s music is to experience an agitated suspension, as if you’re floating midair while explosions happen around you. This isn’t just a synopsis of “Emerald Rush” and its gorgeous video, it’s a common effect in his work. Apart from an insistent 4×4 kick, everything is constructed to untether you: harmonies move at a glacial, irregular pace, the sense of clear barline dissolves, percussion drifts in and out of time — the aural equivalent of a giant wading through thick mud — and it all comes together on “Emerald Rush.” - Will Adams

Dance music made from what sounds like YouTube buffering: a nice novelty. – Katherine St Asaph

As someone who loves lightweight pop music, I don't care for the Kim Petras single, she has a great backstory of course, but the Dr Luke connection counts against that, cannot see why it would be one of the best 77 tracks of 2018, let alone the best 25.

lol glad I read that last comment b/c my first thought was "is it supposed to sound like that?"

cool track

i love the kim petras song. the dr. luke association does suck. glad everyone here is better than it

like it, always have time for Hopkins. The video is cool too.

full-length version of emerald rush is much much much better

yea I'm real intrigued by this

at this point i just assume any music i like is connected to some piece of shit, whatever

i quite like this. reckon it could do with even more arrhythmia (without going full autechre) but it's a nice effect

oh there's a longer version? that's cool

I enjoy Jon Hopkins' work in general but never really seek it out. I'm reminded of some pieces on the difference between "writing" and "writering" in journalism where the latter is more interested in the aesthetic qualities and checking the right "how to be a writer" boxes than crafting compelling work. I feel that Hopkins kind of treads that line, where the music is well-constructed and has interesting qualities but overall it falls a little flat.

full-length version of emerald rush is much much much better

― my tweet portal is whack (voodoo chili), Tuesday, January 29, 2019 10:46 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have to stop using youtube to listen to these, was just about to post something about this just kind ending

Love this, voted for it, did not know that there was a short video version.

Who is Dr. Luke and what has he done?

prefer hopkins remixed

use a search engine tuomas

He was Michael Jackson's doctor

The LP felt a little underwhelming after Immunity and I wish he'd branched out more but this is still solid.

full length of emerald rush is instead better, thanks for the heads up

*indeed

i think i voted for emerald rush, though I'm hard pressed to choose between it and "singularity" or "everything connected" as the best tracks on the album... if you like emerald, give those two a shot for sure. all three are great slow burn house cuts.

I couldn't get properly into the Hopkins album (or the previous one) but yeah the long version of 'Emerald Rush' is really cool.

btw, i thought it was UNCOOL to like Hopkins or at least a sign of being a disco tourist, so i'm pleasantly surprised this is meeting with mostly positive response... though i fear saer will inevitably compare this to shredded wheat and buttermilk or a backed up garbage disposal in the next few hours.

Glad to see Banomaya placing!

records like this are really quite unfriendly! could do with a bit of warmth in these hard times

at least half of these records would piss on your cat while you were at the asda, its just no good

disco... tourist?

my friend, Jon Hopkins is the lingering 2019 version of what people used to call "electronica"

listening to the album again for the first time since its release and it's pretty decent tbh

do you work at asda

my fav off the hopkins album was COSM, but the album as a whole didn't really stick with me

i mean, just to follow up on the Hauff from earlier: i _DO_ get emotional resonance from Hopkins. Emerald Rush generally elates me every time I hit the deep-in-the-mix vocals and the drop at 4.25 is incredibly reliable.

hopkins very much the actuallyquitetastyconsidering ready meal when what the ppl want is the vegan sausage roll

Damn, this Prince Kaybee track

Oh wow, 'I Like It' is *way* lower than I expected it to be.

well yeah, it's i like it, not i love it

where did icona pop come again

http://i.imgur.com/g4Gv5ld.jpg

56: Christine and the Queens – “Doesn’t Matter (Voleur de soleil)” – 185 points – 6 votes – 1 first place vote
video

Christine And The Queens (the Héloïse Letissier thread)

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=25954

The part of the song that sticks with me most is a small and subtle thing: during the bridge, after an entire song where the production is nothing but synth-and-drum, an acoustic piano manages to creep in right at the bottom of the mix before taking greater prominence in the final repetition of the chorus. It’s a tiny, tiny detail, but something about it really takes the song to the next level and cements it as a favorite of the year. – Dorian Sinclair

Some songs merely build momentum; “Doesn’t Matter” climbs to 35,000 feet and holds its cruising altitude with all the poise and grace of a Concorde. Maybe from all the way up there things makes more sense; there are demons to be battled here – ghosts, the void, “the suicidal thoughts that are still in my head” – but in the resoluteness of its rhythm and the cresting, citrus-sour waves of synth, Heloise Letissier tries to find some perspective. “It doesn’t matter, does it?” is less nihilism than just a coping mechanism, a deflection – the giveaway is “Uh, forget I said it,” a sharply recognizable moment of trying to force feelings back into a pressurized container. – Vikram Joseph

well yeah, it's i like it, not i love it

But I Love It sucks.

Icona Pop was #13 in the 2012 poll

qed

Not my favorite Christine song from that album but close enough.

Fun fact: “I Like It” was one of those songs saved by the last day ballots as it wasn’t in the top 77 until the last recount. Results may have varied without the extra week of voting, we’ll never know.

fantastic song, i voted for the album ("the walker" would probably be my favourite track but this is close). from 2:00 onwards when those backing vocals come in it's completely sublime and that extended bridge!

Was that the huge song you were talking about last week, Moka?

I ended up just voting for the album. I'm happy to see any Christine & The Queens songs appear. Doesn't Matter is definitely one of the highlights.