ILM’s Top 77 Tracks of 2018

Also I'll be massively upset if Rosalía doesn't place at least, wait, let's be reasonable, 3 songs.

oh i haven't heard of that?

Claims to be some variant of flamenco but it's basically what happens if you take the flamenco out and replace it with tepid electropop

...and with that, shots were fired

NL: imago, this is great wtf

Which Burna Boy is most likely to place? I thought the album had an even spread of faves

imago is correct. Were the flamenco to electropop ratio heavily skewed towards the former, she wouldn't fare as well 'round these parts.

i would have thought the other bobbins likely placement is "hold me"

RMDE at the vapid contrarianism on show here. I can understand not feeling it's sufficiently flamenco but anyone who thinks it's rote or "tepid electropop" just hasn't listened to it properly. What other electropop sounds like Rosalia?

The interplay between flamenco and modern digital production techniques is what makes it compelling (not to mention the voice) but nothing else in pop has anything like the clicks and handclaps than run through it, its use of space and texture and rhythm seems very particular.

But yes continue to act like every "I thought R&B was rhythm and blues" garden-variety Guardian comments box twat if you really must.

Today is going to be fiery

imago did you end up listening to the rosalia album all? it wasn't for me (too heavy on the flamenco) but if your complaint with "malamente" and "pienso en tu mira" was "not enough flamenco", they're (unfortunately imo) not that representative of the album

Which Burna Boy is most likely to place? I thought the album had an even spread of faves

Hmm. That sounds more promising at least. I may give it a go xp

good morning!

Hmm. That sounds more promising at least. I may give it a go

So you are talking about music you haven't listened to then? It's a pretty diverse album with a lot going on in it.

I've heard like 3 or 4 tracks? Malamente bugs me a lot

imago what are the ten best flamenco records of 2018

idk that another christine & the queens track will place, not many were nominated and i would have though "doesn't matter" would be the favourite of the ones that were.

lana absolutely will place.

other stuff that seems likely to me that hasn't been mentioned:
azealia banks
jessie ware
probably crj? not sure
maybe troye sivan?
a few indie tracks like "night shift" and one of the snail mail singles

there's one kpop track i'm holding out hope for still too. also hoping burna boy hasn't been vote split to death

You say it like you've never judged an artist on a couple of tracks before!

Best flamenco album of 2018 is a really easy one: Nino De Elche. I voted for it even. You should all give it a listen

I asked for the ten best flamenco tracks of 2018

There are pretty obvious commercial reasons why they would share and promote the side of the album that sounds the closest to mainstream pop rather than the less familiar side.

I think that, as with afrobeats c. 2012 or therabouts, it represents a fascinating *potential* way forward for pop, I'd love to hear a breathy American R&B singer over a beat like Que No Salga La Luna.

(xpost - 'Girlfriend' is surely the big Christine consensus pick, right?)

The interplay between flamenco and modern digital production techniques is what makes it compelling (not to mention the voice) but nothing else in pop has anything like the clicks and handclaps than run through it, its use of space and texture and rhythm seems very particular.

― Matt DC, Thursday, January 31, 2019 11:33 AM (seventeen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

100. It's more than just a fusion of those two styles. There's loads of influences and interesting rhythms and textures going on, and that's apparent from my first listen.

while the Rosalia album wasn't quite what i wanted from her it still felt exciting and fresh to me and i'm really looking forward to hearing what she does next. while i'm far from an expert on flamenco if there's anything else similar happening in the flamenco/pop crossover space i'd love to hear it

Holding out for some Tiwa Savage ITT

I shared imago's distaste for malamente but the album is better and I've really warmed to her voice

this nino de elche album is off its box

Wouldn’t “One Kiss” be another contender? It was my favorite mainstream pop track of the year, along with the Arianas.

Or Aya Nakamura’s “Djadja”? Although I’m probably conflating its massive real-world popularity (in these parts anyway) far too much with any ILM traction (or awareness).

I thought One Kiss placed last year? or am I thinking of New Rules?

new rules was #2 last year I think

re: Rosalia, from a pure production point of view, it's incredibly difficult to get those kinds of claps to sound so clear and ripply in a mix, as I've learnt this year. Extra points just for that

It really does feel like 'One Kiss' has been around for years

to Imago:
Niño de Elche and Rosalía are often grouped together as flamenco "iconoclasts". They have performed on the same nights. He has defended her approach in interviews. I see no division to be had there: they're both fascinating. I voted for both. I love music.
But I mean, you just said you're not familiar with her catalogue (and it shows). As a punishment, you should watch the video of that Spanish guy who talks about and analyzes her compositions and concepts for 40 minutes (it's entertaining). He's eager to show how flamenco rhythms are everywhere in her songs, including the hits. "Tepid synth pop", listen, we hate that as much as you do.

track 2 of the rosalia album already a big improvement yes. i will accept that i spoke hastily!

I will be shocked if the 1975 don't get at least two more in

got this year's idiotic holding-forth -> schooling -> shamefaced backtrack out of the way outside of poll hours at least

even 'pienso en tu mira' has grown on me now

I still think Toast is probably the closest thing to being objectively the best track of the year, the instrumental production alone makes it the most banging track I've heard, and her flow / voice is charm x1000. It's another instance of that "huge space - crisp level of details" perfect balance.

It probably came out just a tad late in the year to gain traction

the video of that Spanish guy who talks about and analyzes her compositions and concepts for 40 minutes (it's entertaining). He's eager to show how flamenco rhythms are everywhere in her songs, including the hits.

There's probably a thread in how listeners tend to over-emphasise instrumentation at the expense of rhythmic and melodic patterns when mentally filing music away but that's something that's been going on for decades.

Koffee’s Toast, Nabozo? I went with Ragamuffin - song of the summer for me.

Ragamuffin has cool bars over an old familiar version, but it has nothing on her true hit song imo. But I love everything she's done so far and we're witnessing pure talent in actualization, so it's hard to argue about it being your song of the summer :)

Indeed. It’s hard to vote against one’s song of the summer though. And I had to choose just one.

Hm, just listened to the Autechre track. Not sure what to make tbh. Seemed a bit pointless at first, then my mind started focusing in and picking out more of the variations in the noise, which is how this kind of thing is supposed to work, I think. Was into a lot of this kind of thing as an undergraduate, though, and usually want ... more, compositionally, or else for the drone to be richer somehow, e.g. with the kinds of drift properties in some of LaMonte Young's drone pieces. I'll give it another try or two.

i love “toast,” didn’t hear it quite early enough for it to make my ballot :(

"Ngiyesaba" by Simmy is gorgeous, wow

"Soco" was kind of fun.

as i said previously i voted for the simmy album as its one of the best things ive ever had

but recently after working for over a decade in rugby ive been moved to a new office in coventry and the ring road makes me really anxious

but every time hamba juba comes on it really soothes me and has been an audible medicine which i really appreciate

Nabozo, dancehall is not permitted to appear in the ILM best tracks poll, sorry, even in the case of the empirically determined #1 track of the year "Toast"

glad I slept through imago's pendulum swing on Rosalia :) I will say in your defense that, as good as some of the videos are, whenever I've tried to pick off an individual track to put on a mix, it doesn't sound right, hence my only voting for the album

rosalia didn't make either of my lists but it's obv what she's doing is really special, never heard an album like that in my life

did I read breastcrawl and dog latin's posts right? neither of you have gotten into krautrock yet? if so, that is an enviable problem to have