The Pre-Poll Lobby - Tracks You Want People to Consider for ILM's Top 77 of 2020

Shouldn't this run alongside the nominations thread? Let's get nominating dammit!

However, as this now becomes a matter of keeping up with the Joneses, I am forced to reveal my hand. There are many others but let's keep it within reason (i.e. stuff that I reckon could make the 77):

Black Foxxes - Badlands - Brad is getting better at recommending me stuff lol. The most powerful, epic & addictive rock song in a while
Katie Dey - Happiness - yes she got very self-entitled at not being picked by Stereogum blah blah, but c'mon, when you're producing stuff like this
Klô Pelgag - À l'ombre des cyprès - just absurdly vast and beautiful songcraft, with a star turn from our very own resident string arranger...
Owen Pallett - A Bloody Morning - ...who released some rather amazing stuff of their own
Good Sad Happy Bad - Shades - like Owen, Micachu & The Shapes also came back after a long old while, with a new name and some of their very, very best material
Patricia Taxxon - Spiral Staircase - picking just one song of hers from this year is close to impossible; this is her world and we live in it etc. But this one feels important, especially if you think pop music should have more microtones
Quelle Chris and Chris Keys - Mirage - rap song oty imo; just very big and sad and comforting. Or at least, it would be, except...
Clipping - Pain Everyday - I mean this is just insane, incredible. Picking just one off the album is hard; I reckon we could get multiple in but this is my choice

(Spotify playlist of the above, plus a few others, minus Taxxon as she's averse to the platform

...and then there's Cardiacs - Vermin Mangle - possibly the last word from my favourite songwriter of all time, and what a beautiful final bow if so. RIP maestro.

maddie & tae - 'drunk or lonely' - country-pop perfection
fireboy dml - 'tattoo' - feels like it should be a massive ilx tune? maybe it is idk. so sumptuous. MAKE I BE LIKE / TATTOO / FOR YOUR BO-DY!
kranium f/ kelvyn colt - 'money in the bank' - i feel like kranium releases my fave soty every year
jp cooper - 'in these arms' - one of the pop bangers of the year for me! feel like it would have been a massive weeknd song. so much drama - love the crash into the chorus
little mix - 'sweet melody' - probs THE pop banger of the year for me
wande coal - 'naughty girl' - big tune
cam - 'til there's nothing left' - country-pop perfection pt 2

enjoying listening to these picks ueber and ufo

Sweet Melody is excellent and the fact they're still going nine years later is a real achievement

Rico Nasty - IPHONE - At her bubblegum bass best
Shadow Community - Restless Song - Quietly released in January by Mid-Air Thief with a different name. Stunning Korean folktronica that builds and builds.
Jean Dawson - Bruiseboy - Tried hyping with a thread because I want people to love the album this infectious, glitchy emo rap is from so bad.
Gupi & Fraxiom - Thos Moser - First listen: huh, they like gecs. Hundreth listen: C͝a̸̛ǹ͞ ̴͘͞G̸̡̨u͡p̴i̷͏ t̀͟ur̵҉ǹ̡ ̸̧͜t̵̢h͏͏ȩ͟ ͝s̡n̕̕a͏r̴̡e̸ ͢͏u̧͡p͏ ̡o͠n̵e͞ m̵͟͡o̧͘͢re̵͡ l̛͘e̷v̸͝e͘͟l̸͠?͢͟

Sweet Melody is excellent and the fact they're still going nine years later is a real achievement

― boxedjoy, Friday, 4 December 2020 16:44 (fifty-six minutes ago)

opening 5 tracks on the album are maaaaad. falls off a cliff after that though. v happy that 'sweet melody' is turning into a big hit for them

Katie Pruitt - Normal
Haim - 3 AM
Kelly Lee Owens - Melt!
The 1975 - If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)
Sun El Musician feat. Msaki - Ubomi Abumanga

Guerilla Toss's 'Human Girl' seems to have slipped under the radar but may be their strongest track to date

playlist is populated!
nominations later, this is pre-nominations!
some good finds in here.

let me be real lazy here and just link to some threads I started this year:

thread for what should?could?would be my song of the year, it’s certainly the most played one - the one reservation I have is that it’s very pre-pandemic in every way, as its celebrates people coming together to party and was actually made as an infomercial for a stadium event with that exact purpose - an event which was then inevitably cancelled, rescheduled and cancelled again. (but writing this, I realize that the song could actually be relevant for these times as well - if you try to focus on the hope that’s in there instead of the pain(fulness) of it all):
🎹🎹PİANO! PİANO!🎹🎹 - a song appreciation thread for
”eMcimbini” by Kabza De Small & DJ Maphorisa ft. Aymos, Samthing Soweto, Mas Musiq & Myztro

this domino dancing thread got *almost* as much traction as last year’s 🎈🎈🎈thread:
🀄️🀄️ Martinique to the world: 70 SHiiNE x Nacho • DOMINO 🀄️🀄️

More seriously sensational contenders:
🇳🇬 NAIJA SPECIAL: which of these *seven* current high-profile Nigerian hit songs is the best one? please help me decide

Or shuffle and skip (rinse, repeat) through these and pick something for yourself - two songs for every ilxor:
ILM rolling✳️all-inclusive✳️afro 2020

(guess I’ll be saving this post for later campaigning usage)

Around December 4 it’s the pre-poll lobby
Then you take it to the thread and nom somebody…

lol

Currently the only thing I'll be pissed off if it doesn't receive at least one other vote is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=800Jpjb5zWo

Oh right, this isn't the noms thread.

Okay I guess we really need to discuss SAULT then.

Wildflowers from Black,obvs
But what about Rise? I'm thinking Free

i will be voting 'lose yo job' for sure

some of my faves:

clipping ft Cam and China - '96 Neve Campbell
Melted Bodies - Phone Tumor
Lido Pimienta - Te Queria (Chancha via Cirquito Remix)
City Girls ft Lil Baby - Flewed Out
Disclosure ft Kehlani and Syd - Birthday

love "te queria," but haven't yet heard that remix

Belle Delphine - Eat My Ass

the disclosure track i'm absolutely voting for is "my high"

The Annual Starboy Problem:

so what are this year’s Wizkid (-featuring) tracks people are considering?

my candidates:
- No Stress
- True Love
- Cool Me Down
- Pami

any other album tracks? maybe some carry-over tracks from last December’s Starboy EP?

other songs people have been repping:
- Eve Bounce (Remix)
- Smile
- Arizona (?)
- Sponono (?)
- Opo
- Aan Je Zitten (jokes bruv, please no!)

Julia Jacklin - To Perth, Before the Border Closes
The Weather Station - Robber
Orla Gartland - Pretending
Sevadaliza - Darkest Hour
Fenne Lily - Berlin

"headaches" seemed like such an obvious year-end fav when i first heard it but admittedly i've soured on it a bit, i think i actually rolled my eyes at the transition at some point

Jessie Ware's "Remember Where You Are," which to my ears is the most exquisitely written/produced/performed track of 2020 in the general pop music realm. A masterpiece.

― Johnny Fever

Probably my favourite song of the year.

"Tondo" for me if I had to choose a disclosure track.

A first batch

Kali Uchis feat. Jhay Cortez - La Luz (Fín) In Kali Uchis dream of vibraphone, reggaeton r&b and lesbianism
Sevana - If you only knew Languid and haunting reggae r&b, chorus all about the bass - guitar duo
Koffee - Lockdown One of them had to be good
Intence - Yeng Dancehall that slays
Olamide feat. Omah Lay - Infinity Soft and irresistible banger that is all Omah Lay
Wizkid feat. Tay Iwar, Projexx - True Love "No Stress" is probably the bigger tune, but something perfect just comes together here
DJ Tunez feat. Wizkid - Cool me Down To stress again, effortless magic
Master KG - Jerusalema Ubiquitous, this played on all radios, and it should absolutely not be forgotten
C Natty - Ojah Another afrobeats banger
Sun-El Musician feat. Azana - Uhuru Sun-El was well-known, Azala revealed herself
Kabza de Small & Dj Maphorisa feat. Samthing Soweto, Aymos, Mas Musiq & Myztro - EmcimbiniIf you don't know Amapiano yet, that's all you need

"headaches" seemed like such an obvious year-end fav when i first heard it but admittedly i've soured on it a bit, i think i actually rolled my eyes at the transition at some point

I went the opposite way – I was lukewarm on it at first, but eventually it secured a place in my 2020 Faves playlist. It’s not necessarily in my top tier, but comfortably in the top 20.

Another batch with a focus on dance

Mapara A. Jazz - John Vuli Gate Hypnotic as fuck.
Rema - Woman Why Afrobeats is king
Innoss'B - Olandi I don't expect votes, but this is fun as hell

Ok that's actually all I have. A couple more below.

Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge Jazz r&b rules so much
Victoria Monét - Jaguar Obvious, might be splitted with Experience
Sevdaliza - Eden Could also feature in the album poll
Masego & Don Toliver - Mysterious Lady Super sweet

Sorry if anything was already posted, I'm lazy in the morning

I would lobby for “Experience” as the consensus Victoria track (if anyone is interested in pooling electoral votes).

there should not be just one consensus track from that album/ep/'project'/whatever

for a while i thought "experience" was my fav but now i'm not sure

My other big dilemma is which Lila Iké ?
Where I'm coming from ? From last year but on the EP, still the best I think
I spy nearly the best
Second Chance Probably can't receive votes, too reggae, but soooo achingly beautiful
Solitude

And to answer breastcrawl, I didn't realize Opo was from this year. This is another sublime one, the sax kills me. Male duos should be way of a bigger thing.

there should not be just one consensus track from that album/ep/'project'/whatever

That’s the purpose of this thread though!! (as I understand it)

Pantayo - Kaingin, first and foremost

but also
Katie Dey - Dancing
Perfume Genius - Describe
Zeroh - Aquamane
KeiyaA - Hvnli
Cindy Lee - Heavy Metal

Oh, Katie Dey already mentioned. "Happiness" also great of course :)

Since the Polaris thread I've grown to really really love that Pantayo album and wish I'd given it my vote there. You can really hear the YT//ST production on 'Kaingin'.

I'm mostly trying to work out which albums on the messy list I've tried to keep through the year won't make it on to my ballot and if they have a stand-out song to nominate instead. Still working on it.

This is a stand-alone track that I will definitely be voting for very highly, though: Meth Math - El Vals De La Piedra

seeing as their keyboardist has shown up, restating (after it only appeared on my Spotify playlist) that the Slum Of Legs opening track is my choice if we're looking to give it love there as well as on albums

also Pantayo is really good yes

Belle Delphine - Eat My Ass

Err, really?

Question: if single from a record came out in 2019, but the record came out in 2020, is that single eligible?

Iirc, as long as it didn't place in the top 77 before, it would be eligible. Not sure if it counts as "year of impact" but I think the poll-runners give a reasonable amount of leeway.

xxp have just checked that out and yes, cannot imagine any reason for listening to that when Go To Town or even WAP exists, her singing is really bad, and not even bad in an interesting way.

She's essentially a living meme whose persona is entirely devoted to trolling so-called 'simps'.

Yeah, I was aware of her, the bathwater e-girl, didn't know she had ventured into music. she is definitely no Poppy.

well now i know who belle delphine is

I would lobby for “Experience” as the consensus Victoria track (if anyone is interested in pooling electoral votes).

― wet tip hen ax (egg drop mix) (morrisp), Saturday, 5 December 2020 07:40 (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

there should not be just one consensus track from that album/ep/'project'/whatever

for a while i thought "experience" was my fav but now i'm not sure

― dyl, Saturday, 5 December 2020 07:48 (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Was gonna go Moment personally

^ i'd lobby for that and Dive

Ok, we're clearly not gonna reach consensus (lol)

The track i think you NEED to know about to vote for is "Yaz Abantu" by Gwamba and Mlindo the Vocalist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4afXKoaNIvA

But here's my first pass singles of importance (in two posts because it's lol too much for the text editor):

* Alabaster DePlume – Visit Croatia, Whisky Story Time
* Aya Nakamura - Jolie Nana
* Ayanis and Queen Naija - Lil Boi (Big Talk)
* Azana - Uthando Lwangempela, Egoli, Your Love
* Beverly Glenn-Copeland - La Vita
* Burna Boy - 20 10 20
* Busiswa and Mr JazziQ - Makazi
* Cenk Ergün and JACK Quartet - Sonare, Celare
* Christine and the Queens - I Disappear in Your Arms
* Claudio x Kenza with Mpumi - Yasha Imizi
* The Chicks - March March, Gaslighter
* Dizzee Rascal with Chip - L.L.L.L.
* E-40 / B-Legit - Smellin Like a Brick
* Emma O'Halloran and the Refugee Orchestra - Constellations
* Fatima Yamaha - Unwashed
* Govana and Aidonia - Yeah Man
* HAIM - Don't Wanna, I Know Alone
* Hayley Williams – Taken, Simmer
* Headie One, AJ Tracey, Stormzy - Ain't It Different
* Hwa Sa - Maria
* iMarkkeyz + Cardi B - Coronavirus
* Jasiah - Crisis
* Jazmine Sullivan - Pick Up Your Feelings
* Jessie Ware - Spotlight, Ooh La La, Soul Control
* Johnniqua Charles, iMarkkeys, Suede the Remix God - Lose Yo Job
* Katie Pruitt - Ohio, After the Gold Rush

* K Michelle with City Girls - Supahood
* Lil Baby - The Bigger Picture
* Megan Thee Stallion / Beyonce - Savage Remix
* Megan Thee Stallion and Young Thug - Don't Stop
* Moses Sumney - Cut Me
* Morray - Quicksand
* Mort Garson - Ode to an African Violet (Alternate Take)
* Nihiloxica - Black Kaveera
* Omarion and T-Pain - Can You Hear Me?
* Orquestra Akokan - 4 de Octubre
* Osunlade - Auto Machine, Landfill
* Q Twins with Claudio and Kenza - Vuma
* Roddy Ricch - The Box
* Roisin Murphy - Narcissus
* Roomful of Teeth - No. 5: Are We Death
* Sansibar - Glide Till Dawn
* Selena Gomez - Rare
* Semi Tee, Kammu Dee, Njelic - Stayla
* SG Lewis with Lucky Daye - Feed the Fire
* Simmy with Da Capo and Sun-El Musician - Emakhaya
* Soccer 96 with Alabaster DePlume - I Was Gonna Fight Fascism
* Sun-El Musician with Azana – Ngize Ngifike
* Stella Jang - Villain
* Thee Sacred Souls - Give Us Justice, Weak for Your Love
* Theo Parrish and Maurissa Rose - This Is For You
* Victoria Monet - Dive
* Vybz Kartel / Teejay - Uptop Gaza
* The Westerlies – Weeping Mary
* Wizkid and DJ Tunez - Cool Me Down
* Worlasi - Skreentime

oh good, no need to do the poll now

Old school, new school, forever school:

Mariah the Scientist - Always n Forever (feat. Lil Baby)

Upsammy - Extra Warm

For your consideration:

Becca Mancari - First Time
Goat Girl - Sad Cowboy
Horse Meat Disco ft Kathy Sledge - Falling Deep In Love
LAUREL - Scream Drive Faster
Hayley Williams - Watch Me When I Bloom
Cleo Sol - When I'm in Your Arms
Matt Berninger - Distant Axis
Allie X ft Mitski - Susie Save Your Love

My Kpop selections this year:

Stray Kids - Back Door - I can't get enough of that bassline
Stella Jang - Villain - "We all pretend to be the heroes on the good side" 
EVERGLOW - La-Di-Da - sparkly, widescreen disco awesomeness
GFRIEND - Apple - v dreamy and lush
Crystal Tea - Roman Porno - quirky J-pop/indie via Seoul 

cosign on “La Di Da”, “Apple” and especially “Back Door”, the absolute highlight of my scattershot Kpop year.

A few more I'm keen on:

Sarkodie - Oofeets (might count as very late 2019)
Eddie Chacon - Wicked World
Plone - Miniature Magic
Pye Corner Audio - Resist (John Talabot Remix)
Problem Child - Nasty Up
Saronde - Firewood
Mida the Jagaban - Part With A Jagaban

And also the album Warm nights by Reuben Vaun Smith

“Oofeets” and “Party With A Jagaban” both 🔥🔥🔥

I keep wanting to post here and then having to admit I haven't listened to a single thing itt that I didn't already know (actually I did listen to "Baby Powder" but already don't remember it well). Maybe we should have done a 1-track limit or some kind of relay system where you can only post after you've listened to the prev track...?

Anyway, this should have been a big single:
J Hus f. Koffee -- Repeat

"triumph" was my j hus jam this year, certainly the song that ran through my head the most (whenever i saw the words "respect," "violence," "alliance"_

should be a close parenthesis at the end lol

that one's great too yeah. Big Conspiracy is my big "oh right that did come out in 2020" release

Repeat feels like a while ago now too. Love it

Snoop Dogg's song from the Just Eat advert.

^ban

lol

I don't even know which song to rep but Material Girl - Tangram is one of the best albums of the year and would recommend to listen to Material Girl meets the Devil, Flood, Funeral Parade of Roses, Swoon... pretty much everything. If someone noms a track off of it I'd vote for it.

Ok I'll narrow it down to two:

Material Girl Meets the Devil Pt. 2
Not an album track. RYM classifies it under: Experimental Hip Hop, Post-Punk, Outsider House - it actually earns the combination of genres tags.

Funeral Parade of Roses Way different than the previous one. This ones goes Experimental Jazz Rap + Glitch Hop. It probably works best as an album song than as a single.

Hopefully got the formatting right

Jayda G - Both Of Us

Porij - 150

Glad to see you repping for Material Girl, Moka. I brought it up in the rolling weird music and hip hop albums for people who are clearly doing it wrong threads back in June and never got a reaction, so I figured people just aren't interested in 2020's very own Endtroducing.

Yeah it’s massively underrated considering the quality of it. 2020’s Endtroducing is apt as a comparison.

Considering the amount of obscure sampling and how well it creates its own thing from them.

Hot Dad - Now That's What I Jack Off About

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9PCvgHPeYY

Playlist is fully updated. 200 tracks and 14 hours; reasonably accomplishable full listen if you wanted to have a go at it!

ILM nominations likely to follow in the next week or two.

Cheers forks - have been listening lots the last couple of days and was hoping you'd add some of the newer recs to it. Genuinely appreciated

thumbsup.emoji

very early returns on the vote splitting issue but the most nominated artists are Azana (4), Disclosure (5), HAIM (3), Hayley Williams (3), Jessie Ware (4), Katie Pruitt (3) and SAULT (3)

wait... have nominations opened yet or not? i missed last year's poll because i'm a doofus with no eyes

they have not. I guess everyone enjoyed campaigning so much this year now we're obsessing over vote splitting and turnout for the EOY poll

Fuck it, might as well rep for a Bad Bunny track this year seeing how he’s the biggest 2020 artist worldwide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPK_IdHe1Yg

RIYL: DRAM “Cha cha”, Drake’s “Hotline bling”

thanks for the playlist, forks - loving a lot of these recommendations.

A few more tracks I loved:

Kate NV - Telefon, Plans - she's brilliant, would happily vote for any song off this record
Wire - Unrepentant - best thing they've done in ages?
Jeff Rosenstock - The Beauty of Breathing - kept me alive for a little bit longer
Touché Amoré – Reminders - If you're not even a little bit moved by this video, we can't be friends tbh
Grimes - IDORU - the only song from the record I still listen to regularly
Algiers - Dispossession - the album seems slept on, didn't help that it came out so early in the year, I guess. This track still rules.
Beyonce - Black Parade - are people just tired of her being great all the time? Because this is still great.
FNCY - みんなの夏 - Pitch perfect, joyful summer 90s J-pop/New Jack throwback - the Olympic 2020 stickers seen briefly in the video made me feel a little wistful

Deliberately holding off from posting too much ITT as I'm going to be counting down my own faves Sunday week

https://i.imgur.com/PvJKIWe.jpg

Jayda G - Both Of Us

will be voting for this - first time I heard it I thought it was some Jessie Ware remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIu_PDDpTL0

Sky Joose - Garage Bunnies

Carrying on? No you must be mistaken I'm in there on my tod

Don't you piss me about my son. I know exactly what's going on

There must be at least half a dozen of them they come jumping out of that van over there they come in here and they play their bloody garage music. All night.

fucking love that

Tim Heidecker & Weyes Blood - Oh How We Drift Away. This may raise an eyebrow here but it's essentially a typically gorgeous WB track where Tim wrote the lyrics and she sang and composed the music.

two of the most deservedly popular cultural figures on ILX won't raise an eyebrow; it's a lovely song yes

Four more
La Chica - La Serpiente
Javilanni & Skilibeng - Smooth
Klô Pelgag - Rémora
Oxlade - Away

La Chica has a new album out today! She is drastically underrated imo; one of my few 2020 concert experiences and she was great live.

the Heidecker/Weyes Blood song would've been one of the best on Titanic Rising, really. I love it. I'll probably vote for the album too - I don't really like stuff in that genre but I'll listen to it if it's good. And it's definitely very good.

I really haven't listened to much new stuff in 2020. I like the Dan Deacon & Squarepusher records a lot but (as mentioned in a different thread) it's crazy to think they even came out this year, since they were released pre-pandemic. I like the Kate NV record a lot. May even be my #1.

oh yeah, how can I forget this one. it's an album that shouldn't work but it absolutely does. it's the soundtrack to the summer that wasn't. every time I hear it I like it a little more.

https://georgeclanton.bandcamp.com/album/george-clanton-nick-hexum

lol i just noted all of my meticulously linked youtubes for my picks are returning error messages WHEEEEEEEE

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

Okay, actual nominations are starting so let's move the conversation over here now:
ILM's 2020 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD