Top Songs of 2014: 21-40

40. "Just One of the Guys" by Jenny Lewis (from The Voyager)

"I'm just another / lady without a baby"

Nice little jaunt of a song until you start listening to the depressing lyrics.

39. "No Tears" by Jeezy (from Seen It All: The Autobiography)
"They say you lose all your friends when you finally start winning"

Wait, Young Jeezy and Jeezy are the same person? This is also Future's second appearance on the list, which is not intentional. 

38. "Parade" by The Antlers (from Familiars)
"But then when the streets get flooded / we know what proximity's worth / 'cause where already here / in the same place when our phones don't work"

With apologies to the great John Darnielle, we don't know of anyone that writes lyrics more literary than Peter Silberman. 

37. "Black" by The-Dream (single)
"Enough pain can make a whole race bitter / they say the right amount of love can heal us"

This was released as a response to the Donald Sterling incident. If only that was the most divisive racial moment of the year. 

36. "All Ways, Always" by JJ (from V)
"'Cause I'm the one that made your boyfriend high / and now he made you cry"

After a stunning sophomore effort, expectations for JJ began to fall after a drab No 3 and the fading novelty of gently singing rap lyrics on subsequent singles.  But V is solid straight through. “Dynasti” is probably the strongest “classic” JJ song on the album, but the surprising electric guitar licks (their first?) that lead off closing track “All Ways, Always” signal a playfulness that has been missing and makes us excited for what comes next.. 

35. "Close Your Eyes (and Count to Fuck)" by Run the Jewels  (from Run the Jewels 2)
"We killin' them for freedom / 'cause they tortured us for boredom"

Killer Mike and El-P are excellent MCs, but this song is so reminiscent of Public Enemy that it hard not to imagine how amazing it would be with Chuck D behind the mic. 

34. "Queen" by Perfume Genius (from Too Bright)
"No family's safe / when I sashay"

Following two gorgeous albums of being the victim, Michael Hadreas sounds ready to fight back. 

33. "Real Thing" by tUnE-yArDs (from nikki nack)
"I come from the land of slaves / let's go Redskins / let's go Braves"

Hate writing that band name. 

32. "Beyond Illusion" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (from Only Run)
"We were born to ride alone"

Somehow, only the fourth album in CYHSY's very strange career.

31. "Trippy Gum" by Deers (single)

"'Cause we were like ooo oooo ooooo oooo ooo"

It may not be best for their career, but we'd enjoy hearing more from these incredibly lo-fi Spaniards in their native language.

30. "On the Rocks" by The Rural Alberta Advantage (from Mended with Gold)

"Our hearts they were strong / never made a sound"

Among the more consistent bands out there, song to song, album to album.  

29. "Gunshot" by Lykke Li (from I Never Learn)

"I am longing for your poison"

After Li appeared on the Fleetwood Mac cover album a few years back it is hard not to hear a lot of Stevie Nicks in her voice. 

28. "To The Top" by Twin Shadow (single)

"Stay / life can be long"

Three appearances in three years, despite only releasing one album to date.  Never underestimate 80's nostalgia. 

27. "You Tell Me Where" by The New Pornographers (from Brill Bruisers)

"The joy's addictive / although restrictive"

The NPs typically have a relatively clear separation between singers on each song. This is probably the best interplay between Neko and A.C. since, ever? Too bad they couldn't work Dan in there. 

26. "Jennifer Kills the Giant (Once a Week)" by Evil Arrows (from EP 1)

"Papa is a government man / she isn't a fan"

S3's favorite song, probably because she enjoys imagining her mother as a (semi-semi-monthly) monster slayer. 

25. "Hard to Hold" by RAC w/ Tegan and Sara (from Strangers)

"If you don't want me / baby, you don't deserve me"

What is this, four straight pure pop songs in a row? Where is the angry dissafected youth? Let's fix this. 

24. "I'm Not a Part of Me" by Cloud Nothings (from Here and Nowhere Else)

"You're the thought that's haunting me" 

In a year where Paul Westerberg and the Replacements got back together, their driving punk-pop legacy lives on.

23. "Forever" by Painted Palms (from Forever)

"Oh my head feels like the weather"

Released almost exactly a year ago, this song christened our original 2014 folder in iTunes.  Very Beatles-ish. 

22. "Wonderful Unknown" by Ingrid Michaelson (from Lights Out)

"Oh, we make bread on Sundays and the little ones are climbing up the walls (up the walls) / oh, nothing lasts forever but the sound of love astounds me every time that it calls "

Pretty simple and maybe a bit saccharine, but lovely enough to pierce our candy shell of cynicism.

21. "Little Fang" by Avery Tare's Slasher Flicks (from Enter the Slasher House)

"If there are doubts then we will groove it out"

The song is weird. The video is fucking insane. 

Top Songs of 2014: 41-60

60. "7:30 am" by Slothrust (from Of Course You Do)

"You're gonna walk right out that door / I'm gonna watch you walk away"

Aided by being the theme song to You're the Worst, which started slowly but became one of the better TV shows of the year.

59. "Moving to the Left" by Woods (from With Light and With Love)
"It feels strange / it feels the same"

Woods has released 5 albums in 6 years and has made this list each time. Each release is never any less than pleasant, but rarely much more than that.  

58. "Plymouth" by Strand of Oaks (from HEAL)
"Comfort doesn't mean you're better off"

So weary. We like weary. 

57. "Do It Again" by Röyksopp & Robyn (from Do It Again EP)
<nope>

Every year we allow ourselves one mulligan for lyrics that we just don't feel like spotlighting. By coincidence, last year it was the #57 song as well. 

56. "Riptide" by Vance Joy (from Dream Your Life Away)
"I got a lump in my throat because / you're gonna sing the words wrong"

There is a fine line between multi-instrument folk(ish) acts that we like unreservedly (Beirut, Fanfarlo) and those that we find a bit derivative/dull (Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men). This is the Mumford line, and Vance Joy just set up shop right on top of it. 

55. "Never Work for Free" by Tennis (from Ritual in Repeat)
"I can't live on metaphors"

Wonderfully classic girl group sound to the chorus, even if Tennis is a one woman (and one husband) show. 

54. "Pascualita" by The Derevoltions (single)
"I switching prose like the button on the sink in your kitchen"

Still waiting on a full album from these guys; the Soundcloud posts will have to be enough in the interim. Not on Spotify, so use the Soundcloud link. 

53. "Tough Love" by Jessie Ware (from Tough Love)
"So you want to be a man about it / do you have to?"

Ware's debut placed a song in our top 20 in 2012, but Tough Love is a stronger album overall. 

52. "Collard Greens" by Schoolboy Q w/ Kendrick Lamar (from Oxymoron)
"Sword in my hand I'll fight like this / and I'm more than a man, I'm a GOD / bitch, touche en garde"

Oxymoron needs more Menomena samples.

51. "I Need You" by M83 (from Divergent OS)

"We are cold and see-through"

It’s hard not to lose sight of the music and want to dock this one a bit for being the musical accompaniment to the lamest scene in an already not very good movie.

50. "Torrent" by Ásgeir (from In the Silence)

"Gods of iron clashing, wind in battle through the night"

Even a casual listen to the In the Silence makes it pretty obvious that the album was translated somewhat literally (rather than artfully) from Icelandic. Really, its jarring how ill suited the English lyrics seem (see above). But the music + voice make this a pretty decent Bon Iver clone.  

49. "Bone Digger" by Bear Hands (from Distraction)

"I'm flipping through noble burials now"

This is about as much as we can like a song and still have almost no interest in learning any more about the band and/or their music.

48. "Simple and Sure" by Pains of Being Pure at Heart (from Days of Abandon)

"She's in love with a complicated man"

A bit of a comedown after "Belong" was the #3 song of 2011.

47. "Chorus" by Moonbabies (single)

"No one will see my laugh 'til its funny"

Aptly titled, as the song's strengths are in the layered vocals of the chorus. Downloaded on Dec 8, this is the last song added to the list this year.

46. "Johnny and Mary" by Todd Terje w/ Bryan Ferry  (from It's Album Time)

<Robert Palmer cover>

Typically it is more of a negative when our favorite song sounds absolutely nothing like the rest of the album.  But the techno disco of the rest album is pretty good, albeit requiring a certain mood.

45. "Hero" by Frank Ocean / Diplo / Mick Jones and Paul Simonon (single)

"I'm a bad boy / I'm a punk / I'm a black man / I can dunk"

We should focus on the positives of this track, which combines the strengths of its 3 contributors better than any of Converse's 3 Artists. One Song releases to date. But hearing what may be first new track featuring two key members of The Clash in nearly 30 years, it is also a reminder how fucking depressing it is that Strummer died so young. 

44. "Honest Season" by The Hood Internet (single)

<Future vs. Future Islands mashup>

For purposes of the One Artist rule, this is a Future song , leaving Future Islands free to appear again (foreshadowing!). Track is not on Spotify, so stream/download here. Also: Onions!

43. "Awake" by Tycho (from Awake)

<Instrumental>

No lyrics to decipher!

42. "XO" by Beyoncé (from Beyoncé)

"Baby love me lights out"

Since everyone seems cool about ignoring the fact that this came out in very late 2013.  Not our favorite genre of song by a long shot, but a pretty top notch example of it.

41. "Berlin Story" by Nicholas Scribner (from Wroclaw)

"And I still wear it / the one you gave me under the wall"

Just another track we almost certainly would not have heard without the consistently excellent Music for Ants blog, where Taylor is as close to a musical-taste-doppleganger as we've been able to find. Not on Spotify, see link above. 

Top Songs of 2014: 61-80

  

80. "Violently Wild" by Horse Feathers (from So It Is With Us) 

"The dirtiest deeds justified merely by the need / to seldom lay down alone"

A minor comeback. Horse Feather's 2006 debut was our #21 album of the last decade, but each successive album was a bit more forgettable. So It is With Us is a much more lively affair than their recent output, to the extent moody, string-heavy folk is ever lively.  

79. "All the Time" by Bahamas (from Bahamas is Afie)
"I had all the time in the world / you wanted none of that"

We are all for bands making making a few dollars on commercials, but when the song fits really well it makes it hard not to hear the track and immediately imagine James Franco falling off a building.

78. "Pressure" by My Brightest Diamond (from This is My Hand)
"Disperse the white light"

An individual giving themselves a band name is something many others have done (LCD Soundsystem, Iron & Wine, Say Hi, etc.) but Shara Worden is the first we know to write an origin story.

77. "Every Night" by Hannah Diamond (single)
"I like the way you like that I like how you look"

The PC Music collective provided such a sugar rush in 2014 that we could only stomach putting one song on this list (“Hey QT” probably could have slipped on here as well if we didn’t mind risking adult-onset diabetes).

76. "I Retired" by Hamilton Leithauser (from Black Hours)
"As long as I can keep the train rolling / uh huh'"

The Walkmen have never made this list, failing to rise much above simply being "listenable" for us. The lead single from their frontman's throwback solo album starts with more of the same, until about halfway through when the Rostam-produced track slows down and gets retro.

75. "Dangerous" by Big Data feat. Joywave (single)
"How could they know / what I've been thinking?"

Sometimes a big ass hook and some handclaps is enough, though it lags a bit at nearly 5 minutes. (some ambiguity as to whether this is a 2013 or 2014 track --- if necessary swap out with "Tongues" also from Joywave)

74. "Mercy" by Mr. Little Jeans (from Pocketknife)
"Beginner's luck ran out / one reason you're on your knees"

In a year cluttered with chart topping and critically acclaimed female pop albums, Mr. Little Jeans (Monica Birkenes) released, for our money, one of the best and most consistent. Advance single "Oh Sailor" was in our top 20 last year. 

73. "The Man" by Aloe Blacc (from Lift Your Spirit)
"Be a king when kingdom comes"

Under normal circumstances, its classic soul vibe and Blacc's prior appearance on this list would drive a higher ranking -- but the song is a constant reminder of CK7 definitively not being The Man in the Pacific Northwest (or in general these days) despite his overpriced headphones. 

72. "Flashed Junk Mind" by Milky Chance (from Sadnecessary)
"And we were bound to the city life"

We've seen Milky Chance described as a mix of Gotye and Citizen Cope, which is pretty accurate (for better or worse).

71. "Beggin For Thread" by Banks (from Goddess)

"My words come out as a pistol / and I'm no good at aiming"

A lot of Lana Del Rey comparisons, but this song is a lot more active than anything on Ultraviolence.  

70. "On&On&On&On" by Baio (single)

<instrumental>

Chris Baio joins Rostam Batmanglij as Vampire Weekend members making the list with non-vocal solo efforts.  Wonderful, but let's not stray too far from the day job, boys. 

69. "Zigzagging Toward the Light" by Conor Oberst (from Upside Down Mountain)

"Home is a perjury / a parlor trick / an urban myth"

Conor Oberst has been at it for 20 years as Bright Eyes and under his own name. We know what to expect by now.  That's not always a bad thing.  

68. "3Jane" by EMA (from The Future's Void)

"Like an American superpower / turn on the spotlight and nobody cowers"

A song about how soulless and terrible the Internet is. Which we learned about from the Internet. 

67. "Severed Crossed Fingers" by St. Vincent (from St. Vincent)

"I got hope but my hope isn't helping you"

If this was a list for most insanely awesome hair, Annie Clark would be a lot higher on the list. 

66. "Attak" by Rustie w/ Danny Brown (from Green Language)

"Your ho look atrocious / my bitches look ferocious"

You will never have to work so hard trying to follow a lyric video.

65. "Thousand Eyes" by Lia Ices (from Ices)

"And we know that we go on"

Ices plays like a solid album to us, despite being quite poorly received overall.

64. "A Little Lost" by Sufjan Stevens (from Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell)

<Arthur Russell cover>

Sufjan topped the first installment of this list in 2005. What a strange career. 

63. "From Eden" by Hozier (from Hozier)

"Innocence died screaming / honey ask me I should know"

While we like this song, we are discomforted by the near certainty that it will appear over a closing montage of characters looking forlorn or hopeful or forlorn/hopeful on Grey's Anatomy or similar, if it hasn't already.

62. "Eyeballs" by Pillar Point (from Pillar Point)

"Open all your doors and be released"

It’s always a pleasant surprise after a band disappears to have the lead singer come back sounding just as good. In this case, Throw Me The Statue released two upbeat pop albums in 2008-2009 (including “Waving at the Shore” our #21 song of 2009) before simply going away until Scott Reitherman came back as Pillar Point this year. 

61. "Don’t Wait (Chance the Rapper + Social Experiment Remix)" by The Mapei (from Don't Wait EP)

"I'm only back for funerals / we should throw a wedding"

Guest verses will have to hold us over as we wait for Chance's follow-up to Acid Rap.