best of lists

Top 100 Songs of 2014 (80-61)

The songs on this list are as cool as this doge. Well, almost.

The songs on this list are as cool as this doge. Well, almost.

 

Around this time, it starts to get really hard to place songs. I like all of these tunes — a lot. My Top 100 Songs of 2014 (80-61):

80. Vance Joy – Riptide/Mess Is Mine

 

79. Dum Dum Girls – Too True To Be Good

Favourite track from their really sexy last album.

 

78. Schoolboy Q – Man Of The Year

 

77. La Roux – Kiss And Not Tell/Sexotheque

These songs deserve waaaaaay more views.

 

Bonus: Omar Souleyman – Wenu Wenu (from 2013)

 

76. Lykke Li – No Rest For The Wicked

 

75. Foster The People – Best Friend

Best song on their latest LP.

 

74. Aphex Twin – Minipops 67 (120.2) (Source Field Mix)

Welcome back Richard. You were missed.

 

73. Marina and The Diamonds – Froot

 

72. ILOVEMAKKONEN f. Drake – Tuesday

So random. So fresh. So 2014.

 

71. Charli XCX – Boom Clap

 

Bonus: Kongos – I’m Only Joking (From 2011)

 

70. Bombay Bicycle Club – Luna/Home By Now

Two really, really good songs. Two good videos, especially the one for “Luna”.

 

69. Ex Cops – Black Soap

Heard this one late in 2014, but it grabbed me right away.

 

68. Interpol – All The Rage Back Home

El Pintor raging here, home, and anywhere else is always comforting.

 

67. One Direction – Story Of My Life

 

66. Hedley – Crazy For You

Methinks it’s the best song these canucks have ever done.

 

65. Ask Embla – Legion

 

64. A.G. Cook – Beautiful

Reminiscent of Happy Hardcore, yet still on the cutting edge of pop.  Banger.

 

63. Sam Smith – Stay With Me/Stay With Me (Rainer & Grimm Remix)

I’d previously mentioned the Rainer & Grimm Remix of this tune in my Top Remixes of 2014 list, but I had to link it again. Both it and the original are fantastic, though I do prefer the remix.

 

62. Paloma Faith – Only Love Can Hurt Like This

Big, brassy, bombastic pop.

 

61. Ed Sheeran – Sing/One

It took me a while to get into “Sing”, but when I did, I was hooked. “One” is simply gorgeous.

Ranking The Killers’ Christmas Songs

In addition to being one of the best and biggest rock bands on the planet and the best cover band around, The Killers also have oodles of holiday spirit. Since 2006, they’ve released one Christmas song every year in support of the Red Campaign which purports to help combat AIDS in Africa. (Whether it’s an efficient campaign is another story altogether. Google Red Campaign or Red Campaign Criticism to read different takes on the subject.)

Some of The Killers’ Christmas songs have been awesome. So good, in fact, that if they weren’t Christmas songs (a divisive category of music if ever there was one), they’d be hits based strictly on the strength of the melodies alone.

I assume The Killers will continue to release a Christmas song each year for the foreseeable future, but since they’ve already accrued a good number of such tunes to date, I’ve decided to fire up a list of my favourites.

9. Joel The Lump Of Coal f. Jimmy Kimmel (2014)

Cool chorus, not sure about the rest of the tune. Cute sentiment also.

 

8. Joseph, Better You Than Me f. Elton John & Neil Tennant (2008)

Despite having legends Neil Tennant and Elton John on the track, there’s something about the track that I can’t really get into.

 

7. Boots  (2010)

I like Dave Keuning’s guitar work here.

 

6. I Feel It In My Bones f. Ryan Pardey (2012)

The most ominous of The Killers’ Christmas tunes, and probably the most “rock ‘n roll” of the bunch too. If you like a little touch of morbid in your festive cheer, this song’s for you.

 

5. Don’t Shoot Me Santa (2007)

Great chorus. Also a tad macabre, but that’s what makes it work.

 

4. Christmas In LA f. Dawes (2013)

This song has a fantastic melody. I love the vocals from Dawes and Flowers.

 

3. A Great Big Sled (2006)

The Killers first ever Christmas release. The song, particularly the synths and guitars, that sounds most like their indomitable debut, Hot Fuss.

 

2. Happy Birthday Guadalupe! f. Mariachi El Bronx & Wild Light (2009)

Tonnes of fun with a super high earworm factor. This is one of the warmest Christmas cuts I’ve ever heard. It’s rotated with the song below as my favourite Christmas tune from the Vegas lads. It doesn’t sound like a Christmas song so much as it sounds like a really good Killers song. This is a good thing.

 

1. The Cowboy’s Christmas Ball (2011)

I love everything about this song, and I smile ear-to-ear whenever I hear it. I think it’s the catchiest Christmas song The Killers have yet done. The song is one giant hook, and the harmonies near the end of the tune are amazing (every Brandon Flowers vocal on this track is on point). Again, there are very few elements here that make it sound like a Christmas song. More than that, it’s just a fantastic Killers song.

I don’t think any other band can match what The Killers have done over the last decade, from albums to covers to Christmas tunes. All these things that they’ve done have been awesome, and I can’t wait to see and hear what they come up with next.

Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, and any other denominational holiday celebration to one of the best bands of the last decade!