rudimental

When you’re trying to tell your friends something but they’re not listening.

Getting warmer and warmer… Some may view a song ranked 60th or 53rd and not think much of it — I don’t see it like that. All the songs I’ve listed here are impressive. It’s not easy to rank songs when they’re this good, but hey, I give ‘er anyway. Fun fun fun ’til your daddy takes the T-bird away. Top 100 Songs of 2014 (60-41):

60. Grace Mitchell – Runaway

Slow-tempo’d power pop with a fantastic chorus.

59. Banks – Beggin For Thread

When I first heard Banks a while back, I thought, nice voice and vibe, but she doesn’t have anything I’d call a good song. That’s since been rectified. “Beggin For Thread” is a beast.

58. Merely – Princess Hervor

So chilly. So atmospheric. So good.

57. Bleachers – I Wanna Get Better

Insanely catchy. Great debut single.

Bonus: Naughty Boy f. Sam Smith – La La La (from 2013)

56. Alvvays – Archie, Marry Me

Took me a little while to get into it. A fantastic song, lyrically, melodically, Canadianally.

55. Perfume Genius – Queen

Harder than anything Mike Hadreas had done previously. One of his best. Sensational chorus.

54. Royal Blood – Figure It Out

Rock ‘n Roll bliss.

53. Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud

Soulful, sunny, and downright addictive. Isn’t everything the Ginger King does golden though? Or would his jewels be rubies? Either way.

52. Eternal Death – Head

One of my favourites from early 2014.

51. Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down

Best song she’s yet done.

50. Grimes – Go

Took a couple listens before I truly appreciated this masterpiece of a jam. What a jam it is. For some reason, it didn’t connect with the masses like “Genesis” or “Oblivion”, but “Go” is a tune on that level. Blood Diamonds’ production is downright filthy. Love the cymbal work in the chorus.

49. The Madden Brothers – We Are Done

When I first heard this track, I had no idea which 70’s band sung it. All I could do was hum and be impressed at the massive chorus. I wondered who it was by for some time. Then one day, I found out the song wasn’t 40 years old, but brand frickin new, and by Benji and Joel from Good Charlotte?! I was floored. Good Charlotte had some decent tunes, but this is by far the best thing the Cali bros have ever released.

Bonus: One Republic – I Lived (On my HM list in 2013, left a huge mark in 2014 also.)

48. Tei Shi – Bassically

It builds and builds and builds and builds. One of the sexiest pop songs of the year.

47. 5 Seconds of Summer – She Looks So Perfect

No escaping a chorus that huge.

46. Tove Lo – Over

Oh Sweden. How many times do you win me over in a given year with your mastery of pop music? I can’t count that high.

45. Hozier – Like Real People Do

Full discl-hozier, this is my favourite song from the Irish lad. Great lyrics. Fantastic melody.

44. The Griswolds – Beware The Dog

So sunny. So gitchy. So good. One of the best sing-a-long songs of the year.

Bonus: The Griswolds – Red Tuxedo

43. Rudimental f. Emeli Sande – Free

Rudimental lays down a pulsating beat, over which Emeli Sande shines. This song never gets old.

42. Enrique Iglesias f. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona – Bailando

Best song Enrique’s done in at least 10 years, if not ever. I had no reason to believe he’d ever be associated with a song of such quality. This tune is pure bliss. I can feel the warmth of summer when I listen to this song. That’s an amazing quality to possess.

41. The Alternate Routes – Nothing More

Gorgeous song in all manner of ways.

I wrote the following last year, but the words don’t belong to 2013. What follows is an evergreen sentiment that applies to all remixes. Here it is:

Transformation can do many things to an object. It can make something louder, quieter, bigger, smaller, heavier, lighter, darker, brighter, and so much more. The process of transformation is of some measure science, art, and parts unknown, and thus, cannot be coerced into formula.

Remixes seek to transform, in some manner, the source material into something new, fresh, and vibrant. The best remixes do this, and also pave a bridge of familiarity to the original. Developing something new while maintaining some semblance of the old is an enormously difficult task, and that’s why it rarely happens.

If a remixer is smart, the simple act of picking the right song to treat will come with a certain amount of cache, and will garner a certain level of intrigue (read: there will be a built-in audience). But that doesn’t mean the remix will end up being good. So many are not. There are some though, that are good, and some, even better than that. Not only do they transform, they transcend: the source material, emotions, and every so often, time itself. To be lost in a piece of art where an entire dimension ceases to exist is one of the joys of the artistic process, and indeed, one of the joys of this life.

To remix is to change. The best of the best though, remember to keep something of the original intact, whether it’s on the surface or buried deep beneath it. The great Roman poet Ovid, in his sprawling poem, “The Metamorphoses”, gives us an idea that serves as supreme directive for approaching remixes, “Omnia mutantur, nihil interit (everything changes, nothing perishes).”

50. alt-J – Left Hand Free (Lido remix)