top 25

Top 100 Songs of 2014 (25-11)

 

When the opportunity arises, will you be ready to snap that pic quickfast? #2014 #QuickOnTheDraw

Why did the chicken cross the road? Cause 2014 was a bitch and eggs don’t pay rent like they used to. #TheOnePercentAintChickensBrother #Yolk #Protein #MorningWalks #HealthOverWealth

The penultimate…

25. FKA Twigs – Two Weeks

Sultry down to its pulsating, electrified veins. Unabashedly sexy. Uncompromisingly commanding. Whip-cracking and snapdragon-y. Nodding to pop. Adherent to electronic. Mindful of RnB. Higher than a motherfucker. Get low and bow down to the queen. A coronation.

 

24. Sia – Chandelier/Elastic Heart

Some days, I think “Elastic Heart” is the better song. Most days, it’s my favourite of the two. And that’s not to disparage the force of “Chandelier” in any way — I don’t think there’s any doubt it has the hugest chorus of any pop song in 2014. I may just like “Elastic Heart’s” tempo and track a bit better. But this is splitting hairs. They’re both incredible songs. My non-denominational-deity, what a run Sia has been on the past few years. (There are no bonus points, but bonus points for the wonderful, bold, artistic video that accompanies “Elastic Heart”.)

 

23. Bombay Bicycle Club – Feel

My favourite tune from BBC’s latest full-length. This eastern-indebted ditty is awesome. It exemplifies the London lads’ talent, creativity, and sense of fun. It’s crystal clear they love music, and more than that, it’s clear they love exploring: sounds, rhythm, and the definition of the word “song.” That’s why I hold them in such high regard. And that electric guitar come-in at 2:36. Jesus Christ. Frankly, I’ve never heard a rhythmic, catchy, alt-pop, East-Indian leaning song before. I’m not sure another such song exists. Oh BBC. I’m forever tuned into your channel.

 

22. Sarah Bareilles – I Choose You

It might be difficult for some to see the appeal of “I Choose You”. Some might hear a straightforward pop song and shrug. Some might hear too much saccharine. Some might say any number of other things to denigrate the song. I won’t have any of it. It’s simply gorgeous. It’s Sarah Bareilles’ angelic vocals, the simple, humble, vulnerable lyrics, the way it all fits together so effortlessly. I found myself humming this tune more than almost any other in 2014.

 

Bonus: The Tea Party  – The Maker

“The Maker” is my #1 cover of 2014. If I hadn’t already placed it on that list, it’d reside somewhere around here, up in the stratosphere of the very best tunes of the year. And since I already linked to the record version of the song, here’s an amazing live version.

 

21. La Roux – Let Me Down Gently/Tropical Chancer

I’m kind of surprised La Roux didn’t blast through all layers of the music landscape in 2014 with these tunes. Perhaps her 5-year hiatus from the scene was too long. I’d worried it was. People are fickle and people forget. It’s a bloody shame though, as several of her comeback tunes are sensational. “Let Me Down Gently” and “Tropical Chancer” are among them. The former was La Roux’s first comeback song, 5:40 divided into two distinct parts, with the come-in at 2:40 a delicious slice of fresh, synth-buoyed retro pop. The latter was the third song Elly Jackson released, and blew me away just as the first two had. It’s a slinky, sexy, sweaty piece of confetti. I let its rain drop unabated in my ears time after time. The gear-shift at 2:28 is so, so slick, and that background flute flourish adds the cherry on top of this delectable fruit salad.

 

20. Elliphant f. Mo – One More

Cons: simple tune; pretty bad lyrics, kind of shitty video.

Pros: it has enough swag to fill up every one of those soon-to-be-empty Target stores, it has Scandinavians, and it has the biggest fucking synth-pop drop of 2014 (2:02).

“One More” I played. One more time after it ends. One more for the Swedes. One more back to life.

 

19. One Direction – Night Changes

The group is bigger than their music at this point. The haircuts, the tattoos, the backlash, whether Harry still loves Taylor, if Harry would rather be Larry. All these things, important cogs in the machine I’m sure, but they’ve overshadowed the five English lads’ music.

That said, One Direction don’t really need to focus on the actual music any more. The jet’s on auto-pilot as it were, indeed, as it is until the group inevitably breaks up, probably soon.

Which makes the fact that this is their best song since “What Makes You Beautiful” all the more the striking. It’s a mature, mid-tempo juggernaut with harmonies from the heavens and a melody moulded by Midas. If this is their last huge hit, and it very well may be, they couldn’t have had a better last hurrah.

 

18. alt-J – Left Hand Free/Intro

Whether or not the story behind “Left Hand Free” — that it was written in half an hour to quell pushy label demands — is true is irrelevant. The song sounds like an effortless undertaking, like the most fun alt-J have ever had laying down a track. It’s a mouthwatering mound of sweets. Even though it’s probably the most straightforward tune the band have done, it’s undeniably quirky, undeniably alt-J. Joe Newman’s lyrics are often esoteric and/or undecipherable, and even on a track like this where you can mostly hear what he’s saying, there are still some parts that make you go wtf.

“Hey shady baby, I’m hot like the pa-rodigal son. Pick a petal (Bigger battle) eenie-meenie-minie-mo, and flower, you’re the chosen one” was a lyric I sang as much or more than any other in 2014. Fuck, alt-J are so good.

You might think a song called “Intro” (their second song titled “Intro”) would be basic, maybe boring, unfulfilling, skip-worthy. You’d be dead fucking wrong. That there is so much meat on this “Intro” is a testament to how talented the guys in alt-J are. Creativity is spilling from every orifice of their collective body. There are wonderful harmonies, effects I can’t put my finger on, and again, indecipherable lyrics. Oh, and a bad-ass, floor-rattling beat. The stuff these guys are capable of musically doesn’t seem real, because anything is possible. And I’m god-damn thankful for those impossibilities. Triangles in the air, everyone.

 

17.  Against Me! – True Trans Soul Rebel/Black Me Out/Paralytic States/FuckMyLife666

What a massive, massive comeback. Their first album since White Crosses, their first album since Tom Gabel became Laura Jane Grace. I can only imagine the amount Laura Jane and the band had to process over the past few years. Does it sound like they’re confused? Like the music is unsure? Not a chance in hell. My jaw dropped when I first listened to the album. I knew it’d be one of the best of the year, even though it was only mid-January. I continued to listen to the album throughout the year, with the following four songs being talismans of my affection for the record. Grace has always had a way with clever and/or evocative lyrics and accessible, punchy riffs, and this sees her issue many more examples of that ability.

Gems like, “Black me out, I wanna piss on the walls of your house/I wanna chop those brass rings, off your fat fucking fingers, as if you were a kingmaker/As if, as if, as if, black me out!”

And, “Paralytic states of dependency/Our waking life’s just a living dream/Agitated states of amazement/Never quite the woman that she wanted to be.”

And maybe my favourite, “Don’t wanna live without bite, don’t wanna die without teeth…”

I have such affection for this band, this record, these songs.

 

Bonus: Paper Kites – Leopold Street (from 2012)

Possibly the sweetest (despite the weepy lyrics), most touching song I heard in 2014. It’s from 2012 though, so I didn’t include it as an official selection (haha, the rules). I can explain what I think of this song quite succinctly: I love it, dearly in fact, and it makes me think of love. Sometimes music’s a pretty simple thing, isn’t it.

 

16. Cold War Kids – First

“First you lose trust, then you get worried…First you get hurt, then you get sorry…First you get close, then you get worried…How am I the lucky one? I do not deserve, to wait around forever when you were there first…”

I’ve been a really big fan of Cold War Kids since their debut, even if they haven’t taken off like I think they’ve deserved to. And to my shock, five albums in, I think they may have just issued their best song. Some people might call that blasphemous, but I really do think “First” will stand alongside, if not above, “Hang Me Up To Dry”, “Hospital Beds”, and “Bitter Poem” when it’s all said and done.

 

15. Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods/Blank Space

Outrageously catchy songs, both of them. It’s a crappy situation that I can’t find a quality link of “Out Of The Woods”, so I have to share the “live” version. The studio version is incredible. Ms. Swift seems to be running the music business at the moment, and she and her minions don’t want any unauthorized sharing of her hits. Save those pennies Taylor. Minor distractions from what are two absolute Goliaths. Swifty cannot release a non-gargantuan single. It’s around eight in a row that have been brilliant. I’m genuinely interested to see how long she can keep the streak alive. One more album?

 

14. Coldplay – Magic

My Favourite Coldplay song in many, many moons. In fact, probably since their first record, which is a looong time ago. I love the subtle beat that carries the first part of the song. I love that Coldplay have never done a song like this before, and I love that they felt frisky enough to try. I love that the tune’s insanely catchy. It’d probably be accurate to say I love the whole damn thing.

 

13. Cage The Elephant – Spiderhead/Telescope/Cigarette Daydreams

These songs are from a 2013 album. These songs made my Honourable Mention list in 2013. Yet, I don’t think I truly listened to them until this year, and toward the latter part of it at that. That was a mistake, but man, was it also a revelation.

Originally, I had these songs placed around #60. But it felt wrong. Shoplifting at you-know-they’re-closing-soon-so-why-not-help-yourself-to-a-little-sending-off-present-a-severance-package-of-sorts-ah-yes-that-sounds-nice Target wrong. Oh wait, that couldn’t be more right. But I digress. I figured out the best place to put these songs, and I’m happy they reside here, among the giants.

What struck me as I began to really get into these songs is that Cage The Elephant are a great band. I don’t know why this surprised me. They’ve hinted at greatness before. I don’t know what kind of blockage I had, but it’s better now. I see them for what they are: one of the coolest, most melodically inclined bunch of bad-asses cranking out tunes right now. They pay homage to Nirvana, The Beatles, and a bunch more, yet still come out sounding like no one else. That’s talent.

“Spiderhead”, the web of distortion, hooks, and crooked angles. “Spiders in my head, spiders in my mind/You may take my eyes, but baby, I’m not blind.” This tune is so bloody dynamic and fun.

“Telescope”, vision of the afar, sombre reflection, beautiful bed time story. The introduction in particular (about the first two minutes) is adorable, impeccable, and completely transfixing. I could listen to it forever. Maybe I will.

“Cigarette Daydreams” is the coup d’etat, sheer perfection, near transcendence. The melody is one of the best of the year, hands down. I’ve played it so, so, so much over the past couple months. I think I’ll play it much, much more. “Cigarette daydream, you were only 17/So sweet, with a mean streak, nearly brought me to my knees.” A simple lyric, but put to that combination of sounds, it’s wholly compelling.

 

12. La Roux – Uptight Downtown

With “Let Me Down Gently” and “Tropical Chancer” just a few spots down the list, the thought crossed my mind to combine all of them in one spot. But I couldn’t. “Uptight Downtown” is the best tune of the bunch, even though the other two are staggering slices of song in their own right.

It’s the romp-and-stomp decisiveness of the beat. It’s the quick-hit synths that guide the song like a hand-hold to a cuckold. It’s the lyric, “When did all these all these people, decide to change their shoooes, shoooes, shoooes.” It’s Elly Jackson’s assured, cooing vocals. It’s the rising temperature. It’s the grooviest song La Roux’s yet done. The fullest. And it’s that mountainous, mesmerizing chorus.

This should have been as big of a hit as the other gigantic pop songs of 2014. I’m not sure why it wasn’t. It was for me, and I’m happy as hell for that.

 

11. Maximo Park – Drinking Martinis/Midnight On The Hill/Where We’re Going/Brain Cells

It seems like whenever Maximo Park release a new album, I have their songs extremely high on my lists. It seems like I’m the only one in North America to do so. They’re so much an afterthought over here that if they even tour North America, they do it in a select few cities, none of which in Canada. I feel deep disappointment and shame for this. I don’t know why they haven’t connected with audiences here. I’m pretty sure their first couple albums did pretty well and garnered a bunch of praise. Then, it seems, people kind of forgot about them. I haven’t. They continue to be one of the most reliable outfits on the planet when it comes to crafting relatable, melodic, alt-pop gems. I’m convinced that in an alternate space/time/galaxy, Maximo Park are the biggest band around. I want to visit wherever that is. I just need to figure out how to get there.

I find sooooooooo much pleasure in the following four songs. And like many of the songs from their previous three albums, I can’t overplay them. The melodies and cores are so strong, so resplendent, that I never tire of listening to them. There is something about the way Paul Smith describes relationships, daily events, special events, life, that always grips me, takes me to another place. In this place, maybe I’m privy to his dreams, maybe he’s narrating mine. Maybe the point is to inspire dreaming. Yup, I think that’s it. And man, what a wonderful job he and his group have always done at that.

Top 50 Cover Songs of 2014 (25-1)

My favourite 25 cover songs of 2014 (with original artist in parentheses);

25. Alt-j – Fitzpleasure (A cappella)

Not technically from 2014, but a beautiful cover nevertheless.

 

24. Sam Smith – How Will I Know (Whitney Houston)

Mr. Smith covered a bunch of tunes in 2014, and this was my favourite. He takes an already great pop song/melody, sung by a likewise preternaturally gifted singer, and makes it sound sensational in a way that only he can.

 

23. Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires – Born In The USA (Bruce Springsteen)

So, so different than the original. It actually sounds like a new song, such is its wayward exploration of one of The Boss’s best tunes.

 

22. Hot Chip – Atomic Bomb (William Onyeabor)

Hot Chip make everything they touch fun, including this cover.

 

21. Grouplove – Ways To Go/Spiderhead (Cover of their own song)/(Cage The Elephant)

I love that Grouplove spontaneously covered their own song before they tackled the Cage tune, for which they issue all kinds of justice. Grouplove imbed an alt-country soul to maybe the best song from Cage’s latest album, and it works out great.

 

20. The Cure – Hello Goodbye (The Beatles)

The Cure covering The Beatles? Yes please, I’ll have some of that.

 

19. London Grammar – Pure Shores (All Saints)

“Pure Shores” is one of the best pop songs of the late 90’s/early aughts. William Orbit’s production on the track is magical. It’s All Saints’ best song by a mile, and I love that it’s been given a new sound almost a decade and a half after its release. Hannah Reid’s pristine voice sounds great guiding this cover to its beach.

 

18. Sufjan Stevens – A Little Lost (Arthur Russell)

Sufjan for all of the feels. Always.

 

17. The Honey Ants – You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon)

The most genuine and heart-warming this song has yet sounded. The harmonies in this version are gorgeous. Paul Simon, Al, and those wishing to be called Al should all be proud.

 

16. Capitol Chidlren’s Choir – Father Father (Lauren Mvula)

I really wish this troupe would do more covers, as everything they do is golden. But, I guess, you know, school and all.

 

15. Kiesza – What Is Love (Haddaway)

Wonderfully-sung, stripped down version of the untz-untz classic.

 

14. Foster The People – Hold On, We’re Going Home (Drake)

Really, really dig this brooding, auto-tune employing, synth-heavy cover that Mark Foster and his people have cooked up.

 

13. Henry Green – My Number (Foals)

Where the original is a jittery, ooh-laden alt-pop gem, the cover is a cavernous, deep breath of a song. I like the turn down. It’s peaceful here.

 

12. Local H – Team (Lorde)

If you’re wondering what a Lorde track would sound like with a hard rock facelift, here lies your answer. It works.

 

11. Avec Sans – Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush)

Running Up That Hill is a classic song. Placebo’s mid-aughts cover (featured most notably on The O.C.) is astounding(ly good). You’d think it’d be pointless for another act to have another go at it, right? Wrong. Whatever the motivation, I’m glad Avec Sans made this cover. The synth work on this cover is phenomenal.

 

10. Say Lou Lou – Instant Crush (Daft Punk)

A warmer, more personal take on one of the better songs from Daft Punk’s last album.

 

9. Arctic Monkeys – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (Tame Impala)

I love the original. The lyrics, melody, and music are all fantastic. But when Alex Turner drops his signature croon on a track, he makes it his own, and that’s that. This is an amazing cover by a brilliant musician.

 

8. Nazca – Survivor (Destiny’s Child)

Jaw-dropping cover. Adds a healthy serving of emotional resonance that the original can’t touch. I know the original was a huge hit for Destiny’s Child, but it sounds kind of dated at this point. Frankly, this cover is better.

 

7. Red Hot Chilli Pipers – Wake Me Up (Avicii)

If you like bagpipes, this is your jam. When I first came across this tune, I thought the Red Hot Chilli Peppers had done the cover. Then I learned to read, and then I realized the tune’s by an aerophone-wielding collective of Scots. This instrumental cover is brilliant.

 

6. Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang – Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)

This cover is batshit crazy. It’s unlike anything I’d heard, cover or otherwise, in 2014. It’s incredible.

 

5. Chvrches – Do I Wanna Know? (Arctic Monkeys)

Chvrches’ more-than-two-years-hot-streak knows no bounds. And it doesn’t apply to just their own stuff, but everything they touch. This cover is sensational. The synth work by Iain Cook and Martin Doherty is sublime. No synth-based cover of this song could’ve been constructed in a better way.

 

4. Manchester Orchestra – Escape (Jimmy Buffett)

Do you like pina coladas? Do you like cover songs that come from the deepest part of left field that they have to climb over the wall, into the bleachers, out of the stadium, down the street, and into another area code? Do you like getting caught in the rain? Do you have half a brain? If you find yourself answering yes to any of these queries, you’ll probably like this song. Hell, if you just listen to this song, you’ll probably like it. And I’ll like you. Life is simple sometimes.

 

3. Sturgill Simpson – The Promise (When In Rome)

What do I hear when I listen to this Sturgill Simpson cover? A beautiful fucking song. The original is a slinky synth-pop ditty in the vain of Erasure or Pet Shop Boys. It’s a really cool track. This cover couldn’t give two shits about cool. It’s a grassroots promise, and it conveys the gravity of that commitment in a profound, heart-rattling way. Extremely impressive.

 

2. Todd Terje f. Bryan Ferry – Johnny and Mary (Robert Palmer)

Bryan Ferry is a fucking force on this cover. Not because he’s yelling at the top of this lungs, but because his vocal is stranded on an island of pain, where life’s experiences — the tumult of reflecting on those experiences in particular — is the only hope of getting off. If a man is wise with no one to share his wisdom with, is he still wise?

All that power and I haven’t even touched on Todd Terje’s awesome track. The vibe he’s constructed is a perfect match for Ferry’s pensive, aching vocal. It’s sparse when it needs to be, filling when it should be. “Johnny and Mary” is a classic song. I feel like this cover can already be called that too. Mighty, mighty stuff.

 

1. The Tea Party – The Maker (Daniel Lanois)

Hands down, my favourite cover of the year. It’s the ode to deep water. It’s Daniel Lanois’ melody and lyric. It’s Jeff Martin’s typically teflon-strong vocal. It’s reminiscing about the fields of Abraham. It’s the cymbal. That purposeful, perfectly timed cymbal. It’s The Maker.

Whose maker? Mine, yours, this song’s, all song’s, all things.

It’s the guitar. It’s the best song on The Tea Party’s latest and long-awaited new record. It’s that one of the best bands in Canadian history is back together. It’s that all three of them are brilliant musicians.

All of it, moving.

Usually, I’m taken aback by covers that alter the source material in very obvious ways. That’s what makes a cover stand out. Why do it if you can’t bring something something fresh and original to the project.

What touches me and astounds me so much about this cover is that The Tea Party don’t really change things that much. It’s not a dance version of a country song. It’s not a rock version of an a cappella tune. The melody is unchanged.

The original is — although I only discovered it in 2014 — one of the best songs a Canadian band or artist has ever produced. Of this I’m sure.

And yet, I’m completely transfixed and transported. At their best, The Tea Party have always had that power. They’ve proven that on songs like “Psychopomp”, “Fire In The Head”, “Release”, and “Save Me”.

For a band that have issued some of the best and most original rock music of the last 20 years to produce a cover this affecting is a fucking marvel.

It had been 10 long years since The Tea Party last released new music. If it proves to be a one off, and they never make another record again, they should find solace in this cover.

They took a piece of art that already, wonderfully, gracefully, existed in the artistic consciousness. They didn’t make it better. They didn’t make it fresher. They made it their own. They gave us a reminder. Of what music is capable of. Isn’t that the point of it all?