2014 Songs of the Year: Part One - 60 through 51

It's that time of year and as always I'm a little late out of the gate (blame the fact that advertising, my day job, doesn't make compiling this sort of list in December particularly easy!)

I didn't do a songs list last year but as I've focused more on posting one off tracks in 2014 it felt much more relevant. I'm going with a top 60 format and will be posting ten every day or so, then I will look to cover the top ten albums of the year.

I won't comment on these early ones (I just don't have the time sadly!) but where possible I've included a free streaming link or video, otherwise I expect a Spotify player.

Finally before we dive in, I wanted to call out four songs that very nearly made it but just missed out. Stills by Panes, Restless by Oyinda (big hopes for 2015!), Levitation by Marz Léon and Everything We Touch by Say Lou Lou. And with that, on to the list...

Click the Prev post button at the bottom of this post to get to Part Two.

60. Mess On A Mission - Liars

59. Hold Me - JJ

58. Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) - Run The Jewels feat. Zack De La Rocha

57. Summer Jorts (Some Cats Still Do) - Lockah

56. Origins - Max Cooper

55. Let Me Down Gently - La Roux

54. Heroine - The Night VI

53. Johnny and Mary - Todd Terje

52. Getaway - EBY feat. IIRIS

51. Oasis - Alpines

More to follow...

Stream: Forget (MNDR Remix) - Home Video

Probably the last new track I'll post before Christmas... Some cool emotive electronic pop here on the new MNDR remix of Home Video's Forget. MNDR add some drama, creating something a little bit like the Postal Service remixed by M83... In other words expect to feel it rather than just hear it.

Stream: Hey Mami (Jack Garratt Remix) - Sylvan Esso

Sylvan Esso are one of my most enjoyed random finds in 2014 - their self-titled debut album alternates between delicate pop, folk and modern grime and garage influenced urban sounds. Love it. 

The band have just announced that the hotly tipped solo artist Jack Garratt (featured here back in October) is to support them at their sold out London Scala show on February 26 so it seemed like a good opportunity to go back and share the remix he did of one of Sylvan Esso's best tracks, Mami.

Check out the remix above, and the original below. Such bass.

Stream: Good Together - Tom Aspaul

A glorious slither of pop perfection here from London-based, Wolverhampton-born singer/songwriter Tom Aspaul. This track is taken from the Revelation Mixtape, which Aspaul plans to self-release early next year.

This track was produced by GRADES (real name Dan Traynor), and the duo worked on it after a night out in Soho... After creating the track in a vision inspired by future neon cities and Janet Jackson's Doesn't Really Matter video that night Aspaul ended up banging his head on a table and blacking out. The lyrics came out of that event, with the singing likening the experience to both Newton's moment of revelation when the apple hit his head and that moment when you are hit between the eyes when you meet the person you realise you are meant to be with.

Check it out below. I've also posted a second track, Indiana, which is just as infectious.

Stream: Your Love Will Set You Free (c2's Set U Free RMX) - Caribou

Been meaning to post this since it dropped earlier in the week, but December being what it is I'm only getting to it now. Anyway - a killer remix of the emotive closing track from Caribou's latest album Our Love from Carl Craig. The melodies are stripped back here creating an even more amplified disconnect - Dan Swain's vocals are all the more exposed against Craig's distorted, mechanical bass. So good.