2014 Songs of the Year: Part Four - 30 through 21

Just got here? Get up to speed with Part One, Two and Three. Click the Prev post button at the bottom of this post to get to Part Five once it is out.

 

30. I Ain’t Gonna Tell You - The Dedication

Dedication "I Ain't Gonna Tell You" A. Original B. DJ Kaos Highland Park Power Mix http://store.dfarecords.com/products/dfa2410 http://aboveboarddist.co.uk/dfa/DFA2410

As I posted back in May there is something a little bit inspirational about this record. Proper disco, but made for now. So much energy, passion and drive that it is hard not to feel ashamed if you didn’t bounce out of bed this morning with a grin on your face. Get on it!

 

29. Hey Mami - Sylvan Esso

Sylvan Esso available on iTunes: smarturl.it/SylvanEsso.iTunes http://sylvanesso.com www.twitter.com/SylvanEsso www.facebook.com/SylvanEsso @sylvanesso

Sylvan Esso make folky influenced pop with garage and bass influences and from the moment I heard this opener to their self-titled debut album I knew I’d never forget it… Hey Mami is basically ridiculous - more bass and pop sass than you can possibly know what to do with.

 

28. 2 Is 8 - Lone

Taken from the album 'Reality Testing' iTunes - http://georiot.co/34OP R&S (CD and LP) - http://bit.ly/QXssTi R&S (Transparent Yellow vinyl) - http://bit.ly/1gDzW2r https://www.facebook.com/magicwirelone https://soundcloud.com/lone-1 https://twitter.com/lone https://www.facebook.com/randsrecords

Lone’s album has been a sleeper classic for me this year - one I keep going back to. 2 is 8 is one of it’s most immediate and infectious moments.

 

27. Real - Years & Years

'Take Shelter' -- Available on iTunes: http://po.st/yytsYTD 'Real 'out now via Kitsuné.

Years & Years caught my attention supporting Say Lou Lou earlier in the year, and it was hard not to come away thinking the headliners had been upstaged. As we near the release of their debut album their recent tracks have felt a little less urgent and essential, but Real was them at their best… Olly Alexander’s vocals pitched and desperate and the electronics raw and insistent.


26. ILYSB - LANY

www.thisislany.com

I know nothing about LANY, nor this song, but it found it’s way to me towards the end of the year and I’m utterly in love with the way it captures the intensity of loving like nothing else matters. The killer line: “And you need to know that nobody could take your place … And you need to know that I’m hella obsessed with your face”. Nothing else this year made me feel so much like an infatuated teenager.

 

25. I Don’t Need Another Lover - Billie Black

EP 000100 out now. http://smarturl.it/BB000100 www.billie-black.com | www.facebook.com/thisbillieblack | www.twitter.com/thisbillieblack | www.soundcloud.com/billie-black Directed by Alex Brown

The first track I heard from Billie Black remains her best so far - her vocals are steadfast and determined and the electronics bounce and skitter along full of all the modern soul the song can muster. Definitely one to watch in 2015.

 

24. Sweet Spot - Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts - Sweet Spot Buy Sweet Spot at iTunes - http://po.st/SweetSpotiTunes Pre-Order Present Tense at: Domino - http://po.st/PresentTenseDM iTunes - http://po.st/PresentTense UK / EU / US 'Present Tense' Tour Dates - Buy Tickets Here : http://po.st/WBSITE

Wild Beasts hit 2014 like their lives depended on it - Present Tense is easily their best album yet, more taught, focused and ultimately theirs. Sweet Spot was one of the finest songs on that album, full of all the refined minimalism that defined much of its best moments.

 

23. Return - Eno + Hyde

Brian Eno and Karl Hyde delivered several surprises this year… Following on just weeks after their conflicted first collaboration Someday World was High Life, and it was at times a revelation. This epic opener combined elements of the African style that inspired the album’s name with some of Eno’s signature production styles, whilst simultaneously reminding us that the best thing about U2 is actually an Eno trick… Just feel those guitars.

 

22. Rootwork - Trees

Ann Arbor's Trees drops this wicked ep, six slices of lush, each on their own planet but part of the same galaxy, where techno, hip-hop and house rub up against jazz, Kraut-rock and African percussion. There's a saying in Ann Arbor that goes “I spent half my life waiting for Charles”. Charles Trees, because that's who people are referring to when uttering those words, is the local music scene's best kept secret. In a city literally brimming with talent (MC5, Iggy, George Clinton, Mitch Ryder, Recloose, Mayer Hawthorne, Shigeto, Dabrye, anyone?), Charles is one of the absolute heroes, a gem among gems, yet relatively few people outside the city limits have heard of him. Why? Well, probably because our man doesn't really care too much about fame, hipster blogs, online social networking or other forms of shameless self promotion. He just makes his music, and remixes, and spins his tunes around town, and sometimes even releases some of them, like his EPs on Moodgadget, Ghostly International, or Paris imprint Musique Large. Which is how we heard about Charles. He made us a brilliant remix for Pajaro Sunrise' “Old Goodbyes”, and after that we had the pleasure of meeting him in person. A deal was struck for an EP. It was the summer of 2012, and we were about to find out what the “half my life waiting for Charles” was all about. Fast forward to 2014, and lo and behold, habemus EP. And not just any EP. A HUGE EP. Six slices of lush, each on their own planet but part of the same galaxy, where techno, hip-hop and house rub up against jazz, Kraut-rock and African percussion. Sounds like a cliché, right? Uh huh, yeah. The title track starts out like a Sun Ra jam, with the brilliant Dan Bennett on sax. After the fist bass stab, the beat kicks in and we're taken on a jubilant ride towards the acidic finish. “Exodus” continues on a hypnotic house tip while the level of funk keeps rising. The slamming beat finishes things off quite nicely. On “Get Advanced”, Detroit rapper, poet and Egyptologist Intricate Dialect spits his rhymes over hypnotic and minimal percussion and some nasty 303-stabs. Dan Bennett returns on “What's Left”, a slow burning piece of space boogie. Madrid-based DJ F does a good job of remixing”Rootwork”, adding some eeriness by changing the beat and replacing Bennett's sax with trippy keyboards. And finally, the mighty Shigeto stretches “What's Left” to almost nine minutes, with a four-minute intro leading up to a more uptempo but equally hypnotic version of the original. https://soundcloud.com/charlestrees http://lovemonk.bandcamp.com/album/rootwork

Crazy, epic, confused and utterly beautiful. Trees was unknown to me before this year, but there is no forgetting him once you have heard Rootwork - it’s simply fantastic, inspired and genius.

 

21. Alena - Yumi Zouma

Buy Alena on iTunes: http://bit.ly/1naY1rj Yumi Zouma return with new single, Alena, a song infused with their trademark quiet intimacy, now buoyed on a pad of lush electronics and building slowing to a muted euphoric refrain. Sliding in and out of dream states, capturing the safety of nostalgia and the grasping for good times out of reach, Alena's power stems from its evocative ability to unlock chambers in our memory banks. This fall Yumi Zouma circumnavigates the globe in support of Lorde (New Zealand shows) and later, play Iceland Airwaves, along with dates in the UK and US. Yumi Zouma on tour: www.yumizouma.com Yumi Zouma FB: http://tinyurl.com/nz7lecr Cascine FB: http://tinyurl.com/py2dncx

Bloggers’ darlings in 2014 following their self-titled EP and breakthrough track The Brae, but it was the warm shot of Balearia that was Alena that really showed what they Yumi Zouma are capable of.

2014 Songs of the Year: Part Three - 40 through 31

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Just got here? Get up to speed with Part One and Part Two.Click the Prev post button at the bottom of this post to get to Part One once it is out. Click the Prev post button at the bottom of this post to get to Part Four.

40. Girls - Slow Magic

New single from Slow Magic's forthcoming album out via Downtown Records. ♡

 

39. Blue Veins - LSBV

 

38. All We Need - ODESZA feat. Shy Girls

From the album 'In Return', out now on @Counter-Records (an imprint of @Ninja-Tune). Download 'In Return' on iTunes at odesza.co/inreturnitunes Order 'In Return' in 2xLP Vinyl, CD, 24-bit WAV, 16-bit WAV, and MP3 at odesza.co/store Tickets for the 2014 In Return Tour on sale now at odesza.co/shows

 

37. Swim - Fickle Friends

Copyright 2014 http://hypem.com/track/21h5p/Fickle+Friends+-+SWIM Produced by James Earp

 

36. Strange Feeling - Panama

Uploaded by 300 Entertainment on 2014-03-03.

 

35. Flame - Ronya

Buy from itunes ▶ https://itunes.apple.com/fi/artist/ronya/id396540453?l=fi http://www.facebook.com/ronyaofficial instagram: @ronyaofficial #cocoamusic #cocoahelsinki Director: Taito Kawata Dop: Johan Wasicki Production Company: Cocoa (www.cocoa.fi) Producer: Seppo Kerkelä, Tommi Melajoki Crew: Sara Floman Label: Cocoa Music Ltd. 2014 Executive Producer (Music): Marked Man Management: Anton Molander www.cocoamusic.fi http://facebook.com/cocoahelsinki

 

34. Never Catch Me - Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar

Flying Lotus, 'Never Catch Me feat. Kendrick Lamar', a film by Hiro Murai. The song appears on 'You're Dead!', preview the album and learn more at http://flying-lotus.com The album is available from, Bleep - http://smarturl.it/4ltqd5 iTunes - http://smarturl.it/4sfp3m Amazon - http://smarturl.it/978jev Google Play - http://smarturl.it/x0jyj9 http://www.flying-lotus.com/ https://www.facebook.com/flyinglotus http://www.twitter.com/flyinglotus

 

33. Break Free - Ariana Grande feat. Zedd

Ariana Grande "My Everything" available for download now http://smarturl.it/ArianaMyEvrythnDlxiT

 

32. Fame - The Acid

Taken from the album 'Liminal' out now: iTunes - http://smarturl.it/Liminal Double LP - http://smarturl.it/cdliminal CD - http://smarturl.it/cdliminal Directed by Dugan O'Neal and Ry X

 

31. Heaven, How Long - East India Youth

Taken from the album 'TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER' out now on Stolen Recordings.


2014 Songs of the Year: Part Two - 50 through 41

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Just got here? Get up to speed by reading Part One here. Click the Prev post button at the bottom of this post to get to Part Three.

50. Slow Build - The Range

Following his acclaimed album Nonfiction and completed while touring across the US, The Range returns with a new EP Panasonic, out digitally and on vinyl on Donky Pitch March 24th, 2014. Panasonic sees The Range further cement his position as one of electronic music’s most unique voices. Elements of light and dark meet dense orchestration, breakbeats and a fresh approach to sampling across all six tracks, which remain true to The Range’s love of R&B, Hip Hop and Drum & Bass channeled in a way that he has made his own. After several EP’s across the last two years, The Range released his breakthrough album Nonfiction in October 2013 on Donky Pitch, receiving ‘Best New Music’ and a place in the Top 50 Albums of the year on Pitchfork. Further praise came from Billboard, XLR8R, Dazed & Confused, Line of Best Fit, Dummy and many others. Since its release, The Range has toured extensively across the US, with headlining shows and supporting slots for Thundercat and Metronomy, as well as a North American spring tour supporting CHVRCHES, a set at Primavera Festival in Barcelona and to be announced shows at this March's SXSW in Austin. Artwork by www.ianglover.com

 

49. Lighting Sparked - Dillon

Dillon's Second Single of her album "The Unknown" out on BPitch Control now.

 

48. Kind Of…Sometimes…Maybe - Jessie Ware

From the new album Tough Love out NOW. GET THE ALBUM: Official store: http://po.st/J7r5Ws iTunes: http://po.st/ToughLoveDLXYT Amazon: http://po.st/ToughLoveAm3 Google Play: http://po.st/dTTb1T JESSIE ONLINE: http://twitter.com/jessieware http://facebook.com/jessiewaremusic http://instagram.com/jessieware http://jessieware.com http://soundcloud.com/jessieware http://open.spotify.com/artist/5Mq7iqCWBzofK39FBqblNc

 

47. Girl - Jamie xx

Pre-order from YT: http://smarturl.it/sleepsoundyt Also available at iTunes: http://smarturl.it/sleepsoundi Girl / Sleep Sound is out 5 May 2014 on Young Turks. Hear Sleep Sound here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fOHh5Q7Q1E http://jamiexx.com https://www.facebook.com/jamiexxofficial http://theyoungturks.co.uk Animation: Alden Volney

 

46. Sick Beat - Kero Kero Bonito

Taken from Intro Bonito, out 25th August on Double Denim Records.

 

45. Call My Name - Haerts

http://haertsmusic.com

 

44. Pretty Girls - Little Dragon

Music video for "Pretty Girls", from the album Nabuma Rubberband available here : http://po.st/NabumaRubberband Video directed by Nabil Subscribe to Little Dragon's channel here : http://po.st/LDyoutube Visit our Website : http://po.st/littledragon Facebook : http://po.st/LDfacebook Twitter : http://po.st/LDtwitter Instagram : http://po.st/LDinstagram Soundcloud : http://po.st/LDsoundcloud Get "Ritual Union" on iTunes here : http://bit.ly/qqfUXb http://www.nabumarubberband.com

 

43. A Place Called Space - The Juan Maclean

The Juan MacLean A Place Called Space Visuals by Tyler Brodie Edited by Andrew Adair

 

42. Never Work For Free - Tennis

New Album "Ritual in Repeat" out 9/9 via Communion Records.

 

41. Pieces - Paperwhite

http://hypem.com/track/275vz/Paperwhite+-+Pieces www.facebook.com/paperwhitemusic Twitter - @paperwhitemusic Instagram - @paperwhitemusic Written, Produced and Mixed by PAPERWHITE Video by Mike Sobo


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

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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

iTunes - http://smarturl.it/MCKindred A few years ago I did a remix of a track by Dominik Eulberg called Sansula, which featured an instrument of the same name. After the release a builder of sansula instruments in the Netherlands was kind enough to give me one as a present in case I wanted to use one again in a live recording, which I have finally got around to doing now with this track! My process consisted of me sitting in my studio (badly) playing the thumb plucked sansula for quite a while, so that I could go back to the recording and pull out some useable loops as a starting point. I wanted a nice warm analogue chord progression to complement, but more in the high bass and low mids than my usual chord progression that's down really low, to fill the mix with the warmth as much as possible. The track still needed something though, so I turned to some spare recordings of my favourite vocalist - Kathrin deBoer, from some of our previous recording sessions. I didn't want to go for the usual full lyrical approach of a vocal collab track, I just wanted to add some small snippets of human feeling to round off the track properly. The release is coming out on Fields on the 1st of December along with an intense synth experiment with a Prophet 08, and beautiful remixes from David August and Throwing Snow. If you're not into buying music there is also a new website I have just launched which will be providing exclusive new free downloads for all in return for signing up to the website - http://www.maxcooper.net/downloads

 

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...