The Top 20 Songs Of 2014
This was actually a pretty weird year for songs. I could've subtitled this "The St. Vincent Show", because, lo and behold, she has SIX entries on this list. SIX. Her album only has 11 songs. That's fucknuts. Animals As Leaders has four. There have been nine acts that have notched three before now, but both of these are record breakers. (For the record, they were: 2013: Janelle Monae, 2012: myself, 2011: Company Of Thieves (God, I miss that band...), 2010: Gorillaz, 2009: Spiral Trance and Method Man & Redman, 2008: Meshuggah, Busta Rhymes and, unbelievable but true, Ashlee Simpson.) Shit, Skrillex is on here three times, and that ain't shit.
Anyway, it's been a weird year. (Another bizarre stat is that neither the album I picked for number one OR number two are represented on this countdown. Let the rampant speculation begin...) I figured I'd switch it up, since I don't normally offer commentary on the song lists, and throw a few thoughts and facts your way. Y'know. For fun.
(One more side note: Cheese is mentioned unmetaphorically in two songs in the top 5, and possibly metaphorically in the number seven song. I d'no; I heard ziti mentioned; I'd hafta go back and listen closer.)
20. St. Vincent "Bring Me Your Loves"
19. Animals As Leaders "Lippincott"
18. Skrillex feat. Diplo, G-Dragon & CL "Dirty Vibe"
17. Mastodon "Halloween"
This song's craziness didn't hit me until last Saturday night. (Hell, most of "Once More 'Round The Sun" still hasn't.) I was only half paying attention, then I lingered in my car after getting home from work and heard this blistering metal shit that sounded effortless. I'd heard this song a couple of times before, but it had never registered how crazy it was. This shit don't give a fuck. Peep it.
16. St. Vincent "Prince Johnny"
15. Animals As Leaders "Another Year"
14. Body Count "Talk Shit, Get Shot"
13. St. Vincent "Digital Witnesses"
12. St. Vincent "Birth In Reverse"
11. Prong "Retreat"
10. Animals As Leaders "Tooth And Claw"
9. St. Vincent "Huey Newton"
8. Animals As Leaders "Physical Education"
7. 2 Mello "Figaro Kids"
This is a mashup of music from Final Fantasy III (originally VI in Japan) and a Ghostface Killah song called "Apollo Kids". This shit goes together perfectly. In fact, 2Mello's entire album "Final Fantasy: The 3-6 Chambers" (get it) does this shit all day. This one was my favorite example.
6. Umphrey's McGee "Educated Guess"
The middle section of this song needs to be heard to be believed. It has a power E chord chugging through the entirety, but...the vocals just go...off into the ether...into keys they're not supposed to...and somehow it all works. Beautifully. I'm telling you, THIS SHIT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK! BUT IT DOES!!! It short circuits my brain to think about it!
5. Skrillex feat. KillaGraham & Sam Dew "Stranger"
4. Countless Thousands "Gang Fight"
The closing theme song to the Unpopular Opinion podcast with Cracked.com writer Adam Tod Brown (not a typo). This song gets me so fuckin' pumped, it shouldn't be legal. (A funny trick: this song and the song he uses for his opening are both in the same key. (As is the "This Week In Me" segment music; being that he's not a musician, this is suspicious...) So if you're too lazy to get up and you're listening on Soundcloud, one podcast ends and the next starts playing right away, without missing a beat. In the same key!)
3. Skrillex feat. Fatman Scoop, Kill The Noise & Michael Angelakos "Recess"
2. St. Vincent "Regret"
1. Imogen Heap "The Listening Chair"
Because this song is so next level, I felt I had no choice but to put it at number one. I mean really, almost anything else on this countdown is catchier, but that's not what this is about: This is about Imogen Heap writing songs and albums that sound like they belong in the future 100 years from now. Seriously, listen to "Sparks". That shit sounds like nothing else I've heard. Besides Imogen Heap. She even says she likes to tell the future in this song, so fuck it. Imogen Heap wins the year in songs. No arguments here.
And that's it. Stay tuned sometime early next week for "The Top Albums Of 2014". Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the music!!!
Anyway, it's been a weird year. (Another bizarre stat is that neither the album I picked for number one OR number two are represented on this countdown. Let the rampant speculation begin...) I figured I'd switch it up, since I don't normally offer commentary on the song lists, and throw a few thoughts and facts your way. Y'know. For fun.
(One more side note: Cheese is mentioned unmetaphorically in two songs in the top 5, and possibly metaphorically in the number seven song. I d'no; I heard ziti mentioned; I'd hafta go back and listen closer.)
20. St. Vincent "Bring Me Your Loves"
19. Animals As Leaders "Lippincott"
18. Skrillex feat. Diplo, G-Dragon & CL "Dirty Vibe"
17. Mastodon "Halloween"
This song's craziness didn't hit me until last Saturday night. (Hell, most of "Once More 'Round The Sun" still hasn't.) I was only half paying attention, then I lingered in my car after getting home from work and heard this blistering metal shit that sounded effortless. I'd heard this song a couple of times before, but it had never registered how crazy it was. This shit don't give a fuck. Peep it.
16. St. Vincent "Prince Johnny"
15. Animals As Leaders "Another Year"
14. Body Count "Talk Shit, Get Shot"
13. St. Vincent "Digital Witnesses"
12. St. Vincent "Birth In Reverse"
11. Prong "Retreat"
10. Animals As Leaders "Tooth And Claw"
9. St. Vincent "Huey Newton"
8. Animals As Leaders "Physical Education"
7. 2 Mello "Figaro Kids"
This is a mashup of music from Final Fantasy III (originally VI in Japan) and a Ghostface Killah song called "Apollo Kids". This shit goes together perfectly. In fact, 2Mello's entire album "Final Fantasy: The 3-6 Chambers" (get it) does this shit all day. This one was my favorite example.
6. Umphrey's McGee "Educated Guess"
The middle section of this song needs to be heard to be believed. It has a power E chord chugging through the entirety, but...the vocals just go...off into the ether...into keys they're not supposed to...and somehow it all works. Beautifully. I'm telling you, THIS SHIT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK! BUT IT DOES!!! It short circuits my brain to think about it!
5. Skrillex feat. KillaGraham & Sam Dew "Stranger"
4. Countless Thousands "Gang Fight"
The closing theme song to the Unpopular Opinion podcast with Cracked.com writer Adam Tod Brown (not a typo). This song gets me so fuckin' pumped, it shouldn't be legal. (A funny trick: this song and the song he uses for his opening are both in the same key. (As is the "This Week In Me" segment music; being that he's not a musician, this is suspicious...) So if you're too lazy to get up and you're listening on Soundcloud, one podcast ends and the next starts playing right away, without missing a beat. In the same key!)
3. Skrillex feat. Fatman Scoop, Kill The Noise & Michael Angelakos "Recess"
2. St. Vincent "Regret"
1. Imogen Heap "The Listening Chair"
Because this song is so next level, I felt I had no choice but to put it at number one. I mean really, almost anything else on this countdown is catchier, but that's not what this is about: This is about Imogen Heap writing songs and albums that sound like they belong in the future 100 years from now. Seriously, listen to "Sparks". That shit sounds like nothing else I've heard. Besides Imogen Heap. She even says she likes to tell the future in this song, so fuck it. Imogen Heap wins the year in songs. No arguments here.
And that's it. Stay tuned sometime early next week for "The Top Albums Of 2014". Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the music!!!
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