Top 10 Songs of 2014
2014 brought a lot of new music into my life, the return of some old favorites, and a lot of just really fun stuff! First, the honorable mentions, which there were several this year: Lana Del Rey - Cruel World; Kylie Minogue - Into the Blue; Charli XCX - Boom Clap and Sky Ferreira - I Blame Myself. Also, although it may not technically count, one of the best musical experiences of the year was finally seeing Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins live, and hearing his new version of "If You Were Here," which he added a whole new verse to.
(1/28/15 update) SO EMBARRASSING, but I forgot to include "Chocolate" by The 1975. This would have been in the top 10 for sure. Oops!!!
(1/28/15 update) SO EMBARRASSING, but I forgot to include "Chocolate" by The 1975. This would have been in the top 10 for sure. Oops!!!
I really admire Lily Allen's sense of rhyming, lyrics and melody. I wasn't that into her at first but I have grown to really love her. Her previous album "It's Not Me It's You" was when I really got into her, and her latest album "Sheezus" was no let down. There are many great songs on it, including URL Badman, Hard Out Here, and the title track, but this breezy track reminds me of the summer of 2014. Even though the repetitive "na na na na na na"s were kind of annoying to me at first, it becomes a sing-a-long about the third time you hear it.
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I never really thought a Jonas brother would end up on this list, but I just love this song. He was accused a lot this year of "gay baiting" - purposely showing off his body and making appearances at gay clubs to appeal to a gay audience, but personally I have no problem with that. I think it's cool that in this day and age, a male performer, who is ostensibly heterosexual, is not only comfortable marketing himself to gay guys but seems to be having fun doing it. Anyway, it's the music that really matters above all else, and his album is funky and full of good tunes.
This is my brother's band, of which I am the keyboard player, but I'm really proud of how much he accomplished in 2014 with his music, and really it is his music as he writes, records and produces the bulk of it. I just contributed some keyboards. Of course, Dolly Dagger is a big part of it to with her drumming, feedback, and visual ideas for the band. I know Brandon is particularly proud of this song and it's always a fun one to play live. Hopefully there will be plenty more Turbo Sunshine gigs in 2015, and possibly the album will finally come out!
This song seems a little simplistic at first, but it really is a slow burner which builds up to an amazing crescendo near the end, with a very classic Dream Academy sound! It's great to have them back, even if it was only this one new track which was included on the 2-disc retrospective "The Morning Lasted All Day" which was released this past year. There were also several rare tracks, some of which I had never heard, and the CD booklet included amazingly insightful liner notes, along with photos. Hopefully, this will inspire the band to record additional new material. I'm also looking forward to the tribute album, which my band is a part of.
I don't really know what they are singing because it's in Danish (actually, I did look up the lyric translation once), but it doesn't even matter because this song, like the movie it came from, is just gorgeous. I don't know much about the artists but they are two cute guys and I love the sound of their voices. In the movie, the song was a recurring motif, and in one scene, it is even sung as a karaoke song by the female lead. I would recommend this movie because it's not a conventional love story - it's got a twist - and of course, it shows how beautiful the city of Copenhagen is, which I was lucky enough to spend some time in back in 2011.
This was a song that I heard on the radio and actually liked, so I looked it up using Shazam and found out it was Bad Suns, whose posters I had seen up around Hollywood. They are a young band of dudes from the Valley and the lead singer's voice kind of reminds me of Brandon Flowers from the killers. I like the soundscape of the song and the melody and I enjoyed the rest of the album too. Hopefully they will find more of their own sound as they mature because as much as I like this song, they don't really set themselves apart much from other indie rock bands of today.
This is just a great ballad with a classic boyband sound, but in a new mature realm for 1D. The harmonies are gorgeous and I just adore the key change where Liam sings the falsetto "you--ouuuuuu" - just perfect! Seeing these guys performing this on TV for the Rockin' New Years Eve telecast was a really fun way to usher out the year, one which was the most 1D filled of any year so far, for me! The boys are growing up and I just love seeing how they grow and incorporate more adult music into their repertoire. Oh, and watch the video for a great twist!
At the end of the 90's, GusGus became one of those bands that appealed to me even though I think I liked the whole package - the looks, the videos, the fact that they were from Iceland - better than I necessarily liked their music, which was a little simplistic for my tastes. However, I did discover that their debut album was one of the best albums to put on in the background for, well, you know... "lovemaking." I like a couple more of their albums but eventually lost track of them. So, it was quite astonishing to have them pop up in my life again - with a video that hearkens back to the original GusGus aesthetic - only to realize that they were riding a three-album high wherein they had made some of their best and most commercially successful music ever! It was really the year of GusGus for me, and getting to finally see them live for the first time at the Roxy, in October, on Dylan and I's anniversary, was the icing on the cake!
When I first discovered Neon Trees, I thought it was such a shame that they were Mormons, because I thought I would otherwise probably get into them. The fact that their lead singer was so obviously gay (but closeted) really irked me. That was, of course, before he came out early in 2014, which changed everything. Hearing him finally be open and honest, despite the incredible amount of flak he was going to catch in his community, seemed really brave to me and I was finally able to give them a chance and discovered I really loved their album "Pop Psychology." This was always my favorite song on there, and I played it to death this year! It was one of those rare songs that I loved so much that I had to look up the lyrics and memorize them immediately!
There are actually some other songs on Betty's recently released debut album "Take Me When You Go" that are just awesome, like "All Of You" and "Runaways" but this is the song that started it all for me. With the dancefloor synths, the pounding drums, the powerful vocals and her unique look, Betty danced her way into my life this year. I saw her perform first at the LA Pride purple party and then a few months later I got to see her end her tour with a whole show at the House of Blues, and you could tell how thrilled she was coming off the high of an amazing tour and a huge year for her. It was great to see her perform on the New Now Next awards, too. I think 2015 is going to be the year she makes it big!
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