Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Drowned in Sound's 40 Favorite Songs of 2014
http://www.drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148547-drowned-in-sounds-40-favourite-songs-of-2014

A friend sent me a Youtube clip of Brownout doing "The Wizard" last summer and I totally spaced on checking out the rest. It's a testament probably to Bill Ward's jazz roots that the songs fit into Brownout's style pretty naturally. Some creative arrangements make it a cut above just novelty.

The thing I find interesting/fascinating about EOY song lists is that for half of my favorite albums, that's how I find out what the single(s) was/were; for example, I assumed "Love Is To Die" was the single off of the Warpaint album and was slightly thrown to see "Disco/Very" popping up along with a video.

Here's the entire Spin song list:

100 CFCF - Windswept 
99 Slipknot - Skeptic
98 Vince Staples - Hands Up 
97 The Black Keys - Turn Blue 
96 Candy Hearts - I Miss You 
95 Ga-In (가인) feat. Bumkey - Fxxk You 
94 Travis Scott feat. Young Thug - Skyfall (Chopped Not Slopped) 
93 Ten Walls - Walking With Elephants 
92 Ariel Pink - Sexual Athletics
91 Toni Braxton & Babyface - The D Word 
90 Perfect Pussy - Interference Fits
89 The Chemical Brothers feat. Miguel & Lorde - This Is Not a Game
88 OG Maco - U Guessed It
87 Vic Mensa - Down on My Luck
86 Drake - 0 to 100 / The Catch Up
85 Soft Pink Truth - Black Metal
84 Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
83 Claptone - Control
82 Eric Paslay - Friday Night
81 Sharon Van Etten - Your Love Is Killing Me
80 Usher - Good Kisser
79 Speedy Ortiz - American Horror
78 Agalloch - Celestial Effigy
77 Future feat. André 3000 - Benz Friends
76 Kacey Musgraves - Love Is a Liar
75 Sophie - Hard
74 Young Thug - Danny Glover
73 Ty Dolla $ign feat. B.o.B. - Paranoid
72 Kiesza - Hideaway
71 Nicki Minaj - Lookin Ass
70 Todd Terje feat. Bryan Ferry - Johnny and Mary
69 Rick Ross feat. Big Sean & Kanye West - Sanctified
68 Protomartyr - Maidenhead
67 Falls - Please
66 Maddie & Tae - Girl in a Country Song
65 Lone - 2 Is 8
64 Jessie Ware - Tough Love
63 Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg - Wiggle
62 Ty Segall - The Singer
61 Homeboy Sandman - Problems
60 YG feat. Drake - Who Do You Love?
59 Oliver - Light Years Away
58 Beyoncé - Partition
57 Lil B - No Black Person Is Ugly
56 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Kelly
55 Wussy - Teenage Wasteland
54 Grimes feat. Blood Diamonds - Go
53 Ought - Habit
52 Robyn & Röyksopp - Do It Again
51 Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Problem
49 Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
48 The War on Drugs - Suffering
47 Miranda Lambert - Platinum
46 ScHoolboy Q - Man of the Year
45 Hamilton Leithauser - Alexandra
44 Mark McGuire - The Instinct
43 Sun Kil Moon - War on Drugs: Suck My Cock
42 Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
41 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Warning
40 DeJ Loaf - Try Me
39 Porter Robinson - Sad Machine
38 Sylvan Esso - Coffee
37 Tokyo Police Club - Argentina (Parts I - II & III)
36 Beyoncé feat. Nicki Minaj - Flawless (Remix)
35 The Knocks - Classic
34 Various Artists (Rookie Magazine) - Go Forth - Feminist Warriors
33 Ryn Weaver - OctaHate
32 The New Pornographers - Another Drug Deal of the Heart
31 DJ Snake & Lil Jon - Turn Down For What
30 The Drums - I Can't Pretend
29 Lana Del Rey - West Coast
28 Drake - Trophies
27 Spoon - Inside Out
26 Betty Who - Runaways
25 Kira Isabella - Quarterback
24 Charli XCX - Boom Clap
23 Cloud Nothings - I'm Not Part of Me
22 Future feat. Pusha T - Pharrell & Casino - Move That Dope
21 Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne - Rather Be
20 How to Dress Well - Repeat Pleasure
19 Swans - Screen Shot
18 Foxygen - How Can You Really
17 Michael Jackson - Love Never Felt So Good (Original Version)
16 Katy Perry - Birthday
15 FKA Twigs - Two Weeks
14 Kendrick Lamar - i
13 tUnE-yArDs - Water Fountain
12 Tinashe feat. ScHoolboy Q - 2 On
11 Caribou - Can't Do Without You
10 Jenny Lewis - She's Not Me
9 Childbirth - I Only Fucked You As a Joke
8 Sia - Chandelier
7 Beyoncé - XO
6 Run the Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)
5 Parquet Courts - Instant Disassembly
4 QT - Hey QT
3 Nicki Minaj - Anaconda
2 iLoveMakonnen - Tuesday
1 Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You)

Didn't expect the Future Islands LP to do so well - thought it would be one of those cases where people only care about that one hit.

Which 'begs' the question, which song is the biggest example of that this year (song in numerous lists, album it's from on very few if any)?

93 Ten Walls - Walking With Elephants

i ate a whole tray of roast shallots for dinner yesterday; today on my run in i was basically playing this tune the whole way

About 251 results (0.13 seconds) for "guffstep", fair play

re: spin, def a 'something for everyone' kinda list, i expect any consensus exercises for tracks (e.g. pazz and jop singles list) will basically look like a hybrid of this and whatever p4k puts out

actually 'something for everyone except ppl who like shake it off'

Nice to see Anjou in that Incendiary list. Also - I'm reminded that I never sought out that Vashti Bunyan album.

<i>Which 'begs' the question, which song is the biggest example of that this year (song in numerous lists, album it's from on very few if any)?</i>
Rather Be?

new vashti is beautiful

It is so much better than her last album, more of a belated but worthy follow up to Another Diamond Day imo.

Ought album to me sounded like Talking Heads w/o the proto-dancepunk, i.e. the best part

7. Killed By Deathrock (Sacred Bones)

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

this album is so fucking great, like every single minute of it is glorious

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, December 8, 2014

began listening to this today on spotify cuz of this endorsement. loving it, so far.

I honestly think that if you have even the slightest affinity to gothy post-punk, you owe it to yourself to play Killed By Deathrock on endless repeat for at least a week.

and then argue with Dan and I over which songs are the best. Because Dan is wrong.

No, I am not. You're the one who can't tell Bauhaus pastiche from Sisters of Mercy pastiche!

But the Sisters are pretty much Bauhaus meets Joy Division.

waht

I'm kidding.

oh, I can't stay mad while listening to Screaming For Emily

yeah, the second half of that comp is so damn good.

http://www.tabsout.com/tabs-out-top-200-tapes-of-2014/

Xpost you deathrockers should check out the 13th Chime stuff Sacred Bones put out a couple years ago

I have none of those cassettes.

I have 1!

I honestly think that if you have even the slightest affinity to gothy post-punk, you owe it to yourself to play Killed By Deathrock on endless repeat for at least a week.

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, December 8, 2014 4:54 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i cant guarantee endless repeat or a whole week but i like that sort of stuff & am trying it now, v good

No Blue Tapes? Feh.

xp

I'm just glad Sungod made a list

Has anyone played a track/album from these end of year lists that they hadn't otherwise heard and found something amazing?

Not amazing, but I did decide to finally listen to Benji...as much of it as I could stand.

Has anyone played a track/album from these end of year lists that they hadn't otherwise heard and found something amazing?

yes, especially the Textura list

Has anyone played a track/album from these end of year lists that they hadn't otherwise heard and found something amazing?
--djh

best examples of this for me are tinashe and sturgill simpson, although i heard OF them before they made the lists just didn't try till then

I'm digging the Syd Arthur album from DeRo's list.

i had listened to an angel olsen record a few years ago, kind of intrigued but not drawn enough to it, and trying the one one as it shows up on lists, i'm at least hearing something i didn't hear on the older one

I just voted in the Pitchfork reader poll. Zero songs I voted for had already been pre-added to the ballot, so I'm not holding my breath on any of them.

The Quietus and Textura lists both introduced me to fantastic things I didn't know about.

Some De Biasio love on the Newsweek list...

The Top 10 Albums of 2014: Newsweek Picks
http://www.newsweek.com/ten-ten-albums-2014-newsweek-picks-289953

AGAINST ME!, TRANSGENDER DYSPHORIA BLUES (Total Treble, Xtra Mile)
AMEN DUNES, LOVE (Sacred Bones)
MELANIE DE BIASIO, NO DEAL (PIAS)
EX HEX, RIPS (Merge)
FKA TWIGS, LP1 (Young Turks)
ICEAGE, PLOWING INTO THE FIELD OF LOVE (Matador)
HAMILTON LEITHAUSER, BLACK HOURS (Ribbon Music)
RUN THE JEWELS, RUN THE JEWELS 2 (Mass Appeal)
SHABAZZ PALACES, LESE MAJESTY (Sub Pop)
SWANS, TO BE KIND (Young God, Mute)

I'm just glad Sungod made a list

― aenaon genesis aevangelist (Drugs A. Money), Monday, December 8, 2014 10:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes this is gud stuff

that spin singles list is the most random-ass one yet but even considering lots of its pleasant surprises the idea that "anaconda" is the top 10 worthy minaj single of 2014 while "lookin' ass" gets buried in the bottom quarter is insane

and that Parquet Courts song is the draggiest song on a draggy disappointing follow up. def not #5 material

I like the somewhat perverse randomness of the Spin list. Even at this stage, lots on there that I haven't heard.

consequence of sound top 50 songs:
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/12/songs-of-the-year-2014/full-post/

decent list, if not exactly chock full of shocking choices

Well it's certainly the only list I've seen that has a song from the latest Muppets movie on it.

and that Parquet Courts song is the draggiest song on a draggy disappointing follow up. def not #5 material

Thank you Dog Latin, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I felt that stood out as the worst, most insufferable song on the album! WTF! I didn't mind DeRo's list, but every now and then he lets loose a doozy that's so, so wrong:

an epic centerpiece (the 7:13 “Instant Disassembly”) that’s as much of a tour-de-force mission statement as “Marquee Moon.”

I never want to hear the word "mamacita" in a song ever again. Another album on his list by The Gotobeds accomplishes everything that I'm missing from that Parquet Courts album -- it's sloppier but catchier and actually rocks. Also see Together Pangea - Badillac.

DeRo's Sound Opinions partner Greg Kot's list:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/ct-kelis-food-benjamin-booker-protomartyr-mary-j-blige-best-pop-albums-20141202-column.html

1. Kelis, Food
2. Protomartyr, Under Color of Official Right
3. Benjamin Booker, Benjamin Booker
4. Mary J. Blige, The London Sessions
5. Wussy, Attica!
6. Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2
7. FKA Twigs, LP1
8. Lydia Loveless, Somewhere Else
9. The Preatures, Blue Planet Eyes
10. Warpaint, Warpaint
11. Bob Mould, "Beauty & Ruin" (Merge)
12. Goat, "Commune" (Sub Pop)
13. Courtney Barnett, "The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas" (Mom & Pop Music)
14. Tom Brosseau, "Grass Punks" (Crossbill)
15. Parquet Courts, "Sunbathing Animal" (What's Your Rupture?)
16. Spoon, "They Want My Soul" (Lorna Vista)
17. Lucinda Williams, "Where the Spirit Meets the Bone" (Thirty Tigers)
18. Sturgill Simpson, "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music" (High Top/Thirty Tigers)
19. Twin Peaks, "Wild Onion" (Grand Jury)
20. Angel Olsen, "Burn Your Fire for No Witness" (Jagjaguwar)

They've held down those writing gigs for a long, long time, but Sound Opinions is the best thing they've done. Too bad I always forget to listen, though you can stream their shows anytime. http://www.soundopinions.org/episodes

Dazed - The top 20 albums of 2014
http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/22834/1/the-top-20-albums-of-2014

20 Grouper - Ruins
19 Todd Terje - It's Album Time
18 Ramona Lisa - Arcadia
17 Iceage - Plowing Into The Field Of Love
16 Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste
15 The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
14 Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 2
13 Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
12 ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron
11 Jessie Ware - Tough Love
10 Angel Olson - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
9 Tinashe - Aquarius
8 Perfume Genius - Too Bright
7 Lykke Li - I Never Learn
6 Aphex Twin - Syro
5 Sia - 1000 Forms Of Fear
4 Fatima Al Qadiri - Asiatisch
3 Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
2 Arca - Xen
1 FKA Twigs - LP1

The 405 - The 30 Best Albums of 2014
http://www.thefourohfive.com/news/article/the-30-best-albums-of-2014-141

30. Grouper - Ruins
29. Future Islands - Singles
28. Ought - More Than Any Other Day
27. Homeboy Sandman - Hallways
26. Pharmakon - Bestial Burden
25. Hail Mary Mallon - Bestiary
24. Alex G - DSU
23. Gazelle Twin - UNFLESH
22. Mark McGuire - Along The Way
21. Kiasmos - Kiasmos

20. Liars - Mess
19. The Bug - Angels and Devils
18. Todd Terje - It's Album Time
17. YG - My Krazy Life
16. Thug Entrancer - Death After Life
15. Perfume Genius - Too Bright
14. Run The Jewels - RTJ2
13. Caribou - Our Love
12. Grumbling Fur - Preternaturals
11. Julie Byrne - Rooms With Walls and Windows

10. St. Vincent - St. Vincent
9. Clipping. - CLPPNG
8. East India Youth - Total Strife Forever
7. Andy Stott - Faith In Strangers
6. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
5. Wild Beasts - Present Tense
4. Adult Jazz - Gist Is
3. Taylor McFerrin - Early Riser
2. Flying Lotus - You're Dead
1. FKA Twigs - LP1

The Wire: Releases of the Year 1-50

1 Aphex Twin - Syro
2 Richard Dawson - Nothing Important
3 Swans - To Be Kind
4 Scott Walker and Sunn O))) - Soused
5 Actress - Ghettoville
6 Sleaford Mods - Divide and Exit
7 Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
8 Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
9 Kasai Allstars - Beware The Fetish
10 Fatima Al Qadiri - Asiatisch

11 Earth - Primitive and Deadly
12 Steve Gunn - Way out Weather
13 Grouper - Ruins
14 Valerio Tricoli - Miseri Lares
15 Eliane Radigue - Naldjorlak I II II
16 Marc Baron - Hidden Tapes
17 Kevin Drumm & Jason Lescalleet - The Abyss
18 Rodhri Davies - An Air Swept Clean Of All Distance
19 Michael Pisaro - Continuum Unbound
20 AMM - Place sub. v.

21 Thumbscrew - Thumbscrew
22 Puce Mary - Persona
23 Cooly G. - Wait 'Til Night
24 Skogen - Despairs Had Governed Me Too Long
25 Carla Bozulich - Boy
26 Dean Blunt - Black Metal
27 Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
28 Annea Lockwood - Ground Of Being
29 Wadada Leo Smith - The Great Lakes Suite
30 Call Super - Suzi Ecto

31 Steve Gunn & Mike Gangloff - Melodies For A Savage Fix
32 Jenny Hval & Susanna - Meshes Of Voice
33 Matthew Shipp - I've Been To Many Places
34 Holly Herndon - Chorus
35 Laurence crane - Chamber Works 1992-2007
36 Shackleton - Freezing Opening Thawing
37 Klaus Lang - SAIS
38 Bitchin' Bajas - Bitchin' Bajas
39 Laetitia Sadler - Something Shines
40 drcarlsonalbion - Gold

41 Helm - The Hollow Organ
42 Joseph Hammer - Roadless Travel
43 Oren Ambarchi - Quixotism
44 Laura Cannell - Quick Sparrows Over The Black Earth
45 Howard Riley - To Be Continued...
46 Owen Pallett - In Conflict
47 Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
48 Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda - ma ta ta bui
49 Pharmakon - Bestial Burden
50 Flying Lotus - You're Dead