Yes, it was a fairly disappointing year in musicâone devoid of Goth teen prodigies, Yeezy, and galvanizing rock anthems. The Daily Beast gave you its picks for the 10 Best Albums of 2014, which included eclectic newcomer FKA Twigs at the top of the list, but now its time to dive into the best individual tracks of the year to populate those New Yearâs Eve mixes.
In case you missed it, last yearâs No. 1 was Phosphorescentâs âSong For Zula,â a swelling meditation on love and longing, while the list also featured tracks by Vampire Weekend, Lorde, James Blake, and The National.
This yearâs edition boasts ditties from the likes of ubiquitous pop princess Taylor Swift, R&B crooner Sam Smith, and a group of journeymen rockers who exploded into the public consciousness after what can only be described as the best damn Letterman performance youâve ever seen.
Here are our picks for the best songs of 2014:
14. Taylor Swift â âShake It Offâ
No other song this year made people of all colors, shapes, and sizes dance like an over-served white girl at her junior promâin other words, like newly minted New York ambassador Taylor Swift. A 160 bpm blast of blaring horns, clanging percussions, and Swiftâs sassy, tabloid-targeting lyrics, itâs a relentlessly upbeat mĂ©lange of Macklemoreâs âThrift Shopâ and Pharrellâs âHappy,â thanks to ace production by Max Martin and Shellback. Itâs so damn catchy that we can forgive Swift for the regrettable spoken word portion. Even rap guru Kendrick Lamar is a massive fan.
13. Jungle â âBusy Earninââ
Jungle is racially problematic. Thereâs no denying it. Itâs a septet comprised of predominantly white dudes from Shepherds Bush who initially masked their appearance through clouds of smoke during live shows, or music videos featuring ethnic dancers getting down to tunes about hard livinâ in the inner city. Oh, and the first press image they released was a pair of black dudes in tracksuits as a troll of sorts to NME. But damn, the music is catchyâa neo-soul aural assault of horns, electro swirls, yelps, funky basslines, and harmonized vocals.
12. Flying Lotus (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) â âNever Catch Meâ
The year 2014 was, sadly, without a new album by Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar. Fortunately for us, he quenched our collective thirst with this absolute gem of a collaboration with experimental music producer Flying Lotus. Shimmering chimes soon give way to shimmering ivories and a ridiculous bassline, with Kendrick rapping a thousand miles per hour over it in his usual introspective, self-analytical way. âVandalizing these walls only if they could talk / Conversations wonât contemplate to my dark thoughts,â he raps, the lyrics coalescing with the panoply of sounds courtesy of Lotus. From a lyrical standpoint, there are precious few that can catch Kendrick.
11. Lana Del Rey â âWest Coastâ
âYouâve got the music in you⊠donât you.â This sultry ballad about break-ups and make-ups in the City of Angels is haunting stuff. It starts off like any other Lana tune, replete with minor chords and humming, distorted vocals. And then that chorus kicks in, and the young lady formerly known as Lizzy Grant transforms into the princess of darkness. An ethereal ode to the Black Dahlia underbelly of L.A.
10. Lykke Li â âLove Me Like Iâm Not Made of Stoneâ
Taken as a whole, the Swedish chanteuseâs third album, I Never Learn, was a bit too bleak and heartbreaking; a spurned womanâs soul laid bare. But this spare, acoustic guitar-driven ballad, which vaguely resembles Snow Patrolâs âRun,â is dripping with feeling. Anyone whoâs been through a gut-wrenching breakup can empathize with Lykkeâs heartfelt plea. And if youâre somehow reading this, asshole: Shame on you for doing this to poor Lykke.
9. Drake â â0 to 100/The Catch Upâ
If the Canadian soap star formerly known as Wheelchair Jimmy has a weaknessâaside from his silly feud with Chris Brownâitâs that he doesnât save any of his best songs for his actual albums. A big reason why his last LP Nothing Was the Same was something of a disappointment was the absence of bangers like âJodeci Freestyleâ and â5AM in Toronto,â which he dropped randomly online. This companion piece to âStarted from the Bottomâ features a funky, minimalist beat by regular collaborator Noah â40â Shebib that was sampled by virtually every rapper this year, and swaggering lyrics by Drake like, âI been Steph Curry with the shot / Been cookinâ with the sauce, chef, curry with the pot, boy.â And just when youâre swept up in braggadocio, the bottom drops out halfway through and it morphs into a romantic ballad.
8. Sam Smith â âIâm Not the Only Oneâ
The 22-year-old British crooner made a huge mark in 2014, and while his debut album In the Lonely Hour was a mixed bag, it still contained several towering ballads, including this soulful tune about staying with a philanderer. Smithâs powerful, tender voiceâlike a more robust Antony Hegartyâis in perfect concert with the piano, strings, and sporadic percussion. In less capable hands, this tune would be a chamber piece, but in Smithâs, itâs a stadium anthem that soars into the stratosphere.
7. FKA Twigs â âTwo Weeksâ
This is pure, unadulterated sex. Over a transfixing minimalist beat, the 26-year-old Britâs delicate, cracking voice coquettishly purrs about her powers of seduction. âMotherfucker, get your mouth open, you know youâre mine,â she sings. For a shade past 4 minutes, FKA Twigs will have you completely under her spell. Itâs no wonder she bagged Twilight hunk Robert Pattinson. Who could resist these incantations?
6. Grimes â âGoâ
Back in 2009, Canadian Claire Boucherâalong with her boyfriendâconstructed a DIY raft and loaded it up with live chickens and 20 pounds of potatoes for a voyage down the Mississippi. It didnât go well. Since then, sheâs become a wildly inventive recording artist under the stage name Grimes, and her third album, 2012âs Visions, was one of the best of that year. As we eagerly await her follow-up, presumably due sometime next year, she tided us over with this delightfully weird electro tune flaunting seizure-inducing, dubby beats and a much more assured Boucher manning the vocals. More of this, please.
5. Taylor Swift â âBlank Spaceâ
Youâve no doubt seen the batshit crazy, Gone Girl-meets-Gatsby music video, and sang along to it in a car with your girlfriends. The most expertly produced tune on Swiftâs first bona fide pop outing, 1989, combines lo-fi, minimalist beats with a massive chorus. It seems her friendship with Lorde has really started to rub off on her in this big, red-lipsticked middle finger to her lovesick media image. Even the most ardent Swift haters have fallen victim to its contagious melodies.
4. BeyoncĂ© (Feat. Nicki Minaj) â âFlawless (Remix)â
Yes, BeyoncĂ©âs feminist anthem âFlawlessâ gave birth to two of the worst hashtags of the year: #Flawless and #WokeUpLikeThis. But this remix is absolute fire. âOf course some time some shit goes down when thereâs a billion dollars on an elevator,â she sneers, addressing little sisâs much-publicized smackdown of hubby Jay Z, in the midst of a rap-singing tirade. Then Nikki pops up halfway through spewing vitriolic, mile-a-minute lyrics like, âItâs every hood nigga dream, fantasizing about Nicki and Bey / Curvalicious, pussy served delicious / Mayday mayday, earth to bitches / Slap these hoes on they ass like we birthing bitches.â This is Bey and Nicki at their most lyrically masochistic, and boy, is it a treat.
3. Bobby Shmurda â âHot Niggaâ
Born Ackquille Jean Pollard to a Jamaican father and Trinidadian mother, and raised on the streets of Brooklyn, Shmurda is currently facing anywhere between 8-25 years for a variety of weapons-related charges, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, which brings up interesting questions of responsibility, and separating the âartâ from the âartist.â Over a menacing beat from Lloyd Banksâ 2012 tune âJackpot,â Shmurda raps about his hard-luck life, from his fatherâs incarceration to his drug-dealing past. The 20-year-oldâs bombastic tune recalls Mobb Deepâs âShook Ones,â and is one of the most exciting gangster rap tunes to hail from New York in quite some time. Itâs music video also, of course, inspired the âShmoney Danceâ that has since gone viral.
2. Future Islands â âSeasons (Waiting on You)â
It was the Letterman performance that left everyone, including Dave, speechless, and propelled this journeymen group of North Carolinians to stardom. Led by eccentric frontman Samuel T. Herring, whose herky-jerk dance moves captivated the world, the debut single off the indie rock outfitâs fourth album, Singles, is the best Tom Jones song he never wroteâa swinging, breezy tune about unrequited love, with Herringâs agonized voice, cracking and growling with feeling, lording over the proceedings. What a song, and a performance, and a band. Bravo.
1. Sia â âChandelierâ
The 39-year-old Aussie has written hits for every pop artist under the sun, from Rihanna and BeyoncĂ© to Katy Perry and her unforgettable hook on David Guettaâs âTitanium.â Oh, and who can forget her poignant ballad âBreathe Meâ that was memorably featured in the series finale to HBOâs Six Feet Under. The standout track off her sixth album 1000 Forms of Fear sounds like it was meant for Rihanna, opening with Sia adopting a reggae-tinged delivery to relay the story of a wild party girl who is all âbout that life. And then the chorus hits, and Siaâs voice goes Apollo 11, reaching heretofore unforeseen heights, before crash-landing back to earth. But this song is now inseparable from the spellbinding music video, which boasts 12-year-old Dance Moms star Maddie Ziegler as a mini-Sia busting out all matter of eye-catching choreography in a dilapidated flat. Hands-down the best music video in yearsâand one of the best ever.
Honorable Mention(s):
-Mark Ronson (Feat. Bruno Mars) â âUptown Funkâ
-Angel Olsen â âUnfucktheworldâ
-Perfume Genius â âQueenâ
-St. Vincent â âPrince Johnnyâ
-TV on the Radio â âHappy Idiotâ
-Run the Jewels (Feat. Zach De La Rocha) â âClose Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)â