25. Wicked Kind - “Sport” / Weezer - “Foolish Father”
Yep. That's right. I'm cheating. But c'mon, man. I already had to cut "That's Not Me", "Burning", and "Blockbuster Night Pt. 1" from this list. And combining these two tracks just makes sense! The first sounds like a great Pinkerton-era Weezer song but it's actually by Wicked Kind, a side project of Eric Harm and Julian Veronesi of Titus Andronicus, and the second is an actual Weezer song that's features Titus Andronicus guitarist / vocalist Patrick Stickles as a co-writer and guest guitarist. (So, Weezer + Titus Andronicus = This Entry, basically.) As a former teenager who scribbled the flying W on his backpack (=w=), I cannot overstate how much I appreciate the Titus boys' efforts to supply the world with good Weezer-ish music, regardless of whether its by making original Weezer-ish songs, or by contributing to the best Weezer song of the millennium. Thanks, fellas.
24. Riff Raff - "Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz"
If I had to make a Super Special Dolphin/Shark Best Song Titles of 2014, "Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz" would be #1. No question, no contest, no hesitation. Naturally though, that isn't the reason it's on this list. (It certainly doesn't hurt, though.) The reason its here is that it's probably the best song Riff has ever made. He drawls all sorts of wonderful, idiosyncratic nonsense like "My bad I'm dyslexic / In the four-door mango Lexus" and "What's up to my haters / I done fucked around and sang a hook like Anita Baker." But what really cements this song as one of the best in his catalog is that beat. It's deliberate, ambling, and absolutely perfect for him to rap over. I can only properly describe it Riff Raff-ian (Riff Raff-esque?) metaphors. It's a codeine slushie. It's a Cadillac made of frozen tundra. It's a neon snow leopard. It's an ice storm of diamonds Versace papaya Lamborghini chain Louis Vuit-OH MAN I'VE GONE TOO FAR. MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ENTRY WHILE YOU STILL CAN. LEAVE ME, SAVE YOURSELF. GO!
23. Nozinja "Tsekeleke"
Earlier this year, I discovered Shangaan Electro, a mere four years after it first broke internationally. If you're out of loop like I was until very very recently, Shangaan Electro combines traditional South African call-and-response folk music with house music played at absurd speeds. (Like, 180 BPM and up absurd.) Most songs in the genre are charmingly handcrafted, full of blown-out vocals and chintzy keyboards. This year, however, genre figurehead Nozinja has cleared a path to its future with his single "Tsekeleke." You might expect the addition of chipmunked vocals, upscale synthesizers, and -gasp- bass sounds might rob Shangaan of it soul, but "Tsekeleke" proves that the genre still has room to grow and new avenues to explore. I can't wait to see where he takes it next.
22. Panda Bear - "Mr. Noah"
Like a lot of Animal Collective Extended Family songs, Panda Bear's "Mr. Noah" initially sounds like a UFO whose engine won't turn over. Then, the beat kicks in, everything coalesces, and it roars into the sky. But, the real draw here is Panda's vocal part, especially its skipping and skidding chorus. You know, the part where everything ends with "eh-eh-eh-eh" or "eye-eye-eye-eye" and then it echoes in your head forever and ever? Yeah, that part. You can officially put that in the "Panda Bear Hooks That I Could Listen On Repeat Until The End Of Time" File right next to the "When the sun goes down on the wagon" part of "Summertime Clothes" and the "What do you / See when you / See inside of me" part from "Derek". (NOTE: That is a very impressive place to be filed.)
21. Cam'ron & A-Trak feat. Juelz Santana and Dame Dash - "Dipshits"
A pleasant trend of 2014 was that it seemed like all of my favorite artists whose work had been trending downward suddenly corrected course. (e.g. Jenny Lewis, Lil Wayne, the aforementioned Weezer) No one, however, pulled it off as completely as Killa Cam did on this track. To be clear, Cam hadn't fallen off completely by any means, but holy shit, the minute "Dipshits" clicks on it's suddenly 2004 again! A-Trak's sweeping, championship parade beat is a total throwback to the tracks that Dipset was regularly obliterating in those days, so all Cam has to do is kick back and spit like only he can. He slides back into it like an old pair of pink Nikes. It really is still Dipset, you dipshits.
20. Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks - “Little Fang”
Like a lot of Animal Collective Extended Family songs, Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks' Mary Shelley's Bram Stoker's "Little Fang" sounds like a forgotten 1960s pop hit that's been mutated by radioactive waste. (Wait a moment. That sentence gave me deja vu. Weird.) But this song fits that description more so than anything that any of them has ever recorded. It's even got jangling guitars. Actual, real guitars! Just listen to those backing vocals in the chorus. You can practically see them on Bandstand, shaking their mod haircuts in unison as they repeat "Little fang, little fang, little fang." Of course, all those points resemblance would be for not if it didn't have a powerful classic pop hook, and it has one of the best that Avey's ever written.
19. Young Thug, Freddie Gibbs, and A$AP Ferg - "Old English"
Let's break down all of the great elements of this song in the order they appear. (1). The song opens with the idiosyncratic voice of Young Thug croaking out "Sliiiiiiiiiiiime." Like every single track he spazzed over this year, he kills it. (2.) Salva and Nick Hook's beat really kicks in. It's like Hot Butter's "Popcorn" had a baby with a Zaytoven beat and they made the X-Files theme it's godsong. It's catchy, it's creepy, and it sounds exactly like Atlanta all at the same time. They killed it. (3.) Freddie Gibbs wisely chooses to not attempt to match the manic delivery of the MCs that bookend him. Instead, he turns his energy up just enough fit perfectly into place between them, acting as a subtle contrast without throwing off the vibe of the song. And as for his verse. It's Freddie Gibbs, man. Of course he killed it. (4.) A$AP Ferg continues to further the notion that he's surpassed Rocky on the Official Big Board of A$AP Mob. Perhaps the only MC alive capable of matching Young Thug in terms of sheer bonkers-ness, Ferg throws a crazy, staccato flow full of sudden digressions into Spanish. So, yes, he too killed it.
18. Sicko Mobb - "Pump Fakin'"
Sicko Mobb's debut mixtape Super Saiyan Vol. 1 could have wound up one of my favorite albums of 2014, but sadly it technically dropped one day before the year began. (C'mon guys, that's like literally the worst possible time to drop a project!) But, they must have heard my frustration because they proceeded to drop a loosie that might be the best track they've ever recorded: "Pump Fakin'" They really don't invent the wheel on it; it just a really fantastic Sicko Mobb bop track. The beat's a snowstorm of confectioners sugar with an absurdly high BPM. They rap like a post-Future Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and do their "skeeeEEEeeeEEE" ad-lib a whole bunch. But, as they progress toward Super Saiyan Vol. 2 (which should drop about ten minutes before this list is posted or something) it's encouraging that their hooks are getting stickier, their flows are smoother, and their coming into their own as artist. Hopefully they keep on this track and I get to write more about them next year.
17. Nicki Minaj feat. Lil Herb - "Chi-Raq"
Nicki spent most of 2014 reinforcing her rap supremacy by hopping on a remix of just about every hot song by every hot young artist ("Danny Glover", "Boss Ass Bitch", "No Flex Zone", etc.) and (of course) completely owning the track. The best of all those, though, is "Chi-Raq" her collaboration with up-and-coming drill artist Lil Herb. Though it isn't technically a remix, the track's chorus is copped from the opening of Herb's verse on his 2012 track "Kill Shit." Producers Allen Ritter, Boi-1da, and Vinylz surround it with a ominous 808 and piano beat perfect for the sneering menacing verses that Nicki and Herb lay down. Nicki spits her usual fire, including a particularly set of lines about groups of three letters ("I'm with EBK / You on EBT" etc) and Herb aces his major league tryout by keeping pace handily with densely packed lines like "Don't put yourself up in a situation / Puttin' my relations in your conversations". This is exactly how collabs between icons and newcomers should work.
16. St. Vincent - "Severed Crossed Fingers"
BIH and I agree that many of the best moments on St. Vincent's latest, self-titled record are the ones that feature heavier riffs than she's ever used before. But, ultimately, my favorite song from the album isn't one of those tense, churning monsters. Instead, its "Severed Crossed Fingers" one of the dreamiest and most meandering songs in her catalog. Rather than her usual guitar heroics and wonderful vocal ticks, she's created an formless but expansive ballad of aimlessly billowing synths, understated guitar, and angelic backing vocals. And, since it's St. Vincent, it's far from a straightforward ballad. For every "Well, you stole the heart right out my chest" there's one about "Draining our spleen over years." Like all of her best tracks, it's off-kilter in most bewitching way possible.
15. BC Kingdom "DWN4U / Jeeps"
After their track "Lock Up" stole the show on the Solange-curated compilation album Saint Heron, it should come as no surprise that LA duo BC Kingdom were responsible for one the best R&B tracks of 2014 in their two-part jam "DWN4U / Jeeps". While their sound is strictly of the now (check out that spare, moody beat and meandering, flowing song structure) what really sets this track apart is the classic interplay between the duo. They have a musical chemistry that calls to mind history's greatest R&B groups. Just listen to their precise harmonies, perfectly interlocking call-and-response exchanges, and melodic give and take. That's every bit as amazing as the fact that they're able to write seven-minute-long, bifurcated R&B songs that work as well as this one does. (Let's move on before I give into temptation and make a terrible FKA Twigs / K-Ci & JoJo joke, okay?)
14. Sun Kil Moon - "Carissa"
Somehow, Mark Kozelek has lost two relatives in two separate fires caused by exploding aerosol cans; one of them was the titular cousin from his song "Carissa" the heart-crushing opener of his thoroughly heart-crushing record Benji. It's a rare tribute song dedicated to a person that the artist didn't know very well at all, but it never feels like he's infringing on someone else's tragedy. Instead, it's a song about the universal human need to try to comprehend and understand death. Throughout the song he repeats variations on the phrase "Carissa was thirty-five, you don't just raise two kids and take out your trash and die" over and over, as though he's willing it to be true. He wants to think that by learning about her life and death that he'll come to understand it. But always lurking in the background is the suspicion that trying to understand it is as close as any of us will ever get.
13. The Soft Pink Truth - "Black Metal"
Here are the three best things about this song that I didn't mention in my analysis of it as one of the best covers of the year:
The little bell sound after the line "We chime the bell"
How Drew Daniel turns the chorus of repeating "Black metal!" into a sassy lil rap part.
How he approximates the original's main riff with chopped up vocal samples.
12. Sharon Van Etten - "Your Love Is Killing Me"
I always think of Sharon Van Etten's spectacular "Your Love Is Killing Me" as a bombastic song, but when I'm actually listening to it, I realize just how restrained it is for most of its run. Though it eventually crests into the heavens, it opens with little more than echoing drums and droning organ. From there, it slowly builds over the next six minutes into a massive baroque tour of force, which seems all bigger due to its juxtaposition with its opening. But, really, the story here is SVE's vocals. I mean, Jesus Fucking Christ. She sings her fucking heart out on this song. It's an eye-opening display of technical prowess, but it never feels like she's showing off. Rather, it sounds like this is the only way should could sing this song. These thoughts and emotions are just so huge that the only way that she could possible convey them with any sort of fidelity.
11. clipping. feat. Cocc Pistol Cree - "Work Work"
This was the first we heard of any of the songs on clipping.'s debut album, and from the very beginning it was clear that their work had taken a massive leap. Now, that's not to heap scorn on their previous work; I even put one of their earlier songs on last year's version of this very list. But just listen to that opening! That shit blows the doors off of anything they'd ever done up until that point or since. It sounds like if Hit Boy tried to make an Aphex Twin song. That's really clipping.'s 2014 in a microcosm. They've somehow gotten better at everything they're trying to do. Their rap songwriting has improved, and they've simultaneously also gotten better at integrating the noisier and more avant garde elements that make their music so unique. The result is a song that sounds both exactly like a rap track, and completely unlike one at the same time.
10. Vince Staples - "Blue Suede"
No song sounds more like 2014 than "Blue Suede". That high, blaring synth sounds exactly like a can of tear gas twisting through the air over the riot that invoked by the song's thudding bass and clicking snares. And, what chorus better summarizes all the awful shit that happened this year than Vince repeating those three lines: "New shoes with the blue suede...Young graves get the bouquets...Hope I outlive them red roses." Though, of course, the song doesn't directly address the aforementioned awful shit, but its themes dovetail perfectly with the spirit of the year. And isn't that really the mark of great art? You don't have to make a song that says "Here is something that's happening and here is my opinion on it." All you need to do is express something specific in a way that the universal truths or ideas that underpin it become clear to the audience. You don't have to say that so much violence comes from something small, you just have to repeat "All I wanted was them Jordons with the blue suede in 'em."
9. Against Me! - "Transgender Dysphoria Blues"
It's been a while since a song has reminded just what punk rock can do, but the title track from the latest album by Against Me! has done just that. Honestly I can't recall a more effective punk-song-as-empathy-machine than "Transgender Dysphoria Blues." The track perfectly conveys the sadness and anger and frustration that comes from not being able to become the person you want to be. As a cisgender dude, I've never felt the rage at my body that a transgender person does, and I obviously never will, since it's impossible to truly and wholly understand something you've never personally experienced. But luckily Laura Jane Grace is an artist and she understands how art to connect people to experiences they've never had. So, while I'll never know what it's like to experience her pain, I've gotten as close as I can because I've heard this track.
8. Lil B - "No Black Person Is Ugly"
Most of 2014 felt like watching Do The Right Thing with your grandparents, except the movie's real and your grandparents are millions and millions of people, and it keeps happening again and again. Basically, it fucking sucked. It would be impossible for any piece of art to fully capture what it was like to live through this year, but "No Black Person Is Ugly" tries to, and damn if it doesn't come close to pulling it off. There's the resigned despair of that lonesome little guitar riff that sounds like it might not be able to make it through one more repetition. And even though Lil B's verses are more straightforward than usual, he still leaves in several stumbles and miscues, but isn't that exactly what he should do? So much about this year didn't make any goddamn sense that all of those errors feel honest, like he's trying to think through things but keeps getting caught up. But, of course, what really makes this song transcendent is the appeal to optimism in the chorus. It's not insisting that everything's okay or even that everything will be okay. Instead, it acknowledges that things are bad, but encourages the listener to not give in. Who knows if the sun will ever come out, but it definitely won't if we aren't looking for it.
7. Yohuna - "Badges"
MIf I'm up late working on something on the computer and listening to records (or up late dicking around aimlessly on the computer and listening to records) I always like to end with a calm, soothing song before taking off my headphones and going to bed. For the vast majority of this year, the song I chose was Yohuna's "Badges", a gorgeous, ethereal dream pop song from the Orchid Tapes compilation Boring Ecstasy. But describing it as "soft and pretty and chill u kno" really doesn't do it justice. Sure, it's endlessly sustained piano and synths are undoubtedly beautiful, and they work perfectly with Yohuna's airy vocals, but this track also has a certain ineffable allure to it. I think that it's because it simultaneously sounds deeply sad but also contented. Just look at these lines from it's refrain: "I’m not pretty, I’m not nice / I am radiating light, I am radiating." It just perfectly hits the midpoint between resigned dejection and quiet gladness. I'm still not sure though. Maybe I'll get it after constantly listening to it for another year (but I probably won't).
6. DJ Dodger Stadium - "Love Songs"
As I made clear the other day, it's kind of obvious what's great about this track. Sure, the weird helicopter stuttering part at the beginning is great, and so is the jingly-jangly bell part that comes in halfway through, and the weird little squelches that crop up every now and then. But really, what else is there to point to that isn't dwarfed by just how massively awesome the song's central sample is? What else is there to say but "LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF" over and over again? LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF LATELY I'VE BEEN SINGING LOVE SONGS BY MYSELF (and so on...)
5. Kanye West - "God Level"
Sure, eventually I'm sure that I'll need to refer to this as the "Unmastered Leaked Version" or the "Incomplete Leaked Version" or something like that, but even if this isn't the completed version of "God Level" it's still an amazing track. Just listen to that fucking beat! That rhythm! It's madness! It's like every drummer in the world is playing at the same time and they're all vying for your attention. It's like an even more maniacal "Bird Flu" but it's made out of a forty-something-year-old sample. Then suddenly, everything drops away and the outro sounds like a blown-out recording of a secret religious ceremony aria during a monsoon. He wasn't kidding when he titled this track. God level, indeed.
(PS: Oh man "Only One" just dropped as I was writing this list and it's amazing and it features Paul fucking McCartney and it might be good enough to take this track's place. Wow.)
4. Yung Lean - "Yoshi City"
The video for Yung Lean's single "Yoshi City" feature Lean and his Sad Boys crew stunting in tricked out SmartCars. Is there a more perfect summation of Lean as an artist? It's a weird, European approximation of a rap video, just like Lean's a weird European Drake. Sure, his peculiar Scandinavian version of cloud rap doesn't always click, but it works far better than it looks on paper, and when it does click (like in this song) the results are engrossing. There's just something that works so well in the combination of Lean's melancholy monotone vocals with the perfect low-key synth burbles. It might not make sense that I (a self-professed rap aficionado) just named a song by a nineteen-year-old Swedish kid the top rap track of 2014, but nothing about Lean has ever made a lick of sense. I think it's time to just go with it.
3. Hannah Diamond - "Attachment"
Two years ago, BIH and I both put Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" at a special #0 position atop both of lists of the year's top songs. We did that because it was such a completely singular track. It was utterly, shamelessly artificial and chintzy, from its gaudy strings to its incomprehensible lyrics. But it was also a spectacularly hooky pop song, like to the degree that people got pissed off about how quickly and completely it lodged itself in their brain. This year, Sophie, AG Cook, and the rest of PC Music must have read those lists and said "Hey, why don't we just do that?" The result has been months of wonderfully outlandish yet processed sounding pop music. To my ears, the clear stand-out is Hannah Diamond's bizarro ballad "Attachment" (though it narrowly beats out her own "Every Night). It's like an uncanny valley simulation of a pop hit, a love song for a not-quite-perfect Stepford Wife automaton. I'm not sure if there'll ever be another song that quite compares with "Call Me Maybe" but "Attachment" makes me certain that Hannah and PC Music have a chance.
2. Holly Herndon - "Chorus"
Way way back in January 2014, when I first made the "Best Songs of 2K14" list on my computer, the very first track that I put on there was Holly Herndon's "Chorus." And, although it ultimately fell just short of attaining the supreme ultimate eternal glory that comes from topping this list, this track is still a monumental achievement. For most of its running time, "Chorus" sounds like half a dozen different dance songs all climbing over and through each other. You feel certain that you can find it rhythm, but somehow it always alludes you. It simultaneously seems both like something that you could easily dance to and something that no human would ever be able to dance to. But then suddenly, about two minutes in, all of it's different parts click together and it ecstatically propels you into the stratosphere. It's one of the most enjoyable musical moments I've ever experienced, and twelve months after I initially hear it, it's still every bit as electrifying and invigorating as that first listen.
1. How To Dress Well - "Words I Don't Remember"
I saw How To Dress Well play live on my birthday this year. Twelve days before the concert, "Words I Don't Remember" came out. In the time between it's release and the show, I listened to it multiple times a day every single day. I went to the show excited to hear the song. Then after hearing it live at the show, I wanted to go home and listen to it again. I don't need to check last.fm to know that it's the track I've listened to more than any other this year. There's really nothing else it could have been. Nothing comes close to this song. I just want to lay in the ocean of synths and reverb and wordless Tom Krell vocals forever and ever. Every now and again in life you get to encounter a piece of art that's absolutely flawless in your eyes. It doesn't happen that often, and the fact that it doesn't makes it all the more special. That's exactly how I feel about this song. To my ears, it's perfect. There's really nothing else to say, is there?
