Top 50 Songs of 2014
40. The Juan Maclean
“A Place Called Space”
from In a Dream (DFA)
With a name like “A Place Called Space,” you’d think long-running, shape-shifting electronic duo The Juan Maclean were tipping their hats to cosmic jazz eccentric Sun Ra. In reality, it’s more like a Giorgio Moroder Utopia — a landscape verdant with 16th-note future-funk basslines and a climate of mind-bending whooshes. And every now and then, there’s a gratuitous slash of electric guitar — a move so universally cheesy and undeniably fun, every copy of this should come with its own pair of Ray-Bans. Indeed, this is a bright retro-future, and one where confusingly sexy robot beats could be traded like currency. It’s a world I believe in, if only for eight minutes at a time. – JT
39. Cymbals Eat Guitars
“Warning”
from LOSE (Barsuk)
Joseph D’Agostino has some choice phrases on LOSE’s high-speed highlight: “Let’s throw some brake light in the night”; “Empty as a dream Grand Central”; “The shape of true love is terrifying enough”; “Friendship’s the biggest myth”; “A positive sobriety birthday.” D’Agostino’s one-liners throughout “Warning” are sung with conviction as the band gives indie rock a swift kick to the chin. The song’s driving force is made all the more impressive after two seconds of silence towards the finish; Cymbals Eat Guitars comes roaring back to life with galloping drums and a sheet of guitar gaze that quickly swallows everything up. D’Agostino warns that he’s “some kind of handful,” but we should really be concerned with the capabilities of his band. They rock. – JJM
38. Caribou
“Our Love”
from Our Love (Merge)
On 2010’s Swim, Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, launched on a steady progression away from psych-pop and towards electronic soundscapes. But to say he abandoned those psychedelic elements would not be at all accurate. To the contrary, “Our Love” manages to merge the best of IDM and neo-psychedelia to shape a bizarre, six-minute excursion into a different world. The result is as subtle and sexual as it is tense and spiritually-evocative. It’s a deceptively bold step forward for a composer who was already years ahead of his time — equally at home in the club or at the art house. – ATB
37. Protomartyr
“Come & See”
from Under Color of Official Right
(Hardly Art)
“Come & See” is the kind of song that’ll give you goosebumps when its climax hits. It’s Protomartyr’s second longest track (3:57) ever, and one of its slowest until the slight stabs of guitar, low bass, and lumbering drum beat explode into total bliss upon singer Joe Casey’s calling of “then lead us on to heaven.” “Come & See” sounds dark, and there’s some sadness behind Casey’s about outsiders’ plans for Detroit (“And I’ll try to live defeated”), but the chorus is so emotionally uplifting (there’s also a Prophet 5 synthesizer playing in there, if you can hear it). Protomartyr is a wonder to experience in an intimate live setting; “Come & See” is one reason why. – JJM
36. Lykke Li
“No Rest for the Wicked”
from I Never Learn (LL/Atlantic)
The happiest unhappy girl in Sweden follows the expected path from her saunter down the fast lane of Wounded Rhymes with a sparsely worded statement of self-recrimination. “No Rest For the Wicked” recalls the high piano from, of all things, Darkness On the Edge of Town and harnesses that album’s creeping sense of foreboding for a full-out guilt trip, but despite Li’s statements to the contrary there is a choir here, suggesting a mass absolution if we can all roust ourselves out of our morning stupor. It’s the Shangri-La’s with roles reversed, or a vampiric “Free Fallin’”: an achingly sad song that’s not depressing in the least. – PP
35. Andy Stott
“Violence”
from Faith in Strangers (Modern Love)
Straddling a line between terrifying industrial composition and a mesmerizing dream, “Violence” is a bit of a conundrum. To say it’s a ‘song’ would not be entirely honest; it’s more of a sound collage, a stark composition that eventually gives into a more danceable reworking of itself. But in a world where predictable drops and quick satisfaction have become the name of the game in EDM, unpredictability is exactly what makes Andy Stott such a precious commodity. In this sonic world, space is just as valuable as noise and every moment keeps the listener on their heels. – ATB
34. Jenny Lewis
“Head Underwater”
from The Voyager (Warner Bros.)
There are some women who appear to have the Midas Touch when it comes to music, and Jenny Lewis is one of them. She rocks hard all over the place in various groups: Rilo Kiley, The Watson Twins, and as the “Jenny” in the duo Jenny and Johnny. Her solo venture Voyager, however, is bursting with fantastic tunes. It was hard to pick one, but you know us: we’ll go for the dark horse, that tight ode to maintaining the je ne sais quois of living, “Head Underwater.” It’s hard to say what it is exactly that’s so extraordinary about this one: maybe it’s the words, musing on the magic that gives life its spark, or it could be those underwater sounding keys that launch the track. Everything is so pocketed and sharp that such pronounced adoration almost comes as a surprise. But great is great, and “Head Underwater” is explosive in its perfection. – NG
33. Real Estate
“Talking Backwards”
from Atlas (Domino)
Martin Courtney’s simple account of suspended communication and archived longing is halted just enough by a time signature that rewrites itself, not going where you think it’s supposed to go at the moment you expect. Guitars swirl in about four different lines, all lovely and sad, breathing life into his dejection along with rich but understated vocal harmonies. “Talking Backwards” doesn’t hit you over the head and barely rises above a whisper, but it perfectly shows why we keep coming back to Real Estate to pick up what we didn’t hear the last time. – PP
32. Perfect Pussy
“Interference Fits”
from Say Yes to Love (Captured Tracks)
Perfect Pussy got a lot of attention for producing high-volume noise this year, but their most profound moment comes via the longest cut off this year’s Say Yes To Love. Sure, “Interference Fits” is still shrouded in feedback and Meredith Graves’ vocals are characteristically under-mixed but — at its heart — this track is a heart-wrenching ballad. It’s an honest, battle-torn tale of growing up and giving in and, under all that distortion, it’s an honest-to-god tearjerker. “Since when did we say yes to love?” – ATB
31. Cloud Nothings
“I’m Not Part of Me”
from Here And Nowhere Else
(Mom + Pop/Carpark)
Growing up is a weird and awkward process, for as tempting as it is to say, “I’m a different person than I was before,” to do so implicitly acknowledges the mistakes and fumbles we all have to go through to get there. Still in his early twenties, Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi still has many years ahead of him, but he’s done a lot of growing since first making home recordings as a college freshman. That doesn’t mean he didn’t still run that same gauntlet of anguish and cringes that any young person has had to, but on “I’m Not Part of Me,” the inspirational yet barn-burning closing track on Here and Nowhere Else, he’s ready to call it a metamorphosis, already: “It starts right now!” As the Cleveland-based band tears through what sounds like their best song to date, Baldi spends much of the song on self-help mantras (“I’m learning to be here and nowhere else“). In the towering chorus, in which Baldi roars, “I’m not! I’m not you!/ You’re a part of me, you’re a part of me,” it finally clicks. Maybe it’s in his voice — which sounds just a little bit more commanding than usual — or in the dirty wall of guitars behind him — made more abrasive through the heavy touch of John Congleton’s production — but here, Baldi’s defiant cry rings true. Wings sprouted, cocoon vacated, transformation complete. – JT
