Top 50 Songs of 2014 (20-11)

Round 3 of the "Top 50 Songs of 2014" ping-ponged from apocalyptic funk to skeletal piano rock and world conquering hip hop. Round 4 is no different in its far-flung nature, but before we get to it let's see where we've been so far.

50. "Picture Me Gone"- Ariel Pink (pom pom)
49. "Blank Space"- Taylor Swift (1989)
48. "I'm Coming Home"- Lil Boosie (Life After Deathrow)
47. "Say You Love Me"- Jessie Ware (Tough Love)
46. "Man of the Year"- ScHoolboy Q (Oxymoron)
45. "New York Kiss"- Spoon (They Want My Soul)
44. "I Love You All"- The Soronprfbs (Frank soundtrack)
43. "Interference Fits"- Perfect Pussy (Say Yes to Love)
42. "Webbie Flow (U Like)"- Isaiah Rashad (Cilvia Demo)
41. "And I Am Nervous"- Shy Boys (Shy Boys)
40. "Never Catch Me" ft. Kendrick Lamar- Flying Lotus (You're Dead!)
39. "Tearing Down Posters"- Jawbreaker Reunion (Lutheran Sisterhood Gun Club)
38. "Try Me"- DeJ Loaf (single)
37. "Queen"- Perfume Genius (Too Bright)
36. "No More"- Jeremih & Shlohmo (No More EP)
35. "Jackson"- Cymbals Eat Guitars (LOSE)
34. "Fancy" ft. Charli XCX- Iggy Azalea (The New Classic)
33. "Holding on for Life"- Broken Bells (After the Disco)
32. "Who Do You Love?" ft. Drake- YG (My Krazy Life)
31. "Have a Party"- MBE (DJ Moondawg's: We Invented the Bop 2)
30. "Call Across Rooms"- Grouper (Ruins)
29. "A Little God in My Hands"- Swans (To Be Kind)
28. "One Time For"- Rome Fortune (Prod. Four Tet) (Small VVorld)
27. "Magic"- Coldplay (Ghost Stories)
26. "Benz Friendz (Whatchutola)" ft. André 3000- Future (Honest)
25. "Silver Line"- Lykke Li (I Never Learn)
24. "Attachment"- Hannah Diamond (single)
23. "i"- Kendrick Lamar (single)
22. "Unf***theworld"- Angel Olsen (Burn Your Fire for No Witness)
21. "Digital Witness"- St. Vincent (St. Vincent)  



20. "Lookin Ass N****"- Nicki Minaj (Young Money: Rise of an Empire)

  


















Call the fight now for anyone who keeps insisting Nicki Minaj can't actually rap, that "Monster" was a fluke. Put a towel over the lifeless corpses of all the "not havin' game ass n*****" that Minaj eviscerates during "Lookin Ass N****"'s slowly moving electro-storm. Once the faded drum machine sounds, anyone that's said a mumbling word about Nicki going to be buried in that barren wasteland. There's nothing you can do to stop the onslaught. 2 Chainz isn't coming in as comic relief. Beyoncé can't be bothered. No amount of crooning from Drake can suture these wounds. Forget "Mixtape Nicki," this is Minaj out for blood and no one is safe.  

19. "Kitchen Song"- Oscar (single)

One of the biggest takeaways from a conversation I had with the mononymous British pop artist Oscar was that the self-described "musical schizophrenic" was "quite late with guitar music." His earliest songs were cheesy teenage pop ballads that reflected a steady diet of Alicia Keys. Until he hit 17, it was mostly R&B, hip hop, and whatever he could swipe from his sister or listen to on the mixes his mom gave him for school. The hushed guitar intimacy of shoegaze was light years from his mind.

Which is amazing then when you hear how carefully structured "Kitchen Song" is as a piece of guitar-driven music. The sweet din of a guitar kicks off the track and continues throughout the song's scant 2:29 runtime. When it needs to, it fades into the background to clear space for noisier chords and thumping drums, but it never stops humming.

In that interview Oscar mentioned his mom showed him some Buddy Holly on guitar, something that makes total sense. Holly could rock with the best of them, but was more at home singing tender love songs. So it is with Oscar. Guitar is ever present in "Kitchen Song," but so is nervous "love," the kind you have after forming an instant connection with someone at a party. "I know I will find you maybe now or one day soon," Oscar insists in the chorus. Come to think of it, those "cheesy pop songs" haven't disappeared either. They've grown up.

18. "Can't Do Without You"- Caribou (Our Love)

For all intents and purposes there's nothing to the desperate, muted-disco of Caribou's "Can't Do Without You." A chopped up, not slopped up, sample of Marvin Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar" plays ad infinitum. Caribou's Dan Snaith completes Gaye's cries of "I can't do with," in an echoing falsetto. Drum machines clap from both sides. A synthesizer sounds like its slowly being liquefied. Eventually the song mutates into a muscular psych-groove. Snaith admits "You’re the only thing I think about/ It’s all that I can still do," as the song surges one final time and that's it; noting more to be seen.

"Can't Do Without You" is greater than the sum of its "meager" parts though. Snaith finishing Gaye's lines is heart-wrenching, a tacit admission that the loneliness Gaye could describe on record wasn't contained to him. Those dancefloor deluges of sound bring welcome relief. Snaith's final admission is something that makes me softly exhale and wish for the best. Listing off all of this song's ingredients is easy, explaining why it's so impactful isn't.

17. "0 to 100/The Catch Up"- Drake (single)

 

Hip hop villainy will have been rewarded if Drake wins a Grammy in February for the bifurcated "0 to 100/The Catch Up." I'm not even considering his chest-puffing in the song's rumbling first half, which elevates douchebaggery to an art form when he mentions "I'm on some Raptors pay my bills s***." Forget that. I'm talking about the fact that he dusted his hands off and uploaded "0 to 100" to Soundcloud free of charge. Burgeoning rappers everywhere would kill to make a song like "0 to 100," and if they did you can bet they wouldn't release it with no strings attached. It'd be their livelihood, to Drizzy Drake it's another song to toss off. He's the cinematic bad-guy who would off someone out of boredom. 

Continuing the villain analogy, everyone has an origin story and so it is with Drake. In his case, he's a kid from Toronto who spent countless nights in the studio, worrying he was overworking his producer friend with multiple sclerosis. He's a son with a father who would float in and out of his childhood, forced to grow up when his dad didn't show.

With that painful memory, the song goes from 100 to a dead halt. Crisp drum strikes dial down to quiet sizzles and jittery guitars come unplugged. In their place comes the "The Catch Up," a slice of ethereal dream-rap which sees Drake shifting in his chair at the idea of "unconditional love." When he parses the idea out, it sounds alien to him; not surprising for someone who spends a majority of their time separated from the world at large. Considering "0 to 100/The Catch Up" and "knowing" Drake, it's impossible to pin him as hero or villain. He's forever floating in the muddy middle.

16. "Words I Don't Remember"- How to Dress Well (What Is This Heart?)

 

Testimonial time: How to Dress Well's R&B abstraction "Words I Don't Remember" means more to me than any other song in 2014. Without getting too personal, Tom Krell's shivering line "So what is trust but knowing when to let you have your silence?" is something I had to repeatedly ask myself in 2014. Any time I asked myself that question or heard Krell posing it over that sproingy synthesizer; I struggled to find an answer. Truth be told I still do, because there's no easy answer. No harmonious balance exists between giving someone their space and smothering them. It's a line you learn how to toe over time, with constant communication. Finding the right answer becomes more difficult when those connecting lines fray. Krell's resolves "I won't tell you how to live out your life" before everything crests into a soulful cacophony. It's unclear though if he can keep his promise. "Words I Don't Remember" doesn't answer tough questions, it only poses them. 

15. "Talking Backwards"- Real Estate (Atlas)

 

The painfully shy and communication challenged in 2014 had something resembling an anthem with Real Estate's chiming pop cut "Talking Backwards." The first single from the more mature Atlas, "Talking Backwards" finds Martin Courtney struggling to make sense while chatting with a long-distance girlfriend. For Courtney a walk home verges on the terrifying because it forces him to make small talk. Like his and Matt Mondanile's guitars, every memory is crystal clear; his dumb mouth is just obscuring them. Then with wonderfully sad irony, he manages to get one lyric out with no stammer: "the only thing that really matters is the one thing I can't seem to do." Identifying with that line isn't necessary to enjoy the band's melancholy-tinged approach, but it does help.

14. "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F***)" ft. Zack de la Rocha- Run the Jewels (Run the Jewels 2)

 

 

Find me bars in hip hop from 2014 that better summed up a tragic year than: "where the f*** the warden? When you find him, we don't kill him, we just waterboard him. We killin' them for freedom cause they tortured us for boredom, and even if some good ones die f*** it the Lord'll sort 'em." No matter how hard you look, those bars don't exist. What Killer Mike snarls in a dystopian hellscape perfectly paints the picture of a year that saw the nation take a tragic step backwards in race relations.  

In at least four separate cities, African American deaths caused by police officers had more people than ever wondering if law enforcement could appropriately protect the rights of minorities. Some endlessly debated this on television; others took to the streets to exercise their civil rights. In one chillingly tragic case, a desperate man with depression (and possible "political motivations") killed two officers on the same New York City streets that Eric Garner died. What had been bubbling up for years boiled over into abject violence.

It would be easy to say "f*** it" with everything that happened, that's not what Killer Mike, El-P and a reinvigorated Zack de la Rocha do. They dare to challenge the entire court system and question how the church is helping solve any of this. De la Rocha traces a line from urban decay to corporate greed, "the only thing closing faster than the coffins be the factories." With the anvil percussion and staticky programming it sounds deeply cynical, it's not. Mike's impassioned speech to RTJ fans in St. Louis the day of the Michael Brown decision confirms as much. What you're hearing are three men who care. Human beings that want all of this to "stop today."

13. "Water Fountain"- tUnE-yArDs (Nikki Nack)

 

Gather Busta Rhymes, Pee-wee Herman and "Iko Iko" artists the Dixie Cups together. Trade in those hard-earned pennies and bloodstained bills for a warm cherry pie and a two-pound chicken. Go through your Rolodex and call up everyone you know for a rally. Perfect your handclaps and learn how to clang away on the drums. Soak in the warm rays of bass guitar. Strut your stuff even if there's "no side on the sidewalk, no water in the water fountain." Belt along with Merrill Garbus' incomparable voice. Whatever you do be ready to celebrate. tUnE-yArDs are throwing the world's biggest party and everyone from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe is invited. WOOHA WOOHA.

12. "Eyes to the Wind"- The War on Drugs (Lost in the Dream)

 

Unless they're the true originator of a genre some artists are never going to escape the comparison game, their peer will always be out there as a point of reference. So it is with Philly shoegaze/psych-pop outfit the War on Drugs. As long as Adam Granduciel and company keep making music, names like: Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Big Star, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. In fact, I think any writer that hears Granduciel's nasally whine is contractually obligated to namecheck Petty. 

 

The War on Drugs won't ever escape comparisons to their influences and that doesn't matter. What matters is how they amalgamate what they've heard into something original and in that respect, "Eyes to the Wind" and the entire Lost in the Dream album was one of 2014's most unique efforts. Saxophone's nothing new to this style of music, its almost expected that a sax will roar awake from the song's suspended animation. It doesn't though. It quietly bleats away in the background, buried under mountains of fragmented piano, drifting synthesizer, swirling Wurlitzer and post-rock guitar angling. Like Granduciel singing about his depression in the musical haze, it is one element among many that's "living in darkness," sounding "a bit run down here at the moment." While Granduciel spends much of Lost in the Dream struggling to find himself, his band has clearly found its sound. 

 

11. "Aisatsana"- Aphex Twin (Syro)

  

Is there a more important popular music figure that we know less about than Richard D. James, the trickster genius behind Aphex Twin? In the 90s when his ambient albums and self-titled IDM masterpiece were changing the way people perceived electronic music, a new rumor about him seemed to spring up daily. Bits of his first album, the landmark Selected Ambient Works 85-92, were recorded when he was 14 years young. He was writing sound programs for computers at age 11. The "Twin" in the moniker references a stillborn older brother.He drove around a tank and lived in a bank. He'd play you're wedding if you were in London. There was an industry for Aphex myths and more than enough suckers to support it.

In the 13 years since the last Aphex album, not much seems to have changed and Syro closer "Aisatsana" offers the ultimate proof of James' enduring enigma. Initial reviews of the comeback record bought into the idea that the tribute to his wife Anastasia was a sparse piece recorded "on a creaky upright with birds chirping away in the background." And why not? When you listen to the track that's exactly what it sounds like, a restless innovator calming himself and crafting a serene number. You picture James pressing record and then getting lost in the sustained piano chords.

That couldn't be further from the truth though. For all of its domestic beauty, "Aisatsana" was made at the Barbican in London in 2012 where music was "produced from a suspended, swinging piano." Those lovely bird songs were added in later to create the natural effect. Which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's kept tabs on Richard D. James. Even when he's at his most relaxed, he's working harder than everyone else.

(To finally close out 2014 look for the conclusion of the "Top 50 Songs of 2014" to pop up right above this one tomorrow. If you love the songs included, say so in the comments. If you hate them and have nothing but righteous indignation for the countdown, express that to.)

In Revue- 'Atlas' (Real Estate)

I have a liner notes theory about albums I've carried with me for some time now. In my mind the "lyrical quality" of an album can be predicted by whether or not song lyrics are printed in the liners. While it doesn't help guide your decision to purchase an album, it lets you know how much the artist in question values lyrics. A rapper like Earl Sweatshirt bothers to print his knotty lyrics. The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle goes to great lengths in crafting his character studies and puts those stories front and center. In the height of his 60s fame, Bob Dylan would assure the poetic words he wrote would ring out of the liner notes. None of them are necessarily the greatest of their respective fields because their words are so much better, but because they care so deeply about them.

In hearing Real Estate's third LP Atlas I can't help but wonder how they didn't get around to printing the lyrics. Never mind it would be a tremendous boon to listeners who aren't able to move past the sheets of reverb, Atlas is above all a lyrical album. That sounds like a strange statement to be made about a band that's primarily been lumped into fields of "surf-rock" or "indie-pop" but it's absolutely true. Forgoing the positive pool-lounging vibes of their first two records, the New Jersey quintet has given us an album shading more negative. 

Everything is presented in 1080p HD quality on an LCD TV but now there's a subtle smudge on the screen. Contractions are Atlas' primary currency. Lazily spinning around in "Past Lives"'s centrifuge Martin Courtney worries "I can't see the sky." Opening number "Had to Hear" throws Courtney out the door and he knows "I can't go back." The loping drum beats and guitar strums of "Crime" leave plenty of room to realize whatever has been going on has been "pretend" and the concern "I don't wanna die lonely and uptight" is well-founded no matter what age you are. Even the saccharine sentiment of "I'm glad I'm with you" marking the distanced "Primitive" is prefaced by a direly uncertain declaration, "I don't know where I wanna be." These aren't dense lines to parse for weeks on end, they're more like koans. When struggle comes their importance is revealed.

And the notion of something succinct like a koan is an ideal frame of reference for the music captured on Atlas. Martin Courtney and Matt Mondanile's guitars gently ebb and flow; never feeling forced. Notes in suburban country shuffler "The Bend" perform the titular action without ever snapping. A last second turn to sky-searching guitar rock doesn't break kayfabe; it's earned after 4 minutes of languishing on the ground; wishing to be amongst stars. Closer "Navigator" is another one of those blissful shufflers where the Alex Bleeker/Jackson Pollis rhythm section is content to trot along. The repeated line "I'll meet you where the pavement ends," embodies their style throughout much of Atlas.

Nowhere does the group find better meeting places than in twin-highlights "Talking Backwards" and "How I Might Live". "Talking Backwards" is my early frontrunner for the year's best. Emboldened by a tenderly chugging bass, Courtney is able to untie his tongue long enough to admit "the only thing that really matters is the one thing I can't seem to do." It's a song of quiet obsession, where plans are made well in advance and talking is done for hours on end. Stripped of the band's earlier jangle there's nothing obsessive to find on the surface, just shimmering romantic pop. Cascading cymbal washes and almost silent organ swathes immediately posit "How Might I Live" as the antithesis. We've arrived at the bitter end, when the mute button needs to be switched off and "goodbye" must be said. That moment is never found though; instead the decision is made to just keep "rolling on."

"Rolling on" is the group's modus operandi for Atlas. "April's Song"'s hazy wobble doesn't send the band off-course at all. A mush-mouth on the aforementioned "Talking Backwards" doesn't stymie true romance. Not even landscapes sprawling across rambler "Horizon" can keep Real Estate distracted for long. In stripping past obfuscations, they've reached a greater clarity. Real Estate doesn’t need reverb to communicate; now they can speak for themselves.

"Talking Backwards"

"How Might I Live"

"Talking Backwards"- Real Estate

There's a moment in the video for Real Estate's new single "Talking Backwards" that's too perfectly choreographed in such an off-the-cuff clip. For a scant two seconds, the camera pans heavenward to capture a vibrant blue sky with clouds dotting it. It's a serene happening, seen through a grimy van windshield.

That metaphor, no matter how accidental can be appended to the band itself. On previous outings, tranquility hid underneath soft blankets of fuzz. With "Talking Backwards", the first song off of the forthcoming Atlas, the sheets have been stripped off as the band faces sunlight pouring in from the window. A "rude" descriptor like "jangly" no longer carries water. Martin Courtney and Matt Mondanile's guitars quietly chime as the drums pitter-patter and the bass hums. With this newfound clarity, Courtney's syrup-drenched lines stop sounding as sweet. The title reflects his inability to the say the right thing at the right time to a girlfriend who is "too many miles away." An idyllic walk home is ruined by Courtney's stammering. There's one line he can manage to get out right, "the only thing that really matters is the one thing I can't seem to do."

Atlas, the band's third LP, is arriving stateside March 4 via Domino Records.
 

What's New(s)?

Real Estate announces new album

Since releasing their sophomore album Days in 2011, New Jersey-based indie pop band Real Estate has been relatively quiet. Even the past few months were subdued, the silence only broken by the occasional album tease that never materialized.

Last night that silence was shattered with the announcement of their third LP, entitled Atlas. And in addition to unveiling the album, the group has debuted a new track called "Talking Backwards". With ringing guitars, Martin Courtney's distanced vocals, and restrained drumming, the song furthers the band's bid for jangle-pop royalty. You can find a Charles Poekel filmed video for the lush single below along with dates for a North American tour starting in late February. Look for Atlas to arrive March 4 in the U.S. via Domino.

Tour:

2/28 San Francisco, CA - The Independent 3/1 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
3/3 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
3/4 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rickshaw Theatre
3/6 Seattle, WA - Neumos
3/8 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
3/9 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
3/11 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda Theatre
3/19 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
3/20 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
3/21 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Ballroom
3/22 Montreal, Quebec - II Motore
3/23 Toronto, Ontario - The Opera House
3/25 Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
3/26 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
3/27 Chicago, IL - Metro
3/28 St Louis, MO - Firebird
3/29 Nashville, TN - Exit/In
3/31 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
4/1 Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater
4/2 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
4/3 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
4/5 New York, NY - Webster Hall

The National film Mistaken for Strangers receiving a theatrical release

The National haven't been accused of being comedic, but the band will be unloosening their asphyxiating ties just a bit for the theatrical release of Mistaken for Strangers. Out March 28 in theaters and on iTunes, the documentary filmed by frontman Matt Berninger's brother Tom will follow the exploits of the band while on tour for their 2010 High Violet. As Matt Berninger jokes about is brother in the trailer, "he's more of a metalhead, he think's indie rock is pretentious bulls***." Much of the tension and drama of the film stems from this outsider-view of the indie-rock world, a world where "shredding" is alien, and Tom's struggle to relate to his far-more famous brother.

Mistaken for Strangers is being released through Starz Digital Media and Abramorama. You can preview the film below with the official trailer.

Hear Ty Segall's Fuzz cover the Kinks

The impossibly prolific Ty Segall is something of a garage-rock hero at this point, so it makes sense the San Fran rocker would take to a cover of the Kinks "Till the End of the Day" like a duck to water. The original Dave Davies work was already speeding on high-octane energy, but in the hands of the frenetic Segall the song goes into overdrive. The loveable Britpop harmonies are obscured by Segall's manic wailing and the power-chord fed solos drop like a ton of bricks in this heavyweight setting. In Segall's hand, the song's refrain "we do as we please," comes close to mantra.

The cover is part of an ongoing split 7" series by the Brooklyn label Famous Class, called "Less Artists, More Condos." Segall's contribution is the 10th in the series and will be backed by CCR Headcleaner's "Free the Freaks" on the B-side. The split drops January 21 and all proceeds go to the Ariel Panero Memorial through VH1's "Save the Music" campaign.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow @AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.