2014 in Review

Honestly, 2014 isn’t all that noteworthy of a year, and is one of the weakest of the decade. There were some fine indie rock and indie pop releases from Sylvan Esso, Alvvays, The War On Drugs, Spoon, St. Vincent, Glass Animals and Sharon Van Etten. TV On The Radio put out what, at this point, seems to be their last record as a band. 

J. Cole, ScHoolboy Q, and Run the Jewels put out solid efforts, but Kanye, Kendrick and Drake not releasing albums left a bit of a void. Commercial hip-hop was particularly lackluster and stale, with a lot of mindless club tracks by the likes of Fetty Wap, ILOVEMAKONNEN and YG. 

Taylor Swift’s 1989 was probably the biggest release of the year, with “Shake it Off” as one of the year’s biggest singles. Other pop song of the year contenders were Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s collaboration “Uptown Funk,” “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith, “Sing” by Ed Sheeran. And “Chandelier” by Sia. Some of those songs I find a lot better than others. And for every fun single like “Boom Clap” by Charli XCX or DJ Snake or Ariana Grande, there was an equally obnoxious counterpart coming on right after like Iggy Azalea or Meghan Trainor or the aforementioned Sia. 

Songs of the year

2014 Albums

AlbumArtistStarsScoreGenre
Sylvan EssoSylvan Esso★★★★½86PopIndie PopIndietronica
Lost In The DreamThe War On Drugs★★★★84RockAlternative RockHeartland Rock
St. VincentSt. Vincent★★★★80RockIndie Pop
BenjiSun Kil Moon★★★★80RockSinger-SongwriterIndie Folk
Our LoveCaribou★★★★76ElectronicHouse
Are We ThereSharon Van Etten★★★★75RockSinger-SongwriterIndie Rock
Run The Jewels 2Run The Jewels★★★½74Hip-Hop
SeedsTV On The Radio★★★½73RockAlternative Rock
HozierHozier★★★½72RockIndie PopChamber Pop
2014 Forest Hill DriveJ. Cole★★★½72Hip-Hop
SupermodelFoster The People★★★½71RockIndie Pop
Lese MajestyShabazz Palaces★★★½71Hip-HopAlternative Hip-Hop
AlvvaysAlvvays★★★½70RockIndie PopDream Pop
They Want My SoulSpoon★★★½70RockAlternative Rock
OxymoronScHoolboy Q★★★½70Hip-Hop
Here and Nowhere ElseCloud Nothings★★★½69RockAlternative RockEmo
Transgender Dysphoria BluesAgainst Me!★★★½68RockAlternative RockEmo
My EverythingAriana Grande★★★½68PopDance-Pop
You’re Dead!Flying Lotus★★★½68ElectronicAlternative Hip-HopJazz Rap
Morning PhaseBeck★★★½66RockAlternative Rock
I Never LearnLykke Li★★★½65PopIndie PopAlternative R&B
VoicesPhantogram★★★63PopIndie PopIndietronice
Teeth DreamsThe Hold Steady★★★62RockAlternative RockIndie Rock
Sunbathing AnimalsParquet Courts★★★61RockPunk RockIndie Rock
Black MessiahD’Angelo★★★59Hip-HopR&BNeo-Soul
WeatherhousePhilip Selway★★★57RockAlternative Rock
Cilvia DEmoIsaiah Rashad★★★57Hip-Hop
You’re Gonna Miss It AllModern Baseball★★★56RockAlternative RockEmo
MonsterFuture★★★56Hip-HopR&B
Tomorrow’s Modern BoxesThom Yorke★★★56ElectronicAlternative Rock
Salad DaysMac DeMarco★★★56RockPsychadelic RockIndie Rock
Stay GoldFirst Aid Kit★★★55RockIndie PopIndie Folk
Brill BruisersThe New Pornographers★★★55RockIndie PopIndie Rock
It’s Album TimeTodd Terje★★★55Electronic
After The DiscoBroken Bells★★½54RockIndie PopIndietronica
pom pomAriel Pink★★½54RockArt Rock
ZABAGlass Animals★★½52RockIndie PopIndietronica
Songs of InnocenceU2★★½52RockAlternative Rock
Whirr & Nothing ElseWhirr★★½52RockAlternative RockPost Punk
XenArca★★½52ElectronicArt PopExperimental
LP1FKA twigs★★½52ElectronicArt PopElectronic R&B
Sun StructuresTemples★★½51RockPsychadelic RockIndie Rock
Turn BlueThe Black Keys★★½51RockAlternative RockBlues Rock
ManipulatorTy Segall★★½51RockAlternative RockIndie Rock
1000 Forms of FearSia★★½51PopR&B
LuminousThe Horrors★★½50RockShoegazePost Punk
This is All Yoursalt-J★★½50RockIndie Pop
El PintorInterpol★★½50RockAlternative RockPost Punk
The Water(s)Mick Jenkins★★½49Hip-Hop
1989Taylor Swift★★½48PopCountry Pop
The Double EP: A Sea of Split PeasCourtney Barnett★★½46RockAlternative RockIndie Rock
DeadYoung Fathers★★½46Hip-HopAlternative Hip-HopNeo-Soul
Too BrightPerfume Genius★★½45PopArt PopChamber Pop
CadillacticaBig KRIT★★½45Hip-HopSouthern Hip-Hop
Double CupDJ Rashad★★½45ElectronicHouse
Sonic HighwaysFoo Fighters★★44RockAlternative Rock
My Krazy LifeYG★★44Hip-HopWest Coast Hip-Hop
Wonder Where We LandSBTRKT★★42ElectronicR&B
Birdman OSTAntonio Sanchez★★42ClassicalMovie Score
Ghost StoriesColdplay★★41RockPop RockSynthpop
5 Seconds of Summer5 Seconds of Summer★★41PopPop Rock
The New ClassicIggy Azalea★★41PopPop Hip-Hop
AtlasReal Estate★★40RockIndie PopJangle Pop
How To Leave TownCar Seat Headrest★★40RockAlternative RockIndie Rock
Everyday RobotsDamon Albarn★★38ElectronicAlternative RockTrip-Hop

50 Best Songs

  1. Uncatena – Sylvan Esso
  2. Seasons (Waiting on You) – Future Islands
  3. Queen – Perfume Genius
  4. Fire Escape – Foster The People
  5. Two Weeks – FKA twigs
  6. Never Catch Me – Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar
  7. An Ocean In Between The Waves – The Was On Drugs
  8. Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) – Run The Jewels, Zach De La Rocha
  9. Coffee – Sylvan Esso
  10. Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars
  11. Can’t Do Without You – Caribou
  12. Fall In Love – Phantogram
  13. Moaning Lisa Smile – Wolf Alice
  14. West Coast – Lana Del Rey
  15. Studio – ScHoolboy Q, BJ The Chicago Kid
  16. Archie, Marry Me – Alvvays
  17. Ask Yourself – Foster The People
  18. Style – Taylor Swift
  19. Heavenly Father – Bon Iver
  20. All The Rage Back Home – Interpol
  21. Talking Backwards – Real Estate
  22. Inside Out – Spoon
  23. Your Love is Killing Me – Sharon Van Etten
  24. I’m Not Part of Me – Cloud Nothings
  25. Digital Witness – St. Vincent
  26. Winter – TV On The Radio
  27. Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
  28. Perfect World – Broken Bells
  29. Alexandra – Hamilton Leithauser
  30. Jackie and Wilson – Hozier
  31. LOW – Young Fathers
  32. No Role Modelz – J. Cole
  33. King Of The Fall – The Weeknd
  34. My Type – Saint Motel
  35. The Mother Lode – Thom Yorke
  36. .38 Airweight – Doomtree
  37. Cedarwood Road – U2
  38. From Eden – Hozier
  39. Oh My Darling Don’t Cry – Run The Jewels
  40. Adult Diversion – Alvvays
  41. Iris (Hold Me Close) – U2
  42. Hot N*gga – Bobby Shmurda
  43. I Watched The Film The Song Remains The Same – Sun Kil Moon
  44. Hunger of the Pine – alt-J
  45. Could You – TV On The Radio
  46. Ease – Whirr
  47. No. 99 – Joey Bada$$
  48. i – Kendrick Lamar
  49. Gooey – Glass Animals
  50. No Rest for the Wicked – Lykke Li

Genre Highlights

Rock

Hip-Hop

Pop

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