I've been doing these lists over on my last.fm (see my signature if you're intrigued), but since I'm on this forum and everyone loves a good list, I thought I'd do a slightly bigger job of this year, and do a slightly dramatic countdown. First off, over the next few days, I'll count down my top 100 singles from the last year. Until we get to the top twenty, I'll just be doing one little line to pinpoint one reason the song has made it on here. So, (oh my,) let's go!

 

100 // Tom Vek //

For the drawl. And for making smoking sexy again.

 

99 // Katy Perry //

For the touch of excited terror in the vocals.

 

98 // HURTS // Sunday

For the devastatingly anthemic chorus.

 

97 // Adele // Rumour Has It

For proving that Ryan Tedder isn't totally out of new ideas.

 

96 // Kati Wolf //

For the twinkling synths in the middle-8. And for trying to rhyme "close" with "cost".

 

95 // Maverick Sabre //

For the trumpet blasts.

 

94 // Friendly Fires //

For giving me a hula at their concert.

 

93 // M83 //

For the saxophone.

 

92 // Emeli Sandé //

For having the best voice of the year.

 

91 // Breakage feat. Jess Mills //

For love in the face of pyromania.

Kati! :wub:

 

Nice to see Fighting Fire there too! A song that passed me by initially, but I adore it now!

91 // Breakage feat. Jess Mills //

For love in the face of pyromania.

 

:lol:

 

I didn't notice this at first either, it's a really beautiful track though. Jess Mills is really, really good.

Kati! :wub:

 

Nice to see Fighting Fire there too! A song that passed me by initially, but I adore it now!

 

She's one of only two Eurovision entries as well, so done well! :D

 

And me too - I think I actually heard it first after seeing it in your chart, so thank you! Really sealed my love for Jess Mills.

 

:lol:

 

I didn't notice this at first either, it's a really beautiful track though. Jess Mills is really, really good.

 

There's more of her to come... ^_^

 

90 // Strange Talk //

For being so quick I lose my breath.

 

89 // Katy B //

For Olivia, standing at the bar.

 

88 // SX //

For the simplest of drum beats.

 

87 // Wynter Gordon // Dirty Talk

For the seemingly endless list of her perversions.

 

86 // Sanna Nielsen //

For getting to the chorus within thirty seconds.

 

85 // Laura Marling //

For surprising me, again.

 

84 // Washed Out //

For sounding like the seashore.

 

83 // Florrie //

For surely, bizarrely, referring to lesbianism, just because.

 

82 // Tinie Tempah feat. Ellie Goulding //

For dressing Ellie Goulding up as a scientist.

 

81 // Simon Curtis //

For not even sounding sexy, but sounding like actual sex.

80 // Arcade Fire // City With No Children

For the monotone guitar line.

 

79 // Neon Indian // Fallout

For the vibrations.

 

78 // Chase & Status feat. Tinie Tempah //

For providing the year's best strut.

 

77 // Chase & Status feat. Delilah //

For "fucking suffocating".

 

76 // Jess Mills //

For those piano notes in the middle-8.

 

75 // Summer Camp //

For being groovy.

 

74 // Miike Snow // Devil's Work

For vaulting the fence when the race had almost finished.

 

73 // Alesha Dixon feat. Jay Sean //

For giving Alesha back her swagger, even if no one else noticed, though if no one notices swag, is it still swug?

 

72 // Take That //

For "Hi Joanna!".

 

71 // The Wanted //

For swallowing some Romanian dance music.

90% of these would be in my top singles if I could be BOTHERED to do one. Amazingggg, I love this

I LOVE the reasons for most of these.

90% of these would be in my top singles if I could be BOTHERED to do one. Amazingggg, I love this

 

I LOVE the reasons for most of these.

 

HOORAY to the both of yas. :D

 

---

 

70 // Ed Sheeran //

For making me crumble like a pastry.

 

69 // Alexandra Stan //

For making me move like a freak.

 

68 // One Direction //

For the chinos.

 

67 // Florence + the Machine //

For the slicing violins.

 

66 // Washed Out //

For stretching out those words.

 

65 // The Knocks //

For letting me re-use a dance move from Joe McElderry's 'Ambitions' video. (Yes, really. Oh you know you want to go clubbing with me.)

 

64 // Kanye West feat. Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Tony Williams, The-Dream, Charlie Wilson, John Legend, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Fergie, Ryan Leslie, Drake, Alvin Fields, and Ken Lewis //

For having the balls to basically waste 80% of an illustrious cast list.

 

63 // Phantogram //

For the synth somersaults.

 

62 // Jess Mills //

For that tinge of cymbal.

 

61 // Coldplay //

For the crunch as the intro finishes.

I LOVE THAT AMBITIONS DANCE MOVE

 

(Judging you so hard for featuring Ed Sheeran.)

Ed Sheeran, Alexandra Stan. EWWWWW.

I LOVE THAT AMBITIONS DANCE MOVE

 

(Judging you so hard for featuring Ed Sheeran.)

 

Ed Sheeran, Alexandra Stan. EWWWWW.

 

KNEW I'd get hate for those two. Surprised no one threw in 1D for a three-fer. But this is my list, the end. (Plus I don't think there's any to come that will provoke similar. HUZZAH.)

 

---

 

60 // Adele // Someone Like You

For perfecting it live by changing the reading of "don't forget me, I beg".

 

59 // Lady GaGa //

For turning up to work with a stuffed-up nose.

 

58 // Lana Del Rey //

For feeling like a slow march towards death.

 

57 // Eric Saade //

For the whistling.

 

56 // Olly Murs feat. Rizzle Kicks //

For effortlessly pulling off a dangerous concept, without any previous form.

 

55 // Nero //

For the tumbling synths halfway through.

 

54 // Adele //

For having it all, it the end.

 

53 // Cut Copy //

For the percussion, obviously.

 

52 // Marina & the Diamonds //

For being Marina.

 

51 // HandS //

For not letting goooooooooooo.

51st!

 

(And What Makes You Beautiful is FLAWLESS, and might shamefully actually challenge for my YE #1 which I'm in the process of deciding.)

50 // Candy Coated Killahz //

For the swirling, alien synth-line.

 

49 // Bastille // Laura Palmer

For pumping through my veins.

 

48 // Charli XCX //

For the whiplash crash.

 

47 // Bright Light Bright Light //

For crystallising a painfully familiar moment in gorgeous synths.

 

46 // Chris Brown feat. Benny Benassi //

For overcoming being Chris Brown.

 

45 // Adele // Set Fire to the Rain

For the repeated words.

 

44 // SBTRKT //

For the bubbling rise into the chorus.

 

43 // Loreen //

For haunting the discotheque.

 

42 // Jenny Silver // Something In Your Eyes

For being a lost ABBA classic.

 

41 // Tove Styrke // Call My Name

For sheer enthusiasm.

SAADE (Popular). EWWWW.

49 // Bastille // Laura Palmer

For pumping through my veins.

oh yesss

40 // Elisabeth Carew //

For the pauses in the chorus.

 

39 // Jamie Woon //

For his breathing problem.

 

38 // Oh My! // Kicking and Screaming

For sitting on the ceiling.

 

37 // Will Young //

For making Joe McElderry jealous.

 

36 // Nerina Pallot //

For the delicate euphoria of the chorus.

 

35 // Lady GaGa //

For the synths behind the saxophone.

 

34 // Radio Killer //

For the beeping clatter.

 

33 // Sunday Girl //

For the soft vocals.

 

32 // Jamie xx //

For nearly seven-minutes of steel drum action.

 

31 // Selena Gomez & the Scene //

For prompting many repe-pe-pe-pe-pe-peats.

93 // M83 //

For the saxophone.

 

 

You could have expanded more, one of my favourite tracks of the year.

You could have expanded more, one of my favourite tracks of the year.

 

I've already tried writing waffle for my top twenty and I find it's a lot less illuminating than just pinpointing one reason why a song is great. But thanks for commenting.

 

---

 

30 // David Guetta feat. Sia // Titanium

For yelling.

 

29 // Martin Solveig & Dragonette //

For just coming to say hello and leaving THIS.

 

28 // Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull //

For being so lazily perfect.

 

27 // Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera //

For seven weeks at #2.

 

26 // Metronomy //

For the eyebrow-raising noises.

 

25 // Snow Patrol //

For finding a non-mediocre point between euphoric and melancholy.

 

24 // Tom Vek //

For the bits that sound like a steam train.

 

23 // The Weeknd //

For the morbid drumbeat.

 

22 // SoundGirl //

For the refreshing breeze.

 

21 // Chart Music // All My Life [no links available!]

For floating the vocal into the restless synths.

There have been some absolutely fantastic songs posted since I last commented, particularly Lonely Heart, Something In Your Eyes, Sober, Popular and No Romance. I'm quite surprised at how low down HandS is though!

 

Pleasing to see Elisabeth Carew appear too, stunning track :wub: