'Slow Down' :wub:

 

Shocked at it being so much higher than (the far superior imo) 'Come & Get It'. Love both though and she definitely pleasantly surprised me this year.

 

'Radioactive' still sounds brilliant too. Think i overplayed a lot of their stuff to the point where i need to leave them off for a while but this is still a tune.

16. Zedd (feat. Hayley Williams) - Stay The Night

 

 

Don't dull the sparkle in your eyes

Chart Peak: #1

 

My dream collaboration of the year after getting very into Zedd's work in the early part of the year - and of course playing Paramore a lot as well. It pretty much did live up to the expectations I had of it but surprisingly, the highlight was not Hayley singing. She does a very capable job on it sure and it's very good to listen to but this here is some of Zedd's best work as an instrumental as it builds up to the chorus, it has those epic beats that move with the music seamlessly that are just what I love about him. Should hopefully, like Slow Down, be a hit in waiting.

 

15. Tegan & Sara - I Was A Fool

 

 

But stand still is all I did

Love like ours is never fixed

Chart Peak: #1

 

You might remember a period where for ages, my signature was dominated by Tegan singing over a piano, taken directly from this video. That was when I was completely and utterly living for this song and this song alone. Pretty much. Taking their newfound pop sensibilities to new lovely heights, this would be a brilliant pop song to work on the radio, it is pretty emotional, Sara's backup vocals working to add gravitas to the song like no band ever could, and, tentatively as I haven't explored their discography as much I'd like, their clear best.

'Slow Down' :wub:

 

Shocked at it being so much higher than (the far superior imo) 'Come & Get It'. Love both though and she definitely pleasantly surprised me this year.

 

'Radioactive' still sounds brilliant too. Think i overplayed a lot of their stuff to the point where i need to leave them off for a while but this is still a tune.

 

I do actually remember forcing myself to like Come & Get It at the start, the basic lyrics did put me off for a bit although I did partially come round. Slow Down is very much so more sonically intriguing for me, even though I had a slow start with that one too (for someone who claims to love Selena for her music, I'm not that good at loving her straight off the bat).

14. Katie Sky - Only You

 

 

You've got one life, so go live it

Chart Peak: #1

 

The dominator of my January, Only You, the happiest and most optimistic pop song I've come across since, I don't even know. It's not just the lyrical content, and god knows I do love some unbridled optimism enough to blinker me to all other aspects, this was the perfect followup to Sweet Sweet Melody for Katie, the addictiveness and cute factor she's achieved this time are really off the charts. This is now what I think of when I think 'cute pop song'. Seriously. If only I didn't have to put this as low as #14.

 

13. Zlata Ognevich - Gravity

 

 

I'm like a butterfly, spinning round a sword as if to dare

Chart Peak: #1

 

Another pretty great pop song, and I only love these when they are near perfect, Ukraine's bronze medal finisher Gravity. Disney-esque song, beautiful imaginative video, unreasonable amount of key changes, what on earth is not to love? It has a real optimistic (yeah, this is THAT section) rousing quality, especially in studio form, which I don't think was quite able to translate to the live stage as well as it should have. While this wasn't quite my favourite moment of Eurovision 2013, this remains the song I wish had won on the night, it is far superior in terms of providing a musical moment to the actual winner and reaches a level of pure awesomeness that Only Teardrops never quite does.

SHA. GRAVIDEE!

 

I had a feeling 'I Was A Fool' would appear here. Absoloutley their best work that I have heard.

12. Arcade Fire - Reflektor

 

 

Entre la nuit, la nuit et l’aurore

Chart Peak: #1

 

2014 may well see me becoming a big fan of Arcade Fire, it often takes only that one big song that is pretty representative of them to open up the doorway for much more love with me, I had previously never gotten their popularity aside from the 'very-different-for-them' Sprawl II, until Reflektor. Now I even appreciate Rebellion (Lies), a song I had previously expended a lot of effort on trying to like and failing. For Reflektor, despite being almost 8 minutes long, every one of them is still enjoyable many many listens later. The gratuitous French is pretty good for grabbing your interest, and then the chorus leaps up and swallows you in. I'm still slightly surprised at myself that I put an Arcade Fire song at #1. Afterlife going top 5 with me helped reassure me it wasn't a fluke, and after adding the album to my iTunes over Christmas to go join The Suburbs, I'm now ready for more!

 

11. AlunaGeorge - Attracting Flies

 

 

How'd you think it felt when you stuck the knife in

Chart Peak: #2

 

Just narrowly missing out on my top 10 is the best solo track from probably my favourite 'new' artists in 2013. New as in having not released a full-length before this year. Attracting Flies is definitely shows off the best of what they can do, it has sharp, clear production values, Aluna's vocals are at their strongest, and it is showing off a bit of a different message in the lyrics. Very much the soundtrack of March 2013 for me now, can never resist the combination of George's beats and Aluna.

 

 

Top 10 in my next slog! Finishing on the 8th/9th isn't so bad.

10. Aliona Moon - O Mie

 

 

Vreau un nou inceput!

Chart Peak: #1

 

My favourite entry of Eurovision 2013 came from quite an unlikely country, Moldova. Near last to reveal their entry, O Mie, as a ballad, came into the field amidst a sea of other ballads that looked to promise the slowest show in quite a while. Despite this disfavourable beginning for me, O Mie worked its way up in my affections very very nicely, and I realised that it was the best of what it had to offer. The Moldovan/Romanian lyrics sounded very passionate in Aliona's hands and the performance on stage turned out to be my favourite of the night, what with lightning and a rising dress as the stormy nature of the ballad reached its peak. O Mie is a great example of why I continue to follow Eurovision closely, you never know where a great song like this is going to come from and surprise you.

9. Eminem (feat. Rihanna) - The Monster

 

 

But I'm actually weirder than you think

Chart Peak: #1

 

Taking the place for me of the late Rihanna lead single every November this year, Eminem's The Monster was a late challenger for the top spot when it first premiered, but it just fell short (my top 10 are really quite close together, in fact my top 50 is all pretty close but eh). While like on Love The Way You Lie I do love Rihanna's chorus, Eminem's verses, his flow and emotion really do come through here. I'm also grateful that this kept up Rihanna's #1 streak, I'm going to be rooting for something, anything to do that until she misses one year eventually.

8. The Pretty Reckless - Follow Me Down

 

 

Now I know that there's a different way to die, My body breathes, Heart still beats, But I am not alive

Chart Peak: #1

 

An unusual mid-year rock obsession... well, not that unusual for me but as this dark track came for me at the height of the sweltering heats it's always felt a little out of place. But it is wonderfully dark, there's some very interesting sounds at the beginning of the track - well, if you listen you'll know what they are, and the rest of the track is, while not as poppy as what was on The Pretty Reckless' first album and definitely more fierce and foreboding, very much still their sound. After a disappointing start to this era with Kill Me, with this and Going To Hell, it looks like Taylor Momsen's band is going from strength to hard rock strength.

 

(this theme though erm :unsure:)

7. San Fermin - Sonsick

 

 

Ease your mind, and when you think, you're thinking clear

Chart Peak: #2

 

Given how much I've shown my love for Sonsick up to now, that it made it this high should not be surprising. What starts out as a fairly standard indie-pop song in the verses is actually very deceiving, as in the middle of this song lies the chorus of the year. Especially when you turn it up loud. It then explodes in many, many layers of multi-layered instrumentation of vocals, when it gets to 'when you think you're thinking clear' I almost never fail to sing along/punch the air, and if the whole thing was the chorus on repeat, I'd live with that just as well. Trumpets punctuate the bits that are vocal-free, the song is one of the most complex I've ever come across and definitely the most unique indie-pop song I've found this year (well, I found it towards the tail end of last year; it only started getting its big blog push in May though and I only started really loving it February onwards).

 

I shouldn't even talk about what it did in the contest as I'll never get over that. At least I know it amassed a small fanbase.

6. Zedd (feat. Foxes) - Clarity

 

 

If you pull then I'll push too deep and I'll fall right back to you

Chart Peak: #3

 

The highest song not to make #1 on my chart is probably naturally a song from the earliest part of the year. As I've become very into what Zedd promises, this was the standout and the track I kept coming back to. I'm not even sure what to say except that it is a very very great dance song, this year's Titanium, but with a far more skilled producer at the controls. On no other track can I be as easily at one point appreciating the beauty of the singer's voice and then suddenly, with very little warning, find my head going with the drop and beat. This is the sort of song I love seeing become a hit, and it's good it did... in the USA. Zedd, and Foxes, this is a masterpiece, and I hope over time it gains a 'forgotten classic' status.

 

I'm far too tired to do top 5 right now so.. later.

5. Avicii - Wake Me Up

 

 

All this time I was finding myself, and I didn't know I was lost

Chart Peak: #1

 

Wake Me Up - most instant song of the year. Country, soul and dance uniting in one glorious meld makes for a really, really ultimate song (Wiki gives one of the genres as folktronica *.*). While Aloe Blacc sets his vocals to high power and pleasant listening, Avicii provides a very awesome chorus riff to burn the song into one's memory. I have loved this pretty much from the moment it premiered, and all the way through the remainder of the year. The riff initially sounded like something that should have existed way before now, obviously now I can't imagine it not existing. This feels like the future of dance songs and I hope to see many more following in its wake.

4. Amaranthe - Amaranthine

 

 

You are all I needed, believe me

Chart Peak: #1

 

This was admittedly a song of 2011. However, due to it being my most-played song in 2013, as well as being one of my entries to BJSC this year - my favourite no less (and with that in mind was SO chuffed that it became my highest scoring entry yet

 

*when I say 'all' that definitely includes the harsh vocals, I mean, at going on for 100 plays, how can I not? They aren't jarring once you expect them.

3. Disclosure (feat. AlunaGeorge) - White Noise

 

 

Lately I've been thinking if you wanna get tough, then let's play rough

Chart Peak: #1

 

White Noise has been in the running for this almost since the beginning of the year, and making it all the way to third is something that definitely isn't too shabby. Basically, I love AlunaGeorge for Aluna's gorgeous fragile vocals, and I love Disclosure for their ability to mix the voices of the singers they have on their tracks with beats that suit the profile of the singer just perfectly. The delicate tapping of the dance beats in the background is perfect, especially for the sort of addictive listening I like to do for these types of songs. Still cannot believe it was so successful as to get all the way to second place one week in the charts, that was one of the highlights of this year. It is so easy to get swept up in the flawless beauty on offer here, I would have loved to put this at #1 as well as the both of the two ahead of it.

 

The order of the two ahead I have been dithering over ever since I started counting down and have only very recently actually decided on it. Coming up...

2. Paramore - Still Into You

 

 

Let 'em wonder how we got this far, cause I don't really need to wonder at all

Yeah, after all this time I'm still into you

Chart Peak: #1 (3 weeks)

 

Taking the silver medal is a band that is no stranger to my unequivocal love, Paramore's go at making a pop song in Still Into You. After a bit of a disappointment to start the era in Now, I spent a lot of time going back over all the past Paramore glories from their previous two albums, which probably made me quite ready to get well into another single as soon as it hit the scene. Now, although this is their most accessible tune they've ever done, I didn't really mind, because they'd done it so well that it probably brought them a legion of new fans, and it meant they got a small hit out of it, which was a reward to see in itself. Now all of you young ones go back and buy Riot and Brand New Eyes and appreciate where your new faves have come from. I can't yet call Still Into You Paramore's best song (it has Misery Business, currently sitting in my top 10 of all-time, to overcome first) and I'm not even sure I can call it the second-best as it's too soon, but it makes me way too happy to care about ranking songs or selling out or anything. Pretty much perfect for a summer night, and I certainly couldn't stop playing it around that time of the year. Awesome in every way.

 

1. Little Mix - Move

 

 

But there's just one problem, I'm a bit old school

When it comes to lovin' I ain't chasing you

Chart Peak: #1 (7 weeks)

 

In some ways, putting Move at #1 feels strange, because up until about halfway through November it would have been Still Into You's for the clear taking. I really liked Move when it first premiered, even debuting it at #2 in my ever-more-irrelevant chart, but I almost let it die away before I suddenly had an epiphany with it and it shot back up to #1, sitting there for 7 weeks, 2 weeks longer than any of my #1s aside from Fireflies (10 weeks). And as Fireflies was in my 2010 chart which I kinda made up, it's my longest ~genuine~ #1, acheiving its 7th week at #1 on its 13th week of life. Enough chart stats, the reason I like Move so damn much is its complexity for a girlband single, the likeability of Little Mix, the video shows off some really lovable choreography, the way each band member's voice works in and out to distinguish the many parts of the song, the way it commands to get up and dance (in the mind if not physically) as it builds, the building itself, it is perfect. From wanting to like Little Mix when they made only 'pretty good' songs and just had a great image last year, this year it's love all the way and it's mainly because of this beauty. Even though it was a late challenger, I came to the conclusion that it was just that little bit better than Still Into You and so joins (Fireflies), Titanium and Euphoria in my EOY #1 lineup.

Top 100 roundup:

 

1 Little Mix Move

2 Paramore Still Into You

3 Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge White Noise

4 Amaranthe Amaranthine

5 Avicii Wake Me Up

6 Zedd (feat. Foxes) Clarity

7 San Fermin Sonsick

8 The Pretty Reckless Follow Me Down

9 Eminem The Monster (feat. Rihanna)

10 Aliona Moon O Mie

11 AlunaGeorge Attracting Flies

12 Arcade Fire Reflektor

13 Zlata Ognevich Gravity

14 Katie Sky Only You

15 Tegan & Sara I Was A Fool

16 Zedd (feat. Hayley Williams) Stay The Night

17 P!nk Just Give Me A Reason

18 Selena Gomez Slow Down

19 Imagine Dragons Radioactive

20 Avril Lavigne Rock N Roll

21 Naughty Boy (feat. Sam Smith) La La La

22 Bastille Pompeii

23 YOHIO Heartbreak Hotel

24 Alexis Jordan (feat. J-Cole) Acid Rain

25 Cat And The Menagerie Better

26 Ellie Goulding Burn

27 The Saturdays Disco Love

28 HAIM Falling

29 Katy Perry (feat. Juicy J) Dark Horse

30 Rihanna Stay

31 Adelen Bombo

32 Ghost Beach Close Enough

33 Matrix & Futurebound Magnetic Eyes

34 Lorde Tennis Court

35 Alyssa Reid Satisfaction Guaranteed

36 State Of Drama Falling

37 Coldplay Atlas

38 Lights (feat. Owl City) Cactus In The Valley (Acoustic)

39 Team Rockit Aura

40 Antti Railio Ruostunut ankkuri

41 Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble

42 Arion Lost

43 Royksopp ft. Susanne Sundfor Running To The Sea

44 The Saturdays What About Us

45 OneRepublic Counting Stars

46 Sia (feat. The Weeknd & Diplo) Elastic Heart

47 Jannika B Pohjanmaan Tuulia

48 Florrie Live A Little

49 London Grammar Strong

50 Disclosure F For You

51 Tove Lo Out Of Mind

52 Panic! At The Disco (feat. Lolo) Miss Jackson

53 HAIM The Wire

54 Belanger Take Me Home

55 Passenger Let Her Go

56 Hurts Miracle

57 AWOLNATION Sail

58 Smallpools Dreaming

59 Colour The Atlas Snow

60 Katy B 5am

61 Rihanna What Now

62 Aya Hirano Super Driver

63 Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams) Get Lucky

64 Martin Rolinski In And Out Of Love

65 Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais Summertime Sadness

66 Tegan & Sara I'm Not Your Hero

67 Tom Odell Another Love

68 Ecstasy Exhale

69 Naomi Pilgrim No Gun

70 Mikael Saari We Should Be Through

71 Robin Thicke (feat. TI, Pharrell) Blurred Lines

72 John Newman Love Me Again

73 The Colourist Little Games

74 Carli Look Up

75 Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball

76 The Killers Shot At The Night

77 Avicii vs Nicky Romero I Could Be The One

78 Mika (feat. Ariana Grande) Popular Song

79 Paramore Ain't It Fun

80 Who See Igranka

81 Valentina Monetta Crisalide (Vola)

82 Sam Smith Nirvana

83 Margaret Berger I Feed You My Love

84 Clean Bandit Mozart's House

85 Imagine Dragons Demons

86 Ivy Quainoo Wildfires (Light It Up)

87 Rizzle Kicks Skip To The Good Bit

88 Eminem Berzerk

89 Janelle Monae (feat. Erykah Badu) Q.U.E.E.N

90 Cascada Glorious

91 Michael Woods Platinum Chains

92 Olafur Arnalds So Close

93 Matt Cardle; Melanie C Loving You

94 ESDM Contigo Hasta El Final (With You Until The End)

95 DVBBS & Borgeous Tsunami

96 Cardiknox Hold Me Down

97 Avicii Hey Brother

98 Alyssa Reid Running Guns

99 Arctic Monkeys Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High

100 M Pokora & TAL Envole Moi

 

Thank you everyone who commented throughout! Even if I didn't reply directly, it's all appreciated.

 

(phew, I am DEFINITELY doing a shorter countdown next time, although in 10 months it'll probably be 'omg there's been so many good 2014 songs, let's try for a top 250')

Fabulous #1.

 

Also MAJOR yays at your two defining bjsc entries in the top 10. 'Amaranthine' is like nothing i would usually go for but it's too big to ignore and 'Sonsick' is just beautiful. Woopwoop.

I tired of Wake Me Up a lot, but the rest of that top 6 is really great - Move really put Little Mix in a new light for me and Still Into You is great, though not quite as good as Misery Business I agree. Amaranthe was the one BJSC entry I really liked this year - it's like Evanescence, Iron Maiden & Bullet For My Valentine all got together, but it still sounds wonderful.

 

Very glad to see Arcade Fire just outside the top 10 and glad to see you're coming round to them as well :wub: Reflektor took its time to grow on me, but its brilliant. If you liked this album & The Suburbs, you might like Neon Bible too. It's not quite as accessible as The Suburbs, but there's some quite similar styles on there.

Edited January 10, 201412 yr by Chez Walrus

Fabulous #1.

 

Also MAJOR yays at your two defining bjsc entries in the top 10. 'Amaranthine' is like nothing i would usually go for but it's too big to ignore and 'Sonsick' is just beautiful. Woopwoop.

 

Cheers Bal!

 

I'm glad you agree on my best two bjscs; indeed a lot of people seem to. :D

 

I tired of Wake Me Up a lot, but the rest of that top 6 is really great - Move really put Little Mix in a new light for me and Still Into You is great, though not quite as good as Misery Business I agree. Amaranthe was the one BJSC entry I really liked this year - it's like Evanescence, Iron Maiden & Bullet For My Valentine all got together, but it still sounds wonderful.

 

Very glad to see Arcade Fire just outside the top 10 and glad to see you're coming round to them as well :wub: Reflektor took its time to grow on me, but its brilliant. If you liked this album & The Suburbs, you might like Neon Bible too. It's not quite as accessible as The Suburbs, but there's some quite similar styles on there.

 

Thank you Chez!

 

Ha, that's a comparison I hadn't considered for Amaranthe, I guess it does fit.

 

I was planning to take a listen to Neon Bible and/or Funeral at some point in the future, thanks for the recommendation. I'm coming round to most things on The Suburbs now and while I still have to listen through Reflektor the album in its entirety what I have heard sounds great, I'll just let more grow on me steadily.

A #1 that is simply life-changing.

 

HEY! HEY! I'm ready! HEY! We're coming heavy! *.*