Some good stuff in the top 20. I've tried to like George Ezra but I don't like his voice enough to listen to more than a couple of songs. I do like 'Budapest' though, not got bored of that.

 

East India Youth are an act that I really feel I should have listened to more of. I really like both 'Dripping Down' and 'Heaven, How Long' (both not far from making my End of Year) but not got round to checking out any more.

 

Couldn't get into Glass Animals songs I've heard this year.

 

Only heard The War on Drugs song from the top 10, will make sure I give a listen to anything in the top 10 I don't know. I can't really get into them, 'Under the Pressure' is my favourite I've heard of theirs.

#5

For One Night Only

King Creosote

 

 

Album: From Scotland With Love

 

There’s been many a song released to celebrate the joys of getting off work on Friday to enjoy the weekend, but there hasn’t been a classier ode to free time released this year than “For One Night Only” by Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote. Taken from the soundtrack for a documentary about Scottish life over the past hundred years, the song is a real symphonic delight.

 

#4

Touch The Leather

Fat White Family

 

 

(WARNING - VIDEO CONTAINS GRATUITOUS ARSE-WIGGLING)

 

Album: Champagne Holocaust

 

It's been nearly a year on from hearing this song for the first time, and yet I'm still no closer to finding out what exactly "Touch The Leather" actually means. Is it a euphemism for something so smutty that my innocent little mind cannot fully comprehend it? Or is it just a simple song about two serial DFS botherers? Either way, I'm too scared to Google it, so I guess I'll have to use my imagination. Still, Fat White Family have given us a real gem this year, a guttural, primal rock track that's sure been drowned in a mixture of gravel and whiskey before reaching us for consumption.

 

#3

Golden Five

Wonder Villains

 

 

Album: Rocky

 

Well, what can I say about "Golden Five" by Wonder Villains that I already haven't? (Answer - not much, but that's not going to stop me from trying). Having been a live favourite for well over a year before it was released as a single, the studio version of the song took everything great about the song and amplified it to the nth degree. It's pure pop at its finest - if your mood has not improved by at least 1,000 percent after listening to this song, then either you've been listening to the wrong tune or are a gargoyle.

 

Previous chart positions

2010 SpaceJam - #4

2011 Zola - #8

2012 Ferrari - #5

2010 TV - #27

#2

Next of Kin

Alvvays

 

 

Album: Alvvays

 

Falling at the final hurdle by the slimmest of margins is "Next Of Kin" by Canadian indie-poppers Alvvays. There's many things about this track that made it so loved - that fantastic surf-rock opening riff, the brilliant vocals from Molly Rankin, and the fact that they took a genre (indie-pop) that's known for being somewhat twee, and giving us a song about an incredibly dark subject within it, in this case a riverside drowning. It's a finely crafted song that's practically perfect in every way.

 

I will be revealing my favourite song of 2014 this evening. Any guesses as to what it might be?

And so my top song of 2014 is...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#1

Eurydice

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

 

 

Album: Days of Abandon

 

And we reach the end of the road, with "Eurydice" by perennial favourites of ours, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. The songs takes its name from the ancient Greek myth, and demonstrates the band's continuing excellence at crafting the perfect pop song. Just when you thought they couldn't top "Heart In Your Heartbreak", they offer us a song as sumptuous and infectious as "Eurydice". Its shining moment is at the 3 minute 10 mark, when the counter-melody kicks, and you realise just how special this song really is. Never has perfection sounded so good.

 

Previous chart positions

2009 Come Saturday - #28

2011 Belong - #20

And for fans of lists, here's the top 50 in full -

 

1. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Eurydice

2. Alvvays - Next of Kin

3. Wonder Villains – Golden Five

4. The Fat White Family - Touch the Leather

5. King Creosote - For One Night Only

6. Billy Lockett – Old Man

7. Go Swim - Call Sign

8. The War on Drugs - Red Eyes

9. In An Instant - Something Right and Something Real

10. Eels - Parallels

11. Nick Mulvey - Cucurucu

12. Rainy Boy Sleep - Ambulance

13. Faul & Wad Ad vs. Pnau - Changes

14. Indiana - Solo Dancing

15. Little Matador – Stitch Yourself Up

16. Kassassin Street – Centre Straight Atom

17. Southern - Where The Wild Are

18. East India Youth - Dripping Down

19. Glass Animals - Gooey

20. George Ezra - Budapest

21. Kaiser Chiefs - Coming Home

22. American Authors - Best Day Of My Life

23. alt-J - Every Other Freckle

24. KONGOS – Come With Me Now

25. Sheppard - Geronimo

26. Temples - Mesmerise

27. Elbow - New York Morning

28. The New Pornographers - War on The East Coast

29. Jack White - Lazaretto

30. The Death of Pop - Whenever

31. Cheerleader - Perfect Vision

32. Shonen Knife - Bad Luck Song

33. The War On Drugs - Under The Pressure

34. The Magician ft Years & Years – Sunlight

35. We Were Evergreen - False Start

36. Calan Mai - We've Got Love

37. Tigercats - Junior Champion

38. We Are Aerials - We Are Chemicals

39. Bakermat - Vandaag (One Day)

40. The Wood Burning Savages - Boom

41. Kasabian - eez-eh

42. The Corner Laughers - Midsommar

43. Malibu Shark Attack! - Better Off As Friends

44. Saint Motel – My Type

45. PORTS - Second In Line

46. SOAK - Blud

47. BABYMETAL - Gimme Chocolate!!

48. Andrew Montgomery – After The Storm

49. Ibibio Sound Machine Let's Dance (Yak Inek Unek)

50. Clean Bandit - Rather Be (feat. Jess Glynne)

 

Well that's an absolutely wonderful top 2. 'Next of Kin' is superb, and 'Eurydice' is definitely one of The Pains... best.

 

Edit: Listening to it again, you're spot on with the 3:10 minute mark. Was definitely the highlight of when I saw them this year. They were superb, I spoke to Kip after and he signed my album too, awesome.

Edited December 16, 201410 yr by RabbitFurCoat

Going through the albums of the year on the blog. Here's 6 to 10 -

 

6. King Creosote – From Scotland With Love

7. Little Matador – Little Matador

8. Elbow – The Take Off and Landing Of Everything

9. Kaiser Chiefs – Education, Education, Education & War

10. nano.RIPE - Namida no Ochiru Sokudo

 

5-1 should follow tomorrow.

Singles list here is really great for the most part - Rather Be, Changes, Sunlight & Solo Dancing are all amongst the best mainstream pop hits of the year and I like that East India Youth song too

Elbow and Kaiser Chiefs albums are both amazing :wub: They will both be very high in my EOY albums countdown and I am sure they have literally identical sales for me :o

Albums - 5-1

 

1. Wonder Villains - Rocky

2. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

3. Alvvays - Alvvays

4. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Days of Abandon

5. Eels - The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett.