I'm chasing the first feelings you gave to me

 

 

09. Katy B – Little Red

 

5AM / Crying For No Reason / Aaliyah / Hot Like Fire / Wicked Love

 

 

A hugely anticipated record for me, as the singles started to drop ('5AM' in particular) my excitement continued to grow and grow. Then 'Crying For No Reason' reason and i was pretty sure we were in for a masterpiece from her. Looking back on the album after not revisting it for some time and i do still hold it incredibly dear, hence the top 10 placing, but it has withered slightly for me. The two singles mentioned still sound as perfect as ever, and a lot of the album tracks are still golden, but i feel as a whole package, it's not as cohesive as i first thought. Still, i think it bettered the debut for me which was a very tough ask to begin with and I have so much love for her as an artist. The visuals for the album really went downhill this year though, especially following the incredible Kubrick inspired '5AM' music video. She has all the presence, grace and beauty to pull off so much more with her videos, but with her recent singles, she just... didn't :( but nitpicking aside, it's an incredible dance record that manages to actually move you throughout as she pours out all of her emotions for you to witness which is a rare thing for me to come across in this genre.

 

--xxx--

 

09. Katy B – Little Red

10. iamamiwhoami - blue

11. Kid Cudi - SATELLITE FLIGHT: The journey to Mother Moon

12. One Direction - FOUR

13. Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour

14. Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron

15. FKA twigs - LP1

16. Iggy Azalea - The New Classic

17. Michael Jackson - Xscape

18. Neon Jungle - Welcome To The Jungle

19. Tove Lo - Queen of the Clouds

20. The Vamps - Meet The Vamps

21. Elliphant - One More

22. Angel Haze - Dirty Gold

23. Josef Salvat - In Your Prime

24. Ben Howard - I Forgot Where We Were

25. Fatima Al Qadiri – Asiatisch

26. Austin Mahone - The Secret

27. Lily Allen – Sheezus

28. Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste

29. Jhené Aiko - Souled Out

30. Ariana Grande - My Everything

Little Red is an amazing album, Crying For No Reason is the big highlight for me :wub:

Little Red is a great little dance album, hope she delivers with her third album too because her first two have been fantasic. I think On A Mission is my favourite though. Easy Please Me, Katy On A Mission and Lights On are amazing too. I wish What Love Is Made Of had made this album though but I'm glad she snatched that #1 album anyway like she has deserved for a while.

 

vista is the only iam.. single i've heard and it was a bit lukewarm to me, it left no impression on me really but i remember the production being strong. don't get they amount of hype they/she get(s) though..

Little Red is a great little dance album, hope she delivers with her third album too because her first two have been fantasic. I think On A Mission is my favourite though. Easy Please Me, Katy On A Mission and Lights On are amazing too. I wish What Love Is Made Of had made this album though but I'm glad she snatched that #1 album anyway like she has deserved for a while.

 

vista is the only iam.. single i've heard and it was a bit lukewarm to me, it left no impression on me really but i remember the production being strong. don't get they amount of hype they/she get(s) though..

'Easy Please Me' is my favourite off the debut - "standing at the barr with my friend oliviARRR" is an iconic opening line <3

 

'vista' is her most instant track i think, so if that left no impression on you i don't have hope on anything else leaving an impact :P (except maybe 'fountain' or 'play'...). She is an odd one and seems to be very love or hate/indifference with people. There's something about her that keeps me coming back though and it helps that i LOVE the music this era.

Have you ever seen the boys? They be making all that noise

 

 

16. Ain't No Love - Love Me Lots (Bridge & Law Remix)

 

Before a flurry of my own entries come to the fore, we take a trip to Aeroche. But it's a song that has defined a portion of this year for me so much so, that i almost feel odd exploring the song in the context of BJSC. 'Love Me Lots' was a funk and funky experience for me when i first heard it, and i began to jam to it repeatedly. This then became a bit of an obsession, and i would find myself playing the song from beginning to end back to beginning to the end and back to the beginning again. It's made to be repeated because the end of the song leaves you wanting more and the start of it, refuses to be stopped part way through. I went on to listen to it before, during and after my trip to Glasgow to visit the host nation and the song will always remind me of that time - a time that looking back was very memorable for me - the boys really were making ALL the noise.

 

Upon returning from Glasgow, the song continued to impact my partying life and it became a staple whenever i headed out and even got a few hips swinging with people from the real world in my infamous haus parties!!1 A song that managed to transcend the song contest and the internet to fully engulf me, i can only thank leww for the discovery ~

Great to see that one (^) here, really great track and think I only preferred Henry Saiz in terms of Leww's entries this year. The breakdown is amazing and as you say, it really doesn't feel like it's that young mainly because of how fast it moves. I'd imagine that would sound amazing in a party setting too (Not that it'd be well known enough to hear in a club anyway! :()

 

I've been reading along and though we do differ on some musical ends, I really enjoy your quite in-depth and fluent style of commentary and look forward to seeing what's number 1!

 

 

 

 

Can't breathe, can't can't breathe

 

 

15. Anna Lunoe - Breathe

 

The first BJSC entry i sent this year, and a song that is miles away from my usual taste. But something about Anna's repetitive, entrancing song won me over. 'Breathe' is so aptly titled - once you're all danced out, and once you've chanted your 600th "can't can't breathe", breath is JUST what you need. It comes paired with an incredible video, that is just as intoxicating as the song. I rarely venture into the dance genre, especially when it's as monotonous or "samey" as this, but something about this had me coming back for more. It seems to be meticulously made to be the perfect song to get annoyingly stuck in your head and though there is little else going on away from that, sometimes all you need is something to keep you going and jigging and grooving and breathing when you feel down.

You did not break me

 

 

08. Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

 

Chandelier / Big Girls Cry / Elastic Heart / Fire Meets Gasoline / Free The Animal

 

This year was full of artists doing complete u-turns on me. Before 2014 i was very much a Sia doubter, and dare i say i found her quite annoying (i was young ok, i am sorry :/). '1000 Forms of Fear' is anything but annoying though. Away from the inability to understand half of what she says throughout, it is an incredible powerhouse - to address the diction issue, it is part of the fun working out what she is actually saying and having those eureka moments. And the fact that lyrics are SO damn powerful, it's worth the deciphering. Effectively the album is Sia shouting out at the top of her voice, voicing out all of her ills, the wrong-doings she has faced, and laying it all to bare. It is at times moving and subtle, but for the most part, it is completely unrestricted and that's what makes it such a special experience.

 

The thing i love the most about the album is the various images she conjures up throughout it - at one point you are the Hostage, wrapped in Cellophane, moments before setting Fire to the Pages and watching them Burn. The repeated images of fire throughout the album, switch between signifying pain and rebirth for me depending on the mood in which i listen to it all. I see it as an album of pain, misery but also rebirth and breaking free of the problems. This is obviously all perfectly depicted in the album's lead single, but throughout the album she repeats this message, constantly evoking painful images and metaphors to explore her anguish and fears; it if full of knives, fire, murder, needles, and more. But within all of this, it is clear that the album is cathartic for her (just as it becomes cathartic for the listeners it affects) and she is renewed in the making and eventual release of it. She is the animal freed.

 

--xxx--

 

08. Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

09. Katy B – Little Red

10. iamamiwhoami - blue

11. Kid Cudi - SATELLITE FLIGHT: The journey to Mother Moon

12. One Direction - FOUR

13. Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour

14. Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron

15. FKA twigs - LP1

16. Iggy Azalea - The New Classic

17. Michael Jackson - Xscape

18. Neon Jungle - Welcome To The Jungle

19. Tove Lo - Queen of the Clouds

20. The Vamps - Meet The Vamps

21. Elliphant - One More

22. Angel Haze - Dirty Gold

23. Josef Salvat - In Your Prime

24. Ben Howard - I Forgot Where We Were

25. Fatima Al Qadiri – Asiatisch

26. Austin Mahone - The Secret

27. Lily Allen – Sheezus

28. Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste

29. Jhené Aiko - Souled Out

30. Ariana Grande - My Everything

Ooh shocked to see that low down! Really excellent commentary there, it's a fantastic album to listen to and quite different to any other album I've heard for the reasons you stated. Surprisingly great.

Breathe omg :wub:

 

Still absolutely adore it and I'm glad you sent it. Definately up there with your best entries ever

YASSS Tim! For one month i was part of ha dance bloc, and it felt good to have you on my side ~ :music:

 

Ooh shocked to see that low down! Really excellent commentary there, it's a fantastic album to listen to and quite different to any other album I've heard for the reasons you stated. Surprisingly great.

It would have been one place higher if it wasn't for your influence!!1 :angry:

 

(:kink:)

You should try more pften

Our side is much more fun

I'm queen of the clouds, make my wish come true

 

 

14. Tove Lo – Not On Drugs

 

Before i go into a bout of "how was this song not as big as or bigger than Habits..." :@ i'll blame it on her poor release strategies and leave the negativity behind. I fell in love with this during my first play of 'Truth Serum' and continued to love it right up to my latest play of 'Queen of the Clouds'. Lyrically it is one of my favourite songs of the year - the verses are so wonderfully done, merging the ecstasy of drug taking with the ecstasy of love. And then the huge chorus kicks in and it cements itself as one of the musical moments of the year; few songs sent me higher. It is at the same time beautifully delicate, revealing and powerful. A truly magical moment from a magical artist, it's a shame it never got the recognition that it deserved around the globe. I don't even think #14 is high enough for her here..

Yas yas yas! Not On Drugs is such an anthemic song!

The way that chorus blows up is phenomenal

Just catching up with all the goodness here - particularly enjoyed your lovely descriptions of 'Not On Drugs' 'Tough Love', 'Alchemy' 'Froot' and 'Brain', some of which have made me rethink my interpretation/what I was going to say about them in my own EOY (/spoiler :o).

 

Great thought-provoking stuff as always!

1000 Forms Of Fear has nothing on We Are Born :( It's ok but nothing amazing imo.

Can't breathe, can't can't breathe

 

 

15. Anna Lunoe - Breathe

 

The first BJSC entry i sent this year, and a song that is miles away from my usual taste. But something about Anna's repetitive, entrancing song won me over. 'Breathe' is so aptly titled - once you're all danced out, and once you've chanted your 600th "can't can't breathe", breath is JUST what you need. It comes paired with an incredible video, that is just as intoxicating as the song. I rarely venture into the dance genre, especially when it's as monotonous or "samey" as this, but something about this had me coming back for more. It seems to be meticulously made to be the perfect song to get annoyingly stuck in your head and though there is little else going on away from that, sometimes all you need is something to keep you going and jigging and grooving and breathing when you feel down.

 

This was an excellent BJSC entry, though that whole contest was fantastic so I doubt I gave it as much points as I would've in most others this year, one of my top discoveries from it in '14.

I adore 1000 forms of fear, especially chandelier :wub:

I'd never been keen on Sia as a solo artist before either but this album really switched my mind on. Her voice is just stunning on all the songs and the majority of the choruses are just huge moments. Free The Animal being one of your highlights :funky: My favourite song, I love the choppy production, works really well I think. She definitely should have made another single though, any of the highlights you listed really. Your taste gets the Josh seal of approval :heart:

 

Not On Drugs is a huge pop moment too, lots of love for that. She has a good voice (glad she gifted it to a dance track now :cheer: ). I suppose Habits its still the best for me though.

Thanks for the comments guys! Josh 'Free The Animal' wasn't a huge favourite of mine but i have recently gotten into it a lot and it makes perfect sense in the album for me now going on the lyrics and everything about it. :wub: