i was actually expecting tinashe's album to be lower :lol: it's a fantastic r&b album but in the grand scheme of things it lacks the fire that other albums of other genres do have for me. excellent highlights though, i agree with all of them. hope she pushes wildfire or all hands on deck soon.

All I want is to come right out of my shell

 

 

07. La Roux - Kiss and Not Tell

 

The next two tracks were neck and neck, but the other has come out on top, meaning La Roux has to settle for lucky #7 here. Upon hearing the album, this was not my first choice for a single, but as always she convinced me otherwise. I first heard 'Kiss and Not Tell' years ago, when i went to a dingy club in Coventry to see her teaser/taster tour where she experimented and showed off some of the tracks that would feature on the album. It sounded insanely catchy back then, and i have pretty much had it stuck in my head since :mellow:

 

This era is all about the RETRO; while the debut was a look into the future, this takes a step back but still manages to ooze coolness. Right down to the single cover art, up to the wonderful video, i see Hitchcock influences throughout and so many moments of vintage cinema that feed into the vibe of the album and single. She really knows what she wants and is always able to execute it perfectly. You know you're in for a treat when that opening beat kicks in and it keeps up the pace throughout offering a huge disco/dance/techno number littered with her iconic vocals and playful lyrics. The song is a riot - it is again about insecurities, but once more she presents the fun side of insecurities. Covering lies, undeniable feelings, coming out of your shell - the song speaks volumes about inherent issues we all attempt to overcome. A song about letting go as she laments that sometimes you just need a night on the town, the kiss she offers to remedy this is so alluring and irresistible. Dial M for Me~

10. Kanika Kapoor ft. Sunny Leone - Baby Doll

 

This is for you Nelly. S :music: Officially ranking as my favourite d'yermak'er entry this year. 'Baby Doll' also ranks as the FUNNEST track in my top 10.

 

Whoo :cheer: OMG Top 10 EOY :o One of my favorite finds this year fo sure :heart: Can't get enough of this sick beat :music:

Sometimes these walls seem to cave in on me

 

 

03. Beyoncé - Beyoncé

 

Drunk in Love / Mine / Haunted / Blue / Partition

 

An album that quite literally came out of NOWHERE leaving most that listened to it stunned. A 2013 album, it feels weird even saying that because this has already transcended the time in which it was released, so do not disregard its inclusion in a 2014 countdown~

 

'Beyoncé' is a beautiful nightmare. Within the sheer amount of love she has for those around her, there is a devilish side that comes out throughout the album and like most things i fall for, it is the darkness that truly won me over. In tracks like 'Haunted' Beyoncé is possessed with her ghostly demons but she unleashes them in supreme style and the result is quite astonishing. The collaborations are all fantastic too, drawing on the biggest names in the urbansphere and almost using them as her play things throughout because really it's Beyoncé who owns the throne here as the title suggests. From the social messages of 'Pretty Hurts', to the cultural anthems of '***Flawless' right down to the tenderest of personal odes in 'Blue' the album has it all and then some. It all flows from one track to the next fluidly, never once jerking or pausing for breath. I must also commend the release strategy, taking a huge risk, toying with the fact that she "probably won't make any money from this" but deep down she must have known that laying her body and mind to bear in such a way would have been met with a huge response. She messed up the single releases, but it doesn't even matter because this is an ALBUM that has to be listened to as such and anything else is a bonus.

 

Much like the greats of Michael Jackson, Madonna et al, it took decades for Beyoncé to really create her masterpiece opus. It's her 'Bad', her 'Ray of Light' - an album that is SO consistently strong, well produced, vocalised and visualised, it's the stuff of wonder that only comes about rarely. The complete package. It may be too soon to compare her to those greats, but with this being the pinnacle of her career so far, it only begs belief as to what she still has lined up in the future.

 

--xxx--

 

03. Beyoncé - Beyoncé

04. Tinashe – Aquarius

05. Taylor Swift – 1989

06. Banks - Goddess

07. Tove Lo - Truth Serum

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

I really wish I liked Beyoncé as I completely see where you're coming from with all the points you've made, but my personal tastes just don't agree with its sound. :(

Beyonce really was a good album ~ the videos were way too racy for me to view so I'm not rating that but the album had a very good selection of music!

Wonderful album. :wub: Possibly her most cohesive & interesting body of work to date. Still majorly impressed by how she just put it out there without warning, taking us all by surprise!

Beyonce is such an amazing, slightly disappointed you didn't put it in your top 2 though House! :( 4/5 perfect highlights - slightly questionable inclusion of "Blue" though.

BEYONCE is definitely her peak point although 'I Am...' is a masterpiece too. She just got it so right this era (minus the single releases) and has rightfully been one of the largest stars on the planet. The production on the whole album is so different for her but it all just works so well. Obviously, ***Flawless is the highlight because of the sheer amount of SASS she brings to the table but it's all fantastic really. Both Heaven and Blue are stunning endings to the album and are incredibly heartfelt you can't help but feel touched. The only tracks that are of lower quality than the rest of her output are No Angel and Superpower for me.

Beyonce is a fantastic album. This and Sasha Feirce are my favourites from her.

Overratedonce needs to go away.

I’m afraid of the monster inside my brain

 

 

06. Kitty Pryde - •.¸.•SECOND♥LIFE•.¸.•

 

Disclaimer: some/alot of this commentary is stolen from my BJSC country thread :magic:

 

•.¸.•SECOND♥LIFE•.¸.• as the title begins to suggest is a schizophrenic, manic, mess of lovely tones, explosive instrumentation and soaring vocals/raps. The song takes you on a journey into the artist's warped mind, a journey so frantic you're left exhausted at the end of every listen. It starts delicately but gradually crescendos to that final minute which orgasms over and over again. It became a song that also defined a time for me this year; the very best time of the year as it happens when i was most content, in the middle of the summer as i ventured out to meet others from here and party with this track blaring out in my head throughout it all~ We all wish we could escape to that second life that we imagine in our dreams, when we're made to feel worthless and this song explores the beauty and ability to do just that. It speaks to me about exploring the self, most poignantly in terms of the darkness we find in ourselves, and it offers a light at the end of it when it falls into silence, but explodes once more. Offered as a song to BJSC, it cruelly underperformed there (either that or it was insanely overhyped with to begin with so ANYTHING would have looked like an underperformance :kink:). It got a video to accompany it late last year, but it's such a cheap/weak effort that i do not wish to associate it with the song, lol~

 

I love the genre bending, the quirkiness of the vocals, the beauty and depth of the lyrics, the complexity of the shifting beats, but most of all it's the unexplainable effect the song has on me that has caused it to be such a HausHit.

 

 

Before i countdown my top 5 songs of last year, i'll be revealing my top 2 albums :o the hype is mega..

Bal why ain't you reading my PMs, it has spoilers about the results of the Nicki rate !!!

 

Secondlife is nice but I don't really have any memories of it now, I do think I should check the rest of her stuff out though as it seems to be getting a lot of good reviews.

Kiss and not tell is great and I like Beyonce's new album (even though Sacha Fierce and 4 are better) :wub:

Crucify me

 

 

02. SZA - Z

 

Julia / Warm Winds / Shattered Ring / Child's Play / Green Mile / Babylon

 

*shivers*

 

In my ~23 years of music listening, there has never been an artist whose lyrics mean more to me than SZA. I make that bold statement to start this commentary because i as much as i value and adore and idolise other artists, it is the lyrics of this woman that i hold above all of them. For those that do not know a lot about her, and i suspect that may be a few of you, SZA is a little-known (though gradually growing) artist from the US, born and raised in a strict orthodox Muslim family, sheltered from popular culture until her teenage years... She has now found her voice and the result is something special.

 

'Z' the follow-up to the majestic 'S' started off as an EP but as her ideas grew it matured into a full album and so the pressure was on to see if she could maintain the consistency of 'S' in a full-scale project. In short, she did manage to do that, but i would say the only slight criticism of the album is that she takes this too far. There are too many ideas, images, concepts thrown into the album through its lyrics that the woman behind this occasionally gets lost. It is something that Pitchfork picked up on but they worded it in a way that suggested that she is not showing herself in the music, which is a ludicrous statement because throughout the album the artist lays everything bare. The album starts with "Clarity is a state of mind" and this confusion is part of her which follows throughout the album. It ends with "Release all my sins at the pulpit" and it is clear after listening to the album that this is exactly what she has done. Her complex lyrics are part of her poetry and identity and if you give the music a chance, it will not fail to move you or affect you or go as far as it has for me and change my outlook on life. Another bold statement, but those that met me in the first half of last year particularly will know that this woman has changed me and her music has offered a gift to me for which i am eternally grateful. It's a sense of spirituality through art which i have never got before.

 

Shattered ideas of the self in 'Shattered Ring', mournful ghostly lamenting in 'Warm Winds', euphoric love searching in 'Julia', an attempt to rid yourself of your own childhood in 'Child's Play', religious confusion and frustration in 'Babylon', sexual liberation in 'U R', eternal connections in 'Hiijack', being remembered after death in 'Sweet November', the first signs of maturity and developing a strong personal identity in 'Green Mile', and finally washing away your past ills in 'Omega'. This album is one that will stay with me in all parts of my life and i am so thankful for her passing on this gift and sharing herself so openly.

 

--xxx--

 

02. SZA - Z

03. Beyoncé - Beyoncé

04. Tinashe – Aquarius

05. Taylor Swift – 1989

06. Banks - Goddess

07. Tove Lo - Truth Serum

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

I might seem strong but really I'm just a loner

 

 

01. La Roux - Trouble in Paradise

 

Let Me Down Gently / Kiss and not Tell / Sexoteque / The Feeling / Tropical Chancer / Paradise is You

 

:o

 

Yes an artist who i wasn't sure was ever going to return, did so and smashed it harder than i could ever have imagined!

 

With 'Trouble in Paradise', Elly is without Ben. The band is renewed and this almost protrudes the entire album which is all about looking back through it's retroness. La Roux is no longer the bulletproof heroine going in for the kill. Instead she is broken insecure and vulnerable and as the final lyrics of the song play out, it is clear that "on the outside I might seem strong but really I'm, I'm just a loner". Where the first album was strong-willed and proud, here the album focuses on the true emotion behind that facade. It is about insecurities, loss of self-identity and self-worth and failures. I didn't get this during my first few listens of the album, but as i really paid attention to the lyrics it began to all make much more sense.

 

The album opens with the track that feels most out-of-place on the album, and the lead SINGLE which makes it all the more confusing as it does not sell the tone or style of the album at all. 'Uptight Downtown' does start off the effortlessly cool retro vibes that the album will take but it's a little misguided in its treatment of what the album says and does. From 'Kiss and not Tell' the ideas start to really come forth. In that and 'Sexoteque' she sings of wronged lovers, vying for more in their lives but in the most gloriously fun way. Songs like 'Tropical Chancer' most explicitly express the paradise aesthetics of the album whilst still showing a concealed trouble behind this. In the crushing ballads of 'Paradise is You' and 'Let Me Down Gently' she lets the lyrics speak for themselves and the sheer emotion shine through. Even the "weaker" moments of 'Cruel Sexuality' and 'Silent Partner' are explosive as again she subverts the wonder of sex and sexuality into something worthy of pain and frustration. It's all full of emotions that can be ignored once you start dancing around the music and that's one of the real wonders about it - you never know if you're in paradise or hell.

 

If the paradise of the album is the silky smooth production, the pulsating beats, the infectious sounds, the trouble lies beneath that in the lyrics. I don't know how personal the album is to Elly or La Roux as a band, but i can hear so much pain and frustration throughout it all. I don't know if it is based on the breakdown of the band or something else, or if i am just adding my own pains onto it, but it so wonderfully done that it doesn't even really matter. It is my #1 album because it has the power to change these negatives into something worthy of DANCE and goodness and that is what music is capable of. It is FUN and impossible to stop playing. She has managed to do the impossible and top her debut with this. If it takes her 5 years to create another masterpiece, then i wouldn't even mind another mammoth wait. All this talk of sadness and WOE and you must think i am depressed, but that's why i had to have this album at #1 - because it makes me feel so GOOD and happy despite the painful lyrics. It's very cathartic, so joyous and the perfect collection of music for me. A musical paradise ~

 

 

 

--xxx--

 

01. La Roux - Trouble in Paradise

02. SZA - Z

03. Beyoncé - Beyoncé

04. Tinashe – Aquarius

05. Taylor Swift – 1989

06. Banks - Goddess

07. Tove Lo - Truth Serum

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

 

--xxx--

Let Me Down Gently is stunning and really should've been lead single. Sadly, she just completely lost me and I never even bothered with the album. Might give it a try after seeing your mad looning though :lol: In For The Kill >>>>>

Oooh Beyonce top 3 :cheer: My most played album of all-time!

 

Oh, Hi La Roux :hi:

Give me the drink and we can pour it

 

 

05. Tinashe ft. SchoolBoy Q – 2 On

 

We start the BIG top 5 with a song that despite countless pledges to be made into the next big thing and the breakout hit for the wondrously fabulous artist it comes from... just keeps failing. It doesn't fail here though, as it manages a very big top 5 placing.

 

'2 On' isn't your standard urban club banger - it is a standard club banger turned up about 50 notches. One of the fiercest, yet oddly touching anthems of the year about getting drunk in excess to party the night away. It formed a huge part of my year's playlist, always cropping up when i least expected it to, and always making me want to unashamedly reach for the nearest bottle and party. A song that always reminds me about having FUN and letting go even in the most stressful times. Schoolboy Q's rap is iconic. It was only when Bré posted the lyrics that i read them, SCREAMED and really took in how disgustingly sexual they were and since that moment i have anticipated it coming in the song every time and i'm not ashamed to say it's the highlight for me. It works perfectly with Tinashe's personality and the two come together to make magic that is both over-the-top, sexy and intoxicating. A massive song, that was, unfortunately, never massive. But regardless, she's still winning for me ~

As I am the expert in phresh music, I really love '2 On' after only hearing it last week :)

 

Sensing a 'Chandelier' win with 'Let Me Down Gently' not far behind but can't think of the other two :o