4. Kasabian – 48: 13

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b5/Kasabian_48_13.jpg/220px-Kasabian_48_13.jpg

 

Highlights: Bumblebeee, Stevie, Treat, Explodes, Eez-Eh, Bow

 

Well, I mean, even with my expected sycophantic gestures towards anything with a hint of guitar in it these days, I was unsure about a new Kasabian album given Velociraptor had underwhelmed me a lot three years ago and so, even after a great first single in Eez-Eh, I went into their newest magenta-covered album with a healthy dose of scepticism. Which as it turns out, wasn’t needed. There are a lot of great stadium anthems here, almost as many as there were on West Ryder, which has left me wondering which is actually better, and sometimes I break all rules of established music critical tradition and think it’s this one. Oh, and it’s also now launched the rule, for me at least, of superior odd Kasabian albums, which means their next amazing one is due in 2020.

 

This works, and it’s worked as a project for Kasabian, because there’s a willingness here to move with the times, it sounds drastically different to my ears to what they had success with in 2009, in some ways reminiscent of 2004, but also incredibly 2014, Eez-Eh has a load of probably future cringe modern lyrics, Stevie is an anthem for the lost youth of today, and Treat is practically a dance song. Basically, what they did caught people’s attention and it certainly caught my attention, and made me relisten to every Kasabian album on my iTunes. Quite a few times. Before this album Kasabian were barely a footnote in my musical taste, now they’ve become one of the first things I think of when asked to name ‘modern rock’. To do that in a year is seriously impressive.

48:13 is amazing and definitely one of my favourite albums this year. I definitely agree with your highlights and my favourites are eez-eh and stevie :wub:

Edited December 19, 201410 yr by Ultraviolence1989

TOVE LO :wub: :wub: I heard "Talking Body" will be the next single, so totally looking forward to 2015 for her

4. Kasabian – 48: 13

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b5/Kasabian_48_13.jpg/220px-Kasabian_48_13.jpg

 

Highlights: Bumblebeee, Stevie, Treat, Explodes, Eez-Eh, Bow

 

Well, I mean, even with my expected sycophantic gestures towards anything with a hint of guitar in it these days, I was unsure about a new Kasabian album given Velociraptor had underwhelmed me a lot three years ago and so, even after a great first single in Eez-Eh, I went into their newest magenta-covered album with a healthy dose of scepticism. Which as it turns out, wasn’t needed. There are a lot of great stadium anthems here, almost as many as there were on West Ryder, which has left me wondering which is actually better, and sometimes I break all rules of established music critical tradition and think it’s this one. Oh, and it’s also now launched the rule, for me at least, of superior odd Kasabian albums, which means their next amazing one is due in 2020.

 

This works, and it’s worked as a project for Kasabian, because there’s a willingness here to move with the times, it sounds drastically different to my ears to what they had success with in 2009, in some ways reminiscent of 2004, but also incredibly 2014, Eez-Eh has a load of probably future cringe modern lyrics, Stevie is an anthem for the lost youth of today, and Treat is practically a dance song. Basically, what they did caught people’s attention and it certainly caught my attention, and made me relisten to every Kasabian album on my iTunes. Quite a few times. Before this album Kasabian were barely a footnote in my musical taste, now they’ve become one of the first things I think of when asked to name ‘modern rock’. To do that in a year is seriously impressive.

 

I still haven't listened to this, mainly due to how rubbish I thought Eez-eh is. Stevie is great, and I might have to listen to it really, their albums so far always end up being better than I expected them to be.

I still haven't listened to this, mainly due to how rubbish I thought Eez-eh is. Stevie is great, and I might have to listen to it really, their albums so far always end up being better than I expected them to be.

 

Yeah, I'd say you should at least try if you like Stevie, given Eez-Eh is very short for the album there are a lot of tracks on there different from it. I'd imagine you'd like Bow at least, maybe Explodes and SPS too, and Treat is unique for them if nothing else. It really surprised me, although I'm quite the fan of Eez-Eh so I'm approaching it from a different slant to you.

 

~~~

 

3. Tuomas Holopainen – Music Inspired By The Life And Times of Scrooge

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/Tuomas_Holopainen_-_Music_Inspired_by_The_Life_and_Times_of_Scrooge_(2014).jpg/220px-Tuomas_Holopainen_-_Music_Inspired_by_The_Life_and_Times_of_Scrooge_(2014).jpg

 

Glasgow 1877 – 9.5/10

Into The West – 9/10

Duel & Cloudscapes - 10/10

Dreamtime – 8/10

Cold Heart Of The Klondike – 9.5/10

The Last Sled – 10/10

Goodbye, Papa – 8/10

To Be Rich – 8/10

A Lifetime Of Adventure – 11/10

Go Slowly Now, Sands Of Time – 9/10

A Lifetime Of Adventure (Alternative Version) – 10/10

 

When Tuomas, a guy who is literally the closest thing I have to a true musical hero, thanks to his near-100% record of fantastic composing for Nightwish, announced he was attempting a solo career, I was very curious to see what would result, as he doesn’t sing anymore, which meant this would be more of a project for him to test his skills. And given it was something without the metal vibes of the rest of Nightwish, I should have expected something quite different, but I wasn’t quite prepared for exactly what Tuomas had in store.

 

The Life And Times of Scrooge is a concept album, charting one of Tuomas’ favourite stories, the comic books of the title character, with which he worked with the original animator to get the artwork all right. With Tuomas’ ever beautiful compositions and the talents of several cool and varied guest vocalists, it’s a real joy to listen to. Concept albums are also really neat in that they encourage you to listen to it as a full album, so that’s really helped its case in my eyes, and given it charts an already existing story, it gives extra weight to the beautiful cinematic sound surrounding tracks like Glasgow 1877 and Cold Heart Of The Klondike.

 

Like 48:13, what really elevates Scrooge above what it could have been is that the artist is expanding their boundaries, with hints of familiarity (Duel & Cloudscapes could belong on Imaginaerum easily as one of the instrumentals and that buildup in The Last Sled is comfortingly recognisable as the sort of thing Tuomas does all the time) to keep the fans on board. I swear most of the comments I saw on the music videos from this, still posted on the heavy metal Nuclear Blast Youtube channel, were along the lines of ‘this is different from what I was expecting but I really like this’, and trust me, that is not usual with metal fans, just see how they reacted to Babymetal. It’s been a great album to help me fill the long time that I’ve been waiting for a new Nightwish album, a more thoughtful affair than the whirlwind those often are and showing a great accessible side to Mr Holopainen; if you liked The Last Sled from BJSC, check this one out.

2. Clean Bandit – New Eyes

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/60/Clean_Bandit_-_New_Eyes.png/220px-Clean_Bandit_-_New_Eyes.png

 

Mozart’s House – 10/10

Extraordinary – 8/10

Dust Clears – 9.5/10

Rather Be – 11/10

A+E – 10/10

Come Over – 10/10

Cologne – 9/10

Telephone Banking - 9.5/10

Up Again – 9/10

Heart On Fire – 7.5/10

New Eyes – 9/10

Birch – 8/10

 

I don’t think this group really need any introduction, nor does their album, named as it in such a way that it’s very APT the new me fell so much in love with them. Because they’re Paramore fans, obviously.

Unlike most albums here, I’ve seen this one live, which has helped me fall in love with a lot of the tracks, especially Cologne, which I completely passed over before the concert and now is so incredibly cool for me that I can’t really handle it. And that’s just the start, from the incredibly weird Mozart’s House, Dust Clears and Telephone Banking to the relatively normal Rather Be and Up Again, it is a brilliant album that isn’t particularly cohesive but rather gains its greatness from being full of fantastic tracks. I have vaguely listened to the bonus tracks but not enough to rate here unfortunately, rest assured that I do like Rihanna and other ones.

 

I'm so very glad they’ve gone big because it would have been a crime to have such interesting music ignored by the public, and given how indie they seemed before Rather Be, that would never have happened without that track. This year has proved my love for classical-crossover music, this is a fantastic example of how to fuse that with dance, but it isn’t the only one in my top 2, the number one is also an example of that (and of course everyone knows what it is)…

1. Lindsey Stirling – Shatter Me

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/02/Shatter_me_album_art.jpg/220px-Shatter_me_album_art.jpg

 

Beyond The Veil – 9.5/10

Mirror Haus – 9/10

V-Pop – 9.5/10

Shatter Me (feat. Lzzy Hale) – 11/10

Heist – 9/10

Roundtable Rival – 10.5/10

Night Vision – 9/10

Take Flight – 9.5/10

Ascendance – 9/10

We Are Giants (feat. Dia Frampton) – 10/10

Swag – 8.5/10

Master Of Tides – 10/10

 

I got this album in July, so I’ve had it for nearly 6 months, and in that time I have listened to it enough that if you asked me how I’d describe the sound of 2014, to me it wasn’t really deep house or 90s throwback, even though those do feature heavily in my singles chart, it was violin-stringed dubstep. All these tracks are great in their own way and while near the middle a lot of them sound pretty similar, that’s similarly great more than anything else.

 

Starting off we have first single Beyond The Veil, which is very much a bit of a sequel to Crystallize, followed by the track Mirror Haus, which obviously gives us a lovely violin-dubstep interpretation of Bal becoming a die-hard Ella Henderson loon, V-Pop, which samples Rapture to great effect, turning it into another, and then we reach the crowning jewel of the album, the title track. I’ll talk about that more in my singles chart. The second part of the album is full of high speed strings of gloriousness from tracks like Take Flight, the former which is particularly longing in the same way as so many of the tracks on the first album, and Night Vision, which is more epic in its construction, rather like Shadows and Elements, then we get to We Are Giants.

 

I overlooked it at first, feeling it a bit weak compared to the other vocalled track and the instrumentals, but Dia’s vocals grew on me, I got the emotion in them (she's good at emotion, see also Blood) and it’s now one of the most appealing ones on there for me. Finally, Swag and Master Of Tides close the album out on an appropriately quirky vibe, that’s what Ms Stirling does best, she’s the master of the quirky instrumental. I fully believe my year would have had something missing without this and the first album, so big thanks must go to Lindsey for providing me with a near bottomless well of fantastic listening for this year.

 

So, Shatter Me triumphed in the albums chart, but will she do it again in the singles? Stay tuned to my incredibly interesting thread to find out. And that’s it for my albums chart, come back in 2016 after Nightwish have secured their #1 next year for an actual battle. Possibly. Owl City might have released another full-length then.

New eyes is a great album especially rather be so great to see it here :wub:

Quick preview for what my singles chart will be like. I'm again doing too much for it but I enjoy this a lot. I will start in earnest after Christmas is truly over, I'm just posting the first 10 now:

 

Rules and general notes about my singles chart

 

1. Like in the albums, there are some rules but I don't take it upon myself to follow them to the letter.

 

2. The songs in this list were largely derived from the weekly chart I have nearly failed at keeping several times this year, but they may be entirely different from it. The weekly thing is a quick snapshot of my tastes that I often put together in a hurry on a Saturday afternoon, and I can't expect it to detail my year accurately, if at all. I also miss out songs easily, so I have drafted in a few that I never charted but I know were significant to the year. As such I will not show chart runs or peaks, except maybe once we get to the higher part if I feel like it.

 

3. Further to that, this technically again covers December 2013 to November 2014, but I have let in a few songs from the last month if I felt they weren't going to do much in 2015 at all. I seem to have saved Cool Kids for 2015 though, let's hope that picks up (it better, I need a third scalp from BJSC to sit alongside Alyssa Reid and Zhu)

 

4. If in last year's chart, I gave the song a good and deserved peak, and I didn't really fall hugely in love with it for this year, I have left it out. This will explain the absence of Dark Horse and Tsunami and their like, which I could not fit in. It also explains the absence of things like Counting Stars, which has become a lot more special for me this year but it's still very 2013 to me (and probably everyone).

 

5. There will be a lot of BJSC and other non-mainstream music in here. That's because this has been the worst year for mainstream music that I can remember, so I took refuge in our little song contest more than ever, therefore my favourite songs from that are literally my songs of this year and I make no apologies for that. Fill ALL the EOYs up with BJSC songs and obscure music. ^_^

 

6. The numbering and order of songs is not strict until we get to the top, because how can it be? I did this order in an evening so it's best described as a snapshot or general guide to what music I've enjoyed this year more than anything else.

 

Anyway, enough posturing, on to the first section:

 

you got me lost in my lucid dreams

 

i'm kind of jealous and a little bit unlucky in love

 

There's a maniac out in front of me, got an angel on my shoulder

 

It's often said, I should get some girly hobbies instead, but that thought fills me with dread

 

I just wanna feel your touch, I never want to give it up

 

Life's too short, I can't fake it anymore

 

 

you can get it, get it, get it on

 

We'll find some place to call home

 

This is the web that you weave

 

The top 200 starts off with the very interesting Kitty Pryde, a dreamy singer I must thank Ryan for showing us and providing us all with a lovely discovery (for once), it's very cool and chilled. Following that up is something not cool or chilled, Norwegmanian singer Adélen, whose song is strangely compelling for something that's obviously so trashy pop, but hey, at least I now know I'm always on her mind. Same to you babe

 

I've always liked OneRepublic to an extent as a bit of a poor man's Coldplay, there isn't much to say about Love Runs Out than it's a decent version of Counting Stars but it was rather nice at least when it was in the chart a few months. Far more unique is Trifoski entry Kero Kero Bonito, whose alluding to retro video games and vaguely Japanese sounds attracted certainly more fans than me but it's really a bit of a cutey, I can't help but fall for anything like that. The lyrics are wonderful too, being as they're basically promoting girl gamers, and that's something the gaming industry really REALLY needs. Side note: Drone Logic was #202 Seven, so close to having 2 entries in this section.

 

Touch was a pretty decent UK hit, one of a string of fairly good dance hits, Make It Good from UP had made me notice him and this was a nice culmination of that. Then, right back from the very beginning of the year we come to We Are The In Crowd, a band who are probably deathly annoyed by comparisons to Paramore at this point, with their second single from their latest album. I should be more of a fan of them than I am but this was a great tune to help me enjoy my January.

 

The first of quite a few Eurovision entries as ever in here is the lovely folksy one from Montenegro, who gladly managed to produce both a big Balkan ballad that also happened to be the most Celtic-sounding entry in the competition this year (I have forgotten Ireland already, that was generic as hell), as such, it could appeal to even me, and it's quite beautiful. Opposite it sits Palette, a ferocious dance number that I haven't listened to as much as many in this EOY but every time I do it reminds me exactly how good it is.

 

The final two entries in this section start off with the final BJSC entry in a section heavy with them, the Avicii-'inspired' anthem All These Roads, that I do count as better than the number 1 Sam Martin actually featured on, time will tell if it's better than Dangerous but I still haven't fully gotten into that, so that may be one for 2015, it's very good even if derivative. Finally, Black Widow. Fair warning, this is the only Iggy Azalea song that has made it this far, I thought a song with these two women on would be nothing short of terrible but Rita's done decently enough this year, and for a few weeks I was really into the sort of thing I would rarely admit to liking nowadays. I like it though, have this bone Iggy Azalea fans, it's a little bit of a tune.

I adore black widow, it works so well :wub:

Love runs out is also quite good and way better than the other MOR bands offerings around then

I really don't like touch though :(

Edited December 24, 201410 yr by Ultraviolence1989

I always forget how much I like Moj Svijet, definitely the best from Montenegro so far.

I always forget how much I like Moj Svijet, definitely the best from Montenegro so far.

 

Same for me until I thought about which Eurovision songs I needed in this list. It really did well getting them a qualification, they've been continually sending better (I do prefer Igranka but that's slightly different to how appealing the song is) so it was going to come sooner or later. An unassuming, underrated song among this year's cohort for sure.

 

~~~

 

I keep calling your name

 

 

188. Deja - Heart

Take a risk and fight someone

 

Run for your life, she's getting closer

 

I be stuntin' like my clique, getting faded 'til we trip

 

Oh, before you I was searching for a rarity

 

 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CAN I HAVE YOUR ADDENCHION PLEASE, THIS IS YOUR DENCH INSTRUCTOR

 

Losing you is breaking me

 

We run those dreams are pretentious, it's cynical... but we know

 

 

Goodness Gracious was a bit of a holdover from the great 2013 Ellie Goulding had, yet as a single in the first part of this year it stuck with me quite a bit, especially during the first part of the year, thanks to the clever little things the synths do, another great song from reliable ol' Ellie. Also from very early in the year, as a 2013 song actually; it never made it to my chart then, is my entry into Unknown Pleasures that was going on at about this time last year - a very good song from J-math-rock band tricot. The girls' voices on this are lovely and breathy, but the heavy rhythmic beats make this stand out. See, Babymetal aren't all I know about from the J-rock scene.

 

Also from UP is one of my favourite discoveries from there this year, it's a little older than that I know but We Know it doesn't really matter what year this is in, it's great either way (momofokos). :funky: Erm yeah, wonderful song and I must thank Seven for sending this one along.

 

Heart and Parasta Just Nyt are the only BJSC songs in this set, but both were cool quirky discoveries from late on in the year, Heart appealed to my indie and (rarely shown) subtle side with the quiet but powerful vocals strumming through the track, the maxim of the chorus pulsating being one of the few times I can really forgive a track for being repetitive. Parasta Just Nyt is very different, being a bit trashy, but it's Finnish, and that's all that matters. It's also very energetic and that also helped a lot.

 

Yeah, we all know I have a bit of a Finnish love, yes, and I also have a bit of a symphonic metal love. Both of these are what Magic Forest is all about, being from one of the minor bands on the scene, Amberian Dawn, who had this as the lead single to their album of the same name. I haven't checked out that album unfortunately but the lead single tells a cool, slightly creepy story while relying mainly on operatic vocals rather than any power metal tricks. It's probably one of the truest songs to symphonia that I've heard this year.

 

On a rare urban tint for me, Tinashe I have enjoyed more than most female singers in her particular area, 2 On was rather impressive as a song to head towards the mainstream, but I haven't heard anything further from her this year (and nothing is still quite as good as Come When I Call), yet I hear from Bal (and others) that I'm missing out. Maybe I'll have to check that out soon because this is very swaggy.

Less credible is RariWorkOut. True story, when I first saw 'rari' in the title of this record, I did not think Ferrari, I thought 'Rarity'. As in the character from MLP (best pony). I'll let you decide what that says about my priorities in life. Anyway, the ridiculous of it (dench instructor) when I actually listened endeared me to it, very funny song.

 

Finally, a low entry for Clean Bandit's deluxe single, which I like but feels just a little bit plain for what I know the group is capable of, and an entry for Janet Leon's Hollow from Melodifestivalen, which is ridiculously good in studio form (and possibly better than Heartstrings for me now), just a shame about the live performance.

Momofoko :music: was waiting for like a year to send that, I knew at least some people would make a good discovery out of it <3

 

Je veux ci, je veux ça

 

me go burn you up with your love

 

I was a spy that fly on the wall that no one ever seems to recognize

 

Every time you walk in the room, you got all eyes on you

 

Lights fade but I won't let them

 

Like the empires of the world unite

 

174. Dreamshow - 16

I had a dream last night, but it wasn't you

 

And they all said, if you ever make it out write down what you’ve seen, so we all live forever and we're finally free

 

Now I walk down this long dark road

 

BUT YOU GOTTA KNOW

 

The next Eurovision entry up is the zany French entry, Moustache. I've been enjoying France's entries of late, despite their obviously apathetic stance they've sent some interesting entries I know we wouldn't see from any country trying to win. Moustache I thought might do better, it's catchy and gimmicky but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Remains one of my highlights though.

 

Teddybears is a band I were not familiar with until their entry into BJSC but Sunshine instantly caught my attention with the strange melding of indie-rock and Caribbean-style rapping they enforce on this track, one of the more unique songs of this year.

 

Look Across The Sky, a song from the Deltron 3030 project, spearheaded by Del, him off Clint Eastwood, is from the Event II album released last year. The title and featured vocalist (ever since Scott Pilgrim, Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been very much on my radar :wub: ) caught my attention and I had a listen, and fell in love. The lyrics are very geeky, and the chorus a true joy to listen to. I very nearly sent it to BJSC several times this year but it might be too late for that now, plus I think it would flop on its arse sadly. Take a listen anyway if you want, it's good.

 

The first of my 10 ACTUAL BJSC entries is up a few above that, KNDR, the latest victim of my August curse, I always send my least favourite entries of the year in that month and they never qualify (I don't mean to do this!), I thought it would do a whole lot better but I've found it hard to listen to ever since it failed, despite me spending several nights jamming to it before I sent it, it's a lovely track if a bit sub-M83, but then that's why I originally fell in love with it. I don't expect to hear much more from this guy but he's provided this for me so that's good enough.

 

5 Seconds Of Summer have been my big guilty pleasure this year, more on that later, but Don't Stop is a fun whirlwind of a track that indeed does not ever stop, and I really can't deny it given my love for pop-rock, they just need to stick to upbeat singles because that's how their tracks work. The mainstream trio in the middle of this section is completed by a cool Foxes ballad and Shakira's Empire, both tracks I wanted to love a bit more than I did in the end but competent efforts from both parties. Shakira's voice still makes me think of football.

 

HA:TFELT I was originally obsessed by, and I was a major factor in making Yu send it, so it's probably ended up a bit low but eventually it's status as a lesser Asian Shatter Me began to show, I do still love the crashing instrumentals throughout this, one of the better K-Pop tracks of the year, it hasn't been quite the best year for the genre unfortunately.

 

Finally, two rock tracks to close off the section. Dreamshow was another UP entry of mine, it instantly hit me as something to send over there and it got quite a bit of love over there, an excellent pop-punk track all round. I hope they have better places to go, they are a supergroup from what I read (one guy from TV On The Radio, Constantine V, some other people) so they may not have a long shelf life but between this and Chasing Control they have a lot of potential. King 810's is a completely different proposition though. Like a menacing, slower, dark version of The Offspring's The Kids Aren't Alright, it shows up this very metal band in a very artistic light and it was a discovery that I was very pleased to make from BJSC.

Fast forward in a blink of an eye, forget the night passes by

 

I go back again, fall off the train

 

The devil's in me father, he's inside of everything I do

 

Do what you want tonight, it's alright

 

All these words, will never never never change

 

I had to go through hell to prove I'm not insane

 

All the broken hearts in the world still beat

 

Atemlos, schwindelfrei, großes Kino für uns zwei

 

We fear nothing, we fear nothing

 

Solid people, solid sound, I have time to love you now

 

What a triumph Lapse Of Time is, urgent and laid-back all in one, a highlight of its contest and a great pop song outside it, I will get a lot out of this in the future. Can't Remember To Forget You was a tiny bit of a let-down from two great pop women after lots of listens but I enjoyed it at first, and it still sounds rather good now, if not Shakira's best ever or anywhere close.

 

Ghost was a very nice song to have come from someone off of X Factor and I really did enjoy it a lot at first, alas overplay has ruined it quite a bit for me and it's ended up lower than where I thought it might have been earlier in the year. Years & Years have been mostly off my radar this year although I did see them with Clean Bandit and that has made me interested in at least some of their solo singles, the best of these being Take Shelter, one of the main songs I ended up looking forward to seeing when they performed.

 

I've always been a fan of The Pretty Reckless and last year's Follow Me Down ended up very high in my EOY chart. Going To Hell is a little bit more creepy with the subject matter, and it's actually getting very nihilistic over there (r u ok Taylor M?) but it's still a very good rock track, loved this at the beginning of the year.

 

Finland have always been a favourite country in Eurovision for obvious reasons, particularly because of their penchant for sending guitars, yet I wasn't so enthused with Softengine at first. Probably because I would have preferred it had they been called Hardengine. It felt quite watered down and I never really took to it until I saw it live, which changed everything, it came across as really compelling and was a real highlight of my Eurovision night. And they got Finland a very decent result! :D So all was good.

 

Ingrid Michaelson created a wonderful pop tune in Girls Chase Boys, that coupled with parody/homage video to Robert Palmer, is pretty fantastic and something I'll never skip if it comes up. From the same contest in BJSC, Helene Fischer caught my attention with Atemlos Durch Die Nacht, and half the reason it did that was that, very unusually for a foreign language tune, with my rudimentary knowledge of German, I could actually work out what the song was about, I'm not used to that experience. It's also one hell of a schlager banger so that's also a reason for liking it.

 

Lacuna Coil are a band I really need to sort out in terms of loving, they should be my sort of thing, when I bought a Nightwish album in HMV recently for a gift/forcing them on people I know the clerk was impressed and asked me if I was a fan of these guys, I had to say that I liked a few songs but I didn't know them properly (well, that was the gist, this was in the middle of a Christmas rush so it was a short conversation). Anyway, anecdote aside, this is the first song of theirs to make it into an EOY chart of mine, and it is a pretty fantastic gothic metal song. This is always good for me eventually getting into more.

 

Finally, Zhala joined Robyn's label, and created a great followup to the wonderful Slippin Around in Prophet. I can barely understand what she's saying here but the sounds that she's making are cool, I like her.

I'm on such a Helene kick today, been watching 'The Helene Fischer Show' on Youtube. I even noticed her on the front cover of a magazine in WH Smith earlier *.* (an imported German magazine but still...)

 

I'll never get bored of Atemlos and it's great to see it here :D

One section for tonight, meant to do more but got distracted with other things:

 

Got a long-list of ex-lovers (written on a Starbucks cup)

 

Strike all the bells, hit 'em hard make 'em all yell

 

When you smile you smile with all your teeth at once

 

 

And the shivers move down my shoulder blades in double time

 

Up above, made with the warmth of my love

 

Your body's frozen and you lost your soul

 

When I see your monsters I'll stand there so brave, and chase them all away

 

152. Ulla Nova - Kid From London

seems you have expensive taste, can't you see I drink champagne

 

We can smash the club, make the pop go rock

 

I start this section off with T-Swizzle. Unforunately I haven't been as huge a fan of her new stuff as I have been before, it's suddenly gone too pop and I'm not sure how to react. It's still nice, and it's all growing but it's less good than what came before. Therefore Shake It Off narrowly missed out on my top 200 and Blank Space has just swooped in at the last minute to save Taylor from not being here at all. Maybe I'll get 1989 one day. Also very new is Lorde's Yellow Flicker Beat a couple of places above, but as a contrast I've been coming round to Lorde more and more this year and this another great track from the Hunger Games, which is where a couple of years ago I first started to love Taylor. Something of a yin-yang there, idk?

 

There are two rock tracks next, hurrah, both from BJSC. The Rocket Summer's So Much Love to a couple of listens to get used to, with those vocals, but as I can look past not-perfect vocals very often, I loved it from then on, very underrated little song. Argentina was a big surprise, a three-part 8 minute song from an indie-rock band isn't the first thing you'd fall in love with if you weren't a fan of that band but there's a lot to love. There's a sense of it building to something throughout and it does eventually pay off, that's how Nightwish's best, behemoth-sized tracks work for me and it's the same here.

 

The first appearance from my muse, Lindsey Stirling, in the singles chart comes from her first single from Shatter Me. I missed this in the first part of the year and only went back to it once I'd been converted to super-fan with her later singles but it's a very great part of the album nevertheless.

 

My Love has always been a bit of an outside favourite this year, it seems a very cool track to have on at a party and I like it for that but there's not a lot to it otherwise, very much a feeling of 'My First Deep House Hit' about it. Not that's an entirely bad thing. Also an outside favourite has been the surprise of I Will Never Let You Down, the surprise being that it was actually quite a good track. I like the sentiment too, as long as it refers to relationships and not music as I'm not sure Rita could keep that promise with music... oh.

 

Katie Sky is always brilliant and combined with cool new pop band Timeflies she's made a song firmly cast in the Love The Way You Lie/Read All About It/any Devlin track mold, so it's not amazingly unique but her voice really works nicely on the chorus and it's adorable seeing her post on Facebook about it so I can't help but love the music.

 

Ulla Nova's lovely song about London encaptured me for quite a bit in the middle of the year, it is very nicely catchy. Finally I have let All Night in here as throughout this year, largely due to nightcoring it at first for reasons, I began to see just how good a pop track it actually was, in contrast to I Love It. Ever since then I have been dearly wishing they would switch places.

:o!!

Probably the only time I'll see an entry of mine in someone's EOY! I recall you liking So Much Love but didn't think it was to that extent. Starting to see a lot more that I know and love as well: Lapse of Time, Girls Chase Boys, and all of that last section bar the two I'm not familiar with (Monsters and Beyond The Veil).

:o!!

Probably the only time I'll see an entry of mine in someone's EOY! I recall you liking So Much Love but didn't think it was to that extent. Starting to see a lot more that I know and love as well: Lapse of Time, Girls Chase Boys, and all of that last section bar the two I'm not familiar with (Monsters and Beyond The Veil).

 

I tend to take to BJSC entries I like even more after the contest as I keep them on my playlists, so that's why there are always loads of them in here, but So Much Love definitely is one of the more special ones this year, so thank you for that one. You might like Monsters actually, only half sure on that, Timeflies' rapping might put some people off a bit but either that or Katie's solo version are great. Glad there's more you like anyway. ^_^

 

~~~

 

150. A.G Cook - Beautiful

Baby when I look at you I know that we'll be here together

 

Don't you see it won't last forever, what's the sign you're waiting for, you and I will face together all of the evil of this world

 

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies, I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

 

'cause freedom is a lonely road

 

Am I tripping for having a vision?

 

But what about this war they’re coming for?

 

slowly drifting

 

Put me on the shelf; discipline myself to let the sparks die out

 

Cause if it's struggle that you're looking for, oh baby, here I am

 

I'm caught up in love, and I'm in ecstasy

 

This section starts off with an Air-rock double, muchas congrats to ketalina, who really stepped up his game in my opinion this year to produce a couple of really great entries. Beautiful was a very nice and catchy winner but I've come to love All The Evil Of This World just that little bit more, it's pretty-much chill central with the voice perfectly matching the song's subject matter. (Where do you find these)

 

Hozier reached #144 in my EOY last year, so as I've allowed it in this year as well due to success and re-loving for myself, reaching just a little bit lower this year is nothing to be ashamed of, if it had only been in one EOY it would have a much higher position in that one. One of the main songs that I've had in two EOYs before is M83's Midnight City, neither particularly high, and it is now one of my favourite songs ever. It's all about the time for which they impact you really. Beautiful, addictive song anyway.

 

There are two songs from what were the big two dance producers, increasingly more challenged over the years. I love Hurts so Calvin Harris' Under Control is one of his better ones all told (although I had completely forgotten it featured Alesso until just now), while Bad is my sole highlight from Guetta this year (with a late nod to Dangerous, might put that in 2015 now), purely because it's quirky, trashy, and not formulaic in the slightest, which is a crime he's been guilty of all too often. It's just a whole load of fun and the fast-paced cartoony video only helped this love grow.

 

There are a couple of the year's biggest hits in here too; it took me over a year to come round to Am I Wrong and obviously it was the smash that did it (sorry Adam) but it's a lovely big hit with no gimmicks and some really pleasant and interesting voices from Nico & Vinz. Again, it took me an age to come round to Waves but hearing more of Robin Schulz' work later in the year did it, and I find it very nice, a good voice from Mr Probz, some lovely subdued instrumentation and overall a great chilled thing to listen to, as much as I love my upbeat ferocious tracks I can use stuff like this too.

 

I've enjoyed Zechonia's Bitter Ruin entries before to an extent but not really loved them before Love Gone Left, which is just beautiful all the way through, her voice is fabulous, and it's a shame it got ignored in its contest as it's the sort of Zechonia entry I'd expect to actually do well. But then I really liked it so at least someone did. Reflections is another BJSC entry that got grievously ignored, but this one is a lot more upbeat and the voice is different, punchy and feisty. I'd heard a couple of MisterWives songs before this and they didn't really impress me so to an extent it was nice to see they could produce something I could really get behind.

 

Finally one entry for Kasabian. They have three in here and bumblebeee (top marks on 'quirky' title) is the lowest. Unfortunately I find it just a bit too similar to Eez-Eh but inferior and Radio 1 wouldn't stop playing it at one point when I was listening to it regularly during the summer. It does take my breath away though, lovely rock track, just I find the other two Kasabian tracks further up a lot better.

Lacuna Coil are pretty good. If you haven't heard their Dark Adrenaline album, I recommend it.