1. WOLVES – Wide Eyed Boy (1)
2. SIGN OF THE TIMES – Harry Styles (2)
3. FEEL IT STILL – Portugal. The Man (3)
4. BELIEVER – Imagine Dragons (4)
5. LOVE IS MYSTICAL – Cold War Kids (5)
6. HIGH – Sir Sly (7)
7. BLAME – Bastille (6)
8. SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS – The Chainsmokers, Coldplay (8)
9. DOING IT FOR THE MONEY – Foster the People (11)
10. DON’T TAKE THE MONEY – Bleachers (12)
11. REVEREND – Kings of Leon (14)
12. HOT THOUGHTS – Spoon (9)
13. COLD COLD COLD – Cage the Elephant (10)
14. FEELS LIKE SUMMER – Weezer (15)
15. IN COLD BLOOD – alt-J (18)
16. GIVE ME REASON TO DIE – Dyslexic Postcards (19)
17. THE VIOLENCE – Rise Against (20)
18. MIDDLE FINGERS – MISSIO (13)
19. THE SYSTEM ONLY DREAMS IN TOTAL DARKNESS – The National (N)
20. DIG DOWN – Muse (N)
Tag: alt-J
Top 20 Songs for May 28-June 3, 2017
1. WOLVES – Wide Eyed Boy (2)
2. SIGN OF THE TIMES – Harry Styles (1)
3. FEEL IT STILL – Portugal. The Man (4)
4. BELIEVER – Imagine Dragons (3)
5. LOVE IS MYSTICAL – Cold War Kids (5)
6. BLAME – Bastille (7)
7. HIGH – Sir Sly (10)
8. SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS – The Chainsmokers, Coldplay (9)
9. HOT THOUGHTS – Spoon (6)
10. COLD COLD COLD – Cage the Elephant (8)
11. DOING IT FOR THE MONEY – Foster the People (14)
12. DON’T TAKE THE MONEY – Bleachers (15)
13. MIDDLE FINGERS – MISSIO (11)
14. REVEREND – Kings of Leon (16)
15. FEELS LIKE SUMMER – Weezer (17)
16. LOST ON YOU – LP (12)
17. GREEN LIGHT – Lorde (13)
18. IN COLD BLOOD – alt-J (19)
19. GIVE ME REASON TO DIE – Dyslexic Postcards (20)
20. THE VIOLENCE – Rise Against (N)
Top 20 Songs for May 21-27, 2017
1. SIGN OF THE TIMES – Harry Styles (1)
2. WOLVES – Wide Eyed Boy (4)
3. BELIEVER – Imagine Dragons (5)
4. FEEL IT STILL – Portugal.The Man (8)
5. LOVE IS MYSTICAL – Cold War Kids (3)
6. HOT THOUGHTS – Spoon (2)
7. BLAME – Bastille (6)
8. COLD COLD COLD – Cage the Elephant (7)
9. SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS – The Chainsmokers, Coldplay (10)
10. HIGH – Sir Sly (13)
11. MIDDLE FINGERS – MISSIO (12)
12. LOST ON YOU – LP (9)
13. GREEN LIGHT – Lorde (11)
14. DOING IT FOR THE MONEY – Foster the People (16)
15. DON’T TAKE THE MONEY – Bleachers (17)
16. REVEREND – Kings of Leon (N)
17. FEELS LIKE SUMMER – Weezer (N)
18. ON HOLD – The xx (14)
19. IN COLD BLOOD – alt-J (N)
20. GIVE ME REASON TO DIE – Dyslexic Postcards (N)
Top 100 Songs of 2015
2015 was another amazing year in music, and saw the release of numerous albums of merit, most notably the incredible Blurryface from twenty øne piløts, How Big How Blue How Beautiful from Florence + the Machine, Beauty Behind the Madness from The Weeknd, Currents from Tame Impala, Wilder Mind from Mumford & Sons, What Went Down from Foals, Sound and Color from Alabama Shakes, To Pimp a Butterfly from Kendrick Lamar, Drones from Muse, Every Open Eye from CHVRCHES, Kintsugi from Death Cab For Cutie, My Love is Cool from Wolf Alice, Caracal from Disclosure, Get to Heaven from Everything Everything and, at the end of the year, Adele’s eagerly awaited and record-setting 25. One of my personal favorites was No Devotion’s exceptional debut album Permanence, which I previously reviewed in this blog.
One of the biggest hits of the year was the hugely popular “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. The wildly entertaining and oft-imitated video paid homage to masters of funk James Brown, Funkadelic and Prince. Another break-out artist was Elle King, whose “Ex’s and Oh’s” was one of the biggest and most enjoyable songs of the year, and I especially loved “My Type” from Saint Motel, a fun and stylish tune. My pick for best song of 2015 is “Tear in My Heart,” a rousing anthem to the highs and lows of love from my favorite band of the year, twenty øne piløts.
1. TEAR IN MY HEART – twenty øne piløts
2. UPTOWN FUNK! – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
3. EX’S & OH’S – Elle King
4. THE LESS I KNOW THE BETTER – Tame Impala
5. FIRST – Cold War Kids
6. SHUT UP AND DANCE – Walk the Moon
7. RENEGADES – X Ambassadors
8. BELIEVE – Mumford & Sons
9. STRESSED OUT – twenty øne piløts
10. CAN’T FEEL MY FACE – The Weeknd
11. DREAMS – Beck
12. MY TYPE – Saint Motel
13. HELLO – Adele
14. LAMPSHADES ON FIRE – Modest Mouse
15. THINKING OUT LOUD – Ed Sheeran
16. HOLLOW MOON (BAD WOLF) – AWOLNATION
17. LONG WAY DOWN – Robert DeLong
18. SHIP TO WRECK – Florence + the Machine
19. DON’T WANNA FIGHT – Alabama Shakes
20. DEAD INSIDE – Muse
21. BLACK SUN – Death Cab For Cutie
22. CRYSTALS – Of Monsters and Men
23. WHAT KIND OF MAN? – Florence + the Machine
24. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING – Foo Fighters
25. S.O.B. – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
26. ROLLERCOASTER – Bleachers
27. ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME – Coldplay
28. BUDAPEST – George Ezra
29. MOANING LISA SMILE – Wolf Alice
30. NEARLY FORGOT MY BROKEN HEART – Chris Cornell
31. ELECTRIC LOVE – BØRNS
32. SEDONA – Houndmouth
33. BLAME IT ON ME – George Ezra
34. WHAT WENT DOWN – Foals
35. I AM – AWOLNATION
36. EARNED IT (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY) – The Weeknd
37. CIGARETTE DAYDREAMS – Cage the Elephant
38. COULD HAVE BEEN ME – The Struts
39. EVERY OTHER FRECKLE – alt-J
40. THE WOLF – Mumford & Sons
41. MESS IS MINE – Vance Joy
42. CECILIA AND THE SATELLITE – Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
43. THE GHOSTS OF BEVERLY DRIVE – Death Cab for Cutie
44. 2 HEADS – Coleman Hell
45. HOLD BACK THE RIVER – James Bay
46. I BET MY LIFE – Imagine Dragons
47. R.I.P. 2 MY YOUTH – The Neighbourhood
48. FIGURE IT OUT – Royal Blood
49. SOMEBODY NEW – Joywave
50. ADDITION – No Devotion
51. MOUNTAIN AT MY GATES – Foals
52. MERCY – Muse
53. KATHLEEN – Catfish & the Bottlemen
54. FAIRLY LOCAL – twenty øne piløts
55. R U MINE? – Arctic Monkeys
56. SOMEONE NEW – Hozier
57. HOTLINE BLING – Drake
58. COLD COLD MAN – Saint Motel
59. THE GROUND WALKS, WITH TIME IN A BOX – Modest Mouse
60. LEAVE A TRACE – CHVRCHES
61. DIFFERENT COLORS – Walk the Moon
62. MOLECULES – Atlas Genius
63. COMING HOME – Leon Bridges
64. FLASHED JUNK MIND – Milky Chance
65. THE WEIGHT OF LOVE – The Black Keys
66. FROM EDEN – Hozier
67. UMA THURMAN – Fall Out Boy
68. WHAT DO YOU MEAN? – Justin Bieber
69. REGRET – Everything Everything
70. SHOTS – Imagine Dragons
71. EVERY BREAKING WAVE – U2
72. COMING FOR YOU – The Offspring
73. SOUND OF CHANGE – Dirty Heads
74. EVERYTHING IS WRONG – Interpol
75. KARMA – Disciples of Babylon
76. DISTANT PAST – Everything Everything
77. DYING TO SHINE – She Pulled the Trigger
78. REALiTi – Grimes
79. WANT TO WANT ME – Jason Derulo
80. CIGARETTES AND SAINTS – The Wonder Years
81. REALLY LOVE – D’Angelo and the Vanguard
82. I LIVED – OneRepublic
83. CIVIL WAR – Ages Apart
84. BEST OF ME – The Awareness
85. PERMANENT SUNLIGHT – No Devotion
86. STYLE – Taylor Swift
87. I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE – Sam Smith
88. FOOL FOR LOVE – Lord Huron
89. WAVES – Mr. Probst
90. KING KUNTA – Kendrick Lamar
91. LITTLE MONSTER – Royal Blood
92. JEALOUS – Nick Jonas
93. BAD BLOOD – Ryan Adams
94. SEE YOU AGAIN – Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
95. OUTTA MY MIND – The ARCS
96. CONGREGATION – Foo Fighters
97. ELASTIC HEART – Sia
98. LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO – Ellie Goulding
99. HALLELUJAH – Panic! At the Disco
100. ABSOLUTION CALLING – Incubus
Top 100 Songs of 2014
2014 was an incredible year for music, especially alternative and indie rock. In my opinion, it was the best year for music since 1990, and I was actually hard-pressed to limit my list to only 100 songs. A number of great new albums were released, including “Ghost Stories” from Coldplay, “Supermodel” from Foster the People, “Turn Blue” from The Black Keys, “X” from Ed Sheeran, “Morning Phase” from Beck, and “In the Lonely Hour” from Sam Smith.
My favorite song is “Love Me Again” from John Newman, an amazingly talented soulful-voiced singer from Britain who has one of the best and most unique voices around today. He sings of the hurt he caused his lover, then passionately pleads for forgiveness to a driving breakbeat with powerful organ, drums and piano. The song is a musical masterpiece that was underrated in the U.S. It was released in 2013, but peaked on the charts during the first few months of 2014, so ends up on my list for that year.
Here is my list of the 100 best songs of 2014:
1. LOVE ME AGAIN – John Newman
2. DO I WANNA KNOW? – Arctic Monkeys
3. COME A LITTLE CLOSER – Cage the Elephant
4. TAKE ME TO CHURCH – Hozier
5. HAPPY – Pharrell Williams
6. SEASONS (WAITING ON YOU) – Future Islands
7. POMPEII – Bastille
8. A SKY FULL OF STARS – Coldplay
9. FEVER – The Black Keys
10. COMING OF AGE – Foster the People
11. RIPTIDE – Vance Joy
12. THE WALKER – Fitz & the Tantrums
13. MAGIC – Coldplay
14. CHANDELIER – Sia
15. RED EYES – The War on Drugs
16. BLAME – Calvin Harris featuring John Newman
17. PSEUDOLOGIA FANTASTICA – Foster the People
18. COME WITH ME NOW – KONGOS
19. STOLEN DANCE – Milky Chance
20. BEST FRIEND – Foster the People
21. TEAM – Lorde
22. SING – Ed Sheeran
23. BAD BLOOD – Bastille
24. I WANNA GET BETTER – Bleachers
25. SLEEPING WITH A FRIEND – Neon Trees
26. LOVE RUNS OUT – OneRepublic
27. WHY’D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU’RE HIGH – Arctic Monkeys
28. GIANTS – Bear Hands
29. AFRAID – The Neighbourhood
30. STAY WITH ME – Sam Smith
31. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE – American Authors
32. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING – Foo Fighters
33. DON’T – Ed Sheeran
34. COUNTING STARS – OneRepublic
35. MY SWEET SUMMER – Dirty Heads
36. IT’S ABOUT TIME – Young the Giant
37. SOUTHERN SUN – Boy and Bear
38. DANGEROUS – Big Data featuring Joywave
39. LEFT HAND FREE – Alt-J
40. CAR RADIO – twenty one pilots
41. FALL IN LOVE – Phantogram
42. BLUE MOON – Beck
43. LATCH – Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
44. HABITS (STAY HIGH) – Tove Lo
45. WHO NEEDS YOU – The Orwells
46. RATHER BE – Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
47. BACK TO THE SHACK – Weezer
48. SUMMER – Calvin Harris
49. CENTURIES – Fall Out Boy
50. ALL OF ME – John Legend
51. THUNDER CLATTER – Wild Cub
52. LAZARETTO – Jack White
53. GIRLS/BOYS/GIRLS – Panic! At the Disco
54. I’M ONLY JOKING – KONGOS
55. LA LA LA – Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith
56. FOOLS GOLD – Fitz & the Tantrums
57. CARDIAC ARREST – Big Suns
58. MIDNIGHT – Coldplay
59. TRUE LOVE – Coldplay
60. THIS IS GOSPEL – Panic! At the Disco
61. WAIT FOR ME – Kings of Leon
62. UNBELIEVERS – Vampire Weekend
63. DIGITAL WITNESS – St. Vincent
64. STORY OF MY LIFE – One Direction
65. RUDE – Magic!
66. AM I WRONG? – Nico & Vinz
67. TIMBER – Pitbull featuring Ke$ha
68. GOTTA GET AWAY – The Black Keys
69. CHOCOLATE – The 1975
70. MAPS – Maroon 5
71. COOL KIDS – Echosmith
72. LOVE DON’T DIE – The Fray
73. SAY SOMETHING – Great Big World with Christina Aguilera
74. AFTERLIFE – Arcade Fire
75. WEST COAST – Lana Del Rey
76. GIMME SOMETHING GOOD – Ryan Adams
77. TALK DIRTY – Jason Derulo
78. ALL THE RAGE BACK HOME – Interpol
79. NOT A BAD THING – Justin Timberlake
80. BOOM CLAP – Charlie XCX
81. DO OR DIE – 30 Seconds to Mars
82. SUPERHEROES – The Script
83. DO YOU – Spoon
84. ALL ABOUT THAT BASS – Meghan Trainor
84. ANIMALS – Maroon 5
86. BURN – Ellie Goulding
87. ONE MINUTE MORE – Capital Cities
88. GIRLS CHASE BOYS – Ingrid Michaelson
89. FLAWS – Bastille
90. LET HER GO – Passenger
91. WEEKEND – Priory
92. HEY BROTHER – Avicii
93. MIND OVER MATTER – Young the Giant
94. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT – Cage the Elephant
95. SIRENS – Pearl Jam
96. I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE – Rise Against
97. ANGEL IN BLUE JEANS – Train
98. YOUNG GIRLS – Bruno Mars
99. AIN’T IT FUN – Paramore
100. JUST ONE OF THE GUYS – Jenny Lewis
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 