2014 Faves Part 1: #100-#91

Well, the time is finally here. I spend a couple of weeks spewing out a list of the songs I listened to/loved the most from this past year and then I turn around and spend a couple of weeks trawling the internet for everyone else's lists so that I can kick next year off with a bang. Before I get too excited about checking out those other sites, though: first thing's first. Welcome to my favourite songs of 2014! Granted, some of these songs were released in 2013. Some of them were released closer to 2010. One was released in the 90s by a guy who is now dead. My only rules for inclusion on this list are that I have to have first heard these songs in 2014, or in late 2013 and their impact on my life carried over to 2014. I first found out about many of these songs via either The Hype Machine or the Spotify Viral Charts, but have also been introduced to tracks via TV shows, pitchfork reviews, retro Rick Dees countdowns, Grantland podcasts, the Grammys telecast, radio stations in strange cities and albums purchased as a result of liking other songs on the countdown. Yes, I still occasionally buy albums.

Without further ado, let's get this party started.

#100: "Line of Fire", Junip

Roughly a quarter of the songs on this list are hold-overs from last year. This is one of them. From his solo days to doing guest vocals with Zero7 to Junip, I've always been a fan of Jose Gonzalez. And he's Swedish.

#99: "Cop Car (Live from 2014 Grammys)", Keith Urban & Gary Clark Jr.

I openly mock country music all the time. Country artists all look the same, sound the same and are masters of conjugating their lyrics in the past tense, for starters. I can't explain what it was about this performance that sunk its hooks into me. Gary Clark Jr. is awesome - that helps. Nice guitar work at the end, too. Regardless, I end up feeling moderately embarrassed that this song is sitting here. iPod don't lie.

#98: "Drowning in Your Eyes", Ephraim Lewis

This is also pseudo-embarrassing. I'm very nostalgic for 1990s pop music and syndicated AT40 and Rick Dees shows have become a bit of a soundtrack to my weekends. At some point late last year, I heard this song from way back in 1992 and swear I had never heard it before. I instantly thought to myself that if only I had latched on to this song in the early 90s, it probably would have been an all-timer (given my penchant for artists like Seal and Shai back in the day). So I started listening to it and it still felt right 22 years later. R.I.P., Ephraim.

#97: "Are You That Somebody", BANKS

This one is not embarrassing. As you might have surmised from the last blurb, I was a pretty big Aaliyah fan. I am also a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge fan. WORLDS COLLIDE! A sweet acoustic jam you can even hear the backing musicians getting into if you listen closely. There was no question this was going to get a lot of run around here this year.

#96: "Reflektor", Arcade Fire

Another remnant from 2013, I'm not sure why I didn't end up liking "We Exist" or "Afterlife" nearly as much as "Reflektor". The video for "We Exist" still goes down as one of the year's best (and the Grammy nominations for 2015 seem to agree:). This is one of many songs featuring French lyrics that snuck onto my playlists over the past year.

#95: "Humiliation", The National

About a year ago, after being in love with "Sea of Love" for the better part of last year, I bit and picked up a copy of Trouble Will Find Me and have not regretted it one bit. This is the first of three songs from the album on the year-end list.

#94: "Wonder", Adventure Club feat. The Kite String Tangle

Hey, didn't I just feature this at #8 in my last post? Yup. Foreshadowing? Yup.

#93: "No Diggity (Live)", Chet Faker

While I'm sorry I missed this track as it was going viral a while back, I'm not sorry I stumbled onto it in the end. Loved this song the first time around and this arrangement is amazing. This might even sneak onto the 2015 best-of list.

#92: "Holdin' On", Flume

From Chet Faker to a frequent Chet Faker collaborator, Flume checks in at #92 with a short and sweet little confection. While a pile of this guy's remixes are floating around on the Internet, I seem to be more struck by his original compositions. "Possum" is getting a lot of spins around here these days.

#91: "Campo", Toro y Moi

Perennial favourite Toro y Moi dropped this track last year and it immediately went into heavy rotation for me. I love the smooth vibe of the song, the stuttering rhythm structure and the use of "sequoias" in the lyrics. Chaz Bundwick, you done good.