2014 Year in Music: 30 Most Listened to Songs of the Year

Obsessively complied by me.

30. Drake - Worst Behavior
It's a good driving tune. Full of proper aggression and braggadocio.

29. Katy Perry - Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J)
Wherein a perfectly functional song equating having sex with Katy Perry to selling your soul to the devil is ruined by Juicy J. Still, I liked it well enough before the radios started playing it 50 times a day.

28. Nico and Vinz - Am I Wrong
I find this song to be fairly bland, my wife can't get enough of it, though. I had initially laoded it into my music library for when she was around. I don't think I willingly played it a single time.

27. Todd Terje - Delorean Dynamite
One of my thirty favorites. It's what kept me coming back to the relative cheesiness of It's Album Time until the album was able to sink its hooks into me.

26. Childish Gambino - Telegraph Avenue. (Oakland by Lloyd)
A very good R&B song that's even more interesting for the fact that there is no song "Oakland" by Lloyd. Good hook, relatively cringeless rapping (no jokey stuff). I like a lot of Gambino's stuff, but this is a clear step forward.

25. Drake - Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan)
Still like this song a ton.

24. Kitty - Barbie j33p
Another entry in Me. Beckwith's brand of guilty pleasure rap. It seems like she might be done with rap (opting for some manner of dancey pop, which I haven't enjoyed as much), so this era might be mercifully over. This song is still pretty clever.

23. The War on Drugs - In Reverse
Great album closer.

22. Bastille - Pompei
I don't really like this song anymore. I don't dislike it, it just feels so... calculated....or something.

21. Disclosure - Latch (feat. Sam Smith)
This, on the other hand, is a great pop song.

20. Danny Brown - Side B (Dope Song)
I'm not huge into Danny Brown's albums (they run too long, have too much meandering, etc) but when he hits, it's just crazy. This one got a ton of play as spring turned to summer.

19. Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
The bass line slinks around so perfectly that it ended up scoring a few commercials this year. Hard to blame them, even if it sounds a ton like "Godzilla".

18. Arcade Fire - Reflector
My favorite song from last year ends up being the only song from last year's top 30 list that also ended up on this year's.

17. Ingrid Michaelson - Girls Chase Boys
I can't really explain this, so I'm going to move to the next entry.

16. Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Kendrick's verse rules, of course, but Schoolboy Q holds his own, getting a few good punchlines ("no, it's not the west side, stick it up your south side" etc). All of it is placed on a smooth track that makes me more than a little surprised that I didn't hear this song exploding everywhere this year.

15. Sia -Chandelier
The music video is great, the song itself is great. Still haven't gotten sick of it yet.

14. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Warning
This one got me going for the album, which ended up being one of my favorites of the year.

13. Five Iron Frenzy - Into Your Veins
Most surprising comeback of 2013, which saw comebacks of Daft Punk, My Bloody Valentine, and boards of Canada? Very possibly so. Good, good album.

12. Real Estate - Talking Backwards
I really enjoyed Atlas' vibe, and this one was a highlight of it.

11. Danny Brown - Side A (Old)
Here come that old Danny Brown...all the same logic from #20 applies here.

10. Childish Gambino - 3005
I have to say, I would actually prefer a mix of this song that didn't try to beat my head in with the bass. That said, it's classic Childish Gambino, with a fantastic hook, to boot.

9. Alcest - La nuit marche avec moi
Shelter was one of the first new albums I really ended up liking this year, so I got a lot of mileage out of it. This song is obviously a highlight.

8. The Jezabels - Look of Love
I'm a little surprised at where this one is. I know I listened to it a lot, but I wouldn't have expected that I had listened to it quite this much.

7. Taylor Swift - Shake it Off
Inescapable. What's more, I didn't really want to escape it.

6. Phantogram - Black Out Days
I think this one is superior to "Fall In Love", but it seems that most disagree with me. I like the refrain and the darker sound that Black Out Days has. Plus, the remix with Danny Brown (there he is again!) is top notch.

5. Rustie - Attak (feat. Danny Brown)
Speaking of... I don't really like Rustie, but if he were to do a collaboration album with Danny Brown, I would probably buy it twice.

4. Real Estate - Had to Hear
The guitars in the beginning set the mood for the rest of the album just perfectly. The hook feels like such a huge part of the song until you think about it and realize that you only get to hear it twice.

3. Kye Kye - I Already See It
I played Fantasize for a good friend, and I knew I had him hooked about 30 seconds into this song (the album opener). Very little not to like.

2. The War on Drugs - Red Eyes
My favorite song of the year. I heard this late one night as I was laying in bed, and I could not stop listening to it. That never changed.

1. Kye Kye - Honest Affection
This isn't really what Kye Kye sounds like (most of their stuff trends more toward the moody, atmospheric "I Already See It"), but I could not get enough of this one.

So, that's that. Check back tomorrow for the album list.