Pitchfork's Top 40 Tracks from 2014 poll

voted Panda Bear but there were at least like 3-5 other worthy contenders

Sort of want to troll vote for Sophie.

***flawless
0-100
hot nigga
tues
partition

stoner

Aphex Twin.

I'm taking Future Islands placement at #1 as an indication that this has been a pissweak year for music.

It hasn't, but duh Pitchfork.

Down on My Luck
Johnny and Mary
Partition
Digital Witness

i tried to vote for "stoner" twice

i'm a stoner i'm a stoner i'm a stoner

All the critical love for "Johnny and Mary" kind of caught me off-guard, though I guess it's not too surprising. Still, it's the only track on the album that I sometimes skip.

lbr that future islands song wouldn't be anything without the letterman performance

stuff i really like off this

2 on, boss ass bitch, stoner, hot n*gga, 0-100, boom clap, tough love, partition, pendulum, beautiful, down on my luck

stoner, down on my luck in order

COME WATCH ME EMBARRASS MYSELF Since I don't know ANY of these songs (I'm like "where's Katy Perry? I'm always hearing that Katy Perry song in the car with my kids. That was a big hit right? I like that Katy Perry song with the doot doot doot Egyptian thing. That poptimist thing, right? They like that at Pitchfork too right?”

I think it could be amusing (as in you can laugh with me and at me) if I listen to 5 of these at a time, twice or more each, and post my ignorant impressions right here in naked text.

My Pledge To The Reader: If at least 5 people tell me explicitly to stop it, I WILL! Your vote will count – who else promises you such results in this world? No regrets, & possibility of shared relief. It's up to you, New York (not that all of you are from New York).

Let's go:

Pitchfork’s Exalted Finest Songs of 2014 1-5: the immediate favorite, without serious competition in this group, is 'club going up on Tuesday'. Diminished not a bit on second hearing.

The Caribou song sounded better the first time, a not uncommon fate for electronica. I don’t enjoy the FKA Twigs song listed, but was intrigued by the weird pictures, and found “Pendulum” which I do like: a weird production. War on Drugs didn’t get better. Future Islands got so much worse.

i love: two weeks, ***flawless, 2 on, boss ass bitch, partition, hot n*gga, tough love

i like: move that dope, down on my luck, problem

multiple pc music tracks should be reason enough to raze this publication to the ground, but even aside from them there are some absolutely dreadful songs in here

despite better actual music this list is somehow more embarrassing than the albums list which mostly stays in its own boring indie lane

Two Weeks and 2 On are genuinely terrible

Boss Ass Bitch knocked me on my ass so that.

Picked the number one.

So Pitchfork

Wow people really enjoy pretending that PC Music is actually a thing.

All the critical love for "Johnny and Mary" kind of caught me off-guard, though I guess it's not too surprising. Still, it's the only track on the album that I sometimes skip.

― jaymc,

and on the Terje album?

On the Terje album is what I mean. Never heard the original.

on the Ferry album too

jessie ware, aphex, grouper, beyonce, st vincent

xp Ah, I didn't realize that it was on Ferry's album, too.

The trolliest thing on this very troll-heavy list has to be the Terje track.

Terje’s perspective on "Johnny and Mary" involved slowing it down by nearly 100 BPM and infusing it with some slow-burning Vangelian pomp. The setting not only proved an ideal backdrop for Ferry’s luxurious, searching performance, it also milked the last bits of pathos out of what was surely Palmer’s finest song. There were too many moments this year where it felt like so many of us lacked, as the song says, a sense of proportion; "Johnny and Mary" made that very sad idea sound sublime.

There is no pomp, there is no luxury, there is no pathos, Johnny & Mary is not Palmer's finest song...

man the seven or eight todd terje fans must feel trooooooolllled

Yeah, it's terrible.

I fux w/

2. iLoveMakonnen - Club Goin Up on a Tuesday [ft. Drake]
3. FKA twigs - Two Weeks
7. Beyonce - ***Flawless [ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]
9. Future - Move That Dope [ft. Pharrell, Pusha T, and Casino]
10. Michael Jackson - Love Never Felt So Good (Original Version)
12. Drake - 0 to 100 / The Catch Up
15. Lil B - No Black Person Is Ugly
16. Young Thug - Stoner
17. Tinashe - 2 On [ft. Schoolboy Q]
20. Nicki Minaj - Boss Ass Bitch (Remix) [ft. PTAF]
23. Flying Lotus - Never Catch Me [ft. Kendrick Lamar]
25. Vic Mensa - Down on My Luck
26. Beyonce - Partition
35. FKA twigs - Pendulum
37. Charli XCX - Boom Clap
38. Bobby Shmurda - Hot Nigga
40. Jessie Ware - Tough Love

voting for Thugger obv

i like that shamir tune

love todd and ferry but the acclaim of Johnny and Mary confuses me.

Ex Hex by default.

I hate to be this guy, but boy, there is some really unremarkable stuff on this list. like even more arbitrary than normal for a PF best of.

voted for move that dope bc I'm p sure it'll get smoked in this poll

These songs are B+ jams.

man the seven or eight todd terje fans must feel trooooooolllled

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, December 23, 2014 10:39 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think the biggest troll is the continued insistence that todd terje is good

same logic applies to PC music

your point has no logic, though

Todd Terje has been very good, even great, several times. But Johnny and Mary is terrible.

i think you'll find it's actually spelt 'terjeble'

J&M is my favourite Palmer song but the Terje version removes all its wiry beauty xp loool

There are so many tracks on this list that I consider to be the 2nd or 3rd best song on a very good album (e.g., "Carissa," "Problem," "Close Your Eyes," "Move That Dope," "Tough Love," "Johnny & Mary, "Do You"). There are only a handful that transcend their respective album and stand out as one of the best songs of the year.

By that measure, I went with "Seasons," but "Two Weeks," "On the Regular," and "Mr Noah" were viable options.

your point has no logic, though
--J0rdan S.

because I stated an opinion? w0rd. you're obvs more than entitled to think that opinion is wrong, and that terje and PC music are good shit. the literal wording choice of saying claims that things those things were good were "the biggest troll" was kind of a joke

*claims that those things were good

i don't see any connection between todd terje and pc music

Terje is awesome. Future Islands is awesome. PC music is straight doo doo

I'm trying to decide between "Two Weeks" and "Partition"

sloth Terje is fantastic. Though it is very NOT your thing.

re: a connection, I found the way both were hyped and written about in some cases to be somewhat similar - like as embraces of kitsch, or in PC music's case, taking the kitsch aspects of teen pop past their breaking point and into uncanny valley creepy territory. sonically, they don't sound alike pretty much at all.

Evan in fairness I will take inspector norse over hey QT any day of the fuckin week

2015 is going to be the year lex shocks us all and doesn't throw a fit in a p4k themed thread.

pc music never got to uncanny valley creepy territory with anything. what is creepy about any of their output? art school kitsch is really familiar.

(i voted "boss ass bitch")

I think the QT shit sounds hella robotic/stepford starlet-ish, which I thought was kinda the point of that whole exercise? hannah diamond does not sound nearly as prefabricated but not my cup of tea. admittedly, those tracks and Sophie instrumental shit are all I've heard so perhaps could stand to hear more, idk

if nothing else, lex, we can easily agree that boss ass bitch is pretty great

I like AG Cook's remixes of Ke$ha's "Stephen" and How to Dress Well's "Repeat Pleasure" a lot; and while I "get it," I just can't imagine listening to Cook/PC Music/et al for more than 20 minutes straight, tops.

QT is almost surely the worst thing AG Cook and Sophie have put to their name ugh. AG Cook's remix of Ke$ha's Stephen is one of the best things from the entire label, as is his remix of SNSD's Let's Talk About Love. The latter feels really similar to any 90s UK Garage remix of an r&b song. I spent a few weeks just listening to PC Music stuff and it was great, love most of it.

Wish an actual 2014 Young Thug-related track was chosen... there were so many good ones. Caribou's Can't Do Without You is my favorite track of the bunch probably. Song is a bit innocuous but it meant a lot to me this past year. The structure of the song, the way Dan finishes the lyrics of the sample, the relentless repetition and effectively short climax, the outro... it all acted as a nice reminder that the relationships I have with people are all way more meaningful to me than I think. I would listen to that song while walking to class and just tear up :')

terje and pc/qt are indeed both joke music for joke people, slothro otm it's an xmas miracle

i'm voting for "2 on"

Wow that is a very dissapointing top ten. They could have at least choosed Caribou's Silver.

They should have Sophie at #1, Anaconda at #2 and the remaining 8 slots for Pink Floyd's album.

Well, honestly without looking at my music this is what I think were my top 3 most listened tracks this year:

1. Caribou - Silver
2. Indiana - Solo Dancing
3. Shura - Touch

I'm sure if I look at my music playlists this would be different.

From this list I'd say Vic Mensa.

Silver is unreal, and if it was on this list, I'd have voted for it. Still voted for Can't Do Without because most of the "songs" I love this year are actually on that record. I'm more of an album guy so polls like this kill me

tbh i thought "silver" was totally overrated

love todd and ferry but the acclaim of Johnny and Mary confuses me.

― g simmel, Tuesday, December 23, 2014 11:17 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I feel like it's because where certain kinds of critics who have heard about Todd Terje and want to like him find a toehold.

Toss up between Future and Aphex Twin for me.

Hahaha holy fuck that Tuesday song is so incredibly unlistenably awful. The best part of it is drake, and how is that even possible, because his part is terrible.

Also, he is drake

war on drugs

grouper

The Tuesday song is utterly depressing.

is it supposed to be about a guy that is partying on Tuesday? Because he sounds really bored about it. It doesn't feel like celebration it feels like ennui. Maybe that's the intention I dunno.

their Minaj blurb left me with so many questions. Are they saying she is a genius for trolling people? Are we all really missing out on her? Are we expected
to love her ironically?

"tuesday" was the moment i realized rap had passed me by

i get and am pro the spirit of "tuesday" but some current stylistic rap trends are just unlistenable garbage, it's not complicated

critics are REALLY selling whatever the hell Makonnen is doing, but i don't get the sense rap fans in general give a shit beyond the standard "Drake is on this song and it's about the club, might as well play it" reaction that's made it a chart hit.

heard "tuesday" on a tuesday recently. recommended, really opens it up

i love this song! it's so true!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICXdA0sFAkc

critics are REALLY selling whatever the hell Makonnen is doing, but i don't get the sense rap fans in general give a shit beyond the standard "Drake is on this song and it's about the club, might as well play it" reaction that's made it a chart hit.

― some dude, Wednesday, December 24, 2014 2:13 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think they prob also fuck w the concept, its a clever song in that sense

i have to admit i dont hate it when it gets to the hook

but all his best songs are just hooks, he's totally 1-d with no persona beyond

lol i've wanted to make an edit of tuesday that's just the hook over and over for 5+ minutes, the song almost sounds like that toward the end anyway

oh wait i meant i dont hate it when he gets to the bridge.

but yes the hooks are what ppl like

lol, every time someone mentions PC music I hvae been thinking of PC Worship.

wtf is PC music?

The real question is whether Scott Seward is going to bloghis experience of listening to all these tracks and not dying. That was the highlight of my January 2014.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Music

"johnny and mary" is grebt fuiud

critics are REALLY selling whatever the hell Makonnen is doing, but i don't get the sense rap fans in general give a shit beyond the standard "Drake is on this song and it's about the club, might as well play it" reaction that's made it a chart hit.

― some dude, Wednesday, December 24, 2014 3:13 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

as far as critics who really stump for makonnen go, it's hard for me to separate where "i like this guy's music" starts and "i like this guy because he's basically a version of us who won the lottery and is friends with drake" ends

I don't hate "Tuesday," but I do not believe the line about not taking xans -- the whole song sounds benzoed.

i like "tuesday" ... the drake remix is far inferior though

Most Drake remixes are far inferior

also true

Ignorant Take continued: songs 6-10

let's get out of the way:
pretentious, flawlessly self-aggrandizing celebrity message song. Yuck.

Perfume Genius - Queen --- more empowerment sweepstakes, but coherent. Climaxes multiple X

not super likely to inspire crime songs: close your eyes v move that dope. Move that dope wins with the Smokey The Bear bit. But no contest anyway.

Surprise (to me) subjective winner of this bunch, and of the Top 10: Michael Jackson

My favorite song this year, Back Baby, placed somewhere around 40-50.

So Bobby Shmurda it is.

i like "tuesday" ... the drake remix is far inferior though

― J0rdan S., Friday, December 26, 2014 8:07 AM Bookmark

Disagree with this actually, the original version gets pretty aimless around the second verse.

Ignorant Take: 11-15

Best five on average so far.

Lil B - It's more interesting to think about why sanctimony like this tends to end up on 'best of the year' lists than it is to actually think about them, or listen to them. Do the critics at Pitchfork pat themselves on the back or have a circle pat?

Terje/Ferry: All Todd Terje songs start out interesting, and then I usually tune out half the way through. I'm officially in favor of him but the experience hasn't been on the level of hearing Marco Benevento seven years ago, or Ulrich Schnauss twelve years ago. Sooooo....this one....I'd say Ferry's subdued exhausted vocal does a real service illuminating a good song from a mediocre original.

Drake: good enough for the first three minutes but the middle rap has that "general exposition" loss

QT - I thinQ I sprouQTed pimpQles. It's QuuTe as A BuQ on a RuQ. I thinQ I like it.

&

Shamir - On The Regular ----- Y!!!! Vaults into first!!!

illuminating a good song from a mediocre original

:|

You know my gas stink

tmi

how the heck are Flawless or Partition songs from 2014?

i believe the Beyonce album came out after they finished their 2013 lists, although they just put tracks from it on the 2014 track list without putting the album on either year-end list, so go fig. "Partition" and "Flawless" were both released as singles in 2014, albeit the latter as a remix.

i do love the nicki remix of "flawless" but i feel releasing it as a single in just that version was a bit of a cop-out, and redundant in that the original is still the more widely known version

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pretty awesome results imo

v solid top five

I'm taking Future Islands placement at #1 as an indication that this has been a pissweak year for music.

― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, December 23, 2014 4:09 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So bottom and top results are exactly the same as P4K's. Fascinating.

these are the truly embarrassing results

40. Jessie Ware - Tough Love 0

Tough indeed.

ware got none and that future islands bullshit got SIXTEEN! ridiculous. bad enough that anyone would legit prefer it to "flawless" or "boss ass bitch"

the future islands song is way better, that's why

Why are Future Islands "bullshit" exactly?

I'm not even a fan but the appeal makes sense and they're a band that's been around a while, building a fanbase, who had a "breakout" hit this year. Bullshit is like, Megan Trainor.

wow

Meghan Trainor is fun, harmless bullshit. Future Islands are just bullshit.

huh

i don't really feel one way or the other about trainor and shouldn't have said that she is "bullshit" as she is a human who shouldn't be resented for her success. molly lambert posted what i thought was a lucid critique of the problematic gender politics of that song but it's not really my fight.

defending future islands seems like my fight though. the reasoning behind the backlash seems similar to the reasons ilx has heaped scorn on other indie bands i love. i don't love this one, but still, they write resonant songs about longing and loss and have a unique frontman. there is something kind of dorky and over-earnest about them though -- which i think a lot of their fans respond to -- but i think this is also the reason some people hear don't like them.

Man, I love "Seasons" like crazy and see no reason why the question of whether it's over-earnest or not would even enter my mind.

why else would lex and turrican call it "bullshit"?

Meghan Trainor is fun, harmless bullshit. Future Islands are just bullshit.

― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Thursday, January 1, 2015 4:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah meghan trainor's version of body positivity which is based on male approval is definitely "fun" and "harmless." were you always this dumb and i just never noticed?

yeah meghan trainor's version of body positivity which is based on male approval is definitely "fun" and "harmless." were you always this dumb and i just never noticed?

― call all destroyer, Saturday, January 3, 2015 1:19 AM (18 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://hellovegetables.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/waa.jpg

I was talking more about the quality of the music itself rather than the message behind it (which, incidentally, regarding the Meghan Trainor track, I agree with you on). The Meghan Trainor track is bullshit, but, even though it doesn't convey its message of body positivity in the best way, I can understand why those who like it like it. Message aside, it succeeds at what it does: i.e. it's an earworm and nothing more, and doesn't pretend to be anything more than that.

Future Islands, on the understand, I can't understand the appeal no matter which angle I look at their music from. The songwriting, to me, is painfully weak, the music itself comes across to me as very plain and bland, and I absolutely loathe his voice. Some might see the melding of dull synthpop mixed with growling as some kind of unique blend of musical flavours, but when you add perfectly good musical flavours and the result amounts to musical fecal matter, then it's not worth the experiment. His singing voice is no better, either. While I can appreciate that the guy has a decent amount of stage presence, this has ultimately zilch to do with the music, and the "stage act" is just window dressing for some of the dullest, awful music I've heard in any era.

So yeah, they're both bullshit, but I'll take the Meghan Trainor track any day of the week if I really had to choose.

Incidentally, I've arranged a buffet at the door which includes an assorted selection of chill-pills for your delectation. Here's hoping it cures your uptightness :)

*on the understand=on the other hand, natch. Perils of hitting 'submit' before checking (we've all done it!)

I mean, I'll take a light earworm with a badly conveyed message that doesn't pretend to be artistically substantial over something which purports to be some "clever" artistic blend of showmanship, dull synthpop and growling vocals but which in reality is just dull synthpop with a lousy singer, with poor songwriting.

Fortunately, as luck would have it, I can choose to listen to neither.

I disagree. I'd rather bands try to do things they think are interesting and fail than churn out boring, formulaic songs

Future Islands might be bad (i don't think they are) but there is nothing cynical or underhanded about what they do

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that 'All About That Bass' towers over the output of Future Islands in terms of merit. I'm saying that Future Islands, to me, lack merit to such a painful degree that 'All About That Bass' has the tiniest fraction more merit by default. I have little time for either, for what it's worth.

poor songwriting

"Seasons?" Not in my book. The ambiguity between ii and IV chords in the verse is delightful. The melodic arc and the

Ha, I'll try to finish that post...

No chorus, just a repeating bridge with a great melodic arc that avoids cadential movement.

I think the most wonderful thing about it for me is not so much synthpop but how it works as disco or maybe pre-disco soul. I haven't been able to put my finger on any songs it reminds me of.

It's mid decade, "commitment" time. Song will show up in many movies to come, to cue audience to feel big emotion INSERT HERE.

ILM: where we argue the ways in which two different shitty songs are shitty.

Just two?

Hey did you hear Meghan Trainor is doing a remix of "All About That Bass" with a lengthy spoken word interlude by Judith Butler? Pitchfork 2015 Top 40 Tracks, you heard it here first.

I like "Seasons" and think most people were on board for that fantastic Letterman performance (except for a few exceptions) but have found the band to be starkly diminishing returns w an album of weaker-thans and a wave of universal resounding excitement that has left me kinda alienated

i am ok with ppl enjoying independent rock music

something which purports to be some "clever" artistic blend of showmanship, dull synthpop and growling vocals but which in reality is just dull synthpop with a lousy singer, with poor songwriting.

Who or what is doing the purporting here?

The band themselves simply by making the music, even though they may not have come out and actually said it. The fact that the band exists and has put together that particular musical combination suggests to me that not only is the combination intentional (you don't arrive that particular combination without putting some thought into it) but that they think they're onto something by pursuing the direction. In my opinion, they're not.

Also, the amount of press I've read which mentions: a) the singers showmanship and b) the combination of synthpop and growling. Sure, I guess it's somewhat of a unique combination to have someone sounding as if they're straining to have a shit over the most featherlite, flat synthpop possible, but it sounds crap.

...and I love synthpop and don't mind growling in a metal context.

Does he even growl on the album? I don't think your description sums up the band - maybe you weren't claiming it did.

Yes, he does, and when he sings it's no better.

I think he only growls on one track, "fall from grace," but am unsure. Either way, there is nothing pretentious about playing with form, even if your experiment fails. At worst they are a bad band. They are not pretending to be something they're not, as you seem to suggest

They're definitely not pretending to be shite!