The 10 Best Songs of 2014

With no pretense of being exhaustive, nor of fully representing the editorial staff's rankings, we thought we'd let you hear, with a Top 10 each, the playlists that best capture each of our own "musical year." The songs that stood out within a certain genre, the songs that came to symbolize the year's revelations or its great confirmations – or, more simply, the songs that meant something to us as we listened to them.

Stefano Bartolotta

This year saw the release of so many great albums and, as a result, so many great songs. When it's a good year, like this one, genre distinctions fall away and you end up appreciating all sorts of very different things, whether they're Italian or international releases. Between positive and negative feelings, delicate and powerful sounds, easy and complicated melodies, modernity and retromania, here's a broad and highly varied overview of 2014.

Gabriele Benzing

A Little Dictionary of 2014

A is for Autism. Never give up in the face of obstacles, word of Temple Grandin. Andrew Jackson Jihad – Temple Grandin

B is for Barcelona. That dot on the map labeled "home". A Singer Of Songs – Another Day

C is for Carcosa. "There is a story. The oldest one. The light against the dark". Andrew Bird – Far From Any Road (Be My Hand)

D is for Dylan. What if "Street Legal" had come out in 2014? HissGolden Messenger – Lucia

E is for Earworm. That song that crawls into your ear and never leaves. George Ezra – Budapest

I is for Illusion. The pledge, the turn, the prestige. The year's great magic trick. Jesse Manley – The Tale

K is for Kilt. Postcards from Scotland. King Creosote – Largs

M is for Morricone. Spaghetti western with a zombie twist. Timber Timbre – Bring Me Simple Men

O is for Ocean. The wind, the waves, and California groove. The Long Holidays – San Diego Groove

P is for Father. Long live fathers like Mark Kozelek's. Sun Kil Moon – I Love My Dad

S is for Separation. When a "breakup album" turns into a pop breakthrough. Frontier Ruckus – Bathroom Stall Hypnosis

T is for Time. "Time shows all fools what they really are". Justin Townes Earle – Time Shows Fools

V is for Vanderslice. John Vanderslice behind the mixing desk, always a guarantee. Derek Senn – Whoop De Do

W is for Whisky. The rye kind, the roughest and rawest of them all. The Rye Boys – Misery Keeps

Z for Sulfur. Good old, Luciferian blues. LukeWinslow-King – Home Blues

1. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting For You)

Pushing it a bit far, decidedly on the older side, yet also incredibly soulful, Samuel T. Herring has managed to make the absolute most of his 15 minutes of Warholian fame. It happened one spring evening on the Dave Letterman Show, when his moves - so awkward and yet so genuine - hit the mark. But to rack up three million views on the show's YouTube channel, you need the songs to back it up, and here is the "single" among "Singles" par excellence: it's called "Seasons", and it's the classic gut-punch delivered with a smile on its lips.

2. Andrea Tich – Una Cometa di Sangue

There are fads and there are ways of doing things: fads pass, ways remain. That's the secret that has allowed Andrea Tich to cross three decades and still present himself to us today intact, fresh and direct, as only someone who shows his most sincere feelings can do. It's a matter of manner, in other words, and of that habit of always being himself, regardless of everything else.

3. Confusional Quartet – Cometa Rossa

New comets, and ancient comets given a new lease of life, all rigorously dressed in red. This is how Confusional Quartet reappear in 2014, historic lions of Italian new wave filtered through jazz: martial like DAF and still polished to a shine, while closely tracking the trails blazed by Demetrio Stratos.

4. Beck – Blue Moon

I've never loved Beck, so I approached his new album more out of a sense of duty to weigh in than for any real pleasure in doing so. Then something unexpected happens, and you find yourself flat on the floor after a stunning knockout delivered by a handful of ballads of dazzling beauty: simply too many for any hope of staying on your feet. And this "Blue Moon", then…

5. The Horrors – I See You

I see you: you're that song that manages to combine new wave and psychedelia without falling into the clichés of either, sounding both modern and nostalgic at the same time, raising a huge wall of sound without turning it into a racket and without giving up on melody, making seven minutes feel like three.

6. Bryan Ferry – Lost

From the mists of Avalon to the twilights of Avonmore: thirty years of loves worn away by time, or burned up in the blink of an eye. Since it's impossible to talk to Bryan about his private life, let's let his songs do the talking: whispered by now, yet still so bewitching.

7. Fanfarlo – A Distance

Can you fall in love with a song because it captures the springtime delicacy of China Crisis, together with the pop breeze of Wire's "Kidney Bingos", without ripping off either one?

8. David Crosby – Time I Have

Seventy-three years old, a son not only found again but also a brilliant co-writer on his "Croz", a liver that's (no longer) brand new, but a heart and a talent so great that they let him write songs like this one, among his finest as a solo artist since the days of "If I Could Only Remember My Name".

9. La Cassette – Digital Power

Once upon a time there were Fiction Factory, Wang Chung, Real Life, Rational Youth. Names that will mean little to most, but which, back in the '80s, shared a common trait: landing one killer hit before vanishing from the radar of the wider public. Now you rightly need a magnifying glass to dig up that killer hit (from the '80s), and the general public doesn't even know who La Cassette are. Then again, this is 2014, not 1984.

10. Laibach – The Whistleblowers

I've always wondered whether Laibach truly believe in what they do, or if it's all an act. Personally, I don't think they're in much of a joking mood when they stage their performances, but that matters little here, because their music too — and this is what counts most — is dead serious. Even today, as they give a martial makeover to the far more reassuring and playful Pet Shop Boys' "Go West".

Cosimo Cirillo

Giuliano Delli Paoli

A year of great ballads. Of nocturnal echoes ("Kim") and sweeping rides ("Red Eyes"), of warm farewells with a comforting soul touch ("Pains" by Silk Rhodes) and epic ascents (the sublime "Change Your Mind" by the thoroughly inspired Horrors).

But it was also the year of eternal, elusive beauty. The year of great emotion (the extraordinary "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" by the great Glen Campbell, written shortly before he was hospitalized and destined for the documentary about his harrowing illness).

And finally, the year of Lana Del Rey. Impossible to resist her seductive pop call. A veritable siren among the waves.

Claudio Fabretti

1. Jozef Van Wissem And Sqürl – The Taste Of Blood

The lute of Dutch genius Van Wissem finally makes its way into a film by his visionary musical partner Jarmusch. Murky, magnetic psychedelia, running high on blood. Vampire stuff.

2. Lana Del Rey – Brooklyn Baby

The wanton ballad for which Lana dreamed of a duet with Lou Reed. Guitar and voice, a chorus that sounds as desperate as a requiem, for pop's former Lolita, now grown up and self-aware.

3. Marissa Nadler – Dead City Emily

New spectral visions from the standout dream-folk artist of the past decade. Reverb-drenched vocals swallowed up in the mixing board, amid the metallic dust clouds of Sunn O))) (produced by Randall Dunn).

4. Andrea Schroeder – Dead Man's Eyes

The angel over Berlin. The German poet and singer-songwriter, a latter-day enchantress from some smoky cabaret of old, moves between dark lyricism, hypnotic arpeggios, electric distortion and shivers of violin.

5. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Red River

The jingle-jangle of the Rickenbacker shines again. It paints desert landscapes over which one of those breathtaking choruses unfolds - the kind Petty churns out with astonishing nonchalance.

6. Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows – Beautiful

Beauty, pain and death. The inimitable Anna Varney Cantodea paints another aching darkwave ballad, turning her voice into the most dramatic instrument of all, amid strings and ominous chimes.

7. Gold Zebra – Back In The Dust

A synth-pop connection on the Paris-Montreal axis, with a stop along the never-too-worn tracks of italodisco. A booming synth calls the shots, while Julie languishes in abysses of contrite solitude.

8. Carla Bozulich – Gonna Stop Killing

Not content with an already stellar career spanning Geraldine Fibbers and her solo work, Carla the Evangelist pulls off another feat: a sinister, powerful funeral procession, mindful of Nico's lesson.

9. Paolo Conte – Argentina

The return of the maestro from Asti with a captivating story of migrants beneath the moon and "whipped shoes" on the avenues of Buenos Aires. Plenty of nostalgia, and hats off.

10. ROME – A Farewell To Europe

The epic Rhodesian reminiscence penned by Jerome Reuter. The epic of the defeated - namely the heirs of the European settlers - in a concept album of absolute beauty that here reaches its emotional peak.

Stefano Macchi

Run fast at the start, catch your breath quickly with C'mon Tigre, DeMarco, Ariel Pink, Future Islands, Temples, Drowners.

So Adult Jazz will bring things back to order, setting the stage for the volt-pop of East India Youth and Sohn, before veering into the transatlantic sounds of Wild Beasts and moving on to the analogue scent of wood and resin with Ben Howard, Conor Oberst and War On Drugs. The aboriginal echoes of Hidden Cameras usher in the fast-approaching close, entrusted to the heart of Phil Selway and to the last, sun-drenched farewell of Twilight Sad: "Bye 2014, you'll never be the same".

2014: a year of flames rekindled, like those of Swans and Ben Frost; of important confirmations from Lana Del Rey and St. Vincent; of bold but essential decisions from Todd Terje; of interesting new discoveries, like Vessel and Dj Dodger Stadium; in short, a musical year like any other. And yet the top two spots on this year's playlist go to two tracks released on EPs that, for me, sum up the year just gone: melancholy.

After several years of "purism", in recent times I've rediscovered and refined the pleasure of the standalone single track outside the album: a habit that often leads me to favour genres almost foreign to me, condensed into a few minutes, at the expense of longer tracks closer to my personal taste. What emerges is a playlist that's if anything even more eclectic than the annual top 10, with the expected confirmations alongside "rescued" gems from otherwise merely decent contexts.

Lorenzo Righetto

2014 was the year of introspection, of the journey inward: from Kozelek devoting himself to the most personal, almost molecular autobiography as memories resurface (and often drag him down with them), to War On Drugs recounting America with grand existential epic — down to the youthful pains of Abiku, dissolving in cosmic fade. And so the best tracks, too, may not always be memorable, but they carry a personal meaning, both for those who wrote them and for those who listen, that feels inevitable and necessary. Then, of course, there's also room for a few (power)pop tracks pure and simple, even within an indie scene with all too few bright spots.

Roberto Rizzo

Our shadows run

Through the pain in the dark

But what hurts most of all

Is that we‘ll never see the sun

1.Jar Moff: On How to Lubricate Capital's Effect — The final chapter and extreme culmination of the composer's "Financial Trilogy", his most entangled industrial novelty (listen here)

2. Martjin Comes: Ultrasonic Field — The moment when the sidereal silences of "Infinite Spaces" turn into a divinity of ancestral voices and millennial drones

3.Pharmakon: Bestial Burden — Shorter tracks on Margaret Chardiet's second "Bestial Burden", but perhaps even more intensely abstract, as the title track best proves

4. Bo Ningen and Savages: Words to the Blind — The meeting of the two bands yields a 38-minute track recorded live that recalls Blind Faith and Peter Green's "End Of The Game"

5. A Sunny Day In Glasgow: In Love With Useless — Caribbean movements and electronic manipulations in the gem from the latest offering of Ben Daniels' project

6.Bernholz: Animals — The miracle of the Brighton artist's first record, built between a Wyatt-esque pulse and electronic refinement

7.Christian Vialard: AZ — A masterpiece contained in "Neukalm", a journey of cosmic echoes, a pulsing trip, a subtle dance with ritual movements, an "Autobahn" for the age of recession (listen here)

8. Perfect Pussy: Driver – The most accessible track so far among the tight punk-noise assaults of Meredith Graves' outfit

9. Carla Bozulich: One Hard Man – One of Bozulich's most heartfelt Nick Cave-style dialogues, a dark blend of twisted sounds over an oppressive rhythm

10. Run The Jewels: Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck) – The hit of the project split between El-P and Killer Mike

Gioele Sforza

2014 was a year of many different trends: first and foremost, the year chart-friendly house made its comeback. There were plenty of memorable tracks this season that I'll be carrying with me for months to come, whether the eurodance thrill of "My Love" (THE song of the year) and "Hideaway", the cosmic/futuristic drama of "Walking With Elephants", or the hip-house of "Down On My Luck", which even brings to mind Inner City's "Good Life". But it was also a happily "classic" year for indie-rock, from the American heartland sound of War on Drugs and Ryan Adams to the glam-rock-tinged psychedelic pop of Temples, not to mention the excellent returns of pop craftsmen like Ariel Pink and Spoon. I'll also remember 2014 for FKA Twigs' elusive aesthetic, for D'Angelo's comeback, for yet another great record from Horrors (in an otherwise lean year for the Brit scene, Temples aside), and for names worth noting for the future, like Hotelier and Happysad, my hopes for the future of emo. A strange, peculiar year, rich in great music (finally even from the mainstream), and yet impossible to pin down: perhaps that's why my 40 selected songs here may seem so incoherent and disconnected from one another. As far as I'm concerned, this jumble with no logical thread is the only way I can make sense of the year just gone.

Marco Sgrignoli

For quite some time now, pop music has lacked artists able to stir cross-cutting interest among fans of different scenes and genres. The situation increasingly resembles some river delta, packed with streams that only rarely cross paths again.

Yet in each of these streams, there are reasons to get excited. An enthusiasm born of true fans, somewhat resistant to extreme novelty (which doesn't seem to be on the horizon anyway) and ready to seize on every subtle shift. But those are the times we live in, and we have to learn to wade through them.

With my playlist I try to trace back the course of the little streams I've personally followed this year. The areas covered are essentially: slightly arty pop (Fanfarlo, Zammuto, Alt-J, Dutch Uncles), the British folk legacy (Bellowhead, Arch Garrison, the promising Cosmo Sheldrake), and the rich landscape of "whatever remains of prog", represented by the widely divergent offerings of Mermonte, MoeTar, and Kayo Dot. On top of all this, add a few forays into seemingly distant territory, such as the erudite hip-hop of Italy's own Murubutu, the electroclash-scented chiptune of Dubmood, or the dazzling videogame-inspired power pop of I Fight Dragons.

Happy listening!

Mattia Villa

A year of changes and discoveries. A very long playlist with a few special mentions: 

1. Radiator Hospital – Firework (reprise)

The song I wish I'd heard at 20. And that makes me wish I still were.

2. Shura – Indecision

One of the year's new discoveries, from whom I expect a great album in 2015. An irresistible track.

3. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)

It's not about the hype. It's that this song is a masterpiece.

4. Yumi Zouma – The Brae

Indie-pop is alive and kicking right alongside us. Cascine is almost never wrong.

5. Josef Salvat – Open Season

Sure, he became known thanks to a Rihanna cover, but this Australian has real class.

6. Fickle Friends – For You

A singles-churning machine straight out of Brighton.

7. Home Alone – Drive All Night

The song to listen to if you ever decide to drive to the Moon.

8. The Antlers – Palace

The best song from the best and most significant album of the year (for me, obviously).

9. Tobias Jesso Jr. – Hollywood

Give him a piano and he'll rip your heart out.

10. Banks – Drowning

Every year has its queen. 2014 was the year of Banks.

Stefano Ferreri

Unlike the albums ranking, when it came to songs I found myself with an outright dominance of female voices. So I decided to steer the whole selection that way, with all due respect to King Creosote, Gruff Rhys and Greg Oblivian. If the ten chosen tracks are missing one by Elisa Ambrogio and one by the surprising Polish singer-songwriter (Berlin-based by adoption) Julia Marcell, it's only because their new records aren't on Spotify. If they're missing one by Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom or Josephine Foster, it's only because they took a break in 2014. Although, that Marissa Nadler track really does sound like Foster, come to think of it...

1. “Berlin”, Hello Saferide

My heart jumped every step we took

2. “Archie, Marry Me”, Alvvays

So honey take me by the hand

and we can sign some papers

forget the invitations

floral arrangements and bread makers

3. “High & Wild”, Angel Olsen

You might as well be blind

Cause you don’t see me anymore

4. “Red Ropes”, Nicole Atkins

I’ll always be a prize fighter

even up against the ropes

5. “Me At The Museum, You In The Wintergarden”, Tiny Ruins

So young and so warm

We’ll stall, we’ll swarm

6. “Was It A Dream”, Marissa Nadler

I got a better half

It’s sad, I know you know

7. “Your Love Is Killing Me”, Sharon Van Etten

Break my legs so I won’t run to you

Steal my soul so I am one with you

8. “Crazy Lady”, Vaselines

What was the point?

What were we fighting for?

9. “Your Own Silent Movie”, Smoke Fairies

But we could have it all

10. “Islands”, Intergalactic Lovers

We are we are we are

drifters lost at sea

waiting for our ships to come on in

Ride the wave of great music

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