2014 IN MUSIC: THE YEAR OF SHEEZUS

The stats don't lie. I could make a critical Best Music of for 2014, pick and choose what I think is maybe artistically the most supreme from the year, but I think the artists and albums I listened to the most, the songs that I had on repeat, ends up saying it all. I chose subconsciously, with my ears, in my headphones. And so, as has become the tradition, my most listened to artists and songs of the year...

MOST LISTENED ARTISTS

1. Lily Allen

2. Morrissey

3. Lana Del Rey

4. Taylor Swift

5. Christina Aguilera

6. Beyoncé

7. Leonard Cohen

8. Damon Albarn

9. Jessie Ware

10. Iggy Azalea

11. Elbow

12. Jenny Lewis

13. Nicki Minaj

14. Pharrell Williams

15. Kelis

Honorable Mention: Both Oasis and Duran Duran were in my top 10, but since neither released new music this year (unless you count the Oasis reissues, which was certainly the reissue project of 2014, and why the band got heavy rotation), I took them off the list.

Indeed, Lily Allen earned her Sheezus title this year. I listened to her nonstop for the first half of 2014, and she also gave one of the only concerts I intended. The numbers below were manipulated a bit so she only shows up in three slots, or it would be half her on this list.

Overall, women dominated pop music, and offered a variety. Lana Del Rey and Charli XCX and Jenny Lewis and Azealia Banks and Taylor Swift...all different styles, all landing on my playlists for 2014 (even if they don't all make this list).

MOST LISTENED SONGS

1. Lily Allen - “Air Balloon”
2. Taylor Swift - “Shake It Off”
3. Lily Allen - “Our Time”
4. Nicki Minaj - “Pills n Potions”
5. Lily Allen - “L8 CMMR/Hard Out Here/Sheezus”
6. Iggy Azalea/Charli XCX - “Fancy”
7 (tie). Elbow - “Charge/Taylor Swift - “Blank Space”
8 (tie). Beyoncé/Frank Ocean - “Superpower”/Morrissey - “World Peace is None of Your Business”
9. Damon Albarn - “Everyday Robots”
10. Jessie Ware - “Tough Love”
11 (tie). Jenny Lewis - "Just One of the Guys”/Morissey - “Earth is the Loneliest Planet”/Taylor Swift - “Out of the Woods”

Runners-Up: Lana Del Rey “West Coast/Shades of Cool”/VV Brown feat. Kele Okereke, “Faith”/Jenny Lewis - “The Voyager/She’s Not Me”/Kelis - “Jerk Ribs”/The Horrors - “So Now You Know/I See You”/Broken Bells - “After the Disco”/Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - “Problem”/Pharrell Williams feat. Justin Timberlake - “Brand New”/Jessie J, Ariana Grande, & Nicki Minaj - “Bang Bang”/Nicky Minaj - “Anaconda”/Phantogram - “Bill Murray”

Party like it's 1989.

Current Soundtrack: Embrace, "Follow You Home;" Rokysopp & Robin, "Do It Again;" Grouplove, "Let Me In" (all from my 2014 master list)

WHO RINGS THE BELL

The folks over at Eat Geek Play asked me to participate in their "Make Me a Mixtape" feature, and I think it will surprise no one that I said yes. 

I decided to put together a collection of tunes for all the comics I have coming this summer. So, selections related to Madame Frankenstein, The Double Life of Miranda Turner, and Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks.

You can listen to the songs and read why I chose them through this link.

You can also hear some folks chatting about Madame Frankenstein over at the Secret Identity podcast. This one here specifically.

Current Soundtrack: Eno & Hyde, Someday World

2013: YOU WENT OUT LIKE A WRECKING BALL

2013 was a weird year in music. It seemed a lot of it was dominated by old favorites, with the early part of the year being taken over by surprise comebacks from Suede and David Bowie, and the end of the year knocking everyone for a loop when Beyonce suddenly surprised us with a new multimedia album. 

Still, when asked by the Portland Mercury to come up with a music memory for their annual round-up, here is what I concocted:

Recently, angry at how my day was going, I went to the treadmill to let off some steam and typed "Wrecking Ball" into the Spotify search bar. What can I say? I become a pubescent diva when I'm angry.

By alphabetical chance, the app followed Miley's ballad with the quick punch-to-the-gut explosion "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" by London's Vaccines. Ms. Montana's heartbroken wail segued perfectly into the Vaccines' three-chord two-fingers to the sky. In those five minutes, I released more anger than I did in the whole other hour.

Miley's hiphop appropriation is misguided. Her rebellion is all kinds of punk. Despite being in her 20s, she's really a pissed-off teenager sick of being told what to do. Since it's the 21st century, she's paying other people to tell her what to do, but let's be honest, Joe Strummer probably had handlers, too.

So, yeah. You can read a lot more of what Portlanders have to say about the tunes that were right here.

Other highlights included Arctic Monkeys, Primal Scream, Justin Timberlake (x2), Janelle Monae, OMD, and Tricky. Plus, of course, I jumped on the Lorde and CHVRCHES train with everyone else. Biggest disappointment of the year was probably Depeche Mode, surprisingly. Not a terrible record, but Delta Machine was staggeringly unremarkable.

As for my actual listening habits, my LastFM stats, in order of most listened, are as follows...

1. Suede

2. David Bowie

3. Pet Shop Boys

4. Justin Timberlake

5. Depeche Mode

6. CHVRCHES

7. The Style Council

8. Janelle Monae

9. Arctic Monkeys

10. Jessie Ware

11. Christina Aguilera

12. Tricky

13. Primal Scream

14. Low

15. Kanye West

16. Daft Punk

17. Morrissey

18. Paul Weller

19. Solange

20. [tie} Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds / A$AP Rocky

Of those, only Style Council didn't have any new releases last year, though Morrissey and Weller only had a song or two between them.

Most played songs, edited to mostly be singles and not album cuts (or it'd be all Suede, Suede, Suede)...

1. Suede - "Barriers"

2. Suede - "It Starts and Ends With You" (less by just a handful of plays)

3. Justin Timberlake - "Mirrors"

4. Jessie Ware - "If You're Never Gonna Move"

5. CHVRCHES - "Recover"

6. CHVRCHES - "Now is Not the Time"

7. David Bowie - "Where Are We Now?"

8. A$AP Rocky - "Fuckin' Problems (feat. Drake, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar)

9. Solange - "Losing You"

10. Suede - "Hit Me"

11. [tie] Christina Aguilera - "Blank Page" / Robin Thicke - "Blurred Lines (feat. Pharell & T.I.)

12. Suede - "For the Strangers"

13. Mick Harvey - "I Wish That I Were Stone"

14. [tie] Pulp - "After You" / CHVRCHES - "The Mother We Share" / Arctic Monkeys - "Do I Wanna Know?"

15. [tie] Depeche Mode - "Heaven" / David Bowie - "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" / Janelle Monae - "Dance Apocalyptic"

16. Justin Timberlake - "Tunnel Vision"

17. [tie] Jessie Ware - "Devotion" / Lorde - "Royals"

18. CHVRCHES - "Lies"

19. [tie] Pet Shop Boys - "Axis" / Travis - "Where You Stand"

20. [tie] David Bowie - "Valentine's Day" / The Weeknd - "Kiss Land" / Justing Timberlake - "Take Back the Night"

To compare, check out last year's list. Essentially Solange is the boss of me.

GIVE LIFE BACK TO MOVIES

WATCH IT AT HOME...

* Bettie Page Reveals All, a documentary built around a recording of the pin-up queen telling her own story, frustratingly amateurish in execution.

* Out of the Furnace, Scott Cooper's follow-up to Crazy Heart features Christian Bale looking for justice and revenge in the Jersey backwoods.

* The Punk Singer, an engrossing portrait of former Bikini Kill and Le Tigre-singer Kathleen Hanna.

* Spinning Plates, a three-way documentary looking at the different approaches of a trio of restaurants around America.

Plus, for Portlanders, a chance to see some Christmas movies on the big screen.

WATCH IT AT HOME...

* Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, the 1970 Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Picture, now released on disc by Criterion.

Current Soundtrack: Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water