The music of 2014 so far has yielded a lot of great music and a lot of not so great music. There’s certainly been gems like Animals As Leaders, “The Joy of Motion” and The Hotelier’s “Home, Like No Place Is There” to counteract some of the bigger flops like the newest Gaslight Anthem album. If you pay attention to music, it’s pretty clear 2014 hasn’t yielded as much great music as 2013, but here’s a mixtape to highlight some of the best songs from this year so far.
High (featuring Danny Brown) by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib
Judging by the fact that it’s a hip-hop song titled “High,” I’m sure there’s not a lot of explanation needed to inform readers what it’s about. This is one of the best tracks off of Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s 2014 album Piñata, and it features a great beat, with a guest appearance from fellow rapper, Danny Brown. The guest verse is definitely one of the best things about the track and serves as the icing on the cake. Piñata as a whole is a great album and is sure to make a lot of year-end lists when it comes to talking about great music, so checking out the whole thing is a solid idea as well.
Pseudo Self by Texas In July
Texas In July have helped redefine themselves, with their new album Bloodwork, and this track epitomizes the claim. This song is super heavy, and features top-notch harsh vocals and aggressive double bass drum blasts that amalgamate into one of the best metalcore tracks this year has seen. If that didn’t make much sense, just be aware that this is three minutes and nine seconds that will surely have you playing air drums and breaking everything and everyone around you.
All The Rage Back Home by Interpol
Interpol hasn’t released an album in four years, but it’s obvious they took the whole time to write the killer album, El Pintor, so we can quit holding our collective breaths now. This song is one of the top picks from the album, and it features a spacey tremolo-picked guitar riff underneath the delectable alt-rock vocals that litter this masterpiece. If you haven’t listened to El Pintor yet, do it right now. “All the Rage Back Home” is track one, so all you have to do is open Spotify and press play to jump into sweet alternative bliss.
Teen Heart by Kimbra
Fans of artists like Purity Ring and CHVRCHES should be all over this one. This track comes straight from Kimbra’s newest album The Golden Echo, and it features a huge pop chorus that will have you hooked right away. With this song and the rest of her new album, Kimbra is proving she definitely has what it takes to be a big name in pop today.
Physical Education by Animals As Leaders
This is one of the best songs of 2014, hands down. Complex, groovy riffs dominate this piece from instrumental progressive metal trio Animals As Leaders and the song jams for close to five minutes. The level of talent executed in this track is unreal, and it could quite possibly be the best song Animals As Leaders has written to date. Seriously, drop what you’re doing and go listen to this song.
Masen Matthews can be reached at [email protected]