Ranked: Taylor Swift, Pt. 1

One of the goals I set for 2015 was to get back in the blogging game. I thought "Why not start with one of 2014's biggest stars?" Thus began my insane attempt to rank all the songs of one Miss Taylor Swift, reigning ruler of pop and my heart.

Despite her young age (twenty-five years old!), Swift has a substantial discography: five albums and countless singles and guest appearances. Needless to say, sorting through her songs is a slightly grueling task. This was particularly true for me, a dedicated Swiftie since 2006. I have followed her evolution from spunky country teen to sophisticated chanteuse, and my emotional investment in her music is high. Goodness knows it took a million years longer than I wanted it to, but I actually managed to finish this list, in spite of my compulsion to change it daily.

So on to the good stuff...

You'll notice a "Best Moment" for each song. Taylor Swift is all about moments -- from the casually beautiful to the monumentally tragic -- and it shows in her craftsmanship. Whether with a clever couplet or expressive delivery, she knows how to take listeners by surprise and turn a good song into a great one or a great one into a classic in a matter of seconds.

One last thing before I get started! I left out the following:

• Songs where Taylor is a featured artist (e.g. Half of My Heart)
• Live covers (e.g. Drops of Jupiter)
• Holiday songs (e.g. Last Christmas)
• Acoustic or remixed versions of her songs
• Songs not available on iTunes

Love her or hate her (for shame!), check out the list and tell me your own Swiftian faves!

2014 Roundup: Naomi's Music Picks, Pt. 2

In an attempt to get a full picture of the musical year, Naomi completed a listening marathon: she took in album after album, trying to find out what really was the best of the year before crossing that December 31st finish line. She compiled the results in the best-of list you see before you. Behold! The top tracks of last year.

Honorable Mentions

• "Sucker" by Charli XCX
• "I Don't Wanna Be an Asshole Anymore" by The Menzingers
• "Don't Wait" by Mapei
• "Twice as Hard" by Interpol
• "Wizard Staff" by Wampire
• "Temple Grandin" by Andrew Jackson Jihad
• "Hot Tonight" by Tokyo Police Club
• "14 Day Court" by Sleaford Mods
• "12 Feet Deep" by The Front Bottoms
• "Chandelier" by Sia
• "Go To Sleep You Little Creep" by Margot & The Nuclear So and So's
• "Every Time the Sun Comes Up" by Sharon Van Etten

Top 100 Songs of 2014

The Playlist

100.) "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake and Lil John - Turn down for what? 
99.) "Cardiac Arrest" by Bad Suns - Same old story since day one, but I’ve got no place to run
98.) "Ancient Ways" by Interpol - Shape the right through sound, become dutifully bound to the ground
97.) "Quartz" by TV On the Radio - Take me nowhere my poor heart can’t follow
96.) "Undone" by the bird and the bee - I wanna be cruel, I wanna be the girl that you wanted in high school
95.) "Lampshades On Fire" by Modest Mouse - This is what I really call a party now
94.) "Sweat Like the Dew" by Say Hi - My girl: big eyes, big lows, big highs
93.) "Make Me Fade" by k.flay - You make me brighter when you make me fade
92.) "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" by Run the Jewels feat. Zack De La Rocha -
Everything I scribble’s like an anarchist’s cookbook
91.) "Try to Make a Fire Burn Again" by Dawn Landes - Don’t you wanna love me all over again?

* * *

90.) "No Direction Home" by Mirah - This is a sorrow everyone knows
89.) "When I Get My Hands On You" by The New Basement Tapes - Everywhere on Earth you go, you’re gonna have me as your man
88.) "Gimme A Chance" by Azealia Banks - Lamento informarte, no funcionó la brujería
87.) "Problem" by Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - I should be wiser and realize that I’ve got one less problem without ya
86.) "Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)" by Ages and Ages - Do the right thing, do it all the time
85.) "Goddess" by BANKS - She could have done just anything or anyone
84.) "Isaac" by Bear’s Den - With you head pressed against the stone, you look so alone
83.) "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" by Against Me! - You know it’s obvious, but we can’t choose how we’re made
82.) "BO$$" by Fifth Harmony - I’m a Maybach and you’s a Volvo
81.) "Mess Is Mine" by Vance Joy - This mess was yours, now your mess is mine

* * *

80.) "Boom Clap" by Charli XCX - The sound of my heart, the beat goes on and on and on
79.) "Time Forgot" by Conor Oberst - Here we go, man, it’s beautiful, get your trumpet, get your drum
78.) "West Coast" by Lana Del Rey - Down on the west coast, I get this feeling like it all could happen
77.) "Left Hand Free" by alt-J - O-M-G, gee whiz, girl, you’re the one for me
76.) "She’s Not Me" by Jenny Lewis - She’s not me, she’s easy
75.) "Bitter Water" by Big Haunt - Dress me all up in white and put my head low in the black water
74.) "Basic Instinct" by The Acid - Coming up for air
73.) "Summer Dress" by HIGHS - If we meet again, I hope you wear that dress that you wore back then
72.) "Crazy" by Kat Dahlia - I don’t understand how someone just can walk into your life and everything before them you forget
71.) "0 To 100 / The Catch Up" by Drake - I’m only twenty-seven and I’m only gettin’ better

* * * 

70.) "Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone" by Lykke Li - There is a war inside my core; I hear it fight, I hear it roar
69.) "Hunger of the Pine" by alt-J - Realization grew on me as quickly as it takes your hand
68.) "The Righteous One" by The Orwells - Smoke in the air, I don’t have a care
67.) "Eyes of the Muse" by King Tuff - There is no other when I am with her
66.) "My Silver Lining" by First Aid Kit - Be it for reason, be it for love, I won’t take the easy road
65.) "I Know Places" by Taylor Swift - Love’s a fragile little flame, it could burn out
64.) "The Father Complex" by Captain - Do you really talk to God? And I wonder what He tells you
63.) "Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde - The scars that mark my body, they’re silver and gold
62.) "Water Fountain" by tUnE-yArDs - Nothing feels like dying like the drying of my skin and lawn
61.) "Money On My Mind" by Sam Smith - Please, can you make this work for me? ‘Cause I’m not a puppet, I will work against your strings

* * * 

60.) "You are the pins in my ears. You are the salt in my eyes." by The Love Junkies - I’m sitting on the fence pleading for some sense from my Lord my Buddha Muhammad Allah
59.) "Hey Mami" by Sylvan Esso - Hey mami, I know what you want, mami
58.) "Your Graduation" by Modern Baseball - Stood out for hours as you complained about how you haven’t seen your friends yet, that you’re too drunk to stand, and you not knowing if you can love him forever
57.) "Body" by Karen O - Gotta make it right for yourself if you love somebody
56.) "My Song 5 (Remix)" by HAIM - Honey, I’m not your honey pie
55.) "Classic" by MKTO - I’m out of my mind, thinking I was born in the wrong time
54.) "Pickles from the Jar" by Courtney Barnett - You like mornings, I like nights; I love you ‘till the day I die
53.) "Paris" by Magic Man - It’s just a fantasy taking over like a disease, pull me out of this
52.) "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj - My anaconda don’t
51.) "Love Ain’t Enough" by The Barr Brothers - Love is enough when you don’t look back
 

 * * *

50.) "All the Rage Back Home" by Interpol - She swore love is never done so easily
49.) "This Is How We Walk On the Moon" by José González - Each step is moving, it’s moving me up
48.) "She Used to Love Me a Lot" by Johnny Cash - She used to love me with a love that wouldn’t die
47.) "Black Me Out" by Against Me! - I don’t want to see the world that way anymore, I don’t want to feel that weak and insecure
46.) "Gold Rush" by Mirah - There’s nothing ever saving us from that we’re gonna die
45.) "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX - I’m so fancy, you already know
44.) "Beggin For Thread" by BANKS - Stooped down and out, you got me beggin for thread to sew up this hole that you ripped in my head
43.) "Take Me to Church" by Hozier - If the heavens ever did speak, she’s the last true mouthpiece
42.) "Sanctified" by Rick Ross feat. Kanye West and Big Sean - All I want’s a hundred million
dollars and a bad bitch
41.) "Hard" by SOPHIE - It’s just so hard
 

* * *

40.) "Archie, Marry Me" by Alvvays - You’ve expressed explicitly your contempt for matrimony - you’ve got student loans to pay and will not risk the alimony
39.) "When You’re Gone" by Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s - When you’re gone, I drink tap water and I sleep on the couch
38.) "Cut Your Bangs" by Radiator Hospital - When you lie to me, it’s in the small stuff
37.) "Girls Chase Boys" by Ingrid Michaelson - All the broken hearts in the world still beat, let’s not make it harder than it has to be
36.) "Say You’ll Be There" by MØ - This time you got to take it easy, throwing far too much
emotions at me
35.) "Heroine" by D W N T W N - Father was a man, was a man of the road
34.) "Moaning Lisa Smile" by Wolf Alice - Scrap the blues if the blues don’t work, flash your teeth, though the inside hurts
33.) "Who Needs You" by The Orwells - Listen up, forefathers, I’m not your son
32.) "i" by Kendrick Lamar - You know the miserable do love company, what do you want from me and my scars?
31.) "Sheezus" by Lily Allen - It makes me angry, I’m serious, but then again I’m just about to get my period
 

* * *

30.) "Guilt Trip" by PUP - How many bones must I break ‘till all my filaments rust to decay?
29.) "White Fire" by Angel Olsen - I wish sometimes I could take back every word I’ve said
28.) "Ain’t No Sunshine" by Coeur de pirate - It’s not warm whens she’s away
27.) "Fleetfoot Ghost" by Mirah - You are the season I will not find again
26.) "The Greatest Bastard" by Damien Rice - I helped you open out your wings, your legs, and many other things - didn’t I?
25.) "Break the Rules" by Charli XCX - I don’t wanna go to school, I just wanna break the rules
24.) "Work Song" by Hozier - My baby never fret none about what my hands and my body done
23.) "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift - It’s gonna be forever or it’s gonna go down in flames
22.) "Coffee" by Sylvan Esso - I know my words will dry upon the skin just like a name I remember hearing
21.) "Vessel" by Captain - I am a collapsible bridge, a link between rib, and I’ve caved in

* * *

20.) "Covered In Chrome" by Violent Soho - HELL FUCK YEAH!
19.) "Careless" by Alex Winston - Still I feel the weight of every pound like an anchor to the ground
18.) "It’s Alright Now" by Bombay Bicycle Club - It’s alright now, I can wait
17.) "Unfucktheworld" by Angel Olsen - I am the only one now I am the only one now I am the only one now
16.) "Sister" by Kate Nash - There was this cool, cool girl, she was about your age...
15.) "M0rgan Stop" by Kitty - Can you walk on the red seas and see into the dark and make it light again?
14.) "Waiting" by Alice Boman - I want you more than I need you, I need you bad
13.) "New Romantics" by Taylor Swift - Please leave me stranded, it’s so romantic
12.) "Fire Escape" by Foster the People - My spine is made of iron, my heart pumps out old red paint
11.) "Oxen Hope" by Mirah - Did you know you’d struck the final blow to my faithful oxen hope?

* * *

10.) "Blue Moon" by Beck - I’m so tired of bein’ low
9.) "Night at Lake Unknown" by Conor Oberst - I can’t live outside the moment and it keeps leaving me behind
8.) "Dearly Departed" by Shakey Graves feat. Esmé Patterson - You and I both know that the
house is haunted, and you and I both know that the ghost is me
7.) "Cedarsmoke & Young Bodies" by Sea Wolf - This is where I admit I don’t know shit and I never did
6.) "Fine, Great" by Modern Baseball - I hate worrying about the future ‘cause all my current problems are based around the past
5.) "Carissa" by Sun Kil Moon - I’m going out there to get a look at the landscapes, to get a look at those I’m connected by blood and see how it all may have shaped me
4.) "Warm Foothills" by alt-J - I tie my life to your balloon and let it go
3.) "URL Badman" by Lily Allen - I don’t like you; I think you’re worthless, I wrote a long piece about it up on my WordPress
2.) "Habits (Stay High)" by Tove Lo - Spend my days locked in a haze tryin’ to forget you, babe
1.) "Houdini" by Alex Winston - I knew you would leave by the way you grind your teeth in your sleep

That's all, folks.

2014 Roundup: Naomi's Music Picks, Pt. 1

For those of you who don't know her, my sister Naomi is a bit of a music nerd, as am I. We have been complaining to each other for months about 2014's uninspired output. Sure, there were a few gems here and there, and one monster album that no one could hide from, but mostly this year sent a huge wave of "meh" through our speakers. Naomi, on a desperate search to find good music, listened to more albums than she ever had before and came up with the following lists, just for you, dear readers.

Here's Naomi's take on 2014, parte uno:

Songs I Would Like Someone To Apologize For

• "Centuries" by Fall Out Boy 
• "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" by Sia 
• "Maps" by Maroon 5 
• "I Can't Stop Drinking About You" by Bebe Rexha 
• "Tuesday" by I LOVE MAKONNEN feat. Drake 
• "Rude" by MAGIC!

The MVP of 2014

Charli XCX

I will be the first to admit that “Boom Clap” isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but even when she was off this year, Charli was still the most captivating and down-to-earth of all the 2014 newbie mainstream artists. Charli XCX is a synthpunk pop princess, and I couldn’t be happier that she is getting the credit she deserves.

  

Best Album of 2014

Changing Light by Mirah

It’s hard to think that such a sweet, ethereal voice comes from a levelheaded forty-year-old, but that is part of what makes this album so intriguing. Mirah is so intelligent and sincere that when she compares her bad breakup to “the ending of the world,” you will believe her. This is not sad white girl music, this is a grown woman reflecting on the choices she’s made. Her introspection covers a broad spectrum of emotions, coming in waves of shrouded metaphors (“I Am the Garden”) and blunt criticism (“24th St”). The album reads like a storybook, a tale of love lost and hope restored.

Next up: the best songs of 2014.

Late to the Party & On to the Next - Part One: Top 100 Songs of 2013

Looking Back at 2013 and Looking Ahead to Late 2014

So I'm more than a little late to the party. In fact, when I showed up, the hosts had already cleaned, packed up, and moved out. At least I made it.

I had a simple goal for 2013: make and publish lists of my favorite songs, albums, and movies of the year. The movie list was ready in January. The music lists, however, took much longer. You see, this is only the second year I have attempted to publish year-end music lists. Last year, I finished in January. This year, I decided to be more ambitious.

I made a list of all the albums I wanted to listen to and refused to come up with my top 100 songs or top 10 albums until I made it through each and every one of those albums. And I wanted to listen to hundreds of albums.

We're a  little over halfway through 2014, and I am finally ready to be done with 2013. I learned a lot of lessons from that year. Start early. Don't procrastinate. Be picky. Don't underestimate disco.

So without further ado, let's get started with my Top 100 Songs of 2013, cut down from a long list of 924 songs:

My Top Albums of 2012

Albums:

1. Coexist - The xx
2. Bloom - Beach House
3. Halcyon - Ellie Goulding
4. Born to Die - Lana Del Rey
5. Red - Taylor Swift
6. Prophet - Ramona Falls
7. Here - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
8. Swing Lo Magellan - Dirty Projectors
9. Mumps, etc. - Why?
10. The Only Place - Best Coast

Honorable Mentions

• The 2nd Law - Muse
• Battle Born - The Killers
• good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar
• Push and Shove - No Doubt
• The Warmest Place - Catcall
• What We Saw from the Cheap Seats - Regina Spektor

My Top 100 Songs of 2012

It is finally here. This took forever.

100 Greatest Artists of All-Time (100-91)

It seems like I finished this list forever ago, but it was only some months ago. It was a great experience. I was forced to research and listen to artists that I never really had before. Some I liked and some I would be happy never to hear again. Now, I will articulate my thoughts - if I have any - on the artists deemed the greatest.

100. Louis Armstrong 99. Weezer 98. Boston 97. King Crimson 96. Oasis 95. Tom Waits 94. Billy Joel 93. Little Richard 92. Public Enemy 91. Green Day

The first ten; it is a group of artists that I only have a superficial familiarity with. Louis Armstrong, I know is a great trumpet player. King Crimson was an experimental band. Tom Waits has a... unique singing voice. Other than snippets like these, I know little about the aforementioned musicians.

I suppose I would agree with inclusion of most of these people on the list. Boston and King Crimson seem a bit questionable. When compared to the other names on here, their influence is just not as great. I will say that "More than a Feeling" is an extremely catchy tune and that the videos I found of King Crimson were quite entertaining.

There was much outcry over the placement of Mr. Billy Joel. Personally, I agree that "94" is too low a spot for the Piano Man. Even if you don't like him, can you really say that he has not been a prominent figure in the music industry for a significant span of time? I would say that spot in the Top 50 would be much more appropriate for someone with his longevity and popularity.

My favorites from this section are the '90s rock bands: Weezer, Oasis, and Green Day. Weezer is just so much fun and their earlier stuff is great, even if they have yet to match their 90s heights, quality-wise. Oasis hooked me, and many others, I suspect, with "Wonderwall" and I've been a fan ever since. Green Day would probably be a band I just like if it weren't for American Idiot, an album I love all-around - the sentiment, the spunk, the catchy tunes, everything.

Just for fun, my favorite songs by each artist:
100. Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World
99. Weezer - Say It Ain't So/Island in the Sun
98. Boston - More Than a Feeling
97. King Crimson - ???????????? (I'm still so unfamiliar with them.)
96. Oasis - Wonderwall
95. Tom Waits - I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
94. Billy Joel - Vienna
93. Little Richard - Tutti Frutti?
92. Public Enemy - Fight the Power
91. Green Day - American Idiot