First off, a confession – compiling this list proved more difficult that I imagined it would be. I often make the complaint of not being afforded enough time to listen to a sufficient amount of music. Now I know this notion to be entirely founded on an arbitrary essence, namely my short term memory, and its propensity to be sieve like. When it came to selecting this year’s best tracks, it required me going through my iTunes library to remember what I’d listened to this year. It’s probably the case that as someone who has a day job, I listen to enough music, comparatively in most cases, and so I should recant the claim that I don’t, which I made in the preface to the best albums of the year list I did last week. Again, that list features the best releases of 2014; replete with reissues, singles, EP’s and mixes. So why didn’t I call it the best releases of 2014? I’m honestly not sure, but rest assured I’ll make the same mistake again next year, and I’ll make the same complaint(s) about not listening to enough new stuff again, in a vain attempt to seek absolution from a form of mediocrity that invariably infuses self-doubt. Oh joy.

Anyway here are the best songs of 2014. A good few are derived from the albums I selected in the best releases of 2014 column. I was able to whittle the list down to 23 songs, and unlike the albums, sorry best releases list, all of these tracks are 2014 releases, well except ‘Grand Central, Part. I (Deep Into The Bowel Of House)’ by DJ Sprinkles, which is off a reissue. Mind you, in my defence, I only discovered it this year, so it counts, and as I’m just a twatty wee blogger doing a shitty list on his blog, with no audience to appease, there’s little need to muddy the waters by applying sanctimonious rules or standards.

Just to repeat, I’m not into hierarchies, so this list appears alphabetically. What I will say is that while I do appreciate some of these songs more than others, I appreciate them all. I’ve also avoided including more than one track from each album on the list. And yes I know I said in the previous paragraph I saw no need to impose needless rules…but…well…yeah, here’s the list, just fuck off and look at it already:

Ten Freaky Hoes (feat. Redinho) by 100’s

From the album ‘IVRY’

Time by Actress

From the album ‘Ghettoville’

Minipops 67 (Source Field Mix) by Aphex Twin

From the album ‘Syro’

The Hope by araabMUZIK

From the album ‘For Professional Use Only 2’

Q-Loop by Basic Channel

From the EP ‘Q-Loop’

Howard by Bok Bok

From the album ‘Your Charizmatic Self’

As Above So Below by British Murder Boys

From the album ‘Live In Tokyo’

Grand Central, Part. I (Deep Into The Bowel Of House) by DJ Sprinkles

From the album ‘Midtown 120 Blues’

Pendulum by FKA Twigs

From the album ‘LP1’

Thuggin’ by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib

From the album ‘Piñata’

B1 by Kassem Mosse

From the album ‘Workshop 19’

All The Rays by Grumbling Fur

From the album ‘Preternaturals’

When The Spring Comes Again by Legowelt

From the album ‘Crystal Cult 2080’

Airglow Fires by Lone

From the album ‘Reality Testing’

Tricks n Kicks n Drugs by Luke Haines

From the album ‘New York In The 70’s’

Sweet Darling Pain by Melanie Di Biasio

From the album ‘No Deal’

Strays by Objekt

From the album ‘Flatland’

Forerunner Foray by Shabazz Palaces

From the album ‘Lese Majesty’

That’s Not Me (feat. JME) by Skepta

From the single ‘That’s Not Me’

Richard Ramirez Died Today Of Natural Causes by Sun Kil Moon

From the album ‘Benji’

A Little God In My Hands by Swans

From the album ‘To Be Kind’

Delorean Dynamite by Todd Terje

From the album ‘It’s Album Time’

Anima by Vessel

From the album ‘Punish, Honey’

Well that’s another year of blogging in the books, what did I learn? Other than blogging is an edifying experience, nothing, I must confess. I hope you all had a gluttonous and jolly Christmas and you have a decent mash up on Hogmanay and beyond. The lineman will be back on the line in early January. Catch you on the flip side. Peace and Jam out.