2014 - the year's best music

Hooray, it's that time of the year again in which we compile our nerdy lists, telling anyone who bothers to listen what we consider to be the best music of the year that's soon behind us. Unfortunately I don't think 2014 was as good as 2013, but then again, that was a remarkable year. I still had a hard time compiling my lists of the best songs and best albums of 2014, and many had to go. There are 30 albums and 50 songs listed below, with links to my writings about them wherever possible, as well as playlists in WiMP and Spotify. A few are not available for streaming, but you get most of the songs and handpicked album tracks in handy playlists below.

Songs:

1. OnklP & De Fjerne Slektningene – Styggen på ryggen

2. Magic! – Rude

3. deLillos – Drøm

4. Hedegaard – Happy Home

5. Oslo Ess – Midnatt

6. Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne – Rather Be

7. DJ Cassidy feat. Robin Thicke & Jessie J –Calling All Hearts

8. Broods – Never Gonna Change

9. Sondre Lerche – Sentimentalist

10. Kaja Gunnufsen – Faen ta

11. Candi Staton – Where Were You?

12. Kråkesølv – Ikke rart vi bli sprø

13. Echosmith – Cool Kids

14. Coldplay – Midnight

15. Dierks Bentley – Pretty Girls

16. Ingrid Michaelson – Girls Chase Boys

17. Hiss Golden Messenger – Mahogany Dread

18. I Was A King – One Of Us

19. Todd Terje – Delorean Dynamite

20. Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters –Embrace Another Fall

21. Ed Sheeran – All Of The Stars

22. Kiesza – Hideaway

23. The Autumn Defense – Why Don’t We

24. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)

25. Sturgill Simpson – The Promise

26. Sondre Justad – Nu har du mæ

27. SOHN – Lights

28. Arthur Beatrice – Midland

29. Say Lou Lou & Lindstrøm – Games For Girls

30. Katy B – Crying For No Reason

31. Sval – Tidsfrist

32. Sigrid Raabe – Two Fish (Loveless Remix)

33. Johnny Marr – Easy Money

34. Jessie Ware – Tough Love

35. Sassybeat – Chances Of Changes

36. Razika – Syndere i sommersol

37. Hamilton Leithauser – 11 O’Clock Friday Night

38. The Ting Tings – Wrong Club

39. Julia Holter – Don’t Make Me Over

40. Lamark – Storgata 6

41. Marit Larsen – I Don’t Want To Talk About It

42. Sam Smith – Not In That Way

43. Mr. Probz – Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)

44. Cole Swindell – Chillin’ It

45. Rainy Milo – Deal Me Briefly

46. Gorgon City feat. MNEK – Ready For Your Love

47. Kyla La Grange – Cut Your Teeth (Kygo Remix)

48. Stockhaus & Vilde Tuv – Svømmebasseng

49. Bryan Ferry – Soldier Of Fortune

50. Vance Joy – Riptide

Playlist in WiMP 48 out of 50 tracks, Robert Plant and Rainy Milo excluded

Playlist in Spotify 48 out of 50 tracks, Robert Plant and Rainy Milo excluded

Album

1. Rumer – Into Colour

2. John Fullbright – Songs

3. Kaja Gunnufsen – Faen Kaja

4. Lucinda Williams – Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

5. Emilie Nicolas – Like I’m A Warrior

6. Robert Ellis – The Lights From The Chemical Plant

7. Highasakite – Silent Treatment

8. Rosanne Cash – The River & The Thread

9. Roddy Frame – Seven Dials

10. Ben Watt – Hendra 

11. Neil Diamond – Melody Road

12. Rodney Crowell – Tarpaper Sky

13. Kråkesølv – Kråkesølv

14. Röyksopp – The Inevitable End

15. Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots

16. Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters – Lullaby And… The Ceaseless Roar

17. Sondre Lerche – Please

18. Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems

19. Sam Smith – In The Lonely Hour

20. Real Estate – Atlas

21. Todd Terje – It’s Album Time

22. SOHN – Tremors

23. Wild Beasts – Present Tense

24. King Creosote – From Scotland With Love

25. Jenny Lewis – Voyager

26. Sisyphus – Sisyphus

27. Restore To Past – Restore To Past

28. The War On Drugs – Lost In The Dream

29. The Captain & Me – Peter Gabriel

30. James Vincent McMorrow – Post Tropical

Playlist in WiMP 29 out of 30 tracks, Rumer excluded

Playlist in Spotify 28 out of 30 tracks, Rumer and Roddy Frame excluded