| Rank | Origin | Artist - Track | ||
| 30 | NOR | Annie – Russian Kiss | ||
| 29 | US | Ariana Grande – Break Free | ||
| 28 | US | Night Terrors of 1927 – When You Were Mine (feat. Tegan & Sara) | ||
| 27 | UK | Alison Moyet – Only You - Live | ||
| 26 | AUS | Sheppard – Geronimo | ||
| 25 | US | Vampire Weekend – Step | ||
| 24 | US | Bleachers – I Wanna Get Better | ||
| 23 | AUS | The Griswolds – Beware the Dog | ||
| 22 | US | Cayucas – High School Lover | ||
| 21 | UK | Calvin Harris – Under Control | ||
| 20 | US | Walk the Moon – Shut Up and Dance | ||
| 19 | UK | Lily Allen – Air Balloon | ||
| 18 | UK | Jessie Ware – Tough Love | ||
| 17 | UK | Example – One More Day (Stay with Me) | ||
| 16 | AUS | Peter Wilson – Love Is on The Line (Pete Hammond Radio Edit) | ||
| 15 | US | Mariah Carey – You Don't Know What To Do |
2014 was the year of the indies, as this countdown has to be one of the most diverse I've ever compiled. Not only do we have the aforementioned indies, but we also have the standard pop and dance, as is the staple around here.
I do need to give a shout out to Olga and her Sirius Alt Nation ways for sucking me in to the "indie" rock this year. Without Alt Nation being on constantly, the indies would not have had a chance this year. By the way, all of the "Olga approved" tracks have the rank bolded and italicized. The others, lol, are not. :)
Here are some random thoughts on some of the tracks. Needless to say, these rankings are completely arbitrary and subjective. However, all tracks are pretty great and worth checking out.
- Annie's anti-Putin, unofficial Sochi olympic anthem, "Russian Kiss" was pretty great. There were even German, Swedish, and Norwegian kisses/versions.
- The lovely Alison Moyet's Minutes and Seconds live album was a fave this year. Her version of "Only You" takes it from the happy, sunny tune to a darker, suspicious place. Not sure the crowd was expecting that, nor was I, but I do love it. Great version.
- Cayucas' "High School Lover" was used in a BMW commercial, quite awesomely here. (Sure, it's a 2013 song, but I discovered it this year, so there. lol)
- Australia's Peter Wilson has been around for several years, but I discovered his PWL/SAW style music this year and quickly snapped up all his tracks on iTunes. "Love is on the Line" has a fantastic Pete Hammond mix, so check it out.
- My prediction is that Sheppard is poised for greatness in 2015. Love love love the "bombs away..." part; it's the most awesome part of the song.
- Maria being the Elusive Chanteuse was a bit of a hot mess this year, but I ended up loving the disco strings in "You Don't Know What to Do." P.S. we don't need Wale on this (at all).