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Bloomers Best Of (Thank You)
Member Since: 2/5/2014
Posts: 29,111
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Bloomers Best Of (Thank You)
Hi everyone. Thanks for checking out my first year end countdown. I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never.
Right now, I'm planning on doing a list of my 102 favorite songs and 51 favorite albums and maybe another list or two thrown in for fun inbetween. Eligibility for music runs from January 1st 2014 to December 31st 2014. Sorry Beyoncé, shoulda waited another couple weeks to release the album.
Let me just say that overall, I thought that 2014 was an off year in music. It just felt that, for the most part, my favorite artists didn't really come through. The albums that I really did like were: albums by artists that I discovered this year, debuts, or were albums that were long delayed.
There was still some solid music released this year, but few releases as amazing and memorable as last year's Nothing Was The Same, ARTPOP, Complete 20/20 Experience, Yeezus, Yours Truly, Ciara, Cupid Deluxe, Kveikur, Psychic, Settle, Electric Lady, and Twelve Reasons To Die (I haven't checked out Ghostface's newest yet though); all of which are all-time favorites of mine.
This year's lists includes artists I thought I would never check out, but there are some entries from some of favorite artists as well.
The first thing I will post is my Top 20 songs from 2013. I may not have been on this site, but I did make an iTunes playlist that I still have. Thanks for reading!
Special thank you to Mica for the animated Bloomers you see in the OP.
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Member Since: 2/5/2014
Posts: 29,111
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 7,686
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 27,248
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Yaaaaaaas Bloomers I'm ready for you to slay me!
One look and I KNEW that had to be done by Mica 
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Member Since: 5/4/2011
Posts: 20,807
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Yes, I'm ready for this!
It all looks very promising. 
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Member Since: 10/13/2003
Posts: 48,022
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can't wait 
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Member Since: 4/7/2009
Posts: 34,961
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I'm here for this brethern.
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Member Since: 2/5/2014
Posts: 29,111
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Thanks for the comments! Before I headed into 2014, I wanted to post the conclusion to my Best of 2013 from my Top 10 just to finish that up and also get a feel for how my official 2014 list will look.
Bloomers Best of 2013 (Top 20)
20. Touch (feat. Paul Williams) - Daft Punk - RAM
"Touch, I remember touch..." I was so excited for Ram. Discovery was one of my favorite albums and I will fight anyone that comes for Human After All or says Alive 2007 is not one of the best live albums ever, unfortunately RAM turned out to be spotty and just a little excessive. Touch made the whole album worth the wait. The song is long and weird, but it hits all the right notes.
19. Scream & Shout (Hit-Boy Remix) [feat. Britney Spears, Hit Boy, Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Wayne & Diddy] - Will.i.am
Because I'm a sucker for trashy music and this is by far the trashiest of the trashy. Waka Flocka Flame makes everything better honestly.
18. Don't Hold The Wall - Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience
This song is everything. "Dance! Don't Hold The Wall" That hypnotic Indian influenced beat is unsettling and dangerous sounding, but completely enticing. The way the song melts halfway through and takes off into space is amazing. Every minute is justified.
17. Own It - Drake - Nothing Was The Same
Worst Behavior may have ended up getting the single treatment, but I always preferred Own It. The beat is just so icy and everything just sounds frozen over. "Couple bitches tryin' to have me on the Maury like ***** it's yours" gets me everytime 
16. Blood On The Leaves - Kanye West - Yeezus
Powerful song. The beat is intense also. Who else could make Nina Simone accompanied by TNGHT sound right? That VMA performance was kind of crazy also. Too bad it got overshadowed by certain other performances that night.
15. Bandz a Make Her Dance (feat. 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne) - Juicy J - Stay Trippy
"These chicks clappin' and they ain't using hands"
14. Applause - Lady Gaga - ARTPOP
I didn't like it much at first. It grew on me. I wouldn't put it anywhere near as high if I made the list today, but this was one of the most fun songs of 2013 for me. I still say Applause-plause in real life. 
13. Blue Ocean Floor - Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience
It hits the Radiohead stan in me. That pre-chorus especially.
12. Diane Young - Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City
I've underrated Modern Vampires Of The City, it wasn't the album I wanted to hear and I still underrate it and not listen. For now, Contra >>>. However, Diane Young is my favorite uptempo from them.
11. Tattooed Heart - Ariana Grande - Yours Truly
I loved Yours Truly. One of my favorite albums from 2013. Tattooed Heart is everything. Ariana's finest moment and I don't think many other artists would be able to pull off the song. The perfect blend of what Ariana excels at: modern pop and romantic past times.
10. Latch (feat. Sam Smith) - Disclosure - Settle
2014 kind of soured me on Sam Smith. I was hoping that he'd take a more modern take on soul music instead of middle of the road, old person baiting blandness, and it's frustrating. Does it get more perfect than Latch? More hooky, smooth, heartfelt, more genuine sounding to me than anything on In The Lonely Hour and way more than a year later, Latch sounds just as good, if not better.
09. Chamakay - Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
I used to think Blood Orange could do no wrong. Chamakay is a perfect song. The first time I heard it, I fell in love.
08. The Art Of Letting Go - Mariah Carey
Another mix of nostalgia and modern. The Art Of Letting Go is the work of a veteran performer. No verse chorus verse structure, It is just the perfect build and release of tension and emotion.
07. Work Bitch - Britney Spears - Britney Jean
I think I might have liked Britney Jean more than most. At first I thought it was a concept album about what a posthumous Britney album might sound like, but it grew on me. I always liked Work Bitch. Will.i.am clearly stole that synth riff from The Prodigy, but who cares, the song is amazing and fixed the recession. Other self-titled albums could never. Plus we got the amazing Bitch Bitch remix, which makes Britney Jean's existence completely justified.
06. Body Party - Ciara - Ciara
Sexiness set to song. How is Ciara so good but so slept on?
05. Aura - Lady Gaga - ARTPOP
I hated it, then loved it, then hated it again, then loved it and never looked back. I love Infected Mushroom and was really excited that they "worked" with Gaga. I was disappointed Aura didn't keep it as ugly as the first couple seconds, but the track remains Gaga's most insane and almost wants a full-out underground electronic album for her next non-jazz album.
04. Black Skinhead - Kanye West - Yeezus
One of my dream collaborations that worked out better than I could have ever imagined. The track is insane and made me immediately wish Daft Punk had scrapped RAM and worked with Kanye for a collab album instead.
03. Primetime (feat. Miguel) - Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
There's an alternate universe out there where Janelle Monae has all the success and recognition she deserves and is the most successful pop star on the planet. For now though, we get perfection in song form.
02. Hold On We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan) - Drake - Nothing Was The Same
An immediate all-time favorite. I somehow happened to hear the premier on the radio, even though I didn't pay attention to release schedules or singles back then (I rarely even use radio itself). I was immediately blown away and stopped my car to listen to the whole thing. Like Drake, the song tries to be smooth, but fails, getting by on equal parts earnestness, charisma, and goofiness. The still relatively unknown Majid Jordan clearly is responsible for any smoothness, proving that Drake has one of the best ears for talent and hits in the business. Spolier: I had to find out more about Majid Jordan this year and they rank very high on a couple of my lists.
01. Mirrors - Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience
2013 was a great year in music. Most of my favorite artists released some of their best work. Not only that, 2013 really seemed to be a year in which pop artists tried to push the boundaries of what their pop music could be and do. That gleaming guitar riff was the highlight of music in 2013 for me. I hope that Justin does not stay away for so long before the next albums.
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Member Since: 4/7/2009
Posts: 34,961
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I either liked or loved all of these.
Good to see some JT stanning. Especially for Don't Hold The Wall (should have been a single) and Blue Ocean Floor two of my favorites from the record.
Aura is kind of hated on by most of the stans, isn't it? I liked it from jump.
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Member Since: 8/29/2011
Posts: 7,299
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Mariah + Britney 
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 41,181
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Yassssssssssssss I'm ready
Body Party, Applause, Don't Hold The Wall (one of the few JT songs I like), Primetime, Work Bitch
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Member Since: 4/22/2012
Posts: 33,490
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Mirrors was my #1 song of 2013 too  Great diverse list!
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 43,973
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OMG. YAAAASSSSSSSSSS 
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Member Since: 10/3/2009
Posts: 35,844
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Touch and Applause. 
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 4/3/2014
Posts: 34,134
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Applause, Latch, The Art of Letting Go, Body Party, Hold On We're Going Home and Mirrors!
Great list last year, hope this year's great as well. 
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 29,531
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 12,760
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Chamakay, Latch, Diana Young & Blood on the Leaves are great!
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Member Since: 2/5/2014
Posts: 29,111
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Favorite 2014 Songs (102 - 98)
102. Dead Man's Tetris (feat. Captain Murphy & Snoop Dogg) - Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Kicking off my countdown is this Flying Lotus track. Interestingly, he features himself under his hip-hop rapping alter-ego Captain Murphy. It's not a track with great pop appeal, but I really like the whole staccato vibe of the song.
101. Mona Lisa - Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint
The Pinkprint has better and more memorable songs that stand on their own, but this one impressed me most of all. It's so unlike anything Nicki has ever done. Trippy and exprimental, Mona Lisa is nowhere close to the annoying Marilyn Monroe follow-up I imagined it might be. Nicki could come up with a classic album if she taps into the same vein that created Mona Lisa.
100. Slide On Ya - 100s - IVRY
One of the coolest tracks of the year. It's a cut from one of my favorite mixtapes. Correct me if I'm off base, but this one reminds me of something that might have been on Stankonia if it were released this year.
99. Gotta Get Away - The Black Keys - Turn Blue
Snoop Lion's superior Get Away always comes to mind when I hear this Black Keys song (Yes, I listened to Snoop Lion's album  ), but Gotta Get Away is the highlight of Turn Blue which turned out to be more or less Ultraviolence's underachieving slacker cousin. I like this one, because it is the one Turn Blue Song that sounds like it could fit on El Camino.
98. Na Na - Trey Songz - Trigga
DJ Mustard was on fire this year, not to discredit Trey who delivered one of the year's best albums (spoiler), but Mustard's sound became the dominant sound of urban leaning pop music. Na Na is one of Mustard's best, it's slow and sexy; however, like most DJ Mustard produced songs, it overstays it's welcome and becomes boring around 3/4 of the way through. The first 3/4 though always is white hot enough to justify Na Na's place on a best of list.
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Five for now. More later. Streaming links are embedded into the song title where available (Dead Man's Tetris is a live version)
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Originally posted by MP2K
I either liked or loved all of these.
Good to see some JT stanning. Especially for Don't Hold The Wall (should have been a single) and Blue Ocean Floor two of my favorites from the record.
Aura is kind of hated on by most of the stans, isn't it? I liked it from jump.
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Awesome. I loved 20/20, both parts. That feeling doesn't really see to be too common here though 
Aura is Gaga going all out. I love it now. I didn't know most stans hate it, it's so amazing though.
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Originally posted by dancepopCC
Mariah + Britney |
Thanks! I was so ready for a Mariah record by the end of 2013.
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Originally posted by Truth Teller
Yassssssssssssss I'm ready
Body Party, Applause, Don't Hold The Wall (one of the few JT songs I like), Primetime, Work Bitch |
Thanks! Glad we have common ground on DHTW. Gotta love all the others too of course.
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Originally posted by borntodie
Mirrors was my #1 song of 2013 too Great diverse list! |
You have such good taste 
I didn't know that! That's so cool.
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Originally posted by Superpower
OMG. YAAAASSSSSSSSSS |
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Originally posted by Sunderland 4ever
Touch and Applause. |
Touch is so good.
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Originally posted by Amaloner
Applause, Latch, The Art of Letting Go, Body Party, Hold On We're Going Home and Mirrors!
Great list last year, hope this year's great as well. |
There was Something In The Water last year. It was an amazing year. Possibly my favorite for pop.
I don't know about this year 
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Originally posted by prezli
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Don't Hold The Wall is a masterpiece, as is the complete 20/20 expreience 
Quote:
Originally posted by Eeveelution
Chamakay, Latch, Diana Young & Blood on the Leaves are great!
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It was such a strong year last year. They all would have been number 2 or 3 this year. It was so hard to rank last year 
Hints (Idea Stolen From Superpowers Hints on his countdown)
97. Straight Outta Compton
96. I came to win, to fight, to conquer, to thrive...
95. A lead single from a one hit wonder
94. A lead single from one of music's most recognizable names who is in the touring phase of their career
93. Carry On.
Oh, and here's some info on my song list
male - 64 songs
female -38 songs
Rock/Metal -16
R&B -25
Rap -25
Country - 7
Pop -21
Electronic - 8
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Member Since: 12/29/2011
Posts: 7,378
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The Black Keys
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/2/2011
Posts: 21,728
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Dead Man's Tetris is amazing!
I liked a lot of your 2013 list too, especially Mirrors as your #1.
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