Pickled Priest Mixtape: Our Favorite Songs of 2014
A complicated year with a disproportionate number of "sleeper" tracks that can't all be wedged into a single mixtape. That's why I now make four mixtapes of my favorite songs each year. But I continue to live up to our initial project plan that mandates one 26-song mix per year only. It was put in place to force some tough decisions on us at gunpoint. This is what results when you draw arbitrary lines and make asinine rules. And why oh why did the word-makers not spell asinine "assinine"? What a missed opportunity.
PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2014 MIXTAPE
SIDE A
26 "Autograph" | Syd Arthur
This band from Canterbury, England, a city that has survived a Viking siege in the 11th century, Black Death in the 13th, the "Plum Pudding Riots" in the 17th, and Prog Rock in the 20th, fits in perfectly with the rich cultural history of the historic English city. For some reason, the area has also been home to a plethora of notable rock bands over the years (Soft Machine, Caravan, and Hatfield of the North* to name a few), mostly in the 1970s, all plying their trade with odd time signatures, psych guitars, and pseudo-jazzy instrumentation, all built on a prog-rock foundation. The difference with Syd Arthur (a play on Siddartha) is that their songs are short, concise, catchy, and peculiar, never quite sounding like anything from the current day, but also sounding positively forward thinking at the same time. Not what you might expect from the expansive art form known as Prog Rock. And not a cape in sight! "Autograph" is one of many examples of what they do best: which is sound like nobody else from the 21st century.
Hatfield of the North included only because they inspired the title of one of my favorite novels, Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club, which was named after the band's second album.
25 "Attica!" | Wussy
I first learned about the Attica prison riots of 1971 from the Harlem Globetrotters, of course. They played a game for the inmates of the notorious New York correctional facility in 1975 and during the Wide World of Sports telecast they provided a short history lesson for us kids about the dangers of staging a prison riot and/or reacting to one with too much force. And just in time, too, as I was then in 6th grade at the time. In a nutshell, the inmates rebelled over prison conditions and the police used massive force to quell the uprising, eventually amounting to 43 dead at final count. A clusterfuck, to say the least. Meanwhile in 1975, the legendary Al Pacino vehicle, Dog Day Afternoon, was released. The plot centered around a hostage situation at a Manhattan bank after Pacino and accomplice botched a robbery attempt. At one point, with many onlookers in witness and many cops surrounding the place, Pacino starts chanting "Attica! Attica! Attica!" seemingly anticipating another overly heavy police response. His passionate pleas get the crowd on his side, in a way, because they understand what he's implying--another violent resolution is imminent. Which brings us to "Attica!" a song from Wussy's 2014 album of the same name. It references Dog Day Afternoon in its lyrics and seems to be saying that life isn't fair, you can't have everything you want, and warns that the world may even take away what you already have—life and love included—and all the passion and good intentions can't change that. I find this song stirring for many of the same reasons the crowd cheers for Pacino in his famous scene. "Attica!" is a way of quickly and concisely expressing the deep-seeded feeling that you're on the wrong side of a hopeless situation. And who hasn't felt that way once or twice?
24 "America, the Beautiful" | Homeboy Sandman
This is a low-key slap in the face to spoiled Americans everywhere, those constantly bemoaning one injustice or another. In 2:32, Homeboy Sandman, aka Angel Del Villar II, reminds us all how good we have it in the US. “We are the 99% locally / We are the 1% globally” he observes, bringing modern hip-hop into a socially conscious headspace that only asks for some perspective before the opening of yet another ignorant, anonymous screed in another indulgent, unneeded comments section somewhere out there in the blogosphere.
23 "Radio Eyes" | Ed Schrader's Music Beat
Originally, when it was released as a single on a Sub Pop compilation, I had this on my year-end Top 25 Songs list in 2013. It was then released on the band's album, Party Jail, in 2014, so it is now in its final resting place once and for all. Since I used "Radio Eyes" in 2013, I got to use the insane "Pantomime Jack" in 2014, but I'm sorry Jack, you're getting bumped this time. It's not fair, because you are also a Top 25 Song list alumni. But there's something about the raw insanity of "Radio Eyes" that makes me deliriously and dementedly happy, especially when they uncork a line like "Send me over cooked chorizo, full of hate." It's fun when things stop making sense.
22 "Follow Me" | The Coathangers
A fast, bratty, full-length (almost four-minutes!) Atlanta punk song with a 'we’ll-rip-your-dick-off-if you-call-us-a-girl-band' swagger. What about this song tells you they want to follow anyone’s lead but their own?
21 "God's Height" | Christopher Denny
I’ve listened to so much music in my life, sometimes I feel like I’m poised to burn out at some point. That’s it—I’ve heard all I need to hear. The reason I don’t is my addiction to discovery; the expectation that around every corner there could be something fresh or exciting or life-changing waiting for me. One common problem for this jaded set of ears is the fact that some voices may be great, but there’s no real surprise that they exist, as most evoke the memory of someone prior. That said, some voices are so unique you wonder how they even happened at all. Why hasn’t someone else’s vocal chords aligned in the same manner before now? How many variations are possible? Christopher Denny falls into this group with a voice that makes me tilt my head to the side involuntarily when presented. That head tilt is saved only for things that confound me, intrigue me, or surprise my weary ears. Denny’s voice truly sounds unlike any other I’ve ever heard. I won’t even try to describe it, but he provides me the same feeling as when I first heard Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Slim Whitman, Toni Childs, Roy Orbison, and many others. Thankfully, the list never seems to end. You might think that “God’s Height,” based on the title, would be a spiritual, hinting at the imposing presence of some omniscient, all-knowing deity. Instead, it’s a song about a guy’s ridiculously tall girlfriend. Which gives us yet another reason to tilt our head!
20 "Southern Skies" | Matrimony
Three-quarters North Carolina, one-quarter Dublin, Matrimony marry both locales in a holy alliance of lively American roots music informed, but not dominated, by classic Irish folk-rock. You might immediately expect to hate this band based on that description, but they beg for one last spot on your mixtape next to the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, the Avett Brothers, and the like. “Southern Skies” is an anthem, apparently penned through the eyes of the Irish element in the band—in contrast to the often grey, suffocating skies of his homeland—that celebrates the sprawling American South. Imagine Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights” or John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as rousing folk anthems and you’ll get close to approximating the feel of the song. It’s a stirring, romantic picture of Southern living that’ll almost make you wish you lived there for a few minutes. When you snap out of it, and remember it’s a conservative hellhole below the Mason-Dixon line, it won’t matter. You visited, saw the best of what it had to offer, and escaped with fond (Montibello) memories intact.
19 "Inamorata" | The Singles
I keep a secret stash of power-pop classics in the storeroom of my house just in case I need an emergency dose of crunch, lyrics, and melody delivered with a giant adrenalin needle. When I hear a song that qualifies, I know it instantly. This cut from the Singles—how can the name still be available without a trademark infringement suit?—has all those qualities vacuum-packed in a tight three-minute song for all to behold. It’s Detroit-rock and L.A.-pop at the same time, and it ranks as one of the best songs of its kind made in the last ten years.
18 "Everything That's True" | Rob Jungklas
Link to song here (Bandcamp)
I’ve been a big fan of Rob Jungklas ever since he wrote what should be Memphis’s theme song, “Memphis Thing,” way back in 1987. Since then, he’s gone in several different directions—pseudo-spiritual pop, haunted mutant blues, and teaching 5th grade math at a Memphis elementary school—but the common denominator has always been his distinct vocal style (passionate, but nervous) and the natural drama that radiates from his songs. Nothing to Fade, from 2014, was a hidden gem that once again proved how much incredible music flies under the radar. Near the end of the record, the conceptually simple yet heart-stopping ballad "Everything That’s True (Will Not Fade Away)" sounds like one of those songs that must’ve written itself decades ago. Isn’t that how so many of the great songs first strike us? All I know is that it’s just about as innocent and pretty a song as I’ve heard in a long, long time, and I hope someone else finds it and feels the same.
17 "Milwaukee" | The Both
That Aimee Mann & Ted Leo successfully blended their talents for a one-off record isn’t a huge surprise (it had to be better than She & Him, right?), but making one of the year’s catchiest choruses out of the lyrics “It’s the nucleus burning inside of the cell” is a tribute to the benefits of covalent bonding.
16 "The Hardest Place to Find Me" | The Rifles
On a record loaded with power-pop bullets (which to choose?), why do I find myself gravitating toward the ballad? Maybe because I identify with it completely.
15 "Heart of Steel" | Lykke Li
The penultimate track from one of the best breakup records in recent history, I Never Learn, "Heart of Steel" sums up how hard love can be at times. Great risk, great reward, not always in that order. The song that ends the album is called "Sleeping Alone" so we know how this ends. Heartbreak fully downloaded.
14 "Radio On" | Ex Hex
Ex Hex's "Radio On" sounds like a sequel of sorts to the Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner,” and the riff reminds me of 70’s-era Kiss. I'm in love with rock and roll and I'll be out all night.
SIDE B
13 "I Miss the Sex" | Macy Gray
Most songs about heartbreak tap pretty much the same emotional vein—gaping voids, suffocating loss, broken trust, the usual shit. But Macy's take on the same situation is predictably fresh. She misses the sex. Perhaps the most honest breakup song in the last decade. A modern soul classic, plain and simple.
12 "Choices (Yup)" | E-40
Before the song was co-opted by the 2015 Golden State Warriors during their playoff run (complete with references to Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala), E-40's "Choices (Yup)" was perhaps the ultimate answer song of all time. Not only that, it was basically ALL questions and answers, generating an equal number of nopes and yups along the way. "Sober as a gopher? Nope / Higher than a rollercoaster? Yup!" It's got a perfect laid-back cadence that I love and it's interactive so even the whitest of the white can play along with the game.
Note: The song was also used to great effect in the excellent 2016 film American Honey.
11 "Why Do You Lie?" | Liv Warfield
Musicians have been guesting on late-night talk shows for a long time, but recently it seems that more and more of them are winning large audiences based on spectacular performances that go viral. (Future Islands on Letterman being a prominent example.) I’m not surprised I missed Liv Warfield’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon when it first aired, but I’m here to recommend you watch it. It’s a horn-fueled R&B barnburner. The studio version isn’t as enthralling, which is predictable, but it’s still plenty potent. In a disappointing postscript, ten years later Liv was a contestant on America's Got Talent, still trying to "get over" a decade later. If the show proved anything, it's that she still has enough raw talent to blow the doors off the place. Another living example of how American overlooks true talent in favor of the flavor of the moment.
10 "New Dorp. New York" | SBTRKT ft. Ezra Koenig
Great guest vocal from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, but what makes this song work is that it never goes too long without shifting gears, adding sound effects, alternating singers, distorting a vocal, or working in a new lyrical twist. If you blow any speaker with this song, it’s going to be a woofer, that’s for sure.
09 "Archie, Marry Me" | Alvvays
“Archie, Marry Me” is a great pop tune by a Toronto band that was, at the time, in the same ballpark conceptually as Camera Obscura and their irresistible 2006 gem “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken.” On a side note, do I hear a little Edith Bunker seeping into Molly Rankin’s voice during the chorus? I hope so. Oh, Ah-chee!
08 "Rent I Pay" | Spoon
The sign of a great album is when you simply cannot decide which song should represent it on a mixtape like this. So, to the opener I default. And what a fucking statement! "Rent I Pay" explodes from the tape with a raw, electric sound and a powerful drum beat and vaguely reminds me of the Stones' "Street Fighting Man." Not a bad reference point, to say the least. After self-producing 2010's more stripped down Transference, Spoon went the double-producer route four years later for They Want My Soul (Dave Fridmann and Joe Chiccarelli) and even added a new band member (keyboardist/guitarist Alex Fischel), all having a major impact on the record's unique sound universe. Spoon records always sound great, but this one injected a reinvigorated sense of experimentation for the group. Not an easy accomplishment for a band on their eighth record. It has emerged as one of the best records of their career with each song stamping out its own distinct sonic territory. Not to be taken for granted.
07 "Head Underwater" | Jenny Lewis
“There’s a little bit of magic / Everybody has it”
But Jenny has more than her fair share.
06 "Fuckers" | Savages
In their time, which was way too short, Savages were known for their electrifying live performances. For those that missed their chance, "Fuckers" is recorded proof of their onstage intensity, a 10-minute therapy session built on the mantra “Don’t let the fuckers get you down,” that, if repeated enough into a mirror, might work as an adequate substitute for a year’s worth of expensive visits to your psychologist. Bosses, friends, enemies, frenemies, teachers, strangers, politicians, delicatessen employees, lawyers, bad drivers, criminals, Bible beaters, St. Louis Cardinals fans, celebrities, whomever. Insulate yourself from all of them by pressing play—then watch their negative influence disappear. No wonder this was the band’s set-closer for a while—everybody left the venue feeling like they could get through anything.
05 "Fruit on the Vine" | Joseph LeMay
Normally, the top five tracks of the year are catchy earworms capable of carrying a mixtape all on their own. Often, a year can be defined by such memorable tracks that are built to be repeated over and over again. They burn into your memory banks. But every once in a while, a ballad comes along that absolutely crushes you. LeMay’s "Fruit on the Vine" is just that kind of song for me. It sounds so real and intimate, you almost want to give the couple some space to talk out their issues.
04 "Everything Twice" | Mariachi El Bronx
At the time, a left-field choice perhaps, but my affection for Mariachi El Bronx's third LP is unchanged ten years later. Yes, it is driven by my later-life discovery of mariachi music, whose regional spirit and glorious tradition makes my heart soar, but what wins me over every time is how convincing the band is when executing this material. This is no tongue-in-cheek lark, they love this music and you can tell. It remains one of the "feel good" albums in my collection and "Everything Twice" is the perfect entry point. About being open-minded and adventurous, it never forgets that the true meaning of life is best discovered alongside someone else.
03 "Seasons (Waiting on You)" | Future Islands
The undeniable Song of the Year for 2014 (critically and commercially) ironically sounded like a product of the synth-happy 80s. But no matter, when I think of 2014 from now on (which won’t be often), I will remember it as the year of “Seasons (Waiting on You).” Actually, it’s probably the other way around. The song will remind me of 2014. The time when Samuel Herring first did that strange “dance” (and that bizarre growl) on Letterman will remind me of 2014 (see video). I’ll always remember Letterman’s reaction—“I’ll take all of that you got!!”—mainly because he’s a man who has seen almost every great band of the last 30 years grace his stage at one point. 2014 was the year a band broke through with a song that almost everyone could agree upon.
02 "Someday, Someday New" | La Santa Cecilia
No song released in 2014 made me feel more optimistic about life than this one. In the decade since, it has retained its power to turn any negative into a positive. Its value to me cannot be put into words.
01 "Jerk Ribs" | Kelis
Back in 2014 I said Food was going to be an album that would grow in stature as word got around—like a great new restaurant in a yet ungentrified part of town. On the record, Kelis served up spicy soul singles from her own family recipes and we all know there is nothing quite as good as home cooking. The common ingredient? The groove. "Jerk Ribs" has had me salivating for the titular dish for a decade now.
________________
Ten years since 2014, people. Time has its foot on the accelerator and there's no stopping her now.
Cheers,
The Priest