[Shaun]

#30 - "Wanted on Voyage" - George Ezra
More than two good singles, I was surprised to find. Let's hope he beats Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran at the BRITS next week (this is highly unlikely but oh well).


#29 - "Blue" - iamamiwhoami
You know, writing her name is getting to be a real chore. The album has a few pretensions too but is largely quite 'epic' and imaginative and exciting.


#28 - "Taiga" - Zola Jesus
I think I mentioned somewhere in the song countdown that this record had been a little bit imperfect and made me yearn for another Stridulum (either one) - but you can't really go wrong with this and were you to approach me in the street and say "I bought Taiga because you placed it in this countdown thing you did a few years ago" I'd probably smile and if you instead said "hey, you said Taiga was the 28th best album of 2014, but it really disappointed me and I'd say it was 59th at best" then I'd probably politely laugh and think you may be right.


#27 - "Impressions" - Music Go Music
I know the album sleeve is really not going to lure anyone into this pretty-unknown band but really, I implore you: if you like fun happy disco-ish pop you shall love them. (But get Expressions first).


#26 - "Junto" - Basement Jaxx
Their albums tend to be an assortment of hits lost in a blur of noise for me so - whilst having no hits at all this time around was deeply upsetting and the last of my childhood dance artists to tumble down into pop irrelevance - a cohesive and wildly weird theme throughout Junto was a nice surprise.


#25 - "Our Love" - Caribou
I'll be honest: I've only heard it once and I'm not even sure I'll ever listen to it again, but we'll always have 3am a few days after Christmas, etc. etc...


#24 - "Post Tropical" - James Vincent McMorrow
On the other hand, at the very start of the year, this was one of the few albums that could coax me back into the whole "reviewing albums because I want to and not because I feel like I should" business. His voice is beautiful.


#23 - "Food" - Kelis
Yeah, OK, it wasn't anywhere near as fun as Flesh Tone, and it was always destined to flop, but sod everything because this was groovy as ****.


#22 - "Sucker" - Charli XCX
"But Shaun!" you scream and grab me by the lapel of a thing with lapels that I might be wearing at the time, "this didn't come out until today!" Well, indeed, but leaks alone (and preposterously earlier transatlantic release dates) managed to force this into my list. A few words about the actual album? Uh, it's sort of like Gwen Stefani meets Republica and doesn't really do away with the stupid annoying bits, but she's on top form, like Tragic Kingdom-era songwriting-form, so it works.


#21 - "Clark" - Clark
So so so so good, like the Drive soundtrack fed through the mind of John Grant.