I originally posted one of these playlists at mid-year, but it’s been a huge year for new music, so it was time to update the playlist. Now, I don’t know how you felt about 2014, but for me, it was probably the best year of the decade so far for music.

When I put together playlists, or just lists of songs, I don’t normally take the time to rank them. This time around, I had some pretty strong opinions, so at least the top 10 songs here are in the order that I think they deserve to be. I also tried to limit my choices to only one song per artist. Would some of these artists have had more than one song on this list otherwise? It’s definitely a possibility.

In 2014, I discovered newer artists (Parquet Courts, Future Islands) and many of my favorite artists returned with some of their best albums to date (Beck, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Spoon, TV On The Radio).

Over the next couple of weeks, as we finish out the year, I’ll focus on a few of these songs individually (as well as a few other “standout tracks” from the respective album). I probably won’t have something to say to about all of them, but I’ll try to write about as many as I possibly can. For the purposes of compiling this list, I didn’t include songs that have already been released from forthcoming 2015 releases (Faith No More, The Decemberists, Belle & Sebastian, Father John Misty). As good as 2014 was for music, 2015 is already shaping up to be an excellent year as well.

What are your favorite songs of 2014? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter, or on our Facebook page. Follow me on Spotify for even more playlists!

Cuter Than Pie’s Top 20 Songs Of 2014

1. St. Vincent – Severed Crossed Fingers

2. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)

3. Spoon – Inside Out

4. “Weird Al” Yankovic – First World Problems

5. Sun Kill Moon – Ben’s My Friend

6. Beck – Waking Light

7. Parquet Courts – She’s Rolling

8. TV on the Radio – Right Now

9. Jenny Lewis – She’s Not Me

10. The New Pornographers – Champions of Red Wine

11. Real Estate – Crime

12. The 2 Bears – Not This Time

13. Tune-Yards – Water Fountain

14. Sia – Hostage

15. Woods – Moving To The Left

16. Death From Above 1979 – Trainwreck 1979

17. Perfume Genius – Queen

18. Jack White – Black Bat Licorice

19. Twin Shadow – To The Top

20. Bob Mould – I Don’t Know You Anymore

