It’s that time of the year again. Where the lists of who was who and what was what and where was where and, you get the point. The accumulation of the years most influential, catchy, thought provoking, aggressive, emotionally destroying songs from the best artists. Now last year, Velvet didn’t produce a ‘Songs of 2015’ post. So to make up for it, this year Velvet has conjured up 150 songs that grasped 2014 by it’s special bits and took control, (because sex is power right?). Anyway, Velvet’s top 20 tracks of the year are as follows:

1. Little Comets – The Blur The Line and The Thickest Of Onions
2. Perfume Genius – Queen
3. Real Lies – Dab Housing
4. Merchandise – No You and Me
5. Baby Strange – Distance Yourself
6. Gerard Way – Action Cat
7. clipping – Body and Blood
8. NO – Leave The Door Wide Open
9. The Plastic Dots – Velvet Cafe
10. Zola Jesus – Dangerous Days
11. The Vacant Lots – Mad Mary Jones
12. Girl Band – De Bom Bom
13. Aztecs – Bad Blood
14. Carft Spells – Breaking The Angle Against The Tide
15. Dracula Legs – Heartburn Destination
16. Halls – Body Eraser / Avalanche
17. YOUTHCULT – What Ever Works
18. Peace – World Pleasure
19. Cherry Glazer – Had Ten Dollaz
20. Malachai – I Deserve To No

Now for all the songs that Velvet deemed ‘list-worthy’:

1. Acab Rocky – Father
2. All We Are – I Wear You
3. Alt-J – Hunger Of The Pine
4. The Amazing Snakeheads – Every Boy Want’s To Be Her Baby
5. The Amazons – Something In The Water
6. ArtClassSink – Time To Go (Before The Rivalry)
7. Attu – We Are Ordinary People
8. Axxa/Abraxas – I Almost Fell
9. Aztecs – Bad Blood
10. Baby Strange – Distance Yourself
11. Bad Breeding – Age Of Nothing
12. Band Of Skulls – Hoochie Coochie
13. Beach Party – Geronimo
14. Bear In Heaven – Autumn
15. Ben Pearce – GBH
16. Bernard + Edith – Poppy
17. The Black Cult – Riot
18. Bleachers – I Wanna Get Better
19. Bombay Bicycle Club – Carry Me
20. Breton – S4
21. Breton – National Grid
22. Broods – Mother & Father
23. Blood Red Shoes – An Animal
24. Broken Hands – No One Left To Meet
25. Broods – Never Gonna Change
26. The Bulletproof Bomb – Suitcase
27. Captivves – Don’t Defy Us
28. Cheatahs – Mission Creep
29. Cherry Glazerr – Had Ten Dollaz
30. Circa Waves – Know One
31. clipping.  – Body and Blood
32. Coasts – Golden City
33. Cold War Kids – All This Could Be Yours
34. Craft Spells – Breaking The Angle Against The Tide
35. The Creases – Static Lines
36. Darlia – Candyman
37. Dead Groove – The World
38. Dean Wareham – The Dancer Disappears
39. Deathcats – Melted
40. Deers – Bambo
41. Denai Moore – I Swore
42. Deptford Goth – The Lovers
43. Disclosure – The Mechanism
44. Dracula Legs- Heartburn Destination
45. Drowners – A Button On Your Blouse
46. The Drums – Magic Mountain
47. DZ Deathrays – Gina Works At Hearts
48. East India Youth – Five Year Glacier
49. Eagulls – Amber Veins
50. Elephant – The Way It Is
51. Eliot Sumner (I Blame Coco) – Information
52. Erik Hassle – Pathetic
53. The Family Rain – Don’t Waste Your Time
54. Fans – All This Time
55. The Franklin Electric – This Is How I Let You Down
56. Friendly Fires & The Asphodells – Before Your Eyes
57. Gengahr – Fill My Gums With Blood
58. Gerard Way – Action Cat
59. Geyser – Copper Wish
60. Girl Band – De Bom Bom
61. Grace Joyner – Young Thing
62. The Griswolds – Beware The Dog
63. Halls – Body Eraser / Avalanche
64. Happyness – You Come To Kill Me?!
65. Hockeysmith – But Blood
66. Honeyblood – Choker
67. The Horrors – I See You
68. Horsebeach – Even
69. Idea For A Film – Can’t Sit Still
70. Is Tropical – Crawl
71. Iyes – Toys
72. Jack White – Lazaretto
73. Jaws – Think Too Much, Feel Too Little
74. Jupiter-C – Holiday
75. Kult Country – Trembling Moon
76. LadyJesus – Wicked Game
77. Literature – New Jacket
78. Little Comets – The Blur The Line and the Thickest of Onions
79. Lives – White Lies
80. LSA – Can’t Be Trusted
81. Lust For Youth – Armida
82. Lykke Li – No Rest For The Wicked
83. Malachai – I Deserve To No
84. Meg Myers – The Morning After
85. Merchandise – No You and Me
86. Merchandise – Begging For Your Life / In The City Light
87. The Mercy Beat – Fool For A Fool
88. Michael Flynn – Holy Ghose
89. Moats – Snakepit
90. Moats – Jeff Buckley
91. Monte Carlo – Shim
92. Naked (on drugs) – Single Fish Sight
93. Naomi Punk – Television Man
94. Native People – Calm Forever
95. The Neighbourhood – Lurk
96. Nero – Satisfy
97. NO – Leave The Door Wide Open
98. Odonis Odonis – New Obsession
99. The Orwells – Let It Burn
100. Owl Vision – Lightshy
101. Palace – Veins
102. Palm Honey – You
103. Patterns – Blood
104. Peace – World Pleasure
105. Perfume Genius – Queen
106. Pixel Fix – Lungs
107. The Plastic Dots – Velvet Cafe
108. Plastic Flowers – Gone Wrong
109. Play Dead, Run – Lion Legs
110. Popstrangers – Distress
111. Prom – Flickers
112. Protomartyr – Scum Rise!
113. Radar Eyes – Positive Feedback
114. Real Estate – Talking Backwards
115. Real Lies – Dab Housing
116. Roo Pane – Tiger Striped Sky
117. Royal Blood – Little Monster
118. Run Tiger Run – Hummingbird
119. Sales – vow
120. Sam Ratcliffe – The Talk We Chat
121. Shunkan – Wash You Away
122. Shy Nature – Lie Back
123. Skaters – Miss Teen Massachusetts
124. Slow Club – Tears Of Joy
125. Sonlux – Easy (Switch Screens) Ft. Lorde
126. Space Pony – Move
127. Street Joy – Laurel Hill
128. Tape Waves – Let It Go
129. Taylor Swift – Blank Space (Surprise?)
130. Tennis – 100 Lovers
131. The Trouble With Templeton – Soldiers (Snowbird Remix)
132. Thumpers – Tame
133. Tigercub – Blue Blood
134. Tomas Barfod – Pulsing
135. Tom Vek – Sherman (Animals In The Jungle)
136. TRAAMS _ Giddy
137. Tweens – Be Mean
138. Twin Graves – Last Sunset
139. Twin Peaks – I Found A New Way
140. The Vacant Lots – Mad Mary Jones
141. The War On Drugs – Red Eyes
142. White Lung – Snake Jaw
143. Wolf Alice – Moaning Lisa
144. Wolf Gang – Black River
145. The Wytches – Burn Out The Bruise
146. Young Widows, Kerosene Girls
147. Yellerkin – Tools
148. Youthblood – Camouflaged
149. YOUTHCULT – What Ever Works
150. Zola Jesus – Dangerous Days

As a final note, I’d like to raise the fact that the top two songs tackle issues of both sexual objectification and homophobia respectively. The phrase “It’s 2014” does not, remove all negative comments, physical displays or verbal displays of any social, gender, sexuality or racial issues. In 2014, there is still a strong volume of these negative attributions of society’s everyday living. Women are still raped, (as are men), and victimised for their physical appearance, “entrapping”, the male species internal instinct of sexual inclinations, leaving them terrified to live their daily lives, without the fear of being attacked for simply being a women. Lesbian, transgender and gay members of society, are still victimised and left terrified to be who they are, because of “traditional” white families dominantly, especially transgendered individuals. People of colour are still racial profiled as “violent, threatening, abusive, unintelligent”, or the new ‘n’ word, a “thug”, as a way of ensuring that police officers aren’t sentenced to prison (all eyes on Darren Wilson).

Music is but one small way of gaining the attention that these topics shouldn’t require, but still do. Feminism is still being attacked. Homosexuality and gender identity, are still being attacked. Being a ,regular, person of colour in the eyes of society, is still being attacked! These are issues, that simply cannot be ignored and those in the music industry who fight for these causes, shall be applauded and noted on this site. But these issues need your support 24/7, not when Little Comets or Perfume Genius release a new song, or another person of colour is murdered for having black skin..

Let music exponentially fill your heart and your mind, with the ideas of a positive future for society. Don’t be lead blind by music, let it guide you. All of your thoughts and opinions cannot be based upon one song. Learn about these issues, fight for civil rights everywhere, don’t stop until music is loaded with songs of celebration rather than declarations against injustice.