Once again, thank you for visiting Aimless Skylarking, stick around for a long look if you like, and I hope you find something magical here. The aim here is to discover and share great music, and if you like what I have to say and share, bookmark us, like us, or follow us, and return. I like return visitors. And if you leave having found something you like, I'd love to hear from you.
Bands, artists, fans, record labels, and publicists, thank you for your submissions. Please keep them coming, Aimless Skylarking couldn't survive without new material. I've enjoyed my first year doing this, I discovered and shared so much great music, photographed many bands, and met some really nice people. I hope that 2015 is bigger and better for the website, so much so, I'm planning a little makeover at the end of the year. Perhaps a new platform to give it a modern feel, but the scope won't change. Ok, enough of all this sugary sentiment, let's get to the music, here's my 5 favorite songs of the year.
Favorite Songs of 2014 (mid-year)
Favorite Songs of 2014 (11-20)
Favorite Songs of 2014 (21-30)
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5. Hella Better Dancer - 'Like A Child' - The band's final riveting effort is a coiled-up snake of a song brimming with cool and confident swagger. Sinister and dark, and hinted at future successes.
4. Cleo Tucker - 'Never Loved Anyway' - Girlpool gets all the press for their latest work, rightfully so, it's quite good, but Girlpool co-lead Cleo Tucker's 'Never Loved Anyway' rivals anything the band has done. It's a foot stomping punky banger, replaying it is a foregone conclusion.
3. Sturgill Simpson - 'Turtles All the Way Down' - Kentuckian Sturgill Simpson wrapped a tale of Gods, aliens, hallucinogens, and fairy tales of blood and wine in a vintage country music shell, and then made it all about love. It was the one thing that saved his life, he and I are on the same wavelength.
2. BIRD - 'I Wanna Be Adored' - The disbanded Liverpudlian band takes on a venerable classic as their swan song, and go down guns ablaze. I'd never consider including a cover song here without it exceeding the original, or taking on a life of its own. BIRD does just that with the Stone Roses' track. The final dark and angry offering of the band's short career seems as if it was written for frontwoman Adele to sing. A perfect full stop for My Fear and Me, and the "Once upon a time" for their new beginning.
1. Lazy Day - 'Oldest Friend' - A lush slice of bedroom pop, repeated listens reveal more magic at work here. Swept with warm tones and a refined emotional presence, 'Oldest Friend' is certainly a thrilling moment from this burgeoning band. The warmth in frontwoman Tilly's voice comes off as relaxed and confident, it sure feels like an old friend.
I often trust my head and heart in such matters, and let those hasty decisions stick. Passioned decisions made without thought are often true and honest, at least so in my case, and 'Oldest Friend' was just that. I found myself listening to it, and the band's devastatingly lovely track from 2013 'TV' most of all, and cannot wait to hear what's next.