DocCortex's Festive Fifty 2014 (10-1)

10. Aesthetic Perfection - The 11th Hour

Storming, anthemic track from 'All Beauty Destroyed'

9. Ayumi Ishida - Taiyou Wa Naite Iru

Japanese sixties chic from the 'Nippon Girls' compilation.

Sadly this is not the song but another of her ditties.

8. Megson - The Longshot

Football meets folk in engaging story format, hurray!

7.  Kiesza - Hideaway

Even a billion hits on Youtube can't stopping us lovely this dance floor crowd pleaser. Great video and ginger too!

6.  Eels - New Alphabet

Chunky and well produced number from Mark Oliver Everett.

5. DJ Sanj - Balle Balle Hogay Mitro

Classic track from Bhangra Evolution.

4. Cinerama - Careless

David Gedge returns with Cinerama who I only just discovered this year.

3. Heidi Talbot  - The Lonliest

Stalk, beautiful Irish folk music everyone should hear.

2. Rise Against - A Gentlemen's Coup

Another piece of quality from the world's favourite agit-rockers.

1.  Emmy the Great - Mia

Fantastic track from fanastic album. 'MIA' basically picked itself by getting stuck in my head for the whole year. A work of genius!

Well that's Christmas over and done with I suppose. It's now time to start listening to some new music!

Doc

Doccortex's Festive Fifty 2014 (20-11)

20. Bright Eyes - Ladder Song

Profound little acoustic ditty from the slightly disappointing album 'The People's Key'. 

19. Teleman - Skeleton Dance

Straightforward indie action from the London based 3 piece.

18. Sons and Daughters - Rose Red

The one bright spot from the suspect album Mirror Mirror.

17.  ARIA - Your Underling

Confident pop music from the mysterious band from Buffalo.

16. Fong Tran -  Problem with what's taught in school

Blistering spoken word that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

15. Morrissey - Staircase at the University

Sublime highlight from the excellent 'World Peace...' LP.

14. Swami - Challa II

Outstanding Bhangra fusion from the Beginners Guide compilation.

13. The Be Good Tanyas Only in the Past

Classic bluegrass from the Cursed Earth from the lovely Tanyas.

12. Ezra Furman Walk on in Darkness

The talented member of the Furman clan with my favourite from the classic 'Day of the Dog' LP.

11. Veronica Falls - Beachy Head

Glorious indie harmonies from the current best band in the world. 

Doc

Doccortex's Festive Fifty 2014 (30-21)

30. Saira Khan - Dachi Wallya

Gorgeous slice of bhangra from the Beginner's Guide compilation. 

Another of her offerings.

29. SEMARGL - Credo Revolution (Zardonic Remix)

Death metal meets dance remix from the man in the mask.

28. Adora _Save Yourself

Lovely slice of Paramore-esque pop rock.

27. The Soft Pack - Second Look

Low key, slow-burning indie from the San Diego throwbacks.

26. Marisa Medina - No Te Acuerdas De Mí

Tacky but brilliant Spanish 60's action from the 'Chicas!' compilation.

25. Terry Lynn - Streetlife [Wildlife! Mix]

Classy Jamaican flavoured dance from the underrated Ms. Lynn.

24. Okkervil River - Plus Ones

Standard issue number from festive fifty folk stalwarts.

23. Jenny Lewis - Late Bloomer

Glorious yodel-fest from the lovely but hard to pin down genre-wise songstress.

22. Savages - Shut Up

Sounds like Siouxsie but somehow takes the format forward. Lovely drumming too.

21.  Lindi Ortega - Murder of Crows

Slick little gem from the League 1 Country & Western diva.

Doc

Doccortex's Festive Fifty 2014 (40-31)

40. Suli Breaks -  I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate

Excellent example of spoken word at its best.

39. Mesh - You want what's owed to you

The pick of the tracks from Automation Baby.

38. Bob Marley - Burnin' And Lootin

Great track on the La Haine soundtrack from the legend himself.

37. Gorgon City - Real

The standout track on the Subsoul compilation.

36. Keaton Henson - Flesh and Bone

Touching and passionate songwriting from the multi-talented tortured little soul.

35. Grendel - Neon City Lights

Quality pumping old school techno from the dutch super producer. Harsh Generation was also a fantastic LP.

34.  Karolina Cicha & Spolka - Bialystok Majn Hejm

Top quality Polish folk from Songlines 'Discover Poland' compilation.

33. Vic Godard & the Subway Sect The Water Was Bad

Fun new-ish material from the legendary Punk veterans.

32. Rokia Traoré - Ka Moun Kè

Beautiful vocals from the current queen of world music.

31. Craig Connelly & Christina Novelli - Black Hole

Pure and simple dance based singalong from my favourite female trance vocalist. Great video too.

 Doc

Doccortex's Festive Fifty 2014 (50-41)

It's that time of the year again when we publish our favourite fifty tracks of the year. Any genre, any era and just one entry per artist. So without further ado here's the first ten for this year...

50. Austra - The Villain

Lacklustre offering from a poor album (Feel it Break)

49. Banco de Gaia - Lamentations

Average atmospheric wailing from veteran dance music producers.

48. CocoRosie - End of Time

Odd quirky rap from the Casady sisters. I'm not that impressed.

47. Deadmau5 (sic) Dead Mouse - My Pet Coelacanth

Average electronic fun from people so cool the standard alphabet is not enough for them.

46. Allo Darlin' - Kiss your Lips

Elizabeth Morris adopts a strange accent for this twee outing from the eponymou5 album.

45. Queens of the Stone Age - I Sat by the Queen

Agreeable standard issue number from tired alternative rockers.

44. The Geraldine Fibbers - Toybox

The best of a bad bunch from the 'Butch' album.

43. Susheela Raman - Sharabi

Quality slice of eastern folk fusion from the British Indian songstress with big hair.

42. Fernhill - Folentein

Stark welsh tooting with a little bit of singing on the end. Lovely!

41. Bob Mould - The Silence Between Us

More of the trademark sound from the stalwart beardy popster.

Doc