There are a lot of album of the year lists, but Hype Machine's Zeitgeist 2014 list is a bit special.
A diverse group of contributors have each kicked in a song that's perfect for every moment or mood, whether that's "Remembering you're in love and climate change is probably 50 years away from flooding the West Coast and maybe things aren't so bad" (that's Allo Darlin's 'Romance and Adventure'), or "Walking Home Alone from the Club at 4 AM" (that's 'Bae HD' from Starfoxxx).
There's even one for playing the cyberpunk card game Android: Netrunner. Which is exactly what I did this weekend (Quinns over at Shut Up & Sit Down runs a huge monthly one in London, with a DJ and drinks and everything). I came 8th out of 46, which makes me happy, considering how emotional and difficult my journey to learn to play the game was.
Anyway, this Hype Machine Zeitgeist list has been my favorite source of new (to me) music this year, and also the source of that quiet validation you get when, y'know, a couple songs you like end up on a highfalutin' year end list. Yeah.
