Some might say that 2013 was a bad year for music, but when looking back at this years music on offer, one only had to dig a bit deeper than the Top 40 and mainstream pop divas to find the really good music gems that were released. Some of these electronic and pop tracks fly way under the radar with little or no fanfare and some were massive hits, but I kid you not, our year-end Top 200 EQ Music tracks will make one almighty awesome soundtrack to your daily grind in January 2014.
We think you’ll love the diversity, depth and thought that went into this year’s EQ Music Top 200. All of EQ Music bloggers were asked to submit their year-end lists and it was weighted against the editor’s list with number of iTunes plays being factored into the equation to come up with the final list you see below.
If you thought this year sucked for music, you are wrong. Just download any or all of these tracks and you’ll find out why EQ Music is an essential spot on your reading list for some of the best, new pop and electronic music out there from all corners of the world.
Top honor this year goes to Keisha Mutya Siobhan on their brilliant single ‘Flatline’ which rarely went unplayed each day since it’s release.
- Flatline – Keisha Mutya Siobhan
- Disco Damaged Kid – Polly Scattergood
- 5-HT – The Good Natured
- Silent Morning – Parralox ft. Ryan Adamés
- When My Heart Breaks – Vanbot
- Cut Copy Me – Petula Clark
- Bang Bang – Cocovan
- Hold On – Avec Sans
- Map – Frankmusik
- Do What U Want – Lady Gaga ft. R Kelly
A surprise track ‘Fuel For The Machine’ by Kaden caught a lot of attention this year and was an exclusive debut on ‘This Beat Is Poptronik – Volume Two’, the first album release from our music label.- Fuel For The Machine – Kaden
- Vocal – Pet Shop Boys
- Mirrors – Justin Timberlake
- We Are Tonight – Christian Burns and Paul van Dyk
- You (Ha Ha Ha) – Charli XCX
- Roar – Katy Perry
- I Have A Name – Osvaldo Supino
- Let Go by RAC – Kele & MNDR
- Fade Into The Light – Adam Tyler
- ARTPOP – Lady Gaga
It was a quiet year for Blake Lewis, but his one single release ‘Your Touch’ is one of the year’s BEST.- Your Touch – Blake Lewis
- Glow – SIRPAUL
- Into The Night – MDNGHT
- Belong – Paige And Palermo
- The Apple – VV Brown
- Burn – Ellie Goulding
- Love Will – Alexis Houston
- Love Bound – Nic Billington
- Clarity – Zedd ft. Foxes
- She Keeps Me Warm – Mary Lambert
Bright Light Bright Light kept us throughly entertained with his excellent EP ‘In Your Care’ which the blogosphere raved about.- An Open Heart – Bright Light Bright Light
- Knife Games (Throwing Daggers) – Christian Burns & Protoculture
- Trouble – Neon Jungle
- Sugar – Daniel Robinson
- Complicated – Kentö
- I Was A Fool – Tegan & Sara
- Lift Me Up – Lena Katina
- Secret – Queen Of Hearts
- Super DJ – Smith & Thell
- Overload – Baker
EQ Music act Parralox enjoyed praise from two cover singles this year, ‘Silent Morning’ by Noel and ‘Eye In The Sky’ by The Alan Parson’s Project, raking up 130K+ views on YouTube.- Eye In The Sky – Parralox
- Cure The Thunder – Sergey Lazarev ft. T-Pain
- Lent – Autoheart
- Renaissance Girls – Oh Land
- Magnetic – Fenech-Soler
- Slow Love – Pawws
- I Remember – Nick Pes
- I Feed You My Love – Margaret Berger
- Elevate – St. Lucia
- In Your Care – Bright Light Bright Light
Who would have predicted that Lorde would be so popular? EQ Music did back in April when we named her an emerging artist months before ‘Royals’ went to the top spot on the Billboard charts!- Royals – Lorde
- Not Your Boy – Daniel Robinson
- Better In The Dark – Say Lou Lou
- Disintegration – Monarchy ft. Dita Von Teese
- Every Single Moment – SIRPAUL
- Gun – Chvrches
- All American Boy – Steve Grand
- Under Control – Calvin Harris & Alesso & Hurts
- Braveheart – Neon Jungle
- Wasting My Young Years – London Grammar
Unfortunately Garçon Garçon disbanded this year, but not before leaving us with one of their best tracks ever in way of ‘Instant Attraction’.- Instant Attraction – Garçon Garçon
- Same Love – Macklemore & Lewis ft. Mary Lambert
- Young Professionals – The Young Professionals
- Acapella – Karmin
- Don’t – Mirror Talk
- Turn To Sand – Musique Le Pop
- Shiver – Avec Sans
- Colour My Heart – Charlotte OC
- All Night – Icona Pop
- Mascara – Cocovan
Two of Britain’s best pop acts got together to create the gorgeous ‘Thursday’. Who knew Pet Shop Boys and Example could sound so swell together?- Thursday – Pet Shop Boys ft. Example
- Little Games – The Colourist
- Cinderella – Diana Vickers
- SuperLove – Charli XCX
- Slip – Stooshe
- Replay – Zendaya
- This Is What It Feels Like – Banks
- Tornado – Anttix
- Overload – Nic Billington
- Love In the Shadows – Circuit21
It was a big year for Britney, but even though her album ‘Britney Jean’ received mixed comments from all major music critics, no one can deny that ‘Work Bitch’ was a dancefloor smasher!- Work Bitch – Britney Spears
- Say Something – A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera
- Swim No More – Solomon
- We Can’t Stop – Miley Cyrus
- I Can’t Help It – Dangerous Muse
- Firechild – Solomon Grey
- No Danger – James Wolf
- The Magician – Adam Davis
- Get Lucky – Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
- Best Song Ever – One Direction
Frankmusik went back to his electronic pop roots this year after leaving his record label and banged out two epic tracks in the way of ‘Map’ and ‘Ephemeral Summer’- Ephemeral Summer – Frankmusik
- This Beat Is Poptronik – Marc Lime & K Bastian ft. Little Neve White
- All The Way Thru – JD Samson & MEN
- The Way We Are – Kate Boy
- Bon Voyage – Marlene
- Hurricane – Bridgit Mendler
- Alien – Britney Spears
- Anywhere Else Tonight – Vandalism (feat Nick Clow)
- Take Me Home – Midnight Red
- One Night – Matthew Koma
She was the QUEEN OF CONTROVERSY this year whose every appearance started worldwide trending topics on Twitter. Despite her ridiculous antics, Miley Cyrus did make us all pay attention with ‘Wrecking Ball’, especially Sinead O’Connor.- Wrecking Ball – Miley Cyrus
- Stratospheric – Story Of The Running Wolf
- Killer – Sharon Doorson
- Win – Aikiu ft. JD Samson
- High Life – Made In Norway ft Raff
- Land Of The Innocent – Feathers
- Under The Neon Sky – MarieMarie
- Take A Look At The World – Ralph Myerz ft. Annie
- F**k Off Berlin – The Young Professionals
- Global Concepts – Robert Delong
Say Lou Lou enchanted their way into the music scene this year and landed a coveted spot on the BBC’s Sound Of 2014 shortlist. We were mesmerized with every track and video they created this year. One’s to watch!- Julian – Say Lou Lou
- Sooner – Maighréad
- Take Me Home – Cash Cash feat Bebe Rexha
- Nightlife – Jody Watley
- Automatic – Mooli
- Overdose – Little Daylight
- Games – Claire
- Come & Get It – Selena Gomez
- Cocoon – Polly Scattergood
- The Legendary Children – I Am A Camera
Daniel Robinson’s ‘Guesswork’ EP sees three of it’s tracks land in our top 200 as well as our EQ Music management roster! Look out for big things in the pipeline for Daniel Robinson who was the electronic winner of the 2012 John Lennon International Songwriting Contest.- Running With The Wolves – Daniel Robinson
- White Noise – Disclosure ft AlunaGeorge
- As Long As You Love Me – Ryan Adamés
- Problem – Natalia Kills
- Again – Jessica Sutta
- Lights – Kitchen Party
- Attracting Flies – Aluna George
- Bad Tattoo – Lola Blanc
- Crazy Law – Kazaky
- M.C.H.T.E. – Tesla Boy
Whilst Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ didn’t really have us clapping, her ARTPOP album is a triumph, despite how much it undersold compared to it’s marketing budget…- Applause – Lady Gaga
- Young Love – Eli Lieb
- Music To Make The Boys Cry – Diana Vickers
- Hang On 2 Your Love – Sam Sparro ft Durand Bernard
- You Keep Giving Me Love – Jenn D
- Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be – Private
- One Love – Armand Deluxe ft. SIRPAUL
- 5 AM – Katy B
- Animal – Conor Maynard
- Red Shoes – Mollyhaus
A late video arrival for ‘Popular Song’ by Mika ft. Ariana Grande puts this track firmly on our best list and serves as Ariana’s launchpad into pop stardom, even though her solo material is a bit blasé for our tastes...- Popular Song – Mika ft. Ariana Grande
- Strong – London Grammar
- Fernando – Wilson Knight
- Beloved – Say Lou Lou
- My Girl – Willy Moon
- TKO – Justin Timberlake
- S.O.S. – Waylayers
- Skirt – Kylie Minogue
- Soft – Feathers
- Miracle – Hurts
Covering tracks by Britney Spears, Justin Bieber and Noel saw EQ Music artist Ryan Adamés bloosom into an emerging pop star. All eyes on Ryan in 2014 as he works out his original material!- Work Bitch – Ryan Adamés
- No Freedom – Dido
- Like A Stranger – Kitten
- Finders Keepers – Miriam Bryant
- Moves – Bright Light Bright Light
- The Day Before You Came – Parralox
- Night To Remember – Tao Hypah ft Lucc
- Do It All Over Again – Elyar Fox
- Heart Attack – Enrique Iglesias
- Aint Got Time – M.O
Love them or loathe them, One Direction most certainly know how to breathe life into a catchy pop song. These boys aren’t going anywhere for awhile, so we might as well just enjoy their dimples and floppy hair for awhile…- Story of My Life – One Direction
- Reap – Woman E
- Cause This – Naked Highway
- Carolyn – Swiss Lips
- You – Mel Jade
- Kill The Dancefloor – Man Meadow
- Candy Hearts – Hypster ft. Raff
- Satellite – Little Boots
- Stumblin – Sergey Lazarev
- Time To Say Goodbye – Pawws
Robyn also had a quiet year in 2013, but her video for ‘U Should Know Better’ had us wondering why she didn’t release every song from Body Talk. We also forgave her for ‘Go Kindergarten’ which was all sorts of wrong…- U Should Know Better – Robyn ft. Snoop Dog
- I Was There (Where Were You) – Le Grind
- Told You So – Christopher
- My Boxer – Oh Land
- Down on Life – Elliphant
- Damaged – Adrian Lux
- Scream And Shout – will.i.am ft Britney Spears
- Call Me On the Ouija Board – Sharon Needles
- Pompeii – Bastille
- Go Gentle – Robbie Williams
With the release of ‘Arrows’ by Polly Scattergood, we became massive fans of the electronic pop chanteuse from Kentish Town. ‘Disco Damaged Kid’ sits firmly at #2 of our Top 200 list with ‘Wanderlust’ and ‘Cocoon’ also making the list this year.- Wanderlust – Polly Scattergood
- Let Me Tickle Your Fancy – Del & Xavier
- Back To My Youth – Billy Cullum
- All I Know – Fenech-Soler
- Cut The Cord – Aron Scott ft. Glorious Inc.
- Cold Heart – She’s The Queen
- Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt Before – Orion (feat Hedvig)
- Ma Radio – Osvaldo Supino
- HAM – Colette Carr ft. Ben J
- Talk About It – Erik Hassle
Cherrytree Records artists always make an impact on our year-end charts and ‘Why Are You Leaving’ by Colette Carr and Kev Nish of Far East Movement proved to one of the label’s best efforts. Cherrytree Record’s Natalia Kills, Willy Moon, Ellie Goulding and Matthew Koma also charted in our hearts this year.- Why Are You Leaving – Colette Carr ft. Kev Nish
- I Don’t Want To Open My Eyes – Voyuer
- Fires – Strangers
- We Own The Night – The Wanted
- Axis – Pet Shop Boys
- Things We Lost In The Fire – Bastille
- Wasted – Alex Palmieri
- Playing With Fire – Darin
- Famous – Katy Tiz
- Remix My Love – Killian Wells ft Kristinia DeBarge
Thanks for keeping EQ Music in your ears this year and we look forward to reporting on the best new pop and electronic music in 2014!