The 101 Most Vital Tracks of 2014 | 80 - 71

This sprawling, euphotic monster's got it all: Nile Rodgers-style choppy guitar, burbling electric pianos, poppin' percussion, and the hugest, most spangly synth washes a arpeggiated heads-down disco-lover has ommitted to wax all year. -JB

The DJ Shadow & Salva remix of "90s Music" was the percussive equivalent of driving a semi truck over a barrel of dynamite. Music about other music doesn't often mean much, but the fun Kimbra (and Shadow and Salva) have reinterpreting that yonder decade is day-glo good. -ZR

Dillon Francis and DJ Snake's bromance had a baby and it was a bass-blaring hip-hop tune at a stompingly slow tempo with quintessentially Snake-ian Middle Eastern-esque horns and a whole lotta attitude. Has anyone noticed that there's not actually a whistle in the song, though? When is one actually supposed to get low? Maybe it's a metaphor.  -JK

The breakout track by

Iggy Azalea—or as her arch-nemesis Azealia Banks likes to call her, "Igloo Australia"— gets a stuttering trap overhaul via the Amsterdam trio Yellow Claw. Meta-cultural appropriation never sounded so good. -ML

It's hard to go wrong with a Sinead Harnett vocal. Still, "Days With You" was Pomo's largest, in-chargest remix to date and proved to the world that the funky R&B remixes that brought him to popularity were just the tip of the iceberg. -ZR

The moment when that bassline kicks in and "Our Love" turns from pensive indie-tronic crooner into a full-on dancefloor shuffler is the exact second that countless hipsters realized that their hips are actually capable of swaying while at a gig. (It's at 2:33 seconds, by the way) -JK

Switch turns an otherwise forgettable pop song (no offense to its songwriter, Calvin Harris) into a scorching club track by laying down a cheeky garage bassline. A rework worth remembering. -ML

Any of Shift K3Y's impressive 2014 output could have been on this list; the one that made it was most freshly released. "Not Into It," is a funky elaboration on romantic invalidation that has so much attitude and laid-back swag that we can't wait for the next time we get rejected. -JK

The underrated musical successor to her smash "The Worst," Jhené Aiko again navigates love's ambiguities with songbird suave. Along with production duo Fisticuffs, Aiko is shaping the new sound of west coast R&B, somewhere east of LA beat music and more radio-ready. -ZM

Forget Jay-Z and R Kelly: this is the best of both worlds. UK Garage legend Sticky teams up with ragga MC supremo General Levy for an absurdly intense collaboration that's torn up speakers in clubs all over the world and bust countless in-car stereo systems. -JB

Words by THUMP Staff: Zel McCarthy, Jemayel Khawaja, Michelle Lhooq, David Garber, Ziad Ramley, Josh Baines, Olyvia Salyer, Dylan Coburn and Joel Fowler.

The 101 Most Vital Tracks of 2014 | No. 101 - 91 | No. 90 - 81 | No. 80 - 71 | No. 70 - 61 |
| No. 60 - 51 | No. 50 - 41 | No. 40 - 31 | No. 30 - 21 | No. 20 - 11 | No. 10 - 1 |