In the days leading up to New Year’s, local alternative radio station 96.5 The Buzz partook in an annual tradition — the disc jockeys counted down their top five albums of 2014, explaining the reasoning for each pick and playing three songs from each album. This year, I avidly checked The Buzz’s website each day for a new top five list, eager to see what Afentra, Lazlo and the gang thought of this year’s alternative releases. Upon reading a few of their lists and agreeing (or disagreeing) with certain choices, I decided to make a list of my top five albums of 2014.

Like The Buzz, I counted extended plays on my list, but I did not count re-releases of albums (sorry, Beyonce — “BEYONCE: Platinum Edition” was still pretty ***Flawless, though). Unlike The Buzz, I did not confine myself to just alternative music, so I added in a few pop records as well.

5. “TRXYE,” Troye Sivan

Australian YouTube personality Troye Sivan’s first EP released by a major label, “TRXYE,” is fun, reflective and really enjoyable to listen to. With “TRXYE,” Sivan plays with more mature-sounding pop motifs, adding heavily-layered synth beats and complex drops to compliment his melancholy-yet-beautiful voice. Throughout the EP, he sings about some of his own struggles — everything from knowing someone who is depressed to feeling emotional after reading “The Fault In Our Stars.” Sivan has been recording since the release of “TRXYE,” so I’m crossing my fingers for a debut original album from him in 2015. (If you want to get to know Sivan even better, you should check out some of his YouTube videos as well — his channel is very creative and funny.)

Standout tracks: “Gasoline,” “Touch,” “Happy Little Pill”

4. “This Is All Yours,” alt-J

If you’re a fan of alternative music in Kansas City, then you basically have to like alt-J — a quirky, artistic alternative rock band from the U.K. discovered by The Buzz. The band’s second album, “This Is All Yours,” is even more reason to love its music — the album has everything from a Miley Cyrus sample to a song about the movie “Alien.” Alt-J plays with more electronic instrumentation on “This Is All Yours,” drawing influence from genres like hip hop and electronic dance music. The band does slip in a few folksy, acoustic songs too, which give the album quite the contrast.

Standout tracks: “Warm Foothills,” “Nara,” “Left Hand Free”

3. “Make A Shadow,” Meg Myers

If you remember, I wrote about Meg Myers’ amazing music at the beginning of this school year, so it’s only right I include her on this list. Her sophomore EP, “Make A Shadow,” is a powerful release that basically puts the rock back into alternative rock. Myers sings powerfully against a guitar-heavy band, while also playing with both softer-sounding music and electronic sounds. With “Make A Shadow,” Myers digs deeper into musical sounds explored on her first EP, “Daughter In The Choir,” and I can only hope she eventually makes a full album to experiment musically even further.

Standout tracks: “Heart Heart Head,” “Make A Shadow,” “Go”

2. “In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith

Sam Smith was easily the No. 1 breakout star of pop music in 2014, and his debut album, “In The Lonely Hour,” proves he earned that title. Smith wrote most of the album from a state of loneliness, as the title would suggest, but his deep, emotional lyrics only make up part of the listening experience. This emotion is amplified by Smith’s soulful vocals and amazing range. Add in acoustic, electronic and sometimes orchestral backing and you have nothing short of a masterpiece.

Standout tracks: “I’ve Told You Now,” “Lay Me Down,” “Money On My Mind”

1. “Ghost Stories,” Coldplay

This is my top five albums list so, logically, Coldplay is at the top. The band’s sixth album, “Ghost Stories,” takes its music in a different direction than the previous “Mylo Xyloto” — moving from happy and bouncy to melancholy and introspective. With nine tracks, the album is the band’s shortest, but after listening, you feel like you’ve finished a journey through an impeccable blend of the acoustic and the electronic, with messages of love and loss to supplement. Coldplay has plans for a seventh album, “A Head Full Of Dreams,” in place, and while it might be the band’s last, I will be more than happy if it’s above the high bar set by “Ghost Stories.”

Standout tracks: “Ink,” “True Love,” “Midnight”

There you have it — the best five records released this year, as chosen by me. Taylor Swift’s trip into the world of pop music, “1989,” The Cinema’s continuation of the unique style I wrote about last year, “Talking in Your Sleep” and the record that cemented Jack White into his place in alternative rock royalty, “Lazaretto,” barely didn’t make the cut. The five albums I wrote about are great nonetheless, and I recommend you listen to one, two or maybe even all five.