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Top Albums of 2014
Tav
Irish Minister for DefenceRegistered User regular
Irish Minister for DefenceRegistered User regular
I made one of these threads the last two years because I wanted to see what cool shit I missed out on because lets be honest, there's too much good music out there. For me these aren't necessarily my favourite albums or in an order, just albums I think are excellent pieces of work that deserve more attention. I'll probably add to my list a bit as well when I can articulate some thoughts on stuff like La Dispute's Rooms Of The House, or Primordial's Where Greater Men Have Fallen.
Link or spoiler youtube links so the thread isn't an awful to read, slow loading mess!
The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
RIYL: They're branded as "midwest emo" but there's a lot of different influences on here from The Weakerthans to Foxing. They're touring with Title Fight and La Dispute, to give you an idea.
"Home, Like NoPlace Is There burns with the same five-alarm intensity throughout its nine songs, and the few times where the Worcester band are at a loss for words, they have no trouble expressing themselves. There isn’t a single moment of passive listening"
Sample song: The Scope Of All This Rebuilding
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
RIYL: I'm not really big into rap, so I don't really know who they would be similar to. You'll like them if you like Killer Mike's or El-P's solo stuff, but you probably already know that.
Sample song: Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) feat. Zack De La Rocha
Grouper - Ruins
RIYL: Ambient, drone or post rock along the lines of Tim Hecker, Mount Eerie, GY!BE
"these eight songs—four with vocals, two instrumentals, two distended ambient pieces—feature Liz Harris singing along to minimal piano. Her voice is joined by crickets, frogs, rain, a pulsing heartbeat of a drum, and a microwave powering up after she'd lost electricity. It feels like a field recording of someone digging deeper into themselves, someone who keeps playing even after the lights go out."
Sample song: Holding
Link or spoiler youtube links so the thread isn't an awful to read, slow loading mess!
The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
RIYL: They're branded as "midwest emo" but there's a lot of different influences on here from The Weakerthans to Foxing. They're touring with Title Fight and La Dispute, to give you an idea.
"Home, Like NoPlace Is There burns with the same five-alarm intensity throughout its nine songs, and the few times where the Worcester band are at a loss for words, they have no trouble expressing themselves. There isn’t a single moment of passive listening"
Sample song: The Scope Of All This Rebuilding
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
RIYL: I'm not really big into rap, so I don't really know who they would be similar to. You'll like them if you like Killer Mike's or El-P's solo stuff, but you probably already know that.
Sample song: Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) feat. Zack De La Rocha
Grouper - Ruins
RIYL: Ambient, drone or post rock along the lines of Tim Hecker, Mount Eerie, GY!BE
"these eight songs—four with vocals, two instrumentals, two distended ambient pieces—feature Liz Harris singing along to minimal piano. Her voice is joined by crickets, frogs, rain, a pulsing heartbeat of a drum, and a microwave powering up after she'd lost electricity. It feels like a field recording of someone digging deeper into themselves, someone who keeps playing even after the lights go out."
Sample song: Holding
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Their first studio album in 20 years. It has been criticized for feeling more like a Frank Black and the Catholics album, but the people who do that are just butt hurt that the album lacks Kim Deal. The album shows their growth as a band and I hope to hear them do this on tour in the future instead of seeing their Doolittle show again.
The Antlers: Familiars
Genre: Dreamy, impassioned mope rock
RIYL: Arcade Fire, The National, Antony and the Johnsons, being sad
Antemasque: Self titled
Genre: The boys behind At the Drive-In and the Mars Volta take a stab at stripped down garage rock
RIYL: The Mars Volta, At the Drive In
Fear of Men: Loom
Genre: Demure yet romantic dream-pop
RIYL: The Cranberries, The National, The Smiths
Kool AD: Word OK
Genre: Stoner rap
RIYL: Das Racist, Lil B, post-post-postmodernism
Tigers Jaw: Charmer
Genre: Somewhere between emo and 90s-revival alt rock
RIYL: Title Fight, The Smashing Pumpkins, the 90s
Personally I thought it was kind of a weak year, there were a lot of records I liked or thought were okay, but not a lot that I loved.
Oh well I will make placeholder post
FKA twigs - LP1
YG - My Krazy Life
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Arca - Xen
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Kimbra - The Golden Echo
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
ACDC - Rock or Bust
Ageless. Rock.
Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls
Includes this epic old school metal song.
Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
If you havent watched the HBO series jump on HBO and do so. If you have any interest in Foo Fighters music that is.
psn: lankyplonker
I also really like Braid's comeback album No Coast, along similar lines. Not bad for a group of past-their-prime emo lifers.
If you like pop-punk/emo, I would also check out Canadian punk band PUP. I consider it a 2013 release since that's when it came out in Canada, but it released stateside this year. It's one of my absolute favorite records of whichever year you want to group it under. Kinda has that old Weezer holler-along vibe.
A World Only Lit By Fire
Decline and Fall EP
D'Angelo & the Vanguard — Black Messiah
It's a little disjointed, but I'm glad to hear some new D'Angelo and his voice is still stunning (even if unintelligible 95% of the time); hope its success motivates him to stay active.
Kayo Dot — Coffins on Io
Might be their first album with riffs that repeat for more than four bars, thus probably their most accessible album, even it's still some thoroughly weird "Tangerine Dream for metalheads" type shit.
Anawan — Anawan
I went to undergrad with these folks. They had a different name for a couple awful records of "avant-garde" vocal nonsense, but I guess they've moved boroughs and decided making music people want to listen to is still artistic — and it's REALLY good. I think they basically describe it as "Dirty Projectors + Fleetwood Mac", which is pretty on-point.
U SCO — Treffpunkt
Throwback instrumental post-punk of that gritty, dissonant, fractured sort.
Gavin Castleton — It Was the Worst of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
Five stripped down piano ballads, the bulk of which deal with the death of his beloved dog. Beautiful music with some seriously tear-jerking emotional resonance.
RTJ — Run the Jewels 2
Everybody loves RTJ. But I hate some of the beats (Oh My Darling, Close Your Eyes, All Due Respect), which is not typical when it comes to EL-P production.
Mick Jenkins — The Waters
The drill/trap aspect of the production can wear thin after a few tracks, but it'll be interesting to see where Mick goes from here. Feels like a lot of young rappers are looking to Kendrick to show them how to craft a career without bowing to label pressure, but I'm not sure Mick, Chance, Vince, etc... will make that break out record.
Boyfrndz — Breeder
I've listened to Dark Braining a lot.
okay
FKA twigs - LP1
breathy, bluntly sexual futuremuzik
YG - My Krazy Life
closest a rap album has come to recreating that 90s west coast G-funk style. album tells a story, and mainly produced by the on-fire DJ Mustard. the first 6 songs are nonstop bangers. i could pick any song as an example, i'll go with a strip club anthem
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
I don't even know what to say about this one. absurd and amazing. annie clark is a robot monster and can rip the shit out of a guitar solo
Arca - Xen
this is not a conventional album in that its more of a collection of ideas. there is no genre (though its distinctly tinged by arca's south american heritage), there are no singles, there are no hooks. but its an exciting example of where music can go next
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
what can i say, i love everything flying lotus does. this one gets more straight jazzy than his previous releases at times, possibly due to guest herbie hancock. flylo incorporates rap into this one more than any other, likely due to his side project captain murphy.
Kimbra - The Golden Echo
this one isn't as good as kimbra's perfect debut, but its overstuffed with ideas. i heard somewhere she trimmed the album down from like 90 tracks, and from how much she seemed unable to leave an idea out of any song i'm surprised she was able to leave anything on the cutting room floor.
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
Tinashe - 2 On
Duck Sauce - NRG
Can't Help Myself - Brodinski
Rae Sremmurd - No Type (could easily be No Flex Zone, who cares)
ILOVEMAKONNEN - Tuesday
OT Genasis - CoCo
RL Grime - Core
Jeremih feat. YG - Don't Tell Em
Evian Christ - Salt Carousel
Adi Ulmansky - Was It You
i would put pink and blue by hannah diamond as my requisite pcmusic entry but it apparently came out in dec 2013 so beautiful by AG Cook it is
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
Alvvays - ST
Nice sunny, fuzzed-out guitar work from former Two Hours Traffic guitarist Alec O'Hanley and laid-back vocals by Molly Rankin (a daughter of a member of The Rankin Family). Party Police is probably my song of the year. It's certainly my most listened to song of the year.
Single: Archie, Marry Me
Album Track: Party Police
Royksopp and Robyn - Do It Again and The Inevitable End
Royksopp declares that they will no longer release albums with a triple feature of a Robyn collaboration EP and then a double album that also features remixes of some of the EP's songs. Anytime Royksopp and Robyn get together it's a treat.
Monument (Do It Again version)
Monument (The Inevitable End version)
Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
A good counter-point to the bitter-sweat, melancholic Alvvays (I swear they could be Scottish if I didn't know they're Canadian). They add just the slightest bit of edge, and it works great. Wikipedia wants to call it noise pop, which is fine with me.
Single: I'm Not a Part of Me
Album Track: Now Here In (The only youtube video I found of it is the full album, but this is the first track.)
White Lung - Deep Fantasy
I know it's a overproduced, but I just can't help myself. I was never much into punk for its own sake anyway.
Single: In Your Home
Album Track: Lucky One
Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
My first album of hers, and I quite enjoyed it. Nice and dark. Plus, plenty of organ, and I love me some organ.
Single: Our Love
Album Track: Break Me
Other stuff:
New St. Vincent was good, but I didn't like it as much as Strange Mercy. Maybe it will keep growing on me.
Latest New Pornos album as well. I don't know, I guess I've just been there too many times at this point. There are still a few really good singles, though.
That Tanya Tagaq throat singing album is very interesting, and if I'm in the mood I can really enjoy it, but for casual listening? Not really.
Tanya Tagaq Live
The War On Drugs album, Lost in the Dream, is fantastic, and I should probably listen to it more. It's a bit on the long side for me though, which is why it's not in the top 5. If I expanded the list it would be there.
The War on Drugs - Under the Pressure
Things I haven't listened to yet: The new Rural Alberta Advantage, the new Run the Jewels album, probably the new Tokyo Police Club.
Favourite single that's not a part of a favourite album: Lowell - The Bells
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
I didn't like it as much as Black Up, but Lese Majesty still gives me everything I want out of a Shabazz palaces album, which is something I can't get anywhere else. The production is a bit more ambient and the rapping spaces out more but Ishmael still finds those little grooves and his lyrics and mic charisma are still on point.
I always thought it would take a rapper as unorthodox as DOOM to rap an album over Madlib beats, but Gibbs just did it through brute force and technical skill. Probably his most consistent album, he brings it on every song and manages to keep the features to a merciful minimum.
I feel like we'd be friends. I really liked those PUP and Braid releases. Did you check out the two Beach Slang eps? Basically everything that Tiny Engines is putting out is absolutely great. What I'd say about The Hotelier album is that there's an awful lot going on. It goes from a spoken word introduction on An Introduction To The Album to a pop-punk sing along with all your bros on Your Deep Rest to straight up skramz on Life In Drag. It's definitely an album to listen to as a whole.
Overall, I would say this was a light year for me music wise but as far as my favorite album goes I'd probably give it to Isaiah Rashad.
Sure it was an EP and not a full album but it was pretty quality as far as a first release went and just had a great vibe all around.
Lily Allen
Sheeezus
So, I'm not ashamed to admit that my wife introduced me to Lily Allen this year and, holy shit, I am in love with her music. A bit feminist, a bit pop, a bit hip hop, a lot a bit sarcastic, a bit bubblegum, and a bit romantic, Lily Allen won me over as a fan with this fantastic album.
Videos below
Alt-J
This Is All Yours
Solid sophomore effort by a great English band. While I don't think the album is as completely solid as their debut, they've got some killer singles within.
Videos below
The Black Keys
Turn Blue
The Black Keys are an anomaly when it comes to rock bands. Every one of their songs is good. Off of every album. How the hell do they do it?
Videos below
So yeah, a weird #1 for me this year, but it's a fun one.
I do want to say my favorite song of all year (but I am not a fan of most of his music, sadly) is Nuclear, by Mike Oldfield. You may remember this as the song from the MGS5 trailer...I can't get enough of it.
Hopefully I won a few of you over for these fine artists.
First Aid Kit - Stay Gold.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
"Actions That Echo" is a barn stormingly good opener to the Album.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I'll post some vids later, Youtube is blocked in my office. I'm kinda surprised nobody has posted it yet, I thought a lot of people here love LSD.
PSN: jrrl_absent
I don't think I've listened to anything from this year but I'll agree that White Lung needs to be on some kind top10. Such a catchy record! First old-schoolish hardcore I've managed to listen to in a decennium...
Edit: Oh yeah and Grouper!