Music of 2014

[troutman]

New Billy Idol song, Can't Break Me Down, does not suck.

[troutman]

Best of 2014 Lists seem to come out earlier every year.

Mojo:

http://www.mojo4music.com/17483/50-b...4-final-score/

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...top_50_lp.html

1. Beck - Morning Phase
2. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
3. Sleaford Mods - Divide And Exit
4. Jack White - Lazaretto
5. St. Vincent - St. Vincent
6. Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather
7. Julie Byrne - Rooms With Walls And Windows
8. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
9. FKA Twigs - LP1
10. The Bug - Angels & Devils

[troutman]

Pitchfork's Highest Rated Albums of 2014

http://www.albumoftheyear.org/rating...t-rated/2014/1

NOTE: This is not a year end list. This list is ordered by the ratings Pitchfork awarded albums throughout 2014.

[East Coast Flame]

Originally Posted by troutman

Best of 2014 Lists seem to come out earlier every year.

Mojo:

http://www.mojo4music.com/17483/50-b...4-final-score/

That's a pretty British dad rock list. Don't think there's on one hip hop album on there. No Run The Jewels? Get outta here. Awesome to see The War on Drugs album so high though. That album kicks serious ass.

That is crazy early. Kendrick and Kanye still have albums coming out. Those will end up at the top of a lot of lists.

[troutman]

Stream Ariel Pink pom pom

http://www.stereogum.com/1718143/str.../album-stream/

The album manages to simultaneously be Pink’s most off-putting and most accessible work to date, completely twisted while still showing off his undeniably strong sensibility for pop weirdness. It’s also maybe the most polarizing release by any musician this year, heralded as an Album Of The Year contender by some and dismissed as unlistenable by others

This record is wonderful to me. Others might be enraged or confused.

[fatso]

Thanks for the lists troutman.

I need to listen to the new Ariel Pink but have been delaying doing so because of the strange reviews. Loved his last one though, but did find it pretty odd. If this new one is more odd, not sure I'll be able to take it.

Liked the new TV on the Radio on first listen. Didn't strike me as particularly remarkable for them though.

The Damon Albarn record is really good. Worth checking out if you like world music/pop music crossovers. It is probably his most coherent work to date.

I also finally gave the new U2 a couple listens. I'll probably get mocked for this, but I actually like it. It is much better than 'No Line' and I like the streamlined production.

[iLoveLamp]

Originally Posted by East Coast Flame

That's a pretty British dad rock list. Don't think there's on one hip hop album on there. No Run The Jewels? Get outta here. Awesome to see The War on Drugs album so high though. That album kicks serious ass.

That is crazy early. Kendrick and Kanye still have albums coming out. Those will end up at the top of a lot of lists.

Do you think either of those will actually come out this year? I don't think they're coming until next year

[fatso]

After eight years Damien Rice has a new record out, produced by Rick Rubin - 'My Favourite Faded Fantasy'. Not as much press around its release as I would have expected. It is better than '9' imo. The first single:

[Chill Cosby]

Originally Posted by fatso

After eight years Damien Rice has a new record out, produced by Rick Rubin - 'My Favourite Faded Fantasy'. Not as much press around its release as I would have expected. It is better than '9' imo.

My wife and I bonded over a mutual love of '9' when we were dating, so while I can't say MFFF is better than 9, it is still a huge deal in our house, and the excitement paid off. It's exceptional.

[Chill Cosby]

The new Strand of Oaks is really great as well. Anyone who dug into the latest War On Drugs should be right into it. Definitely worth checking out.

[troutman]

NME, album of the year = St. Vincent

http://www.nme.com/news/st-vincent/81340

01 | St. Vincent | St. Vincent
02 | Mac DeMarco | Salad Days
03 | The War On Drugs | Lost In the Dream
04 | Aphex Twin | Syro
05 | Caribou | Our Love
06 | La Roux | Trouble In Paradise
07 | Merchandise | After The End
08 | Jamie T | Carry On The Grudge
09 | Sleaford Mods | Divide and Exit
10 | Ex Hex | Rips

Top 50 songs:

http://www.nme.com/photos/nme-s-top-...014/364505/1/1

1. Future Islands – ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’
Future Islands on Letterman was one of the pop culture moments of 2014: from one performance, a small indie band broke through. The video’s had 3million views so far. But it wasn’t all about that, it’s a beautifully written song with an intriguing melody and theme that struck a chord with so many people: change.

Hey y'all - check out the BadBadNotGood Reinterpretation of "Seasons (Waiting on You)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWyJEhMHFdM

01 | Future Islands | Seasons (Waiting On You)
02 | Caribou | Can't Do Without You
03 | Fat White Family | Touch The Leather
04 | The War On Drugs | Red Eyes
05 | Run The Jewels | Blockbuster Night Pt. 1
06 | Kasabian | Eez-eh
07 | St. Vincent | Digital Witness
08 | Jamie T | Zombie
09 | Royal Blood | Little Monster
10 | Mac DeMarco | Chamber of Reflection

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by troutman

Pitchfork's Highest Rated Albums of 2014

http://www.albumoftheyear.org/rating...t-rated/2014/1

NOTE: This is not a year end list. This list is ordered by the ratings Pitchfork awarded albums throughout 2014.

Well look at that. Alberta Mac Demarco is on that list at #30.

[troutman]

American Songwriter’s Top 50 Albums of 2014

http://www.americansongwriter.com/20...0-albums-2014/

1. Sturgill Simpson: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
2014 was, undoubtedly, the year of Sturgill Simpson. The Kentucky-born singer songwriter burst on the scene seemingly out of nowhere when he released his second album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music in May, to the delight and awe of critics and fans alike. “Turtles All the Way Down” may be the first and only country song to nod to Stephen Hawking, but it’s not Simpson’s offbeat lyrics that make him such a refreshing addition to the country canon. Simpson emerged at the height of “bro country,” an overused moniker for the unfortunate wallet-chain-and-six-pack movement currently plaguing country radio, shining like the “reptile aliens made of light” he sings about in “Turtles” and earning him the honorific the “Savior of Country Music,” a title the often taciturn Simpson was more than reluctant to accept. Savior may be a pretty apt descriptor, though, as Metamodern Sounds grapples with questions of spirituality and identity, concepts typically reserved for headier genres that take on a new weight when underscored by the instrumentation of traditional, honky-tonk tinged country. Simpson may not be country music’s savior, but he is the genre’s poet laureate, bringing nuance back to a form that, especially recently, so desperately needs it.

19. Mac DeMarco: Salad Days

American Songwriter’s Top 50 Songs Of 2014

http://www.americansongwriter.com/20...50-songs-2014/

[troutman]

Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2014

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...40_2.html#more

01. Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden
02. At The Gates - At War With Reality
03. Horrendous - Ecdysis
04. Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
05. Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
06. Thou - Heathen
07. YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend
08. Vallenfyre - Splinters
09. Panopticon - Roads To The North
10. Morbus Chron - Sweven

[troutman]

Uncut's Top 75 Albums of 2014


http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...op_75_a_1.html

01 THE WAR ON DRUGS : Lost In The Dream
02 LEONARD COHEN : Popular Problems
03 APHEX TWIN : Syro
04 FKA TWIGS : LP1
05 SHARON VAN ETTEN : Are We There
06 ROBERT PLANT : lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar
07 HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER : Lateness Of Dancers
08 DAMON ALBARN : Everyday Robots
09 ST VINCENT : St Vincent
10 SUN KIL MOON : Benji

[troutman]

Edmonton band Wet Secrets wins $100,953 prize hours after its van overturns in QE2 snow storm

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/enter...161/story.html

In the wildest day of the Wet Secrets’ 10-year career so far, the Edmonton band lost one of their vehicles in a double-flip rollover on QE2, then won $100,953 — the richest prize in Alberta music history.

Playing a sold-out show at the Republik with finalists 36? and Lauren Mann and Fairly Odd Folk — both of Calgary — they took the top Peak Performance Project prize over hundreds of Alberta bands after a months-long competition staged by new Calgary radio station the Peak.


Saw all three of those bands earlier in the Project. All good choices for the Final Three.

[worth]

I've been listening to the the new Bahamas album for the past month and can't get it out of my head. What a work of art. A spectacular album.

Also really enjoying this summers release from Alvvays.

[fatso]

The new Bahamas record is excellent. It is a major step forward for him in terms of songwriting and musicianship. I saw him perform a couple years ago. He is great in concert too!

I also love the album Beck quietly released this year - 'Morning Phase'. If you like 'Sea Change'-era Beck, this is one for you.

[troutman]

The Quietus list their Albums Of The Year 2014

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...hat_its_d.html

ONE: Gazelle Twin - UNFLESH (Anti Ghost Moon Ray)
TWO: Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - Soused (4AD)
THREE: Swans - To Be Kind (Mute)
FOUR: East India Youth - TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER (Stolen)
FIVE: The Bug - Angels & Devils (Big Dada)
SIX: Grumbling Fur - Preternaturals (TQPC)
SEVEN: Katie Gately - Pipes (Blue Tapes)
EIGHT: Manic Street Preachers - Futurology (Sony)
NINE: Perc - The Power And The Glory (Perc Trax)
TEN: Jenny Hval & Susanna - Meshes Of Voice (SusannaSonata)

[troutman]

Q Magazine's Top 50 LPs of 2014: The War on Drugs are #1

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...nes_top_3.html

1. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
2. Alt-J - This Is All Yours
3. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
4. Manic Street Preachers - Futurology
5. Beck - Morning Phase
6. St Vincent - St Vincent
7. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
8. FKA twigs - LP1
9. Future Islands - Singles
10. Aphex Twin - Syro