____twoism

My 15 favorites of 2014 (in no particular order):

The Antlers - Familiars
Archive - Axiom
Ben Frost - Aurora
BRNS - Patine
Broken Bells - After the disco
Kiasmos - Kiasmos
Mogwai - Rave Tapes
Musée Mécanique - From Shores of Sleep
The Notwists - Close to the glass
Seekae - The Worry
Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
This Will Destroy You - Another Language
Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams
Warpaint - Warpaint
Wye Oak - Shriek

Really enjoyed that Timber Timbre LP, almost made my top 15.

That mix of creepy otherworldly songwriting and a respect for everything 50's, like gospel, light jazz and country.
It really creates a David Lynch-esque atmosphere, especially in the instrumentals, and tracks like Low Commotion, and Bring Me Simple Men.

ultrablue123 wrote:I made a consorted effort this year to listen to stuff coming out this year, so I could really make my list huge cause I have a lot of good stuff to pick from. I guess I'll limit it to 10 with 5 honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions:

Bayside - Cult (Punk/Alternative Rock)
Flying Lotus - You're Dead! (Electronic)
Rob Sonic - Alice in Thunderdome (Rap)
Geotic - Morning Shore (Eon Isle) (Ambient)
Toki Wright & Big Cats - Pangaea (Rap)

Top 10

Damacha - Ding Ding (Instrumental Hip-Hop)
anTOJE - Booyung LP (Instrumental Hip-Hop)
Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy (Rap)
The Koreatown Oddity - 200 Tree Rings (Rap)
ohrenbetäubende stille - N°1 (Ambient)
Hail Mary Mallon - Bestiary (Rap)
milo - A Toothpaste Suburb (Rap)
Limalo - Oasis of Days (Electronic)
The Souljazz Orchestra - Inner Fire (Jazz/Soul/Funk)
Has-Lo & Castle - Live Like You're Dead (Rap)

Great to see my boy The Koreatown Oddity mentioned here!

Giant Claw - DARK WEB



This is the most original album of 2014, for sure: a true gem!
For fans of Oneohtrix Point Never, James Ferraro and new age/plunderphonics/vaporwave in general...

@TTK: I think you should start a music blog. You're a true music fan, and have what it takes to be a decent music critic.

Top 10:

Tricky – Adrian Thaws
Aphex Twin – Syro
Tokimonsta - Desiderium
Beck – Morning Phase
Caribou – Our Love
Marian Hill – Play
Arca – Xen
Lone – Reality Testing
Sisyphus – Sisyphus
King Of The Mountains – Zoetrope

Honorable Mentions:

Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
Tycho – Awake
Mo Kolours – Mo Kolours
Yagya – Sleepygirls
Fatima – Yellow Memories

GH - I'm flatted, but I do not have what it takes to be a music critic at all. I barely have an understanding of music as it is, and I couldn't imagine myself listening to so much music a day. I spend most of my days playing guitar and keyboard.
I mean it seems I probably have listened to everything in this thread, but I've only heard a small number of albums, really. Just happens that this board has a pretty great taste.
... *Yeah, JUST SO HAPPENS when on a BoC board*

i Am Pylon - That's one of the more interesting releases I've heard this year. People use vaporwave when describing it but I don't hear that at all, I hear like a mutated version of Girl Talk with like, Paisley Parks, the Japanese footwork artist.

Compound Candy - Props for Beck, Sylvan Esso and Fatima. Beck almost made my list, and whilst I enjoyed the Sylvan Esso release, I didn't really *love* it outside of the track Coffee.

didn't listen to many new albums this year. i'll only post the 2014 albums i gave more than a few listens

good:
st. vincent - st. vincent
avey tare's slasher flicks - enter the slasher house
ariel pink - pom pom
beck - morning phase
aphex twin - syro

ok:
thom yorke - tomorrow's modern boxes
tv on the radio - seeds

st. vincent was my favourite

i didn't listen to the caribou despite its praise. i dislike jiaolong so much, i keep putting it off

Caribou really didn't do anything for me, but I haven't enjoyed anything from him since Andorra.

If you're lookin for some fresh music to listen to, I've put together this list of what I think are the most flawless albums that came out in 2014. Not genre-specific. Not label-specific. Just based on feeling and listen-value. Have a nice read, and thank you

20. Rustie - Green Language

I've sorta been a fan of Rustie since his first EP on Warp, however I felt like his sound didn't truly develop until this album. In all honesty, all of his stuff before this felt like it was repetitive. However, for me and this album, I think he broke free from that and we all got to see his true nature of slick, experimental sounds. Glad he made my list.

19. Xiu Xiu - Unclouded Sky

For anyone who's been remotely following Xiu Xiu, you'd know there's little words to express the true feelings and emotions their music literally tears from your brain. I ran across this gem in a record store and just had to buy it because I knew I wouldn't have been disappointed with it, and neither would my friend have when I gave it to him, haha. Hands down, I feel like this album is HIGHLY stylized, and touches territory that Xiu Xiu hasn't touched before...and it sounds great.

18. Rayko - Rebirth

This album is hella fun to listen to, and I don't care what age group you're in, that guitar twang on multiple of the tracks MUST get to you on some sort of nostalgic level. The album opener alone packs such a powerful punch that drags you back for more listens time and time again.

17. Sylvan Esso - [Self Titled]

Classic feminine vocals perfectly mixed with out-of-the-box melodies and slowly developing rhythms. I found myself unable to tear away from listening to "Coffee" this past summer, it was definitely one of the defining songs of my young-adulthood with such a catchy and memorable set-up. And the rest of the album is just as much of a turn-up. Have a listen.

16. Jungle - [Self Titled]

I never thought anything this groovy would have crossed the barrier of 1979...but here it is. Jungle. Total cruisin' to the sunset with your babe in the passenger seat music. Live in it for a bit.

15. Vermont - [Self Titled]

This album, another flaw-lacking creation housed on the Kompakt label, became one of my albums to lose stress to. Its perfect to loop during your sleep, even, or after a stressful day at work/school/home...leave it playing loud in your car with the windows open. Let the vibes carry you away with the wind.

14. Vessel - Punish, Honey

Vessel's previous albums is one of my all-time favorites. For that reason, I feel kinda bad putting this at number 14, but oh well it's just a number for my lame organizational habits. Onward, the sound Vessel creates for this album is DRASTICALLY different than that of his previous. It's some of the most brutal, raw, down-to-earth sounding stuff I've heard come out of this year. Worth every second of listening. There are few artists out there that can construct such unique rhythms and atmospheres such as Vessel's.

13. Real Estate - Atlas

Real Estate bring it back with another uniquely-fresh, never stopping for a bad breathe album. This one brings some style and organization that, in my opinion, is sorta new for them and works very well from beginning to end. All the while, stabbing beautiful and memorable melodies into your mind like a hot knife into butter.

12. Fucked Up - Glass Boys

DAMN good album. I'm usually not one for this heavy of a genre, however they drew me in with their sense of direction when it comes to melodic structure and the lead singer's obvious emotional connection to the lyrics being screamed and sang throughout. It wasn't just an album created JUST to create an album. It was meant to express something deep, and I felt it time and time again.

11. Kevin Drew - Darlings

Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew and his solo side project hits things off with this incredible, emotionally-driven album that seems to encompass the feelings that you get when you're having that one fantastic night with that fantastic person that you literally just met a couple hours ago and you feel like you've known them for years. Listen to it at night with them lights dimmed.

list continues next post...

10. Lone - Reality Testing

Quintessential R&S album of the year in my opinion. So fresh, so clean, so resonant in quality and memory. A very refreshing listen, and is perfect for that city drive. Very danceable, and contains some of the best turn-arounds and break-downs of most electronic albums I've heard in a while.

9. Ben Frost - A U R O R A

God damn, I've never listened to an album that gets my heart pounding and my very nerves questioning their existence before listening to Ben Frost's most recent work. This man knows what it means to create an ATMOSPHERE. You'll be so consumed by the drones and noise and pulse manipulation that you'll be taken off guard even harder when a rhythm develops out of the chaos. Very memorable and impacting.

8. Aphex Twin - Syro

Another beautiful gem brought to you by Richard D. James. Little can be said about his work that hasn't been said already, so I'll just say what this album means to me. I think it was very unique for the Aphex Twin image to put this one out. To me, it felt like it was more deeply personal than any of his other works...I can't really explain it well though...hahaha I'm real useful, right?

7. Clark - [Self Titled]

Chris Clark in all honesty completely lost me when it came to Iradelphic. I just wasn't feeling it at all. However, many would agree with me that Totems Flare is his strongest album by far, perhaps even one of the strongest albums on the Warp label in the past ten years. And I was so glad to hear that he totally brought back that same exact flame for his self titled. Incredible, destructive, and unforgiving. Listen to this damn album, kids!

6. Sad City - Introduction to Lisboa

I took an extremely personal affiliation with this EP. It gives me melancholy feelings that I can barely describe. It calms me down even more than Heathered Pearl's Loyal, which I never thought possible in a million years. And it brings me to a place where I felt I grew up in. With the constant and distant screeching of cars in a cityscape accompanied by a saxophone and wind-tunnels and all that good natural sound slowly working its way to rhythms/melodies that say "you'll be fine."

5. patten - ESTOILE NAIANT

What an incredibly unique and visually-stunning album (if you've watched the videos to accompany.) Patten just does something else...of course I don't know what exactly it is...but somehow he creates perfect concepts with the titles of the tracks and their sounds. I barely know what else to say about this album other than its a TRIP.

4. Eagulls - [Self Titled]

EVERY song from this album has unparalleled melody and an equally striking emotional impact on the listener. In my opinion, nobody has done the whole "Melodic-Punk" genre better, from what I've heard. Very great listen, with a seemingly endless replay value.

3. VHS Head - Persistence of Vision

Now I had been waiting for some time for this album. I've been an avid fan of Adrian's shit since he released Video Club on Skam. It's always unique and crazy and amazing and I'm always at a loss for words when trying to describe the feeling that all of it gives me. But it totally deserves more recognition then it might get.

2. Arca - Xen

Some of the best shit I've heard come out of this year BY FAR. I juggled back and forth between putting it at #1 or #2, but considering my number #1 choice, I think it was fair. This album is truly incredible. Perhaps its a statement on how human behavior can be so controversial and disorienting and contradicting. But I simply can not get over how Arca creates these incredible moments in their music where a melody rises so beautifully from organized chaos and sonic brutality...and they just take that melody and fucking DESTROY it. And it bothers me, but not as much as it captivates me on the way that they do it. It's like a beautiful death of a beautiful person. Over and over. Much love for this album.

1. Perfume Genius - Too Bright

I place this album at #1 solely because I share a deep, heart-wrenching connection with all of it. Being gay is having a life of conflicting turmoil. Each track has it's own feeling expressed that I believe literally every gay man goes through in some way. And it's not like this artist is just a gay dude putting shit out to say "hey, I'm fucking gay and I matter and you should pay attention to me." With this album, Perfume Genius PERFECTLY portrays the feelings and emotions that I, myself as a gay man went through in my coming, and am still going through in my life. And not only is this album about "gay men," it's mainly just about personal metamorphosis and self-absolution. It's about finding yourself in the blur of the night and the blinding daylight. And it's about not forgetting all of the painful things you may have thrown yourself into when you were stupid. Not to mention its CHALK FULL of glorious sounds, choruses, synths, compositions and atmospheres all in one.

And there ya go, folks. That's my list.
Tell me what you think.

interesting list, some stuff I've seen on a lot of lists, but also some stuff I've not seen on lists before.

even some stuff I may check out.

yeah man I'm checking out this Vermont album and it's real good.

the mix of warm melodies, rhythms, and the interplay between them really makes this a super solid release.

I'm probably forgetting some important ones, but these albums are definitive:

Laetitia Sadier - Something Shines
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
Real Estate - Atlas
Pure X - Angel
The Soundcarriers - Entropicalia
Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
Forever Pavot - Rhapsode
Gettomasa & Ruuben – Vellamo LP
Perfume Genius - Too Bright
Fatima - Yellow Memories


and OF COURSE: D'Angelo & The Vanguards - Black Messiah

Loooove that Pure X album, just missed my top 15.

The shoegaze meets Bee Gees soul approach is a really nice style.

The Telepathic Kid wrote:yeah man I'm checking out this Vermont album and it's real good.

the mix of warm melodies, rhythms, and the interplay between them really makes this a super solid release.

Hell yeah!!!!

andrew jackson jihad - christmas island was my favourite of the year. the foo fighters release from earlier this year was pretty great, too. syro comes in a close third.

St. Vincent - St. Vincent (killer live show)
Rubblebucket - Survival Sounds
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Aphex Twin - Syro
Mogwai - Rave Tapes
Wye Oak - Shriek
Lake Street Dive - Bad Self Portraits


honorable mention:
The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
Beck - Morning Phase

Past couple of years have been absolutely fantastic as far as releases go.