Thursday, March 26, 2015

Best Albums 2014

The top 10:
1 St. Vincent
2 Perfume Genius
3 The War on Drugs
4 Iceage
5 Angel Olsen
6 D'Angelo
7 Andy Stott
8 Viet Cong
9 Arca
10 (tie) Wreck and Reference/ Freddie Gibbs & Madlib / Shabazz Palaces


The Top 30, in more detail:
Angel Olsen: Burn Your Fire For No Witness
A better, alty Lucinda Williams. But then again, I always thought Ms. Williams was overrated. A soupçon of VU in there as well, so its even better.
Andy Stott: Faith in Strangers
Dark Electronica. semi-human. 
Aphex Twin: Syro
He's back and he hasn't missed a beat
Ariel Pink: Pom Pom
Zappa meets Flaming Lips (but not quite as good as the fawning reviewers say. Makes me want to listen to Zappa and the Lips instead. Besides, he’s a doosh)
Arca: Xen
Electronica meets noise music. Hammered metal, broken glass, and melted plastic. But you can dance to it
Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks and Panda Bear: Mr. Noah
Animal Collective keeps on keeping on; they're like rivers gently flowing; two extremely strange rivers
Bill Callahan: Dream River; and Sun Kil Moon: Benji
Snger songwriters who sing. And write songs. Some of their best work.
Caribou: Our Love
Another strong dance/electronic output. I am dancing to it as I write this
D’Angelo: Black Messiah
Sly meets Funkadelic meets D’Angelo 1990’s
Demdike Stare: Elemental
Sinister world Electronica. Love it.
Earth: Primitive and Deadly
That about sums it up
FKA Twigs- LP1
If the world were just, then this would be on all the top 40 stations: Very interesting artist and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
Flying Lotus: You’re Dead
Second favorite electronic album of the year (after Andy Stott)
Future Islands: singles
Great balance of pop and melodrama
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Piñata
Old school lyrics and beats, Great pairing.
Goat: Commune
Dirty Swedish hippies
Have A Nice Life- The Unnatural World
Is Ian Curtis still alive? I’m so cold.
Hiss Golden Messenger: Lateness of Dancers
Dylan, if he was born in 1980, playing on AM radio, if it still existed
Hundred Waters - The Moon Rang Like a Bell
Very Pretty
Iceage: Plowing into the Field of Love
Grownup punk; top five album of the year
Jack White: Lazaretto
He can do no wrong, musically. And a shout out to Detroit! Ok, Nashville. 
The New Pornographers: Brill Building
Their best
Olga Bell: Край
A Russian Dirty Projectors. I mean literally; a Russian Dirty Projectors,
Ought: More Than Any Other Day
For those of you missing the Talking Heads
Perfume Genius: Too Bright
Haunting; one of the top albums of the year
Run The Jewels: Run The Jewels 2
El-P and Killer Mike. They need a good nickname like Brangelina.
Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
Hippy rap; best of the genre since classic De La Soul
Sleaford Mods: Divide and Exit
The Fall meets Eminem. Weird, right?
St. VIncent: St. Vincent
Her most complete album, by far. Bold, squiggly, full of energy, and maybe album of the year
Steve Gunn: Way Out Weather
Jerry would approve, if he were un-Dead. 
Sunn0))) & Scott Walker: Soused
Warning: Your head will blow up
Swans: To Be Kind
Not your angry Daddy’s Swans
Tanya Tagaq: Animism
Modern yet ancient yet modern Eskimo throat singer. Very interesting
The War On Drugs: Lost in the Dream
Spacey, catchy, lustrous, intricate, and beautifully rendered. Top five (is that more than five top fives? Oh well)
Tweedy: Sukierae
Best grownup Wilco album and best Wilco album since Yankee Foxtrot Hotel
Ty Segall (and Fuzz): $ingle&, Manipulator and Fuzz
Best garage rock artist of the 21st century, hands down, motherfuckas! And best live show 2014
Viet Cong: Cassette
This punk/new wave album could have come out in 1986, but I like it more today that I would have then. Only because I wasn’t as evolved as I am today
Vince Staples: Hell Can Wait
Gangsta rap: Expressive, imagistic wordplay and somber cynicism
Wreck and Reference: Want
The most unique and interesting black metal band I have ever heard
Xylouris White: Goats
Grautralian (that's Greek + Australian) mashup 
Zackey Force Funk
Prince meets chill wave
(Honorable mention : liars, neneh cherry, spoon, caribou, todd terje, sharon von etton, antlers, strands of oak, total control, thee silver mt. zion orch., white lung. Since they didn't make the best of list, I refused to capitalize their names)


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