Best Albums of 2014

Hells_Bells · Post edited by Hells_Bells at 2014-12-26 04:41:53

I couldnt see a thread for this so here we go. This is mine in no order at all.

Creation by The Pierces

Present Tense by Wild Beasts

Stay Gold by First Aid Kit

The Take Off and Landing of Everything by Elbow

Jungle by Jungle

To Be Kind by Swans

Futurology by Manic Street Preachers

Lost In The Dreams by The War on Drugs

Strange Weather EP by Anna Calvi

Songs of Innocence by U2

The Other Person Is You by El May

I forgot to mention Herd Runners by Cherry Ghost. It's lovely

iuventus

For the most part, I'm still listening to 2013, which was a great year in music for me. With the exception of my first pick, the others in my list were worth obtaining, but (so far) par-to-sub-par for those artists. Mind, I'm probably forgetting someone.

Martin Fröst Plays Brahms, Martin Fröst
Dreams, WhoMadeWho
White Bird in a Blizzard, OST, Harld Budd & Robin Guthrie
Jane 12-21, Harold Budd

Pet

Carla Bruni -- a l'olympia

silverjet

Hands down, Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence! I think it's gonna be on the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, like her debut.

Dreeke

1. Amy LaVere - Runaway's Diary
2. The Honey Trees - Bright Fire
3. Sarah Jaffe - Don't Disconnect
4. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
5. Liesa van der Aa - WOTH
6. I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro
7. Lykke Li - I Never Learn
8. Hallo Venray - Show
9. Rökkurró - Innra
10. Nicole Atkins - Slow Phaser

Pet · Post edited by Pet at 2014-12-22 04:47:44

I bought Ms Del Rey's previous album, but haven't (yet?) purchased Ultraviolence. After some work with a magnifying glass to read microprinted dates, I've now identified six 2014 albums in my possession:

Carla Bruni -- a l'olympia. The only one to come to mind yesterday. I bought the CD plus DVD version, which allows me to see as well as hear the lovely Ms Bruni. It's a recording (or rather two recordings, on CD and DVD) of a great concert. An especially interesting song (for me, at least) is a duet with Marianne Faithfull. It's entirely fair to say that, as a teenager, I had a huge crush on Ms Faithfull. Inevitably, she has aged since then (as I have). Her current gravel voice makes an interesting contrast with Ms Bruni's sweetness. Carla Bruni is a tall woman and, on the DVD, we see how she towers over Marianne (as, indeed, she does in old news footage over her husband ex-president Sarkozi).
Sophie Ellis Bextor -- Wanderlust. The album of year, in my opinion, and by far Ms Bextor's best to date. Almost certainly belongs in the top ten best albums in my possession. Every song is brilliant, and every one of them is performed exquisitely.
Vanessa Paradis -- Love Songs Tour. I don't know how come I didn't remember this yesterday. I'd pre-ordered it from Amazon, and it arrived very recently. If not the album of the year, this is the artifact of the year. The version I pre-ordered is essentially a hard covered photo book in a slip case. Three of the pages are envelopes containing discs. There are two CDs (of different concerts) and a DVD (of one of the concerts complete). It's an object of beauty, and the music is lovely.
Uh Huh Her -- Future Souls. I'm a huge Uh Huh Her fan but, so far, this (their new album) hasn't grabbed me to the extent of their previous two. Maybe it'll creep up on me in due course.
Lindsey Stirling -- Shatter Me. I haven't yet listened to this very often but, over the years, I probably will.
Kylie -- Kiss Me Once. Not her very best album (which is, in my opinion, Aphrodite) but perhaps amongst her best three or four.

Low

St Vincent gets a mention from me.

Sartori

The following have caused an amount of musical euphoria and elicited excited somersaults in my pants in my mind this year -

Royksopp - The Inevitable End

Joris Voorn - Nobody Knows

Porter Robinson - Worlds

Tinlicker - Like No Other (EP)

Todd Terje - Its Album Time

silverjet · Post edited by silverjet at 2014-12-22 18:53:37

Also love Lykke Li's new album but Wounded Rhymes is her magnum opus. Gunshot is undeniably one of the year's best songs in my opinion.

Pet, I've been a huge Kylie fan I also love Aphrodite which is head to head with Body Language for me. But her decreasing interest in writing her songs annoys me. Agree with your thoughts on the new album though, but still I think she should be in the creative department of her own work.

Pet

silverjet said:

Pet, I've been a huge Kylie fan I also love Aphrodite which is head to head with Body Language for me. But her decreasing interest in writing her songs annoys me. Agree with your thoughts on the new album though, but still I think she should be in the creative department of her own work.

I agree -- Kylie should be in the creative department of her own work. Maybe that is one of the unsatisfactory things about Kiss Me Once. Also, some of the Kiss Me Once songs just seem to be there to fill up space.

I listed all of the albums is my possession that I could date to 2014. Kiss Me Once might not have been included had I bought loads of 2014 albums, and only listed the very best. As time passes, I'll probably buy more 2014 albums. The album I bought most recently is Rosie and the Goldbug, which seems to date to 2008. It's taken me half a dozen years to catch up with that.

tattmaylor · Post edited by tattmaylor at 2014-12-23 18:22:42

You know I usually set up this thread ever year (and upset Carpy by doing it in November :) ) but this year I just couldn't work out what albums I really liked. There has been some great music and absolute classic songs but i'm not sure there has been any really great albums. But here are the nearest:

I. Boo Hewerdine - Best of (My name in the brackets)

Actually this is the exception, but it's a decade spanning compilation. Live this guy is a fine musician and a great wit (see him live - you won't be disappointed) but it's the songs that make him a huge talent. He has written for pop singers, folk singers, blues singers, swedish pop singers to UK teeny boppers (Hepburn) and is famous for Eddi Readers - Patience of Angels (to be honest one of my least favourites songs) and also the first Hafdis Huld album. Hence the album title. But his songs all sound way better played by him ...stood in front of you. * Also this album is the only album I can think of where the 3 new songs he wrote, for the Best of, are the best songs on the album.

2. Phantogram - Voices

One of may favourite new bands. 2nd proper album has taken them to a new level. Why these guys are not getting more coverage in the UK is beyond me. So many different elements mashed into one edgy sound but still identifiable as crafted pop songs and performed by 2 very sexy people! What more could you want!

3. Napoleon (Simon Mills) - 2014 EP project

Not really an album, but this guy set out to make a 4 track EP every month for a year! He still has one day to go but has given away a track from EP 12 so he can still do it. An amazing feat and even more amazing that he has kept up the quality level. Check out his free xmas track released today. https://soundcloud.com/simon-mills/rudolph-free-download#t=0:00

4. Royksopp - The Inevitable End / Royksopp & Robyn - Sayit

So close on this. Maybe they spread themselves a bit thin doing both together + for me they messed up the track listing on TIE. But it's great that they have been going for so long and still sound at their prime. Making some brilliant tracks on both these album.

5. Howling Bells - Heartstrings

6. Paul Thomas Saunders - Beautiful Desolation

7. Courtney Barnett - The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas

8. OY - No Problem Saloon

9. Samaris - Silkidrangar

10. Honeyblood - Honeyblood

...all above saw at one festival this year. The Amazing Great Escape!

+ new albums from:First Aid Kit, Lamb, The Phantom Band, Kero Kero Bonito, New Build, Amatorski

...and a discovery (released a few years ago) Soko - I Thought I Was an Alien

Finally this is not an album, but a performance of an album that blow me away. Chris Corner (IAMX) one of may favourite artists was hospitalised last year due to insomnia (and other things) and retreated back to the UK to live in a shed in his parents garden (never a good sign). But it seems he is better and still wants to make music and if this first gig back (done on online reworking his first album) is anything to go by his new stuff will be amazing!

Ponygurl

@tattie Oh man, sounds like Chris Corner lost it a little. I think that's par for the course with artists though- losing oneself or manic behavior. Read some of his blog- he wrote this..

"When I watch fire or the sea I can’t reconcile the idiocy in the world.
I sit here and I observe myself following rain drops running down the edge of a tulip.
I am the raindrop, I am the tulip.
I am devoted to the universe. I am consciousness totality infinity.
I look into the eyes of a person and I see eternity.
This is reality. The superficial constructs of modern life are not."

Sometimes it's just seeing beyond yourself- and past this illusion..it can break you down.

tattmaylor · Post edited by tattmaylor at 2014-12-24 08:46:10

@pony had you already read this? You a fan?

Here's a blog for anybody else. He can be a bit pretentious but I found it quite eloquent especially the family bit. http://www.iamx.eu/blog/

Ponygurl

I do like his music and emotion- but it was actually the part you wrote about living in his parent's shed that made me want to read his blog. His insight into depression was astounding. A deep man. He has the gift of insight into the Human Condition..and a gift with words.

hunter

I found this to be a very exciting year in music for new artists.

My favorite album of 2014 by far and away is;

The Acid - Liminal

And then in no particular order;

fka Twigs - LP1
SOHN - Tremors
Lana Del Rey - UltraViolence
Beck - Morning Phase
Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband
Lo-Fang - Blue Films
Lamb - Backspace Unwind
Jessie Ware - Tough Love
The Black Keys - Turn Blue

With a few honorable mentions for;

Banks - Goddess
How To Dress Well - What Is This Heart?
Grouper - Ruins
Perfume Genius - Too Bright
St. Vincent - St. Vincent

And my favorite song of the year is actually a tie between two artists who DID NOT have an album on my end of the year list;

Sia - Chandelier
Laura Doggett - Phoenix (she has only a couple of songs on her Soundcloud page but if this debut single is a sign of things to come I am incredibly excited for her debut EP or album!)

iuventus

Bless Sia, but when I first heard Chandelier on the radio, I thought it was Miley Cyrus. Oof! LOLZ

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