Yak 2014
so i listened to a bunch of albums from 2014 and these are ones that i liked. all of
these are good. this list is ranked. there are also good album that are not on this list. |
| 90 |  | Replica
Beast
hardcore/PUNX/sounds like punch kinda/female vocals |
| 89 |  | Modern Pain
Self Deconstruction
hardcore/cool local band/punk |
| 88 |  | Two Knights
Shut Up
emo/these guys sound a lot better live tbh/and they didn't really play anything from this
album actually/whatever tho this is still good/twinkly/gay/local to me |
| 87 |  | Sugary Sweet Machines
Tours of the Bleak
industrial/experimental/judio and laughingman/swaeg/ambieaant |
| 86 |  | Myrkur
Myrkur
black metal/folk metal/ambient ish/lady in forest type of vibes |
| 85 |  | I Live In Netherlands
I Live In Netherlands
honestly no idea how to describe this lol/CM Punk is dead/this is so fun tho like wow/google
translate core/ -1 out of fucking 10/:}] |
| 84 |  | science is made up of mistakes
The Backbone of the Night
skramzxzzzz AGTAIN/spain/off cloud nine records/primo screamo ayyy lmao |
| 83 |  | Demonbrother
Beyond The Veil
hardcore/that nasty shit/powerviolence/psychedelic and fucking weird |
| 82 |  | Tanks
Asterisk
emo/catchy/indie-ish/sounds like stuff kman likes |
| 81 |  | Page of Concrete
remembrances
screamo/more US skramz that's good huh/pg. 99ish/emoviolence |
| 80 |  | Fog Lake
Virgo Indigo
dream pop/ambient/thanks phlegm/thanks fam/erik is the best song |
| 79 |  | Youth Novel
Turned Around Abruptly Beside a Mirror...
screamo/some more good US skramz from this year/and from michigan too they've had some
good emoviolence type stuff lately/prob cause of nolan arthur and stuff |
| 78 |  | Yor
Lack of Being
house/fucking "outsider house"???/electronic/techno |
| 77 |  | An Anecdote
S/T
screamo/a swedish skramz album that's actually grindy and hardcore-ish instead of post-
rocky/yea lol |
| 76 |  | Dysphoria (ambient)
The Infinite Void Of The Lilin Soul
raw black metal/like really raw/ambient/experimental/new zealand/not sput made |
| 75 |  | Sugary Sweet Machines
Controlled Breathing
ambient/dreams/awakes/experimental/post-rock/some industrial |
| 74 |  | Gas Chamber
Hemorrhaging Light
powerviolence/psychedelic/really odd and cool/hospital jams/iron lung pv records stuff |
| 73 |  | Apparitionist
Godspeed
post-hardcore/fugazi/ruby took the cover photo and then i edited it and then brendan added
text pretty cool huh/noise rock |
| 72 | | Full Of Hell and Merzbow
Full Of Hell & Merzbow
HARDCORE/NASTY/ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGH/fantano likes it |
| 71 |  | weak
weak
skramz/lo-fi raw skramz of dooooom/hehehehehehe its very cool |
| 70 |  | Common Ignorance
Come And Take It
tx hardcore/female yelling/bad brains/or something/PUNK |
| 69 |  | Lil Debbie
Young Bitch
hip hop/white girl mob/trap/fucking cook goddamn/sm0k |
| 68 |  | A Slow Descent
Dance With Me Upon His Secret Ocean
ambient/wavy ass space shit/judio/experimental/i have like 12 tapes of this in my closet/i had
to listen to each one as i dubbed it/"some of my fav bands didnt release as much material in
their whole existence as judio did in a year" |
| 67 |  | Swans
To Be Kind
swans/post-punk/swans/mu/swans/soemthing idk experimetnaLl??/swans/overhyped but still
great/swans |
| 66 |  | $uicideboy$
KILL YOUR$ELF III: The Budd Dwyer $aga
cloud rap/trap/white as fuck/hip hop/stuff/100 blunts to tha face |
| 65 |  | Kill The Intellectuals
something about a new exciting future called...
thank fucking christ i was so sick of her sucking/lo-fi/folk punk/sad grrrl/angela grace
foster/you would all fucking hate this lmao/what can i say she charmed me with this
one/bedroom indie/she's such a fucking sweetheart tho |
| 64 |  | Thee Silver Mount Zion
Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
drunken post-rock/efrim menuck/i miss their old sound/but this still rules obviously |
| 63 |  | Marasme
De llums i ombres
post-metal/sludge metal/spain/coolio/post-rock |
| 62 |  | Pill Friends
Fade Into Nothing
lo-fi something/indie/I WILL TAKE PILLS/vibes |
| 61 |  | The Antlers
Familiars
indie/alex got me to listen to this/thanks alex/cool stuff/bluesy |
| 60 |  | This Will Destroy You
Another Language
post-rock/top tier crescendo-core/driving on the way to the hospital/and i turned it off to lsiten
to ontario gothic/it's a bit repetitive but still beautiful and atmospheric |
| 59 |  | King's Girls
King's Girls
skramz/they used to sound like jeromes dream type stuff with their own spin which was
awesome but now they're produced by will killingsworth so the sound is more full and less
fragile and less JDish but still cool/hardcore/man their EP before this was too good tho |
| 58 |  | Nine of Swords
I Can't Stand My Own Face
powerviolence/white girl grind violence/hardcore/jams/lesbian vegan feminish hardcore |
| 57 |  | DiE (UK)
Vexed
HARDCORE/goddamn this could easily be higher tbh it's so good/PUNK AF |
| 56 |  | Fun Home
Knit Into Place
VIBES/GOOD VIBES/EMO??/INDIE??/broken word media/but i felt so tired |
| 55 |  | Weak Wrists
Demo
skramz/some of the only good US skramz this year/grindy/i love it man |
| 54 |  | Sophie
Lemonade/Hard
"computer music"???/electronic/bangers/i'm not even sure |
| 53 |  | Nayru/Meryl Streaker
Split
birdcore/skramz/BIRDCORE/CHREET CHREET CHREET/nayru are so fucking good i can't wait
until they release another album/meryl streaker are cool too |
| 52 |  | Tetola93
Tetola93
skramz/japan/underwater skramz/fucking weird but cool/kind of a breath of fresh air in a
somewhat stale genre at this point |
| 51 |  | Wakingmoment
Peaks
prog metal/djent/clim is fucking sexy/post-rock/gazey |
| 50 |  | Human Hands
Human Hands
emo/sounds like 90s emo/sounds like indian summer/sounds really good |
| 49 |  | Deer in the Headlights
Deer in the Headlights
hardcore/skramz/"crust punk"?/female fronted bosnian something/goooood |
| 48 |  | Yung Lean
Unknown Memory
hip hop/cloud rap/not as good as his other stuff/still great |
| 47 |  | Morning Effort
I heard you the first time, it just wasn't funny
emo/twinkly/bedroom emo or some gay shit/i love it |
| 46 |  | Crooked Sun
Demo
indie rock/lo-fi/vibes/wavy as fuck/bruh |
| 45 |  | Black James Franco
Sun House
soul/indie rock/jam rock/lots of rock/a local band to me that's actually cool |
| 44 |  | Hikari Todo
the joys in not knowing
shoegaze/dream stuff/good vibes/smile yung cub/indonesia |
| 43 |  | Clouded
Clouded
hardcore/skramz/coooooool stuff/jams hard |
| 42 |  | Joyce Manor
Never Hungover Again
pop punk/not real punk/the band that's ruining punk/really good/vibes/morissey |
| 41 |  | Darkspace
Dark Space III I
atmospheric black metal/floating through fucking space/riffs/not as good as their other
albums/still rules |
| 40 |  | White SeeD
Sick In A Place Away from Everything
ambient/lo-fi/i love this style too much/beautiful/it's like i fell and couldn't get up/homemade |
| 39 |  | Marmozets
The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets
post-hardcore/pop punk/funnnn/i guess it's kind of like paramore but yknow better and all that |
| 38 |  | Towers
Bel Air Highrise Plantation
metalcore/weird as fuck/skramz??/noise rock/hardcore/california themed or smthn |
| 37 |  | Vanessa Rossetto
Whole Stories
field recordings/experimental/special/people need to hear whole stories/ambient/chamber
instrumentation |
| 36 |  | The Hotelier
Home, Like NoPlace Is There
Musically this album is nothing special. Really, I mean that. It would be so easy for someone
like me to blow this off as more "emo revival" twaddle that introduces nothing new or
interesting. But I found a way to connect with it. Not through the whole thing, but through
parts. Through lines. Through melodies. Through deliveries. And at those parts there is nothing
better, nothing more affecting. It's those moments that make this album.
pop punk/emo/punk/stuff/sad/teenage girls like this/i like this |
| 35 |  | Patch Kit
I Think I'm Going To Throw Up
emo/pop punk/there is a girl singing/she is cool/more vibes/damn i'm listening to this again
it's so fucking good UNGHhhhhHHh/better than the new and very welcome |
| 34 |  | nic/Old Soul
Split
atmospheric black metal/blackgaze/skramzgaze/dreamo/other made up words |
| 33 |  | Lil Ugly Mane
THE WEEPING WORM
hip hop/trap/i be i be hibernatin gettin high/US History jams/fucking vibes/cook |
| 32 |  | Whirr
Sway
shoegaze/other things related to shoegaze/i think it's good/it's a whirr album |
| 31 |  | Flower Face
Funeral Kid
more ruby/this is really beautiful like homesick/sad tho/indie folk stuff/lo-fi i guess |
| 30 |  | The World is a Beautiful Place...
Audiotree Live 3.1.2014
emo/i still miss tom/they sound really good still/this has a better version of shopper's
beef/spoken word/you know |
| 29 |  | Suicideyear
Remembrance
instrumental hip hop/trap/hi-hats/vibes/smoke weed |
| 28 |  | Cloudkicker
Little Histories
BEN SHARP/I LOVE YOU BEN SHARP/djent/BEN SHARP/uh idk prog metal post-rock wtf do you
call this anyway/GOOD VIBES/i love |
| 27 |  | Bones
Garbage
sesh/hip hop/cloud rap/shower jams/quotable/love u pots/but this rules |
| 26 |  | Oh, Rose
That Do Now See
indie rock/lo-fi/grrrl jams/anytime jams/indie folk/rlly nice |
| 25 |  | Self Defense Family
Indoor Wind Chimes/Cottaging
post-hardcore/more yelling/less porn star interviews/post-punk/atmosphere/punk |
| 24 |  | Lord Snow/Afterlife Kids
Split
It's really unfortunate that the production on the Lord Snow side is poor because their songs
are amazing as always, Steph's vocals are continuously improving, the riffs and drums are
fucking great but it's like every time Erik hits the snare it hurts my ears a little bit. And he
does use the snare a lot. Still their side is fantastic and the Afterlife Kids side is fantastic as
well.
screamo/hardcore/afterlife kids are more moshy and lord snow are more mathy/great af |
| 23 |  | Death Grips
The Powers That B - Part I: Niggas on the Moon
hippity hoppity/deaf grapes/f-fuck me out/mu/social outcast hip hop/quotable |
| 22 |  | Purge.
Sewage
hardcore/powerviolence/sludge/grind/all heavy genres/bone-crushing/lunch time misanthropy |
| 21 |  | LLLL
Paradice
dream pop/japan/chillwave/good vibes/lunch time jams/show this to your weeaboo friends |
| 20 |  | Materic
Between Stone Slabs
screamo/post-hardcore/noise rock/russian/the riff that comes in like 2 minutes into the 2nd
track is way too fucking good like one of the best riffs i've heard this year goddamn/sweet
af/can't stop listening to this |
| 19 |  | Code Orange
I Am King
I think Wolfe said it better than I ever could with "it's cuz you THROWDOWN to this, not to
seek technical prowess. get in the mosh, bitch"
hardcore/chugging/moshing/drinking vegetable juice/sludge/metalcore/get over yourselves |
| 18 |  | The World is a Beautiful Place...
Between Bodies
emo/spoken word/"pretentious"/everyone hates this but i love it/like seriously this makes me
feel a lot of things/chris i love you don't listen to the h8rs/lunch time jams/i don't like dave as
much as tom/whatever this is so fucking good |
| 17 |  | Hit The Pigeon Boy!
It's a Pretty Dark Place to Leave a Piece of Light
emo/youth/israeli/twinkly/demo/read my review/this spawned really the only review i've
written that i think is good probably |
| 16 |  | tide/edit
Foreign Languages
math rock/really good vibes/instrumental/sunny days/read johnny's review |
| 15 |  | D. Tiffany
S/T
Incredible lo-fi and organic house music that's been on a regular rotation ever since I first
heard it. Very vibey and has an appealing aesthetic to it. Also has some fucking sweet
melodies like "Fade Groove" goddamn that song is too good.
house/hosue/fucking "outsider house"???/lo-fi/jams/woahhhh/smile young cub/sorry bout ur
chains |
| 14 |  | S
Cool Choices
This one is so sad but it makes me so happy. It makes me happy because this is living and
breathing proof that Jenn Ghetto has still got it. Releasing her best album in THIRTEEN years,
and while it's her poppiest album it doesn't change the fact that this thing is fucking special.
Especially the piano tracks like omg "Losers" is honestly one of my fave songs Jenn has
written and man whenever she's not singing about parking her lyrics are perfect. It's varied as
well like I'm pretty sure "Tell Me" is the closest thing she's ever done to a "banger" and then
there's just the regular indie rock tracks with her beauty injected in them mannnn it's nice.
indie rock/sad grrrl/jenn ghetto/amazing/heart-breaking/jenn is my spirit animal |
| 13 |  | Crying
Get Olde Second Wind
Okay so technically half of this album is from 2013 but I don't give a SHIT because those
songs are so NICE they can release em TWICE (hehehe) and the new songs are incredible as
well because well they're Crying and they don't make music if it's not awesome. BUT OMG
man they are so fun and I just love them so much their music is cute and bubbly it makes me
so happy and makes me DANCE. (oh and the songs from last year are REMASTERED so yea
they are new technically)
pop punk/chiptune/indie pop/electronic/FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN/:DD |
| 12 |  | Destiny Potato
Lun
AFTER THREE YEARS THEY FINALLY PUT OUT AN ALBUM. It was well worth the wait honestly. I
suppose it's easy for the majority of the userbase to hate anything labeled as "pop djent" but
goddamn man it's so fun and infectious it's impossible for me not to love it. David Maxim
Micic is an incredible musician and guitar player and songwriter and just damn he never
disappoints. And Aleksandra Djelmas(h) is a glorious vocalist and damn man this is just a
great listen every time.
djent (lol)/pop/metal/fucking fun as fuck/aleskandra djelmash is bae as well/makes me dance
and have fun |
| 11 |  | Vi Som Alskade Varandra Sa Mycket
Den sorgligaste musiken i varlden
Another killer Swedish screamo album, reminiscent of a less post-rock Suffocate For Fuck
Sake. Magical stuff. Check the review, it'll tell you all you need to know.
screamo/more swedish stuff/they really killed it this year/emo/a lot of people think this is
really great and i agree with them |
| 10 |  | Flower Face
Homesick
I can't listen to this anymore. It's overwhelming. 16 year old Ruby crafted in her bedroom
something that makes me feel more than most music can. All it is, is just her soft voice with
acoustic guitar and piano but amidst all that is the birth of an incredible songwriter and a
human being with human feelings and experiences that make me feel closer to her through
her songs than I do to any musician in recent memory. Remarkably beautiful and personal to
me.
bedroom folk/lo-fi/sad grrrl/indie something/indie everything/ruby is bae |
| 9 |  | Saudade
A Long Lifetime of Dying Slowly
I actually don't have too much to say this about one. It's just another example of how euro
skramz killed it this year. Perfectly captures the sound that bands like Sed Non Satiata and
Daitro have captured in the past with a more lo-fi and visceral sound. The post-rock is built in
wonderfully and the whole album is drenched in a bleak and beautiful atmosphere amongst the
chaos.
screamo/more euro skramz/claustrophobia/something beautiful |
| 8 |  | Self Defense Family
Try Me
I'm still a bit surprised at how much how much controversy arose from this album. I'm not
sure what everyone that disliked it was expecting. Roughly 40 minutes of Try Me consists of
the monologue of a porn star. There's upwards of 6 minutes where Patrick Kindlon hoarsely
repeats the same line over and over. This isn't an album you go into expecting straight-
forward and orthodox post-hardcore. It's so much more than that. Self Defense Family do
things their way, and honestly, their way is fucking awesome. Songs like "Tithe Pig" and
"Aletta" are just incredible punk songs. What makes them so good though is how they inject
their oddities into this punk formula and create something beautiful and original. Their sound
is unique and identifiable, and even though it's not accessible to everyone, Try Me is a prime
example that "punk isn't dead".
future music/post-hardcore/yelling/pornstar interviews/"super boring"/super good/punk |
| 7 |  | Foxes In Fiction
Ontario Gothic
This album, as dreamy and vibey as it is, is about loss. Warren Hildebrand dedicated this
album to the loss of his sister, and the melancholy is present under the layers of reverb on
dreamy keys and spacey falsetto vocals. It still is a dream pop album though, and I daresay
the most effective music I've heard come out of the genre. The melodies are infectious and
the production is as dreamy as it gets. Every song is a highlight and all the way through the
album maintains a captivating and beautiful atmosphere.
dream pop/ethereal/orchid tapes/beautiful/spaced out in a car driving the hospital |
| 6 |  | Via Fondo
Fast
I could say that this is like 14 minutes of Suis La Lune but better, but that doesn't quite justify
its spot. "Skramz" really let me down this year. King's Girls traded in their amazing sound for
something more beefy and generic, Lord Snow forgot how to produce drums, Coma Regalia
continue to squander their amazing songwriting skills by doing brief splits with far inferior
bands, and the Carrion Spring/Sed Non Satiata split didn't come out. I had to look to Europe
for the good stuff, and this album did not let me down. It's only 14 minutes but the
songwriting is perfect, the vocals are impassioned and do a good job of not ruining the perfect
instrumentals, the production is crisp and not overdone, and it's everything I want in screamo.
skramz/emo/sweden/post-rockish/despair/beauty/intensity |
| 5 |  | Ricky Eat Acid
Three Love Songs
I guess it's a bit ridiculous to have two of Sam Ray's albums in my top 5, but I really don't
care. I'm actually really happy with the amount of recognition this album got here, and
elsewhere. Sam's music is beginning to appeal to a wider mass of people which is really
awesome and with Three Love Songs being accessible it doesn't sacrifice any of the
personality that was present in his past ambient works. The lo-fi qualities are still there and
the homey vibes are still there from back when he made his album under the name "Heroin
Party" and he does an amazing job of combining the dancy chillwave vibes or Ricky Eat Acid
releases like "haunt u forever" and "like i was floating" with the beautiful ambience of his REA
releases like "seeing little ghosts everywhere" and " you get sick; you regret things" to create
something beautiful, cohesive, and thoroughly enjoyable.
ambient/ethereal/sam ray/electronic/reaching up towards god and falling short, over and over
again/fucking beautiful like damn/a complete experience |
| 4 |  | Baton Rouge
Totem
Labeling this album as "emo" doesn't nearly do it justice. It's so much more than that. I
mean, for one thing it definitely doesn't sound like any emo album I've ever heard (and I've
heard a lot lol), but the instrumentation is just like.... FUCK. The way Baton Rouge combine
together so many styles seamlessly and then write these amazing riffs and drum fills that put
it all together is seriously admirable. The vocals aren't too prevalent, but they're charming
and serve their purpose on top of the music. Baton Rouge hadn't put out an album in 3 and a
half years for a reason, they were crafting together this jewel right here.
emo/post-rock/post-hardcore/jam rock/;]]/riffs/chill out and enjoy life to this |
| 3 |  | Grouper
Ruins
This is a personal one. I don't associate it with any sort of loss, or any particular sadness, but
it's still personal. And that's mostly due to the music, judging by many people's words on this
album it seems to have that factor that grabs you and connects with you through the sounds
Liz creates. Due to this it's difficult for me to describe it without clichés (but isn't everything),
but it's beautiful. That's really all I need to say about it, and all that I can say about it. There
was a big storm that hit my area about 3 or 4 months ago. It wasn't anything too huge but it
was the biggest storm that I've experienced. Right after the storm, I was in a car driving
through the area. I listened to this album three times. It was a unique experience, the music
coupling with the wrecked trees and power lines. We got lost and drove through a very rural
area on what I think was the 3rd listen and I vividly remember hearing "Lighthouse" as I
looked out the window and it was a lot. This album is a lot.
ambient/folk/sad grrrl/beautiful/playing piano and singing/liz harris is perfect/pianogaze |
| 2 |  | Alex G
DSU
Alex G is one of those crazy and weird musicians, and I mean that in the best way possible. I
don't mean he's mentally unstable or anything, he's not Daniel Johnston level, but he's uhhh,
he's odd. He's unique. Think sort of like a Mac DeMarco type but if Mac listened to way more
Elliot Smith and was friends with Mat Cothran. This may seem like an irrelevant point but it
reflects in his music. His style is his own, his lyrical style is unorthodox (and actually
incredible once you read into what he's saying) and his aesthetics are on point. When I saw
Alex G live this year, aside from his set being incredible and his screaming on the chorus of
"Icehead" (one of my favorite tracks here) rocking my cock, he had an incredibly "real"
presence that's also omnipresent on this album, and one of the factors that makes it as great
as it is. I went downstairs after Two Knights played their set (weirdly after Alex's set) and
found him sitting on a couch just watching these two teenagers play Jenga. He's an odd dude.
DSU, while being a collection of fucking fantastic indie rock songs manages to be more than
that through Alex's aforementioned personality.
indie rock/chill jams/drug music/lo-fi i guess/smoke to this/also fun to sing along to |
| 1 |  | Julia Brown
An Abundance of Strawberries
An Abundance of Strawberries is a record that's difficult for me to go into articulately. If
you've heard anything Sam Ray has done before, you have sort of an idea what this sounds
like. But this is more than that, it couples his sense of melancholic "bedroom pop" coziness
with a cohesive and complete structure that perfectly embraces everything that is beautiful
about his music. It's atmospheric, it's catchy, it's emotional, it's varied, it's something you
can drift off to as well as something you can listen to attentively. It basically combines
everything that I look for in an album. And honestly, as much as the majority of this album
was obviously written by Sam, the contributions from his peers take it to another level it
couldn't have reached without them. Abby Trunfio's magical singing on "Abby's Song" launches
what is an already amazing song to be my favorite song of 2014. Caroline White's always
perfect vocals on several tracks are fucking delectable, as well as her viola that continues to
add an extra layer of beauty to the music. It's a very special album, I think is a good way to
put it.
indie pop/indie folk/dream pop/lo-fi sometimes/sam ray/electronic sometimes/there's like this
one breakcore part/perfect/literally perfect |
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