The Top 15 Albums Of 2014
2014 was a year of highs and lows. Sun Kil Moon released his greatest record but also his vile hatred for r?beer commercial lead guitar shit?, FKA Twigs and a few old favourites appeared out of the woodwork to rdeliver some potentially classic albums, Future Islands released probably the greatest post-2010 pop song rto date and Neil Young, Billy Corgan, Solange, Iggy Azaela/Azealia Banks and various others all featured rsomewhere on a scale ranging from somewhat miffed to incredibly pissed off (oh, and Radiohead are back rin the studio!). But before the year ends it?s worth taking a minute to look back on those records that rmade 2014 a year to be remembered.rOriginally posted here: http://supernormalreviews.wordpress.com/2014/12/25/the-top-15-albums-of-the-ryear/ |
| 15 |  | BadBadNotGood
III
The current renaissance in jazz and its ever-growing role in hip-hop is a movement that is spearheaded by BadBadNotGood. A trio from Toronto,
the group?s original aesthetic reworking of tracks by those such as Odd Future and Kanye West has been dropped in favour of entirely original
compositions. And boy, what compositions these are. Danceable and intelligent, BBNG feel like your favourite hip-hop producer confined to a
late night jazz hall, and with the future collaborative release with Ghostface Killah, it is only up for these pioneering artists. |
| 14 |  | Caribou
Our Love
Dan Snaith?s latest nom de guerre Caribou provides a similar sound. Sophisticated and stylish electronics at odds with the current trends of
digital minimalism. Electro-psychedelia may be the correct genre for Snaith?s current output but this fails to truly capture that maturity at the
heart of his music. As a mathematics PhD and a (no doubt awesome) father, his music doesn?t aim for that childish appeal that continues to
garner EDM obscene amounts of money, but aims for the brain as well as the feet. |
| 13 |  | Aphex Twin
Syro
After a long absence whereby the artist?s popularity grew exponentially, as with many others this years, Aphex Twin returned in 2014 with an
album that pleased fans old and new alike. While Richard D. James came to epitomise the new leaps that electronic music made in the 90?s, his
latest album is one that acts as a natural progression from his last. The record is intricate, seeming as if each bar is distinct and unrepeated and
it is this that still makes James stand out from his contemporaries and imitators. |
| 12 |  | Mac DeMarco
Salad Days
The big question before the release of Mac DeMarco?s ?Salad Days? was how could he follow the excellence of his sophomore album ?2?? The
answer was found in an increase in production quality but a new question emerged. How could someone so goofy produce such sweet songs
tinged with melancholy? His slacker personality originally sparked interest in his sound that has allowed him to create those songs which he
desired, moving away from the silly to the personal. |
| 11 |  | Ought
More Than Any Other Day
Under the crazed crooning of frontman Tim Beeler, Ought actively dabble with the quandaries of mundane life and realise that life is good,
happiness should be felt by all and that ?everything is going to be ok?. Post-punk and math rock never felt to awash with everyman attitude. |
| 10 |  | St. Vincent
St. Vincent
According to Annie Clark aka St. Vincent, her fourth album became her first self-titled release due in part to a comment from Miles Davis
effectively saying that the hardest thing for an artist to do was to sound like themselves. Clark has admittedly achieved this by virtue of
sounding nothing like any other rock artist producing music this century. Clark finally revelled in her eccentricity in her music and her stage
shows, providing humour alongside her usual intelligent lyricism and provided a refreshing take on indie rock. |
| 9 | | Flying Lotus
You're Dead!
Steven Ellison sure has progressed. Since Cosmogramma, FlyLo has been dealing with philosophical and existential themes through his frantic
jazz-infused hip-hop; whether that be Earth?s place in the Universe, the concepts of dreaming or as with the aptly titled ?You?re Dead!?, death
itself. The verdict is still out over whether Ellison is suggesting a joyous afterlife awaiting us post-death or rather that he is celebrating life in
the face of death. Either way, tracks like ?Never Catch Me? featuring Kendrick Lamar or ?The Boys Who Died In Their Sleep? reveal the
brilliance of the emerging genre fusions in FlyLo?s work. |
| 8 |  | Brontide
Artery
Brontide are a quintessential band when explaining the power of sound without words. This threepiece math/post-rock outfit display interplay
rivalled only by fellow math rockers Battles when it comes to tightly honed and perfectly locked album composition. Upon arrival at the end of
the album after eight perfectly flowing tracks, the sound of birds create a calmness that almost forces a reflection upon the band?s densely
packed sound. |
| 7 |  | FKA Twigs
LP1
FKA Twigs sounds like the future. In the best debut album in recent years, Twigs has created an entirely personal album that reflects the lives
of many, desiring both pleasure and love portrayed through a constant melancholy. 2014?s fascination with sex as manifested in songs such as
Nicki Minaj?s ?Anaconda? or Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea?s ?Booty? exists at a polar opposite to Dahlia Barnett?s intimate portrayal of her own
need for physical connection, thus she has not only created the most forward thinking album of the year, but the sexiest too. |
| 6 | | Todd Terje
It's Album Time
After years of casual single and EP releases, Todd Terje tackles full-length record production with that same casualness. Terje is unafraid to
create background music, producing essentially artificial compositions that feel effortlessly organic. Some of these singles and EP tracks are
found here but it is telling that Terje slots them in whilst keeping the record consistent and fluid. |
| 5 |  | The War on Drugs
Lost in the Dream
As with most albums on this list, it was sadness and struggle that formulated Adam Granduciel?s latest record, but rather than the glum folk that
Mark Kozelek chose as his method of catharsis, Granduciel went grander and looked towards his classic rock forebears. The War on Drugs
create their own heartland rock, but give a modern, applying synths and reverb aplenty. Consequently, there is a universality to the
music here, with Granduciel?s contemplation of loss speaking to all. |
| 4 | | D'Angelo
Black Messiah
You might be asking how a record not even two weeks old features on a list of the best records of the year, and to put it simply, it is because it
sounds unlike anything else released since D?Angelo?s last album 14 years ago. Only Flying Lotus comes close to replicating the chaotically funky
sound pioneered by the ?Jesus of R&B?. D?Angelo and accompanying band The Vanguard manage to channel all their influences ranging from P-
Funk to Prince into one cohesive whole that happily bounces around whilst dealing with themes such as the prevalent racism facing the modern
world. |
| 3 |  | Run the Jewels
Run The Jewels 2
Self-conscious, politically aware and downright hilarious, the unlikely duo of El-P and Killer Mike triumphantly return with a vastly improved
record that packs incredible amounts of energy even without a large quantity of features. Run the Jewels show how hip-hop should sound and by
doing so highlight the bloated nature of their industry. Sonically however, El-P?s production is as tight and eclectic as always but with the
progression in lyricism, the pair attack with vitriol. |
| 2 |  | Sun Kil Moon
Benji
After a tumultuous year, one thing remains clear about Mark Kozelek: he is incredibly sad. Fortunately, the man has an output for his emotions
under his current guise as Sun Kil Moon. His latest record plays like the diary of a solitary someone who feels a need to express himself but
can?t quite do so publicly. Kozelek ponders and details his own life, past and present, weaving a tapestry littered with misfortune and often
progressing to hard-hitting points that often lead the listener to a greater appreciation of their own life. |
| 1 |  | Swans
To Be Kind
Although this album is a beast of a listen, there is still not a lot left unsaid about this sprawling 2 hour masterpiece. Swans have crafted one of
the grooviest and harshest records of the year that after repeat listens still manages to capture the ears and instil a hypnotic trance unto the
listener. Song?s structures and unconventional riffs relentlessly pound on, repeating and growing, adding more and more layers, always
threatening to overwhelm but always under control. Gira and crew act as primal as ever but after 20 years, display a newfound togetherness,
each member?s instruments interlocking and working off each other?s creating an explosively charged epic. |
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