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Last Active 04-24-21 3:52 pm
Joined 04-16-13
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| Top 10 Album Of 2014
Disclaimer: There were a lot of albums I never got around to listening to from 2014, and I'm sure I missed quite a few good ones. However, I'm pretty confident that this is what my list would look like had I not missed all those albums. It was a great year for music | | 10 |  | Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels 2
"It’s all a joke between mom contractions and coffin fittings, so we disappear in the smoke like we're fuckin' magicians"
Jamie and Mike upped the lyrics, upped the bravado, upped the instrumentation. RTJ bring everything good about hip hop out in full force. | | 9 |  | Every Time I Die
From Parts Unknown
"All I want is his head, and this horrible fucking world, will be wonderful again.
There is so much beauty and love, and when I eat his beating heart, I can bring it back to us"
Within 15 seconds, this album promises to blow your fucking brains out. And it makes good on that promise. Buckley's lyrics are as entertaining as ever, and the music is at a new level of aggressiveness. A special acknowledgement needs to be made for Moor, one of ETID's best tracks to date. That's the angriest shit ever. | | 8 |  | Crosses
Crosses
"Get drunk on the waves, reveal our souls. Fall asleep on the graves and seal our souls"
A huge, dark, beautiful, Chino-filled adventure that is close enough to some moments of Deftones and Team Sleep to not be too jarring. But at the same time, Chino's never been this poppy before. And it feels RIGHT. | | 7 |  | Swans
To Be Kind
"There are millions and millions of stars in your eyes."
Though I didn't enjoy this album nearly as much as the Seer, it still excellently displays that Michael Gira can produce an album well over 2 hours full of excess, creepiness, and absurdity and somehow make it all work. | | 6 |  | The Menzingers
Rented World
"I have only bad news, I have only bad news for you."
Coming off the heels of a highly acclaimed album, the Menzinger's put together a very consistent group of songs that explores a bit more musical territory in a more mature way. Despite a handful of slower (and masterfully performed) songs, tracks like Rodent, I Don't Wanna Be an Asshole Anymore, and In Remission show that the Menzinger's still have tons of youthful energy to bring to the table. | | 5 |  | Pianos Become the Teeth
Keep You
"So stand still, the air will move, it'll wash over you and almost cool you off, and like you said, "what the hell is the rush?" Well you, you're one to talk.
Gone a little too soon, but I know you hated being late, and I guess you arrived right on time."
I slept on this for a long time, but its not really something I can describe other than elegant . | | 4 |  | Emarosa
Versus
"And I'm learning I'm alone, suddenly living in the moment you both know you're falling from the same tight rope."
Vocally, this album couldn't possibly be any sweeter. While sometimes erring towards over-simplification musically, Bradley Walden performance is spine-chilling throughout and makes any faults easily neglected. | | 3 |  | Weatherbox
Flies in All Directions
"When I say home, I mean the-Planet-I'm-From. I mean the tandem moons hung at night. Who needs sunlight at all?"
Brian takes Weatherbox into new territory and still writes more than a few instant 'Box-classics (Dark All Night being one of his best 5 songs, easily). It may not have the unified vision of Cosmic Drama or the instant-classic cohesiveness of American Art, but it's packed with some of the best songs Weatherbox has ever released. | | 2 |  | Fireworks
Oh, Common Life
"Just like the way the rug in my bedroom growing up, that would stop the door when I tried to slam it shut"
Other albums this year have been technically better composed or performed, and despite some flaws, Oh Common Life is my second favorite release of the year. There are a plethora of factors that place this album so high, though I'm not really able to put into words why. Maybe I'll be able to better state it some other time, but now all I can say is that it changed some things and that I hope music can still move you like this album moved me. | | 1 |  | Trophy Scars
Holy Vacants
"Cast out of molds from birth to our tombs, casting out stones attached to our homes. I don't live here no more. She don't live here no more. We don't live here no more"
The entire near-hour runtime is filled with twists and turns and beauty that you can't get anywhere else, and the story-telling aspect has gone off the deep end in the best way possible. It's creepy, gorgeous, innovative, and brimming with exciting moments from front to back. There are a ton of "what the fuck" moments and enough replay value to really sink your teeth into. With a combination of occult themes, WWII conspiracy theory, romance, and the most white-knuckled Trophy Scars jams to date, there's no dispute that this is a very special album. | |
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