Ashcrash's 2014 List
A couple days late but whatever. Super loosely ranked, anything could swap spots with other stuff in like a 5 number radius besides the top 10. Pretty good year. |
| 52 |  | Gates
Bloom and Breathe
I didn't enjoy this anywhere near as much as most people did but it's still pretty good I guess. |
| 51 |  | Periphery
Clear
KILL's review of PII is still the greatest thing ever. |
| 50 |  | Puig Destroyer
Puig Destroyer
This is nice |
| 49 |  | Special Explosion
The Art Of Mothering
as is this |
| 48 |  | U2
Songs of Innocence
I mean, it's okay. |
| 47 |  | Anberlin
Lowborn
Aside from Cities I was never the biggest Anberlin fan, so this being their last record doesn't mean a whole lot to me. There are some great tracks here though. |
| 46 |  | Manchester Orchestra
Cope
There are still some great tracks on this. |
| 45 |  | Manchester Orchestra
Hope
As well as this. |
| 44 |  | Thee Silver Mount Zion
Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
"What We Loved Was Not Enough" was one of the best songs last year. Also, killer album title. |
| 43 |  | Real Estate
Atlas
Chill as fuck. |
| 42 |  | The Antlers
Familiars
My first Antlers album. Discovered it way too late in the year, didn't grow enough on me yet. When this thing hits though, it hits hard. |
| 41 |  | Joyce Manor
Never Hungover Again
This is pretty good. |
| 40 |  | Fall to November Sky...
A Little Sounds for an Empty World
This would've flown way over my head if it wasn't for Atari's clutch review. Great stuff. |
| 39 |  | CHON
Woohoo!
Didn't these guys used to have a Sput account or something? Chill EP. |
| 38 |  | Panopticon
Roads to the North
I don't "get" black metal, but even I could tell this was awesome. |
| 37 |  | I/O (US)
Saudade
Great little grower of a post-rock album. Only four ratings as of right now. Go change that. |
| 36 |  | Antemasque
Antemasque
Yeah, I dig this for the most part. |
| 35 |  | The World is a Beautiful Place...
Between Bodies
This Zizzamia shit had better not continue, but his pretentiousness and TWIABP's pretentiousness actually work well for most of this. Ya know, when he's not talking about his parents' parents' parents' fucking and all that. |
| 34 |  | Mono
The Last Dawn
More Mono that's good Mono but not best Mono. |
| 33 |  | Mono
Rays of Darkness
jybt's soundoff for this sums it up pretty well. |
| 32 |  | The Rural Alberta Advantage
Mended With Gold
Pretty good. |
| 31 |  | Pianos Become The Teeth
Keep You
This isn't that bad. The sameness is less bothersome after a couple spins. |
| 30 |  | Have A Nice Life
The Unnatural World
Shit's really depressing |
| 29 |  | Rozwell Kid
Too Shabby
Saw them open for The Hotelier and TWIABP. Outshone the latter by a long shot. |
| 28 |  | Cloudkicker
Little Histories
Sharp's unstoppable. |
| 27 |  | So Slow
Dharavi
Polish noise rock with crazy jazz breakdowns. It's really neat. |
| 26 |  | Creepoid
Creepoid
A huge grower. |
| 25 |  | Black Map
...And We Explode
Also great little known stuff. Collaboration of The Trophy Fire, Far, and dredg. Only 5 ratings. Go change that. |
| 24 |  | Alcest
Shelter
"Opale" and "Delivrance" are two of my favorite tracks this year. |
| 23 |  | Braid
No Coast
This is so damn catchy. |
| 22 |  | Haken
Restoration
Just as good as The Mountain, but more concise. |
| 21 |  | Nothing's Carved In Stone
Strangers In Heaven
Some of these guys' tracks have always been a guilty pleasure of mine, but this is actually a really consistent release with some of their best material to date. |
| 20 |  | The Menzingers
Rented World
"Transient Love" is hnnnnnnng. |
| 19 |  | Yoko Kanno
Zankyou no Terror Original Soundtrack
Yoko Kanno goes Sigur Ros with amazing results. That 4.4 average ain't for nothing. |
| 18 |  | Anathema
Distant Satellites
There's no peak moment on here and some of the tracks are similar but its great the whole way through, so whatever. |
| 17 |  | Cloud Nothings
Here and Nowhere Else
Huge grower. |
| 16 |  | The Smith Street Band
Throw Me in the River
The title track and "I Love Life" might be my favorite 1-2 closing duo of the year. |
| 15 |  | damascus
When Last We Met
Outstanding post-rock. |
| 14 |  | Speaker For The Dead
The Ballad of the Undercrust
Folk-punk. 20-person band. Only 2 ratings. This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it might be yours. |
| 13 |  | Damien Rice
My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Awesome. |
| 12 |  | tide/edit
Foreign Languages
Awesome math rock from the Philippines. 4.3 average, only 6 ratings. Give these guys some more recognition. |
| 11 |  | Cymbals Eat Guitars
LOSE
Fucking spectacular. "Jackson" is one of the best openers this year. |
| 10 |  | Spoon
They Want My Soul
The production work on this is mesmerizing. |
| 9 |  | Saintseneca
Dark Arc
Really solid indie folk. |
| 8 |  | Sun Kil Moon
Benji
Reaffirming that being young is great. Kozelek makes middle-aged life sound shitty as hell. |
| 7 |  | sleepmakeswaves
Love of Cartography
Post-rock of the year. |
| 6 |  | Astronauts
Hollow Ponds
Think you, Sowing. Great review for a great record. "Flame Exchange" gives me goosebumps every time. |
| 5 |  | Kishi Bashi
Lighght
BOOTY BOOTY SHAKY SHAKE. Seriously though, one of the most imaginative, fun, and unique albums this year. |
| 4 |  | La Dispute
Rooms of the House
It may lack the immediate highlights their previous work contains, but I'd argue it works better as a whole than Wildlife or Somewhere's bloated concepts. |
| 3 |  | Weatherbox
Flies In All Directions
I'm perfectly content not knowing what the fuck Brian Warren's talking about on this thing half the time. One of the most under-appreciated releases this year, for sure. |
| 2 |  | Trophy Scars
Holy Vacants
Sput intensifies. |
| 1 |  | The Hotelier
Home, Like NoPlace Is There
SPUT INTENSIFIES. But for real, it's my only 5/5 this year. This thing gets to me, as it does to most of you as well. Easily my AOTY. |
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