Best Music of 2014
Dear Music Lovers,
As another year draws to a close, we present our list of Best Music of 2014. All 10/10 music. Most available on vinyl. Many were part of our Record Of The Month Club. Sign up to get the best releases automatically during 2015!
Hear them all at once while you read...
or individually...
Skaters - Manhattan
The latest answer to the Clash. Why borrow when you can steal? Perfectly reinvented.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuAw5MwihFU
Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
Like a nascent Strokes, this is pure practice-room rock. Direct and simple recording. Confident lyrics and some of the best hooks around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXzMe5-3ytU
Blonde Redhead - Barragan
A superbly recorded record from veteran band Blonde Redhead. From the opening acoustic guitar of "Barragan", to the morphine dance track "Dripping" this is a superbly paced album like we used to get before iTunes took over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS1YE6pkNxM
Eno & Hyde - High Life
Intoxicating african rhythms and melodies mixed with Eno's favourite synths. Reminiscent of Peter Gabriel and Graceland at times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGUEVXqvCwM
Goat - Commune
Another pseudo tribal masterpiece from Swedish pagan rockers Goat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWQcAh9DUNI
Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia demo
50 minutes of true soul-down hip hop with rolling, groovy beats. Perfect for long drives and after-midnight slow dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64x9cipoFog
Lee Fields - Emma Jean
Lee Fields just gets better and better. On par with anything from the 70s, we are lucky to be blessed with a true soul genius.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sT0HU7485k
Michael Jackson - Xscape
It's hard to believe it's been over 5 years since MJ died and even harder to believe how good these eponymously released tracks are. Always way ahead of his time, these "rejected" tracks from 20 years ago are better than most pop music being made today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkleUpfj0d0
Morrissey - World Peace is None of Your Business
OK, Morrissey's personality and politics are a matter of debate, but there are few songsmiths as gifted with the English language still writing today. Tongue in cheek at times and serious as death at others, there hasn't been someone making as politically interesting music since Billy Bragg in the 80s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE4xnw8KRfk
Orwells - Disgraceland
Straight ahead rock with no pretensions. Just give it to me! Solid throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpsFI1p92oE
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
Schoolboy Q almost crossed into Kendrick/Drake pop stardom with this stunner of an album. Flawless beats with powerful bass and a unique rhyming flow put SBQ near the top of the heap in rap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWogKxTzdLA
Spoon - They Want My Soul
Spoon's best album yet. They finally realize they needed another instrument in the band and it shows with a full and layered production. Their Sgt. Pepper's. Brilliant Rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuqsvepC6yY
Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams
Hot Dreams will enter the canon of Canadian classics along side Harvest, Blue and Songs from a Room. Moody, dreamy, with great orchestration and superb sonics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En1llevuLQ4
Todd Terje - It’s Album Time
What we all thought the Daft Punk album was going to be. Disco inspired, raw dance music. Perfectly crafted from beginning to end. Few electronic albums rise to the status of "classic". This one will be played in 20 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebjXsc0UjdQ
Ty Segall - Manipulator
Perfectly following in Ariel Pink's well-blazed retro garage rock footsteps, Ty Segall outshines the master in this year's Manipulator release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnMCqI199pE
Wild Beasts - Present Tense
With aspects of Depeche mode, Gabriel's So, and other English 80s production, it's clear that the nostalgia from the 80s is the driving force in the music industry in 2014. This is perhaps the most successful example. Superb production.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ew4GNsM5Cc
Run the Jewels - 2
If you're still in doubt about the relevance of hip hop/rap after 40 years, this should be the unequivocal proof that rap is pushing music forward more than any other genre. This is one of the most layered and complex records produced this year. Topics range the gamut and the power of the beats are a true test of your stereo. Like a squadron of fighter jets passing overhead, if at least the sound of this record doesn't awe you, you're missing something vital in your system. Explicit, great lyrics...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rghRRD4mCn4
Kevin Morby - Still Life
Perfect blend of the Band, Dylan and Wilco. A singer-songwriter of exceptional talent. Beautiful recording. Every collection needs this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAlMPDFIRJQ
Future Islands - Singles
If you're going to steal, steal from the best. The Smith's best dance tunes updated. Catchy and embarrassingly honest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsqzacYLhWU
The Men - Tomorrow's Hits
A terrible sounding recording of some really great country rock. The Stones got away with it, and the Men give them good company.
http://youtu.be/yW-Cja9COuY
Thug Entrancer -Death After Life
It probably took Kraftwerk months to sequence their drum machines on each of their tracks. Now you can do it in 15 minutes at home. Most of the people who do it today are making crap music. Here's the best example of the genre from this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9gosKbP4_k
TOPS - Picture You Staring
Light sunny pop with some edge. This is like the Cardigans meets Pretenders. A really solid pop record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOTG-5Yk5ec
Ultimate Painting - S/T
A blatant Velvet Underground rip off. Is it good or is it just a referential homage to show how jealous Gen X, Y, and Z are of the 60s?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arhtXydv1mo
Dean Blunt - Black Metal
The first record to completely mirror the smartphone generation. Every style of music in one place and all done amazingly well. Indie rock, dub, atmosopheric, dance, rock, lo-fi. Skip skip, back, again, what was that? It's a new musical lexicon for the A.D.D. generation. Brilliant like Godard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQfwPziK-SA
Lana del Rey - Ultraviolence
Widely panned after her breakout record, this is every bit as good and in many ways better. Lana addresses her previous critics and turns the tables with irony and sophistication. Another test LP to show whether your system is really set up correctly. If it is, you'll hear a giant enveloping panorama and feel the bass. If not, it will sound like a laptop. There's no margin for error in this complex production.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5xcnjAG8pE
Shellac - Dude Incredible
Shellac's first record in 7 years, it shows Steve Albini still in top form. Perfectly combining 12 year old boy and 40 year old men with beards, this is a guy record in every way. Get the buddies together with some beers in the garage and put this on the "old" stereo. Someone's gonna try to do a karate kick with disastrous results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAX8pyioL-U
Freddie Gibbs / Madlib - Pinata
Super smooth flow laid-back hip hop. Can't wait for summer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTOnmo_Nw8k
Jerome Sabbagh - The Turn
Well-recorded strong-messaged jazz which is listenable through the whole album. Amen to Sunnyside for being one of the very few serious jazz labels.
https://soundcloud.com/jeromesabbagh/banshee
Andrew Bird - Things Are Really Great Here, Sort of
The best sounding record of 2014. Absolutely peerless sonics. Folk revival a la Fleet Foxes. A must-own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Hh8MqRpWA
Kevin Hearn - Days in Frames
Toronto native Kevin Hearn has made an unbelievably endearing record with some of the catchiest melodies of the year. Superb production (especially on vinyl).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ1-PmZH6nU
If you'd like to hear them all in one playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEaUFJuutEz4JXBGP4moZK1d9syFjv9Hy