Albums of the Year 2014

If you’re at all concerned about the place of music in our culture, 2014 was a terrible year. If you’re just looking for some awesome shit to listen to, it was a fantastic year. Who can keep up? This is, inevitably, an incomplete list. Still listening, still catching up.

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Top 10 Albums

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1.    Scott Walker + Sunn O))) – Soused (4AD)

Hard to pick between this and the Fennesz but – really – Soused is some next-level shit

2.    Fennesz – Bécs (Editions Mego)

A partial return to his Endless Summer sound and well worth the wait

3.    Oval – Voa (self-released)

Technically, this came out digitally in 2013 but the vinyl is the real deal

4.    Diamond Version – CI (Mute)

Top-ten-worthy for Leslie Winer’s cameo alone – the rest is just (delicious) icing

5.    Tape – Casino (Hapna)
Pure melodic loveliness? No: specifically impure melodic loveliness

6.    Andy Stott – Faith in Strangers (Modern Love)
His most accessible yet but still utterly, utterly knackered

7.    Oren Ambarchi – Quixotism (Editions Mego)
Ambarchi’s best in ages – imagine a Moritz von Oswald Arkestra

8.    Loscil – Sea Island (Kranky)
Finally, Loscil manages to integrate discontinuous elements into his oceanic swells

9.    Black to Comm – Black to Comm (Type)
A massive, mind-fraying psychedelic journey into the heart of the drone

10.    Locust – After the Rain (Editions Mego)
Inexcusably gorgeous radiophonic melodicism from Mark van Hoen and co

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Bubbling Under

• The Bug – Angels & Devils (Ninja Tune)
  The best bits are as good as anything but there are a few duff tracks
• Sleaford Mods – Divide & Exit (Harbinger Sound)
  A very disappointing, patchy follow-up to Austerity Dogs but the peaks are miles high
• Actress – Ghettoville (Ninja Tune)
• Lee Gamble – KOCH (Pan)
• LCC – D/evolution (Editions Mego)
• Tujiko Noriko – My Ghost Comes Back (Editions Mego)

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Also Recommended

• Vladislav Delay – Visa (Ripatti)
• Lawrence English – Wilderness of Mirrors (Room40)
• Fennesz – Mahler Remixed (self-released)
• Eric Holm – Andøya (Subtext)
• Nicholas Krgovich – On Sunset (NK World Service)
• Kyoka – Is (Is Superpowered) (Raster-Noton)
• Klara Lewis – Ett (Editions Mego)
• Madlib – Piñata Beats (Madlib Invazion), Rock Konducta Vol. 1  and Rock Konducta Vol. 2 (Rappacats)
• Namoi Punk – Television Man (Captured Tracks)
• Nochexxx – Thrusters (Ramp)
• Thee Oh Sees – Drop (Castle Face)
• Shabazz Palaces – Lese Majesty (Sub Pop)
• Ty Segall – Manipulator (Drag City)
• Arbutus – Bedroom Safari (Vague Sound)
• Sarah Davachi – August Harp (Cassuna)

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Singles/EPs

• Holly Herndon – Chorus and Home (RVNG Intl.)
• Sleaford Mods – Tied up in Nottz (Little Teddy) and Tiswas (Invada)
• The Bug vs. Earth – Boa/Cold (Ninja Tune)
• Ian Crause – The Song of Phaeton (self-released)
• Dalglish – Dorcha Aigeann (Ge-stell)
• Lee Gamble – Kuang (Pan)
• Katie Gately/Tlaotlon – split (FatCat)
• Oneohtrix Point Never – Commissions I (Warp)

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Reissues etc.

• The Fates – Furia (Finders Keepers)
• Leslie Winer – Witch (Superior Viaduct)
• Basic Channel – Q-Loop (Basic Channel)
• The Fall – The Unutterable (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
• Secret Pyramid – The Silent March (Students of Decay)
• Sleaford Mods – Chubbed Up + (Ipecac)

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Live Shows

• Kate Bush in London
• Loop in Vancouver
• Big Joy Festival in Vancouver

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Discoveries

• Roly Porter
• Sleaford Mods

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Oh and I had an album out this year, for what it’s worth.

December 24, 2014 at 10:48 am 2 comments