The Last Best of 2014 List of 2014

Hey everyone! Ive waited it out and checked the internet and I can confirm that yes this is the LAST best of 2014 list published on the internet, its that late. There will be no more 2014 lists after this one, everyone who is everyone has done theirs already. So you might as well stop checking and just dig in to what I have to offer.

Despite saying I have checked the internet for 2014 lists, i only skimmed the headers, I havent actually read any 2014 lists yet this year, call it laziness, lack of interest whatever, but what you'll get below is my most listened to albums of last year it will not be effected by any cool list bias cos I havent read any cool lists, and I am not cool. The list below is pure, unfiltered, virgin OPINIONS. Not to be confused with opinions of a virgin, you can get that from nme.com. BOOM!

Before I sink my nuts into some albums I wanted to give some honorable track mentions by artists that didnt make it into my album list because a) They didnt release an album b) There album wasn't good enough c) I didnt hear their album.

Foxygen - How Can You Really



One of the tracks of the year for me, sadly the album was let down by being an overblown pompous mess, if Foxygen stuck to the tunes they've proven they can write like No Destruction, Shuggie and San Francisco they could have an album of non-stop hits. But they do like to ramble on like old hippies sometimes so hey thats why they're here and not in the album list. WATCH THE VIDEO ITS AMAZING.

Ed Harcourt - The Way That I Live



Dont let the title to the video of the above put you off, I haven't started taking sponsored ads in my blog. This track by Ed Harcourt was hidden in full view of a million dollar christmas advert by Burberry featuring an on-screen debut of young Romeo Beckham. Its got 8m views on Youtube and was my tip for UK Xmas No.1 so naturally it topped out at no.88 and disappeared from the chart completely within 1 day. ONE DAY! Wtf England?

Its beautiful, its got that drunken raw vocal reminiscent of Shane Macgowan on Fairytale of New York and its by one of the most under-appreciated singer-songwriters of our generation, it had all the boxes checked for a "GET ED TO XMAS NO.1 CAMPAIGN" but it didnt, bah humbug!

Eagulls - Possessed




I took a friend to see these at the beginning of the year at the Mercury Lounge, he went along completely blind to who they were having never heard a single note. What sold him was my simple description of "Like a screamy version of The Cure" or it may have been the free ticket, I cant remember. After an hour of getting his ears assaulted in one of NYC's smallest and best venues, he turned to me and said that the description was spot on, at least I think thats what he said, I couldnt hear him cos they had just blown away any remnants of hearing ability I had left. Fantastic live band and a very good debut album too.

Jungle - Busy Earnin'


CHOOOOOON! That's all I have to say about this. Actually no its not, im really annoyed that I cant get this album (legally) in the US and I forgot to buy it while in the UK at Christmas. OK, now Im done, listen to it and jiggle your head from side to side like Im doing now.

Perfume Genius - Queen


This purely makes the cut for the line "No family is safe, when I sashay". Jokes, Perfume Genius' album has got a lot of plaudits this year, so I definitely recommend checking it out, I struggled to find songs on it though that were as likeable as this one.

Its about this time in the blog that i realise there's a TON of stone cold tunes I want to put here that arent in any of my top albums so in order to save time can i just make sure you're all on board with the following tracks Thunder Clatter - Wild Cub, Back to the Shack - Weezer, Bread for Brat - The Hidden Camera's and im sure Ronson's instant classic Uptown Funk and Hozier's Take Me To Church dont even need hyperlinks right?

ALBUMS

Did anyone else notice that 2014 was quite front loaded as far as quality music goes? Pretty much all of my favourite music happened in the first half of the year and then it went a bit quiet really after that. Because of this I've lived with most of the albums below for what seems like a very long time and therefore they feel like ancient classics rather than artists latest releases.

Before I get into my top 10 here's some albums that didnt make it but I still really enjoyed this year. Stars  - No One is Lost, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbot - What Have We Become, Jessie Ware - Tough Love, St Vincent - St Vincent, Alt-J - This is All Yours, Karen O - Crush Songs, Sun Kil Moon - Benji and finally Spoon - They Want My Soul.

10. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots




The fact that I forgot about this album in my first draft of this blog sums up my feeling towards it really. I love Damon, he was undoubtedly my gig of the year at Governors Ball this year, his passion live is unmatched, hes just a joy to watch and as he interspersed the set with Gorillaz and Blur tunes you didnt get the lull of some of the more miserable tracks on this record. The reason it makes the top 10 over some other more complete albums is that there is 4 very good tracks on this album (Everyday Robots, Lonely Press Play, Mr Tembo and Heavy Seas of Love) which outshine songs on the records i mentioned above. Unfortunately the rest of the album I found to be too safe, too plodding and not very interesting im afraid.

9. Slow Club - Complete Surrender



I cant tell you how happy I am to have Slow Club in my top 10. Long time Sheffield indie hero's broke free from their folk shackles this year and released the diva in Rebecca Taylor to produce a blistering motown soul record which showcases her amazing vocal range. She's also hilarious on Twitter, a Sheffield Wednesday fan and a total babe *swoon*.

8. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager




Getting this years "I TOLD YOU SO" award from the wife is this album from Jenny Lewis. After years of subtly pushing Miss Lewis into my consciousness it became a lot harder to resist in 2014 as she released an album packed full of sing-along pop / country hits. It didnt take long for each song to worm its way into my brain as I found myself singing along almost unwittingly, she's just that catchy.

7. Jack White - Lazaretto



The Willy Wonka of Vinyl really earned his title this year by releasing this fantastic successor to Blunderbuss his debut solo LP. A more fun record to his previous, Ol' Jacky White tells stories about Three Women he has on the go, Drinking and being sent to an isolation hospital where people get treated for leprosy.... OK maybe it wasnt all fun. He spits out rhymes like a west coast rapper on some tracks and just seems to be having a jolly good time. The result is his best record since his White Stripes prime. Lordy, Lord!

6. Embrace - Embrace

 


Well hello old friend, welcome to the new world, this is called Facebook and this is called Twitter here's how you use them... oh wait no dont do that with it, no that's a bit intrusive, ouch! OK if you want I spose.... What's a forum? Despite the Social Media hullabaloo that came with this return from the yorkshire boys, of which I have a lengthy past, this album is an absolute triumph which must be celebrated, by the old fans, by new fans and certainly by the band itself. It sounds like Nine Inch Nails if they were coached by Simon Cowell and still manages to come out sounding great. By that I mean it has the industrial noise and dark tones of NIN but its unashamedly cheesy pop still at its heart, which is why Embrace will never be cool! But goddamnit they're talented and I dont care who knows.

5. Kevin Drew - Darlings



Get the body butter baby lets go party all alone... Thats the line that starts this album and it pretty much sets the tone. Sexy, full of humour, its Broken Social Scene condensed and concentrated. If you're a BSS fan and you dont own this album go and get it, cos its just as good if not better than their full band albums. It might be not be as large, or as sprawling as a BSS album, its more focused and thats a very good thing. Its got the hooks, its got the melody and its certainly got the best of Kevins lyrics.

4. Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow




Where in blue hell did this come from?!? I've followed BBC for a very long time, and I will never forget the first time we saw them at the Barfly in Camden, they were first on the bill at 12.30pm for the XFM All Dayer about 7 years ago I think. There were about 10 of us in the room, 6 of which were me and my friends. A bunch of nerds took the stage and produced some insanely catchy guitar music which literally made my jaw drop, i turned around to look at my friends and they all had the same expression. This album produced that expression 7 years on, a complete departure musically from that cold day in January but still very much them nerds putting out track after track of what I can only describe as indie r'n'b pop?! The album is packed full of singles, and has rightly propelled them onto Radio 1 A-lists, Festival headliners and sell out mega tours. Well done boys!

3. Kelis - Food



11 years after Kelis brought her Milkshake to the yard she returns with a full compliment of entrees in this concept album based on food accompanied by Food Network shows and recipe books et al. Of course to hark back to her biggest hit 11 years ago is a little unfair, Kelis has gone through several re-inventions since then, not forgetting her fantastic house album of a few years ago. One constant in all her re-inventions though is her soulful vocals, so it shouldnt be any surprise that she has finally made an all-out soul album. Its certainly no surprise that its bloody great because if you didnt know already Kelis is a goddess and can do no wrong.

2. Broken Bells - After the Disco



Yep. Broken Bells. Broken Bells? Yes. Im as surprised as you are that this is my no.2 pick for the year. Truth is, I didnt really like Broken Bells first album, y'know the one that everyone else did? So why then do I like this 2nd album so much when it appears to have been completely ignored by everyone in the music press (how would I know if I havent read any 2014 lists, you ask? Good question...). The answer is very simple, its way more upbeat than the first album and i'm a sucker for disco funky indie which Dangermouse has now pretty much nailed. Its a mixture of Gorillaz and Black Keys' El Camino, in fact this album really could've been the latest Black Keys album but im guessing after hearing the latest Black Keys album Dangermouse decided to give his Broken Bells project all of the good tunes rather than them cos that new album is utter shit! In the hands of The Shins vocalist what would've been a bluesy funky romp turns into a funky disco romp and its glorious. All killer no filler.

1. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream




Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! This is not just my album of the year, its approaching one of my favourite albums in the last 10 years. Its completely dumbfounding, by all rights I should hate it. The singer sounds like a cross between Dylan / Springsteen (not my faves), the length of the songs are bordering on prog-rock levels, there's a fair amount of lead which by any other band I wouldve wrote off as fret-wanking pointlessness. BUT, but... GODDAMN its so good it makes me want to cry. Its totally all about the music, I have paid no attention to the lyrics, the rhythm and melodies are very repetitive and rarely has a chorus of such. But by each iteration of the verse something new will appear, a lick of a guitar or a slight change in the way he delivers the lyric and it just propels it forward. Because of this repetitiveness you feel every change of tempo, every little nuance that differentiates it from the last verse and its totally exhilarating. I listened to it most during summer on my way to singing lessons in Montclair, NJ, it was always dark and it was a good hours drive round trip and it's absolutely perfect for those conditions - dark and driving. Completely useless for trying to practice my vocal warm ups as its not really a sing along album, but totally great for rocking out banging on the steering wheel as the groove of each track is intertwined into every part of your body and you find yourself shifting in your seat, bobbing your head, tapping your fingers, tapping your foot (not the one on the accelerator) and then yelping when he gets excited and the outro of An Ocean In Between in the Waves kicks in. Months after playing it constantly I read a great article, I think on pitchfork, about how mentally unstable he was during the recording process and how it was such a difficult album to finish it almost killed him. It blew my mind that such a masterpiece can come from such difficult circumstances. So... yeah... go listen to it, a man almost died creating it you heathens.

Biggest Disappointments

Some of my favourite artists released albums this year and only a couple made the top 10. Two albums I havent even mentioned so Im calling them out here. First of all The Black Keys album Turn Blue is the biggest let down, after Brothers and El Camino I expected great things, but Turn Blue just feels rushed. It sounds like the leftovers from El Camino which didnt make the grade, I can only summise that the record label told them they wanted another album to capitalise on El Caminos success. What you got was a great single (Fever) and then a watered down MOR insult of an album to people who paid good money.

Lastly I'll end with Ryan Adams, his latest self titled album is so boring I couldnt name you a track off it other than the lead single Gimme Something Good. That single was ok, it certainly didnt excite me for the album and it turned out to be a good indication for what was a severely underwhelming comeback. Live though he's still got it, and some of the tracks off the new album did sound better when we heard them at the Hammerstein Ballroom late last year, but still, I havent returned to it since then and doubt I will.

Best of 2012

Hark people! Hark I tell thee, for it is my now annual blog post you are reading! Every year I say Im going to write more than my end of year music post and every year I have failed to break the 2 posts a year. So from now on I will just make this an annual blog, kinda like the Shoot annuals but about music and in digital form. Im sure there were music annuals, is Melody Maker still doing there's?

About 3/4 of the way through the year I posted something on Facebook bemoaning the lack of good albums and new artists in 2012 and I got a shit load of abuse and a few recommendations from people who had some fair shouts. I listened to all those recommendations and a few of them were indeed very good. What I found was though that while there was good music in 2012, there wasnt a LOT of amazing consistent albums.

I'm not saying there were no good albums in 2012, Im just saying for me, it was harder to find them, and there werent many that were consistently great. If I found a new band I liked, they tended to have 1-2 great tracks and then it tailed off. On albums from established artists I adored there would be a few good tracks and the rest didnt hold my attention (Hello Bloc Party and Maccabees).

Before you all say, "Oh you're getting old", "You obviously havent listened to enough.." etc etc. Firstly, I dont believe age plays any bearing on music taste, I think with age some people open up to more genres, some people close their doors to anything past their hey day. With me its neither at the moment, Im only 31 for fucks sake, I dont believe Im opening up to classical nor am I pining for a Britpop revolution (Although if Northern Uproar were to tour in NYC I would be first in line). I like what I've always liked, a relatively broad range of indie, rock, electro, soul, hip hop, funk and good dance music.

One thing I will concede is in this digital age my listening and purchasing habits have changed. I firmly believe I have developed mild ADD and find it really hard to stick on an album 2-3 times in the space of a week. I get bored very easily and Im constantly looking for new stuff. So that maybe a reason why I havent gotten into a lot of albums this year. Also, with the ability to listen to albums before I buy on streaming services like Spotify Ive found myself picking singular tracks out to save cash if the majority of the album doesnt hit me. Ive done that more with new artists, I still buy whole albums from acts I have a bond with like Jack White, Richard Hawley, Maccabees, Bloc Party etc. However, with the exception of Jack White of those I wish I had listened to beforehand as I couldve saved some cash by just picking out 2 tracks from each of them. The Richard Hawley album was particularly bad, like early Verve (and those that know me, know of my Ashcroft disdain).

Saying ALL that, I do have a lot of great music from 2012, and here are my favourite tracks:

Jennifer - Little Comets


Little Comets are savagely unknown. Their second album came out towards the back end of the year and has some great tracks on it and is very consistent. Its called Life is Elsewhere and is one of my faves of the year.

The Suits, The Law and The Uniforms - Graveyard



Graveyard have a few albums out now and I heard this for the first time on an NPR podcast this year off their Lights Out album and just love the  Led Zep / ACDC vibe. Great fun, but couldnt get into the album.

Til I Met Thee - Cody ChesnuTT


Cody ChesnuTTs first album in a decade after he released the much lauded The Headphone Masterpiece. Landing on a Hundred is the new LP and its really great. Obvious comparisons to soul greats such as Marvin Gaye, this album is far more concise than his previous effort and has some brilliant tracks on it. Thoroughly recommend checking it out.

Losing You - Solange


To be honest I havent followed Solange Knowles (yes that Knowles) career that closely, I have however followed Dev Hynes pretty closely and love his Blood Orange stuff. Solange seems to be his muse and this has Dev Hynes sound all over it. I recommend checking out Blood Orange if you like this. Start with Dinner below which was also released this year and listen out for more Solange / Blood Orange stuff in 2013.

Dinner - Blood Orange



Blood Orange / Dev Hynes has a knack of releasing awesome sounding tracks that dont necessarily have that killer chorus, which drives my wife insane, they always seem to be leading somewhere but never quite make it. But its that subtlety in his tracks that make me love him. No album in 2012 from Blood Orange, just this track paired with Bad Girls on the flip side, which is also on the Solange Knowles record, I think he wrote it and gave it her though.

Rashida - Rufus Wainwright


I was trying to put lesser known artists as videos and then just mention the more popular stuff I liked at the bottom in a list, but I cant resist putting this up as I think if you were like me and loved old Rufus like Want and Poses but got a bit disillusioned by the last couple of albums and the ridiculous cost of going to see him live you may have not bothered with his latest album - Out of the Game. So if you were like me, please go and buy this album now, Its probably my most listened to album of 2012. Mark Ronson does a terrific job of wringing out the best of Rufus and backed by Ronsons band the sound is fantastic. I would go as far as saying its my favourite Rufus album.

Like Ice Cream - Divine Fits



Everyone loves an indie supergroup right?  Divine Fits are made up of Spoons Britt Daniels, Wolf Parades / Handsome Furs Dan Boeckner and Sam Brown from New Bomb Turks (No, me neither). The album has some signature Spoon catchy riffs spliced with some neat electro hooks. I think this track may have been my most played this year and the album is very good too.

Man on Fire - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zero's

What is it with bands using normal people dancing in there music videos? Professional dancers are out on the street giving hand jobs for crack while these supermarket workers, fork lift truck drivers and AmDram nutjobs are all strutting, kicking and jerking their way to infamy! I blame Fatboy Slim, but Black Keys did it in 2011 too with unbelievable success on Lonely Boy. There's been loads more but my  fave is the Geordie Dancer from Soccer Am. Oh yeah, Edward Sharpe, its great, the albums great, go buy it, then buy the album before that, then go see them live (I still havent).

The House that Heaven Built - Japandroids


I didnt like this song at first, it felt really dated and cheesy. But it was on Sirius XM U a lot and very slowly its sheer balls-out-unashamedly-fists-in-the-air-sing-yer-heart-out-rock-n-roll won me over. Now I cant stop playing it.

Laura - Bat for Lashes


Words cant describe how much I love this song, probably too much. Its beautiful, heartbreaking and it gives me goosebumps.

AlunaGeorge - You Know You Like It


I honestly have no idea if AlunaGeorge is well known or not, I cant remember where I first heard it and I havent heard it mentioned or played on the radio over here, for all I know this could've hit no.1. Its got over a million views on youtube. As Eddie Argos once said, popular culture no-longer applies to me. All I know is that I know I like it (see what I did there?). Its a fantastically catchy 2-step / R&B track with a cutesy vocal, whats not to like?

Watch the Corners - Dinosaur Jr



Ive always been aware of Dinosaur Jr but Ive never really invested a lot of time in them, then this song came on the radio and I immediately loved it. It sounds like an instant classic. Its just simple catchy indie rock really. Just great songwriting which Im sure Dinosaur Jr fans have known for a very long time but something I discovered this year, slap me for being slow.

Man I could go on, Im really enjoying listening to these again! If you want to listen to a lot more check out my spotify playlist here. So many more awesome tracks. So little time.

I'll finish off with a quick list of my top albums, I might write more about these another time, but history dictates I probably wont:
1. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
2. Rufus Wainwright - Out of the Game
3. Hot Chip - In Our Heads
4. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero's - Here
5. Jack White - Blunderbuss
6. Little Comets - Life is Elsewhere
7. Divine Fits - This is Divine Fits
8. Cody ChesnuTT - Landing on a Hundred
9. Hospitality - Hospitality
10. Passion Pit - Gossamer

Hope you enjoyed the read - comments / abuse welcome!