Honestly, 2014 seemed like kind of a down year for music. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some great and innovative records this year, but overall, it doesn’t feel as if there have been any potential “classics”, save for maybe D’Angelo’s surprise comeback album. I feel like this is partially because of the absurd number of stadium-status artists who came out with albums last year, including Kanye West, Beyoncé, Arcade Fire, Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk, Drake, and more, and although this year saw some big releases from Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Skrillex, Nicki Minaj and U2 among others, nothing has felt quite as earth-shattering. Nevertheless, here’s a list of my favorite albums this year.
10. St. Vincent: St. Vincent
A lot of artists have tried to tackle the topic of the effect of technology on our everyday lives to varying degrees of success, but Annie Clark succeeds both because of and in spite of her weirdness. Call it pretentious if you want, but weird and foreboding has also never been so much fun. There’s “Birth in Reverse”, which tries to inject some life into mundane everyday routines, and “Digital Witness”, probably the catchiest song ever written about the perils of the digital age. All in all, it’s just more of St. Vincent being St. Vincent.
Standout tracks: Rattlesnake, Digital Witness, Severed Crossed Fingers
9. Iceage: Plowing Into the Field of Love
To be honest, I have no idea what Elias Rønnenfelt is saying half the time, but that just makes it so much cooler when you can hear him bellow things like “I do not repent / I keep pissing against the moon”. Iceage have completely expanded their sound since their last LP, You’re Nothing, incorporating elements of post-punk, goth rock and even classic country, adding a barrage of guitars, strings and keyboards along the way. Though still obviously influenced by classic post-punk bands like Joy Division, Iceage have discovered a sound that is uniquely theirs on this record while still remaining super badass.
Standout tracks: The Lord’s Favorite, Abundant Living, Against the Moon
8. Caribou: Our Love
Is Our Love danceable? When the synths start blasting at full volume about halfway through “Can’t Do Without You”, it’s hard not to keep your head bobbing along. On the other hand, tracks like “Second Chance” play with beautiful melodies but are largely devoid of percussion or bass. Dan Snaith’s take on psychedelic synth pop is unique in that its purpose isn’t to light up dance floors; rather, it experiments with catchy rhythms to project the spotlight onto its themes of love and melancholy. The record overall is more mature, more sophisticated, and more self-aware than any of its predecessors. If you do decide to play it on the dance floor, remember to bring the balloons.
Standout tracks: Can’t Do Without You, All I Ever Need, Second Chance
7. The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream
I’ve heard the latter half of this album described as like a modern Bob Dylan. True, Adam Granduciel’s voice is the closest thing to a young Dylan’s this side of The Tallest Man on Earth, but I don’t think Dylan ever constructed a soundscape quite like the ones that comprise Lost in the Dream. The songwriting is patient, as on tracks like “The Haunting Idle” which literally seem to idle for minutes at a time. But the payoff is always there, as evidenced by the transition into the release of “Burning”, or that moment in “In Reverse” when the grand parade finally arrives. No longer just that guy in Kurt Vile’s band, Granduciel has come into his own, creating an album that is both intimate and sprawling, about both loving and disappearing.
Standout tracks: Eyes to the Wind, Lost in the Dream, In Reverse
6. D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah
D’Angelo sure picked the perfect time to emerge from his shell, huh? Though this follow-up to his classic Voodoo has been 14 years in the making, it manages to completely live up to the hype, and then some. There are so many subtle flourishes throughout Black Messiah, and you can tell that D’Angelo really took the time to make sure every intricate detail was perfect. Just listen to the jazzy horns and Chic-like guitar on “Sugah Daddy” or the uncontrollable basss guitar in “1000 Deaths” to get an idea of how every aspect of every song was deliberated to perfection. Yeah, it took 14 years, but those were 14 years well spent.
Standout tracks: 1000 Deaths, Sugah Daddy, Another Life
5. Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 2
The fact that this album was created before the spread of civil unrest toward the end of the year just shows how ahead of the curve Killer Mike and El-P are. Hearing Mike and El rap about the hypocrisy of the police and “the man behind the man behind the man behind the throne”, it’s hard not to consider this album as the face of a movement. But it’s not just the underlying politics that make this album so great. From the futuristic bombast of the “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry” beat to Travis Barker’s hyperactive percussion on “All Due Respect”, RTJ2 manages to sound daring and exceedingly effortless at the same time. All these guys have done is create an extremely timely record that’s still guaranteed to pump you up. Not bad for a couple of 40-somethings.
Standout tracks: Oh My Darling Don’t Cry, Early, Angel Duster
4. Cloud Nothings: Here and Nowhere Else
There’s a lot of moving forward on Here and Nowhere Else, despite Dylan Baldi’s claims to the contrary. For one, the band is less rough around the edges and more polished in their brand of noisy post-punk, both in terms of the tightness of the production and the painful beauty of Baldi’s songwriting. This happens to be one of those cases where a lo-fi band sheds a lot of the harshness of their sound and their music improves because of it. Each track just feels well put together with catchy melodies, invigorating guitar riffs, and sonic progressions that climax at precisely the right moments. Sometimes, even for a band with this aesthetic, prettier is better.
Standout tracks: Now Hear In, No Thoughts, I’m Not Part of Me
3. Sun Kil Moon: Benji
Mark Kozalek may be an asshole, but you can almost forgive him for it after hearing about all the crap that’s happened in his life. Relatives die from aerosol can explosions, friends drop dead from sudden aneurysms, and he feels bad about punching a kid in elementary school. The magic of Benji is that even though these stories are so personal and littered with specific details, they somehow still feel relatable. Maybe it’s the instrumentation, which remains mostly sparse and bare, drawing more attention to his rambling delivery of the lyrics. Or maybe it’s the fact that his descriptions make it so easy to project his characters onto people in our own lives. Either way, this is probably the best Panera Bread advertisement you’ll ever hear.
Standout tracks: Carissa, Micheline, Ben’s My Friend
2. How to Dress Well: What is This Heart?
In his latest effort, Tom Krell manages to capture the sincere sentiment from Love Remains and Total Loss while expanding on his lo-fi R&B aesthetic to make it grander than ever. The results are gratifying, to say the least. Just listen to the swelling strings of “Pour Cyril”, which sound like they came straight from the soundtrack of the newest action-adventure epic, to get an idea of the scale of this project. Krell’s angelic voice is put to much better use, emerging as the focal point rather than blending into a barrage of synthesizers. Phrased as a question, the title of What is This Heart? sounds tentative and unsure, but the boldness with which the album progresses proves that it is anything but.
Standout tracks: What You Wanted, Words I Don’t Remember, Precious Love
1. Real Estate: Atlas
Who said guitar bands are on their way out? There’s a certain refinement to Matt Mondanile’s riffs that evoke a powerful sense of nostalgia while still being as satisfying as the most technically difficult of solos. It’s this nostalgia that Real Estate is constantly mining, and even though they decide to stay in the suburbs for their latest full length, they’re cruising around with a greater sense of responsibility and knowledge of the world around them. They’ve perfected the uneasy wistfulness that was starting to transpire on Days, and for a bunch of suburban white kids, it’s amazing how profound their music is. “Do I sound insincere?” Martin Courtney asks on “The Bend”. We could insist on telling him no, but ultimately it wouldn’t matter.
Standout tracks: Had to Hear, Talking Backwards, Crime