Last year I tried to describe as many of the 100 albums on my Top 100 list as possible. It took 10 hours. Frankly, I don’t have that kind of time this year, so I’m only going to describe the ones I think warrant further exploration. I hope you appreciate the effort. I could be out on the town getting loaded and having a great time right now, but instead I’m sitting on my couch trying to make this post as enjoyable as possible for the four people who still check this website daily in the hopes that I’ll have posted something new and exciting.
Much like last year, several labels appear multiple times on this list:
Thrill Jockey – 3
Drag City – 3
Constellation – 3
Editions Mego – 4
Kranky – 4 (but 3 in the top 10!)
Sacred Bones – 4 (3 in the top 16!)
Temporary Residence Ltd – 5
Good job, record labels. You put out lots of albums I liked this year. Feel free to send me a bunch of free ones in 2015.
Alright kids, look at this as if it’s a naked chick with her legs spread out before you. Everything is yours for the taking. You can seek these records out and buy them, you can download them from iTunes or Amazon, you can do whatever the fuck you do to consume music. Just make sure you respect the artists enough to pay for their work. Hell, I feel weird just posting single MP3s from less than 1/4 of these albums, but if I didn’t do that you’d have no idea how awesome these records are. And they are all awesome.
And don’t even thinking about pointing out any typos. I don’t want to hear it.
The Top 100 Albums Of 2014
100. Raspberry Bulbs – Privacy (Blackest Ever Black)
99. Gil Sanson & Bruno Duplant – Blank (Mystery Sea) – They’ve slowed their output through the years, but Mystery Sea is probably the only record label on the face of the Earth whose completely discography I long to possess. There are plenty of holes in my collection right now, but hopefully one day soon I’ll be able to say I own them all. And until the day they cease putting out music, there will always be a spot, or two, or three on my year-end lists for Mystery Sea releases. If you have yet to explore their ouevre,
98. Ty Segall – Manipulator (Drag City)
97. Burial Hex – The Hierophant (Handmade Birds) – If this really is the last we are going to hear of Burial Hex, I’m glad the project ended on such an overwhelmingly beautiful high note. [Listen to “Winter Dawn”]
96. Golden Retriever – Seer (Thrill Jockey)
95. Noveller & Thisquietarmy – Reveries (Shelter Press)
94. The Men – Tomorrow’s Hits (Sacred Bones)
93. Medicine – Home Everywhere (Captured Tracks)
92. Evan Caminiti – Coiling (Dust Editions)
91. Brian Eno / Karl Hyde – High Life (Warp)
90. Goat – Commune (Sub Pop) – A couple years ago World Music took me (and plenty of other music blogs around the world) by complete surprise. It was quite easily placed atop my Top 100 list that year, and I anxiously awaited – pretty much from the moment I clicked the “publish” button on that post – the group’s follow-up effort. Commune didn’t quite hit me the same way the first album did, but it’s still quite good. And considering it was the fastest selling “Loser Edition” LP Sub Pop has ever issued, I think the band is doing just fine keeping their fans satisfied.
89. Young Widows – Easy Pain (Temporary Residence Ltd)
88. Hookworms – The Hum (Weird World)
87. Kevin Drumm – Trouble (Editions Mego) – And if you’re a fan of those aforementioned Mystery Sea releases, I think you’ll quite like the latest effort by Kevin Drumm, which is likely the quietest record anyone has heard since whenever John Cage composed 4’33”. I’m sure there’s some kind of statement here about the power or importance of of silence but I haven’t quite figured it out yet. I just know I keep straining to listen to this record and I think the strain is the point? I don’t know. Give it a shot.
86. Survival Knife – Loose Power (Glacial Pace)
85. Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry (Debemur Morti)
84. Burzum – The Ways Of Yore (Candlelight)
83. Earth – Primitive And Deadly (Southern Lord)
82. Richard Youngs – Primary Concrete Attack (Fourth Dimension)
81. Boris – Noise (Sargent House)
80. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Check ‘Em Before You Wreck ‘Em (Rise Above) – As soon as I saw the cover of this album I knew that a) I needed to hear it and b) It was going to be awesome. Retro British hard rock done right. For fans of Sabbath and Sir Lord Baltimore. And yes, all the songs are as well-named as the band itself. My personal favorite? Why, it’s “2 Tonne Fuckbot” of course! [Listen to “Elementary Man”]
79. Watter – This World (Temporary Residence Ltd)
78. Woodsman – Woodsman (Fire Talk) – Even though I got yelled at by their label for posting the wrong track when I hyped this album earlier in the year I’m going to let bygones be bygones and include it on the list. Because it’s not fair to the band that I leave their record off the list just because some douche at the label wasn’t explicit about what could or could not be shared when I wrote about it.
77. Silver Mt. Zion – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything (Constellation)
76. Bitchin’ Bajas – Bitchin’ Bajas (Drag City) – I’m pretty sure Bitchitronics was on last year’s list, so that makes Bitchin’ Bajas another band who has made my Top 100 list in back-to-back years. Guys, you’re in very exclusive company now with the likes of White Hills, Aidan Baker, Machinefabriek, and probably ten or fifteen other artists. Nice work! Keep it up! Your video for “Bueu” makes me feel like I just took ALL the drugs! [Listen to “Bueu”]
75. Aidan Baker – Triptychs: Variations On A Melody (Important) – Speaking of Aidan Baker, he’s now appeared on every one of these lists since…2008 I think? Maybe 2006? Jesus. I’m getting old.
74. Oren Ambarchi – Quixotism (Editions Mego)
73. Christina Carter – Masque Femine (Root Strata)
72. Electric Wizard – Time To Die (Spinefarm) I don’t know, is this better than Yob? You decide. [Listen to “I Am Nothing”]
71. Mono – The Last Dawn (Temporary Residence Ltd)
70. Mono – Rays Of Darkness (Temporary Residence Ltd)
69. White Rainbow – Thru.U (self-released)
68. Leyland Kirby Presents V/Vm – The Death Of A Rave (History Always Favours The Winners)
67. Horseback – Piedmont Apocrypha (Three Lobed)
66. Antoni Maiovvi & Umberto – The Hook & Pull Gang (Death Waltz Originals) – This one was kind of on the fence for me because while it’s not technically a soundtrack (there’s a separate list for soundtracks! it’s coming later this week!) it’s a re-score that was composed and performed for the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So no, it’s not the soundtrack to the film, hence it’s allowed to appear on THIS list, and not my official Top Film Music list. Also it’s so awesome I could’t disqualify it so I’m bending the rules in order to include it.
65. Koen Holtkamp – Motion (Thrill Jockey)
64. Bill Callahan – Have Fun With God (Drag City)
63. Black To Comm – Black To Comm (Type)
62. Neel – Phobos (Editions Mego) – Named for Mars’ second moon, Phobos is a downright epic electronic/drone double-album that genuinely sounds like a field recording from a foreign world. Sit in your bedroom late at night, plug in some headphones, and this is some of the best mood music I’ve written to in years. Drive alone through the desert in the early morning hours (maybe during a trip back from Vegas?) and you’ll swear you’re seeing UFOs darting across the sky. Spooky as hell, and delightful as well. [Listen to “Post Landing”]
61. Fossil Aerosol Mining Project – 17 Years In Ektachrome – An Aquarius Records discovery, their description got me: “Think Phillip Jeck. Think Terry Riley. And most of all, think :zoviet*france! … The Fossil Aerosol Mining Project cycles through a myriad of sympathetic loops, each of which harbors its own patter of delay, lending to a complex web of crumbling sound furthered along by backward tapes of textural scrabblings and iridescent drones. This network of eerie, diaphanous sounds and hypnotizingly soft-focus rhythms which may have their origins in a thoroughly forgotten fragment of a song, whose content was wholly lost to the magnetic erasures, dubbing-upon-dubbing-upon-dubbing, and / or the bacterial decay which flecked away the ferric oxide leaving behind an entirely different set of chemical stains.”
60. Eternal Tapestry – Guru Overload (Oaken Palace)
59. Inventions – Inventions (Temporary Residence Ltd)
58. Yob – Clearing the Path To Ascend (Relapse) – When I sent my buddy Ian the first draft of this list he only had two complaints. One was that the Swans record should have been in the top 10 (sorry, it’s good but it’s not THAT good) and the other was that Yob should have been switched with Electric Wizard. So today on my way into work I listened to the latter record, and for the past thirty minutes or so I’ve been listening to Yob, and…yeah, he’s right. See Ian, fatherhood hasn’t completely sapped your brainpower. You can still be right about some things! [Listen to “Nothing To Win”]
57. Jon Porras – Light Divide (Thrill Jockey)
56. Machinefabriek – Stillness Soundtrack (Glacial Movements)
55. Sunn O))) / Ulver – Terrestrials (Southern Lord)
54. Inter Arma – The Cavern (Relapse)
53. James Blackshaw – Fantomas: Le Faux Magistrat (Tompkins Square)
52. Kemalliset Ystavat – Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa (Dekorder)
51. Vladislav Delay – Visa (Ripatti) – I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. After Entain came out in 2000 there was pretty much not a single Vladislav Delay record I heard that made me feel anything close to as good as Entain did. So you could imagine my surprise when reviews started to pop up of Visa and people compared it to that title from 14 years ago. I downloaded it to give it a shot, and — wouldn’t you know it — here it is on the list. Finally, more awesome experimental electronic music for me to enjoy! [Listen to “Viisari”]
50. Mesa Ritual – Mesa Ritual (SIGE) – Mesa Ritual is a collaborative project that features William Fowler Collins as one of its members. And since several years ago I swore a blood oath to Mr. Collins that I would devour every ounce of music he creates I had to track this one down (and it wasn’t that easy for a while) and hear it and fall in love with it and remember how supremely talented that dude is. The other half of Mesa Ritual is Raven Chacon (of KILT and others). The duo build on what Collins’ fans might recognize as his trademark DARK guitar drones to create a heady atmospheric storm that will definitely leave you wanting more. As such, I’m already desperately awaiting word on when I’ll get to hear new WFC material. Make it soon, William! [Listen to “Procession VIII”]
49. Advisory Circle – From Out Here (Ghost Box) – Described by the label as “a Wyndham-esque science fiction story, where bucolic English scenery is being manipulated and maybe even artificially generated by bizarre multi-dimensional computer technology”. I don’t quite get any of that, but I know what I like and I like this A LOT. [Listen to “Winter Hours”]
48. Andrew Liles – The Equestrian Vortex (Death Waltz Originals)
47. Mark McGuire – Noctilucence (Dead Oceans)
46. Mogwai – Rave Tapes (Sub Pop)
45. Scott Walker & Sunn O))) – Soused (4AD)
44. Porya Hatami – Shallow (Tench)
43. Carl Hultgren – Tomorrow (Blue Flea) – If the name Carl Hultgren doesn’t ring a bell it’s because you likely know him as just “Carl”, or one half of Windy & Carl. Tomorrow is his first solo album under his full name, and it’s spectacular. Filled with weightless ambient soundscapes that almost sound like they’re instrumental remixes of later-period Spacemen 3 tunes, there’s pretty much nothing but beauty spread across these 12 tracks. Bliss out. [Listen to “No Other”]
42. Alcest – Shelter (Prophecy Productions)
41. Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere – 02 (Discus) – Another Aquarius Records discovery. It took about one paragraph to sell me on this one: “Nobody else out there sounds like this, ’cause nobody else out there thinks this BIG, and combines all these elements so perfectly – experimental electronics, improv jazz, avant-classical choral music, chamber rock, modern minimalism, pulsating krautrock beats, progressive symphonics, ambient drone, and much more.”
40. Lawrence English – Wilderness Of Mirrors (Room40)
39. USA Out Of Vietnam – Crushing Diseases And Incurable Airplanes (Aurora Borealis) – The small London label Aurora Borealis has put out some incredible record for the past ten years. Guapo, Grails, Burial Hex, Jesu, and Haxan Cloak have all been a part of the family at some point. Now there’s USA Out Of Vietnam, whose debut is pretty stunning. They meld that whole post-rock/metal/shoegaze/psych thing quite well. Lots of shifting tempos and time-signatures and styles. Hear for yourself. [Listen to “You Are A Comet, You Are On Fire”]
38. Afrikan Sciences – Circuitous (Pan)
37. Andrew Chalk – The Circle Of Days (Faraway Press)
36. Celer – Sky Limits (Two Acorns)
35. Actress – Ghettoville (Werk Discs)
34. Lykke Li – I Never Learn (Atlantic) – Ah, Lykke Li. Ever since that split with El Perro Del Mar I’ve longed for you in the way that young men often long for young women (anally). Then I heard you wrote an epic break-up album, and moved to Los Angeles…and, well, I’m ready to give marriage a shot if you are too! Also I’m really digging the new album. It’s not as good as Wounded Rhymes but then again…that thing was so incredible…it’s an almost impossible act to follow.
33. Hildur Gudnadottir – Saman (Touch) – Without a doubt one of the most haunting and gorgeous releases of the year. All you’ll hear is voice and cello, but there’s such immense depth to these compositions it is astounding. [Listen to “Strokur”]
32. Swans – To Be Kind (Young God)
31. Tape – Casino (Hapna)
30. Solstafir – Otta (Season Of Mist)
29. Agalloch – The Serpent & The Sphere (Licht von Dammerung Arthouse)
28. Mike Weis – Don’t Know, Just Walk (Type) – When there’s no new Zelienople record for me to laud copiously, I have to keep an eye on what its members are up to. Mike Weis, who is credited as percussionist on that group’s recordings, has more than satiated my thirst for Zelienople-like music with his second (I think?) solo effort. I haven’t heard the first one, but now that I know he’s struck out on his own before I must find it as soon as possible. This one, of course, is just outstanding. And it serves as a testament to how absurdly talented the members of Zelieonple truly are, both as a unit and independently. [Listen to an excerpt from “The Temple Bell Stops”]
27. Loscil – Sea Island (Kranky)
26. Planning For Burial – Desideratum (Flenser) – If there’s one label that has completely blown me away consistently for the past couple years, it’s been The Flenser. Starting with Panopticon, and then Have A Nice Life, and Skagos, Trees, Bell Witch, and now Planning For Burial…most everything they touch is gold. And what makes this one even better is that it was made in New Jersey. The greatest state in the Union. Think of Planning For Burial as a tempered, slightly less blistering Angelic Process. Are you sold yet? [Listen to “Where You Rest Your Head At Night”]
25. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
24. Last Ex – Last Ex (Constellation)
23. Kyle Bobby Dunn – Kyle Bobby Dunn & The Infinite Sadness (Students Of Decay) – Ten bonus points for Kyle Bobby Dunn if the title of this record is in part a stab at Billy Corgan. If not, oh well, it’s still phenomenal. The last triple LP of electronic/ambient music to slay me as much as this was the Stars Of The Lid one, I think. If you count yourself a fan of that, or of A Winged Victory For The Sullen (which, of course, is also on this list) you’d be wise to go out and purchase this one as soon as possible. Super limited edition vinyl release from Students Of Decay. [Listen to “Mon Retard”]
22. Vessel – Punish, Honey (Tri Angle) – Yup, another one I was hipped to by the Aquarius Records mailorder list. They describe it as, “all warped and woozy, fractured slo-mo soul, dark, slithery, downtempo creeps that sounded like Portishead 12″s melted down, and then repressed into something much more alien, and otherworldly.” If that doesn’t make you immediately want to find this and play it late at night while you’re a little fucked up…well then, you’re NOTHING like me. Because that’s pretty much what I did. [Listen to “Drowned In Water And Light”]
21. Le Revelateur – Extreme Events (Root Strata)
20. Andy Stott – Faith In Strangers (Modern Love)
19. BONG – Stoner Rock (Ritual Productions)
18. Pallbearer – Foundations Of Burden (Profound Lore)
17. Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestite (Artemisia)
16. Pharmakon – Bestial Burden (Sacred Bones)
15. Hiss Tracts – Shortwave Nights (Constellation) – It’s baffling to me how Constellation has both survived the extended Godspeed hiatus and figured out a way to make their roster of artists vastly improved. Between Last Ex and Hiss Tracts, I am incredibly stoked to hear who they dig up next. This one takes me back to late nights on the East Coast when I would smoke and listen to the Conet Project or EVP recordings alone in my room and try not to freak myself out. You’ve had similar experiences, I’m sure. You’ll get what I mean if you haven’t already discovered this one. [Listen to “Test Recording At Trembling City”]
14. Panopticon – Roads To The North (Bindrune) – I’d like to marry Margaret. But so too would every other loser/loner dude that’s ever seen her perform. That is all.
13. The Body – I Shall Die Here (Rvng Intl.) – Although technically credited to just The Body, this is really a collaboration with The Haxan Cloak (aka Bobby Krlic) who acts as “producer†but seriously kicks up the duo’s pummeling, punishing doom rock and gives it a minimalist electronic creepiness that is perfectly juxtaposed to the huge slabs of noise The Body typically create.
12. This Will Destroy You – Another Language (Suicide Squeeze) – Snapple Fact: the last album released by Suicide Squeeze to appear on one of my Top 100 lists was Geneva by Russian Circles way back in 2009! It’s been a long time coming, but the new one from This Will Destroy You was easily one of the best records I heard all year. Someone – I think it was Ian – said that as good as this record is, the live show was almost unbearably loud and filled with sheets of white noise. If that’s the case, I really really really need to see these guys perform as soon as possible. [Listen to “Invitation”]
11. Be Forest – Earthbeat (We Were Never Being Boring) – Do you like 4AD bands? Then you’ll pretty much love Be Forest! They dropped out of my Top 10 once the Cut Hands and Bongripper and Winged Victory albums were released, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. In June I wrote about this one, “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know who Be Forest were before this year. And they were described to me as an Italian group who were in love with the vintage 4AD sound. They’ve got another album called Cold which isn’t as good as this one, and when I say “good†I mean Earthbeat is really fucking good. For a while I was listening to it every single Wednesday/Thursday when I was writing at the local coffee shop. It sounds like a cross between Slowdive and Melody’s Echo Chamber. This is probably the most surprising entry on this list if only because I didn’t know the group existed until about four months ago.” [Listen to “Lost Boy”]
10. Grouper – Ruins (Kranky)
09. Christina Vantzou – No 2 (Kranky) – “You know The Dead Texan, right? It’s the combination of Adam Wiltzie (ex-Windsor For The Derby, Stars Of The Lid, A Winged Victory For The Sullen) and Christina Vantzou. So of course Vantzou’s solo stuff warrants special attention. The album was written and composed over the course of four years. Each song was first worked out on a synthesizer BEFORE being properly arranged and notated, and finally the accompanying musicians (strings, brass, piano, etc.) were able to contribute. Outstanding!”
08. Amen Dunes – Love (Sacred Bones) – Back in June I wrote, “Guys, I’m really loving the new Amen Dunes. The other ones are good, but this one is easily the best they’ve released yet. I was on DIA when it came out thanks to the folks at Aquarius Records, and Through Donkey Jaw was solid in spite of it’s silly name. Love sounds like an artist coming into his own. It’s catchy, it’s still drone-y and marginally ambient, but the songs are fully realized and really stick with you after you hear them. As impressed as I was with the album Sacred Bones put out by The Men last year (New Moon) I’m doubly — maybe triply — impressed by this record. And it isn’t even the best album they’ve put out this year.” [Listen to “White Child”]
07. Fennesz – Becs (Editions Mego) – “For me, this is the best work he’s produced since Endless Summer, but then again I’m not one of those Fennesz completist nerds who knows and owns everything. There are a lot of gaps on his discography I’ve not heard. It’s all grainy and blurry and awash in comforting noises, like the dull warmth of an opiate high. There’s even a good amount of guitar here, like the track “Liminality,†which might be my favorite Fennesz composition ever.” [Listen to “Static Kings”]
06. Marissa Nadler – July (Sacred Bones) – It’s almost getting to the point where I’m legitimately concerned with the amount of time I spent professing my love for Marissa Nadler. The best shows I saw this year were the Haxan Cloak/Pharmakon double bill, the Pete Swanson/Ben Frost/Tim Hecker triple header, and Marissa Nadler at the Church on York. Fuck it, I’ll say it all over again. She’s absolutely amazing. Her new album is the best she’s recorded since The Saga Of Mayflower May, and I still have a huge crush on her so there’s no way she wasn’t going to appear on this list. “Driveâ€? “Dead City Emilyâ€? “1923â€? These songs are all among the best she’s ever written. I can’t wait to see what’s next. [Listen to “Dead City Emily”]
05. Cut Hands – Festival Of The Dead (Blackest Ever Black) – Whereas every Whitehouse record I ever bought, I immediately put on my turntable and thought to myself, “Oh my God, what have I done – am I really ever going to listen to this ever again?” Cut Hands is the exact opposite. Yes, William Bennett recorded a handful of records with Whitehouse that require repeat listenings (Birdseed and the “Wriggle Like A Fucking Eel” twelve-inch come to mind) literally every Cut Hands release is great. And this one is the best yet. Kudos, Mr. Bennett. [Listen to “Festival Of The Dead”]
04. Bongripper – Miserable (Great Barrier)
03. Have A Nice Life – The Unnatural World (Flenser) – Another one that took me by surprise because I didn’t know who Have A Nice Life were until I saw the album offered on The Flenser’s website. By the way, if you don’t already, you should definitely make The Flenser a regular visit on your daily/weekly vinyl web-browsing schedule. They carry a lot of great titles, release even better ones, and are super friendly. As for The Unnatural World, imagine if The Body and MBV and Joy Division somehow were all playing on one stage. And then they composed a song called “Cropsey†which wins instant support from yours truly because…well…Cropsey. [Listen to “Burial Society”]
02. A Winged Victory For The Sullen – Atomos (Kranky) – Had I been able to make it to the show at the cemetery earlier this month (sometimes life gets in the way, you know?) I probably would have wept like a baby the entire time. That’s how moving this music is. That’s how heavily it affects me. [Listen to “Atomos XI”]
01. Ben Frost – Aurora (Mute) – Back in June I wrote, “I find it a little bit funny that my pre-ordered vinyl copy of AURORA (not gonna type out the spaces in between the letters each time) arrived from the label before the promo CD from the record label, but that just means I can now listen to the best album of the year (so far) in my home and on the road. It’s…it’s just so fucking good. Synth heavier (way heavier than previous albums) and industrial and heavy and propulsive and black and then suddenly chimes and clean synth chords and prettiness and grooviness. It’s totally unpredictable and yet somehow it all flows perfectly together. Whereas By The Throat felt more calculated, this one is primal and spine-tingling. I love it.” Since then I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Frost perform live and it was everything I could have hoped for, and more. I spun this album one more time again today just to make sure I was making the right decision, and there was no hesitation once it ended. Grab some stone and a chisel. AURORA is the best album of the year. [Listen to “Venter”]
