Music trends may come and go, but every year is sure to bring plenty new to popular music. 2014 has given the world no shortage of great albums–but which ones to listen to? Luckily, a few of our more musically knowledgeable staff members have compiled their picks for the best, boldest, and most exciting records and tracks to come out in 2014.
Daniel Bromfield
5. Salad Days/Salad Days Demos – Mac DeMarco
Mac DeMarco writes pop tunes in the early-Beatles vein: short, sweet, snarky. But rather than cramming dazzling amounts of content into two minutes, DeMarco’s tunes wander and somehow find their way to the end in enough time to form a good pop song. His craft is on top form on Salad Days, and the demos give curious insight into his creative process, adding a few haunting instrumentals that are as enjoyable as his lyric songs.
4. Why Do The Heathen Rage? – The Soft Pink Truth
As a gay black metal fan, Drew Daniel is perpetually faced with the issue of liking a genre with a history of homophobia. On his bold, brilliant Why Do The Heathen Rage?, he tackles this problem by recasting black metal songs as queer club-friendly disco. His source material is ripe for this treatment – metal lyrics about sinners and sodomites could easily apply to LGBT people as seen through homophobic eyes. But Daniel also has a keen sense of humor, and the fun he has in pitting these two genres against each other makes this album as enjoyable as it is admirable.
3. Sandopolis – Hashman Deejay
Canadian producer Hashman Deejay evokes the vastness of space and time by drawing from other genres that aim to do the same, particularly the interstellar concerns of Detroit techno and the warped nostalgia of deep house and chillwave. But his approach to this music is so simple and effortless it’s hard to say if he’s doing it on purpose. This is simple, laid-back dance music capable of rocking both stoner dens and dancefloors – and infuriating DJs who spend weeks on end perfecting the right side-chain.
2. It’s Album Time – Todd Terje
Everything about It’s Album Time reeks of patrician smugness at first. It riffs on space-age pop, bossa nova, disco, and all manner of pop music’s goofiest outcasts, topped off with a sad man with a martini seated at a piano on the cover. But Terje is a skilled composer, and he’s aware of the time and painstaking care needed to make these tiki-bar comforts. This is perhaps the year’s most sumptuous listening experience, and for all of Terje’s self-consciousness, it might take a few listens for the album’s inherent goofiness to sink in.
1. Beyoncé – Beyoncé
Pop has historically portrayed sex as something one person gives up to another. On her monumental self-titled fifth album, Beyoncé casually thumbed her nose at this entire tradition by portraying it as something fun, filthy, and, most importantly, mutual. If Beyoncé were sexy songs alone, it would still probably score the top spot. But she also reflects on marriage, motherhood, body image, envy, and death in such detail and with such conviction that every song could potentially yield an album. All of this over music that treats contemporary pop trends (indie pop, alternative R&B, post-dubstep) as pastiche for the first time in their histories. This is something unprecedented.
Honorable Mentions: Vladislav Delay – Visa, Vashti Bunyan – Heartleap, Aphex Twin – Syro, Tink – Winter’s Diary 2
Emerson Malone
Best albums:
5. Songs of Innocence – U2
There is a massive disparity between those of us who received this album (i.e. all of us) versus those of us who actually listened to it (i.e. next to none of us). Should I feel offended that U2 inserted an album into my iTunes library? In terms of bad things a band can do, is this all that egregious? Does it matter that U2 is now a very corporate band concerned with their brand? Does it matter that “California (There Is No End to Love)” is a melodic near-replica of Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go”? Maybe. However, the bombastic guitar on “Volcano,” the achingly earnest “California,” and the closer “The Troubles,” are all standouts that make Innocence well worth beyond the release strategy that eclipsed it.
4. Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son – Damien Jurado
Four of the nine tracks on this mythical album are named for different figures, including “Silver Timothy,” “Silver Donna,” and “Silver Katherine.” Produced by Shins member Richard Swift, this is the third in Jurado’s three-album arc. Former Fleet Foxes drummer Father John Misty theorizes in an essay about Brothers and Sisters that Jurado represents every character in every song. The closer “Suns in Our Mind” has a plunky, baroque instrument that wobbles along with Jurado’s falsetto melodies. It’s particularly imaginative and arguably the best solipsistic concept album of 2014.
3. Lazaretto – Jack White
With The White Stripes, Jack White restricted the band’s sound to a combination of vocals, guitar, bass and piano. Since then, Jack White has widened his scope with his solo career. He updates several oldies on Lazaretto, from the opener “Three Women,” originally a 1928 track, with a Hammond B3 organ and clavinet. On other tracks, you’ll hear fiddles, mandolins, and pedal steel guitars. Standouts like the romping and jubilant “Alone in My Home,” and “High Ball Stepper,” an instrumental piece with screeching vocals torn apart by electric guitars, make up the album’s vitality. If for no other reason, however, the degree of precision and thought put into the vinyl record packaging is reason enough to land it as one of the best albums this year.
2. Sunbathing Animal – Parquet Courts
Parquet Courts sounds like its members write and record these songs while trapped in a basement. The lo-fi sound can be unappealing if done incorrectly, but Parquet Courts are masters of their own mess. Singer-guitarist Andrew Savage has said the album is about “restrictions, confinement, and captivity versus freedom.” The devil-may-care approach toward recording is apparent everywhere on the album: most notably in the pessimistically poetic and intensely articulate lyrics and the apathetic gesture in the title track being just two chords. The opening song “Bodies” ends on the ominous note: “He spit when he spoke and sang like a wasp nest / I said, ‘It’s my soul, I want to keep it on the inside.” Cabin fever can do awful, wonderful things to one’s psyche.
1. They Want My Soul – Spoon
They Want My Soul is a showcase of Spoon’s remarkable talent of creating symmetrical jams with sporadic distortion that warps its otherwise spotless sound. The track “They Want My Soul” stresses torn-up guitar that vengefully breaks apart the chorus. In “Rainy Taxi,” the disparaging minor chords and repeated lyric “I came home last night / I had no good news” become the sound of accepting that if there’s nothing good going on, you might be the bad news. “Let Me Be Mine” is an evocative number about losing your intellectual property, in which Daniel suggests you simply “Auction off what you love.” Spoon brushes the dust off and resuscitates the 1962 Ann-Margaret song, “I Just Don’t Understand” with elegant piano hooks. It’s Spoon’s boldest album since 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and has been on heavy rotation since its release.
Honorable mentions: Worship the Sun – Allah-Las (like an endless trip to the beach), Heart of a Dark Star – Mr. Gnome (like anarchy in high-fidelity), St. Vincent – St. Vincent (the second-best solipsistic album of 2014)
Craig Wright
Best albums:
5. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music – Sturgill Simpson
Finally, a country album that extends beyond only being about booze, girls, boring parties, or sexy tractors. Sturgill Simpson delivers all the familiar aspects of country music, but also speaks of a place “Where reptile aliens made of life / cut you open, pull out all your pain.” Simpson’s reassuring voice combines with the abstract imagery and classic country style in a way that escapes tired the over exhausted and dried up well of country songs.
4. They Want My Soul – Spoon
The main problem with Spoon is that the entire history of the band has been a near constant peak. This is no exception. The four-year break after Transference allowed the band time to restructure its sound. During guitar solos, Daniel allows the silence between notes to carry as much emphasis as the wailing shrieks do, a talent which is rare, but incredibly effective. The solo in “Rainy Taxi” implores this tactic, while the tremolo heavy rhythm guitar battles Britt Daniel’s gruff voice and the steadfast bass line for the spotlight before settling into a cohesive unit.
3. Lost In the Dream – The War on Drugs
Imagine if Paul Simon sang in Bob Dylan’s signature swooning style, set to Bruce Springsteen music during the somber Nebraska era. Throw in a few Bon Iver style melodies and you have The War On Drugs. Adam Granduciel toured extensively in 2012 and 2013, and this album is the product of his form of relaxation. Seeing the band live, the title track “Lost in the Dream” takes on new meaning because he is able to shut off the entire outside world when a guitar is in his hands. Songs like “Red Eyes” and “An Ocean In Between the Waves“ are the most upbeat, while “Under the Pressure” and “Suffering” are the type that you can listen to with your eyes closed and escape from the harsh winter weather outside and imagine all is well with the world.
2. Content Nausea – Parkay Quarts
Following the success of Parquet Courts’ Sunbathing Animal earlier in the year, the follow-up features a half-staffed lineup performing with the pseudonym Parkay Quarts. Nearly everyone dismissed this album as a victory lap, or a warm-up for whatever comes next, without realizing the brilliance behind the entire structure of the album. Singer Andrew Savage’s songs about his nauseating battle with anxiety and society’s addiction to technology are balanced with minute-long instrumental tracks that serve as brief moments of respite from the adrenaline-fueled intensity. “Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth” and “Pretty Machines” smoothly glide along, while “Content Nausea’s” rapid fire manifesto is fired off with unfathomable ease.
1. Teeth Dreams – The Hold Steady
The addition of second guitarist Steve Selvidge helped the Hold Steady rediscover its most effective format: hard rocking guitars mixed with Craig Finn’s lyrical brilliance. Finn is still incorporating characters from previous albums into new songs, which serves as a reminder that Finn is the best rock lyricist our generation has been gifted with. “I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You” and “Spinners” feature classic Hold Steady guitar energy, while “The Ambassador” and “Almost Everything” slow things down, providing a variation of tempos and styles. “Almost Everything” the band’s first song about touring, shows the mundane stops that make the band as human as you or me. Beginning with the sound of sheer desperation, the nine minute closer, “Oaks,” slowly builds up the intensity before allowing an escape to a dreamlike retreat amidst the oak trees that are slowly going up in smoke. The guitar holds an extended smoldering note, mimicking the fire all around. “Oaks” is filled with enough symbolism and imagery to give high school English teachers everywhere wet dreams.
Honorable mentions: Sunbathing Animal – Parquet Courts; Lazaretto – Jack White; 1989 – Taylor Swift; Seeds – TV on the Radio
2014’s best tracks:
Daniel Bromfield
5. Jack J – “Something (On My Mind)”
Canadian deep house label Mood Hut may never crack the charts like some of its more EDM-indebted peers, but its leisurely, classicist productions is sure to win them some fans. “Something (On My Mind)” epitomizes its approach. Though the beat remains steady, the track breathes in and out, absorbing loops and sweating them back out like a living organism. It’s able to thrive in both clubs and stoner dens, navigating space with an eerie and effortless calm.
4. Todd Terje – “Leisure Suit Preben/Preben Goes To Acapulco.”
Todd Terje’s compositions pull from music’s most inherently humorous genres: disco, salsa, bossa nova, lounge music and big-band jazz. Incredibly, Terje doesn’t look down on his sources, but emphasizes their compositional richness and capacity to evoke comfort and luxury. His two-part “Preben” suite is one of the most enjoyable pieces of music I’ve heard this year, even if it’s essentially cop show music. The message: irony isn’t fun anymore. Just start listening.
3. Michael Jackson – “Love Never Felt So Good.”
Post-mortem cash-grabs aren’t supposed to be this good. But in reworking an old Michael Jackson demo (breathtaking on its own), Timbaland, J-Roc and Justin Timberlake nail not only the sound but the rapturous joy of Quincy Jones’ classic Jackson productions. In their desire to do Jackson’s fantastic song justice, the duo pushes themselves to the height of their powers. Thus, a song on which four of the most talented artists in pop are all working at their absolute peak.
2. Beyonce – “Drunk In Love”
Jay-Z’s ugly verse keeps this song an inch from the No. 1 spot, but as long as Beyonce’s at the mic, this is maybe the best song ever written about sex. Beyonce and Jay-Z go to a club, she gets drunk, she and her husband go home and engage in a lovemaking session for the ages. Their coitus is warm and mutual, driven chiefly by their attraction for each other, but it’s also filthy – no other pop song this year reminded me of why that word is a synonym for sex. Coming from pop’s paragon of perfection, that’s a hell of an achievement. If all pop songs were like this, guys might actually put some effort into getting their partners off.
1. Tink – “When It Rains”
From a simple concept – sex while it’s raining – Chicago singer-rapper Tink spins the year’s best love song. The genius of “When It Rains” is that none of it actually takes place during the act, but right before; her boyfriend pulls up outside on a rainy day, and she knows what he wants. Her anticipation lends a spark to this relatively tame song absent in most of R&B’s dirtiest tunes, and even those among us who have no sex drive or live in areas with no precipitation can still relate to how happy she is just to have something to do on a dreary day.
Emerson Malone
- Broken Bells – “Holding on for Life”
Broken Bells’ 2014 follow-up After The Disco was another strong record after its 2010 self-titled debut. The Shins’ James Mercer and producer Brian Burton were a magnetic pair on the single “Holding on for Life,” which retains the imaginative groove and space-age feeling that draws inevitable comparisons to the Bee Gees. It’s a real treat for the ears.
- Chris Staples – “Dark Side of the Moon”
Not being a paternal figure by any means, this song probably shouldn’t resonate with me as strongly as it does, but the layered acoustic guitar paired with Chris Staples’ soft poetry is really sweet. This is a song that’s dreamily composed and deeply sentimental.
- Spoon – “They Want My Soul”
The album’s title track encompasses Britt Daniel’s horror story. He can’t go out on a Friday night without encountering innumerable people who want to get ahold of his soul. There are implications of Islamic ritual Dhabihah in the first stanza: “Let’s get the stars to align / For lambs to slaughter.” Manic, abrasive guitar chords bolster the track and bounce tauntingly from the left to right speaker. Daniel begins to lose it, his voice beginning to crack, as he calls out those who have come after his soul: card sharks, street preachers, post-sermon socialites, and the like. Daniel even calls out the subject of a song off 2002 album Kill the Moonlight, “Jonathan Fisk still wants my soul.” But with an achievement like this, how can you really blame them?
- St. Vincent – “Birth in Reverse”
St. Vincent’s “Birth in Reverse” is about as warm and hospitable as a blizzard. With 2014’s self-titled release, Annie Clark, one of today’s authoritative guitar figures, plays with staggering strength. She has a precise, calculative way that she plays and splits apart gnarly sounds and makes them pretty. Her icy disposition, her callous and sarcastic lyrics about her disturbingly banal routine (“Oh, what an ordinary day / Take out the garbage, masturbate”), and even the supplemental guitar hook that comes in the final minute are fascinating cogs in the complicated machinery behind this song.
- Damien Jurado – “Silver Timothy”
The aesthetic of Jurado’s entire album toes the line between sounding organic and alien. “Silver Timothy” is a perfect representation; it begins like a dirge with a flamenco-style guitar and subdued vocals. Jurado tells an esoteric story that begins: “I was met on the road by a face I once knew / Shapeless was his frame and his colors were few.” Gradually, propulsive drums carry it forward, a children’s choir chimes in, and flying saucer arpeggios bring this tune to a gorgeous, psychedelic crescendo.
Honorable mentions: “Blue Moon” by Beck, “Rise and Shine” by Mr. Gnome, “Foil” by “Weird Al” Yankovic
Craig Wright
5. St. Vincent – “Birth in Reverse”
At times it sounds like an old 8-bit video game soundtrack, while also sounding like the theme song to a futuristic sitcom. Towards the end, the keyboard and guitar breakdown builds up speed together leading up to what could be a new portion of the song, but at the climax, the song suddenly ends, begging to be played on repeat. Clearly, Annie Clark learned a few things about stage presence following 2011’s Love This Giant with David Byrne.
4. The Hold Steady – “Spinners”
“Heartbreak hurts but you can dance it off,” Craig Finn promises to a woman who realizes she only has about two years left of clubbing before transitioning into living in a quiet prairie town. Don’t worry about being heartbroken if you’re willing to dance it all away. The muted fade in to the guitar solo provided the greatest instrumental moment of the year.
3. Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
The pop transition is complete, and Taylor Swift has begun to accept her public persona of being an undateable woman with a psycho streak. The music is clearly influenced by Lorde, which helps her to build her story of a fairy-tale romance of making a “bad guy good for the weekend.” He cheats, she goes berserk, the audience wins.
2. Foxygen – “How Can You Really”
The post-analysis of an unforeseen breakup finds singer Sam France contemplating how both people in the relationship were both at fault for the split. With effortless tempo changes driving the choruses and the swooning, intertwining dual guitar solo blending into the aura created by the piano, bass and horn line in the back. In the past, Sam France has often sounded like Mick Jagger or Ray Davies of the Kinks, but this time, he is finding his own unique voice and it promises a bright future for Foxygen.
1. Parkay Quarts –”Content Nausea”
What makes this song so powerful is its ability to actually instill paranoia among the listeners with the sirens, uncontrollable guitar reminiscent to that of “Sister Ray” by the Velvet Underground, and lyrics that need to be fully dissected to be appreciated. “This year it became harder to be tender/ harder and harder to remember/ meeting a friend, writing a letter, being lost/ antique ritual all lost to the ceremony of progress.” As phones and screens slowly take over the world, Andrew Savage delivers his manifesto to slow the technological takeover with his interpretation of how a panic attack feels. To those who claim rock has crash landed at its lyrical rock bottom, I propose the only counter argument necessary: Content Nausea.
