Best of 2014: Television

This is the part where I have to explain that I watch as much good television as I can fit into my schedule but I just can't watch everything. I planned on catching up on the most recent seasons of Veep, Orange Is The New Black, The Bridge, Girls and Bates Motel but I wasn't able to. Even with Breaking Bad off the air, there was so much great new television that my TV dance card was completely full. It was such a good year in television that I could argue the case for any of my six favorite shows as the best show on television, so the rankings from that point on are somewhat arbitrary and just come down to my own personal enjoyment rather than objective quality. I think I could've pretty easily made a list of the ten best dramas as well as the ten best comedies as we are experiencing something of a renaissance for great comedy.


10) Homeland

I'd be hard pressed to think of another show that's had as much backlash as Homeland. Granted, the show started to jump the shark towards the end of the second season and has been teetering on that edge ever since but it's been entertaining and gripping just about every episode in spite of that. I don't think I'm alone in thinking that moving on from Nicolas Brody and his family was the best thing the show could've done. While it still wasn't perfect, there was a stretch during this season that was as good as the show has been.

9) Boardwalk Empire

Although it was never a smash hit critically or commercially, I always appreciated the storytelling the writers did on Boardwalk Empire. The fifth and final season was a fitting farewell even if they did have to shoehorn in the backstory of Nucky Thompson in flashbacks. The season wasn't without it's problems but it had some high highs and was overall a satisfying conclusion.

8) Brooklyn Nine-Nine

It was very hard not to put Parks and Recreation in this spot. It's my favorite sitcom of the last decade but they only aired twelve episodes in 2014. I only mention Parks and Recreation because I feel like the baton has been passed to Brooklyn Nine-Nine from co-creators Dan Goor and Michael Schur who both previously worked on Parks and Recreation. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is at times more formulaic that I would hope for as they often will have a case of the week but the characters are so well inhabited that it often doesn't matter what situation they're placed in. It's good for several solid laugh out loud moments every single week which is something not many shows can say.

7) Comedy Bang Bang

Comedy Bang Bang is one of the silliest shows on television but it is also one of the funniest. Host Scott Aukerman has taken his hilarious podcast and successfully transferred it into a television show. Each episode has multiple guests (usually one real guest and one fake guest) that are unlike any other talk show interview you'll see on TV and there are interstitial segments that are equally bizarre and funny. This year they will produce 40 new episodes and I'm excited for each one.

6) Hannibal

I wasn't sure how and why NBC had Hannibal after the first gruesome season but I was even less sure after the second season. NBC decided to bury it by moving it to Friday nights which isn't exactly in their Must-See-TV lineup but to fans of the show like myself, just airing it at all is all that's needed. I would argue that it's not only the darkest show on network TV but likely the darkest show on all of television. For my money, it's also the most beautifully photographed show on television. If you can stomach watching people eaten and die gruesome deaths (not necessarily in that order) than you're in for a proverbial treat.

5) The Knick

Director extraordinaire pulled triple duty on The Knick as he directs, films and edits every episode himself (the latter two under an alias). Clive Owen is terrific as gifted but trouble surgeon John Thackery but there are no weak links in this strong ensemble cast. The electronic score from Cliff Martinez on paper seems out of place for a show set in 1900 New York but it fits perfectly. From the opening sequence of the first episode, I was completely enthralled and I proceeded to watch the whole series in about one week's time (which for someone who generally dislikes the idea of binge watching was faster than I watched any series this year).

4) True Detective

Many shows can excel from the normal writer's room with a half dozen or so writers coming up with the ideas and writing each script but some of the very best work comes from a singular vision. Such is the case with True Detective from the mind of writer Nic Pizzolatto and brought to the screen by director Cary Fukunaga. The acting from leads Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson was tremendous. It's hard to talk about True Detective with mentioning the final scene from "Who Goes There" which is one of the most ambitious, intense and mesmerizing scenes in television history.

3) The Americans

I loved the first season of The Americans which earned it the #5 spot in last year's list. This season was even better- more focused and more character driven. It's strange that what is likely thought of and marketed as a spy thriller is arguably more of a drama about the dynamic of family. Every aspect of this show is executed perfectly. If you haven't started watching The Americans yet, catch up quick because the new season starts at the end of this month.

2) Nathan For You

The label of comedic genius is used improperly at times but in the case of Nathan Fielder I'm confident in using it. The first season was very funny but the second season was ratcheted up another level. Sure, he got headlines for Dumb Starbucks which was a fantastic episode but it was just one in a season of great episodes. Whether it was his out of the box ideas for a Realtor, a dating website, a pet store or an exterminator, it was guaranteed to make me cringe and laugh simultaneously.

1) Fargo

Taking one of the best movies of the last 25 years and turning it into a miniseries made me skeptical at best. In fact, I was interested when it was reported the Coen Brothers had signed off on it but it wasn't until word of mouth started to float back to me and I had a few episodes burning a hole in my DVR that I began to delve in. Creator Noah Hawley absolutely nailed the tone set by the Coen Brothers in the film and came up with an entirely new story while still giving a few tips of the cap to fans of the movie. There was no more satisfying television experience for me this year than Fargo.


Honorable mention:

Birthday Boys

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Justified

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Late Show with David Letterman

Orphan Black

Parks and Recreation

Review

Silicon Valley

Best of 2014: Albums

I was actually surprised that when I started to compile albums for this list there was about 25 that were in the conversation but I'm pretty satisfied with the 10 that made my list and the 10 below I would consider the runners-up.


10) TV On The Radio - Seeds

Seeds came out later in the year and it didn't hook me immediately but thankfully I gave it another chance, then another and another. It's really grown on me and holds up very well against their early work which includes some of my favorite songs and albums of the last ten years.

9) The Life and Times - Lost Bees

Despite their last album No One Loves You Like I Do making my best albums list in 2012, this was an album that slipped under my radar when it was first released in August. However, once I found out it had been released it's been in constant rotation. It's hard to make music that's heavy and catchy at the same time but The Life and Times has it down to a science.

8) Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

The first mainstream pop album to make my list since Adele's 21 in 2011. Doesn't matter to me though because regardless of how much radio airplay the single 'Chandelier' received, it was completely deserved. Unfortunately there are many other great songs on the album that are likely unknown to most casual music listeners. Sia is bonafide pop music hit-maker but with 1000 Forms of Fear, she shows that she's much more than that.

7) Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World

After the Coachella reunion in 2011 and several other shows I felt a certain sense of nostalgia towards Death From Above 1979. They were that band I used listen to and they had a really cool performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, but I wasn't chomping at the bit for new music from them. That might be why I so thoroughly enjoyed The Physical World. It blew whatever modest expectations I had for a new record out of the water. Watching them play a couple months ago it seemed clear that fans of the band enjoyed their new work as well.

6) Nothing - Guilty of Everything

My favorite new discovery of 2014 was Nothing's Guilty of Everything which I stumbled across on NPR's First Listen back in February. It is 38 minutes of heavily distorted bliss.

5) Spoon - They Want My Soul

Somehow every song that Spoon records is unmistakably their own but they continue to evolve with each album. They've been a band for over 20 years now and released some all-time records including my favorite album of 2010 Transference. They Want My Soul is another notch in their belt as it contains much of their signature sound while also exploring some new areas like with 'Inside Out' which has a very surreal music video to accompany the wonderful hallucinatory sounds. Seeing them perform live at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery the same week the album was released was one of my musical highlights of the year.

4) Wye Oak - Shriek

Wye Oak's Civilian was one of my favorite records from 2011 and like many fans I was concerned when lead singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner made the decision to get rid of the guitar for their follow up album. However, the lack of guitar with additional keyboard and bass give Shriek an added element of space to their sound. Wasner's vocals seem to float above the beautiful music made by her and drummer extraordinaire Andy Stack. Being lucky enough to see them play a couple times this year with both sets heavy on material from Shriek only reaffirmed by appreciation for the record.

3) Beck - Morning Phase

My excitement for a new Beck album was piqued with the release of several singles in 2013 including a remarkable 15 minute song called 'I Won't Be Long'. None of those singles made it onto Morning Phase which would have been a mistake had the album not been full of relentlessly great songs that mesh perfectly together. It has been compared to Sea Change with good reason as it's definitely more in the category of somber Beck music but as early as 'Jack-Ass' on Odelay or 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' that's been some of my favorite music.

2) Tennis - Ritual in Repeat

The title of this album is extremely fitting as I listened to it almost daily for the first few weeks after it came out. Ritual in Repeat is a phenomenal record that rests comfortably between the worlds of rock and pop. Husband and wife duo Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore have created an album in which each song seems to build of the song preceding it. I had enjoyed some past work from Tennis but this album caught me by complete surprise in the best possible way and makes me eager to hear what they release next.

1) Future Islands - Singles

Singles was in heavy rotation from the time it was released in March. I had been a fan of their earlier albums but this was a step above those albums in production value and song writing. I was lucky enough to see them live twice this year and the songs from this record sound just as good if not even better live. I couldn't be happier for their success and the performance on David Letterman that went viral which opened them up to a whole set of fans.

Honorable mention:

The Antlers - Familiars

Caribou - Our Love

Jack White - Lazaretto

La Dispute - Rooms of the House

Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband

Manchester Orchestra - Cope

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

This Will Destroy You - Another Language

Tycho - Awake