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