Not sure if TRIBE is the best place for these lists anymore, and perhaps I'm jumping the gun a bit, but whatevs, I'm not really expecting anything new and great to jump out in the next month, and so, hey, here we go.
Unlike other recent years, I did not feel that 2014 was an exemplary year for new music. In fact, I thought, overall, that this was a year full of underwhelming disappointments by artists whom would normally make my top 10, a highly subjective list that includes St.Vincent, Lykke Li, The Drums, La Roux… the list goes on.
So, with no further ado, here's the stuff I loved (or liked a lot), and had on repeat all year:
1) FKA Twigs - "LP1" : essentially she's the perfect humanoid fusion of Sade and Bjork, and the slow-burn buildup to her first official LP was a feat of social media (and artistic) marketing genius. Which did not disappoint. Pretty much the most refreshing new album to come out this year. Oh, and I saw her perform live in a small intimate Montreal venue, which was a treat that I expect to never experience again. Only downside: Apparently she's still dating Robert Patterson, who's Twilight tweenie nutbar fanbase has been flaming her with all sorts of negative and racist comments. Oh well, I'm sure she'll grow up and learn better.
2) Mr. Little Jeans - "Pocketknife" - How this exquisite little electro-pop gem fell so far below the radar is the stuff of market-analytics thesis's. Problem #1: It so summertime fresh, yet it was released in February 2014. (Unlike Lykki Li's morbidly depressing album, which was released in May 2014 in the first days of summertime spring, yet was much better suited to the winter months). In any case, no, Norwegian girl Monica Birkenes' album was not *groundbreaking* in the way Lykki Li nor Florence Welch were a few years back. Nope. "Pocketknife" is merely a collection of exquisitely crafted 'lecto-pop gems that you can listen to over and over again and never get sick of them. Plus, her cover of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" is widely acknowledged as being superior to the original. All of which, in this year of lameness, conspires to make this album #2.
3) Aphex Twin - "Syro" : well, others praised this album as like the second coming of techno Jesus genius. I won't go that far. I just liked the fact that it did remind me of his mid-90s output (which was when I was all gaga over Aphex Twin).
4) Teen - "The Way and the Colour" : These Brooklyn girls worked so hard on this. You can tell. And yet, while it falls short of being truly moving and epic and innovative, it's still some of the best *experimental* alt-psych-pop to come out this year, drawing heavily upon classic David Bowie and Kate Bush (their acknowledged influences, among others). To complete the package, check out their 2013 psych-pop ep "Carolina".
5) Phantogram ("Voices") vs. Warpaint (self-titled) - not to sure what to make of this battle of the neo-goth girls, which also includes Dum Dum Girls, but this seemed to be a meme this year. Overall, my impressions are - Phantogram has the most catchy songs, and it sounds like they're trying their best to be some neo-goth Beach House. Warpaint's album has the problem of sounding too *samey*, but the standout tracks are just aces. And from what I've seen via Coachella and other live feeds, both acts are just excellent live.
6) Jessie Ware "Tough Love" - wow, now this is a tightrope walk of sorts. On her sophomore album, Ms Ware is veering ever closer to channeling 1980s white soul like Hall & Oates, while keeping it in the bedroom, Sade style. And in the hands of other artists, these songs would come across like so much saccarine pablum. It's only Jessie Ware's incredible voice, her clear conviction, and moments of sound-compositional ingenuity that makes this a top 10, and not an utter piece of crap. Also, that *Red Bull Academy remix sessions" which she recently broadcasted was just the Best.
7) Tennis - "Ritual in Repeat" - yup, that husband and wife team may come across as a bit *preppy*, but still, they're doing their darndest to create an entire album's worth of earworm catchy retro- songs. Nearest neighbour I would say is "She & Him", Zooey Dechanel's decent retro-music gig. Also, I saw them live this past year in an intimate Montreal performance venue, and it was a very gratifying show.
8) Lydia Ainsworth - "Right from Real" : well, you can always tell when someone listens to Kate Bush a lot. To Ms. Ainsworth's credit, she's able to pull off her arty art-pop with cellos stuff, with aplomb.
9) Wild Beasts - "Present Tense" : songs like "Wanderlust" and "Daughters" do tend to creep up the back of your spine the way classic Massive Attack songs used to do.
10) SIA ("50 Forms of Fear") vs Taylor Swift ("1989") - in a year of indie-lameness, it's time to check out what the big name mainstream acts are doing. And of these, Sia has some serious compositional and vocal edge. Taylor Swift, however, knows how to make an album so complete that it *breaks the internet*, or at least saves the mainstream music industry. For now.
11) Other - as usual, some of the best new music was in EP or singles form, and of these, some great stuff was released by Avalon Emerson, Nicole Moudaber, Say Lou Lou, and Jon Hopkins ("Asleep Versions").
......
ok that's what I got. Whata you got?
Unlike other recent years, I did not feel that 2014 was an exemplary year for new music. In fact, I thought, overall, that this was a year full of underwhelming disappointments by artists whom would normally make my top 10, a highly subjective list that includes St.Vincent, Lykke Li, The Drums, La Roux… the list goes on.
So, with no further ado, here's the stuff I loved (or liked a lot), and had on repeat all year:
1) FKA Twigs - "LP1" : essentially she's the perfect humanoid fusion of Sade and Bjork, and the slow-burn buildup to her first official LP was a feat of social media (and artistic) marketing genius. Which did not disappoint. Pretty much the most refreshing new album to come out this year. Oh, and I saw her perform live in a small intimate Montreal venue, which was a treat that I expect to never experience again. Only downside: Apparently she's still dating Robert Patterson, who's Twilight tweenie nutbar fanbase has been flaming her with all sorts of negative and racist comments. Oh well, I'm sure she'll grow up and learn better.
2) Mr. Little Jeans - "Pocketknife" - How this exquisite little electro-pop gem fell so far below the radar is the stuff of market-analytics thesis's. Problem #1: It so summertime fresh, yet it was released in February 2014. (Unlike Lykki Li's morbidly depressing album, which was released in May 2014 in the first days of summertime spring, yet was much better suited to the winter months). In any case, no, Norwegian girl Monica Birkenes' album was not *groundbreaking* in the way Lykki Li nor Florence Welch were a few years back. Nope. "Pocketknife" is merely a collection of exquisitely crafted 'lecto-pop gems that you can listen to over and over again and never get sick of them. Plus, her cover of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" is widely acknowledged as being superior to the original. All of which, in this year of lameness, conspires to make this album #2.
3) Aphex Twin - "Syro" : well, others praised this album as like the second coming of techno Jesus genius. I won't go that far. I just liked the fact that it did remind me of his mid-90s output (which was when I was all gaga over Aphex Twin).
4) Teen - "The Way and the Colour" : These Brooklyn girls worked so hard on this. You can tell. And yet, while it falls short of being truly moving and epic and innovative, it's still some of the best *experimental* alt-psych-pop to come out this year, drawing heavily upon classic David Bowie and Kate Bush (their acknowledged influences, among others). To complete the package, check out their 2013 psych-pop ep "Carolina".
5) Phantogram ("Voices") vs. Warpaint (self-titled) - not to sure what to make of this battle of the neo-goth girls, which also includes Dum Dum Girls, but this seemed to be a meme this year. Overall, my impressions are - Phantogram has the most catchy songs, and it sounds like they're trying their best to be some neo-goth Beach House. Warpaint's album has the problem of sounding too *samey*, but the standout tracks are just aces. And from what I've seen via Coachella and other live feeds, both acts are just excellent live.
6) Jessie Ware "Tough Love" - wow, now this is a tightrope walk of sorts. On her sophomore album, Ms Ware is veering ever closer to channeling 1980s white soul like Hall & Oates, while keeping it in the bedroom, Sade style. And in the hands of other artists, these songs would come across like so much saccarine pablum. It's only Jessie Ware's incredible voice, her clear conviction, and moments of sound-compositional ingenuity that makes this a top 10, and not an utter piece of crap. Also, that *Red Bull Academy remix sessions" which she recently broadcasted was just the Best.
7) Tennis - "Ritual in Repeat" - yup, that husband and wife team may come across as a bit *preppy*, but still, they're doing their darndest to create an entire album's worth of earworm catchy retro- songs. Nearest neighbour I would say is "She & Him", Zooey Dechanel's decent retro-music gig. Also, I saw them live this past year in an intimate Montreal performance venue, and it was a very gratifying show.
8) Lydia Ainsworth - "Right from Real" : well, you can always tell when someone listens to Kate Bush a lot. To Ms. Ainsworth's credit, she's able to pull off her arty art-pop with cellos stuff, with aplomb.
9) Wild Beasts - "Present Tense" : songs like "Wanderlust" and "Daughters" do tend to creep up the back of your spine the way classic Massive Attack songs used to do.
10) SIA ("50 Forms of Fear") vs Taylor Swift ("1989") - in a year of indie-lameness, it's time to check out what the big name mainstream acts are doing. And of these, Sia has some serious compositional and vocal edge. Taylor Swift, however, knows how to make an album so complete that it *breaks the internet*, or at least saves the mainstream music industry. For now.
11) Other - as usual, some of the best new music was in EP or singles form, and of these, some great stuff was released by Avalon Emerson, Nicole Moudaber, Say Lou Lou, and Jon Hopkins ("Asleep Versions").
......
ok that's what I got. Whata you got?
