|
1. The War on Drugs "Slave Ambient"
Best set up record of the year for me. They were poised to become my favourite band. Truly a crowning achievement from a band just hitting its stride. Honest, no frills songs, tied together with crafty production. And room left for improvement. Easily the best record for me this year, and one I never tire of.
2. Sandro Perri "Impossible Spaces"
Really carried by the two landmark track "Changes" and "Wolfman", this album revealed itself as the most patient, percolating, clean sounding record I heard all year. Highly recommended.
3. Fucked Up "David Comes to Life"
How many fucking stand-out tracks are there on this? It's exhausting, shrill, overcome with melody and aggression. The first thing by this band that I've actually loved.
4. Gang Gang Dance "Eye Contact"
Their best record yet. Moments on "Chinese High" make it one of my favourite tracks of the year. More accessible than anything they've put out before, but still patently fringe. I still think they've got better in them, but a truly mystical album that I love here.
5. Atlas Sound "Parallax"
Sleeper hit for me. I dismissed it quickly halfway through my first listen, but it very suddenly won me over, in a way nothing Cox-related has for me before. Really strong effort that never betrays itself.
6. Nicolas Jaar "Space is Only Noise"
Easily the best electronic record of the year for me. And the most patient. Takes 30 minutes to get going, but when it drops, it hits right on. Nothing else released this year can be considered in the same weird league this is in.
7. Timber Timbre "Creep On Creepin' On"
Lurker hit. I love his sound through and through, and I think this is an excellently written and executed record, duly so live. Dark yet whimsical and self aware.
8. Esmerine "La Lechuza"
Best ode! Hear this record if you haven't. Minimal in structure, but very heavy in emotional content, and it's beautiful. The payoff moments, as with the Nicolas Jaar, I wouldn't trade for much anything else this year.
9. Low "C'mon"
One of my favourite all-time bands, releasing the album they probably meant to release several years ago. Raucous, but still quintessential low. I love the beauty of the melodies and the depth of repetition.
10. Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues"
Best summer record, and most sentimental. I'd probably not have this record on here, if it wasn't for certain pivotal people in my life. I like this record better than the first. I think it's more consistent, and the melody blast is on full this time around.
11. The Field "Looping State of Mind"
This record did for me what Eluvium's release did for me last. Truly hypnotic but uplifting minimal music. Reminds me of Seefeel at its best moments, for an entire album's length.
12. Ponytail "Do Whatever You Want All The Time"
Best titled album, and a decree I subscribe to completely. This album has moments closer to transcendence than most for me. "Easy Peasy" is pretty fucking incredible.
13. Bill Callahan "Apocalypse"
First Callahan release that really grabbed me. I think "America" is an amazing recording on every level. This album could be higher if I spent more time with it, but didn't for fear of spoiling it.
14. Cass Mccombs "Wit's End"
So sad, but beautiful. Admittedly haven't listened to it in a long time, and it ranked higher for a while. I liked "Humor Risk" too, but I guess am still a little too mystified by Cass.
15. Miracle Fortress "Was I The Wave?"
Homegrown talent that I never listened to while actually living in Montreal. Record's got swagger, and no balls at the same time, I dunno. I love the Thriller-ish moments the most.
16. Dntel "Enya Mixes"
Maybe this doesn't even qualify as a viable release, but I absolutely love these mixes. Best songs I've heard resembling IDM in like a decade, and regardless of the source material, it's true talent. Big Dublab-appreciation year for me with various events and releases.
17. Ha Ha Tonka "Death of A Decade"
Easily the cheesiest thing on this list, but there are a lot of nicely written songs on this record, but I wouldn't pay to see them live or for free. I guess this passes as a form of modern bluegrass.
18. Shabazz Palaces "Black Up"
I've always loved Digable Planets, and not much other hip-hop really. This is a solid statement: trippy and ethereal, flighty sonically, but well-grounded in content. Pretty rad record all in all.
19. Panda Bear "Tomboy"
Somewhat of a sympathy vote. I'm a little let down by this record, but love Panda Bear. I wonder at the strategy of releasing multiple singles in anticipation of the album. I think it diluted this release, even worse than it did for "Person's Pitch". There's a lot I love on "Tomboy", but I actually find it a little muddied with reverb, even I.
20. Bardo Pond "Bardo Pond"
Snuck into the Top 20. Probably the best proper album released by this prolific band, with so many arguably unmemorable (positively) releases. They achieve the most balance between heavy balladry and droney indulgence than on most noise they've put out.
Honorables:
Kurt Vile Smoke Ring for My Halo
Tune-Yards W H O K I L L
Paul Simon So Beautiful So What
James Blake James Blake
Idaho You Were A Dick
Anna Calvi Anna Calvi
Beirut The Rip Tide
Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers Teenage & Torture
Six Organs of Admittance Asleep on the Floodplain
Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter Marble Son
Julia Holter Tragedy
The Vaccines What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?
Braids Native Speaker
Ducktails Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics
Akron/Family S/T The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
Neil Young A Treasure
Destroyer Kaputt!
White Denim D
PJ Harvey Let England Shake
EMA Past Life Martyred Saints
Chad Van Gaalen Diaper Island
Bon Iver Bon Iver
Kate Bush 50 Words for Snow
Dope Body Nupping
Teebs Collections 01
John Maus We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
True Widow As High as the Highest Heavens and From the Center to the Circumference of the Earth
Daedelus Bespoke
Autechre Eps 1991-2002
Hauschka Salon des amateurs
Six Organs of Admittance Maria Kapel
Chris Forsyth Paranoid Cat
Shlohmo Bad Vibes
Zomes Earth Grid
I heard more new music this year than any year before, and felt there was a ton of quality releases, with very few major stand-outs, and very few emergent fads (thankfully), just some good, honest sounds.
|
