Wednesday, December 24, 2014

My Favorite Records of 2014

Below are my 75 favorite albums of 2014 followed by my 10 favorite reissues / archival etc. Both lists are in some semblance of order with 1 being the best. They were made completely from memory, so if I forgot something it obviously didn't make enough of an impression on me to make the top 75. Also I decided to start off with my favorite song(s) of the year. Both are from the same artist and one is from a 2 song EP and the other was a digital single. Since they are not on my album lists and they are extremely good (and relevant to today) I decided to include them. And now, the lists.

My favorite song(s) of the year:


Holly Herndon – Chorus and Home



My 75 favorite albums of 2014:
  1. Jenny Hval & Susanna – Meshes of Voice
  2. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire for No Witness
  3. FKA Twigs – LP1
  4. Grouper – Ruins
  5. Vicky Chow – Tristan Perich: Surface Image
  6. Klara Lewis – Ett
  7. Inga Copeland – Because I'm Worth It
  8. Carla Bozulich – Boy
  9. Fatima Al Qadiri – Asiatisch
  10. Cœur de Pirate – Trauma
  11. OOIOO – Gamel
  12. Christian Fennesz – Bécs
  13. Ben Frost – A U R O R A
  14. Ian William Craig – A Turn of Breath
  15. Weyes Blood – The Innocents
  16. The Bug – Angels & Devils
  17. Dean Blunt – Black Metal
  18. Nels Cline Singers – Macroscope
  19. Zeitkratzer - Metal Machine Music: First Full Instrumental Version
  20. Nurse with Wound – Contrary Motion
  21. Zola Jesus – Taiga
  22. Marissa Nadler – July
  23. Marianne Faithfull – Give My Love to London
  24. Daniel Lanois – Flesh and Machine
  25. St. Vincent – S/T
  26. Maxwell August Croy & Sean McCann – I
  27. Cibo Matto – Hotel Valentine
  28. Giant Claw – Dark Web
  29. Ginger Baker – Why?
  30. Neneh Cherry – Blank Project
  31. Michael Pisaro – Continuum Unbound
  32. Pye Corner Audio – Black Mill Tapes, Volumes 3 & 4
  33. Oren Ambarchi / Keiji Haino / Jim O'Rourke - Only Wanting to Melt Beautifully Away Is It a Lack of Contentment That Stirs Affection for Those Things Said to Be as of Yet Unseen
  34. Bill Frisell – Guitar in the Space Age!
  35. Aidan Baker – Triptychs: Variations on a Melody
  36. Aphex Twin – Syro
  37. Tiger Village – V
  38. Negra Branca – N B
  39. Beck – Morning Phase
  40. Spoon – They Want My Soul
  41. Ken Vandermark – Nine Ways to Read a Bridge
  42. Peter Buck – I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again
  43. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
  44. EMA – The Future's Void
  45. Les Cousins Dangereux – CDX
  46. Thievery Corporation – Saudade
  47. je suis le petit chevalier – Canada Summer Tape
  48. Ninos du Brasil – Novos Mystérios
  49. Röyksopp & Robyn – Do It Again
  50. M. Geddes Gengras – Ishi
  51. The Roots - …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin
  52. Nima – See Feel Reel
  53. Noveller & thisquietarmy – Reveries
  54. Cha Cha Guitri – French Synthwave St. Etienne 1981
  55. Supersilent – 12
  56. Steve Reich – Radio Rewrite
  57. Lumen Drones – S/T
  58. Burial Hex – The Hierophant
  59. Stephen Vitiello & Steve Roden – The Spaces Contained in Each
  60. TCF – 415C47197F78E811FEEB7862288306EC4137FD4EC3DED8B
  61. Vladislav Delay – Visa
  62. Lykke Li - I Never Learn
  63. Mono – Rays of Darkness
  64. Mono – The Last Dawn
  65. Felicita – Frenemies EP
  66. Wadada Leo Smith – The Great Lakes Suite
  67. Carolina Eyck & Christopher Tarnow - Improvisations For Theremin & Piano
  68. Kevin Drumm – Trouble
  69. Ólöf Arnalds– Palme
  70. Lætitia Sadier – Something Shines
  71. James Hoff – Blaster
  72. She & Him - Classics
  73. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
  74. Neil Young – Storytone
  75. Sia Furler – 1000 Forms of Fear

My 10 favorite archival / reissues etc. of 2014:

  1. The Beatles – Mono AAA vinyl
  2. Keith Jarrett / Charlie Haden / Paul Motian - Hamburg '72
  3. Henry Mancini – Fear
  4. Mari Kodama – Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas
  5. The Velvet Underground - S/T deluxe edition
  6. Grace Jones – Nightclubbing
  7. Craig Leon - Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 1: Nommos / Visiting
  8. Captain Beefheart – Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972
  9. CSNY - 1974
  10. Maria Callas – Pure