IT'S FINALLY HERE! MY 50 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2014!
Top-50 Singles of 2014
ReviewsCommentLIST WEEK CONTINUES! This is a list of my 50 favorite singles this year. There have been a lot of fantastic songs to celebrate, and these are what I found to be the most interesting, entertaining, and replay-worthy.
Top-15 EPs of 2014
ReviewsCommentIT'S MY TOP-15 FAVORITE EPS OF 2014! EPs may not be as long as albums, but that doesn't mean there isn't great music on them, right? Here are some of my favorite short collections of tracks that dropped throughout the year. I didn't get a chance to review all of them, but come away from this list knowing I think they're all worth checking out.
Top-20 Music Videos of 2014
Reviews1 CommentThis is a video of my favorite music videos of 2014!
Mark Kozelek - Sings Christmas Carols
New Tracks1 Comment"Mark, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem ... Of all the Mark Kozeleks in the world, you're the Mark Kozelekiest."
There's no topping that for now. Happy holidays, y'all! Thanks for a great year!
Modest Mouse - "Lampshades on Fire"
New Tracks2 Commentshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztdoHfbTRsk Modest Mouse's new album, Strangers to Ourselves, its first in eight years, is well on the way. Recently they released this joint, a happy-go-lucky and uninhibited song that puts the indie rock group back in the music spotlight for the upcoming new year. "Lampshades on Fire" is powerful and hectic, but also thoroughly danceable. Front man Isaak Brock uses the occasion to be as wild and unhindered as he can be in the delivery of his lyrics. The intertwining of hand claps, up-tempo keys, a silky smooth bass line and clever drumming transform this track into a standard but respectable study in indie pop-rock. Curiously enough, this is a song that has been part of Modest Mouse's live set since 2011, but now serves as a glimpse into the next direction that they will be taking with Strangers to Ourselves. With this strong single, fans are sure to welcome the indie rock vets back with open arms.
Strangers to Ourselves is due out 3 March via Glacial Pace.
- Ron Grant
Oneohtrix Point Never/A.G. Cook - "Rush"/"Bubs"
New TracksCommenthttps://soundcloud.com/oneohtrix-point-never/sets/rush-bubs Oneohtrix Point Never has just shared an outtake from R Plus Seven called "Rush," supplementing it with a short-but-sweet collaborative track with A.G. Cook, founder of London label PC Music, which specializes in a brand of "bubblegum bass" that I'm not sure I get yet. This feels right.
Brian Chippendale and Greg Saunier - Brian Chippendale and Greg Saunier
New TracksCommentOf all the team-ups and collabs in recent memory, this has to be among the most chaotic, noisy and boisterous of them all. Greg Saunier and Brian Chippendale are two drummers behind some of the more experimental punk bands of the late 90's and early 2000's, namely Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt. They are regarded as formidable musicians in their own rights, as well as being close friends.
The above album is effectively a half hour of two men playing drums as hard and ferocious as they can, dipping and feeling each other’s style for volume and rhythm dynamics, using each other’s energy to build and drop in crescendo after crescendo of drive, power, and skill. Recommended for anyone into free-improvised percussion music. And if you have time, watch the documentary Checking in at 20, which is paired with the album. It gives some fascinating insight into the two drummers and the project.
- Fin Worrall