Best of 2014 Part 6

A slight spoiler: for me there was no runaway winner this year, so at this point I feel like the order of the last few albums could be jumbled up and justified in any fashion. They're all really good, and basically I just picked albums I liked a little more to come up with the final order. Anyway let's get down to business, here is the beginning of the very best albums of 2014.

#6

Run The Jewels

Run The Jewels 2

Killer Mike! El-P! Run The Jewels! Yaaaa sucka! This record is just hype personified. I liked the first album, I loved this one. The production, as expected, is fuggin awezum. Kind of sounds like Death Grips, only less manic. This is the new wave gangsta shit.

I should of course mention that the lyrics are seriously PG-13, or maybe more appropriately rated R for some less-than-savoury tracks, which is most of them. Ha. Don't look for radio hits, there are none. It's just badass hip hop ground up with dirty electro grime and fried in a dope step pancake. So far ahead of the curve. Keep runnin' fellas.

Oh My Darling (Don't Cry)

Blockbuster Night Part 1

Early

#5

FKA Twigs

LP1

What good is an album title anyway? I guess when you're busy writing tunes you can't be bothered about with unimportant things like that. So this is the new R&B. Or so I've been told. I have no idea where this fits in the traditional genre spectrum, and to be honest I don't care. Downtempo, a bit glitchy, trippy and intense. Tahliah's voice just kind of floats around in the background, far far away from the over-the-top self indulgence of today's bloated pop divas.

FKA stands for 'formerly known as'. Good to know. I saw the video for "Two Weeks" and did my best impression of Keanu Reeves. Totally awesome. Thankfully it wasn't a one-off, the whole album is great. Just the right mix of weird and catchy. Very excited to see where she takes this in the future. Let's hope that means sooner rather than later.

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Video Girl

Lights On

#4

The War On Drugs

Lost In The Dream

I have to admit I really didn't want to bother with this album. I hate the band name, and just about everything about them exudes hipster in the worst possible ways. After some prodding I gave in and donated an hour of my time to give it a shot. I tried not to like it. I tried, and failed. I couldn't help it, it's actually really good. That's just the worst, when you want something to be terrible and fit exactly in the stereotype of mediocrity that you have it pegged for, and then it turns out to be something genuinely enjoyable, so much you have to write about it. Damnit.

So there are certainly arguments to be made that's it's not particularly original. Repackaged oldies, a mix of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, a little Neil Young. Yup, it certainly sounds like it, but somehow it still sounds fresh. It doesn't seem to be heavily burdened with the knowledge that it's a continuation, not a beginning, and the songs just kind of flow together. Don't worry, I'm not prepared to give up the ghost just yet, but I'll concede this one. For now...

Under The Pressure

Red Eyes

An Ocean In Between The Waves

EP #2

Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Winter

Now this must be the easiest comparison I've ever heard. It's basically Justin Vernon over some drum tracks. Considering the last Bon Iver album was a masterpiece, it's not a bad formula. In actuality this is the work of Tim Bettinson, an Australian, which is somewhat upsetting considering the name of the city he's chosen to use in his alias. Couldn't he have been the Brisbane Sleep Clinic? Melbourne? Toowoomba? Anyway, lousy name, good music. The most chilled out EP of the year. 

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Flaws

Vapour

Almost there...