Well, here it is: the first (and hopefully not the last) Best 50 Albums of the Year list from Music Is My Hot Chocolate. There have been some incredible albums released in 2014, along with the usual steaming pile of crap. If you're familiar with this blog, you know that waxing verbose is not a thing that typically happens here, so without further ado...
50.
Iceage
Plowing Into the Field of Love
“While the band expands their sound and explores many new
songwriting territories, there’s not a hint of either arrogant bombast or
over-production.”
“Thou’s brilliant fourth album Heathen is a triumph of doom, made all the more remarkable by the
fact that the band hails not from Fennoscandia, but from Baton Fucking Rouge, Louisiana.”
48.
Sleaford Mods
Divide and Exit
“Williamson’s power derives from his anger—not simply being
angry and punching you in the face, but letting that anger blossom into the
beautiful flowers of poetic rage, a lush garden of caustic social commentary…
and then punching you in the face.”
47.
Honeyblood
Honeyblood
“Honeyblood is a
very sophisticated and nuanced take on a genre that was celebrated for its
simplicity, but have no fear, as Honeyblood’s sophistication only adds to the
pleasure.”
“Much of Rips is in this '70s power pop vein, but
nowhere does it feel stale or derivative. Timony injects the vitality of her
timonyness into every last corner of her songs.”
45.
Cymbals Eat
Guitars
LOSE
“LOSE is a well-written, well-performed album of
ambitious, almost symphonic indie rock.”
44.
Azealia Banks
Broke with Expensive Taste
“Both easily accessible and envelope-pushing, Broke with Expensive Taste showcases
Banks’s uncompromising vision, fearless creativity, and mad skillz on the mic.”
“Syro is a unique,
stand-alone mountain, within sight of the larger range of peaks of the
electronica community, but neither paying much attention to what is happening
over there nor caring much what the other mountains think about it.”
“Through careful restraint and minimalist gestures Morgan
creates expansive and breathtaking universes within each track; however, the
album feels free and organic rather than constrained and mechanical.”
“Self-parody? In a way, but since the whole record is about
being this band that is called Fucked Up, the lines between the parody and the
authentic are blurred at best. Lyotard would be all over this action.”
40.
His Name Is Alive
Tecuciztecatl
“Has HNIA resurrected rock ‘n’ roll? In reality this is
doubtful, but for the duration of Tecuciztecatl
it’s easy to believe that they have.”
39.
White Lung
Deep Fantasy
“Fans of the band will be pleased to know that they haven’t
changed a thing from their 2012 international breakthrough, Sorry. When something works—and works
really well—why fuck with it?”
“Goat make music that is simultaneously inclusive and
uncompromising: it welcomes you into its world with open arms but doesn’t dumb
itself down if you’re too slow to understand.”
37.
EMA
The Future’s Void
“Erika M. Anderson’s third LP, The Future’s Void, is both a cold and dark industrial chiller and a
warm and fuzzy embrace, sometimes even within the same song.”
36.
Parquet Courts
Sunbathing Animal
“Sunbathing Animal
is a lot more well-thought-out that in might seem at first listen: though it
seems to be an album made by traditionalists working in a genre that despises
tradition, it’s not just about the faux retro.”
35.
Ian William Craig
A Turn of Breath
“Craig’s method involves a microphone and a pair of old reel
to reel analogue tape recorders that are older than he is himself (he’s about
34). The result is a sound at once as alienating as the Arctic
cold and comforting as a warm fire (while being besieged by the Arctic cold, of
course).”
34.
Total Control
Typical System
“Total Control perhaps superficially seem like more of a
concept than a living, breathing band, but their instrumental line-up and sound
were arrived at through an organic, trial-and-error process rather than through
some calculated, image-focused, cynicism made flesh.”
“Every track is a primal scream echoing through a deep
cavern full of bats and toxic gasses, and as such is a thing of incredible
beauty.”
32.
HTRK
Psychic 9-5 Club
“Standish’s voice adds both a human warmth and an unreal
post-societal chill to tracks which the likes of Autechre or Mika Vainio would
be proud to claim as their own.”
“Built upon Jenny Lee Lindberg’s dark, muddy, dubby
basslines, the album’s twelve tracks all deliver the sombre goods, kept just
this side of menacing by the mesmerizing
vocals of Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman.”
30.
Hundred Waters
The Moon Rang Like a Bell
“With The Moon Rang
Like a Bell, Hundred Waters have planted their flag firmly in the
easy-come, easy-go land of indie electronica, proving they are not just passing
through on their way to other places, and making it difficult for fickle
listeners to pass them by without taking notice.”
29.
Protomartyr
Under Color of Official Right
“Protomartyr play post-punk, traditionally a slick,
polished, highly-stylized genre of music, as if it were garage punk,
traditionally a rough, sloppy, highly-stylized genre of music. Think Joy
Division as interpreted by the MC5.”
28.
Dalhous
Will to Be Well
“A victory by anyone’s standards, Will to Be Well injects a healthy dose of humanity into a genre
that too often emphasizes temporary concerns like “cool” without regard for
honest songwriting.”
27.
My Brightest
Diamond
This Is My Hand
“This Is My Hand
is a powerful collection of songs that straddles the line between the
experimental pop world of 2014 and the serious vocal music of Frank Sinatra and
his ‘50s and ‘60s contemporaries, with a strong undercurrent of the prog-rock
of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.”
26.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on
Everything
“Fuck Off… sees
the band taking their beautiful and powerful sound into territory where the
theoretical bridge between Nick Cave and Michael Gira could be built but,
rather than imitating those older artists, standing firmly on their own
self-made island.”
25.
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Sea When Absent
“While Animal Collective have been grabbing all the
attention and collecting all the accolades (and deservedly so) for their
freakishly complex pop records, A Sunny Day in Glasgow have been quietly going
about creating their own version of the genre, and with this record they have
perfected it.”
24.
TEEN
The Way and Color
“A very solid and complex record, The Way and Color seems to arrive from outer space, in that—while
it does draw from other artists in very minimal amounts—it seems to represent
an entire cosmos of musical forms in and of itself.”
23.
Bombay Bicycle Club
So Long, See You Tomorrow
“Bombay Bicycle Club’s fourth LP, So Long, See You Tomorrow, sees the band completely transformed
from a guitar-based indie rock band into an exciting and dynamic beast that can
devour all styles.”
22.
La Dispute
Rooms of the House
“Musically, the album is a hybrid of Tortoise-like math rock grooves and At the Drive-in-style post-hardcore energy, mood, and textures.”
21.
tUnE-yArDs
Nikki Nack
“No matter what label you want to attach to her or what
genre you want to file her under, Nikki
Nack is Garbus’s best record yet, a triumph of… well, whatever it is that
she does.”
20.
Lana Del Rey
Ultraviolence
“In our society of the spectacle, Del Rey has given us the
ultimate conspicuous disaster to devour with our consumerist gaze.”
“Barnett’s been compared to pop divas such as Ciara and
Mariah, but frankly these comparisons are ridiculous, as the tracks on LP1 are going to be passed over by Top
40 radio stations as “too weird,” “too intense,” or, most likely, “too good” or
“including too many instances of motherfucker.””
18.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
“If you weren’t a St. Vincent
fan before, you probably still won’t be, for all the same reasons, but you will
have to grudgingly admit that this record is unforgettable (if still
unlikeable). And then in a year or so you’ll come around, just like all those
people (myself included) who hated Animal Collective pre-2009 and then
simply couldn’t deny that Merriweather
Post Pavilion was all that and a bag of chips.”
17.
Flying Lotus
You’re Dead!
“Feel free to imagine whatever breathless and exaggerated
expressions of excitement, wonder, and joy you like here, as I like to keep my
reviews short, and there aren't enough synonyms for “totally fucking awesome”
in the thesaurus to get the point across of how fantastic this album is.”
“Part unhinged Americana,
part jazzy no-wave, the music of Boy
is as complex and inspiring as the artist who made it.”
“There’s no dead weight or extra fat in a Tagaq song. Every
moment is a work of art, and the album as a whole even more so.”
“Bernholz doesn’t shy away from discussing the open wounds
of sorrow and anguish; indeed, her music thrives on it.”
13.
Einstürzende
Neubauten
Lament
“On the whole, Lament
is an uncompromising work of art that doesn’t have patience for those who need
training wheels on their avant-gardecycles. One of the most important
recordings of a long and distinguished career.”
12.
Ought
More Than Any Other Day
“While Ought may be hyper-aware of their influences on More Than Any Other Day, this awareness
isn’t extrapolated into simple imitation; rather, it’s pulled apart, fully
analysed, and then reconfigured into something fresh and unique, something that
stands successfully on its own without requiring an encyclopedic knowledge of
the genre to appreciate it.”
11.
Xiu Xiu
Angel Guts: Red Classroom
“When all the dust has settled, this might be Xiu Xiu’s magnum opus. It’s certainly their best
work to date out of a career that’s been full of “this is their best album
ever!” moments.”
“While Trust isn’t
going to please most hip hop aficionados, it certainly will create tremors that
will be felt and absorbed by the genre as a whole.”
9.
Jenny Hval &
Susanna
Meshes of Voice
“As liable to present industrial-heavy noisescapes as it is
delicate piano meditations, Meshes of
Voice is as much background music as Crime
and Punishment could be considered a children’s bedtime story.”
“Their tracks are constructed around Diggs’s words without
consideration for club play, putting clipping.’s compositions on a level far
above the vast majority of artists today, regardless of genre.”
7.
Pharmakon
Bestial Burden
“Are you sitting comfortably? Good—remember that feeling,
because you won’t feel it again for the next twenty nine minutes.”
6.
Perfume Genius
Too Bright
“The record catapults Hadreas into “serious artist”
territory, with a level of confidence and artistry that indicates it’s no
fluke.”
“Kozelek is perhaps the anti-Bowie (who he name checks) in
that where Bowie
is constantly changing and trying on new identities, Kozelek is constantly
stripping away the affectations and trying to be only himself. Benji is as refreshing and
thought-provoking as its namesake is stale and banal. There’s not even the
slightest hint at an effort to be “cool” or “current” or “edgy” here, just
honest openness and humility.”
4.
Scott Walker &
Sunn O)))
Soused
“Walker’s
uncompromising vision and seemingly effortless oddness are a perfect match for
the metal drones and occasional industrial-noise-meets-show-tunes punctuations
of Sunn. Soused finds both artists
meshing at such a deep level that the results feel both blissfully real and
dangerously explosive.”
3.
Willis Earl Beal
Experiments in Time
“Do yourself a favour and ignore everything that’s been
written about him, including this review, and listen to Experiments in Time without preconceptions. What you’ll hear is a
work without many peers or precedents, undefiled by label expectations, genre
clichés, or market considerations.”
“Gira continues to systematically remove any blemish or
stain that rock may have left on his creativity, a project that so far has
taken over thirty years. He’s closer and closer to a complete purity of his
unique artistic vision, with each new album more fully-realized and more
essential than the last.”
1.
Andy Stott
Faith in Strangers
“Faith in Strangers
is fucking winning. Stott’s compositional confidence is at an all-time high,
and the world of electronic music is greatly enhanced by it.”
