End Of Year Thread

I'll kick things off then:

1) Manic Street Preachers - Futurology
2) Interpol - El Pintor
3) 2:54 - The Other I
4) Horrors - Luminuous
5) Raveonettes - Pe'ahi
6) Goat - Commune
7) Warpaint - Warpaint
8) Cheatahs - Cheatahs
9) Royal Blood - Royal Blood
10)Jimi Goodwin - Odludek

Started struggling after 24, but these ones I all liked.

1: Morgan Delt – Morgan Delt 9.5/10
2: Wand – Ganglion Reef 9/10
3: Natural Snow Buildings – The Night Country 8.5/10
4: White Fence – For the Recently Found Innocent
5: Curtis Harding – Soul Power 8/10
6: Bardo Pond – Looking for Another Place
7: The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Revelation
8: The Lees of Memory – Sisyphus Says 7.5/10
9: Goat – Commune
10: Kasabian – 48:13
11: The Raveonettes – Pe’Ahi 7/10
12: Alcest – Shelter
13: Chrome – Feel it Like a Scientist
14: Elephant Stone – Three Poisons
15: Temples – Sun Structures
16: Ty Segall – Manipulator
17: Thisquietarmy – Rebirths 6.5/10
18: Thievery Corporation – Saudade
19: Connections – Into Sixes
20: Hookworms – The Hum
21: Cheatahs – Cheatahs
22: Benjamin Booker – Benjamin Booker
22: TV on the Radio – Seeds
23: The Cosmic Dead – EasterFaust
24: The Antlers – Familiars

Some nice picks on both lists

Shit, I just found a late top5 contender...

SHIT

Honorable mentions:

Apneu - Hard Feelings

After complaining to the dutch connection that they never make any good records I finally find one. A lo-fi blast of indie/garage-rock, a bit strokes, a bit black lips. A lot of fun.

Brody Dalle- Diploid Love

Was really surprised by this. As far as big commercial Rock records go you can't do much worse. For obvious reasons it feels very much like a QOTSA record & that is a good thing.

Les Big Byrd - They Worshipped Cats

Swedish Psych with a bit of Krautrock thrown in for good measure. Patchy in places but when it hits it is pretty damn good

Neil Young - A Letter Home

More-so the cleaned up version of the record. Yeah it is Neil doing a bunch of covers but TBH I could listen to him cover just about anything when it's just him on his own.

Mica Levi - Under The Skin

One of the great films of the year, largely due to this wonderful Droney & experimental score. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this away from the context of the film.

Harry Dean Stanton - Partly Fiction

Like "A Letter Home" this is basically an old bloke running through a bunch of covers. Is it anything special musically? No of course not, but it's Harry dean Fucking Stanton on record. It just reaks of charm.

Karen O - Crush Songs

Lo-fi home-recordings finally released. It's a patchy record, but it has some really beautiful moments scattered throughout. One of those cases where you are unsure about a record until you hear the tracks performed live & then have a different perspective on the record.

Nine Black Alps - Candy For The Clowns

Yes they still exist! I've always had a huge soft spot for Nine Black Alps. Still doing a big radio friendly meets grunge sound which they've pretty much perfected over the years. If I was 16 I'd be obsessed with this band which makes me wonder why they are so ignored.

Black Lips Underneath The Rainbow

Truth be told, I was disappointed with this. Arabian Mountain despite its polish was for my money the best record they've ever made. They've continued with that kind of sound this time around but not come up with songs as addictive this time around. I still enjoy it but I think they perhaps should have gone back to their more pure garage-punk roots this time around. 

Marianne Faithfull - Give My Love to TCOTU

An artist I've no real interest in though after reading a few reviews I decided to give it a go & I'm glad I did. Nick Cave gave her a couple of songs, Anna Calvi helps co-write and then there are people such as Ed Harcourt & Warren Ellis playing on the record. Really consistent stuff. I hope Nick Cave puts out his own version of "Late Victorian Holocaust" someday, a fantastic song.

The Vaselines V For Vaselines

Shitloads of fun. I think their last album had higher highs though this is pretty much a joy start to finish.

Mogwai - Rave Tapes

I've tried bits & pieces of Mogwai in the past & they've never really sat well with me. In general I'm not much of a post-rock kind of guy. Thankfully this record seemed more electronic in sound & I ended up really enjoying it. I still don't think I'll ever be much of a fan though.

Jimi Goodwin Odludek

A real patchy LP & of course it doesn't compare to anything Doves put out but I still thought there was plenty to enjoy here.

Lee Fields & The Expressions - Emma Jean

Probably signed to cash in on the success of Charles Bradley but still, I'm happy for this retro-sounding Soul that has started to emerge over the past few years. Lee Fields perhaps lacks the charm of Bradley but his band are really fucking tight & the songs sound like forgotten gems.

50: Ikebe Shakedown - Stone By Stone

Brookyln based group that make instrumental Jazz-funk/Afrobeat with often a cinematic feel, addictive as hell.

49: Black Market Karma - Upside Out Inside Down

These guys have been prolific & really consistent over the past few years. Since I've not really cared for the direction that BJM have gone in recent years & found BRMC's last record to be uninspired these guys have managed to fill that void in my listening. I still wish they'd find somekind of individuality in their music but still, they do that psych-rock sound pretty much spot on.

48: The Budos Band - Burnt Offering

Another instrumental rock meets funk record on the Daptones label. I was really surprised just how much this record rocks, they hit the jazz-rock thing hard & it really works. I think I prefer their more funkier sound from previous records but this was still a joy.

47: Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal

I found this decent until after seeing them at Latitude festival. Returning to it shortly after it all kind of made sense. I still maintain that their side-project Fergus & Geronimo is much more interesting, but still in terms of exciting indie-rock you can't get much better right now.

46:  Jack White - Lazaretto

I'm not sure if I prefer this to Blunderbuss, both are really strong records. I wish he'd make a more "live" sounding record. The loose almost ramshackle feel of his live bands is almost non-existent on his LPs & he goes for the big riff led-tunes far too often. I still think White is capable of making a genuine classic record but for now I'll settle for this.

45: Neville Skelly - Carousel

Beautiful folk record released on the Corals Skeleton Key label. It really feels like you're hearing some lost private press record from the early 70s. Will appeal to anybody who enjoys artists such as Jackson C Frank & Townes Van Zandt with a bit of Van Morrison thrown in for good measure.

44: The Young Mothers - A Mothers Work Is Never Done

Really unique record. A swedish Jazz musician moved to Austin & put together this multi-genre band that go all over the place. It's kind of Jazz-rock with some hip-hop thrown in though they drift in and out of other genres. It really shouldn't work but it comes together effortlessly.

43: Solids - Blame Confusion

Not much to say about this, just a really enjoyable slice of noise-pop that sounds like it was made in 1990.

42: Happyness - Weird Little Birthday

Not sure how I stumbled across this band but I'm glad I did. TCOTU based but they sound basically like Sparklehorse with a bit of pavement thrown in. Really high quality song-writing. So if you are into that kind of misserable lo-fi indie shit this will work a treat.

41:  Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs All Her Fault

I always enjoy anything Holly puts out. This is probably the best record she's done since 2008s "Dirt Don't Hurt". Bags of charm, plenty of wit, one of those artists I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing.

Top gigs:

I won't bother talking about them as most will have been mentioned in the gig thread


01: Gruff Rhys @ The Soho Theatre
02: Black Lips @ Bethnal Green Working Mans Club
03: The War On Drugs @ Latitude Festival
04: Andrew W.K @ The Laundry
05: Pixies @ Field Day
06: Karen O @ Bush Hall
07: Prince @ Koko
08: Goat @ Latitude Festival
09: Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats @ The Laundry
10: The Raveonettes @ Heaven
11: Jack White @ The 02 Arena
12: Jurassic 5 @ Brixton Academy
13: BADBADNOTGOOD @ Latitude Festival
14: Damon Albarn @ Latitude Festival
15: Lykee Li @ Latitude Festival
16: The Rifles @ Hyde Park
17: Kelis @ Latitude Festival
18: Booker T. Jones @ Latitude Festival
19: Public Enemy @ Electric Brixton
20: British Sea Power @ The Quarterhouse, Folkstone

40: Vaudou Game Apiafo

Awesome modern afro-beat record all recorded on vintage equipment. A few times they try and drift away from the classic Afrobeat sound but it's when they stick to the formula they get the best results. Terrific stuff. 

39Eno & Hyde - Someday World

The first of two records that they put out this year. Whilst "High Life" was more ambitious & experimental, this record managed to capture the best of both artists worlds. Surprisingly poppy throughout. 

38: Jozef van Wissem / SQÜRL - Only Lovers Left Alive

My favourite soundtrack of the year. It works perfectly as a stand-alone record with plenty of variation. The noise-rock moments are probably the standouts, though there are some really excellent Velvet Underground style psychedelic pieces which are just splendid. 

37: Sabina Sciubba - Tourjours

Really under-looked art-pop record, probably due to the fact she sings the songs in multiple languages throughout. That certainly didn't hinder my enjoyment of the record. Extremely playful & even when things become a little experimental the melody's are still there. Really interested to see where she goes next.

36: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye

A real surprise for me, Petty sounds like he's got a bit of fire in his belly. I didn't expect a Heartbreakers record in 2014 to have so much balls.

35: Sun Kil Moon - Benji

I've real mixed feelings about this record & have changed my opinion multiple times. I've come to the conclusion that it is a real roller-coaster of a record. There's moments of real beauty here where he comes across completely genuine. Then there's moments that make me cringe, like some 16 year olds idea of poetry played over some predictable acoustic music. Still when he hits the sweet spot it is really special. 

34: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Wig Out At Jagbags

I'm no expert when it comes to Malkmus but to my ears this isn't far away from being in the same level as the best Pavement material. Really surprised how strong this LP was from top to bottom.

33: TacocaT - NVM

I kind of didn't want to like this as much as I do but fucking hell is it addictive. That kind of Best Coast style of indie-pop. Some of these songs just stuck with me all year round. I bet they are absolute pricks.

32: Pink Mountains - Get Back

Did anybody bother with this record? It's the kind of thing I think the soapbox would of lapped up a few years back. Like sound like early 2000s Primal Scream meets T.Rex. A ridiculous Rock N Roll record with all the clichés of the genre thrown in. It's what I'd imagine Kasabian to sound like if they wasn't so fucking gutless.

31: Goat - Commune

Truth be told, I was disappointed by Commune. Only because the bar was raised so damn high by their debut. This feels like "World Music" Part II, just not quite as exciting. This isn't to knock the record, it's still incredibly strong & the tracks get bigger & groovier as the record goes on. I always put it on and think I'm disappointed with the record and by the end am completely into it. Hope they try to move their sound forwards next time around but for now this'll do nicely.

Gigs

1 Ty Segall @ The Electric Ballroom
2 Janelle Monae @ Brixton Academy
3 The Fat White Family @ Electric Ballroom
4 Six Organs of Admittance @ Café oto
5 Woods @ Dingwalls
6 St Paul & The Broken Bones @ Oslo
7 Damon Albarn @ Rivoli Ballroom
8 The National @ O2
9 John Grant @ Primavera
10 The Libertines @ Alexandra Palace
11 Jack White @ Hammersmityh Apollo
12 Ty Segall @ Primavera Sound
13 Teleman @ Islington Assembly Rooms

Top 20 non-2014 records that I got into/discovered this year.

01: Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (1969)
02: The Abyssinians - Satta Masa Gana (1976)
03: Culture - Two Sevens Clash (1977)
04: Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70 - Expensive Shit (1975)
05: Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)
06: Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)
07: The Mighty Diamonds - Right Time (1976)
08: James Carr - You Got My Mind Messed Up (1967)
09: Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter (1970)
10: Nico Gomez - Ritual (1970)
11: Fela & the Africa 70 - Roforofo Fight (1972)
12: John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (1961)
13: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') (1974)
14: Peter Tosh - Equal Rights (1977)
15: Frank Zappa - Waka/Jawaka (1972)
16: The Mothers of Invention - Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
17: The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (2008)
18: Parliament - Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977)
19: Ghostface Killah - Ironman (1996)
20: Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine (1980)

30: King Tuff - Black Moon Spell

Campy garage meets glam-rock. At 14 tracks long I thought this would outstay its welcome but jesus christ is this a blast start to finish.

29: Wild Billy Childish & CTMF - Acorn Man

Cheers to Chrissie for letting me know of its existence. Billy's records in the past five years or so have become real patchy affairs but this sees him back on form with his best since "Punk Rock At The British Legion Hall".

28: Salems Pot - ...Lurar ut dig på prärien

Terrible fucking name but a real monster of a record. Swedish heavy-psych band with a tad of doom metal thrown in. It's big & ballsy sounding like a heavier version of Sabbath. I've really been getting into the heavier side of psych music this year & these three lengthy jams really hit the spot.

27: Get The Blessing - Lope & Antilope

Portishead's rhythm section put out this really wonderful low-key Jazz-rock record. Slow building with a real cinematic feel. Lovely stuff.

26: Cheatahs - Cheatahs

For those of you that can't wait another 20+ years for Kevin Shields to put out another record this will help fill the void for a while longer. 

25: The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams

I'd heard this band before & wasn't keen but that was before my SPRINGSTEEN phase. So through this record I got into the Hold Steady in a big way. Spent half the year listening to them. This was high on my list throughout the year, returning to it a few times recently it has lost a little of its magic but still, I dig this band. 

24: Stardeath and White Dwarfs - Wastoid

Basically a Flaming Lips record that isn't by the Flaming Lips. The sort of shit if the Lips took their time and focused a bit more they'd still be making today.

23: St. Vincent - St. Vincent

Deserves the attention she's received this year. Her best record if you ask me.

22: Jet Black In Paradox

My favourite shoegaze record of the year. Like Nowhere Ride meets early 90s Sonic Youth. Perhaps a bit samey in style but pretty much every single tune is top notch. If this had come out back in the day I'd imagine it'd be remembered as a staple of the genre

21: Morrissey - World Peace Is None of Your Business

I've grown to love this record. Initially I was disappointed, I think I was just so excited for a new Moz record that I felt pissed off when I didn't love every single minute of it. I still think the back end really suffers but the first two thirds are classic Moz, even if a couple of numbers outstay their welcome. 

Top four Jesus Abyss records of 2014:

01: In Space
02: Invisible Cages
03: Beck: Song Reader
04: .​.​.​The Journey Continues

20: Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots

Completely surprised how good this turned out to be. I love how intimate everything feels, at first I felt like songs felt unfinished, but the record really got under my skin with time. I'd rank this high up alongside anything Albarn has ever done. 

19: Alvvays - Alvvays

Stupid fucking name you fucking geeky looking pricks. It angers me how much I fucking love this record. This years Pains Of being Pure At Heart (BEFORE THEY WENT REAL SHIT, STEVE)

18: Beck - Morning Phase

Beautiful, Beck's best album in years for my money.

17: Baxter Dury It's A Pleasure

A real little gem of a record by Ian Dury's son. It sounds like it was mostly recorded on a cheap casio keyboard but it has a ridiculous amount of charm. I love his vocal style & accent, the way he sings police "PO-LEECE" cracks me up.

16: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Oddments

So this was a record they put out of unfinished leftovers & scraps & it turns out that I find it more interesting than anything they've ever done. I love how undercooked everything is, the record is all over the place, fast & furious. I love it.

15: Aphex Twin - Syro

Worth all the acclaim. I'm not going to pretend I was a huge fan before, I remember trying the Ambient works absolutely years ago & it wasn't my thing. The sound of Syro now appeals big-time to me so I'm looking forward to discovering Aphex Twin properly in the near future.

14: Jenny Lewis - The Voyager

I've become really obsessed with Jenny Lewis this year. This record really shouldn't be THIS high on my list, it is almost kind of bland in places but I don't know, I have no excuse really, I'm just obsessed with her at the moment. Spent a whole week on holiday listening to nothing but her and Rilo Kiley. Co-produced by Beck & Ryan Adams, you can really tell which tracks are done by each artist. One of my most played records of the year

13: Connections - Into Sixes

Fuck yeah! Was disappointed with their second album "Body Language" after their debut was literally the bollocks. "Into Sixes" sees them bang on form again. I've always loved the idea of Guided By Voices but usually can only ever find 3-4 songs per record which I love, Connections just hit the nail on the head almost everytime for me. LOVE this band.

12: Sonny Simmons & Moksha Samnyasin - Nomadic

82 year old free-jazz legend Sonny Simmons teams up with a bunch of French psych-rock musicians (from the likes of Other Matter, Spindrift & Abrahma) to make this real journey of a record. It's the kind you can just put on and get completely lost in, things float around for a while before becoming more and more tense before really hitting hard. Not for everyone but when I've been in the mood this record has sounded absolutely stunning. 

11: Gruff Rhys - American Interior

The greatest man on the history of the planet makes yet another great record. As always expected from Gruff American Interior is full of great pop melodies, playful and humorous. It wouldn't be right to do an end of year list without a SFA project somewhere on my list.

EPs. I usually only ever find a couple of EPs a year that I'm into and whilst this isn't a huge list the quality of these EPs is ridiculously high.

Bardo Pond - Looking For Another Place
A record store day release of two covers, the Velvet Underground's "Ride Into The Sun" & Eno's "Here Comes The Warm Jet's". Both are slow building monsters clocking in at over 15 minutes each. 

Headless Corpse Trial - Pine
Excellent arrangements, really unique lyrics. Reminds me of Ray Davis meets the Pixies.

Ryan Adams - 1984
The highlight of a series of low print run singles & EP's released on Ryan's own label. This is basically Ryan doing early 80s college rock, short & too the point. Anyone who's into Ryan should really investigate all the shit he's put out this year as it has been for the most part of a real high quality.

Pervertsinspeedos - Bajannites
I've got my groove onto this all year round baby!

Ed Harcourt - Time Of Dust
Ed doing what he does best. I wasn't expecting anything from him in 2014 so this was a nice surprise.

Röyksopp & Robyn - Do It Again
Kind of cheesy in places but this collaboration turned out to be a shitload of fun.

Top 10 time!

10: BADBADNOTGOOD III

Fucking love these guys, after making 2 records of mostly cover versions they've put out "III" which is all original compositions and made their best work yet in doing so. Jazz Fusion at its best, really intense in spots & a hell of a great live act too. Can't wait for their full length collaboration with Ghostface early next year.

09: Ryan Adams - Ryan adams

Nice to see that Ryan is finally in a good place with his career. He has hit a good formula by taking his time with LPs whilst putting out tons of EPs/singles on a regular basis on his own label. Very much Tom Petty this record which is fine with me. Pretty much golden start to finish. So glad that he has turned his career around after a number of years where I stopped giving a fuck.

08: Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra - When the World Was One

Manc trumpeter puts out this incredible spiritual Jazz record in the same vain as Alice Contrane/Pharoah Sanders. There are some real breathtaking moments on here, a few which also outstay their welcome a bit, but when this hits the sweet spot it's just fucking fantastic.

07: Lykke Li[/i] - I Never Learn

Pretty much a modern pop masterpiece. I'm so glad that she has finally found her sound. I always felt like the indie cross-over shit didn't work for her, especially on her debut. The follow up was a huge improvement yet still had a slight hangover of that sound but now she's hit the nail on the head. Every song is fantastic. I wish she had received more commercial attention for this record but oh well, I can't see her ever topping this. 

06: The Raveonettes - Pe'ahi

Raveonettes have always been one of my favourite bands, though their move to more dream-pop kind of sounds in recent years had put me off a bit. This time around they return with that big chaotic noise-pop sound that they used to do so well and in doing so have made one of my favourite records of their entire career. Every single tune is a banger. Still so under-appreciated.

05: The Juan Maclean - In a Dream

That kind of indie/dance crossover that LCD Soundsystem perfected. No surprise as this is on DFA and features Nancy Whang who collaborated often with them. Mixes a bit of disco & house into the formula and works a treat. I'll have to go back and hear the first two Juan Maclean records as this is absolutely superb. 

04: The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

This was my number #1 until around October. I don't know why but I'm simply not enjoying it as much as I did throughout the year. I think after seeing those songs live & being blown away then going back to the record made me feel like something was missing. Still, this is a phenomenal record which I'm glad will no doubt top many lists this year. 

03: Tom Hickox War, Peace and Diplomacy

Astonishing debut. Heartfelt piano driven songs along the lines of artists such Nick Cave, Scott Walker with a bit of Richard Hawley thrown in for good measure. Lyrically fantastic & his vocals get me everytime. Absolutely beautiful.

02: Todd Terje - It's Album Time

So close to making this my #1. I've gone backwards & forwards about 10 times. Still, what a fucking fantastic record. I'm enjoying this modern take on disco sounds that has become more and more popular over the past couple of years. To me this sounds like if James Murphy had collaborated with John Carpenter in the early 80s on some kind of epic space opera. Awesome record.

01: Earth - Primitive and Deadly

What an absolute monster of a record. The real heavier sound of Psychedelic Rock with bits of Stoner, post-rock & drone thrown in. Everything plods along in the best possible way, it's never in a rush to go anywhere, just hitting you with these big lengthy riffs with additional vocals from Rabia Shaheen Qazi and Mark Lanegan. Just really big and powerful sounding throughout, yet at the same time it feels like you are being taken on a journey, surprisingly cinematic. Can't wait to go back through Earth's back catalogue, if it is anything near as good as this I'm going to be a happy man. 

Great list Karl, top effort. I've never even heard of your number one and two choices, so I'll be downloading them quicksmart.

Nice work, enjoyed reading it as always. Two requests: the list just with the positions to easy my work and a link to that Apneu record.