Best Albums of 2014

Posted by Paul Page on Dec 11, 2014 in Feature | 7 comments

 

1. TO BE KIND – SWANS

‘To Be Kind is two hours of music of gut-wrenching intensity, a series of never-ending peaks that take the rudiments of rock music and summons up something that is strikingly original. With To Be Kind, Michael Gira and his cohorts have delivered an album that surpasses their critically acclaimed 2012 release The Seer in all respects.’ Full review here.

 

 

 

2. IN ROSES – GEM CLUB

‘Gem Club make music that is almost unbearably melancholic at times. In Roses sobs and sighs with an aching despair that is etched into every mournful cello line or descending piano riff. But like all the best music, there is beauty to be found in even its darkest moments – In Roses is one of 2014s most devastatingly beautiful records.

 

 

 

 

3. JULY – MARISSA NADLER

‘Like the most beautiful rose with the sharpest thorns, July is an album of exquisite gorgeousness veiling the hidden, darker depths of heartbreak and loss….a soundtrack to those moments where the line between dreams and nightmares is blurred. Irresistible.’ Full review here.

 

 

 

4. SAY YES TO LOVE – PERFECT PUSSY

Say Yes to Love is a clarion call, a shrill reminder that rock music retains the capacity to thrill and excite when played with the white heat and sheer abandonment on display here.’ Full review here. 

 

 

 

 

5. ARE WE THERE – SHARON VAN ETTEN

Are We There is an album that may well go on to be a career defining best for a unique and uncompromising artist at the very peak of her talents. It is a bleakly beautiful, cathartic exploration of what is left behind when love breaks down once and for all.’ Full review here.

 

 

 

 

6. SILKIDRANGAR – SAMARIS

Silkidrangar glides with an almost spectral grace, a beautifully crafted slice of electronica that manages to keep us under its spell right until the final notes die away. An ethereal masterpiece from this Icelandic trio.

 

 

 

 

7. ROMANTIC WORKS – KEATON HENSON

‘With Romantic Works, Keaton Henson displays another string to his bow and neatly sidesteps any attempt to tag him as yet another earnest, bearded young song-writer with a guitar. It is a work of sublime, poetic beauty, a gentle reminder that music of quiet, unadorned simplicity can affect us in a profound and powerful way.’ Full review here.

 

 

 

 

8. SYRO – APHEX TWIN

‘Syro may not go far enough for those who expect something truly groundbreaking but it is an album of sumptuous electronica, crammed with ideas and fuelled by a twitchy vigour. The care lavished on each and every individual sound is immediately evident – this is an album built for listening to on a decent set of headphones, its impressively layered blips and beats an absolute aural delight.’ Full review here.

 

 

 

9. BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS – ANGEL OLSEN

‘Everything that’s good about rock music can be found etched in the pain and beauty of these gripping, compelling songs.’ Full review here.

 

 

 

 

10. V – JJ

‘V is quite the trip – it’s a gloriously messy collision of styles and genres, sometimes all within the same song. But at heart, this is pop music at its boldly beautiful and irresistible best.’ full review here

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett – Eels  12. Our Love – Caribou 13.  Seven Dials – Roddy Frame 14. Total Strife Forever –East India Youth 15.  Wildewoman – Lucius 16.  Indie Cindy – Pixies 17.  Last of the Analogue Age – A Lazarus Soul 18.  El Pintor – Interpol 19.  Annabel Dream Reader – The Wytches 20.  Plowing Into The Field Of Love – Iceage