The Top 20 Albums of 2014

Greetings!

Ideally a Top Albums of the Year list should arrive no later than December 31^st, but I am tardy at the best of times.  In this particular year, 2015, my list is egregiously past-due on the account of a new baby boy.  Little time for listening and judging, even less for writing.  I have enjoyed beginning the musical education of the new human, however.  In his room (David is his name) designed for feeding, napping, and vacant staring, copious amounts of diverse tunes have already been played.  He is thus far partial to Ty Segall, Beirut, Mark Orton’s soundtrack to the film Nebraska, Jim Guthrie, and Akron/Family.  This is a nice start. I'll set to work on making him a Clash fan as soon as possible.

May it seep into his pores.

So here is my top 2015 list with apologies to all of you (i.e., maybe 5 people) that have been actively waiting.  2015 had no clear identity somehow.  I’ve seen this sentiment echoed by a number of music writers.  The most regarded music of the year was spread across a pretty diverse landscape.  I found myself attracted a little bit more to lo-fi, quirky guitar pop, but there was also ample representation from the shoegaze and psych-60s camps, orchestral pop, and electronic outfits.  And a whole lot of other stuff.  But like 2013, there were few standouts – only one album broke the illustrious 9.0/10 barrier of my personal rating system.  I usually expect a few of these each year. All that said, there are once again some stellar albums this year.  And, unlike last year, there were only a few albums that fell short of high expectations.     

Top songs of the year?  Probably these:

"45's and 33's" by Drew McIvor 
"Enemy" by Merchandise. 
"Marching Orders" by The New Pornographers
"Geographic" by Cheatahs
"Talking Backwards" by Real Estate 
"Rainbow" by Robert Plant 

And now… 
The Top 20 Albums of 2014

20. The Black Angels – Clear Lake Forest (8.3/10)

This entry should probably not even qualify for the list due to its brevity – 7 songs coming in under 30 minutes is more of an EP by definition.  But it’s just too good to ignore.  In the indie rock world, there have been a lot of 60’s throwback bands attempting to capture that vintage garage sound.   Contemporary bands like Woods, Crystal Stilts, Allah-las, Temples, Hooded Fang, and so on, sound like they could easily appear on a Nuggets box set.  The Black Angels do it perfectly - amazing lo-fi reverbed psych gems, channeling the Velvet and Paisley Undergrounds. Choice track:  “Diamond Eyes”

19.  Soft Science – Detour (8.3/10)

I find I frequently and reverentially reference a particular album from 1990 to describe many of my current fixations:  Gala by Lush.  Gala was a not a proper album, but rather a compiled reissue of their first 3 Eps and some outtakes.  It was released as their debut and predates their edgier records that put them closer to Elastica than to the Cocteau Twins.  Gala marks for me a primary musical touchstone that serves to define what I (we) mean by “Dream Pop”.  With airy, ethereal female voices over top of chorused/flanged guitar, it is the place where “fuzz” and “gossamer” co-exist peacefully.  And it’s also sort of detached and cool and mysterious.  Without Gala, I wouldn’t be listening to School of Seven Bells, Eternal Summers, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, to name a small few.  (Other fun fact – Gala was the first ever album I bought on Compact Disc).  Okay, enough about Lush.  Soft Science fits the same mold and shares the same lovely musical space as The Sundays, The Cranberries, Lush (of course), and The Cocteau Twins.  And with some glide guitar obviously informed by My Bloody Valentine.  Choice track: “Nothing”.

18. Mac DeMarco – Salad Days (8.3/10)

I admittedly dismissed Mac Demarco based on his geek-redneck album cover for his album "2".  I somehow acquired the perception that he was a disingenuous knob who was peddling some sort of ironic frat rock.  This is a rather presumptuous bias to take, but it happens sometimes when so many listening options are flying my way.  And there were some disconcerting words, such as Pitchfork remarking that DeMarco “tinkered with yacht rock, AM radio gold, and Bowie-like glam. The mixture injected an unsettling sleaziness into a funny, occasionally creepy collection of songs that walked the line between irony and sincerity.” That's a turn off. ANYWAY, I finally gave a listen and his 2014 release, Salad Days, and it is a languid and lovely gem of sparkly guitar folk.  It’s an appealing mixture of Kurt Vile, Al Tuck, and, most obviously, Jonathan Richman.  These little songs are quirky, heartfelt, and seemingly naïve – but with repeated listens you can discern some serious song-writing talent and execution.  What I don’t understand is how he gets so out of hand on stage.  He’s a bit gross. Look online – there are some stories. Choice track: “Goodbye Weekend”.

17. Hamilton Leithauser – Black Hours (8.3/10)

The Walkmen announced an indefinite hiatus in late 2013.  I was a peripheral fan, and liked a good chunk of their stuff, but was often turned off by Leithauser’s propensity to sing just beyond his range into a sandpaper falsetto. It was fortunate to see the band itself re-emerge as the back-up to Quentin Stolzfus’ post-Mazarin return in Light Heat (see my review from last year at #17), but assumed I would be indifferent to whatever Leithauser pursued.  I was wrong – this is quite a reinvention.  Shedding the indie rock shackles, Leithauser has produced a mature and marvelous solo record with Black Hours.  Reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, and Paul Simon, the songs appear to stretch back a generation or two.  Rollicking, jazzy, theatrical, but also intimate and tender, Leithauser sings like a seasoned pro.  A great accomplishment.  Choice track: “11 O’Clock Friday Night”.

16.  Real Estate – Atlas (8.3/10)

Real Estate have always been in that slightly frustrating category of bands who release records I deem good enough to acquire, but always falling short of excellence.  The potential is there but something is always missing to full grab my attention. Other examples: Grizzly Bear, Elf Power, and the last 4 Belle and Sebastian albums.  Real Estate has always been pleasant to my ears, but Atlas has entered a new category.  The mid-tempo, day-dream formula is the same, but this time around those signature jangly hooks are much more engaging.  Real Estate always put out comfortable records, but these tunes are simply superior, recalling the best moments of Fleet Foxes, Kingsbury Manx, Go-Betweens, and Galaxie 500. Choice track:  “Talking Backwards”.

15.  Solids – Blame Confusion (8.4/10)

One bright afternoon a couple summers ago, I took in the first set of Montreal’s rather monstrous Osheaga festival at one of the smaller side stages.  Solids took the stage and I was immediately smitten.  A power-trio outfit, they began my day with a perfect assault of fuzzy, anthemic indie rock.  At the time, they were touring on back of their Generic Dogs EP and I had been waiting ever since for their debut full length.  Blame Confusion finally appeared and it was worth the wait.  This is pretty simple three chord riffage, but it is eagerly and urgently delivered with that earnest punk-informed rally singing that really gets the brain-blood pumping.  It’s the foundation that fueled much of the success of Matador Records and bands like Chavez, Guided By Voices, Versus, and Superchunk.   Good to see young Canadian bands like Kestrels, Dog Day, and now Solids, waving this torch.  Choice track: “Off White”.

14. Inventions –  S/T  (8.4/10)

Matthew Cooper’s ambient neo-classical output as Eluvium has been transfixing me over the past few years, culminating in the triumphant Nightmare Ending, which placed 2nd in the Top 20 list of 2013. Then word came of a collaboration between Cooper and Mark T. Smith of Explosions in the Sky, called Inventions, and it’s gorgeous.  Moving into Brian Eno’s ambient-pop territory and further away from the solo piano emphasis of Eluvium, the tracks are pretty, minimalist cycles of keys, guitars, vocal dubs, and found sounds.  With titles such as “Flood Poems”, “Echo Tropism” and “Luminous Insects”, you get the idea.  Always challenging but never difficult, this is an inspiring piece of modern sound and music. Choice track: "Flood Poems".

13.  EMA – The Future’s Void (8.4/10)

Erika M. Anderson – or EMA – took me by storm with the apocalyptic manifesto “California”, the lead track on 2012’s Past Life Martyred Saints.  This personal and powerful record slotted in at #2 of my top list that year.  Were it not for the stunning glory of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, EMA would have taken the crown. Her follow up, The Future’s Void, does not disappoint.  While less terrifying and inspiring than her debut, the same elements conspire here – bleakly distorted and pummeling beats driving emotionally wrought gothic rock.  But there are reprieves from the angst here, with some softer edges and more conventional song structures.  EMA is unforgivingly (post)-modern and it all melds together into another powerful statement of despair and beauty. Choice track: "So Blonde"

12. Mounties – Thrash Rock Legacy (8.4/10)

Mounties is a sort of Canadian indie supergroup, comprising Hawksley Workman, Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat and Ryan Dahle of Limblifter.  They kind of emerged out of nowhere (apparently after forming after hobnobbing at the Junos) and I was looking forward to their show at the Hillside Festival – sadly this show was cancelled due to a dangerous thunderstorm.  What is remarkable about the record is how uniquely Canadian it sounds, if there is such a thing.  The lead track could have been put together by The Payolas and several tracks mine 80’s analog synth pop and new wave.  The rest is more contemporary, sounding a lot like Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown, Broken Social Scene, and Plants and Animals.  Tremendously catchy, complex, and fun.  I hope it’s more than a one-off collaboration.  Choice track:  “Waking Up On Time”.

11.  Wunder Wunder – Everything Infinite (8.4/10)

Hailing from Los Angeles via Australia, Wunder Wunder come gloriously out of the gate sounding like an early 2000s Elephant 6 recruit.  The lead and title track is a welcome psychedelic burst sounding like Olivia Tremor Control, The Sunshine Fix, The High Dials or The Minders.  Multi-tracked vocal harmonies that would be at home on The Beatle’s Yellow Submarine swirl around sunny and jangly guitar lines and bouncy bass notes. As the album progresses, synthesizers enter the fray, recalling contemporaries Hooray for Earth, Miracle Fortress, or The Ruby Suns.  And there is also a dancey Northern Soul quality threaded throughout as well.  This was a great find.  Choice Track:  “Everything Infinite” (this is a clip, along with snippets of other songs).

10. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness (8.4/10)

Having assembled a full band Angel Olsen has suddenly moved out of the realm of folky singer-songwriter into the high-end arena of inspired indie rock.  The musical references are simply amazing.  I apologize for the gendered nature of this list (surely Olsen sounds like many different male artists as well) but I hear them so clearly and powerfully.  In one album she has managed to draw upon such luminaries as PJ Harvey, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sharon Van Etten, Hole, Linda Perhacs, Fairport Convention, Juliana Barwick and Mazzy Star.  Although this reads like calculated name-dropping, trust me, she’s the real and versatile deal.  A fabulous outing, top to bottom.  Choice track: “Windows“.

9.  Cousins – The Halls of Wickwire (8.4/10)

Excitedly waiting to see The Constantines for the third time of their 2014 reunion, I was taken aback by the opener, Cousins.  My tinnitus immediately suffered as this power duo (real cousins, I think) managed to produce a raging wall of guitar and drums that shook my ribs.  Taking a page from Japandroids, Cousins does a lot with their simple set up.  Overdriven guitar, propulsive drums, and high register yells and yelps combine into the aural experience of skateboarding down a mountainside.  I love this DIY lo-fi indie fuzz.  Fans of Japandroids, Times New Viking, No Age, and Women take note.  Messy and honest noise.  Choice track: “Alone”.

8.  Eagulls – LP (8.5/10)

These young upstarts expertly sledgehammer out that particularly British brand of first-wave post-punk, and would fit comfortably on a cassette mix with early Cure, The Killing Joke, The Adicts, Still Little Fingers, The Alarm, and The Three Johns.  With the cold reverb turned to 11, it’s taut, acerbic, and punishing, but always having the hooks that drag you flailing through the gravel.  Eagulls have kind of helped replace the small hole left by Iceage, who opted to make their sophomore effort last year way too difficult to listen to.  If I was back in Grade 11, I’m sure this record would wear out my turntable.  I’d play it for my friends, and they would be immediate fans.  And at least once, it would indirectly fuel some sort of youthful destruction at a house party.  And then it would remind me of my youth 30 years later and show up on mp3 mixes for old friends who now live in Vancouver.  Choice track: "Tough Luck".

7.  Cheatahs – S/T  (8.5/10)

I hate band names with altered spelling and double entendres.  Like the Dandy Warhols or Ringo Deathstarr.  It takes me awhile to get past it.  In this case, it took me all of 25 seconds of “Geographic”, track 2 on this self-titled behemoth.  Now THIS is a band who knows how to replicate the intricate craft of their forebears.  I throw the “shoegaze” label around quite a lot to refer to that gauzy, psychedelic brand of layered guitars, but this is positively definitive and just about as authentic as you could hope for (with a respectful nod to the aforementioned Ringo Deathstarr).   Cheatahs sound more like Swervedriver (my all-time favorite band) than any other I have heard, a near impossible task.  Even their videos (see "choice track" below) look like Raise-era Swerve documents.  They also emulate and honor the beautiful sonic waves of Ride, Sianspheric, My Bloody Valentine, and Slowdive.  But they make it their own.  Instant classic.  Choice track:  “Geographic”. 

6. The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers (8.5/10)

The New Pornographers have to be one of the most consistently good rock bands to grace my personal airwaves.  Every album is a confectionery treat of boisterous, celebratory high-end indie rock.  They have done it again in 2014 with Brill Bruisers.  Carl Newman and Neko Case trade gorgeous vocal lines over an endlessly lively backdrop of insistent and uber-catchy guitars and keyboards.  The band produces impossibly hooky multi-voice choruses and those signature builds that unite all listeners in a common fist-pumping purpose.  The only drawback, once again, is Dan Bejar’s songs, which almost always feel like secondary and inferior after-thoughts.  They are not horrible or anything, but with his basic staccato guitar rhythms and annoying vocal delivery, it sounds like a different band.  A full album of the main Pornographers would be welcome.  Regardless, this is another awesome record. Choice track: “Marching Orders”.

5. Ty Segal – Manipulator (8.6/10)

Ty Segall is one of those artists that is difficult to commit to because he's too damn prolific.  Since 2008 or so, he has put out 11 albums and even more singles and EPs.  Within this large catalog, as far as I can tell, are variances in style and quality, ranging from snotty Strokes-inspired rock, singer-songwriter fare, and old 60's garage.  Not knowing where to start or what I was getting into, I ignored him.  His most recent, Manipulator, got enough attention for me to bite (who am I to disregard Jack Rabid?).  So I’ve bit down hard.  This is a tremendous recording of vintage 60's psych-pop, stoner jams, and glam rock.  The guitar work is wonderfully varied and highly skilled, and it easy to hear classic touchstones like Brian May, Keith Richards, and Ron Asheton.  Now I have the pleasure (or pain) of working through this guy’s past catalog.  Choice track:  “Feel”.

4.  Elliott Brood – Work and Love  (8.6/10)

Elliott Brood feels like home.  They are local boys who cut their teeth on the road all over Southern Ontario and across Canada.  Their songs are fist-pumping, crowd-swaying hootenannies.  A live EB show seems to be experienced universally through the crowd -  sharing this brand country/folk/rock makes the community stronger. Certain songs in their back catalog are so nostalgia inducing and so loved by some of my closest friends that the band feels like part of the family.  Though they are a 3 piece, the effect is a veritable jamboree.  Have I said enough about Elliott Brood for you?  Each album they put out is damn great and Work and Love is no exception.  I just wish it was a little longer (it’s 33 minutes).  The production has taken a leap as has the supporting instrumentation.  Beyond the drum/bass/guitar/banjo set up we are treated to great swaths of pedal steel, strings, mandolin, and keys to round out the sound.  So while they have lost some of that stripped down DIY aesthetic that plays perfectly in a dilapidated barn or tiny bar, they have gained greater presence and depth.  But it’s still signature Brood. Every song is a catchy, foot-stomper that speaks about work and love, and hope and truth.  Choice track:  “Jigsaw Heart” (also check out this version is from the Paper Bag sessions, which are included on a second disc on the deluxe edition).

3.  Merchandise – After The End  (8.8/10)

A good chunk of the population maligns the vapid cultural wasteland that was the 80’s, including its music.  This was the era of my musical coming of age, however, and I would take it over the bloated and boring 70’s any day, aside from the explosion of punk that ended the decade.  It was punk that informed all the post-punk, goth, and new wave artists that were to follow, intermixed among the bad hair, heavy metal, and questionable fashion choices.  Referencing the 80’s effectively in new music may be superficially straightforward (synthesizers, digital drums, chorused guitar and brooding vocals) but to absolutely nail it is rare.  M83’s Saturdays=Youth (my #4 of 2008) is ridiculously authentic in every sense and would have been the album that a fedora-wearing John Hughes would cry to in the rain.  Burning Hearts, a fairly obscure Swedish synth-pop band, produce that delectable poppy 80’s sound recalling O.M.D. and Blancmange.  Young Galaxy also often pull off that Canadian 80’s Parachute Club sound.  But here we have Merchandise’s After The End, a brand new record that takes me straight back to Grade 12.  Beginning with an airy instrumental, the album takes off with the second track, “Enemy”, which imparts like Duran Duran dancing with Echo and the Bunnymen.  It is lush and jangly and simply oozes the DNA of mid-80's underground and new wave.  Carson Cox’s rich baritone vocals, as well as the tunes, sound like a combination of Ian Curtis, Steve Kilbey, and Ian McCulloch.  And what’s that I hear?  Shriekback?  Now it’s the Aztec Camera wrestling with INXS.  And that goofy bass line could be off Sandinista or a mid-80's Stranglers record.  The depth of this record is extraordinary. Merchandise sound contemporary only by way of the enormous sound they put forth – most songs radiate a gooey-thick wall of sound, not unlike M83.  Oddly, they’re from Tampa.  Highly recommended.  Choice track: “Enemy”.

2.  Amen Dunes – Love (8.9/10)

Damon McMahon, as Amen Dunes, delivers homespun, splintered folk genius that one associates with the likes of Syd Barrett, Will Oldham and Robyn Hitchcock.  The visceral impact of what is, at its base, straight up acoustic folk rhythms and melodies is rather astounding.  It gives me pause.  Oftentimes I have the tendency to pursue more expansive sonic explorations and I am drawn to layers (upon layers) of instrumentation.  My love of shoegaze and psychedelia is evidence of this.  It’s almost as if the drug of music needs its dosage upped to keep me suitably effected, and genres like traditional acoustic folk can’t possibly complete. There is some truth to this.  But there continue to be singular artists that put forth creative and nuanced revisions of these old tropes that are fresh and revitalizing.  Bon Iver, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, PJ Harvey, and Richard Laviolette are recent examples.  Amen Dunes joins this list with Love.  It sounds, and was, written in isolation and one gets the feeling that the presence of an audience was never considered.  It’s simple stuff at its core – basic chord progressions on acoustic guitar or piano and nice accompanying melodies.  But McMahon has enlisted members of Iceage and Godspeed You! Black Emperor to fill the space with effected strings, keys, and a range of other eerie sounds. McMahon’s warmly amateurish and sometimes crooning vocal delivery is alluring and homey.  The whole package is wrapped in satisfying bed of reverb.  This is some of the most engaging modern folk I’ve had the pleasure of hearing.  Choice track:  “Splits Are Parted”

1.  Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything (9.0/10)

All reviews I’ve read of this record begin with a quoting of the adorable little girl who opens the album:  “We live on the island called Montreal and we make a lot of noise because we love each other!”  This carefree and sweet little statement immediately resounds as a powerful philosophical manifesto once Silver Mt. Zion explodes into their apocalyptic brain-frying attack.  This album of the year absolutely shredded me when I heard it.  In the past, this collective tended to alienate me with meandering experimental rock that was just a little too difficult to engage with.  I saw them as the demanding cousins of Constellation label mates (and collaborators) Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Do Make Say Think.  But with Fuck Off Get Free… I was blown over.  The longer jams are desperate, urgent, and fiery, but the delivery feels far more profound than any metal, punk, or hardcore anything.  This can be attributed, I think, to the instrumentation.  Laid over the buzzing guitars is a chamber string orchestra that’s been dipped in acid and lit on fire.  It’s like a philharmonic was commandeered by raging nihilists.  Anarchy in the opera house.  And so the tenuous linkage to highbrow art remains for the listener, despite the (wonderful) adulteration.  This is orchestro-folk-punk that breaks down and builds back up, with commitment and love.  The shorter tracks are provide the listener some space with great melodic sensibility and the equivalent passion.  And throughout is the upper register “cry for help” singing of Efrim Menuck, giving the pieces added lyrical depth.  When I hear this record, I find it a bit paralyzing.  What am I doing sitting in my office doing whatever it is I am doing?  There is so much more!  I can hear it!   Choice track:  “What We Loved Was Not Enough”.

"Shout Outs" - Some Great Albums Outside the Top 20 

As per usual, here are some quick reviews and acknowledgements of some really good albums that did not make the Top 20 cut (i.e., receiving from me a rating of 7.5/10 or greater). 

Quilt – Darkened VU delights and pop-psych tidbits. (8.2/10)

Foxygen – These precocious twenty-somethings have an unerring knack of reproducing the psychedelic soul of the 60s.  They put out my number one record of 2013.  And Star Power…is also damn great, but the decision to put out a double long-player distracted from the best nuggets. (8.1/10)

Skygreen Leopards – Less freak in the freak-folk on Family Crimes has resulted in a whimsical, pastoral record.  (8.1/10)

Beck – The veteran troubadour is miles away from his funky side on this lovely, contemplative folk record.  Morning Phase is wonderfully produced sibling to Mutations and Sea Change.  This is definitely the first Grammy winner on any of my lists. Oh, wait…Arcade Fire. (8.1/10)

Temples – Sun Structures delivers consistent and compelling homages to 60's-era psychedelia. (8.1/10)

Alcest – Apparently Alcest is typically a black metal outfit.  But I checked out Shelter because it was tagged as more of shoegaze record, recalling Jesu and Slowdive (Neil Halstead appears!).  Nice! (8.0/10)

Robert Plant and the Sensation Space Shifters – An unexpected surprise from the Zeppelin legend, Plant has tempered his rock squeal into a dignified voice on top of modern English indie folk. (8.0/10)

Parquet Courts – Two PC albums arrived in 2015.  I have not heard the latest (Content Nausea) but Sunbathing Animal is more wonderfully skewed and strange indie guitar romps.  (8.0/10)

Musée Méchanique – Lovely, pastoral orchestral folk appears on the crowd-funded From Shores of Sleep. (8.0/10)
  
Cymbals Eat Guitars – Wonderfully varied comparisons to The War On Drugs, Titus Andronicus, Porno For Pyros, Comet Gain, and The Flaming Lips.  Maybe lazy to provide such a list of references, but these guys are all over the place to great effect. (8/10)
  
Drew McIvor – Porchlight is a light-hearted lounge pastiche of Prince, rocksteady, soul-folk balladry, and samba.  I've proclaimed “45’s and 33’s” song of the year. (8.0/10)
  
PAWS – Owls Talons Clenching My Heart (what a great album name) is tremendous lo-fi indie pop-rock. (7.9/10)

The Antlers – Familiars is expansive, nuanced chamber pop.  Beautiful. (7.8/10)
   
BRONCHO – Just Hip Enough To Be Women, sounds like early 80s post-punk British pop.  Think Squeeze, Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello. (7.8/10)

Avey Tare – Enter The Slasher House is a solo jaunt from this Animal Collective co-lead.  Happily, sounds like Animal Collective.  (7.8/10)

Sharon Van Etten – Are We There continues Etten’s prowess at producing powerful soul-folk confessionals.  (7.8/10)

Pains of Being Pure At Heart –Days Of Abandon is another great offering of wall of sound dream-pop.  (7.8/10)

Woods –Catchy lo-fi psych-pop can be found on With Light And With Love.  Not as monumental as previous efforts, but a damn fine record.  (7.8/10)
  
Viet Cong – From the ashes of Women, this Calgary band launched Cassette, a reverb-drenched pop noise document referencing Pavement, Wire, and No Age.  My expectations are huge for the new album, which just came out in January of 2015. (7.7/10)

Fanfarlo – Lush and spacey synth folk describes their third album, Let’s Go Extinct. (7.7/10)

The Men -  Evolving from their blazing proto-punk anthems, The Men have drifted to more conventional rock on Tomorrow’s Hits.   Like Titus Andronicus interning with Tom Petty. (7.7/10)

Hooray for Earth – Racy is the third and, sadly, final album.  New wavey indie rock.  (7.7/10)

Stella Ella Ola – I Think We Should Hang Out All The Time is catchy power-pop reminiscent of Apples in Stereo and Fountains of Wayne. (7.7/10)

What Moon Things – Thanks to Dylan Taylor for passing along this s/t post-rock emo gem. Lots of touchstones, like Modest Mouse, The Cure, and Sunny Day Real Estate. (7.7/10)
  
tUnE-yArDs -  Nikki Nack is perhaps the definition of musical innovation in 2015.  Big soulful voice over tribal beats, wacky electronics, and enough pop hooks to ensnare you.  (7.6/10)

Ought – More Than Any Other Day marks an amazing future for this young post-punk band that channels Talking Heads, Pulp, and Fugazi. (7.6/10)
  
Thom Yorke – The surprise web-release of Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is a big improvement over the sterile Atoms For Peace record.  Still jittery and clinical, but there is a smoother sort of ambience this time around. (7.6/10)

The War on Drugs – Lost In The Dream appeared in many Top 10 lists this year and it is indeed good.  I just thought the nods to 70s rock tropes were at the expense of their previously sublime psychedelic outings.  Great record, but it’s no Slave Ambient. (7.5/10)

Pink Mountaintops – These guys always bring the 70s-informed rock.  Get Back  is a slight let down from their previous records, which have appeared in my yearly top 20 lists in the past.  But still a decent collection. (7.5/10)
  
Tycho – Awake is chill and spacey electronica; great background record for reading and lychee martinis. (7.5/10)

"Short Falls" - The Disappointments of 2014

As is tradition, here are my annual disappointments for 2014 – long anticipated records from much loved artists that fell way short of expectations.  There weren’t all that many this year.   Gord Downie and the Sadies’ record was drab to me, despite attempts to rock hard.  Both partners are tremendous talents, but the outcome was like warmed over latter-day Hip.  Hard to like when Downie’s solo outings have been so strong.  Peaking Lights had put out two great whimsical electro-dub records, but their third effort borders on annoying, wherein repetition serves to rankle rather than inspire.  Camper Van Beethoven’s second post-reunion album soured me, sounding a lot like Cracker but without the hooks. Saddened.   Bob Mould sounded pretty average and well below his 80-90s punk heights.  A revived Medicine continues to try too hard and you can tell there is the potentially for soaring, luminous songs beneath the self-indulgent mess that Brad Laner has put together.  The Hidden Cameras have switched up their approach, leaning more heavily on keyboards and dance beats.   Consequently, their uniquely engaging spark is gone.

And the big kahuna of disappointments goes to Sun Kil Moon’s Benji, which I should mentioned topped numerous year-end lists.  Pitchfork called the album “astonishing” and rated it a 9.2, effusively proclaiming that “Kozelek all but forces us to recognize how the most emotionally moving art can be mapped directly on to our own lives.”  What I hear is a guy muttering clunky uneconomical lyrics over drab, repetitive guitar lines.  This is bland and featureless, and emotionally self-important.  Perhaps, however, my ears have been tainted by Kozelek being a pathetic asshole in a one-sided battle of words with The War On Drugs.  He is an awful person, and I can’t listen to anything new from him – I pretty much have to pretend the RHP catalog was authored by a whole other character.  Go away forever, Mark Kozelek.

The Top 20 Albums of 2013

Presenting my annual (and annually tardy) Top 20 albums of the year.  2013 had an absolute flood of great new music, but I would also say there were fewer records that completely knocked my socks off.  It was hard to make decisions on the final list as there were many competing offerings that easily could have made the cut.  But the upper echelons of musical greatness were fewer.  So, a great year, but it’s likely only a couple would make the grade against entries from previous years.

First, albums that didn’t make it, but nonetheless deserve mention (i.e., 7.5/10 or greater on my personal rating scale): 

• Yamantaka // Sonic Titan  (electro space goth...great!)
• Cults (a more varied and mature release from indie rockpoppers)
  
• Ulrich Schnauss (languid, trippy electronica)
• Alexander Von Mehren (for lovers of complex bachelor pad jazz-pop, a la High Llamas, Stereolab and Hylozoists)
• Heaven  (NY fuzz pop, discovered when they opened for the Swervedriver reunion tour)
• Frightened Rabbit (great effort from Scottish indie rockers, but surprised they weren’t up there on my list)
• The Dodos (best release since their debut)
• The Joy Formidable (big wall of noise pop but oddly polished)
• Edward Sharpe (great, but a slight let down given they occupied the number one slot last year)
• Sigur Ros (a little bit outside their formula which was always good, but becoming repetitive.  A bit heavier, to great effect)
• Panda Riot (great fuzzy dream pop reminiscent of Pains of Being Pure At Heart)
• Young Galaxy (I adore this chilled out electro-pop band.  A bit too dancy this time around, but wonderful nonetheless)
• Volcano Choir (essentially Bon Iver, with a wider palette of song types)
• Black Hearted Brother (This is Neil Halstead trying to reincarnate Slowdive.  A good record, but did not live up to massively high hopes)
• Washed Out (more great chill wave)
• Way Yes (bubbly, worldbeat electro sounds recalling Animal Collective and Ruby Suns)
• Yuck (the rawness of the first record is scaled back to a more melodic shoegaze approach)
• Deerhunter (blown away at first, but didn’t stick with me with repeated listens.  Love the way Bradford Cox tries new things each time, though)
• Jim Guthrie (after several inspired 8-bit video game soundtracks, Guthrie returns to original Now, More Than Ever form)
• Low (not the best Low record, but signature sounds.  Feels like I have known this record since the 90s)
• Hayden (revitalized, catchy indie-folk tracks).
• Day Joy (reverbed orchestral pop)
• Crystal Stilts (catchy Nuggets-style garage pop)
• Songs By Thom (self-released cassette randomly bought at Amoeba Records in LA.  Geeky, lo-fi confessionals)
• Wooden Shjips (motorik psych jams.  Repetition done well)
• Frankie Rose (modernized 50’s fuzzy sock hops and indie gems)
• Cave Singers (reminds of War on Drugs or Citay in a more standard rock format)
• Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene dude’s recent solo release).
• Steve Mason (Beta Band guy with an RnB angle)
• Joanna Gruesome (great girl power pop)
• Moonface (Spencer Krug and his piano.  Requires attention, but when you are in it, he delivers powerfully).
• Bent Shapes (more punk pop)
• Akron/Family (difficult to categorize – experimental psych jams and sound mash ups)
• Riverrun (if this was an ambient instrumental list, this would be Top 3)
• Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie “Prince Billy” (honest rendering of the Everly Brothers).

And now my annual disappointments.  Contrary to pretty much everybody I know, I dislike Reflektor by Arcade Fire.  I’ve tried my best.  But the LCD Soundsystem dance pop rework leaves me cold and longing for the Arcade Fire I know and love.  I don’t begrudge the format change, really, but my high hopes were dashed.  

 

I did not have huge expectations of Vampire Weekend, really, because I have only ever merely liked them.  But seeing them at the top of most year end lists annoys me.  The songs are all okay, but they are hardly revelatory. 

 

I have been a long-time fan of Eels, but the 2013 record is bland and sucky.  Just awful. 

The Terror by Flaming Lips was similarly crappy in my estimation.  No hooks – just difficult sounds and sonic pretensions.  Wavves was more of the same, and while I quite liked their debut, I felt like I was listening to that album’s cast offs.  Atoms For Peace just drifts by me without much notice, which is the complete opposite to how Radiohead most often grabs my full attention.  Iceage’s promising debut was followed by a hard core mess that does not lift me, but grates on me.  I support what they are doing though. 

My biggest disappointment was Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody, but only in relative terms.  Franklin is my favorite performer, whether it be with Swervedriver or his many side projects.  This album, Black Horses, feels thrown together, with a recycling of some older songs and filler that wanders.  It is an understatement to say I am looking forward to the first Swervedriver album since 1998, which is apparently dropping in 2015.

Okay, on to the list proper!  Click on "choice tracks" to preview selected songs.

20. Stars and Sons – Colour Me Red

I cannot for the life of me recall where I discovered this gem, but suffice to say, they are fairly obscure.  No entry in wiki or allmusic and from the looks of it, no label either.  Just a couple digital long players on bandcamp and, presumably, a fuck load of energy and ambition.  This band sounds BIG.  Almost (but not quite) over the top in their execution of full on orchestral glam-pop that recalls a more frantic Polyphonic Spree, with the bounce of Ben Folds, and the bluster of Broken Social Scene (they derived their name from a BSS song).  I also hear Fang Island, Go! Team, Spacehog and…Queen?  At least in terms of that wide open palette of aural assault.  It’s almost too much at times, but it is mostly astounding and invigorating.  Choice track:  “Family Tree”.

19.  No Joy – Wait To Pleasure

 

Canada is rarely considered a hotbed of shoegaze – that has a been a distinctly British tradition beginning with My Bloody Valentine and Creation Records, and bleeding over to America in certain wonderful pockets.  Among the Canadian exceptions are Montreal shoegaze revivalists No Joy (with deferential nods to Sianspheric and Besnard Lakes).  Championed by indie darlings and label mates, Best Coast, the band concocts reverb drenched tracks that swirl and coalesce in ways similar to MBV, Slowdive, Ride, and Lush.  It is a messy and trippy affair of interweaving guitar squalls and ethereal vocals that often reach the same sonic heights of the trailblazers just mentioned.  Beautiful noise.  Choice Track: “Hare Tarot Lies”

18.  Grim Tower – Anarchic Breezes

 

Grim Tower is the psych-folk side project of Stephen McBean (Black Mountain, Pink Mountaintops) and Imaad Wasif (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), with contributions from members of Brian Jonestown Masscare and Darker My Love.  The result is predictably great – dark, forboding, psychedelic dirges that channel aspects of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Moby Grape and the Velvet Underground.  Those touchstones may also be misleading, however, as the album is primarily driven by acoustic guitars.  McBean and Wasif reportedly spent several months experimenting with strangely detuned guitars in McBean’s backyard, and then sifted through the tapes to build and refine a full-length.   It is McBean’s rich vocals that give the songs their 1970s psych-rock character (as they similarly do in his other bands).  The sludgy bass, resonating acoustic strums, and electric flourishes pull it all together into an album that would undoubtedly blow the collective consciousness of many a Haight-Ashbury acid casualty.  This is a criminally overlooked album in my opinion.  Choice track:  “Reign Down”

17.  Light Heat – S/T

 

I have been waiting impatiently for Quentin Stoltzfus of defunct fave, Mazarin, to come out from wherever he has been hiding with some new music.  Mazarin’s last album, We’re Already There (2005), was a great one, and the first two are positively legend in my music room (note the #1 song of the Top 500 – “What Sees The Sky” from A Tall Tale Storyline).   Last I heard, some dumb ass bar band was quibbling with the name copyright and then…silence. Eight years later he has returned with a new outfit and his backing musicians are none other than the Walkmen band.  He’s picked up where he has left off.  I am not necessarily as floored by the effort as I had hoped.  But it is a solid return of fuzzy, melodic, droney indie rock.  Welcome back.  Choice track: “Elevation”.

16.  No Age – An Object

 

No Age are the ultimate post-punk band (since we are verrrry post-punk now, I suppose it’s best to call them “retro post punk”).  An Object continues their messy, crunchy, claustrophobic noise-punk.  What is so inspiring is the intentionality of it all.   They are brave in their decisions – their chord progressions, riffs, beats, and vocal melodies are always a bit strange and seemingly limiting in where they can go.  But they know what they are doing, in the same innovative way as Wire.  They know how to bash through it all to make a pathway other bands couldn’t think of pursuing.   Choice (and fairly accessible) track:  “An Impression”.

15.  Cayucas - Bigfoot   

These happy, spritely dudes dropped out of nowhere.  I don’t recall how I discovered the debut video for the insanely catchy “High School Lover”, but I sense Cayucas has made in-roads into popular consciousness – their tunes are popping up in the environment here and there and seem tailor-made for car and mobile phone commercials (and not in a bad way).  Their songs are impossibly “summery”,  if you get my meaning.  Bright and airy, with bouncing tropicalia bass lines and sweet backing harmonies.  It’s the sort music you would hope to have in your ears as you ride a tandem bicycle through a street carnival where literally everyone is happy.  Their songs kind of resemble an unironic Beck or the world music-informed sounds of Paul Simon – but contemporized somehow.   A treat!  Choice track:  “High School Lover”.

14.  On An On – Give In

A tough band to Google effectively, On An On launched their debut this year.  I have seen little press on this record, which is a shame.  The band concocts an engrossing mix of determined guitar riffs, ethereal synths, insistent electro beats, and wonderfully reverbed vocals.  They sound very familiar most of the time, in a good way, fitting snugly in the contemporary indie pantheon.  I hear early Radiohead, Embrace, Doves, Broken Social Scene, and even a bit of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-era Wilco.  Fabulous debut.   Choice track:  “Ghosts”.

13.  Nightlands – Oak Island

 

I was massively impressed with Nightlands’ first offering, Forget the Mantra.  They have returned with Oak Island, another gigantic sounding synthetic/organic landscape.  The production is remarkable – an extremely well-mixed and separated collection of interconnected sounds and melodies that have undoubtedly been derived from exponential layering.  There are persistent ambient textures that are grounded by more traditional acoustic instruments.  The vocals are gorgeous.  This is one of those records that seems entirely new in its approach yet harkens back to older (even ancient) musical tropes.  Sometimes it feels like I am listening to the Moody Blues, Vangelis, or Godley and Creme.  Or random new age world music.  Most of the time I feel like I am listening to otherworldly spiritual anthems.  Choice track:  “So Far So Long”.

12.  Shugo Tokumaru – In Focus?

 

Ever since experiencing the brilliance of the Katamri Damacy video game soundtrack, I have been keeping my ears open for more intelligent Japanese pop.  It was hard to know where to look, but I came across the fabulously entertaining Shugo Tokumaru.  I’m not sure if he does gaming work, but take the sugar-spun theme songs from the bygone 8-bit era and give them full digital/analog orchestration and you have In Focus?  When I listen to this record, I feel like I am in a side-scrolling, pastel coloured platformer.  In terms of vision, ambitiousness, and technical prowess, this could be record of the year.  The range of sounds is extraordinary – the midi programming required seems intimidatingly complex.  And yet it does not sound like a cheap digital rendering in the least.  It is warm, organic, and impossibly happy.  I suppose that’s the only problem with it.  Just like you are not always in the mood to watch cartoons, you have to be in a sort of fantastical frame of mind to appreciate this brilliant work.  Choice track (and brilliant video): “Katachi”.

11.  Besnard Lakes - Until in Excess Imperceptible UFO

 Every new Besnard Lakes record (and 2011’s side project The Soft Province) ends up appearing in my yearly Top 20.  They have excelled once again in 2013.  UFO provides the Lakes’ signature sound – massive sprawling guitars, rich organs and keyboards,  resonant bass lines, and the sweet dual voices of Jace Lacek and Olga Goreas.  It’s always gorgeously dense rock music, but with a gauzy, laid back atmosphere that never fails to build, swell, and explode.   Think Pink Floyd, Slowdive, and School of Seven Bells.  But very often bigger. Choice track: “46 Satires”.

10.  Yo La Tengo – Fade

 

Now revered grandparents of the indie-rock scene, Yo La Tengo has never been afraid to grow, evolve and experiment;  but they never lose sight of their highly successfully recipe of catchy hooks and honest melodies.  Fade is another triumph, which is remarkable given that this is their 13^th studio album, not including numerous b-side compilations, soundtracks, and side tracks.  The measured eclecticism is retained and some experimental sound projects keep us on our toes.  But the main attractions are once again the simple guitar pop ditties, featuring Ira and Georgia’s understated but wholesomely familiar vocals.  Yo La Tengo are old friends, lifetime companions that never ever let you down.  Choice track: “I’ll Be Around”.

9.  William Tyler – Impossible Truth

A subgenre of music that I continually enjoy is neo-classical and experimental guitar.  With John Fahey as the historical touch point, I love the drone, the delicate, and the ambient sounds that can be coaxed from the solo acoustic guitar.  It’s sometimes tough to find that sweet spot among the many players out there in the world and the risk of falling into warmed over New Age is constant (see much of the Windham Hill catalogue).  Then I discovered the boutique label Tompkins Square, which revives and releases obscure outsider Americana (Frank Fairfield, for example, was a revelation to me) as well as contemporary instrumental guitar.  This is where I discovered Robbie Basho, James Blackshaw, Jesse Spearhawk, and William Tyler.  Tyler is among the most talented of acoustic guitar composers in recent years and, curiously, he has crossed over to indie rock leader Merge Records.  His 2013 offering is an absolutely gorgeous, symphonic trip of harmonic drones, waves of pedal steel, and shining melodies.  It is fingerpicking bliss and a perfect soundtrack for the natural world, inner meditations, and everything in between. Choice track: "Cadillac Desert".

8.  Ex-Cops – True Hallucinations

 

Another surprising and relatively obscure entry into the Top 20, Ex-Cops’ True Hallucinations hits the core pleasure centre of my indie-rock/pop tastes.  This unassuming little long player harnesses the lovely guitar pop that unites so many of my favorite artists, such as Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Minders, Beulah, High Dials, The Bats, Dump, and American Analog Set.  I imagine many listeners would find this recording to be pleasant but perhaps unremarkable.  But for me, aside from a misguided Genesis sample to open the set (the prog drums from “Mama”), I find every song attractive – whispery reverbed vocals, trebly Cure-like guitars, and catchy verse-chorus-verse hooks.  The songs tend to be a bit lo-fi, but that adds to the affection.   Snappy, foot-tapping excursions, recalling the carefree early days of Matador and Merge records.  Choice track:  “James”.

7.  Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse

Bedroom avant-pop noise maker, Trevor Powers, turned heads with his 2011 self-produced gem, The Year of Hibernation.  Lo-fi, but richly textured, Youth Lagoon creates big and beautiful pop collages that feel like cousins to Daniel Johnston’s naïve homespun songs, but augmented by the considerable power of laptop audio tools.  The result is…weird…and lives in the same musical houses as early Mercury Rev, Pete Samples, Panda Bear, Altas Sound, Maybe Smith, and Wild Nothing.  Much has been said about the dystopia, isolation, and depression within Powers’ songs, but frankly I’ve yet to get past the maddeningly gorgeous wall of modulating synths and gurgling sound effects.  I might never get there, as his fragile voice feels like just another instrument.  Choice track:  “Mute”.

6. Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors

Who listens to Rogue Wave?  Anyone?  Anyone?  I have yet to meet a fan and it’s downright isolating.  Along with Kingsbury Manx and Mazarin, Rogue Wave is one of those bands that feels like a secret I desperately want to share.  Their obscurity – or at least my perception of it – is tremendously weird.  There is no reason whatsoever that Rogue Wave should not have had a career arc any different from that of The Shins, The Decemberists, Death Cab For Cutie, or The New Pornographers.   Across five full-lengths I don’t think there is single Rogue Wave song I dislike.  This is perfectly crafted, impeccably produced, catchy-as-hell indie rock.   While I am sure they have a decent following (somewhere), their accomplished output just drifts by the music press with barely a raised eyebrow.  Do yourself a favor and pick up some Rogue Wave.  One of the most consistent pleasures of the last decade.  Choice track:  “Used To It”.

5.  Phosphorescent – Muchacho

While the moniker may tend to evoke a chill-wave outfit, Phosphorescent is quite the opposite.  I have never been fully comfortable with throwing the term “Southern Gothic” around, because that literary tradition doesn’t clearly translate to music for me.  Well, it kind of does, but I feel like I am guessing.  But what we are talking about here is that sort honest, heartfelt mix of gospel rock, country, blues, and folk that sets apart bands like Wilco, Lambchop, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Calexico.  Matthew Houck is a bonafide poet, exhorting about love, loss, sin, and power, and although the vocals crack and croak, he has a brilliant presence that is no different from Jack White or Brittany Howard.  And, oddly, if Bono sang these songs, it would be the album that should have replaced Rattle and Hum before U2 reinvented themselves with Achtung Baby.   Choice track: “Terror In The Canyons (TheWounded Master)”.

4.  My Bloody Valentine

Me and every other indie-rock/shoegaze afficiando wondered if Kevin Shields, that neurotic perfectionist, would ever be satisfied enough to release a worthy follow up to Loveless, the 1990 foundation for so much guitar music that followed.  I think there was also a general feeling that it would not be “new enough” – so many bands have appropriated MBV’s signature sound of woozy, gliding guitar and wall of noise feedback.  The other worry is that Shields would say fuck it, and do something completely different in an attempt to free himself from the original prototype.   I first heard the ridiculously long-awaited follow up via pre-order download, while horribly ill with the flu in Sofia, Bulgaria.  I don’t know how this fits into the story, really, but I thought the album was either going to keep me alive or kill me outright.  No in between.  Safely back home, with multiple relistens, I decided that all our hand-wringing was unnecessary.  The album is every bit as good as Loveless, it just hits less hard, because the precedent has already been established.  It feels like a fully formed companion piece and it could have been released in 1991.  I also got to hear many tracks live in Toronto, and the consistency of the new songs with the old is remarkable.  He must have kept all those pedals of his.  (Side note:  “You Made Me Realize”, the show’s closer, was like wake-boarding behind a jet plane during an electrical storm.  I’ve never been so physically assaulted by sound.  I imagine I will never hear/feel that again).  “More of the same” is not a problem here, since “the same” was so precious little to begin with.  Choice track:  “Who Sees You”.

 

3.  Eluvium – Nightmare Ending

As Eluvium, Matthew Cooper has released a string of piano-based ambient and neo-classical albums.  All are at least pleasant meditations and some soar to great heights.  The latest, Nightmare Ending, is a double album and a veritable masterpiece.  Eluvium moves far beyond the mediocrity of tinkly new age piano solos into a complex, minimalist dream world of symphonic waves, spacious drones, and delicate piano lines.  It rivals and exceeds the best stuff that Brian Eno has ever put out and that is certainly saying something.  And to close this hymnal magnum opus, a rare and gentle vocal is supplied by Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo.  Eluvium, I sense, is well regarded in both indie circles and the more the more rarefied  world of contemporary neo-classical.  A happy cross-over and it makes me wonder what I might be missing that’s buried in the classical underground.  Choice track:  “Don’t Get Any Closer”.

2.  Mutual Benefit – Love’s Crushing Diamond

 

The annoyingly named subgenre “freak folk” was liberally applied in the mid 2000s to any number of acoustically inclined but experimental nouveux hippies and outsiders, like early Animal Collective and Akron/Family, Joanna Newsom, Mum, Devendra Banhart, and Mystic Chords of Memory.  Unfortunate and limiting the moniker may have been, but ultimately it attempted to capture a slice of modern indie that felt distinct enough, and that I adored.  It has kind of died down, or perhaps just the label has.  But in 2013 Mutual Benefit arrived to my ears, admittedly more folk than freak.  I was immediately smitten with this wonderful album that reminded me of how innovative acoustic music can be when there is careful instrumentation paired with a sense of whimsy and light experimentalism.    Warm and inviting, like a livingroom sing-a-long with friends and lovers.  Choice track:  “Let’s Play /Statue of a Man”.

1.  Foxygen – We Are The 21^st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic

The last time I felt this particular way about an album is when I happened upon Strung Out In Heaven by Brian Jonestown Massacre way back in 1998.  I had never heard a contemporary record that was so bloody perfect in its homage to roots of Rock and Roll.  There can be a fine line between rip off and homage but BJM might as well have time travelled onto my stereo.  Every track felt like it could have come straight out of 1968, and authored by the Stones, The Animals, The Byrds, or any other psychedelicized band from Nuggets-era rockdom.  I have not heard an album since that was so brilliant and reverent in execution until now.  Others have tried and succeeded here and there (e.g., Black Mountain channels Zeppelin and Sabbath wonderfully).  But Foxygen absolutely nail it.  And the two main bandmates are just out their teens. They are mind blowing in their ability to perfect the style and production of 60’s rock and pop.  There are so many elements here – the Stones (of course), Eric Burdon, The Mamas and Papas, Them, The Velvet Underground, Donovan, Motown, and so on.  This is my number one album of 2014 and it would have been a definite chart-topper in 1969.  Choice Track:  “San Francisco”.

 

And to end with my Top 3 favorite song of the year.  Tough call, but I'm going with

1. "High School Lover" by Cayucas.

2. "Taking My Time" by Jim Guthrie

3. "Let's Play / Statue Of A Man" by Mutual Benefit