I made a top 9 Albums of 2014 list because pup videogames

Top 10(-1) albums of 2014 or something that nobody cares about?

Seems like people are posting lists, but my video games are all the same, so I guess I'll share music.

9. Flying Lotus - You're Dead!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXD0vv-ds8

Is it Experimental Jazz? Hip-Hop? Avant-Garde Electronica? All of the above and then some.

8. Grouper - Ruin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJgXdSVFnJE

I still can't quite 100% identify what it is about Grouper that I like, but she keeps me coming back so something is obviously working.

7. Mogwai - Rave Tapes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ5nEuG-CRc

Machinelike precision sounds best when turned up past 11. Like 18 or 19 for the full effect.

6. Nickel Creek - A Dotted Line

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIt8aN01NlY

This album feels like a warm fire and a cup of apple cider. It's so sweet, charming, and deceptively complex.

5. Laurel Halo - Chance of Rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6dN1WB8Az0

Technically 2013, but I mostly experienced it this year. Laurel Halo boggles me. I have no idea who she is or where she came from, she just seems to be this force that consistently churns out perfect downtempo beats.

4. tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbiFcPhccu8

Merrill Garbus is out of her fucking mind and I love her for it. The sense of play and child-like joy running through this album comes from all angles to both parts entertain and impress.

3. Fight Like Apes - Whigfield Sextape EP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66GRBR-RX14

I will listen to literally anything these guys produce, while continuing to run up to every music fan I know, grab them by the shirt-collar, and shake them vigorously while demanding that they listen to the entire FLA catalog immediately. Why these guys aren't massively popular is a complete mystery to me. I'm looking forward to their next full LP early 2015, and so should you.

2. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Mended with Gold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4x1q7brdwA

I was waiting to see how these guys bounced back from a slightly disappointing 2nd album. Granted, their debut "Hometowns" was so goddamn good that any followup was destined to be a disappointment. I guess "Mended with Gold" is what we call a "return to form"? It's not that simple, though. "Mended" shows growth and maturity. These guys feel like the working man's musician. Blue collar folk music.

1. St. Vincent - St. Vincent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsUKQWCzGEc

It's Annie's world, we're just living in it.

St. Vincent is incredible.

You forgot Ty Segall - Manipulator.

I only listened to 9 albums this year that came out this year (unless EPs don't count as albums, in which case even less than that). Mostlyelectronicstuff (each of those words is a different link), the new Poets of the Fall album and Run the Jewels 2 because people were talking about it but I didn't like it because I'm not a rap guy. Album of the Year for me goes to Superchroma by crashfaster, which is only 6 songs but all of them are fantastic.

I have never heard of a single album or artist on your list, let me check to make sure.....yup, never heard of any of those.

Once again proves that music is the most subjective form of media on the planet.

@nightriff: I 100% agree, it's part of the reason I love music. The range of flavors and types that are available is unbelievably vast.

@snowden42: Yup, nothing wrong with it but it always ruins the "Best Albums of the Year" type stuff because very few albums/artists can the vast majority agree on.

@nightriff: I kinda like it, since seeing other people's lists exposes me to music I never would have heard of otherwise. It also creates a sense of personalization to Album of the Year lists, so it almost spins back and becomes a form of self-expression. As far as major publisher lists like Pitchfork, that's all kinda bullshit since music is so subjective.

@spraynardtatum: I actually totally missed that album this year. It was on my radar but I never got around to listening to it. 2015's 2014 album of the years?

@snowden42: Profanity is not permitted in thread titles, so I made the appropriate edit.

@mb: Roger that. Sorry, I wasn't aware of the rule.

The Unnatural World by Have A Nice Life is the only album that matters this year.

St. Vincent was kind of a let-down. She will likely never surpass Actor. 'tis a sad thing.

Thinking about it, I realized I've only listened to 2 albums from 2014. "Hour of the Dawn" by La Sera (Very Good!!), and "High-Five" by Peppertones (Pretty Good!!). As for your list, I'd never heard of any of these guys, but those songs from Nickel Creek, Rural Alberta Advantage, and Fight Like Apes sound pretty neat, so I think I'll check out those albums. Thanks! Dunno about St. Vincent though.... definitely not my thing.

St. Vincent is a notoriously polarizing artist. Some people (like me) think she's the greatest thing going. Many other people think she's strange and uninteresting. I think it's one of the things that makes her so exciting for me. Ironically, @perilator666, Actor is my least favorite of her albums probably because the music is too decidedly "straightforward" and I'm in it for the weird shit.

I will definitely be checking out all the albums people are posting on this thread!

I thought St. Vincent's Strange Mercy album was fantastic, but nothing else of hers has really grabbed me yet she is still a nice artist.

Also threads like this show off how much I need to catch up on, this was actually a great year for music.

Weird is good. As someone who can listen to power electronics and noise music, I have no problem with weird. I just don't think Annie does it very well. To each their own though.

I should also clarify that I have liked albums this year other than the new HANL. Carla Bozulich has a pretty neat one and Xiu Xiu's last two albums were amazing. I recommend them all if you like weird.

Damn i was hoping that edit was there to begin with :(

I may check some of these out as ive probably listened to one or two new albums this year.

E: and rave tapes was one of 'em. Pretty good 'un.

No 1989, not a valid list.

Honestly it's up there for me. I couldn't pick a #10, but it was in the mix. TSwift WAS pop music this year.

Bloody hell. I forgot Rave Tapes came out this year. Saw them in January and lost my hearing for days. A true sign of quality.

Nice list, I'm going to check out that new St. Vincent album at least, only ever heard her on the album she did with David Byrne, and I liked that so.

Haha yes. I saw them when they came here to Portland, ended up standing next to a speaker tower. That was a mistake. For a few days I was convinced I had done permanent damage to my left ear. (Spoiler: I probably still did)

So much St. Vincent "meh" going on here. I thought she was rocking the top 10 lists around.

In probably the currently most divisive/diverse art form, St. Vincent/RTJ/The War On Drugs seems to be the closest to a "common thread".

I like music. Listening to and playing music used to be my favorite hobbies; but now I never take the time to find new artists and just listen to new albums from artists I already like. The only 2014 albums I've heard are from Mastodon, Beck, Jack White, Primus, and Mastodon's Once More Round the Sun is by far the best.

Right on!

The new Grouper was really nice. Her switch to focusing more on piano this time around helped to keep things interesting, and Clearing certainly serves as the Heavy Water/Living Room of this album. I enjoyed the new St. Vincent, though not as much as you, but seeing her live earlier this year was really fun. Mended With Gold was also a great outing for RAA, but I really liked Departing, perhaps even more than Hometowns.

For comparison, my list without explanations:

If I listened to anything that came out in 2014, it was on Pandora or a restaurant's speakers or something and I wasn't made sufficiently aware of the fact.

@counterclockwork87: That's pretty cool, dude.

Rishloo - Living as Ghosts with Buildings as Teeth deserves a credible mention.

@counterclockwork87: this is a pretty amazing picture.

@winsword: I agree that the piano emphasis for grouper kept her feeling new and different; definitely vital for her type or music. Digging your list, To Be Kind is a really strong album. As for RAA I think in my initial write up I sold Departing a bit short. It's still a fine album, but for me it didn't feel as inspired as Hometowns, it felt like it was missing that screaming-from-mountaintops emotion that originally attracted me to them.

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You damn kids and your "music". Back in my day, we had phat beats and we liked it.