*** Reaper's Favorite Albums of 2014 ***

[Reaper16]

I'm really late with the list this year guys. Sorry about that. I've had a massive cold and I've been unable to concentrate on things, so writing these lil write-ups was much more difficult than normal. If anything here doesn't make sense you can blame it on the illness.

As always, this is a list of my personal favorite albums of the year. It's not meant to be an objective "best-of" list, because while I listen to hundreds of new albums each year I still fall far short of listening to enough to feel comfortable making an objective claim. As always, my general preferences for hip-hop & heavy metal mean that you probably won't see your favorite punk album or twee indie rock album. Probably. Hopefully you'll find some albums you will come to dig through this list.

I'll be posting the write-ups & youtube embeds throughout the evening. The main list will be updated here in the OP.

30. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead!
29. Jason Feathers – De Oro
28. Mike Mictlan - Hella Frreal
27. Glass Animals – Zaba
26. Robert Plant (& the Sensational Space Shifters) – Lullaby…and the Ceaseless Roar
25. Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
24. Mr. Twin Sister – Mr. Twin Sister
23. Ces Cru – Codename: Ego Stripper
22. D’Angelo (and the Vanguard) – Black Messiah
21. Angeleena Presley – American Middle Class
20. Panopticon – Roads to the North
19. Taake – Stridens Hus
18. Devin Townsend – Sky Blue (Z2 disc 1)
17. Alcest – Shelter
16. tUnE-yArDs – Nikki Nack
15. Todd Terje – It’s Album Time
14. TV on the Radio – Seeds
13. Agalloch – The Serpent & the Sphere
12. Behemoth – The Satanist
11. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Hypnotic Eye
10. Freddie Gibs & Madlib – Pinata
09. Opeth – Pale Communion
08. G-Side – GzIIGodz
07. Death Grips – the powers that b, pt. 1: ****as on the Moon
06. Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
05. Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires – Dereconstruction
04. Killer Mike & El-P – Run the Jewels 2
03. St. Vincent – St. Vincent
02. Sun Kil Moon – Benji
01. Swans – To Be Kind

[Reaper16]

01. Swans – To Be Kind


Only a truly impressive instrumental performance could prevent that Sun Kil Moon album from being my favorite album of the year. Swans’ latest 2 hour monster, To Be Kind, is that performance. This is truly awe-inspiring. I loved their last album The Seer for its fearsome, expansive textures. It was bewildering & intense & one of the best (though hardest to listen to) albums of the past decade. This new album doesn’t lose any of that intensity, any of those expansive textures. But what it adds is serious groove. There’s a groove and a fierce drive to these songs that makes them catchier than The Seer material. This is an album that defies words in many ways, or at least it takes a certain amount of specific words – think an entire Cormac McCarthy album – to properly communicate how this album sounds, how it makes you feel. It really does sound like you’re out on the prairie and all of the bad things in the world are about to descend on you. Michael Gira takes repetitive bass & drums on many of these tracks & adds layers of repetitive sound on top: a cacophony of instruments including lap steel guitar, bells, viola, wind chimes, horns, backing vocals, synthesizers, layers & layers of percussion, and of course Gira’s intense lead vocals that are sometimes plainly spoken and sometimes yelled like a beast would yell. There’s no moment in 2014 music more unnerving than Gira singing “I’m just a little boy” only to be met immediately with a Greek chorus of humiliating laughter. There’s perhaps no more imposing study in the power of repetition and slow build than the album’s centerpiece 35 minute long song, “Bring the Sun/Toussaint L’Ouverture” which builds for 14 minutes like the whole planet is going to collapse and THAT is only a lead-in to a chanting tribute to the Haitian revolutionary who led the successful & violent slave rebellion on that island; those powerful 35 minutes are accidentally topical – they make me think about the kind of violence that might be necessary to actually get some justice out of an American police state that violently oppresses African Americans. Ultimately, the way you feel when you listen to these tracks is going to be very individualized. It’s like if a haunted house were also a contemporary abstract art gallery: there’s room in these sparse lyrics and in these gargantuan songs for your subconscious to run amok. This is an intimidating undertaking to listen, but it carries my fullest recommendation.

[Reaper16]

What did you guys listen to this year?

[Reaper16]

NewChief, pass the bourbon to me & chime in here.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

NewChief, pass the bourbon to me & chime in here.

I've been looking forward to your list all year, because I found it, personally, to be a strange year in music. Like you said, not lots of pop stuff that I loved. More metal that I liked than usual. There was nothing that really stayed in constant rotation for me, but I had a few that I listened to a lot that you didn't include and some areas where we coincide.

I tried to post last night, but I was on my phone and suffering technical issues, so this will be with a cup of coffee instead of bourbon.

So here are my random thoughts:

First of all, I'm glad to see that Swans made your best of the year list. That was mine as well. I think it suffered a lot, in critic eyes, from from the success of the Seer as well as dropping early in the year. Still, I'm not sure that there was another album that had the impact on me as this one (and that's saying something with my love for RTJ2).

I didn't put RTJ2 up top, either. I loved the album. I really did. However, the hype leading up to it was absolutely incredible for me. The videos. The Meow the Jewels kickstarter. The huge essays detailing the friendship of Mike and Jaime. I was more in love with these guys before the album dropped than I've ever been with any other artists. As such, it was nigh impossible for the album to not slightly disappoint. It's probably around 2 or 3 on my best of list, so it didn't disappoint much.

I was also happy to see Panopticon on your list. I loved Kentucky, but didn't even realize that they'd (technically he?) had released another album until it started showing up on all the end of lists. Anyway, I liked this one quite a bit as well.

The TVOTR album is the first one of theirs that my wife has said, "Who is this?" when grabbed her phone and quickly added it to her Spotify playlist. That has to be significant in some way because I've tried to hook her on them with every album they've released to no avail. This one stuck, though.

I STILL haven't gotten to listen to the D'Angelo album with headphones, but I've listened to it like 6 times on our portable bluetooth speaker. It's funny that you say it needs headphones, though, because that's exactly what I said to someone else online when discussing the album. There's just a lot of fuzzed out stuff and layers in the production that I think will sound better on headphones.


Now for the omissions:
Water Liars Water Liars: Probably my favorite band in the world right now. Justin is from my area. They've been playing in small venues here a long time. They're literate as hell, and they make music that really just appeals to my southern upbringing.

Hiss Golden Messenger Lateness of Dancers: one of my friends is probably the biggest Sturgill Simpson fan boy I know. Like, he's obsessed with him and wants to start doing DMT at 40 basically because Sturgill does. For me, Hiss Golden Messenger does everything that Sturgill Simpson doesn't. They're not really analagous bands, but if I've got to put a "country" type band for 2014 on my list, then I'm going with these guys.

YOB: Clearing the Path to Ascension. This was the year of Doom for me. Pallbearer. YOB. SunnO))). Earth. Damn it was a good year in Doom. Despite my Arkansas love for Pallbearer. YOB's album was the best of the bunch, imo.

Giant Squid. Minoans. I probably shouldn't be able to include this, because I didn't even discover it until Stereogum released their best of metal list. But damn. I like this album a lot. You know I like my "metal" mixed with some other genres. And this album keeps me interested from start to finish.

Atlas. Real Estate. Yes. It's a throwback. It's probably not even their best album. Damn if I didn't listen to it a lot on road trips, though.

Pharaohe Monch: PTSD. I listened to this concept album quite a bit after it first dropped. There are some clunkers on here, but I found the whole album to be his most accessible and enjoyable offering from his catalog.

YG: My Crazy Life. I probably listened to this rap album more than any other. That's in large part because my rap listening often happens at the gym, and this album suits my needs for "gym music" more than any other. Still, I loved this.

Finally: Y no War on Drugs? (just kidding. Outside of the first couple of tracks, I didn't love it as much as everyone else seemed to, either.)

[Reaper16]

I don't think I gave the Hiss Golden Messenger album enough spins. I liked it fine enough, but it might have been a bigger grower on me if I'd have given it the chance to.

I'm glad we're on a similar page re: War on Drugs. That album was not the revelation to me that it apparently is to so many people.

I actually never listened to the YG album in full. I dunno why I never made time for a full spin.

The YOB and Pallbearer albums landed in that 31-35 ranking for me just off the list. If I were ranking "best" albums they might have made it, but I'm generally going to play faster paced metal more because I lurve riffs.

[WhiteWhale]

If you listened to every song and album that came out this year you STILL could not make an objective claim.

It's not a personal failing either. Quality of art is always, in some measure, subjective.

[KCUnited]

Nice work, Reaper.

The 5 best things I heard in 2014.

5. Gas Chamber - Hemorrhaging Light
- 7 note hardcore from Buffalo that breaks the mold of same ol same ol hardcore.

4. Sammath - Godless Arrogance
- At the minimum, 95% of Black Metal makes me chuckle, then there's this.

3. Fistula - Vermin Prolificus
- Long running, drugged out, sludge from the Midwest paired up with the best DIY label in the game made for the best sounding record I heard all year. Looking back, "Pig Funeral" was an uncomfortable premonition in 2014.

2. PLF - Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration
- PLF could write an acoustic K-pop album and it would still be the best metal album of the year. Dave Callier is why metal will always be my one love.

1. Water Torture - Pillbox
- Dual bass and drum noiseviolence also from Buffalo. This is a game changer as their style mostly lends to an under 10 minutes 7", but they've glued their songs together with ominous noise parts to create the best full length I heard this year.

EPs and Honorable Mentions:
Nomads - s/t 7" - cop hating crust from LA
Cave State - s/t 7" - the best powerviolence 7" of 2014
Antichrist Demoncore - s/t 12" - "I hope that Dorner's ghost comes back to seek revenge". Best lyric of 2014
Sixbrewbantha - new 12" - this could possibly be the best grindcore release of 2014, but it doesn't officially drop until 12/31.

[Pablo]

I didn't expect the Sun Kil Moon and Swans albums to be your 1/2; but I can't argue with it.

I haven't given 'To Be Kind' a fair enough number of listens; I'll get on that. I was kind of frightened to listen to this album after 'The Seer'. Their music hurts my brain.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Nice work, Reaper.

The 5 best things I heard in 2014.

5. Gas Chamber - Hemorrhaging Light
- 7 note hardcore from Buffalo that breaks the mold of same ol same ol hardcore.

4. Sammath - Godless Arrogance
- At the minimum, 95% of Black Metal makes me chuckle, then there's this.

3. Fistula - Vermin Prolificus
- Long running, drugged out, sludge from the Midwest paired up with the best DIY label in the game made for the best sounding record I heard all year. Looking back, "Pig Funeral" was an uncomfortable premonition in 2014.

2. PLF - Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration
- PLF could write an acoustic K-pop album and it would still be the best metal album of the year. Dave Callier is why metal will always be my one love.

1. Water Torture - Pillbox
- Dual bass and drum noiseviolence also from Buffalo. This is a game changer as their style mostly lends to an under 10 minutes 7", but they've glued their songs together with ominous noise parts to create the best full length I heard this year.

EPs and Honorable Mentions:
Nomads - s/t 7" - cop hating crust from LA
Cave State - s/t 7" - the best powerviolence 7" of 2014
Antichrist Demoncore - s/t 12" - "I hope that Dorner's ghost comes back to seek revenge". Best lyric of 2014
Sixbrewbantha - new 12" - this could possibly be the best grindcore release of 2014, but it doesn't officially drop until 12/31.

Yessssss, I always love checking out your recommendations.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

If you listened to every song and album that came out this year you STILL could not make an objective claim.

It's not a personal failing either. Quality of art is always, in some measure, subjective.

I agree with you. Professional critics have a "more" objective viewpoint that they write from but that isn't full objectivity of course.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Pablo

I didn't expect the Sun Kil Moon and Swans albums to be your 1/2; but I can't argue with it.

I haven't given 'To Be Kind' a fair enough number of listens; I'll get on that. I was kind of frightened to listen to this album after 'The Seer'. Their music hurts my brain.

To Be Kind isn't "accessible" but it is more accessible than The Seer. I think that power groove in many of To Be Kind's tracks makes it more listenable than The Seer.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

To Be Kind isn't "accessible" but it is more accessible than The Seer. I think that power groove in many of To Be Kind's tracks makes it more listenable than The Seer.

I think it IS slightly more accessible in that it does have a certain amount of groove to the songs that hold them together. The songs might be even more disturbing or offputting as a result, but they gave me a little more to hold onto and encouraged me to return to the album time and again.

The Seer was a few listens then put it away for me, despite understanding that it was awesome.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Pablo

I didn't expect the Sun Kil Moon and Swans albums to be your 1/2; but I can't argue with it.

I haven't given 'To Be Kind' a fair enough number of listens; I'll get on that. I was kind of frightened to listen to this album after 'The Seer'. Their music hurts my brain.

I'd listened to Benji a couple of times. I was planning on returning to it in the last month or so of the year. Then SKM's whole beef with War on Drugs became such a distraction from that album that I just totally wrote it off. I need to go back and listen to it some more, but I'm just kind of done with Kozelek at this point. I'm finding he and Morrissey to be equally insufferable twats.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I'd listened to Benji a couple of times. I was planning on returning to it in the last month or so of the year. Then SKM's whole beef with War on Drugs became such a distraction from that album that I just totally wrote it off. I need to go back and listen to it some more, but I'm just kind of done with Kozelek at this point. I'm finding he and Morrissey to be equally insufferable twats.

I'm fine with Kozelek being a miserably serious live performer cuz his asshole schtick is hilarious to me. He's become the Steve Spurrier of indie/folk rock and that's totally endearing to me.

I'm absolutely more irritated by the onslaught of handwringing articles and tweets from sanctimonious music critics about Kozelek than I am Kozelek's surliness itself.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I'm fine with Kozelek being a miserably serious live performer cuz his asshole schtick is hilarious to me. He's become the Steve Spurrier of indie/folk rock and that's totally endearing to me.

I'm absolutely more irritated by the onslaught of handwringing articles and tweets from sanctimonious music critics about Kozelek than I am Kozelek's surliness itself.

That Koz just KEPT trolling them is what annoyed me. Yes, that the bloggers kept taking the troll bait was equally annoying, but that Koz just kept going.. and kept going after WoD when they clearly wanted no part of some feud is what annoyed me. At a certain point, it really started to feel like bullying to me.

Now, I think that Koz was completely doing it just for kicks and to keep his name in the hype cycle, but that the "feud" was so one-sided made it feel a little icky after a bit.