Fourteen in 2014
I put together a list of my favorite albums every year, but just a list. No explanation or justification. Just a list.
Listicles are dead. Long live the Medium.
Two lessons learned writing this post:
- Head-shots are funny things, right? I am glad I am not a band/artist-headshot-photographer. I would not be good at that job. “Hello sir/mam, please stand here and look sullen. Now, you guys, come stand over here next to this very urban brick wall and look inquisitive — we’re breaking some artistic ground today fellas. Next up, abandon train tracks!”
- If you use all three of your names, you’ve just increased the likelihood of ending up on my list, six-fold.
14: Courtney Barnett — Double EP
Courtney Barnett is a wonderful guitarists and songwriter from Australia. Her lyrics have a pleasant dry wit. She pairs them nicely with an equally pleasant (maybe nonchalant) vocal delivery. “I don’t really like any of your friends, but it’s not that hard for me to pretend.” I don’t know if she surfs, but lets pretend she does and that she’s hilariously sarcastic, but also kind. Bonus points for finding a wall the exact same color as her shirt.
13: Real Estate — Atlas
This is my buddy Garth’s favorite album of 2014. Here’s what he says: “Had to Hear” starts it off just right with its big, jangly guitar and dream-like vocals. “The Bend” and “Past Lives” are moody, difficult, and yet serene and sweeping. There’s a hidden majesty to this album, even if the songs are simple, jangly alt-rock tracks. I’ve not heard an album that was this convincing in its nature in quite awhile.
12: Angel Olsen — Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Burn Your Fire is the soundtrack to everyone’s favorite film they only saw once because it was really sad and your never really in the mood to watch that movie again and be sad. That’s not to say this album is sad. It’s not. It’s grieved, a little sleepy, and haunting—it’s also compelling. “I’m neither innocent or wise when you look me in the eyes. You might as well be blind. Cause you don’t see me anymore.”
11: Thom Yorke — Tommorow’s Moden Boxes
I’m pretty much a Homer for all things Thom Yorke & Radiohead. Which puts me in the same boat as “humans who think cheeseburgers are delicious.” Well guess what, cheeseburgers are delicious and Thom Yorke makes great music. I’d say Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes picks up right where Radiohead’s King Of Limbs left off. That’s a good thing. It’s basically, “mmm that burger was yummy, lets chase it down with an oreo milkshake!”
10: Bryce Dessner — St. Carolyn By The Sea
Dessner is a guitarist for The National. He is also a composer. St. Carolyn By The Sea is his beautifully tenacious 3 song, 44 minute, composition. If your familiar with The National, you’ll hear familiar elements explored and executed through a new mechanism—full symphony. That’s an exciting thing. The piece was recorded with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and this peek into the recording process tees up the work nicely.
9: How To Dress Well — What Is This Heart
That’s just a picture of a man singing like it his business. Double mic business singing, in fact, because just one mic won’t do. You ask my wife, she’ll tell you, I’m a sucker for some R&B. This album is some deep fried 90's nostalgia goodness. I guarantee PM Dawn is somewhere right now jamming out to Precious Love. As with all things in life, as goes PM Dawn, so goes I.
8: Ty Segall — Manipulator
This isn’t just an album, it’s a 17 track, 60 minute, carnival ride. Great from start to finish. Never dull, never repetitive. The breadth and scope alone deserve appreciation, but the savvy with which Ty bends and blurs genre’s—American blues, glam rock, fuzzed out punk, psychedelic-folk (← is that a thing?)—is what you’ll truly marvel at. Start this album on any track, it’s like hearing it for the first time, and you’ll always end up surprised where it takes you.
7: Mac Demarco — Salad Days
Everyone has that friend who’s funny even when they aren’t trying to be funny. Mac Demarco seems like that guy, and Salad Days sounds like the soundtrack for that guy. No one really knows how to get in touch with him, but he always shows up at the party just in time. The guy who’ll dispense random nuggets of sage life advice that’s neither preachy nor intentional—nor recognized as advice by the evangelist himself. “Hey man, heard you were your brother’s keeper.”
6: James Vincent McMorrow — Post Tropical
More R&B goodness right here (maybe this is R&B — I feel like I don’t really know what to call it). Maxwell’s soul + Justin Vernon’s musical sensibilities + a falsetto that would make even Prince and Smokey Robinson shout his name from the rooftops. You just try to watch this wonderful video for “Gold” without wanting to hug your mom and hi-five a stranger. It’s as sweet as slipping on brand new socks.
5: Sylvan Esso — SE
Catchy toe-tapping indie pop from start to finish. It’s familiar and takes no effort, but pay attention and you’ll discover some real intricate moments. When I was in high school, I listened to a lot of ska (I still do sometimes—shhhh). I like/liked it because of the accessibility and positivity. No guile. No facade. Just an expression of zeal and alacrity. Sylvan Esso gives me the same vibe. Differnet sound. Same grooves.
4: Peter Matthew Bauer — Liberation!
I love The Walkmen. I really do. If I could take only one artist’s catalogue with me to a deserted island, The Walkmen would certainly be in contention. Peter Matthew Bauer is/was the guitarist for The Walkmen. I’ll bet each member* of the band are wonderful humans, but with Liberation!, PMB (as the homies like to call him) solidified himself, in my mind at least, as the driving creative force within the group.
3: BADBADNOTGOOD — III
Here is the album I tell people about most often. Q: Matt, what are you listening to these days? A: How kind of you to ask, amigo. Please go check out BADBADNOTGOOD forthright! If you liked the instrumental tracks from the Beastie Boys, you’ll love them. They are a jazz trio from Toronto who are really producing some amazing work. Including my favorite track of 2014. I saw them play in Brooklyn* and it was magical. *street cred
2: Parquet Courts — Sunbathing Animals
I didn’t know I needed this album until it escorted me to and from work for 2 months, and serenaded me and my boys on our weekend errands for mom. It’s quirky (probably the last adjective any artist wants used to describe them), but I can’t imagine reading the lyrics and having a clue into their sonics. “Bodies made of, slugs and guts” evokes either Swedish death metal or Weird Al Yankovic. PQ might be equal parts both.
1: Interpol — El Pintor
El Pintor is the album that reminded me why I loved Interpol so much when they released their debut album, Turn On The Bright Lights. Just relentlessly driving, pulsating, and catchy. Paul Banks’ vocals are somehow simultaneously nonchalant and on the verge of a primal baritone’d rage. The guy who, without warning, gets up from his hammock, puts down his copy of Billy Collins poems, and rips a tree out of the ground by the roots. With his teeth.
