Best Albums of 2014

[Natick]

@24901miles wanted me to make a thread and it's close enough to the end of the year that we can start this discussion

my list of the best albums this year is as predictable as it gets and i couldn't care less:

Swans - To Be Kind
BEST SONG: She Loves Us
once again, Gira and company create a larger-than-earth ballad of sex, death, and rebirth that's just as much fun to listen to as it is bone-crushing. extra points for probably the best use of the word "fuck" i've ever heard in a song. entire album is a 10/10 and i'll fight anyone who says otherwise

Aphex Twin - Syro
BEST SONG: CIRCLONT14 [152.97] (shrymoming mix)
after 13 long years, the analord, richard d. james, returns in high form with a playful and jittery alchemical mix of jungle, techno, glitch, and a shitload of other genres, some refurbished and others possibly invented. the listed track could be a love song in russian for all we know

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Soused
BEST SONG: Herod 2014
doom/drone metal demigods greg anderson and stephan o'malley create a slow-moving and terrifying arrangement of wailing electric guitars and avant-garde punctuated instrumentation while enigmatic ex-pop singer scott walker bellows a vicious biblical tale of infanticide. i have to admit that i disliked this album at first but it's really grown on me over the past week

St. Vincent - St. Vincent
BEST SONG: Prince Johnny
annie clark's intelligent composition and instantly lovable voice bring out the best that indie pop and baroque have to offer and that's saying a lot, considering how stale the former genre was getting. standout for me is the aforementioned and ethereal prince johnny although i'm not quite on board with the themes yet

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband - their weakest output yet but paris and only you make it worth while

Agalloch - The Serpent and the Sphere - just got into these guys a month ago, only listened to once, don't remember much, sorry

Boris - Noise - the only track i really like off of this is heavy rain, saw them live in august and they fucking killed it

Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials - Kind of a disappointment considering how long it was in production, only good track is eternal return

Full of Hell - Full of Hell & Merzbow - good god, that was an exhausting 22 minutes

Subrosa - More Constant than the Gods - yeah, i'm cheating with this one because it came out in 2013 but i saw these guys live too with no idea what was going to happen and i've been addicted to them ever since, delayed mentioned for best metal album of last year since i didn't see anyone else mention it. but if you did, thank you

list your favorites, my fellow regulars
no worst albums allowed here, make a separate thread for that if you want to

[Slint]

I have failed you Natick-kun, I did not listen to barely any of those due to my computer where I store my music being dead so I cannot contribute my incredibly good taste in this discussion.

[Natick]

At 12/9/14 08:30 PM, Slint wrote: I have failed you Natick-kun, I did not listen to barely any of those due to my computer where I store my music being dead so I cannot contribute my incredibly good taste in this discussion.

there are some lines we don't cross

[Sense-Offender]

I don't recall listening to any 2014 albums other than Once More 'Round the Sun. It was decent, but I wish Mastodon would go back to the sound of Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.

[Natick]

this is exactly why i never make threads

[koopahermit]

Circa Survive - Descensus
BEST SONG: Always Begin

[FinaLee]

At 12/9/14 08:37 PM, Sense-Offender wrote: I don't recall listening to any 2014 albums other than Once More 'Round the Sun. It was decent, but I wish Mastodon would go back to the sound of Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.

Don't those guys change their sound after every album, though?

[ClockworkCopper]

For me it's definitely Iced Earth's Plagues of Babylon. The first time I heard it it I listened to the whole album three times back to back. Usually bands can't make albums this good after nearly thirty years, but Plagues of Babylon is by far my favorite Iced Earth album and definitely the best album this year.

[Sense-Offender]

At 12/9/14 11:05 PM, FinaLee wrote:

At 12/9/14 08:37 PM, Sense-Offender wrote: I don't recall listening to any 2014 albums other than Once More 'Round the Sun. It was decent, but I wish Mastodon would go back to the sound of Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.

Don't those guys change their sound after every album, though?

Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye had about the same style while the Hunter and Once More 'Round the Sun had a pretty similar sound. I prefer the former more progressive Mastodon.

[koopahermit]

Best Album of 20 years ago
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary

[Sword-of-Kings]

The only album I've listened to from this year is Syro, so that. It's a fucking amazing album.

[Viper]

At 12/9/14 08:27 PM, Natick wrote: Swans - To Be Kind

I've been meaning to listen to that. At the moment though the only Swans I have is The Seer. So I'm a bit behind haha.

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Soused
Agalloch - The Serpent and the Sphere
Boris - Noise
Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials

And I've been meaning to listen to and/or get these too. Don't have really any Boris past Smile and don't have either of those Sunn O))) albums.

list your favorites, my fellow regulars
no worst albums allowed here, make a separate thread for that if you want to

Lets see. All the albums I have are ones I'd consider some of the best but here goes:

Electric Wizard - Time To Die
Favorite Song: Funeral Of Your Mind
A good sorta return to form for EW. After having to deal with legal issues from Rise Above Records that prevented them from releasing any new music, after 4 years they finally were able to "unleash" this massive album. Now I'll go ahead and say this. For the MK II Electric Wizard stuff (We Live-present) this isn't the best. It's better than Black Masses. No doubt about that. But not near Witchcult Today or We Live. Theres been rumors going around that EW MIGHT tour in the US again for the first time in like a decade. But so far no dice. I'd like to see them at least ONCE before I die. But at this rate I might need to leave the country for that to happen.

Earth - Primitive & Deadly
Favorite Song: There Is A Serpent Coming
Not as long of a wait as EW, but (to me) it felt like an eternity since Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light Pt. 2 had come out. It's some Grade A Post-Rock/Post-Metal to me. And Mark Lanegan's vocals on There Is A Serpent Coming just mesh perfectly with their playing style. Dylan Carlson has almost never "missed a beat" when it comes to Earth. And this has carried on to this release as well.

Mastodon - Once More Round The Sun
Favorite Song: Halloween
Can't really say much about this. Don't get me wrong. I liked the album and listen to it periodically still. But it just feels like it's missing...something. Like it doesn't have the same "fire" the previous Mastodon albums had. But just because of that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.

Ogre - The Last Neanderthal
Favorite Song: Nine Princes In Amber
Just when I thought Ogre were done and their breakup was permanent, they suddenly pop up out of nowhere announcing they were possibly going to record an EP. And then not too long after they reveal that they ended up having enough material to release a full length album. Now I loved Plague Of The Planets and it's still in my all-time Top 10 albums ever. But this to me is almost as good as POTP. Even the cover they did of a 70's Rock band whom they share their name with.

Sabaton - Heroes
Favorite Song: To Hell And Back
The reason I heard of this band was due to me getting a ticket to see them with Amon Amarth and Skeletonwitch last month. So I decided to give em a listen because they were the only one of those 3 I hadn't heard of. And I was pleasantly surprised at what I heard. Not only did they has great sounding instruments and everyone seemed to know what they were doing, but the vocals just seemed so....happy. It was weird to me hearing that at first. A Power Metal band where the vocalist just sounds abnormally happy. Even for Power Metal! And when I saw them they were all jumping around on stage smiling and having a good time and it was honestly my favorite part of the night. As for the album. It's what you'd expect from a band like what I described. Some really good music and a band that is genuinely having fun making it.

Sleep - The Clarity
Favorite Song: ....The Clarity
It's a single. But what the fuck ever I felt like mentioning. Sleep had been more or less dead from like 1996 til 2009 when they suddenly were resurrected and played at Roadburn. Since then they played sporadically whilst Al Cisneros' band OM and Matt Pike's band High On Fire did their own thing. Al taking the meditation-like groove of Sleep and going one step further and creating a style of metal that I can't accurately describe. And Matt merging Doom Metal and Thrash into a style of music that I didn't think could be possible (since Doom is generally slow and heavy whereas Thrash is faster and packs more of an aggressive punch that Doom does). As for how the song turned out. Matt and Al recruited Neurosis drummer Jason Roeder to drum for them making Sleep a band once again. But the thing about The Clarity, they went ahead and tried mixing their individual styles together to make this. Upon the first listen it sounded off to me. You got this weird meditation-like groove going with the rhythm section of the band but with Thrash Doom guitars over top of them. But when listened to repeatedly the genius of Sleep starts to seep through and everything ends up gelling together as it should be.
Hail Sagan!

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Runaway Girls
Favorite Song: Runaway Girls
Another single. The track was the only thing left over from the recording sessions for their album Mind Control which came out last year. It wasn't put on the album for reasons that haven't been explained. But it's really good mid-tempo Stoner Doom that has a very "retro" feel to it. Uncle Acid have a habit of having their music being about the occult and Hammer films. And thats one of the best themes I've seen in a band in a long time haha. Not to mention the harmonizing vocals that go so well with the music that it makes me wonder how this band isn't a hell of a lot bigger than they already are. Hell they were chosen to open for Black Sabbath on their European tour for 13!

Wo Fat - The Conjuring
Favorite Song: Dreamwalker
The Conjuring picks up where their previous album The Black Code left off and doesn't skip a beat. Their sound hasn't changed much if at all from their first album but thats not a bad thing. And if you listen to Wo Fat you'll understand why. If you're into somewhat "southern flavored" metal then anything Wo Fat or even Black Tusk would be perfect for you.

Honorable Mentions:
Truckfighters - Universe
The Town Troubles - II. Automorphics
Radar Men From The Moon - Strange Wave Galore
Power Fortress - Vol. 1: And the sea and the stars, they became as one. And so we left this world.
Pixies - Indie Cindy
Overkill - White Devil Armory
Orange Goblin - Back From The Abyss
Of Ash And Oak - Of Ash And Oak
Burzum - The Ways Of Yore
Bongripper - Miserable
The Black Angels - Clear Lake Forest
The Cosmic Dead - Easterfaust
Electric Moon - Innside Outside

[JRob]

Scar Symmetry's "Neohumanity" was the best album to come out this year

[TurkeyOnAStick]

Todd Terje's "Album Time"

Anybody who says otherwise gets a smack in the mouth.

[Splats]

At 12/9/14 08:27 PM, Natick wrote: Swans - To Be Kind

+1

Aphex Twin - Syro

+1, didn't get into him before but album was amazing.

list your favorites, my fellow regulars
no worst albums allowed here, make a separate thread for that if you want to

Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2
BEST SONGS: All of them, except for All My Life.
Even better production by El-P, plus an even more incredible dynamic between him and Killer Mike. Easily rap effort of the year (along with...)

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
BEST SONGS: Thuggin' and Piñata, even though all of them are of an insanely high level.
Brilliant production by Madlib (who teamed up with MF DOOM in 2004 for Madvillainy) and insane rapping by Freddie Gibbs, with some exceptional verses by Mac Miller, Earl Sweatshirt, Raekwon, Danny Brown Ab-Soul and Casey Veggies among others.

Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
BEST SONGS: Never Catch Me feat. Kendrick Lamar, Dead Man's Tetris feat. Snoop Dogg, Ready Err Not
Jazzier, arguably more accessible but imo Flylo's best LP to date. Every track is a joy to listen to on so many levels, each with its own sound. Bonus points for the video clip for "Ready Err Not" directed by NG's own David firth.

Iceage - Plowing Into the Field of Love
BEST SONGS: none in particular.
Didn't get nearly as much attention as the previous records (for obvious reasons) but despite the singer's voice I didn't personally like, the heavy, grimy sound these Danes delivered really appealed to me. Don't know if it's one of the best for me per se, but I still liked it a lot so I figured why not.

clipping. - CLPPNG
BEST SONGS: none in particular.
Experimental rap outfit vaguely similar to the likes of Death Grips: love it or hate it, but with an undeniably interesting sound. I personally enjoyed it a lot, even more than Death Grips' own release this year!

Badbadnotgood - III
BEST SONGS: Triangles, Confessions.
I like BBNG a lot. This album is not as good as their other albums, but still an amazing effort that deserves a place on this list nonetheless. I can't write any more cause my edit time is almost up, welp.

Honorable mentions:
Antlers - Familiars
Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait (not technically an album)
Alt-J - This is All Yours(enjoyed it a lot overall but quality wasn't consistent, had some really good and some really shit tracks)
Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
Death Grips - The Powers that B (disc 1: N*ggas on the Moon) (great record, chose CLPPNG over this one because too similar. Also: not as good as The Money Store. RIP Death Grips)
ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron (lovely sound throughout, but overall didn't bring anything new to the table + What They Want was a shit track)
Death from Above 1979 - The Physical World
Liars - MESS
FKA Twigs - LP1

Lil B - Ultimate Bitch

That being said, I'm pretty convinced Joey Bada$$' B4.DA.$$ won AOTY 2K15 already if the album turns out to be as good as Christ Conscious and No. 99.

[Maltos]

i sorta stick to the users that i favorite, i only go outside of my realm when i see another shred of light

[ChickenChips]

my love is a bulldozer > aphex twin

i heard a bunch of the tracks he performed on canada day it was cray

[Dr-Worm]

I've barely gotten to listen to anything from this year so I'm not going to make a list yet.

But I will say that Run the Jewels 2 is fucking awesome.

[Natick]

At 12/10/14 11:49 PM, ChickenChips wrote: my love is a bulldozer > aphex twin

i heard a bunch of the tracks he performed on canada day it was cray

haven't listened to it yet

it sounded too similar to my so-called life and i thought that was a mess

i like aaron funk's glitchcore much more than his breakcore tbh

[YenMuffin]

At 12/9/14 08:27 PM, Natick wrote: @24901miles wanted me to make a thread and it's close enough to the end of the year that we can start this discussion
POST

I haven't heard of any of these artists but I can assure you that sounds like ass.

[FIGMENTUM]

I dig Issues' self titled album so hard.

[Jan3]

The album called Little Machines. Best song is Running With The Boys.

[Animarious]

- The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
- Royal Blood - Royal Blood
- Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
- The War On Drugs - Lost in the Dream
- The Rentals - Lost in Alphaville
- Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
- Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World
- Eagulls - Eagulls
- Ozma - Boomtown

[Feelbone]

Plowing Through the Fields of Love - Iceage

Haven't listened to much else this year.