hfb - 12.5.14 -- 12.31.14 - Flatland twins lit by fire

[Carlsan]

  You guys/gals and your "weirdo" lists!!!! I did not know all of these existed...
I spent most of yesterday listening to some tracks via YouTube. Some I didn't care about, too obscure, too boring for me personally (I'm more of a pop/punk/hardcore/merengue/salsa guy) but some I loved (like Swans... might end up getting some releases!).
 
 
Thanks.

 
I have found that some of the best, or in many cases the best music, is to be found beyond the mainstream. When I was a young teen I listened to everything on the radio, but especially the "classic rock of the time". Then I started to listen to bands such as Talking heads, Elvis Costello, and the Ramones. Back in the mid to late 70's these were not played on the radio except for certain college rock stations and even then not that often. I should add that I found out about many of these bands from reading the old NYC Village Voice year end lists at my local library, this is at a time when those lists were actually good. I quickly moved on to early British punk, becoming a big Clash fan in my college years. I still remember listening to London Calling just days after its release and being blown away. Scrapping some more I found the indie music scene with independent labels putting out  a treasure trove of excellent music, bands such as Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, and early Gang of Four. Luckily there was an import record store, where the owner often played the records for you before purchasing. I saved my part time money, being a poor college student at the time, to find all these gems.  Many of these groups are now considered classics and included in many best of the decade type lists, including those put out by Rolling Stone magazine, a magazine that the 70's and early 80's was more interested in pushing the main stream classic rock of the time then in promoting interesting or exciting music. 
 
The lesson that I, and many people from my generation, took away from that time was that the best music can and is often found outside the mainstream. Rock radio will give everyone what is the most popular, but usually not the best music, the gems are often to be found under the surface of commercial music. Just takes a bit of digging. And that is why these best of the year lists are so important for those of us that are not happy with most commercial music. 
 
And if you call me  a musical snob, I will completely agree. 

 

[gelocks]

It's interesting how some people like punk and Merengue

 
LOL! It's a culture thing I guess... (plus I have family members that have Merengue groups and stuff )

 

[Tony1110]

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide this list MuppetFace. I have now got a lot of exploring to do.

Standout albums of 2014 for me were:

30. Scott Walker + Sun 0))) - Soussed
29. Glen Porter - The Open Road and the Smell of Blood
28. Arca - Xen
27. Clap! Clap! - Tayi Bebba
26. VHS Head - Persistence of Vision
25. SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
24. Total Control - Typical System
23. Tipper - Forward Escape
22. Xiu Xiu - Angel Guts : Red Classroom
21. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
20. Fennesz - Mahler Remixed
19. Moody Black - Nausea
18. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
17. Earth - Primitive and Deadly
16. Apex Twin - Syro
15. Hans Zimmer - Interstellar OST
14. D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Black Messiah
13. Black Knights - Medieval Chamber
12. YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
11. Venetian Snares - My Love is a Bulldozer
10. Tapage - Eight
9. Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers
8. Actress - Ghetoville
7. Clark - Clark
6. Glass Animals - Zaba
5. Vessel - Punish, Honey
4. Fatima Al Qadiri - Asiatisch
3. Swans - To Be Kind
2. Ben Frost - Aurora
1. Sun Kil Moon - Benji


Favourite tracks (not in order):
Vessel - Red Sex
Venetian Snares - 10th Circle of Winnipeg
Sun Kil Moon - Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes
Fatima Al Qadiri - Szechuan
Glass Animals - Black Mambo
D'Angelo and The Vanguard - 1000 Deaths
Swans - Screen Shot


Musings:
- From the above list it's obvious that me and hip hop are going through a rough patch - Doom's album this year was a disappointment, and RTJ isn't bad but I am left wanting El-P Fan Dam era, CLPPNG was good but not enough to get many repeat listens, didn't really connect with 2014's Death Grips release either 
- Disappointment of the year was Caribou's Our Love (I think my ears are hearing a different album to everyone else)
- I was hoping for a little more from Andy Stott's Faith in Strangers (which is still very good) after the impact Luxury Problems had on me
- Sun Kil Moon's Benji really dug itself deep into my brain for a while
- Swans are on FIRE

I loved the Caribou album the first couple of times I heard it, but then I got sick and now find it annoying. And yeah, SWANS have been on top form since reforming in 2011. To Be Kind is awesome.

 

[MuppetFace]

Hip hop in 2014 for me was all about the little guys, rising stars, and the mixtape format (whether an actual mixtape or that type of sound). Vince Staples, Isaiah Rashad, QuESt, Mick Jenkins... all big surprises for me.
 
Agreed on Doom's last joint being disappointing. Also Wu-Tang was thoroughly meh. Clipping would have been higher on my list if the album was more consistent. For me the Step Brothers album was even weirder in places and a lot better overall.
 
Run The Jewels was absolute gold.
 
Caribou's Our Love took a while to get under my skin; unlike his past albums which had a more immediate appeal to me, this new album really didn't offer much in the way of surface interest for me to grab onto initially. It's a deceptively straightforward album I think. At times I think he was going for some akin to The Field's looping trance, though it wasn't really a tune-in-drop-out kind of album for me.
 
The new Flying Lotus was intentionally jam packed, but at times I felt it was too cluttered. With the less than stellar production, I think this marred the experience a bit. The Kendrick Lamar collaboration ended up soaring over just about everything else on the album. With the accompanying music video, it was one of 2014's real treasures for me. I'm so hyped for Kendrick's new album it's not even funny.
 
Sun Kil Moon's Benji didn't connect. Perhaps it had something to do with my distaste for Mark Kozelek and the eventual mental black-out I enacted when I got tired of reading about his antics. Or maybe I just don't find his voice and lyrics as captivating as I should for someone who talk-sings. Either way, I found myself too wrapped up in David Tibet (Current 93), David Eugene Edwards (Wovenhand) and Alice Gerrard to really care. Sometime in the future I'll probably revisit Benji, as it does have elements of an enjoyable album for me.
 
As for Swans, To Be Kind is not quite as evenly amazing as The Seer for me personally, but when it does soar, it reaches great heights more often.

 

[doctorjazz]

 
You guys/gals and your "weirdo" lists!!!! I did not know all of these existed...
I spent most of yesterday listening to some tracks via YouTube. Some I didn't care about, too obscure, too boring for me personally (I'm more of a pop/punk/hardcore/merengue/salsa guy) but some I loved (like Swans... might end up getting some releases!).


Thanks.

I have found that some of the best, or in many cases the best music, is to be found beyond the mainstream. When I was a young teen I listened to everything on the radio, but especially the "classic rock of the time". Then I started to listen to bands such as Talking heads, Elvis Costello, and the Ramones. Back in the mid to late 70's these were not played on the radio except for certain college rock stations and even then not that often. I should add that I found out about many of these bands from reading the old NYC Village Voice year end lists at my local library, this is at a time when those lists were actually good. I quickly moved on to early British punk, becoming a big Clash fan in my college years. I still remember listening to London Calling just days after its release and being blown away. Scrapping some more I found the indie music scene with independent labels putting out  a treasure trove of excellent music, bands such as Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, and early Gang of Four. Luckily there was an import record store, where the owner often played the records for you before purchasing. I saved my part time money, being a poor college student at the time, to find all these gems.  Many of these groups are now considered classics and included in many best of the decade type lists, including those put out by Rolling Stone magazine, a magazine that the 70's and early 80's was more interested in pushing the main stream classic rock of the time then in promoting interesting or exciting music. 

The lesson that I, and many people from my generation, took away from that time was that the best music can and is often found outside the mainstream. Rock radio will give everyone what is the most popular, but usually not the best music, the gems are often to be found under the surface of commercial music. Just takes a bit of digging. And that is why these best of the year lists are so important for those of us that are not happy with most commercial music. 

And if you call me  a musical snob, I will completely agree. 

Hey, I've always thought of myself as a "musical snob", "out of the mainstream" tastes, but, man, looking at these lists, I must be aging and losing my edge-hardly know any of this music. So much, in fact, hard to catch up with it all. Oh well, I tend to get more music than I have time to listen to, but here are some albums that I liked, in no particular order (looked back at my Amazon orders, have to check at home if any other things strike me I got from elsewhere)
The New Pornographers-Brill Building
Chuck Prophet-Temple Beautiful
1-800 Band-Diver Blue
Vijay Iyer-Mutations (the classy addition...)
Jaime Saft-The New Standard
Hiromi-Alive
Lake Street Dive-Bad Self Portraits
The Muffs-Whoop De Doo
The Both-The Both (Aimee Mann/Ted Leo)
Ed Sheeran
Wilco-Alpha Mike Foxtrot (cheating here, got it in vinyl and turntable has been down for a while, but I can't imagine not loving it)
The Jazz Butcher-Last of the Gentleman Adventurers
Elizabeth and the Catapult-Like It Never Happened
Henry Butler/Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9-Viper's Drag (extra points for vinyl including WAV download of the album!!!)
Joe Sample and NDR BIGBAND Orchestra-Children of the Sun
Stuff I heard about this year, some may have predated the year but I think most are released this year. Boy, have to plow through all these other lists, and my usual suspects (NY Times best, particularly Ben Ratliff)
Got work to do!

 

[doctorjazz]

I recommend everyone who reads this thread check out the album Deliverance by Culprate. It is simply amazing and easily the best album of 2014 for me

So, I went to the Youtube post of this, just starting it, but not bad, may buy the download. To an old timer, sounds a bit like updated Pink Floyd (not a bad thing...)

 

[eostoich]

Sun Kil Moon's Benji didn't connect. Perhaps it had something to do with my distaste for Mark Kozelek and the eventual mental black-out I enacted when I got tired of reading about his antics. Or maybe I just don't find his voice and lyrics as captivating as I should for someone who talk-sings. Either way, I found myself too wrapped up in David Tibet (Current 93), David Eugene Edwards (Wovenhand) and Alice Gerrard to really care. Sometime in the future I'll probably revisit Benji, as it does have elements of an enjoyable album for me.

Couldn't have said this better myself. His asinine behavior made me stop caring about his cousin Carissa and his friend Ben (I still love Death Cab though).

 

[nogi replicant]

  Drukqs? Hm i personally wouldn't say so, then i would rather choose Hangable Autobulb for that matter or Richard D James album.
 
One of his best stuff, though is Analord series, but basically everything from him has something worth in it to be listenend.

 
I would probably use 26 Mixes for Cash to intro someone to Aphex Twin - for a more gentle intro that is.
 

  Hip hop in 2014 for me was all about the little guys, rising stars, and the mixtape format (whether an actual mixtape or that type of sound). Vince Staples, Isaiah Rashad, QuESt, Mick Jenkins... all big surprises for me.
 
Agreed on Doom's last joint being disappointing. Also Wu-Tang was thoroughly meh. Clipping would have been higher on my list if the album was more consistent. For me the Step Brothers album was even weirder in places and a lot better overall.
 
Run The Jewels was absolute gold.
 
Caribou's Our Love took a while to get under my skin; unlike his past albums which had a more immediate appeal to me, this new album really didn't offer much in the way of surface interest for me to grab onto initially. It's a deceptively straightforward album I think. At times I think he was going for some akin to The Field's looping trance, though it wasn't really a tune-in-drop-out kind of album for me.
 
The new Flying Lotus was intentionally jam packed, but at times I felt it was too cluttered. With the less than stellar production, I think this marred the experience a bit. The Kendrick Lamar collaboration ended up soaring over just about everything else on the album. With the accompanying music video, it was one of 2014's real treasures for me. I'm so hyped for Kendrick's new album it's not even funny.
 
Sun Kil Moon's Benji didn't connect. Perhaps it had something to do with my distaste for Mark Kozelek and the eventual mental black-out I enacted when I got tired of reading about his antics. Or maybe I just don't find his voice and lyrics as captivating as I should for someone who talk-sings. Either way, I found myself too wrapped up in David Tibet (Current 93), David Eugene Edwards (Wovenhand) and Alice Gerrard to really care. Sometime in the future I'll probably revisit Benji, as it does have elements of an enjoyable album for me.
 
As for Swans, To Be Kind is not quite as evenly amazing as The Seer for me personally, but when it does soar, it reaches great heights more often.

 
Your list has definately pointed me to some hip hop acts I haven't come across so I am sure there will be some gold in there. Had a quick listen to Open Mike Eagle and Step Brothers  - will add both to the collection - good stuff. Listened to 36 Chambers again this morning, pretty strong effort by Ghostface. I hope DOOMStarks materialises this year. Gave Busdriver's joint a spin again but can't quite take to it.
 
Run The Jewels is very good but to me it sounds overly produced and club oriented, this makes it accessible but I yearn for the rawness of the Company Flow and Funcrusher + / Fantastic Damage El-P days (move on....I know). I am only a bit hard on RTJ as I have been a big El-P fan for a long time.
 
I agree totally with your comments re Flylo's Your Dead - was just too cluttered for me, this pushed me away rather than pulled me in. Until The Quiet Comes didn't really hit the spot for me either, not like Los Angeles and 1983. Gotta give him props though for always being next level - bit of a genius. It doesn't always turn out right but awesome to see him keep pushing. The Kendrick track off Your Dead was killer. Definitely looking forward to Kendrick's next album, good kid mAAd city was very solid. I would love to see another Quakers album in the future - wishful thinking probably.
 
I just haven't put in enough effort and time to digging hip hop wise last year - my fault, so your list will fast track me to some goodies.
 
Tried Caribou's Our Love 3 or 4 times, just not for me, Swim was amazing though.
 
The Seer and To Be Kind are just of super quality. To me they are a total listening experience, after listening to either album in full I am exhausted and content. It's not easy, but very rewarding.
 
 
 
Thanks to everyone who has posted music recommendations/lists in this thread.

 

[nogi replicant]

   
I have found that some of the best, or in many cases the best music, is to be found beyond the mainstream. When I was a young teen I listened to everything on the radio, but especially the "classic rock of the time". Then I started to listen to bands such as Talking heads, Elvis Costello, and the Ramones. Back in the mid to late 70's these were not played on the radio except for certain college rock stations and even then not that often. I should add that I found out about many of these bands from reading the old NYC Village Voice year end lists at my local library, this is at a time when those lists were actually good. I quickly moved on to early British punk, becoming a big Clash fan in my college years. I still remember listening to London Calling just days after its release and being blown away. Scrapping some more I found the indie music scene with independent labels putting out  a treasure trove of excellent music, bands such as Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, and early Gang of Four. Luckily there was an import record store, where the owner often played the records for you before purchasing. I saved my part time money, being a poor college student at the time, to find all these gems.  Many of these groups are now considered classics and included in many best of the decade type lists, including those put out by Rolling Stone magazine, a magazine that the 70's and early 80's was more interested in pushing the main stream classic rock of the time then in promoting interesting or exciting music.
 
The lesson that I, and many people from my generation, took away from that time was that the best music can and is often found outside the mainstream. Rock radio will give everyone what is the most popular, but usually not the best music, the gems are often to be found under the surface of commercial music. Just takes a bit of digging. And that is why these best of the year lists are so important for those of us that are not happy with most commercial music.
 
And if you call me  a musical snob, I will completely agree. 

 
The digging is where the fun is at. I love coming across new finds. Like now I am listening to Pye Corner Audio off MuppetFace's list, which is reminding me quite a bit of one of my favourite electronic acts - Boards of Canada. Score!
 
I would be called a 'music snob' by a lot of my friends but that is only because I put in a lot of time listening and searching for music and through which have more specific tastes re what I like. I think the more time you put in it is natural that you move further from the central point of the mainstream, its just part of exploring. That is not to say that mainstream music is by default devoid of anything good - I wouldn't know really as I don't really listen to the radio.
 
A few years back my wife and I had some friends over and they asked me what music I had been listening to recently, I said Autechre, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada - it's called IDM. When they asked what IDM stands for and I told them 'Intelligent Dance Music' my position as a music snob was solidified because I listen to 'intelligent' music. I played them some Autechre - Confield - didn't go down so well. On the other hand with a lot of my other mates (who have decent taste in music) if I hit them up to go to some obscure gig they haven't heard of they usually say yes as they know I put in the time and come across the gems - ala Ben Frost and Tim Hecker this weekend.

 

[crazychile]

   
I have found that some of the best, or in many cases the best music, is to be found beyond the mainstream. When I was a young teen I listened to everything on the radio, but especially the "classic rock of the time". Then I started to listen to bands such as Talking heads, Elvis Costello, and the Ramones. Back in the mid to late 70's these were not played on the radio except for certain college rock stations and even then not that often. I should add that I found out about many of these bands from reading the old NYC Village Voice year end lists at my local library, this is at a time when those lists were actually good. I quickly moved on to early British punk, becoming a big Clash fan in my college years. I still remember listening to London Calling just days after its release and being blown away. Scrapping some more I found the indie music scene with independent labels putting out  a treasure trove of excellent music, bands such as Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, and early Gang of Four. Luckily there was an import record store, where the owner often played the records for you before purchasing. I saved my part time money, being a poor college student at the time, to find all these gems.  Many of these groups are now considered classics and included in many best of the decade type lists, including those put out by Rolling Stone magazine, a magazine that the 70's and early 80's was more interested in pushing the main stream classic rock of the time then in promoting interesting or exciting music. 
 
The lesson that I, and many people from my generation, took away from that time was that the best music can and is often found outside the mainstream. Rock radio will give everyone what is the most popular, but usually not the best music, the gems are often to be found under the surface of commercial music. Just takes a bit of digging. And that is why these best of the year lists are so important for those of us that are not happy with most commercial music. 
 
And if you call me  a musical snob, I will completely agree. 

I had the same experience during the same time. Living in a smaller mid-west town my first exposure to anything that wasn't top 40 was from a local college radio program that only aired once a week for 4 hours. It was then that I heard early Ramones, B-52s, Laurie Anderson, Iggy Pop, etc. I also occasionally got some good recommendations from a very cool local record shop. Our local cable company didn't have MTV until 1982, so before that, college radio was it.
 
And if any of you young 'uns have never heard London Calling by the Clash. Go get a copy TODAY! It's still as relevant today as it was back in 1979. Definitely in my top 10 list of favorite recordings of all time.

 

[mikemercer]

  I love your curated lists!  They save me so much time and disappointment in music discovery.  

  Thanks so much!

I second that!
 
As a fellow music addict:
 
BIGGEST PROPS POSSIBLE!!!!
 
Wondering:
 
You didn't think Beacon's L1 EP deserved to make it?
Recondite's Iffy??  Did I miss those?
 
I'll go back
 
but AMAZING LIST!!!!

 

[MuppetFace]

   
Recondite's Iffy??
 

 
 
I enjoyed it, but I tried to balance genres in my list. Otherwise that would have been on my favorite electronica of 2014 list.
 
Same with:
 
Ben Frost - Aurora.
Fluxion  -  Boardwalk Tales
 
Also DJ Goresh!t's stuff.

 

[mikemercer]

   
 
I enjoyed it, but I tried to balance genres in my list. Otherwise that would have been on my favorite electronica of 2014 list.
 
Same with:
 
Ben Frost - Aurora.
Fluxion  -  Boardwalk Tales
 
Also DJ Goresh!t's stuff.

oh man!!
ThanX!!
 
I didn't know Ben Frost put out a new record.
You ROCK

 

[nogi replicant]

Seeing Ben Frost (with Tim Hecker) at the Sydney Opera House tonight! Woot!

 

[mikemercer]

Seeing Ben Frost (with Tim Hecker) at the Sydney Opera House tonight! Woot!

NIIICE!!!!
 
Gotta let us know how this went! PIX??