Glad to see Mayhem getting some love. Esoteric Warfare is like a more refined version of Ordo ad Chao and even reminded me of the Maniac years at moments. IF NOBODY ELSE LIKES IT THEN FUCK YOU! Ya know?
- Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
- Hail Mary Mallon - Bestiary
- Aphex Twin - SYRO
- Jenny Hval & Susanna - Meshes Of Voice
- Inter Arma - The Cavern
- Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
- Bastard Sapling - Instinct Is Forever
- Swans - To Be Kind
- Diocletian - Gesundrian
- Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare
It was a good year. A top 10 was difficult to do.
Run the Jewels 2 is so fucking money…I’d take a few from Ambulance’s list and a few from Peligro’s…I also would add the latest Afghan Whigs record and the latest Opeth…
Opeth are still around? Didn’t think I’d ever see their name pop up again.
Opeth are still around? Didn’t think I’d ever see their name pop up again.
They have only gained in popularity afterwards…people love to hate on them but whatever,I couldn’t care less…the death and black metal elements are completely gone from their sound now…way more proggy and Deep Purple-ish…I love the new record…much better than the one prior to it…
Otto Totland - Pino
Swans - To Be Kind
Ben Frost - A U R O R A
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
Aphex Twin - Syro
Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers
Insiden - Above Us
Shivers - Shivers
Nadja - Queller
Earth - Primitive & Deadly
Deaf Center - Recount
Mica Levi - Under the Skin OST
Reiner Veil - New Brutalism
Virile Games - Wounded Laurel
Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials
Not Waving - Human Capabilities
Hans Zimmer - Interstellar OST
Lawrence English - Wilderness of Mirrors
Steve Price - Gravity OST
Lussuria - Industriale Illuminate
Bolder - Hostile Environment
Saaad - Deep/Float
Container - Adhesive
Leyland Kirby - Apollo
[reply]Opeth are still around? Didn’t think I’d ever see their name pop up again.
They have only gained in popularity afterwards…people love to hate on them but whatever,I couldn’t care less…the death and black metal elements are completely gone from their sound now…way more proggy and Deep Purple-ish…I love the new record…much better than the one prior to it…[/reply]
I never realized there was a hate club for Opeth. I never was into them, but would occasionally take a sniff just to see if there was something I was missing. It was probably about 5 or 6 years ago when I last gave a listen and was really surprised by how different they were.
It wasn’t my thing (reminded me of the more wanky Seventh Star era Sabbath or something) but it was definitely a more proggy and “mature” sound (neither of which are typically going to sell me on something).
But their fans at the time were really passionately embracing them. I was joking on YouTube that they looked like Nickleback and that they were trying to copy Creed or some gibberish and I was getting hate left and right. I didn’t see anyone bashing them at that time.
I might have to give another check and see what they sound like today. Despite not liking their music I do respect their conviction in truly just doing whatever they feel like doing instead of what they think the greasy metalheads want to hear.
[reply]Opeth are still around? Didn’t think I’d ever see their name pop up again.
They have only gained in popularity afterwards…people love to hate on them but whatever,I couldn’t care less…the death and black metal elements are completely gone from their sound now…way more proggy and Deep Purple-ish…I love the new record…much better than the one prior to it…[/reply]
They were certainly a band I loved to hate in high school and I wasn’t aware that they weren’t just metal for nerds. If you’re making a Deep Purple comparison, then I might give them another chance, but I’m not sure I wanna sit through a record where all the songs are a minimum of 10 minutes and go all over the place to the point where I’m confused…
I saw Opeth live, sandwiched between two bands I actually wanted to see (Ghost and Mastodon).
I nearly fell asleep on my feet.
I saw Opeth live, sandwiched between two bands I actually wanted to see (Ghost and Mastodon).
I nearly fell asleep on my feet.
Funny,cause that’s how I felt about Mastodon…I left early…as for Ghost,I’d rather just listen to Blue Oyster Cult do it better…
I think Ghost is pretty rad. I can’t imagine the coma I’d drink myself into, though, if I had to wait through Mastodon and Opeth.
- 3TEETH: 3TEETH
This is DEFINITELY on my list. This is one of best Industrial albums to come out in the last decade. They have a Ministry LORAH mixed with classic SP vibe to them. Basically, less is more with a very cold and sparse sound. Glad you gave them some love.
I’m a huge industrial fan and I couldn’t get into this one at all. Industrial album of the year for me is probably Pharmakon.
[reply]
- 3TEETH: 3TEETH
This is DEFINITELY on my list. This is one of best Industrial albums to come out in the last decade. They have a Ministry LORAH mixed with classic SP vibe to them. Basically, less is more with a very cold and sparse sound. Glad you gave them some love.
I’m a huge industrial fan and I couldn’t get into this one at all. Industrial album of the year for me is probably Pharmakon.[/reply]
Pharmakon is scary shit. I haven’t heard the new one yet, but it’s on my list.
I highly recommend grabbing yourself some Pharmakon. That shit is mental.
Pretty slow year for me, musically. Loved the new Swans. New Pumpkins is pretty good (although incredibly short). Not sure what else there was.
- Aphex Twin - SYRO
- Temples - Sun Structures
- Mondkopf - Hades
- Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - Soused
- Eyehategod - Eyehategod
- The Bug - Angels And Devils
- Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
- Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
- Earth - Primitive And Deadly
- The War On Drugs - Lost In the Dream
- VHS Head - Persistence Of Vision
[blush]
No love here for The War On Drugs?! It was such an amazing album, it’s a shame.
Didn’t mind The War On Drugs personally, but no way known was it anywhere near a “best of 2014” release for me.
Haven’t been on here for ages but thought I’d pop by to drop my top 10 list. I’m sure you all have been eagerly awaiting it.
Biggest disappointment for me was Beck who managed to produce everything interesting out of his voice and turned in a really MOR album.
Good stuff from Cocksure, Arca, War on Drugs, Kitten, Tycho and a great Front Line Assembly remix album.
My top 10:
10. Eno/Hyde “Someday World”
9. Eno/Hyde “High Life”
These two albums are radically different in approach, I might actually like Someday better as it has some really catchy songs but “High Life” is unquestionably the more adventurous and exciting of the two.
-
Above and Beyond “Acoustic”
Probably too syrupy for many, I found these orchestral acoustic rearrangements of the trance superstar duo to be just the right blend of lush and soul aching. I teach yoga for a living and numerous tracks off of this are mainstays of my playlists this year, that should day it all. -
Jhene Aiko “Souled Out”
Just got I to Jhene this year and her previous EP “Sail Out” was unquestionably better than its follow-up, the follow-up is still pretty fantastic. Jhene has a great voice and really solid delivery, she doesn’t necessarily make modern Soul/R&B into something different but she does add an interesting and personal lyrical take. -
Phantogram “Voices”
Great electronic pop album. The lead single “Fall in Love” is my favorite track here, but the rest of the album holds up. Phantogram brings a 4AD Cocteau Twins sparkling emotive lushness to modern rave pop. -
Bassnectar “Noise vs. Beauty”
The album of summer 2014 for me. After going through a bad breakup I wanted fun and this loud yet never dumb slab of EDM brought that in spades. Been listening to it since and it holds up. Some rap, some dubstep, some sparkling pop, a taste of trance: the album is all over the place but still unified. -
Future Islands “Singles”
Like Neil Diamond mixed with classic New Order with a hint of death metal splashed in here and there. A friend brought me to see them live the week after the famous Letterman performance and I was sold hook, line and sinker. My friend’s a bigger fan of their older stuff but this album to me is a defining point, it crystallize their previous style into something so very very emotive, passionate and all around good. -
SOHN “Tremors”
So so good and shocking to me that this album isn’t showing up on more lists on the net. Great electronic minimalism provide a perfect backdrop for haunted soul styled tone poems. Catchy yet arty. Intelligent yet emotional. Every song on the album is good with the vast majority up there in the level of great. SOHN also does production work, he’s worked with Banks (coming very soon on my list) and remixed Lana Del Ray among others, I hope to see his work gain greater recognition in the years to come, also a rare artist in that his voice sounded even better live. -
Banks “Goddess”
Dark electronic landscapes with sultry soulful vocals, Banks is an absolute winner to me. She’s not as edgy as my number one slot, but as with all my top 3 slots, her sound is the sound of 2014 to me. I’ve introduced tons of people to her due to inclusion on class playlists and feel she’s one movie soundtrack away from becoming huge which may or may not be a good thing as the songs with the edgier more radical production approaches are definitely the best of the album. -
FKA Twigs “LP1”
I love this album, it is so far heads above everything else this year that I can’t put it I to words. Twigs’ voice is so achingly honest and the music is so totally strange and yet strangely catchy I can’t appropriately express just how good this is. Everything she’s done has been good too, even the vinyl bonus track is great. “Two Weeks” was the track that pulled me in but the whole album kept me listening again and again. I haven’t heard many co pare her to Bjork, but everything from the alieness of the album art, to the cold yet vulnerable delivery, to the blending of soulful vox with up to the moment contemporary electronic sounds remind me of Bjork and I hope she has as long and varied of a career. I suspect I’m a lifetime fan.