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Posted: Dec 19 2014 09:36 pm

Honestly, 2014 was kind of a bummer in terms of music for me; while there were a handful of albums I thoroughly enjoyed, there were a bunch that I didn't necessarily enjoy (many by bands I otherwise love). I'm definitely grateful that there were good albums to come out, but it seems like my Favorites of 2014 list is so much shorter than previous years (particularly 2011 and 2012, of which there were 20+ each). Here's some lists:

Favorite 10 Albums of 2014: A List by Cameron Richter
1. Trust - Joyland
2. La Roux - Trouble in Paradise
3. iamamiwhoami - Blue
4. '68 - '68
5. Ty Segall - Manipulator
6. Sun Kil Moon - Benji
7. Tennis - Ritual in Repeat
8. Cold Cave - Full Cold Moon
9. Ibibio Sound Machine - Ibibio Sound Machine
10. Eternal Summers - The Drop Beneath

Top Five Disappointing Albums I Heard This Year By Bands I Love: A List by Cameron Richter
1. Zola Jesus - Taiga
2. Future Islands - Singles
3. Liars - Mess
4. Cult of Youth - Final Days
5. Craft Spells - Nausea
Honorable Mention goes to The Drums - Encyclopedia

Top Two Awful Albums By Insufferable Artists I Heard This Year (Seriously Why Do People Enjoy This): A List by Cameron Richter
1. Ariel Pink - Pom-Pom
2. How to Dress Well - What Is This Heart?

Some of my favorite songs of 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu438gwa4uE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8axiZqKkcw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJxXYHQIF40

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Save a space for the latest "Smashing Pumpkins" album that Billy is releasing for the worst albums of the year. Haven't bothered getting it yet, because I don't have much hope of it being any good.

Posted: Dec 23 2014 08:35 pm

I don't care for popular music. I prefer rock from 2000s and back, and current day indie rock.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Cattivo wrote:

Save a space for the latest "Smashing Pumpkins" album that Billy is releasing for the worst albums of the year. Haven't bothered getting it yet, because I don't have much hope of it being any good.

At least you've started to be honest about Mr. Corgan. I remember a time when you wouldn't hear a negative word about him. :p

DarknessDeku wrote:

I don't care for popular music. I prefer rock from 2000s and back, and current day indie rock.

So popular rock from other time periods and popular indie rock?

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Ha, well I guess we're far enough from the last good song he wrote that his eccentricities are too much for me. The watershed moment might have been when he gave an eight hour musical interpretation of a buddhist, existential novel at his tea shop. At his TEA SHOP! Hardcore man, hardcore.

Posted: Dec 24 2014 04:26 pm

Cattivo wrote:

Save a space for the latest "Smashing Pumpkins" album that Billy is releasing for the worst albums of the year. Haven't bothered getting it yet, because I don't have much hope of it being any good.

Yeah, to be honest, I'm not that stoked about it either (and I haven't been overly enthusiastic about really anything he's put out since the American Gothic EP). I can't remember the names of the other songs I've heard from it thus far, but I distinctly remember "Being Beige" being the definition of lukewarm when I first heard it. What were your thoughts on Oceania, out of curiosity? I haven't actually heard the album itself yet, but it sounded decent when they played the whole thing live when I saw them two years ago (though I may have just been wowed by the giant globe thing they had for special effects).

Cattivo wrote:

The watershed moment might have been when he gave an eight hour musical interpretation of a buddhist, existential novel at his tea shop. At his TEA SHOP! Hardcore man, hardcore.

Even as someone who obsessively listens to ambient music, that was...boring, to say the least.

JoshWoodzy wrote:

I remember a time when you wouldn't hear a negative word about him. :p

Honestly, as much as I utterly worship everything he's ever done pre-reunion (and the American Gothic EP), I've been becoming increasingly disillusioned with him in general. I'll always love 1988-2006 Corgan music, but I've kind of given up on the idea that anything after that is worth bothering with.

Posted: Dec 24 2014 07:32 pm

The only new album I remember listening to this year was Edguy's Space Police: Defenders of the Crown. It was good.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Yeah Cam, American Gothic was his last release that I thought had any quality to it too. Even though my wife got me Oceania for Christmas the year it came out, I didn't listen to it till a couple weeks ago when I happened to be re-organizing my music and getting back into classic Offspring and Soundgarden albums from the 90s. My reaction was pretty blah. Just empty, overly-laid back music. Quasar had a little rock to it, but overall the album had the mellowness that made me detest the original Teargarden stuff. It's funny how he still says Oceania, Monuments to an Elegy, and the upcoming Day for Night still qualify as part of his original Teargarden project that was supposed to be 44 songs released online in one year. Just stupid.

Actually got Monuments to an Elegy from my wife yesterday for Christmas, and will probably burn it today. Probably won't listen to it till I am back at the office and need something in the background to get me through my boring, monotonous assignments at work. A review I read when it came out said it returned to his electric guitar rock roots, but the lyrics lost any artistry or meaning. We'll see.

Local H has had a couple EP releases lately that I've missed, so going to try to get those. They have a new album coming out too in the new year, but I've been less enthused about their stuff lately too.

Posted: Dec 26 2014 05:50 pm

Broke For Free's Petal album, released in June, was pretty much my Summer anthem album. Electronic with guitars. It's quite good, you can download it for free (but cool people throw in a least a little somethin'), and I highly recommend anyone to listen to track 5, Juparo.

Cam, I checked out your three links. Nothin' really clicked with me, sorry to say!

Posted: Dec 26 2014 06:08 pm

I lied. I also listened to Against Me's Transgender Dysphoria Blues, which like every previous Against Me album, was rather excellent.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

I just sorted my itunes to see what albums I even bought this year.

To be Kind - Swans.
BabyMetal - BabyMetal.
Revenge of the Vengenance - Psychostick.
Kudos to You - Presidents of the USA.
Thanks for the Feedback - Presidents of the USA.
Global Depression EP - Hammerhead.

That's it.

Also new Primus cd technically - I don't own it and I intend to buy it but it's so mediocre that it's on the backburner.

Posted: Dec 26 2014 11:10 pm

1989 by Taylor Swift was marvelous. I can't think of any other artist who has so successfully switched genres. I mean, she's always been leaning closer and closer to pure pop, but now that she's finally made the leap, she's destined for sustained greatness.

The only other album from this year that I listened to non-stop was Awesome Mix Vol. 1. Hands down the best soundtrack I have ever heard, and was a perfect summer jam.

Posted: Dec 27 2014 12:10 am

Ross Rifle wrote:

1989 by Taylor Swift was marvelous. I can't think of any other artist who has so successfully switched genres. I mean, she's always been leaning closer and closer to pure pop, but now that she's finally made the leap, she's destined for sustained greatness.

The only other album from this year that I listened to non-stop was Awesome Mix Vol. 1. Hands down the best soundtrack I have ever heard, and was a perfect summer jam.

Ross, your taste is impeccable!
I also have to second Cameron's support of Ty Segall. I've really been digging Manipulator since my boyfriend sent it to me. He's a lo-fi snob so it's always pleasant when he finds something I actually like.

I've also been dancing around like a moron to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's latest album, Pikapika Fantajin.

Posted: Dec 27 2014 02:52 am

You see, Ms. Lexia, that is why you are my biggest fan!

Posted: Dec 28 2014 01:42 am

Awh shucks, Ross. Glad there's always room for your official screaming fangirl, even if I'm no teenager anymore.

Posted: Dec 28 2014 01:52 pm

Yeah, I actually like Taylor Swift's new direction. I feel that this is her best work yet. I've read several comments that criticize her new style, but let's be honest here, her country pop music was god awful garbage. She's much better as a pure pop artist than a country pop artist.

Posted: Dec 28 2014 03:44 pm

Absolutely, though I don't hate her country stuff. But every album of hers got better and better while at the same time she was moving further away from country. I absolutely love "Style", which wouldn't sound out of place of Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, and "Out of the Woods", which might as well be by the Eurythmics. It's just a brilliant album. And it's title is the year I was born, which makes it even better!