Best Music of 2014

Hey all,

Tinnitus sucks but damned if I will let it take one of my lifelong joys away and that is music!

One thing I have done since I was 10 years old (I'm 31 now) is rank my Top 5 albums of every year. Some years are in retrospect better than others (I'd say Radiohead's OK Computer from 1997 holds up better than Aerosmith's Get a Grip from 1993 for me) but it's a fun exercise in reflection.

My favorite album of 2014 then is A Sunny Day in Glasgow's Sea When Absent. <--Spotify link here) It is full of abstract multi-layered effects yet held together by beautiful, ethereal sounding vocals. I don't listen to it nearly as loud as I did before my T but it still holds up post-T.

Right now I am listening to the new D'Angelo record and it is very relaxing and funky. Kind of like a more organic-sounding Prince.

Lately my tastes in general veer toward avant-garde-type rock music, straight up pop music (Charli XCX I am digging quite a bit lately), hip-hop, and as I get older, folk music.

To be honest though the album I've listened to the most this year is Raffi's Baby Beluga. It's the only thing that gets our 1 year old to uniformally stop whatever he's doing and start clapping. In fact his clapping in my avatar pic is from us all singing a Raffi song out loud.

Personally I'm also in a band and trying to regain the mental fortitude (and get proper hearing protection) to get going with that again. I'm also pushing my bandmates hard to use hearing protection from now on.

Anybody else have any favorite albums or songs from 2014?

 

D'angelo is the best. Was just listening to Black Messiah today ...
I also LOVE Voodoo ...his last album ... From way back.
Good stuff

 

If you enjoy chill music, I might suggest my album release from Oct

http://www.generalfuzz.net or spotify

 

I am a fan of singles much more than albums, especially in this day of age when physical media is getting rare it would for me make more sense that a musician really focus on just making good music, even if that means it only amounts to one or few songs. I mean the pressure to fill the rest of the album sometimes makes for generic music.
I am especially fond of great live appearances, they can really be one of a kind.

Here are some of my favorites that I listened to this year and might not be that well known to all:

The Staves- (Wood & Wires)

Labi Siffre - Something Inside So Strong

Beach House - On the Sea

The Shins - A Comet Appears

The Proclaimers - Spinning Around In The Air -...