2014 Music: Year In Review
In my estimation, it hasn't been a great year for new music. Rather than give a numbered list of my favorite songs or albums, I'm going to break it down to a few categories.
Boring But Sort Of OK Albums
This is probably going to be the largest category. I heard a lot of new music this year that wasn't really good or bad, listenable but unmemorable. 2014: the year that music was just kinda boring.
Thee Oh Sees - Drop
All of this band's albums are indistinguishable from each other. And I think they're all pretty ok.
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Mac Demarco, the person, seems like an obnoxious piece of shit. But Mac Demarco, the musician, makes the sort of nostalgic, pleasant, non-offensive, melodic rock that is so prevalent these days. I imagine that the following exchange occurs fairly often with this album:
PERSON 1 puts on Salad Days.
PERSON 2: Who is this?
PERSON 1: Mac Demarco.
PERSON 2: ... It's nice.
And then they resume whatever the fuck they were doing.
So this is yet another unremarkable album. And it is very much current with the trends in indie rock. That said, there is some weirdness here (e.g. the last track on the album, "Jonny's Odyssey", features a pleasingly out of tune organ) and he has a nice falsetto. So, you know, whatever.
Amen Dunes - Love
I don't know anything about this band, but this album is nice background music.
Grouper - Ruins
One of the ultimate "boring but I guess it's okay" artists. This album is also good background music.
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
When this album was first released, I actually kind of liked it, much to my own surprise. But now, months later, I don't remember anything about the album. Maybe I should listen to it again.
Parkay Quarts - What's Your Rupture?
Much better and weirder than the album they released this year under their real name.
David Letterman
I'm probably one of the only people under 40 who regularly watches David Letterman. One of my favorite parts of the show are Dave's and Paul's unpredictable reactions to the musical acts. I remember reading an interview with one of the guys from At The Drive-In talking about how the first time they went on Letterman, Dave didn't even get up from his desk and just shouted, "Stay in school kids." Another one of my favorites is Paul saying that Deerhunter gave him an acid flashback. And of course, there is Dave's ongoing fascination with the drums. This year had three particularly notable performances (that I saw) on The Late Show.
The Orwells - "Who Needs You"
This is not a good song. It's catchy, but that's about it. In fact, I'd say it straight up sucks. But Dave and Paul react with such unexpected enthusiasm that even the band doesn't seem to know what to think. My favorite part is Paul mocking the singer by writhing around on the ground at the end. Also, it's pretty funny that the band played the same song again when they came back a few months later.
Father John Misty - "Bored In The USA"
Ok, originally I was going to write about the weird laughter from the audience starting around 2:52. But apparently it was canned laughter and is on the studio version of the song. I was actually watching this one when it first aired and was confused by what I thought was real laughter coming from the studio audience. Knowing that it was fake is disappointing. But It's still a weird performance and I'd feel dumb if I only included two songs in this category.
Future Islands - "Seasons (Waiting On You)"
This is probably the one that got the most attention, as Dave tried to turn Samuel T. Herring's dancing and emoting into a meme. And Dave's enthusiastic "I'll take all a that you got!" was amusing. But this was also a genuinely great performance of a very good song. Singles was a pretty good album and "Seasons (Waiting On You)" was the best track.
E-40
E-40 was sitting behind home plate when the Giants won the World Series. Long live E-40!
Always prolific, E-40 has put out something like twelve albums in the last five years and has two more that came out this month. I haven't heard all of them, but because E-40 is basically infallible, I can't recommend them highly enough.
Great Songs, Ehhh... Albums
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyonce - "Feeling Myself"
I'm not totally sure what I think of The Pinkprint as a whole yet, but it seems to be hit and miss (and sometimes is both within the same song). This is definitely one of the hits. The beat is great and Nicki is on the top of her game. And even though I have developed a serious case of Beyonce fatigue, I'm a fan of her contributions here.
Future feat. Pharrell & Pusha T - "Move That Dope"
I don't know what to make of Future. "I Won" might be my least favorite song of the year but "Move That Dope" might be my favorite song of the year. I suspect that "Move That Dope" is just an exception for an otherwise lousy artist.
Speaking of fatigue, can we just make Pharrell go away? I love Pharrell as a producer but he has to be one of the worst rappers and worst singers in the world. He's like the black Anthony Kiedis. That said, his verse here is not terrible.
I am all-in on the Pusha T bandwagon, though. I was never a big fan of the Clipse, but I think I need to go back and relisten to them because I like everything I've heard from him the last couple of years.
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah feat. Elzhi - "Gunshowers"
A couple weeks before Halloween, my friend Alexis showed me a flier for a show where every listed band had a terrible name. BADBADNOTGOOD was on the flier. But on this song, they offer the perfect noir accompaniment to one of Ghostface's usual excellence (e.g. "I'm an activist, socialist, deadly ass poetrist/Supreme Clientele, I'm a goddamn vocalist"). These Canadian jazz nerds lay back while Ghost moves forward.
I'm glad to hear that Ghostface is one of the only aging rappers who is still operating at or near his full capabilities (I'm looking at you, Jay-Z).
It's probably unfair to categorize this song as being from a bad album, because the album hasn't actually come out yet. And the other song that Ghostface & BADBADNOTGOOD have released is pretty good. But I'm including it here because BADBADNOTGOOD without Ghostface is actually pretty bad. Not good. And also, uh, well, the less said about A Better Tomorrow, the better.
Also, I gotta get 36 Seasons.
Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy
The album might actually be great but the only song I've listened to is "Doug Stamper". Hannibal Buress's verse is my favorite in any song this year:
"LeBron James needs to stop taking HGH
His hairline fucked up from the HGH
Went from one headband to like 88".
Friends
These folks are friends of mine. That said, my endorsements here are genuine. I wouldn't steer you folks wrong.
Dallin Kapp - Punishment
Dallin is one of my all-time favorite musicians. His album crystal deer skull wolf babies that he released as Mossy Roots a few years ago is basically perfect. He recently moved back home to Utah and put out 4 good, relatively short releases this year. Discipline is the best of the bunch. The title is a good indication of the overall mood on this album. It's all drum machines, reverb, relatively dry guitar, and minor key melodies. The lyrics fit the mood, as well. There is a cover of Joy Division's "Colony" that sounds very much a piece with the other, original songs on the album. This is good music to listen to you when you are in a bad mood.
Nikos Eliot - 1366
Hey, more downer music! Maybe my friends are depressed. This one is also short, more like an EP than a full album. These songs all seem to be about trying to start over after things have fallen apart, which is an extremely relatable experience. The music is sort of like being sad & stoned and watching TV. It is almost painfully pretty, in parts.
The Classical - Diptych
This is probably the darkest music of the bunch, and that's saying a lot. It's a bit of a stretch to say they are friends of mine, as I don't actually know them that well. But my band played one show with them (I can't recommend their live show highly enough) and I hung out with them a couple times otherwise before I moved east. Juliet & Britt are both amazing musicians and incredibly nice people who make some extremely dark music. A bit like Death Grips or Yeezus but with cabaret style singing, this is music for anyone who thinks that sexiness and terror are not incompatible. Play this album to scare people and make new friends.
Violence Creeps - Demo 2
The best band in Oakland, Violence Creeps are the heavyweight champs.
Self Promotion
I'll keep this short, but I would like to point out that I put out some music of my own this year.
Also, Doug & I just put out a Christmas single. I love novelty Christmas music and I am very pleased to have some of my own to share.
All of these are free to download. And I promise that I am better at writing and playing music than I am at writing about it.
Ok, back to the year in review.
Albums I Actually Purchased This Year
I think I only bought two albums that were released this year (give me a break, I didn't have a job).
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
I bought this after I heard "Hi-Five". The rest of the album does not quite live up to that song, but is overall very good. Olsen has an interesting, warbly singing voice. There is something vaguely old fashioned about it. Olsen used to be in Bonnie "Prince" Billie's band and this album has a similar old, weird America feel to it. From what I understand, this is, at least in part, a break-up album.
Perfect Pussy - Say Yes To Love
Meredith Graves has rightfully received a lot of attention for her essays, interviews (this is maybe the best interview with a musician that I read this year), and general outspokenness about the difficulties of being a woman in the punk and hardcore scenes. It is definitely valuable to have a strong feminist voice in a realm that is often not as inclusive as it claims to be and should be. But in all this, it can be easy to overlook the music. This album is a very good, if not great, slice of noisy, intense punk. I would like to hear more feminist punk bands like this. Oddly enough, I think this is also a break-up album.
Uncategorized Best Albums
Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
I originally had this album in the "Boring But Sort Of OK" category. But I realized that was the wrong place for it because, although, I haven't listened to all of this album yet, I'm sure it is good. I really like Ariel Pink and based on the songs I've heard, I am confident enough to say that it is probably a pretty good album.
Sun Kil Moon - Benji
This is one of those "great but sort of hard to listen to albums". It is also an album that sounds much better than any accurate description would lead you to believe. This is genuinely unusual album that is way better than it has any right to be. My friend Derek and I were talking about how Mark Kozolek has managed to pull off an impossible-seeming style of rambling, stream of consciousness songwriting. "Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes" and "I Watched The Film The Song Remains The Same" are my personal favorites.
The only thing that I have to say about his rivalry with The War on Drugs is that I had to ask Derek what the difference is between The War on Drugs and Real Estate (because I always confuse the two bands). Derek told me that the only difference is that one band is from Philadelphia and the other is from New Jersey. So that settles that.
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Small Town Heroes
For about a week last month, I became obsessed with this band and watched as many live videos as I could find on youtube. Classic Americana done just right.
Album of the Year
Tune-Yards - Nikki Nack
Jussssst kidding. Tune-Yards sucks.
Tony Molina - Dissed & Dismissed
Technically, this was first released in 2013 on cassette. But since it didn't receive wider relief until this year, I am including it. This is far and away my favorite album of the year. It's got the production of Pinkerton, the riffs of Jailbreak, and the concise songwriting of an early 80s hardcore album. Basically, it's perfect.
Boring But Sort Of OK Albums
This is probably going to be the largest category. I heard a lot of new music this year that wasn't really good or bad, listenable but unmemorable. 2014: the year that music was just kinda boring.
Thee Oh Sees - Drop
All of this band's albums are indistinguishable from each other. And I think they're all pretty ok.
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Mac Demarco, the person, seems like an obnoxious piece of shit. But Mac Demarco, the musician, makes the sort of nostalgic, pleasant, non-offensive, melodic rock that is so prevalent these days. I imagine that the following exchange occurs fairly often with this album:
PERSON 1 puts on Salad Days.
PERSON 2: Who is this?
PERSON 1: Mac Demarco.
PERSON 2: ... It's nice.
And then they resume whatever the fuck they were doing.
So this is yet another unremarkable album. And it is very much current with the trends in indie rock. That said, there is some weirdness here (e.g. the last track on the album, "Jonny's Odyssey", features a pleasingly out of tune organ) and he has a nice falsetto. So, you know, whatever.
Amen Dunes - Love
I don't know anything about this band, but this album is nice background music.
Grouper - Ruins
One of the ultimate "boring but I guess it's okay" artists. This album is also good background music.
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
When this album was first released, I actually kind of liked it, much to my own surprise. But now, months later, I don't remember anything about the album. Maybe I should listen to it again.
Parkay Quarts - What's Your Rupture?
Much better and weirder than the album they released this year under their real name.
David Letterman
I'm probably one of the only people under 40 who regularly watches David Letterman. One of my favorite parts of the show are Dave's and Paul's unpredictable reactions to the musical acts. I remember reading an interview with one of the guys from At The Drive-In talking about how the first time they went on Letterman, Dave didn't even get up from his desk and just shouted, "Stay in school kids." Another one of my favorites is Paul saying that Deerhunter gave him an acid flashback. And of course, there is Dave's ongoing fascination with the drums. This year had three particularly notable performances (that I saw) on The Late Show.
The Orwells - "Who Needs You"
This is not a good song. It's catchy, but that's about it. In fact, I'd say it straight up sucks. But Dave and Paul react with such unexpected enthusiasm that even the band doesn't seem to know what to think. My favorite part is Paul mocking the singer by writhing around on the ground at the end. Also, it's pretty funny that the band played the same song again when they came back a few months later.
Father John Misty - "Bored In The USA"
Ok, originally I was going to write about the weird laughter from the audience starting around 2:52. But apparently it was canned laughter and is on the studio version of the song. I was actually watching this one when it first aired and was confused by what I thought was real laughter coming from the studio audience. Knowing that it was fake is disappointing. But It's still a weird performance and I'd feel dumb if I only included two songs in this category.
Future Islands - "Seasons (Waiting On You)"
This is probably the one that got the most attention, as Dave tried to turn Samuel T. Herring's dancing and emoting into a meme. And Dave's enthusiastic "I'll take all a that you got!" was amusing. But this was also a genuinely great performance of a very good song. Singles was a pretty good album and "Seasons (Waiting On You)" was the best track.
E-40
E-40 was sitting behind home plate when the Giants won the World Series. Long live E-40!
Always prolific, E-40 has put out something like twelve albums in the last five years and has two more that came out this month. I haven't heard all of them, but because E-40 is basically infallible, I can't recommend them highly enough.
Great Songs, Ehhh... Albums
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyonce - "Feeling Myself"
I'm not totally sure what I think of The Pinkprint as a whole yet, but it seems to be hit and miss (and sometimes is both within the same song). This is definitely one of the hits. The beat is great and Nicki is on the top of her game. And even though I have developed a serious case of Beyonce fatigue, I'm a fan of her contributions here.
Future feat. Pharrell & Pusha T - "Move That Dope"
I don't know what to make of Future. "I Won" might be my least favorite song of the year but "Move That Dope" might be my favorite song of the year. I suspect that "Move That Dope" is just an exception for an otherwise lousy artist.
Speaking of fatigue, can we just make Pharrell go away? I love Pharrell as a producer but he has to be one of the worst rappers and worst singers in the world. He's like the black Anthony Kiedis. That said, his verse here is not terrible.
I am all-in on the Pusha T bandwagon, though. I was never a big fan of the Clipse, but I think I need to go back and relisten to them because I like everything I've heard from him the last couple of years.
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah feat. Elzhi - "Gunshowers"
A couple weeks before Halloween, my friend Alexis showed me a flier for a show where every listed band had a terrible name. BADBADNOTGOOD was on the flier. But on this song, they offer the perfect noir accompaniment to one of Ghostface's usual excellence (e.g. "I'm an activist, socialist, deadly ass poetrist/Supreme Clientele, I'm a goddamn vocalist"). These Canadian jazz nerds lay back while Ghost moves forward.
I'm glad to hear that Ghostface is one of the only aging rappers who is still operating at or near his full capabilities (I'm looking at you, Jay-Z).
It's probably unfair to categorize this song as being from a bad album, because the album hasn't actually come out yet. And the other song that Ghostface & BADBADNOTGOOD have released is pretty good. But I'm including it here because BADBADNOTGOOD without Ghostface is actually pretty bad. Not good. And also, uh, well, the less said about A Better Tomorrow, the better.
Also, I gotta get 36 Seasons.
Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy
The album might actually be great but the only song I've listened to is "Doug Stamper". Hannibal Buress's verse is my favorite in any song this year:
"LeBron James needs to stop taking HGH
His hairline fucked up from the HGH
Went from one headband to like 88".
Friends
These folks are friends of mine. That said, my endorsements here are genuine. I wouldn't steer you folks wrong.
Dallin Kapp - Punishment
Dallin is one of my all-time favorite musicians. His album crystal deer skull wolf babies that he released as Mossy Roots a few years ago is basically perfect. He recently moved back home to Utah and put out 4 good, relatively short releases this year. Discipline is the best of the bunch. The title is a good indication of the overall mood on this album. It's all drum machines, reverb, relatively dry guitar, and minor key melodies. The lyrics fit the mood, as well. There is a cover of Joy Division's "Colony" that sounds very much a piece with the other, original songs on the album. This is good music to listen to you when you are in a bad mood.
Nikos Eliot - 1366
Hey, more downer music! Maybe my friends are depressed. This one is also short, more like an EP than a full album. These songs all seem to be about trying to start over after things have fallen apart, which is an extremely relatable experience. The music is sort of like being sad & stoned and watching TV. It is almost painfully pretty, in parts.
The Classical - Diptych
This is probably the darkest music of the bunch, and that's saying a lot. It's a bit of a stretch to say they are friends of mine, as I don't actually know them that well. But my band played one show with them (I can't recommend their live show highly enough) and I hung out with them a couple times otherwise before I moved east. Juliet & Britt are both amazing musicians and incredibly nice people who make some extremely dark music. A bit like Death Grips or Yeezus but with cabaret style singing, this is music for anyone who thinks that sexiness and terror are not incompatible. Play this album to scare people and make new friends.
Violence Creeps - Demo 2
The best band in Oakland, Violence Creeps are the heavyweight champs.
Self Promotion
I'll keep this short, but I would like to point out that I put out some music of my own this year.
Also, Doug & I just put out a Christmas single. I love novelty Christmas music and I am very pleased to have some of my own to share.
All of these are free to download. And I promise that I am better at writing and playing music than I am at writing about it.
Ok, back to the year in review.
Albums I Actually Purchased This Year
I think I only bought two albums that were released this year (give me a break, I didn't have a job).
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
I bought this after I heard "Hi-Five". The rest of the album does not quite live up to that song, but is overall very good. Olsen has an interesting, warbly singing voice. There is something vaguely old fashioned about it. Olsen used to be in Bonnie "Prince" Billie's band and this album has a similar old, weird America feel to it. From what I understand, this is, at least in part, a break-up album.
Perfect Pussy - Say Yes To Love
Meredith Graves has rightfully received a lot of attention for her essays, interviews (this is maybe the best interview with a musician that I read this year), and general outspokenness about the difficulties of being a woman in the punk and hardcore scenes. It is definitely valuable to have a strong feminist voice in a realm that is often not as inclusive as it claims to be and should be. But in all this, it can be easy to overlook the music. This album is a very good, if not great, slice of noisy, intense punk. I would like to hear more feminist punk bands like this. Oddly enough, I think this is also a break-up album.
Uncategorized Best Albums
Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
I originally had this album in the "Boring But Sort Of OK" category. But I realized that was the wrong place for it because, although, I haven't listened to all of this album yet, I'm sure it is good. I really like Ariel Pink and based on the songs I've heard, I am confident enough to say that it is probably a pretty good album.
Sun Kil Moon - Benji
This is one of those "great but sort of hard to listen to albums". It is also an album that sounds much better than any accurate description would lead you to believe. This is genuinely unusual album that is way better than it has any right to be. My friend Derek and I were talking about how Mark Kozolek has managed to pull off an impossible-seeming style of rambling, stream of consciousness songwriting. "Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes" and "I Watched The Film The Song Remains The Same" are my personal favorites.
The only thing that I have to say about his rivalry with The War on Drugs is that I had to ask Derek what the difference is between The War on Drugs and Real Estate (because I always confuse the two bands). Derek told me that the only difference is that one band is from Philadelphia and the other is from New Jersey. So that settles that.
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Small Town Heroes
For about a week last month, I became obsessed with this band and watched as many live videos as I could find on youtube. Classic Americana done just right.
Album of the Year
Tune-Yards - Nikki Nack
Jussssst kidding. Tune-Yards sucks.
Tony Molina - Dissed & Dismissed
Technically, this was first released in 2013 on cassette. But since it didn't receive wider relief until this year, I am including it. This is far and away my favorite album of the year. It's got the production of Pinkerton, the riffs of Jailbreak, and the concise songwriting of an early 80s hardcore album. Basically, it's perfect.
posted by Carlos Animals at 4:12 PM
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