Friday, December 26, 2014

Best Albums of 2014 (Albums 10-1)


My music-loving friends and I had many a conversation this year in regards to how it was a "slow year." It seems we all kept waiting for that life-changing album to surprise us and, while there were some solid albums released, the life-changer never arrived. Certainly the top few will withstand the test of time despite the bands' freshness and certainly the releases from tried and true artists (Spoon, Beck, and The New Pornographers) will be stand outs in their large catalogs.

But I suppose that's how music releases go; we can't always have as heavy hitting a year as 2013. So why make a list on a slower year? Or, why make lists of music releases at all? Well, I mostly view it as a way to celebrate and share the creative outputs of the last year even if ranking them is a flawed system.

It should be noted that the top spot was a fairly easy pick for me this year. And I included the late 2013 releases by Beyonce (a surprise release) and Childish Gambino. I don't like "breaking the rules" but they were top listens in 2014 so I'm going to do what I want. All qualifiers out of the way, enjoy my list of my favorite 20 albums from 2014!

Albums 20-11 can be found here.

10. Phantogram - Voices
I will easily give Phantogram the "best live act" award for the year. Jorjette and I were able to catch them at the 9:30 Club this past fall and they brought about as much punch as possible. The lights were all over the place. The band was wholly dedicated to their performance. I first heard Phantogram four years ago when they opened for The Antlers. Moving from a keyboard/guitar/vocals and strobe light to where they are now is just fantastic. Good for them.

9. Beck - Morning Phase
I've always been a half-hearted listener of Beck. Very late in the game, I got into his 1990's album, Odelay, and I've given his last few albums a few spins on Spotify. With it being a slower year for music, I decided to give Morning Phase a deeper listen than his other albums and I'm glad I did. A slower album of his, there are plenty of beautiful cuts. And true to its name, the album is great in the morning: I found myself listening to it while walking across campus and driving by myself and found the album to be a perfect album for early in the day. Lastly, we caught Beck in concert this summer and, well, he's still got it.


8. Childish Gambino - Because the Internet
I originally had a hard time getting into Childish's music and it was a slow appreciation with Because the Internet, Gambino's second full release. He's not generally respected by critics. Rap music's origins stem from the oppressed black narrative, giving the genre a grittiness and level of authenticity greater than many others and, well, Donald Glover (Gambino's non-stage name) had a fairly stable upbringing, attended NYU's writing program, and had a lot of success in TV writing and acting prior to his rap career. Basically, he doesn't fit the rap mold. But I think rap music is at a new place. White guys can rap about materialism and the acceptance of the LGBTQ community. And we're ready for a black guy with a lot of formal education to write nerd rap lyrics and be all feely-introspective on an album. Oh, and the album is really good. Part smart-rap, part Frank Ocean smoothness.

7. The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
Another band I've been a half-hearted listener of over the last 7-8 years despite solid releases over a long career. But this album just gets it. Opening title track is probably my favorite opener of the year and the rest of the album follows suit.


6. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
Did anyone even know who this band was prior to this year? Philadelphia based and sounding like Springsteen, these guys created one great blue-collar record. The album grew on me over the year to become one of my favorites. Check them out and then check them out again if you're not immediately pulled in.

5. Spoon - They Want My Soul
Blah blah blah, old-timers who do solid rock music. This album is fresh. Great use of key boards. Great riffs. My only complaint would be that the lyrical content is mostly applicable to people on the road traveling and creating music... not so much asking questions that could be generalized for the common person. That complaint out of the way, this one is great.


4. Beyonce - s/t
Easily the most listened to album of the year, this CD stayed in our car radio from Christmas to March. Beyonce has always been pretty incredible. 4 was full of pop gems (Party, Countdown) and beautiful ballads (1+1) and her previous albums did the same to some extent. But Beyonce's self-titled release took the country by storm. Full of sexy songs (Drunk in Love, Partition), great pop hits (XO), and strong female tracks (Flawless, Pretty Hurts). Incredible live performance with Jay-Z and overall the most deservedly talked-about artists from the year. Here's to Queen Bey.


3. alt-J - This Could All Be Yours
So much anticipation for these guys. While not universally loved by critics and fans, I thought this was a great sophomore release for these young Brit rockers. What set alt-J apart with their first album was a unique sound all their own while sticking to the basic four-piece band setup. New sound but not unrecognizable. I believe This Could All Be Yours moves the band further along, taking risks but not to the point of a complete overhaul. So I'm all about the twang of Left Hand Free, the Miley sample on Hunger of the Pine, and the intricate vocals on Warm Foothills. Keep it up!


2. Ages and Ages - Divisionary
Earlier this year, I saw a list published on Paste Magazine's website citing Divisionary's closing track, Divisionary (Do the Right Thing) as their top song of the year thus far. I checked out the band and instantly fell into their folksy grasp. While not necessarily ground breaking in their sound, they do the folk, choral pop perfectly. They collectively sing about being morally upright without sounding naive. They sing with passion and conviction. They sang songs I felt good about putting on repeat listens.


1. Sylvan Esso - s/t
This beautiful electronic duo is composed of singer Amelia Meath (of Mountain Man) and producer Nick Sanborn (of Megafaun). In trying to describe them to my RA staff, I had a running joke of describing "this band that's a side-project of two bands you've never heard of" followed by the qualifier, "I couldn't sound more pretentious." Thankfully, Sylvan Esso is the exact opposite of pretension. Jorjette and I had a chance to catch them live and their stage presence was that of pure enthusiasm and joy in their art. If you haven't heard much of them, they create some really solid beats with the sweetest (yet strong!) female voice. They play off that paradox well and it results in an album suited for many settings. It's great for the following settings: the morning, grooving in the car, background at a party, foreground at a party, headphones on, and, probably other places as well.


As always, it's been fun making a list. Leave your thoughts if you're into that sort of thing.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Best Albums of 2014 (Albums 20-11)


My music-loving friends and I had many a conversation this year in regards to how it was a "slow year." It seems we all kept waiting for that life-changing album to surprise us and, while there were some solid albums released, the life-changer never arrived. Certainly the top few will withstand the test of time despite the bands' freshness and certainly the releases from tried and true artists (Spoon, Beck, and The New Pornographers) will be stand outs in their large catalogs.

But I suppose that's how music releases go; we can't always have as heavy hitting a year as 2013. So why make a list on a slower year? Or, why make lists of music releases at all? Well, I mostly view it as a way to celebrate and share the creative outputs of the last year even if ranking them is a flawed system.

It should be noted that the top spot was a fairly easy pick for me this year and I added a few late 2013 releases because, well, I listened to them a lot. All qualifiers out of the way, enjoy my list of my favorite 20 albums from 2014!

20. SOHN - Tremors
I don't have much context for this artist but I kept coming back to this album during my office hours. Chock full of reverb and electronic beats, I'll be keeping my ears peeled for more SOHN music in the future.

19. Vacationer - Relief
I was introduced to Vacationer at one of my first B-Sides concerts here on Messiah College's campus a few years back. A few albums later, they've still got beach vibes galore.

18. Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
Certainly Jurado's most other-wordly album, Eternal Sun is a great addition to the Jurado catalog that spans back a decade or so of solid releases.

17. Azealia Banks - Broke with Expensive Taste
While Iggy dominated the radio charts (ugh) and Nicki Minaj released a solid album late in the year, Banks brought us the most worldly, interesting rap album of the year, Kudos for some legit female rap albums this year.

16. Chad VanGaalen - Shrink Dust
Another newbie (to me) on the list, VanGaalen has created some of the most bizarre sounds while maintaining the singular artist/creator persona.

15. Tennis - Ritual in Repeat
This husband/wife duo provides a fantastic sound. Lead vocals are smooth yet full and the backing music is straight forward without being overly simple.

14. Ray Lamontagne - Supernova
A welcomed divergence from his tried and true soulful, bluegrass sound, Supernova is a fantastic exploration into new areas, including some great psychedelic influences. If you've been growing tired of Ray, this one might bring you back.

13. Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour
Breaking onto the scene by lending vocals to Disclosure's Latch a year or so back, Smith came with high expectations. His lead single, Stay With Me, was powerful and heartfelt and the follow-up, Money on my Mind, proved Smith was still capable of creating a strong pop trackThe remainder of the album provides some hits and misses but was also one of my most-listened to of the year.

12. Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Coldplay definitely isn't in their glory days but they also continue to produce some decent music. While Ghost Stories had a Bon Iver knock-off and a few other appropriated tracks, the album, as a whole, was a welcome listen.

11. First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
This Swedish duo brings delightful harmonies and a throwback sound that is impossible to dislike. Great sophomore album for these ladies.


Thanks for reading! Albums 10-1 can be found here.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Best Songs of 2014


End of the year lists. So arbitrary yet so fun. Throughout the year I've kept a folder on Spotify of some of my favorite songs from the year. Over the last few weeks I've done some minimal editing, adding a few forgotten tracks and taking out a few that didn't really belong there. As for specifications, the single or album had to have been released in 2014 (...or late 2013) and I didn't include more than two tracks from any single artist or band. While there's a lot of cross over with my "Best Albums" lists (coming soon), there's also a smattering of obscure bands' tracks and some top-40 gems of which I haven't bought into the full album. So here are some of my favorite tracks from the year. Excluding the Bon Iver and Taylor Swift tracks, the playlist can be found on Spotify.

36. Tune-Yards - Water Fountain
35. Damien Jurado - Silver Timothy
34. Jack White - High Ball Stepper
33. Caribou - Can't Do Without You
32. alt-J - Hunger of the Pine
31. Sam Smith - Stay With Me
30. How to Dress Well - See You Fall
29. Sun Kill Moon - I Watched the Film the Song Remains the Same
28. Ages and Ages - Our Demons
27. Conor Oberst - Governor's Ball
26. Beck - Morning
25. Phantogram - Black Out Days
24. Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat
23. The Antlers - Hotel
22. Coldplay - Another's Arms
21. Kishi Bashi - Q&A
20. Chad VanGaalen - Where Are You?
19. Childish Gambino - 3005
18. Hozier - Take Me to Church
17. Nicki Minaj - Pills N Potions
16. Bon Iver - Heavenly Father
15. Sylvan Esso - Could I Be
14. Beyonce - Ring Off
13. Sufjan Stevens - A Little Lost
12. Taylor Swift - Shake it Off
11. The War on Drugs - Red Eyes
10. Childish Gambino - III. Telegraph Ave. ("Oakland" by Lloyd)
9. Warm Foothills - alt-J
8. The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
7. Real Estate - Talking Backwards
6. Spoon - Do You
5. Sam Smith - Money On My Mind
4. Beyonce - Drunk in Love
3. Sylvan Esso - Coffee
2. Kendrick Lamar - i
1. Ages and Ages - Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)

Sunday, December 14, 2014

(Un)Clear Narratives

Everything isn't as clear as it seems. And, well, sometimes everything seems pretty clear.
Over the last few days, I've been reading Bryan Stevenson's book, Just Mercy. Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and a professor of clinical law at NYU. He works for the fair treatment of people of color and the poor, specifically those on death row. The book gives a good explanation of what his organization does, the context of doing said work in Montgomery, AL,, and some of the roadblocks they often come up against. More than that, the book uses a story of a man who was convicted of murder and put on death row in an obviously botched trial with all sorts of corruption at play. I'm only half-way through the book but I can go ahead and recommend it as a good read. Thus far, it has been disheartening to see the systematic injustices that have been and still are in effect - the particular case explored in the book happened in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
 
As I continue to read Just Mercy, I reflect on the other dominant narratives in our culture this year, true life or otherwise. The book version of Gone Girl easily gets my "favorite novel read in 2014" award and the movie captivated audiences all over as well. For those unfamiliar, the fictional story revolves around the disappearance of a woman (Amy) and the suspected guilt of her husband (Nick). The narration comes from both Amy and Nick's perspective, jumping back and forth in time. While I contend that the crux of the story is the marriage between Nick and Amy, the relationship is explored via murder mystery, leaving the reader/watcher unsure of who and what to trust from start to finish. The second major phenomenon of captivating narrative would be NPR's Serial, the 12 episode podcast about a true life murder case from 1999 in which an 18 year old high school student from Maryland goes missing, is later found dead, and then her ex-boyfriend is convicted of the murder. The episodes - well, the last one airs this week - explore the case from every angle imaginable. We get reports from close friends, from law experts, from the ex-boyfriend himself. From my perspective, the major take-away is not necessarily that he did it or he didn't do it but rather that, sometimes, I may not know who did it.
This leads me to the events that have been happening in Ferguson and NYC and Cleveland and, well, all over. There are as many opinions as there are people when it comes to these incidents of police brutality (or if one considers them brutality at all). It would be easy for my white, suburban raised self to cite these as isolated incidents that don't reflect the "true" nature of our justice system; that, for most people, justice is guaranteed and provided. But then I see the stats of unarmed, African-American men and boys who have been killed by police and suddenly things aren't quite so clear.* And, if the other narratives I've been consuming this year have been teaching me anything, perhaps each of these cases aren't as clear as I'd like for them to be. That then puts the burden on me (read: all of us) to expose myself to a diversity of stories. I'm going to listen when the underrepresented students and colleagues with whom I work share stories of feeling unsafe in situations where I don't give a second thought. I'm going to cheer on and encourage those protesting in NYC as they fight to have their voices heard. Ultimately, I hope we all take the time to go out of our way to hear peoples' stories, and specifically those that are not in places of power.


*I want to be clear that there are certainly many fantastic, sacrificial, fair, justice-oriented police officers out there and they make up the majority of the force. I'm more concerned about systems we have in place (or don't have in place) that provide a check for police officers as they engage people of color. Without some of these checks, I fear the cultivation of a culture among certain police officers that ignores the fair treatment of underprivileged people.