Free Before Midnight’s Top 30 Albums of 2014
Photo by Guv Callahan.
I’ve seen various publications in the last few weeks preface their year-end lists with a disclaimer — that 2014 wasn’t a great year for new music. I think that’s kind of garbage. This year may not have had very many blockbusters, but let’s not forget that last year saw, like, six or seven of them, which doesn’t happen all the time. Kanye West can’t release an album every year. Still, 2014 had releases from a lot of exciting new artists, folks who pushed boundaries or reinterpreted the past into the present and, sometimes, the future. We also got more great, occasionally flawed, always affecting work from artists we know we can rely on. That’s pretty dope, if you ask me. So, here are my 30 favorite albums from this year. There’s music here for your weekly turn-up functions, your morning commutes, your candle-lit dinners and even your boring-ass regular days. Hope you find something you dig.
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30. TV on the Radio — Seeds
Nine days after Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio released their 2011 album Nine Types of Light, bassist Gerard Smith died of lung cancer. Seeds, their fifth album and first since the tragedy, finds the group rebuilding in the wake of that loss, an attempt to find some joy in the darkness. The choruses are bigger, the production values more polished and the keyboards more pronounced in more than a few spots. These songs stay with you, and that’s what counts. Tunde Adebimpe’s vocals are more pronounced than they have ever been and cary many of the albums best moments, including “Quartz”, the soaring opening track, and the understated “Test Pilot”, which begs for repeat listens. Seeds may be slighter than their best work, but its songs pack an immediate pleasure that will appeal to a wider audience than some of TVOTR’s more panicked early recordings. If that’s what it takes to grow after the loss of a loved one, so be it.
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29. DJ Dodger Stadium — Friend of Mine
It’s remarkable what Los Angeles producers Samo Sound Boy and Jerome LOL (yes, seriously) can do with a simple vocal sample. “Love Songs”, the lead single from Friend of Mine, their debut full-length as DJ Dodger Stadium (yes, seriously again), is a skittering house number that builds around a single, looped vocal line — “Lately I’ve been singing love songs by myself” — transforming the words into a mantra that starts somewhere melancholy, turns a corner to comforting and, by the close, erupts into a sentiment worth celebrating. Friend of Mine is a 45-minute rush of pop-minded warehouse techno and gospel house, a collection of dance songs that work surprisingly well as a cohesive album. It may be made for the clubs, but it’s still lovely for dancing (or singing) by yourself.
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28. Rich Gang (Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan & Birdman) — Tha Tour Part 1
Young Thug is the hottest rapper of the year, whether conservative hip-hop heads want to admit it or not. One of the main gripes lobbed against Atlanta’s premier space-cadet — besides the outlandish outfits and unorthodox social media presence — is that his lyrics, whether rapped, sung, squawked or some combination of the three, are tough to understand. But who cares when it sounds this good? Thugger can do incredible things with his voice, floating over London on da Track’s singular trap beats at one minute and unleashing a rapid-fire flow the next. Look no further than “Givenchy”, the first track off of his tremendous mixtape with fellow ATLien Rich Homie Quan and Cash Money mogul Birdman. Critics who say Thug can’t rap should be directed to his opening verse, a three-minute distillation of everything that makes him so exciting. Tha Tour Part 1 is 84 minutes of trap rap from inside a wormhole, performed by aliens who are having a much, much better time than you, where lyrics are secondary to flow, cadence and melody. It’s a weird, wild ride.
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27. Banks — Goddess
On her debut album as Banks, Los Angeles singer Jillian Banks explores her self-professed “scratched edges” and the dark sides of love, sex and relationships through brooding, gloomy pop soundscapes. Banks’ voice can be at once gentle and dominant, and pairs beautifully with downtrodden electronics from beatsmiths like SOHN and Shlohmo. She’s at her best when she’s commanding and dismissive, as on singles “Brain” (“I can see you struggling / Boy, don’t hurt your brain/ thinking what you’re gonna say”) and “Goddess”, but she also shines when the songs are nothing more than her and a piano (“You Should Know Where I’m Coming From”) or acoustic guitar (“Someone New”). Many production choices showcase her willingness to distance herself from more radio-friendly pop fare, but she doesn’t abandon it completely: “Beggin for Thread” is a confident, upbeat number about embracing your flaws and learning to use them to your advantage. Banks employs that technique throughout Goddess, and it makes for one of the more accomplished debuts this year.
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26. Todd Terje — It’s Album Time
Norwegian space disco savant Todd Terje has built a near untouchable catalogue of tight, expertly produced dance singles, but anyone who follows his work knows the producer is a world-class goof. Seriously, just look at his website. His debut album, It’s Album Time (because what else would he call it?), includes material that has been around for some time, including singles “Inspector Norse”, a contender for the best dance track of the last five years, and “Strandbar”, but their inclusion makes sense — they’re absolutely killer. The rest of the album gives Terje a chance to explore some of the quirks that make him a unique asset to electronic music; he jets to Brazil for “Svensk Sås”, he rockets into the future with “Delorean Dynamite”, and he strikes a surprisingly haunting emotional chord with Bryan Ferry for a beautiful cover of Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary”. If you’re here for the disco singles, by all means, come on in. But stick around for the layers and flourishes that make this an expertly crafted listen.
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25. ScHoolboy Q — Oxymoron
Oxymoron, ScHoolboy Q’s debut on a major label, dropped early this year to some lofty expectations. Where friend, label-mate and T.D.E. golden-boy Kendrick Lamar crafted a modern classic documenting the struggles of avoiding a life of crime in Los Angeles, Q crafts a not-quite-classic but solid album documenting the struggles of falling into a life as a drug dealer and addict in the same city. Oxymoron is hard-hitting, morally conflicted ganga rap about doing what you need to get by, partying for days to forget about it, and the problems that lifestyle can bring. Uneven in points, the album benefits from a handful of choice singles, including the Chromatics-sampling “Man of the Year” and “Collard Greens”, which features an expectedly twisty Kendrick verse. Q really excels when he gets personal, like on “Hoover Street” and “Prescription/Oxymoron”, the first a document of the things he witnessed growing up, the second a sobering account of his dependence on pills. It’s refreshing to see that Q has been able to release a major-label album without sacrificing any of his core traits, so while Oxymoron isn’t his masterpiece, it affirms he has the talent and audience for one.
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24. Ryan Hemsworth — Alone for the First Time
Alone for the First Time is Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth’s second album in as many years. Since releasing 2013’s Guilt Trips (which popped up on my Best of 2013 list), Hemsworth launched his Secret Songs project on Soundcloud, a device allowing him to share free music from some of his favorite artists all over the world. Alone for the First Time marks a stylistic shift from Guilt Trips’ atmospheric trap and R&B production towards something more somber: downtempo tunes informed by 8-bit Game Boy soundtracks as much as traditional pop songs. Nearly every tune here is a collaboration with some sort of up-and-comer, and it gives Hemsworth an opportunity to try his hand at different styles, whether it be lonely balladry on “Snow in Newark”, with L.A. crooner Dawn Golden, or the #sadboy drum ’n bass of “Surrounded”, a collaboration with Kotomi, another L.A.-based singer, and Doss. Hemsworth has the strength and talent to do whatever he wants, so it’s great to see him push his sound and give lesser-known artists some shine.
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23. Iceage — Plowing into the Field of Love
For their third album, Danish punks Iceage took a hard left turn from the blistering hardcore punk of their first two releases. 2011’s New Brigade and 2013’s You’re Nothing both finished their furious business in under 30 minutes each, but at nearly 50 minutes, Plowing into the Field of Love sprawls in comparison, embracing acoustic guitar, mandolin, piano and horn arrangements. The restlessness of their early work is still there, but the songs are more precise even as many draw out past the 5-minute mark. “The Lord’s Favorite”, the biggest sonic shift here, is a country-tinged romp, soaked in wine and a sneering sense of humor. Although it’s less aggressive than the band’s early mosh-pit fare, Plowing into the Field of Love is a challenging listen. Lead singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s erratic, slurred voice isn’t for everyone, but those willing to take the dive into Iceage’s particular brand of madness will surely find something to love.
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22. The Juan MacLean — In A Dream
DFA producer and DJ John MacLean hasn’t released an a full-length LP under his The Juan MacLean moniker since 2011’s The Future Will Come. During that five-year gap, he played DJ dates all over the world and released a string of remixes and house singles, while his partner in the group, Nancy Whang, was busy capping off her time in LCD Soundsystem and then providing guest vocals for a number of synth-pop groups. In A Dream, their third album together, moves further away from the dance-punk influences of their old work and towards a sound more directly influenced by ‘80s pop stars. A lot of that can be contributed to Whang’s voice, which becomes the focus of this collection of songs. On opener “A Place Called Space”, a driving synth opus and some of the best work the group has ever done, MacLean allows Whang’s melody on the hook to take center stage before adding layers of shameless guitar. In A Dream swaps the dance-floor workouts for more carefully structured tunes, but Juan is still a master with a synthesizer so those basement clubs are never too far away.
Photo via sacredbonesrecords.com
21. The Men — Tomorrow’s Hits
I haven’t seen The Men play at a bar, but Tomorrow’s Hits leads me to imagine it would be fantastic. The album finds the Brooklyn group moving farther away from their punk origins and towards backroom, roadhouse American rock and roll. It just sounds like it would pair well with cheap beer and stained, peeling wooden tables. The album rips and roars like it was recorded in a single sitting, 40 minutes of guitar riffs, horns and harmonica, all playing at once, all turned up to 11, pressed to tape and slapped on shelves. The chaos is carefully controlled, though you get the feeling it could all burst apart at the seems at any second. I’d listen if it did.
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20. TOPS — Picture You Staring
Montreal indie-rockers TOPS do a lot with very little. Picture You Staring, their second album, is packed with concise, unfussy pop-rock songs that recall ‘80s greats like Fleetwood Mac and Eurythmics without sounding like spineless retreads. There’s enough variety here to keep things dreamy but not drowsy — the subtle guitar picking on opener “Way to be Loved”, the cinematic and beautiful synth ballad “Outside”, the lounge-funk of “Easier Said”. Nearly every song here goes searching for hooks, and when they hit, they’re pretty divine. If dream pop is your thing, you’d be hard pressed to find a better example this year.
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19. Interpol — El Pintor
I don’t have to wear suits to work and I quit smoking almost three years ago, but Interpol’s new album makes a good argument for getting back into both of those habits. El Pintor, their first full-length in four years, doesn’t change the formula, per se, but rather doubles down on the band’s strengths, exuding a steely cool that’s tough to match. At 39 minutes, there’s no room for bloat or lengthy experiments. Instead, you get 10 songs that culminate in the band’s most consistent LP since 2004’s Antics. Lead single “All the Rage Back Home” is a perfect thesis statement for the record, combining the dreary atmospherics of their best songs with the soaring rock bombast of their later singles. And the streamlined approach doesn’t mean Interpol sacrifice experimentation entirely — frontman Paul Banks breaks out a confident falsetto on the narcotized “My Blue Supreme”, and “Tidal Wave” closes on a massive note thanks to a dump truck’s worth of synthesizer. For a band that markets almost exclusively in gloom, El Pintor sounds surprisingly celebratory.
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18. YG — My Krazy Life
My Krazy Life is the flip side to Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city, a day-in-the-life snapshot of Compton through the eyes of a gangbanger who claims Blood and loves his mom. YG avoids taking a moral stance on gang life and burglarizing houses to make ends meet — instead, My Krazy Life presents them as everyday realities of growing up poor in Los Angles’ West Side. Indebted to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s classic West Coast sound, the album benefits greatly from the ubiquitous DJ Mustard, who manages to push most of his beats on the album past the synth stabs and hand-claps of nearly every song he currently has on the radio. The subject matter doesn’t stray from boilerplate gangsta rap fare — guns, sex, close calls with the cops, general tough-guy platitudes — but it’s tied together in a narrative package that elevates some of the more generic material. “Meet the Flockers”, an instruction manual for breaking and entering, is a stroke of genius, and guest spots from Drake, Kendrick and ScHoolboy Q give it a blockbuster aesthetic. YG’s life hasn’t been a cake walk, but he seems to be having a blast regardless.
Photo via capturedtracks.com
17. Mac DeMarco — Salad Days
Canadian singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco is a clown, but you wouldn’t really know it from his third album, Salad Days. Recorded in his bedroom after finishing an extensive tour in support of previous album, 2, Salad Days finds DeMarco more weary and introspective than he ever has been. His guitar notes still jangle and slither all over these 11 tracks, his lyrics reveal a more matured songwriter. You won’t find any songs about his favorite cigarettes — instead, he tells his critics to quit worrying about how he lives his life. “Sometimes rough, but generally speaking I’m fine,” he sings on “Goodbye Weekend”. This is still top-notch slacker-rock, it’s just not for the nights of debauchery, but the mornings after.
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16. Rome Fortune — Beautiful Pimp II
Rome Fortune is a tricky rapper to pin down. Since breaking out last year with his acclaimed mixtape, Beautiful Pimp, he’s released a smattering of projects, each one a departure from the last. Produced in full by New Jersey’s CitoOnTheBeat, Beautiful Pimp II is the rare sequel that abandons its predecessor’s formula almost entirely, swapping out the woozy trap of producers like DunDeal and Childish Major for Cito’s blunted, jazzy electronica. Tied together by vibraphone interludes from Rome’s grandfather, Beautiful Pimp II caries a personal quality and flows so seamlessly that some of the details don’t come into focus until the third or fourth listen. Rome’s deep, relaxed voice fits perfectly over these soundscapes, adapting to the beat changes when necessary. At various points on the record, Rome says he’s destined for the top. I hope that happens, but I’m happy with a few more of these digressions along the way.
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15. Future — Honest
Future’s Honest is my favorite major-label rap release this year, and here’s why: the rapper/singer/shouter/astronaut contains multitudes. This album will inspire you to lift a semi-truck, fall in love, rob a bank and drink wine alone, all in the span of an hour. Honest refines the auto-tuned trap/R&B hybrid from his debut, Pluto, into a seamless mix of Future’s bruising street rap and cosmic R&B warbles. Yes, the war-ready tracks still slap, and if you only listen to Future to pump yourself up for street fights, you could do worse than “Move that Dope” and “My Momma”. But if you’re more drawn to his deft hand with melody and emotional range, there’s “I Be U”, an intimate, devotional slow-jam, and “Blood, Sweat, Tears”, which chronicles everything Future’s done to get here. Honest establishes Future’s dominance in hip-hop, a pop-savvy album that doesn’t sacrifice any of the artist’s core features. You deserve it, Future. You deserve it.
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14. Merchandise — After the End
On their third album, Florida post-punks Merchandise set out to make their “formal pop record,” and After the End certainly fits that description, a pristine package of mid-’80s and early-’90s alt-rock tracks, many of which could soundtrack the more dramatic moments in a John Hughes movie of your choice. Lead vocalist and guitarist Carson Cox’s brooding baritone conjures a Morrissey more prone to sneering, while the arrangements recall Echo and Bunnymen and Depeche Mode (with whom producer Gareth Jones has also worked). Singles “Enemy” and “Little Killer” swagger with mom-jeaned confidence, while back-half standout “Looking Glass Waltz” would provide for a lovely slow dance as the world burns around you. After the End revels in that sort of melodrama. Merchandise never come off as mere imitators, and they have the strength of the music to thank for that. Instead, they seem more like students whose ability with these past elements makes for something vital and new.
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13. St. Vincent — St. Vincent
On the cover of her self-titled fourth album as St. Vincent, Annie Clark sits upon a throne that looks like it’s made of bubblegum, a “near-future cult leader” ready to initiate the listener into her congregation. Clark is an architect in these songs, building precise, danceable art-rock out of jagged, glitchy sounds. There are more than a few moments on St. Vincent when you aren’t sure what you’re hearing — is that sound a distorted guitar? A synthesizer? A sentient robot? — but these disparate elements all cohere for incredibly intricate songs. Not everything is so angular; “I Prefer Your Love” is a lush, gorgeous ballad about motherly love. Elsewhere, Clark touches on religion, mind control and how to live in the real world and through a screen. “Gimme all of your mind,” she commands on “Digital Witness”. Just drink the Kool-Aid.
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12. PUP — PUP
PUP stands for “pathetic use of potential,” a complaint lodged at Stefan Babcock, PUP’s lead singer, by his grandmother when he decided to quit his job and be the lead singer and guitarist in a punk band. Babcock and his bandmates all quit their day jobs on the same day in 2012, went to a bar, got hammered and committed to their band full time. Two years later, they’ve generated a huge amount of buzz and released their self-titled debut, one of the catchiest records of the year. It is, quite fittingly, the kind of record to which you would get hammered after quitting your day job to be in a band. PUP is a raucous pop-punk record, a slab of youthful angst and release, packed with furious hardcore (“Guilt Trips”, “Reservoir”), gang choruses (“Mabu”, “Dark Days”) and infectious hooks (literally every song). Instead of dwelling on their fears and sorrows, PUP drown them in cheap beer and dueling guitars, extending you the invitation to join the fun.
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11. Sun Kil Moon — Benji
Benji is a beautiful, devastating listen. Singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek is 47 years old, and on his sixth album as Sun Kil Moon, he’s primarily focused on mortality — his own, his family’s, even that of complete strangers. Two of the album’s first three tracks reflect on relatives — his second cousin and his uncle — whom Kozelek has lost to aerosol cans exploding in the trash. These folk songs are confessionals, pages and pages of Kozelek ruminating on the formative moments in his life, presented in such intense detail that it can sometimes feel voyeuristic to listen to them. He explores his love for his parents and the terror he feels at the thought of them eventually dying. He remembers the experiences that inspired him to be a musician and, on the 10-minute masterstroke “I Watched the Film The Song Remains the Same”, even extends a heartfelt thank you to the man who gave him his first break. It’s a portrait of an artist as a middle-aged man, and there’s wisdom to be found in here for everybody, over blankets of delicately picked guitar. Kozelek is compassionate, funny, self-deprecating and, at points, a huge asshole. But, as Benji demonstrates, he is also deeply, profoundly human. I’ve never heard anything quite like it.
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10. Cloud Nothings — Here and Nowhere Else
It’s hard to believe that Dylan Baldi started Cloud Nothings by himself as a psychedelic rock project in his bedroom. Here and Nowhere Else is decidedly not psychedelic. Nor is it bedroom rock, unless you were, say, setting said bedroom on fire. On Cloud Nothings’ third album, Baldi has fleshed out the band and continued down the road he began paving — or, more accurately, tearing up — on 2012’s Attack on Memory: torrid, grungy guitar music. With the help of a stellar rhythm section (drummer Jayson Gerycz’s breakneck playing is key), Cloud Nothings play songs about fighting through despair, and they play them really damn fast. As you could probably guess, Baldi’s lyrics are often tortured, and he delivers them in a bark that turns into a scream more often than not. Don’t be fooled, though — Here and Nowhere Else isn’t about wallowing in self pity. It’s about channeling pain and frustration into a musical wrecking ball, and leveling those feelings in sold-out shows around the country.
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9. Warpaint — Warpaint
Warpaint’s self-titled sophomore album creeps up on you. The all-female psych-rockers distill elements from Radiohead, trip-hop and R&B into a bewitching 50 minute set full of ethereal grooves and richly textured songwriting. Tracks like “Keep It Healthy” and “Hi” are hypnotizing but sinister, like dreams you don’t want to awake from just yet, even though there’s something lurking in the dark. The Los Angeles group’s three-part vocal harmonies evaporate in and out of these songs, giving the album a sultry quality best enjoyed in dimly lit spaces. Warpaint can be lovelorn, as on lead single “Love is to Die”, or sensual, like when vocalist Theresa Wayman sings, “Give me more, give me more / I haven’t had this before,” on “CC”. On “Disco//very”, the closest thing here to a party song, the chanted mantra, “We’ll rip you up and tear you in two” sounds both seductive and downright dangerous. Even amid all of the atmospherics on this album, there’s a raw power at the center that will keep you coming back.
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8. Real Estate — Atlas
Real Estate’s sound is so easygoing that when I first heard Atlas, their third record and first since frontman Martin Courtney became a dad, I was a little disappointed. “All of their stuff sounds the same” is a gripe often directed at this band, and on first listen, I didn’t notice much different from their sophomore effort, Days. But then I couldn’t put the album down for, like, two months. Atlas’ beauty is in the little tweaks Real Estate make to their already charming formula. Matt Mondanile’s guitar tone is still sublime, but now there are more keyboards filling out the songs. The tunes are still breezy, but Courtney’s lyrics are now more concerned with the present and the uncertain future, rather than days at the beach long past. Atlas is the sound of growing up, of knowing and honing your strengths, and working out the rest along the way. “I remember when this all felt like pretend,” Courtney sings on “Crime”. The line is technically about a relationship, but it could apply to his band as well. Atlas finds Real Estate in a transitional period, and yeah, they’re getting older, but they’ll be sticking around.
Photo via deadendhiphop.com
7. Flying Lotus — You’re Dead!
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Los Angeles beat wizard Steve Ellison, a.k.a. Flying Lotus, made a jazz-fusion concept album that celebrates leaving this world and moving onto whatever’s next. Death has been present as a theme throughout his work, which has gotten increasingly more abstract since his beginnings making beats for Adult Swim commercials. You’re Dead! is a cosmic journey through jazz, hip-hop and progressive electronica, an otherworldly concoction that’s hard to describe but incredibly easy to get lost in. In FlyLo’s hands, death is simultaneously an interstellar guitar freak-out, a drugged-up party with Snoop Dogg and Captain Murphy (Ellison’s own rap alter-ego) and a plaintive, delicate dreamscape. With guest spots ranging from Snoop and Kendrick Lamar to jazz icon Herbie Hancock, You’re Dead! is the plateau Ellison has been working towards these last few years. “Never Catch Me”, the Kendrick collaboration, is on the shortlist for song (and music video) of the year, a multi-movement track constructed from layers of drums, cymbals, synth lines and twinkling piano keys. Kendrick raps dexterously over the insanity before everything floats into the ether on the backs of Thudercat’s bass and soaring vocals. It’s a perfect example of everything this album does so well (seriously, get me a K-Dot album produced entirely by Flying Lotus as soon as possible). With You’re Dead!, Ellison stares into the void and greets it with ecstatic laughter.
Photo via future-islands.com
6. Future Islands — Singles
Future Islands blew up this year on the strength of a meme-worthy late night performance and it’s a good thing, too — their success is far from unwarranted. Singles is supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek title, but it’s more fitting than anyone would have guessed. These 10 songs are immaculately crafted synth-pop, produced to grab you by the hips and get you dancing more than any of the band’s other work. It’s a more immediate collection of tracks, but Singles never sacrifices the band’s long-patented sort of weird or, more importantly, their aching sincerity. Lead singer Sam T. Herring is the focal point of the record, and his voice brings a strange, dramatic flair to everything, but he’s an even stronger writer, and his lyrics are simple but cutting. On “Sun in the Morning”, a ballad about the simple moments that make love wonderful, he croons, “I love to watch her go / That’s ‘cause I always knows, she’s always coming home / That’s ‘cause she always knows, I’m always coming home.” And on the bittersweet “Seasons (Waiting on You)”, the song that started it all, Herring muses “Seasons change / But, you know, some people never do,” a resigned admission that would be more sad if it weren’t sung over such a bounding bassline. On Singles, Future Islands will give you goosebumps then get you sweating on the dance floor.
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5. Run the Jewels — Run the Jewels 2
If you’d told me eight months ago that the best rap release this year would feature a guest spot from Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha, I probably would have laughed in your face. And yet, here we are. For the sequel to last year’s Run the Jewels (which, let’s not forget, was a fucking blast), Killer Mike and El-P double down on the bruising, hilarious hip-hop that’s become their calling card. Run the Jewels 2 is still packed with quotable kiss-offs to lesser beings (El-P: “You can all run naked backwards through a field of dicks”; Killer Mike: “Top of the morning / My fist to your face is fucking Folgers,” so many more) but it’s also a darker, angrier, more political listen. On “Early” Mike and El paint a devastating picture of police brutality, made all the more moving by Mike’s involvement in the recent conversation on Ferguson, and “Crown” finds Mike tormented by what his drug dealing might be doing to his community. Mike and El are best friends and their chemistry is outstanding, giving Run the Jewels 2 all of the unfuckwithable glory of its predecessor, but it’s a superior album because they’re willing to get deep… right before they punch a hater in the face and make off with his wallet.
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4. War on Drugs — Lost in the Dream
Adam Granduciel, mastermind of The War on Drugs, recorded Lost in the Dream after a bad breakup and a bout of all-consuming anxiety. Naturally, those personal crises drove him to create his most expansive, vital work to date. Lost in the Dream mines features of classic American road rock — slide guitar, driving tempos, harmonica, seven-minute songs that fit organically with your hands gripping a steering wheel — and filters them through blankets of ghostly production effects. The album conjures Tom Petty and Bob Seger, but the celestial quality of tracks like “Suffering” and “Eyes to the Wind” are all Granduciel’s, thanks to hours and hours of painstaking work. After the months of toiling and self-doubt that went into making this album, Lost in the Dream could have easily been lifeless, overproduced but underdeveloped. Instead, all of the little details give the songs astonishing life: “Suffering”’s liquid guitar solo, the synths that shimmer beneath the surface of “Burning”, all seven minutes and twelve seconds of “An Ocean in Between the Waves”. “I’m a bit run down here at the moment”, he laments at one point, minutes before those feelings get drowned in a invigorating display of guitar theatrics. Lost in the Dream is his catharsis, confirming that he can cheer up now.
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3. Caribou — Our Love
Dan Snaith has a warm, gentle smile and a Ph.D. in mathematics. He looks like a college professor you wouldn’t mind hitting up for office hours and seems, on the whole, like one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. He also records as Caribou, and Our Love, his first album since breaking out with 2011’s Swim, is one of the most deeply felt electronic albums of the year. Snaith fully commits to the danceable direction Swim was headed towards, giving listeners his own gentle takes on house, R&B and garage without losing any of his kooky psychedelia. His understated falsetto hovers on the songs — except for a standout turn from Canadian singer Jesse Lanza on “Second Chance” — covering love and loss with easy elegance. “Can’t Do Without You”, the album opener, is EDM for the flower-power set, a crescendo of analog synths and vocal loops that starts small then heats up until it can’t contain itself, exploding and ending back at the gentle place it began. Our Love soundtracked my autumn, its sunny textures and pervading sense of melancholy a perfect complement to falling leaves and cooling temperatures. It’s going to soundtrack many more seasons to come.
Photo via stereogum.com
2. FKA twigs — LP1
Tahliah Barnett, the British singer-songwriter who records as FKA twigs, is intimidating. Her entire artistic presence — her music, her videos, her media image — is carefully curated and mysterious, a challenging fusion of beauty and humanity and something wholly other. Her debut album, LP1, is equally tough to unpack, a mixture of experimental R&B and trip-hop that plays like a collection of pop songs turned inside out. The beats on this record sound sparse and skeletal even though they’re densely produced. Glitchy, subterranean electronic noise is paired with lush choral arrangements and washes of synthesizer, intricate compositions that burn slow but haunt you. On LP1, twigs is both sensual and guarded (“When I trust you, we can do it with the lights on”), but she can also be ferocious. On standout single “Two Weeks”, she sings from the perspective of someone who’s high and dreams of a lover who’s currently unavailable. “I could treat you better than her,” she croons. “Give me two weeks / you won’t recognize her.” Barnett’s voice floats in and out of these tracks, sometimes modulated and layered but always captivating. “I’m a sweet little love maker / finding time to make my words matter,” she coos on “Pendulum”. Barnett is isolated and cerebral on her debut, fighting to figure herself out. She and her music are equally hard to define, but both are arresting.
Photo via sunbathinganimal.com
1. Parquet Courts — Sunbathing Animal
The dudes in Parquet Courts have had a good couple of years, what with critical adoration for their breakout sophomore effort, Light Up Gold, and now its followup, Sunbathing Animal. Gold was a delightfully restless album, a caffeinated slice of witty rockers about wasting time, struggling with boredom and buying junk food. But they’ve grown up some on Sunbathing Animal. The shaggy charm is still there, but a claustrophobia and world-weariness permeates a significant portion of the album. “What’s sharp as a knife, followed me all my life / waits, never rests, till it eats me alive?” co-frontman Andrew Savage asks on “What Color is Blood?” Not that the album is any less fun — many of these tracks pack the same punch (“Black and White” and “Ducking & Dodging” especially), but the band leaves more room to breath in many of the arrangements, like the blues-y harmonica drone in “She’s Rolling”, or “Instant Disassembly”, the year’s top candidate for a drunken singalong at 3 a.m., a lovelorn bummer-epic that swaggers and stumbles for seven minutes and closes with a cathartic gang chorus. If that doesn’t sound fantastic (and it should — it’s one of the best songs of the year) then there’s the title track, a shredding and insightful ode to Savage’s cat. As the song thrashes along, the animal manages to get out of the house for a moment: “Running circles so proud until he got caught / in his brief emancipation he can feel what I cannot,” Savage howls. Once again, Parquet Courts mine the mundane, find something profound and turn it into an anthem.
Free Before Midnight 
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