This year wasn\u2019t a personal best: much of the earlier part of the year was spent in and out of the hospital for cancer treatment, including a month-long stay for a stem cell transplant. While I was there, a friend sent me a mix CD. Listening to that was like a breath of fresh air into my sterile hospital room, and I remembered what life on the outside was like. A few of those artists\u2014Angel Olsen and EMA\u2014made it to my list, as well as Parquet Courts, one of the first reviews I did outside the hospital walls. This year was, however, a good year for music, and my bests for 2014 include some new artists as well as some old favorites. (I should probably just keep standing spots for any Parquet Courts or Zola Jesus releases.)<\/p>\n
10. The Woodentops, Granular Tales (Cherry Red)<\/strong> 9. Temples, Sun Structures (Fat Possum)<\/strong> 8. Tweens, Tweens (Frenchkiss)<\/strong> 7. Johnny Marr, Playland (Warner Music Group)<\/strong> 6. EMA, The Future\u2019s Void (Matador)<\/strong> 5. Gruff Rhys, American Interior (Turnstile)<\/strong> 4. The Crookes, Soapbox (Modern Outsider)<\/strong> 3. Zola Jesus, Taiga (Mute)<\/strong> 2. Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire for No Witness (Jagjaguwar)<\/strong> 1. Parquet Courts, Sunbathing Animal (What\u2019s Your Rupture?\/Mom+Pop)<\/strong> This year wasn\u2019t a personal best: much of the earlier part of the year was spent in and out of the hospital for cancer treatment, including a month-long stay for a stem cell transplant. While I was there, a friend sent me a mix CD. Listening to that was like a breath of fresh air […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2479],"tags":[398,311,909,250,41,309,228,386,507,933],"class_list":["post-2817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of-the-year","tag-angel-olsen","tag-ema","tag-gruff-rhys","tag-johnny-marr","tag-parquet-courts","tag-temples","tag-the-crookes","tag-the-woodentops","tag-tweens","tag-zola-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nAfter a 25-year studio hiatus, The Woodentops released Granular Tales<\/i>, a triumphant return for the notable British band. The new collection of songs spans a variety of styles and influences, from the storytelling languor that builds to hymnal harmonies in \u201cA Little More Time\u201d to the frenetic energy and Spanish flair of \u201cA Pact\u201d to the reggae beat and playful keyboards of \u201cConversations.\u201d Other tracks seem to be plucked from decades ago\u2014not a bad thing at all\u2014such as the spirited \u201cThird Floor Rooftop,\u201d which should have an \u201980s film built around it, or \u201cI\u2019m Delighted,\u201d a bass groove providing a backdrop to the keyboards and Rolo McGinty\u2019s ebullient musings. One of the true standouts is \u201cStay Out of the Light,\u201d a hypnotizing bass line prodding the vocal pace as the song builds to a joyously psychedelic chorus. Even if you\u2019re not familiar with The Woodentops\u2019 \u201980s catalog, Granular Tales<\/i> is worthy of a listen.<\/p>\n
\nSince the \u201960s, England has exported its share of psychedelic bands in cycles, from The Charlatans to Kula Shaker. It makes sense that with the revival in \u201990s music and fashion, the fascination with the \u201960s that was prevalent 20 years ago is back, too. At the forefront is Temples, a foursome that\u2019s earned attention and praise from Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher. But from the band\u2019s shaggy hair and fringed jackets to the kaleidoscopic video for \u201cShelter Song,\u201d the Temples exist as if the \u201990s or any of the intervening decades never really happened and were all just a trippy dream. You can try to resist the infectious melodies and bassline of the \u201cMesmerise\u201d single and the backbeat of \u201cKeep in the Dark,\u201d but eventually you\u2019ll have to give in and enjoy the debut from these time-traveling troubadours.<\/p>\n
\nFollowing a building buzz\u2014especially after supporting tour dates with the Breeders in 2013\u2014Cincinnati\u2019s Tweens released their self-titled debut earlier this year. Bridget Battle, Peyton Copes and Jerri Queen exhibit the kind of tightness and chemistry throughout the record of \u00a0\u201ctrash pop\u201d that you\u2019d expect from a more mature band.\u00a0Tweens\u2019<\/i>\u00a0collection of tunes melds punk defiance and a lo-fi attitude with melodic pop choruses and catchy hooks that hint at influences ranging from doo-wop to The Donnas. \u201cBe Mean,\u201d in which Battle asserts that a sweet guy is quickly securing himself a place in the friend zone, brims with youthful vigor and irreverence. Battle\u2019s lyrics are full of bad-girl swagger, which at times can be empowering, while in other instances is even self-aware and vulnerable. As on \u201cBored in This City,\u201d the Tweens might be artfully bored, but their debut proves they\u2019re anything but boring.<\/p>\n
\nWhile Johnny Marr established himself decades ago as a legendary guitar player in The Smiths, he really came into his own as a solo artist last year with\u00a0The Messenger<\/i>, a nearly flawless record that left many wondering why he\u2019d waited so long to take up the mic and move center stage. This year\u2019s follow-up,\u00a0Playland<\/i>, shows that Marr was just getting started; it seems that catchy pop tunes flow from him nearly as easily as the unforgettable guitar hooks did. That said, the jangly signature Smiths sound doesn\u2019t appear very often in his new material, save for a few hints in tracks like \u201cBack in the Box\u201d and \u201cLittle King.\u201d \u201cCandidate,\u201d for example, sounds a little like a lost song from The Church, while guitar-driven \u201cDynamo\u201d builds into a soaring track. Meanwhile, the standout single, \u201cEasy Money,\u201d delivers a message about material greed and an irresistible melody. Does this mean no price will ensure a Smiths reunion? No matter. Marr\u2019s new solo material and energetic live performances (when he often incorporates classics like \u201cPanic\u201d and \u201cHow Soon Is Now?\u201d into the set) are enough.<\/p>\n
\nEven if there wasn\u2019t a track named after William Gibson\u2019s 1984 cyberpunk novel Neuromancer<\/i>, you\u2019d probably get the hint that with The Future\u2019s Void<\/i>, EMA (a.k.a. Erika M. Anderson) primarily concerns herself with memories of the \u201980s. On \u201cSatellite,\u201d she recalls the Cold War over hand-claps and synth: \u201cI remember when the world was divided by a wall of concrete and a curtain of iron.\u201d But EMA also looks forwards to the future\u2014or the present, depending on how you look at it. This vision is explicit in the video for the punk-infused \u201cSo Blonde,\u201d an amalgamation of the two decades taking place on Venice Beach, Anderson wearing mirrored sunglasses, a Doors shirt, boombox by her side and pixilated gif dancers, surfers, and skaters. On the album, EMA, suffering from internet fatigue, takes aim at selfies, cyberbullying, and on \u201cDead Celebrities,\u201d the morbid fascination with the famous. While such examinations could fall prey to cliche, EMA avoids that trap with a powerful pop record that takes a critical look at how we got to where we are.<\/p>\n
\nThis concept album from former Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys is about one of his distant ancestors, John Evans, a Welshman who traveled to the wilds of America in the late 1700s to find a Native American tribe said to be descendants of a 12th century Welsh prince named Madoc. It\u2019s also the soundtrack to an accompanying documentary about Evans made by Rhys and Dylan Goch. A small plush version of Evans appears on the cover of the album and on tour, as Rhys tells the ill-fated explorer\u2019s tale through song and slides from the film\u2014more engaging and funny than you\u2019d expect from a history lesson. Rhys details Evans\u2019 journey on the rollicking, folksy \u201c100 Unread Messages,\u201d reimagined and modernized from the point of view of someone trying to email him and getting no reply. Rhys sings, \u201cWhen you said that you loved me, I knew it wasn\u2019t true. I\u2019ve 100 unread messages and not a single note from you,\u201d over percussion that mimics the chugging of a train. Evans\u2019 story is told over a variety of styles, from the haunting, melancholy beauty of the title track and \u201cLiberty (Is Where We\u2019ll Be)\u201d to the funk-tinged piano tune \u201cThe Last Conquistador\u201d and the synth-driven \u201cLost Tribes.\u201d American Interior<\/i> is weirdly brilliant, which is fitting for a nearly forgotten fantastical tale of a Welsh explorer.<\/p>\n
\nAnyone who watched the Pulp documentary most likely fell a little in love with Sheffield, hometown to the Britpop greats and focus of much of the film. There\u2019s a newer reason to turn your ears towards Sheffield: The Crookes, a band named after a suburb of the city and whose third record, Soapbox<\/i>, is a charming whirlwind of jangly melodic pop. The band has drawn a lot of comparisons to Orange Juice, but there\u2019s also quite a bit of \u201950s and \u201960s rockin\u2019 and rollin\u2019 in tracks like \u201cDon\u2019t Put Your Faith in Me\u201d and the meandering dream pop of \u201cHowl.\u201d Over it all, vocalist George Waite makes clever observations and confessions, singing in a high-toned croon. Soapbox<\/i> is delightful from beginning to end.<\/p>\n
\nZola Jesus (a.k.a. Nika Roza Danilova) said her fifth full-length album was her attempt at a pop record, yet it still stubbornly refuses to be neatly categorized. You won\u2019t hear this at the gym, but that\u2019s a good thing. Taiga<\/i> teeters on the edge of the broad pop spectrum, far away from Taylor Swift and Charli XCX. On Zola Jesus\u2019 earlier works, heavy percussion and soaring synths accompanied Danilova\u2019s operatic vocals, which ascended over alternately sparse, somewhat noisy, gothic musical landscapes. Oddly, when she secluded herself on Vashon Island in Washington, where you\u2019d expect her to create more of her haunting tunes, she came back to civilization with Taiga<\/i>. The tracks have less of the atmospheric set-up and slow dramatic build than earlier songs, yet there\u2019s still plenty of musical might on \u201cIt\u2019s Not Over\u201d and the brass-filled title track. Even the minimalistic \u201cNail\u201d has a warmer feeling than her previous work, and \u201cDangerous Days\u201d is nearly catchy and danceable. Zola Jesus continues to march to the beat of her own drum\u2014the beats on this record are just a bit faster.<\/p>\n
\nThough a woman singing about a failed relationship accompanied by her acoustic guitar is nothing new, Angel Olsen will captivate even the most hard-hearted and cynical. She has a voice that conveys both vulnerability and strength, and you know our heroine is going to be okay as she repeats, \u201cI am the only one now,\u201d a sad resolution that subtly evolves into a mantra of resilience and strength on the opening \u201cUnfucktheworld.\u201d While Olsen sometimes evokes the melancholy beauty of Mazzy Star on tracks like \u201cWhite Fire,\u201d more often than not her voice rings with echoes of old country, with a nod to Hank Williams on \u201cHigh-Five\u201d when she opens with \u201cI feel so lonesome I could cry.\u201d Every track on the record is brilliant, but standouts include the dreamy indie fuzz of \u201cForgiven\/Forgotten\u201d and \u201cStars,\u201d on which she wishes she had the power \u201cto scream the feeling until there\u2019s nothing left.\u201d But Olsen doesn\u2019t need to scream to get our attention\u2014all she needs is that voice and her guitar.<\/p>\n
\nParquet Courts\u2019 debut, Light Up Gold<\/i>, was on many critics\u2019 best-of lists last year and the Brooklyn foursome was hailed as one of the most promising new bands around. This year, the band exceeded expectations with Sunbathing Animal<\/i>. The band\u2019s split personality makes for a record that ebbs and flows, sometimes meandering at a laidback, stoner amble with deadpan vocals reminiscent of Pavement and other times at a frenetic postmodern punk pace. The lyrics are clever, but show that the band never takes itself too seriously, and this go-around, the band\u2019s youthful exuberance is tinged with a touch of world weariness. Songs seem to pour forth effortlessly; in fact, Parquet Courts\u2019 Austin Brown and Andrew Savage even released another record, Content Nausea<\/i>, this year under the name Parkay Quarts. If the band\u2019s prolific evolution continues, we should all save a 2015 best-of spot\u2014or two\u2014for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"