My Favourite Albums Of 2014
In particular I loved Beck's lush folk rock beauty Morning Phase, J Mascis's surprisingly lovely Tied To A Star, Leonard Cohen's typically graceful Popular Problems, Mark Lanegan's menacing gothic pop Phantom Radio, Sturgill Simpson's fantastic traditional country record Metamodern Sounds In Country Music and Hawksley Workman's excellent new band Mounties' debut Thrash Rock Legacy. But one male who let me down a little was my favourite of all: Neil Young. He released two albums this year but the first, A Letter Home, recorded in Jack White's old-fashioned Voice-o-Graph recording booth, I found more of an oddity and the second, Storytone, his big "orchestral" album, I found pretty drab. Another disappointment for me was Ryan Adams' latest, which seemed more middle of the road than ever and made me long for the dark, acoustic album he abandoned for being too depressing. Of the remaining albums I loved I found it near impossible to whittle them down to just ten so finally I thought, so says it can't be more? If I can't break the rules on my own blog then where can I? So I decided to have just two extra because I really couldn't decide between these 12 beauties.
Tahliah Barnett, otherwise known as FKA Twigs, recently complained that her music being described as "alternative R&B" was insulting to what she was trying to do. It's just, she says, R&B pure and simple. But personally I think there's something utterly unique about FKA Twigs that makes it hard to put into any kind of genre of all. The closest comparison I can find for her is Kate Bush as she has the same other-worldly ethereal vibe but is still able to make her music sound utterly contemporary. Her debut album, the simply titled LP1, is a lush record oozing sensuality with breathy girlish vocals, electronic beats, eerie strings and atmospheric keyboards. Although it's pop music, there's still something enigmatic and artistic about this, like Prince at his most experimental, that makes it stand out from the crowd. Her music isn't afraid to be dark or sad and so it makes sense that Anna Calvi wanted to cover her track Papa Pacify on her recent EP Strange Weather and is a nice tribute from one newfound British act to another freshfaced talent.
11. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
We had to wait six years for Jenny Lewis' third solo album (although we did get a Jenny & Johnny LP, her project with boyfriend Johnathan Rice, in between) and when word came that Ryan Adams was producing it sounded like a dream team. The reality wasn't quite so great. Adams seemed to be more interested in drawing out Lewis the pop singer and sonically this album is more like a follow-up to the pop sounds found on the last Rilo Kiley album, Under The Blacklight (which was something of a mixed bag for me) rather than the blues and country she was successfully exploring on her own LPs. That's not to say there's not lots to love here because there most certainly is. The Beck-produced first single, One Of The Guys, about the perils of being a girl in a rock band, has to be one of the singles of the year, while Late Bloomer - storytelling in song at its best and based on Lewis' real life experiences - could have easily fit on her last album Acid Tongue and would have been a standout track there too. She's Not Me has a Tom Petty-ish feel and in another, earlier time could have been a big hit. Then there's Aloha & The Three Johns, which is as quirky as any of her Rilo Kiley tunes. Overall the album is pure sunshine, California pop and, aside from the striking melancholy of the title track which ends the LP, it's hard to believe it was all borne out of a dark time for Lewis. That said, it shows what a tough, talented and smart lady she is but with just a little more grit and less polish I think it would have lived up to expectations. This is still a great record though and it's great to have her back.
10. Antemasque - Antemasque
It's no secret that I have faithfully followed everything that Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez have done from their days in shouty punk rockers At The Drive-In to the prog-infused The Mars Volta and even their obscure dub project De Facto. It was undoubtedly sad when the pair briefly fell out a couple of years back and went their own ways so I was thrilled when they kissed and made-up (aided by pal Flea of the Chili Peppers) and formed this new band to cement their rediscovered friendship. These two definitely have some kind of unique magic when they work together and it's clearly apparent here once again. This is probably the most straight-forward music they've ever recorded though: more stripped down than the Volta and more poppy than At The Drive-In. It quite joyful to hear them rock out on tracks like People Forget and In The Lurch, while Drown All Your Witches has an acoustic Zeppelin-esque feel. The only disappointing track is 50,000 Kilowatts which is more bog standard rock than the title suggests but it's just one weak spot in an otherwise excellent LP and another exciting chapter in the ongoing musical saga of Omar and Cedric.9. St. Vincent - St. Vincent
I guess this is a low placing for an album that topped plenty of year end polls this year but I can't deny that, while I loved the space queen, art-pop new image and the punchy horns that made their way from her collaboration with David Byrne, I didn't love Annie Clark's self-titled major label debut as much as her first three albums which felt more like Annie and less performance pieces. Of course this is still utterly superior pop: innovative and intelligent yet probably her most accessible yet, which is a pretty impressive combination and one few artists have managed, only the likes of Bowie, Kate Bush and, yes, David Byrne, come to mind. Plus, it would be impossible not to love such a crazy and upbeat single such as Birth In Reverse, which starts with the hard-to-forget line "Oh what an ordinary day, take out the garbage, masturbate." My favourite was the brass-infused march of Digital Witness, which seemed to fit Annie's new triangular blonde bob perfectly, and the electro-style ballad I Prefer Your Love, in which Clark crooned she preferred love "to Jesus". This album marks when an underground alternative icon turns into a bonafide pop star.
8. Afghan Whigs - Do To The Beast
The first Afghan Whigs album in 16 years sounded more like a Twilight Singers record if I'm entirely honest. Not that that's a bad thing but given that only Dulli and John Curley remain of the original line-up and Greg is the sole songwriter it's no surprise that this so-called comeback album sounds more like Dulli's most recent musical project. Obviously with Dulli at the helm it's still brilliant stuff: beautifully dark and moody but Rick McCollum's distinctive slide guitar, which would have made this sound way more like the old Whigs, is sorely missed. If you forget that it's a Whigs record and just think of it as a Dulli project it more than delivers, full of the sleaze and drama we know and love him for. It also shows some new sides to old Greg in particular on the country-sludge of Algiers, which owes more to Crazy Horse than Dulli's beloved soul records. Lost In The Woods has a cinematic quality closer to the Whigs than anything else here and Parked Outside has a gnarly gospel feel. The highlight though is the groove-filled Matamoros which has a burning intensity and some killer Dulli vocals. A fantastic record that deserved much more glowing reviews.
7. Marianne Faithfull - Give My Love To London
It's crazy to think that at 67 years old and after 50 years in the business, Marianne Faithfull has delivered one of her best, if not the best, albums of her career. With her deeper, smoke-ravished voice, Marianne suits darker, more gothic material these days and here she has some of the very best she's ever sung, collaborating with the likes of Nick Cave, Steve Earle, Ed Harcourt, Tom McRae and Anna Calvi. The Calvi track is particularly striking, a sweeping epic called Falling Back. The Steve Earle co-write that gives its name to and opens the album is a Celtic-flavoured stomp and a beautiful love letter to London, the city that formed her but she no longer lives in (Faithfull lives in Paris these days, which somehow seems fitting). Along with her collaborations there are some great covers here too, Sparrows Will Sing, written for her by old friend Roger Waters; her favourite Everly Brothers song The Price Of Love and perhaps best of all, Going Home, from Leonard Cohen's last LP Old Ideas. It's something of a joy to hear her speak-sing "I love to speak with Leonard, he's a sportsman and a shepherd, he's a lazy bastard living in a suit." The standout track though is written by Marianne herself, a feminist rewriting of Kipling's Jungle Book called Mother Wolf, which is Faithfull at her most defiant and powerful, as if she is digging in her heels and proving once and for all what an incredible artist she really is.
6. Warpaint - Warpaint
Although there's nothing more I enjoy checking out than an all-girl rock band I have no idea why it took me so long to come to Warpaint, the unique Los Angeles rock band that originally featured the actress Shannyn Sossamon and still includes her sister Jenny Lee Lindberg. But what a treat to finally discover them and with this, their self-titled second album which is without a doubt their best so far. There is something quite hypnotic and tribal about Warpaint: it's big, spacey and ethereal yet has a proper groove throughout it all (the artwork for the album couldn't be more fitting really). For a while this summer you couldn't help but hear Love Is To Die, the first single from the LP, on TV but the rest of the album is just as good. Disco//Very has a Le Tigre feel, while Go In is both dreamy and haunting and the track Keep It Healthy, despite the good advice of its title, has a creepy groove. Emily Kokal's and Theresa Wayman's vocals are beautifully interwoven in the sound throughout which gives them the feel of a more American, 21st Century Lush to me, which is no bad thing at all.
5. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Angel Olsen has to have one of the most affecting voices I've heard in years. There's a sob in her voice that you usually only hear in country singers that can't help but move you. It's most striking when she's performing more stripped down songs but it still resonates even when she turns the distortion up, as she does on Burn Your Fire For No Witness, her second LP. This is an album that lulls you in with the sad echo of the very unprettily titled Unfucktheworld before bringing in the angry strum and heavy beat of Forgiven/Forgotten. In a lot of ways this album wouldn't be out of place with the best alternative artists of the 1990s (it certainly seems to be influenced by those sounds anyway but with added tearful croon of a 50s ballad sung by Patsy Cline). White Fire for instance isn't too far removed from Mazzy Star and Stars has a little bit of Sleater-Kinney running through its veins. The final track Windows though is her absolute masterpiece: a breathy vocal building up like the sun rising and the final revelation of the light bursting through the glass and making everything golden. It's absolutely sublime.
4. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
Although I loved many of Lana Del Rey's first singles, Born To Die, her debut album didn't make my 2012 list because I felt the overall album didn't live up to their promise and was a little patchy, in sound at least. Her follow-up (if you discount Paradise, which is called an EP but is as long as many albums), Ultraviolence doesn't suffer that problem at all and is everything I ever wanted Lana Del Rey to be. It certainly helps that, unlike her debut which had a mismash of producers, this one is mostly produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who helps keep the mood and feel consistent and also gives it a dose of indie cool. The first single, West Coast, is a moody California classic, like an old film noir come to life and turned into a cracking tune. The rest of the album is equally atmospheric such as on the eerie Shades Of Cool, like a David Lynchian tale bathed in dream pop or the full-on torch singer vibe of Sweet Girl, and even the emotional sweep of Cruel World. In some ways the jazz standard The Other Woman is unnessary but it does fit in with style and themes and makes an unexpectedly sweeter end than you'd expect from this beautifully sinister pop record.
3. First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
It seems like First Aid Kit just keep getting better and better. After the brilliance of The Lion's Roar I really didn't think they'd better what I consider pretty much a perfect album but I couldn't have been more wrong. With Stay Gold sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg have expanded on the Americana and country sounds they were exploring on The Lion's Roar and made them bigger and bolder. They started off as a little folk act imitating Fleet Foxes and grown into a band with a genuine country soul that would make Gram Parsons and, the woman who inspired their most famous song, Emmylou Harris, proud. You can hear the evidence of this in the first single My Silver Lining with its Nashville strings and authentically country strummings and slide guitar. It's crazy that two 20-something sisters from Stockholm, Sweden have more country in their hearts and voices then many so-called country stars these days. The title track with its melting harmonies and warm acoustics proves this completely but the star attraction is the gentle and genuinely moving Cedar Lane, with its lush melancholy backing. But I could go through every track and praise it because Stay Gold really is something of a wonder.
2. Stevie Nicks - 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault
To get a new Stevie Nicks album just three years after her last (an absolutely minute amount of time in Nicks land these days) was a complete and utter surprise but a hugely welcome one too. Although she reunited with Dave Stewart, who she loved working so much on the superb In Your Dreams, this album was a massive departure for Stevie because it was recorded amazingly quickly for any Fleetwood Mac member (all known for their excess and spending long months, even years, in the studio) in just two weeks in Nashville with a slew of top notch session musicians and some of her most talented musician friends. On top of this the material was gathered together from her archives (inspired by seeing all the old demo versions popping up on YouTube) and dates back to 1969, the last song being written in the mid 90s bar a cover of Vanessa Carlton's Carousel (Stevie's late mother's favourite song apparently). Of course as a hardcore Stevie devotee for most of my life I do have one complaint, that the amazing Julia was somehow left off, but it's really a small grumble because the songs she has chosen are absolutely exceptional and pretty much a dream to finally hear completed recordings of. Songs like Belle Feur (obviously a little nod to Joni Mitchell), The Dealer, All The Beautiful Worlds and Mabel Normand, her tribute to the tragic silent movie actress and director. The most striking track of all is easily the simple piano ballad Lady which shows off Stevie's still great voice. It's all so good you kind of forgive the lame Lady Antebellum popping up on the country-feel Blue Water, or the unconvincingly punky I Don't Care or even the sillness of the jazzy cartoonish Cathouse Blues. The most remarkable thing about 24 Karat Gold though is that is manages
to stay true to the sound and feel of the era of each of its tracks, yet
still sounds completely contemporary. It’s hard to believe some of
these tracks never made it onto an album before, but one thing’s for
sure, Stevie Nicks sounds more timeless than ever, and the end result is
one of her best albums yet.
1. Ex Hex - Rips
A couple of years back Mary Timony's previous band Wild Flag - her brilliant collaboration with Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein - released their only record and it was an easy choice for my album of the year. Although the band pretty much wrapped up after their only tour it seems Mary Timony had got a taste for being in an all-girl band and wasn't ready to give up the fun or all the rock and roll. The resulting band Ex Hex, made up of Timony, Betsy Wright and Laura Harris, is a power pop trio that seems to meld all the best sounds from the New Wave scene of the late 70s and early 80s, with short, punchy song, great singalong choruses, cool and catchy backing vocals but with a punk rock attitude and a whole heap of fun. In fact it's impossible to listen to Rips and not break out in a smile because this is fun, feelgood music at its best and crazily it's the most simple and straightforward thing Timony has ever done. Ex Hex is also the band you wished you were in back in your school days but you were too uncool to form, so it makes it even sweeter these are women in their 40s who look like the most hip and badass rock chicks ever. Who wants to be some trendy teenager when you can be 45-year-old-but-way-more-beautiful-and-kick-ass-than-you Mary Timony. Rips is a record you put on (and yes, vinyl for this helps the experience) and you'll want to jump around and dance and wear skinny jeans and pretend you are in a John Hughes movie as one of the kids who has the cool adventures you never had. This is a record that makes you feel happy and alive and that's why it's my favourite album of 2014. I can't wait to see them live.
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