Popular With Us 2014: Buzz Bands LA’s favorite albums of the year
Kevin Bronson on
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Last week, we shared our favorite Los Angeles albums of the year, so here is Buzz Bands LA’s overall list, as rendered by this site’s principal contributors, Seraphina Lotkhamnga, Andrew Veeder and myself. So much good music, so little time:
– Kevin Bronson
20. THE AFGHAN WHIGS
Although singer Greg Dulli and bassist John Curley are the lone holdovers from the 1990s lineup, the Afghan Whigs’ first album in 16 years proved every bit as tetchy as 1993’s “Gentlemen.” It’s aural dark matter that mythologizes any number of the seven deadly sins, not as a means of celebration but as an exorcism. “Parked Outside” and “Royal Cream” serve as blows to the head; “It Kills” haunts the unconsciousness that follows. Welcome back. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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19. YOUNG FATHERS
The Scottish trio Young Father’s debut album “Dead” took home the Mercury Prize this year, and rightfully so. Their diverse heritage has manifested itself into one of the most original and refreshing hip-hop albums of the year, a cultural melting pot of experimental pop music featuring the energetic and hypnotic call to arms single “Get Up.” – A.V. [Stream on Spotify]
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18. THE WAR ON DRUGS
“Red Eyes” is sprinkled throughout everyone’s year-end list for songs of 2014, if it isn’t right at the top. Its album is just as undeniable, with “Lost in the Dream” bringing woozy dream-pop and psych-rock into a realm fans of Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young fans could lose themselves in. A refreshing listen from beginning to end, Adam Granuciel and company’s refusal to hold back yielded spiraling guitar jams and choruses that shout out life one track at a time. – S.L. [Stream on Spotify]
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17. NIKKI LANE
Finally, a country singer you can believe when she wails about the War Between the Urges. Boasting the sweet vulnerability of Americana and the tart rebellion of outlaw country, Lane reveals her soft heart (“Good Man”) and hard urges (“Any day or night time … is always the right time to do the wrong thing,” she sings on “Right Time”), throwing in a nice duet with producer Dan Auerbach on “Loves On Fire.” Mystique with a twang. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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16. TY SEGALL
To say Ty Segall has had a prolific career so far would be an understatement. In just seven years, Segall has released eight albums – and these are just albums released under his name. With each record, Segall has proven himself to be an ax-wielding man, and he has reinvented himself yet again with “Manipulator.” If you couldn’t tell by all the glitter he’s been donning in press photos and at live shows, Segall successfully dove headfirst into glam rock with songs such as “Singer” and “Feel.” To say the least, “Manipulator” is one album to prove the saying “All that glitters isn’t gold” very wrong. – S.L. [Stream on YouTube]
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15. JESSIE WARE
Branching into rock and gospel, the U.K.’s queen of quiet storm returned with an album not only produced by some of the biggest and freshest names in industry (Benny Blanco, Dev Hynes, Ed Sheeran, Jimmy Napier) but with bolder choruses, sweeping pop melodies and a grit that may have just helped her out of Sade’s shadow her second time around. While Ware’s smooth R&B-pop vocals still remains the core of this velvety ride, the subject matter is sharp yet revealing making “Tough Love” one of the best well-rounded pop albums this year. – S.L. [Stream on Spotify]
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14. THE PRIMITIVES
All these past few years of fresh-faced indie-pop darlings and incessant fuzz have led to this … a new album of originals by one of the originals, the Primitives. Surely, fans of the Pains of Being Bleached Coast have heard their 1988 hit “Crash;” current Primitives (aka singer Tracy Tracy), singer-guitarist Paul Court, Raph Moore and Tig Williams return every bit as lovable, gushing pop choruses and infectious jangle all the way home. Hand claps, please, for this small but winning album, their first in 22 years. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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13. FUTURE ISLANDS
Just like Sam Herring’s dance moves, Future Islands’ “Singles” is wildly entertaining with its fearless pop choruses and lush melodrama. As Herring’s vocals drastically morph from crooning into demonic growling, the Baltimore trio’s ability to truly rock the synth-pop genre is impressive. With songs like “Season (Waiting On You”) and “A Song For Our Grandfathers,” Future Islands have made anthems for the triumphant, the lost and the forgotten – all perfect soundtracks to the best dance party of our lives. – S.L. [Stream on Spotify]
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12. FUCKED UP
The Canadian rabble-rousers set the bar so high on 2008’s “The Chemistry Of Common Life” and 2011’s concept album “David Comes to Life” that they’re almost competing against themselves in the hardcore world. The band’s fourth album is no less caustic, albeit more concise, as vocalist Pink Eyes (Damian Abraham) shreds his way through existential crises both universal (the whole thing about fleeting youth) and specific (the band’s own stature as “celebrated” outsiders). And if the drums were any heavier, they’d break you. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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11. SHABAZZ PALACES
Former Digable Planets member Ishmael Butler, aka Palaceer Lazaro, and Tendai Maraire’s second album as Shabazz Palaces is a masterpiece of hip-hop noir, weaving a tapestry of the strange and fascinating that ranges from ethereal to futuristic beat scene, and sounds equally pulled from 40 years ago and 40 years from now. The 7-suite, 18-song avant-garde album buzzes with intriguing wordplay and percolates with intricate production, exemplified by the dynamite tracks “Forerunner Foray,” “They Come In Gold,” and “#Cake.” – A.V. [Stream on Spotify]
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10. ST. VINCENT
The fourth album from critical darling Annie Clark feels more like a conversation that anything she’s done, so it’s curious that it is a self-titled affair. Is this who she is – still faintly inscrutable but decidedly dauntless? Well, good. If 2011’s “Strange Mercy” had all the charm of a capstone presentation, “St. Vincent,” with its nimble guitars, alternately buzzing and dreamy electronics precise vocals, is for all the post-graduate reality that follows. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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9. A return to form that no one expected, and many waited a decade for, the Canadian dance-punk duo Death From Above 1979 came roaring back out of nowhere this year with a bangarang sophomore effort full of fun and hard-charging songs. The reunited bass-and-drum outfit’s sound has matured with bluesy textures, structured breakdowns, and tighter tracks, while maintaining their signature sonic assault. – A.V. [Stream on Spotify]
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8. SWANS
Here’s one for believing in your trusted sources. If not for this and this, I probably would not have cleared the time and headspace (a frenetic 2014 allowed for a surfeit of neither) for this gargantuan work from Swans, founded in 1982, shelved in ’97 and brought out of mothballs in 2010. A double-CD clocking in at 2 hours, “To Be Kind” ranks as the most ferocious, fiercely dense and bravely experimental album of the year – rock, not as it is done in the garage but as it must be imagined on some distant planet. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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7. Despite titling the album with a question, “Are We There” is Sharon Van Etten’s most realized album to date. Still balancing the harsh volatility and the sweeping happiness of love, Van Etten’s tunes rather focuses more on the culprit instead of herself as a victim this time around. This doesn’t go without saying that she still can write the most gut-wrenching of songs though. Her slight vibrato still quivers with a palpability that makes it difficult to not always take Van Etten’s side in any story. – S.L. [Stream on Spotify]
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6. FKA TWIGS
Former backup singer Tahliah Bennett leapt into the spotlight this year with her debut album, an art-pop record full of fractured and nuanced electronic production that frames her angelic and haunting voice in its rightfully deserved place. “LP1” exudes a beautifully restrained sexiness, and features deep cuts “Lights On” and “Numbers” that are as strong as the singles “Pendulum” and “Two Weeks.” – A.V. [Stream on Spotify]
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5. RYAN ADAMS
One of the year’s most prolific artists, with multiple 7″s to his credit including the excellent 10-track “1984,” also released one of the best albums of his career, steeped in emotional and vivid songwriting that resonates long after the initial listen. “Ryan Adams” leans more electric than 2011’s “Ashes & Fire” with tracks like “Gimme Something Good” and “Kim,” but his craft really shines the acoustic and atmospheric “My Wrecking Ball.” – A.V. [Stream on Spotify]
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4. DELTA SPIRIT
If dictionaries could include sound bites, Delta Spirit’s “Into the Wide” would be under the definition of “escape.” It’s a theme that runs rampant throughout the record, which by the way is perhaps the most harmonious with the unbridled energy of their live shows. With songs like the gorgeous title track and the anthemic “Patriarch,” breaking free never sounded so good. – S.L. [Stream on Spotify]
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3. The fifth album and first in three years from Tunde Adebimpe, Dave Sitek, Kyp Malone and Jaleel Bunton – made in the wake of founding bassist Gerard Smith’s passing in 2011 – is their most direct (and clutter-free) yet, which is not to say it is without its complexities. Meticulously produced, “Seeds” sees TVOTR still synthesizing electronic, post-punk and rock ’n’ soul in surprising ways, and its first four tracks, capped by “Happy Idiot” (which we’ll still like in 2024), carry more heft than most full albums. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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2. El-P and Killer Mike as the duo Run The Jewels just kept on running, releasing their second album in as many years of bombastic, high-energy hip-hop. With guest spots from Zack de la Rocha and Gangsta Boo, it’s equal parts oddball rhyme styling, politically charged social commentary and sheer fun as they tag-team each track over El-P’s grimy and explosive production. – A.V. [Stream on Spotify]
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1. SPOON
Imagine this: A band two decades old reaching the zenith of its career on album No. 8. In “They Want My Soul,” Britt Daniel and gang managed to make a Spoon album without retracing the footsteps of their past 15 years, with producers Joe Chiccarelli and Dave Fridmann helping the band’s indie blues sound stadium-sized. As for Daniel, he is taut and literate as ever, dancing between the pugilistic and the romantic. It’s never quite as us-against-them as the album’s title implies – Spoon can keep its soul, after all, and they have. We just need to hear from it every once in a while. – K.B. [Stream on Spotify]
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More albums we liked
Listed alphabetically, here are 38 more 2014 releases we recommend:
Alvvays, “Alvvays”
The Antlers, “Familiars”
BadBadNotGood, “III”
Alice Boman “EP II (+ Skisser)”
Cibo Matto, “Hotel Valentine”
Clean Bandit, “New Eyes”
Cloud Nothings, “Here and Nowhere Else”
Craft Spells, “Nausea”
D’Angelo, “Black Messiah”
First Aid Kit, “Stay Gold”
Glass Animals, “Zaba”
Hundred Waters, “The Moon Rang Like a Bell”
Interpol, “El Pintor”
Jungle, “Jungle”
Mark Lanegan, “Phantom Radio”
Liars, “Mess”
LP, “Forever for Now”
Lykke Li, “I Never Learn”
Merchandise, “After the End”
MØ, “No Mythologies to Follow”
Thurston Moore, “The Best Day”
Bob Mould, “Beauty & Ruin”
Angel Olsen, “Burn Your Fire for No Witness”
The Orwells, “Disgraceland”
Christopher Owens, “A New Testament”
Perfume Genius, “Too Bright”
Phantogram, “Voices”
The Raveonettes, “Pe’ahi”
Real Estate, “Atlas”
She Keeps Bees, “Eight Houses”
Strand of Oaks, “Heal”
Sun Kil Moon, “Benji”
Temples, “Sun Structures”
Tennis, “Ritual In Repeat”
Todd Terje, “It’s About Time”
Twin Peaks, “Wild Onion”
Jack White, “Lazaretto”
Wye Oak, “Shriek”
Hi! Thanks for the list, Delta Spirit was a great discovery for me!
Merry Christmas!
Delta Spirit and Ryan Adams records are pretty impressive
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