1. Ariel Pink - pom pom (4AD)
Unless you count Ray Davies, Martin Newell (of Cleaners from Venus) and, by default, R. Stevie Moore -- Ariel Marcus Rosenberg is the greatest living pop songwriter. And while Mr. Pink has suffered, perhaps, less exposure sans the Haunted Graffiti, pom pom is, perhaps, his greatest triumph. Melding all of those time-warping ideas from the past, on albums like Worn Copy and House Arrest, into a full-on psychedelic smorgasbord of channel surfing. His opus in miniature (if only because larger things lay in the future).
My review
2. The Stevens - A History of Hygiene (Chapterhouse)
Charming naivety and osmotic pedigree. The Australian quartet,
the Stevens, have a bit of both on their unassumingly perfect debut. It runs
along without catching much attention on the first few listens, but begins to
grow like welcomed tumor exponentially on each successive spin. All of the
nostalgic indie-pop signifiers of the '90s can suffice in explaining A History of Hygiene (Pavement, the
Clean, Arab Strap) but none come to define this band. Live their M.O. is even
more enigmatic. I just hope they keep such a prolific streak going well into
2015 and beyond.
3. A Sunny Day in Glasgow - The Sea When Absent (Lefse)
So far, I've called ASDIG a band built in fragments.
American Shoegaze, battered IDM, ethereal soothsaying, power electronics? The
Sea When Absent, though again designed by members across the globe in a kaleidoscopic
Jenga puzzle of layer, appears to level those planes enough to sound as
complete and formed as they must initially broadcast in the mind of Ben
Daniels. In a world that obsesses over the next note played by Kevin Sheilds,
at least acknowledge that there is certainly life, and a transcendent, thriving
life, beyond Loveless.
4. Javiera Mena - Otra Era (Union Del Sur)
I made mention of Javiera Mena four years ago in
my 2010 Top Twenty. Back then I was ushering any audience who would listen into
her siren coos and retro-futuristic disco. On the surface she played the pawn
for my gregarious attraction to every beat borne of South America -- but she
was among the elite. In the present, her model (mold?) is de riguer -- Robyn,
Kieza, La Roux, Lana Del Rey -- and those percolations from Brazil, Argentina,
and Mena's native -- can be found mutated in most of the Top 40. To humanity's
benefit, Mena's latest stunner, is, as the title suggests, of another
"era." Be it coke-fueled Moroder mirror-balled, or better, the subtle,
electronically symphonic, "Pide." It's "todos beuno." I used
to think to be international she'd need to heel to an English speaking
audience, but no, this stuff is over the heads of the Western world, even
hurdling that which is said to be the future of pop -- hence the reason I have
none of her releases in a physical format (or why you don't hear her on
American radio, yet).
5. Aphex Twin - Syro (Warp)
I suppose it's ultimately a ephemeral, knee-jerk reaction to
Syro that puts the album on this
list. In the realm of Richard D. James, most might not include it as extraordinary,
but in the sphere of someone who only dabbles in this type of circuitry, it
translates as a landmark. It's one of those albums, when stacked against a now
infinite sea of peers (i.e. anyone who incorporates MIDI into their
music-making) the guy composes as if he's competing for the title of acid-house
Noble laureate. "Did I just use acid-house as an adjective in 2014?"
"Am I too out of touch to even touch Syro?" All I can gather in my
own self-reflection of my self-reflective magnetism to only certain strands of
electronic/dance is that Syro breaks
tiny ceilings of linearity and melody -- and not to mention precog sonic palettes
-- to blossom as a work I'll be listening to years down the road.
6. Iceage - Plowing Into the Fields of Love (Matador)
Were you tell me -- upon seeing Iceage's first show in
America -- that the Copenhagen "punks" would still be alive and well and still a Matador powerhouse today, I would have made a joke. It probably
would not have made you laugh, because back then, even in my 30s, the white-hot
combustion of Iceage's presence and fury made you feel like a 14-year-old
looking for ways to score a buzz, while Crass and the Misfits played from some worn tape in the background -- of
some basement or garage. Head full of ideas, execution full of violence and bad
decisions, Iceage have now countered any controversy (well, maybe) and
misgivings for being luckily green, with their most "mature" record
in Plowing. Please heed my word and
don't discount that this band can evolve even farther than they've already
established on this record. But for now, this'll do as triumph of their stylish
stoicism and gross melody -- rich with sophisticated blues. Yes, a new kind of
post-millennial blues.
7. Eastlink - S/T (In the Red)
I don't know much about this record and this band and I
prefer to keep it that way. It's better unraveled blindly, letting Eastlink's
miscreant choogle cover you in its exhaust -- an "ignorance-is-bliss"
cacophony. Like a number of just-missed LPs from the Unholy Two, Burnt Skull,
and Mordecai, Eastlink's seemingly effortless debut revels in a po-mo freakout
of paranoia and noisy, snaky boogie whether that's the intent or not. Listeners
have learned to adapt, learned to dance, even to this, a Stonesian corpse
defiled and worn as a scarred suit of skin. There are genuine sing-a-longs,
"Nuggets" mutated over three generations, four guitars (!!!) all
trying to stay on the same track, "songs," per the reason it's on
this list and those aforementioned platters are not.
8. Mac DeMarco - Salad Days (Captured Tracks)
It's a testament to Mac DeMarco and his third album, Salad Days, that we can now attach
"straight" and "mainstream" to descriptions of his
artistry. It all happened so organically. Or it's well choreographed
chameleonic pop. He's got the bummer surf kids, the acid-fried Ween burn-offs,
the lo-fi, dorm-room guitarists holding out for something wonkier, and every
turnt millennial in between. I saw it with my own eyes.
9. Ex Hex - Rips (Merge)
Wherein Mary Timony, she of Autoclave, Helium, and Wild
Flag, emerges a phoenix once again with a concise and colorful blast of
unapologetic, pretense-free power pop. I had the pleasure of opening some shows
for the D.C. trio in March, well before the release of Rips, and by the third
show most of this record was already embedded in our heads. It was that catchy
and that flawless. Coincidentally, in a year where I was rescuing records by
Dwight Twilley, NRBQ, and Phil Lynott, Ex Hex went ahead and made their own
homage to that era of pop purity -- albeit with a '90s sensibility and a '10s
workmanship.
10. PC Music - DISown Radio Mix
It's rare that I'll include any kind of mixtape to a
year-end list (actually I'm pretty sure it's unprecedented, unless I included
Diplo's first mix for M.I.A. years back), but what the
shadowy/commercially-bent PC Music enclave did with utopian electronic pop
throughout the course of the year was undeniable. I spent much more time
listening to singles from the likes of A.G. Cook, GFOTY, Sophie, and Kane West,
than any traditionally formatted music. It's hyper-processed, plastic beyond
plastic, Japanese kawaii cuteness, '80s Top 40 milked of nostalgic essence,
poolside charm, neon baubles and sensory overload chopped into bite-sized,
easily digestible moments of euphoria. This, hopefully, is where pop music is
headed, and this mix, is going to be your best introduction to that future.
The Next Ten:
11. Foxygen - ...and Star Power (Jagjaguwar)
Expected much more in this, the duo's follow-up, and maybe
there is much more. For now, it's dense and dark and still worthy of
examination. Pick through it and there are number of shining gems to adore.
12. D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah (RCA)
Another record where the jury's still out. It arrived just
before the holidays when most of us were tidying up these here year-end lists.
But it felt so good on first listen and stands to be an instant classic.
Nothing this year sans Prince, came close to emitting such a stoned-funk sense
of atmosphere.
13. Saintseneca - Dark Arc (Anti-)
Local folkies turn to dreams and nightmares, oddball
stringed instruments, and even electric guitars to craft a giant record of
infinite harmony and light.
14. Giant Claw - Dark Web (Orange Milk)
Local introvert turns to '80s R&B and classical
electronic composition to craft a giant record of cuts, glitches, and otherworldly
beats. File right beneath the PC Music camp.
15. Spoon - They Want My Soul (Loma Vista)
The first Spoon album I've cared about in over a decade. It
was probably a good idea for Britt Daniel to take some time off from his
flagship, explore other waters, and then re-concentrate on the sometimes
gritty, sometimes bratty, but above all lovelorn songwriting of his earliest
days. Comeback of the year?
16. Taylor Swift - 1989 (Big Machine)
Erase "Shake it Off" from this record (and yes, I
own the damn record) and you've got a spotless, crystalline pop effort.
Undeniably so.
17. Merchandise - After the End (4AD)
Not nearly as brilliant as Children of Desire, but where
that record's beauty through obfuscation was the focal point, on After the End it's the magnification of Brit-obsessed maudlin pop.
As much as it apes everything from Aztec Camera to Duran Duran, it traipses on
those influences with pointed urgency.
18. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
File under -- it came out way back in February but I'm still
playing it incessantly. I tend to lump all of this year's femme-folkish-firebrands
into the same pile. You can have Grouper all day, she's got nothing on Olsen's
impassioned songwriting.
19. The Gotobeds - Poor People Are Revolting (12XU)
I never thought Pittsburgh was much fun till I met these
kids. Party record of the year.
20. Makthaversken - II (Run for Cover)
Basically an album full of torch song anthems played by
indifferent Swedish punks -- reacting to the sweetness of standard issue
Swedish punk. It's enthralling and recalls both the best of post-punk dourness
and rip-it-clean '90s guitar rock. Be on the lookout, they're about to pounce
in a big way methinks.
