Urban75 Album of the Year 2014 revisited

[Indeliblelink]

First Paranoid London album

 

[hitmouse]

Not as good as Born to Die, but better than everything she's done since. There are definitely moments when it sounds like a parody of Lana Del Rey but I dunno if there's anything wrong with that:

 

[Spandex]

Yagya - Sleepygirls



My son was born in 2014 and for a while this album of relaxed Icelandic dub techno was about as lively as my sleep deprived brain could tolerate.

 

[zahir]

Katia Guerreiro - Até ao Fim

 

[nogojones]

A label comp, but the tracks were unreleased. A wild selection

Hyperdub 10.1

https://www.discogs.com/master/719714-Various-Hyperdub-101

 

[hitmouse]

Remember when someone made up a completely false rumour about Mitski's dad being an arms dealer? I can't find any proof it happened, but I'm sure it did. The mid-2010s were a better, happier time, maybe.

 

[hitmouse]

Gotta be up there as the Spanish-language Texan witchy d-beat/rawpunk album of the year:

 

[nogojones]

DJ Paypal - Drake Edits

 

[nogojones]

2014 seemed to be all about footwork compilations The Dread Collective/Footwork Jungle one was great

https://www.discogs.com/release/15631476-Various-Rave-20

 

[nogojones]

Flying Lotus - You're Dead still holds up

 

[nogojones]

 

[Spandex]

Sumerian Fleet - Just Pressure

Alden Tyrell and Mr Pauli create a cross between Nitzer Ebb and Sisters of Mercy for the electro-goth dancefloor

 

[nogojones]

Some lovely minimal D&B

https://www.discogs.com/master/756153-Kimyan-Law-Coeur-Calme

 

[Spandex]

Legowelt - Crystal Cult 2080

Vintage synth botherer Danny Wolfers with another great album of house/techno/whatever it is he does.

 

[zahir]

Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté - Toumani & Sidiki

 

[zahir]

Olcay Bayir - Neva/Harmony

 

[nogojones]

For an album of techno, KiNK - Under Destruction is pretty good all the way through

https://www.discogs.com/master/686146-KiNK-Under-Destruction

 

[nogojones]

 

[nogojones]

https://www.discogs.com/master/1180767-Zamilska-Untune

A lot of this is a bit too slow for my current tastes, but still some industrial bangers here

 

[hitmouse]

Don't think it's up there with the absolute greatness of Europe, and I might still take the debut over it, but We Come From The Same Place still has ukeleles, stripy tops on the front cover, a song that mentions reading Didion, you know it's gonna be fukking great:

 

[hitmouse]

The first album has its moments, but I think Under Color of Official Right is the start of the run of really great Protomartyr records. The first time I listened to it I thought it was kind of dull metal, which proves why you should never trust my opinion about any music ever. Here's the song that got me to read Patrick Hamilton:

 

[hitmouse]

Apparently Charli XCX did an album in 2014. Has she made any music since then? Who knows?

 

[hitmouse]

Dum Dum Girls - Too True



I loved this when it came out, but the usual way with albums is I'll play them loads, then find other stuff and listen to them less and less until I only play them occasionally or they get lost in the sea of music I have. That didn't happen with this as it was one of three or four albums my daughter seized on and we had to have on in the car every time we drove anywhere. That made it one of my most listened to albums of all time. Luckily, because it's awesome, I never minded listening to it yet again. Shame she's got older and now always wants Capitol or Radio 1 on in the car.

If you like 2014 noisepop albums by bands whose name ends in Girls, can I interest you in the September Girls at all? Proper sound of 2014 this:

 

[hitmouse]

Not the best Death Grips album, but certainly the one with the most Bjork samples, and the one that introduced the immortal phrase "have a sad cum" to the language:

 

[hitmouse]

Things had been bubbling for a few years, but it was Michael Brown and Ferguson in 2014 that really kicked off the Black Lives Matter movement. The actual protests were soundtracked more by Lil Boosie/Boosie Badazz, but I always think of the second Run the Jewels album as capturing that moment really well:


Later on they went to release a remix album with all the beats made from sampling cats meowing, but Meow the Jewels didn't come out till 2015 so you can't vote for that till next year's poll.

 

[ska invita]

Ted Gioia said D'Angelo

yeah this came out on 31st December 2014 and so missed the vote last time
a decade in the making....some amazing music on this album

 

[hitmouse]

Good few years until there's an actual Ho99o9 album you can vote for (or not vote for, as you choose), but they had a terrific EP in 2014:


First Sheer Mag EP too:

 

[Spandex]

Gwenno's completely brilliant Welsh language psych-pop album Y Dydd Olaf was released in Wales in October 2014, before getting an international release in 2015.

 

[Spandex]

Italian electroclash type Tying Tiffany released Drop, with a much more sophisticated dark synthpop sound. I wish she'd done more like this.

 

[Spandex]

Xeno & Oaklander – Par Avion

Nice album of synthpop/minimal electronics with Liz Wendelbo's French vocals. Sheen is a perfect song that I never tire of listening to: