Best of 2014

A Series of Sevens

7 Awesome Albums of 2014

• Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots (Warner Brothers)
• E GONE – All The Suns Of The Earth (Sunrise Ocean Bender)
• Carl Hultgren – Tomorrow (Blue Flea)
• OOIOO – Gamel (Thrill Jockey)
• Gruff Rhys – American Interior (Turnstile)
• Scott Walker + Sunn O))) – Soused (4AD)
• Neil Young – A Letter Home (Reprise)

7 Amazing Acts of 2014

• Neutral Milk Hotel – Fox Theater, April 9-11
• New Bums – KALX performance studio, April 13
• The Everymen – Eli's Mile High Club, June 26
• KISS & Def Leppard – Concord Pavilion, July 2
• Burger Boogaloo – Mosswood Park, July 5-6
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang Featuring Dawn McCarthy – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, October 5
• Gruff Rhys – The Chapel, November 11

7 Additional Adorations of 2014

• Curtis Harding – Keep On Shining test pressing 7” (Burger)
• Hawkwind – The Flicknife Years box (Cherry Red)
• Tony Molina – Dissed and Dismissed vinyl issue (Slumberland)
• The Movements – Like Elephants 1 & 2 US release (Sunrise Ocean Bender)
• Gruff Rhys performing acoustic and chatting with me in the KALX studio – November 18
• Permanent Makeup temporary tattoo
• “Revenge of the Mekons” documentary (Music Box Films) – February 28

Anonymous

Best Albums of 2014

• Kasai Allstars - Beware the Fetish (Crammed Discs)
• Cooly G - Wait 'Til Night (Hyperdub)
• Dilated Peoples - Directors of Photography (Rhymesayers)
• Tinariwen - Emmaar (Anti-)
• Sam Amidon - Lily-O (Nonesuch)
• Tony Allen - Film of Life (Jazz Village)
• Canibus - Fait Accompli (RBC)
• Kali Z. Fasteau - Piano Rapture (Flying Note)
• Matthew Shipp - I've Been to Many Places (Thirsty Ear)
• Farmers By Nature - Love and Ghosts (AUM Fidelity)

Audio Cheesecake

Best Albums of 2014

1. Ariel Pink – pom pom (4AD)
2. Useless Eaters – Bleeding Moon (Castle Face)
3. Perfect Pussy – Say Yes To Love (Captured Tracks)
4. Fat White Family – Champagne Holocaust (Fat Possum)
5. Frankie Cosmos – Zentropy (Double Double Whammy)
6. Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal (What’s Your Rupture? / Mom & Pop)
7. Nots – We Are Nots (Goner)
8. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
9. Allah Las – Worship The Sun (Innovative Leisure)
10. Mitski – Bury Me At Makeout Creek (Double Double Whammy)

Best Concerts of 2014

• Savages - ­ Shoko Madrid, 2/20
• King Khan & The Shrines ­ - Whelan’s, 4/19
• Fat White Family - ­ Rickshaw Stop, 11/3
• FKA Twigs - ­ The Warfield, 11/20
• Peanut Butter Wolf - ­ Leo’s, 11/21

Bedford 12

Best of 2014

• Leonard Cohen- Popular Problems (Columbia)
• St. Vincent- S/T (Loma Vista)
• Perfume Genius- Too Bright (Matador)
• Slow Club- Complete Surrender (Wichita)
• Alt-J- This is All Yours (Canvasback)
• First Aid Kit- Stay Gold (Columbia)
• Perera Elsewhere- Everlast (Friends of Friends)
• Marianne Faithfull- Give My Love to London (Easy Sound)
• Reuben and the Dark- Funeral Sky (Arts and Crafts)
• Chuck Ragan- Til Midnight (Side One Dummy)

Berkestir

Best Of 2014

• Archie Bronson Outfit - Wild Crush (Domino)
• Brace/Choir - Turning On Your Double (Tapete)
• Regina Carter - Southern Comfort (Masterworks)
• Rosanne Cash - The River And The Theard (Blue Note)
• Ex Hex -Rips (Merge)
• Flaming Lips - With A Little Help From My Fwends (Warner Bros.)
• Golden Retriever - Seer (Thrill Jockey)
• Robyn Hitchcock - Man Upstairs (Yep Roc)
• House Of Cosy Cushions - Spell (Outcast Cats)
• Liars - Mess (Mute)
• Luluc - Passerby (Sub Pop)
• Notwist - Close To The Glass (Sub Pop)
• Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather (Feite)
• Ty Segall - Manipulator (Drag City)
• Suspirians - S/T (S/R)
• Teribal Anamal - New Creature (S/R)
• Thee Oh Sees - "Drop" (Castle Face 33)
• Thompson Family - S/T (Fantasy)
• Tinariwen - Emmaar (Anti-)
• Caetano Veloso - Abracaco (Nonesuch)
• You'll Never Get To Heaven - Adorn (Psychic Handshake)

Best Reissues Of 2014

• Can - Vinyl Box Set (Spoon)
• Keith Emerson - At The Movies (Esoteric)
• Hawkwind - 1981 - The Flicknife Years-1988 (Atomhenge)
• White Hills - Glitter...Glamour...Atrocity! (Thrill Jockey)
• Neil Young - Live At The Cellar Door (Reprise)

Best Artists From The Past That Berkestir Discovered in 2014 And Has Overplayed

• Jane
• Erkin Koray
• Gabor Szabo

Carnacki

Best 15 Albums in alphabetical order

• Barren Harvest - Subtle Cruelties (Handmade Birds)
• Carla Bozulich - Boy (Constellation)
• Hildur Gudnadottir - Saman (Touch)
• Andrew Hewitt - The Double soundtrack (Milan)
• Eleni Karaindrou - Medea (ECM)
• Mica Levi - Under The Skin soundtrack (Milan)
• Dion McGregor - Dreaming Like Mad (Torpor Vigil)
• Monolith & Cobalt - Polarlicht (Time Released Sound)
• Marissa Nadler - July (Sacred Bones)
• Nurse With Wound and Graham Bowers - Excitotoxicity & Parade combo (Red Wharf)
• Ou - Pisces Crisis (Spoot)
• Jo Quail - Caldera (S/R)
• Swans - To Be Kind (Young God)
• Scott Walker and Sunn O))) - Soused (4AD)
• Kristeen Young - The Knife Shift (Test Tube Baby)

Best Small Things (7"s, 3"s) in alphabetical order

• Barren Harvest - Beautiful Flowers 3x7" (Black Horizons)
• Guy Gelem - Reappearance 3" (Time Released Sound)
• irr. app. (ext.) - Neognathae Portentosus 3" (Petit Mal Music)
• Jim Kaiser - Swept Through and Nullified 3" (Petit Mal Music)
• Medicine Moon - S/T 7" (Pesanta Urfolk)
• Pang - Young Professionals (Melters)
• Stone Breath - Fire Beyong the Seventh Gate 5" & 3" (Hand/Eye)
• Tele Novella - Trouble In Paradise 7" (American Laundromat)
• Gideon Wolf - Diagram 3" (Time Released Sound)

Best 15 Live Shows in chronological order

• Zoe Boekbinder, Red Steppes - Subterranean Arthouse, 18 January
• Alessandro Cortini, [rudiobello] - Tom's Place, 30 January
• Marisa Anderson, Marielle V Jakobsons, Danny Grody - Hemlock Tavern, 16 April
• EFFT - Vortex Room, 20 April
• Ou - Duende, 7 June
• Kristeen Young - The Bottom Of The Hill, 19 July
• Dax Pierson, Disemballerina, Thaoboth - Life Changing Ministries, 19 August
• Tele Novella - Elbo Room, 2 September
• DakhaBrakha - YBCA, 7 September
• Sangre de Muerdago, Ekstasis, Blackbird Raum, Noctooa - The Sanctuary, 9 September
• Swans, Carla Bozulich - The Independent, 9 September
• Kristine Barrett - Kahn Studio, 12 December
• Ramon + Jessica - Viracocha, 13 December
• Hildur Gudnadottir -The Independent, 16 December
• Faun Fables / BirchBook / Lasher Keen - Emerald Tablet, 19 December

Carolyn

Faves of 2014

New Stuff

• Nots - We Are Nots (Goner)
• Los Culitos - El Duelo Final (S/R)
• Guinea Worms/ The In Out - “The Credit Cards Lied/ The Stupidity” (Botulism Music / Sell You)
• T.I.T.S - “I Told You I Was Sick/ Kashmere Trap” (Pollymaggoo)
• The Lopez - Travel Fast (Machine Age)
• Musk – S/T (Holy Mountain)
• Bad Daddies - You Ain’t Right (Negative Fun)
• 4 Sids - Kill (S/R)
• Frau – S/T (Dead Beat)
• Ausmuteants - Order Of Operation (Goner)
• Manateees – Sit N Spin (Pelican Pow Wow)
• Miami Dolphins - Becky (FPE)
• VCR - VCR’s Greatest Hits (Barfbag)
• Giorgio Murderer - Primitive World (Goner)
• Dancer- Rootbeer Station (Chocolate Covered)
• Neighborhood Brats - Total Dementia (Dirtnap)

Random goodness: The best cover songs of 2014

• Ye Nuns - Nun More Black (Tuff Enuff)
• Watery Love - “I Don’t Care” - B side of Sick People 45 (In The Red)
• Jay Reatard - “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle” - In Utero: In Tribute (Robotic Empire)
• Cretin Stompers - “Drano In Yr Veins” - Looking Forward To Being Attacked (Hozac)
• The Real Kids - “Fly Into The Mystery” Shake…Outta Control (Ugly Pop)
• Sick Thoughts - “Human Garbage Disposal” - Gonerfest 11 EP (Gulcher)

Reissues

• Terrorists - “Crazy Life” (Going Underground) 1981
• Klitz - Sounds Of Memphis, ’78 (Spacecase) 1978
• Plastix - Konsumier Mich (Danger Records) 1981
• Wild Youth - “Wot About Me/ Anti You” (Retrobution) 1979
• Crime - Murder By Guitar (Superior Viaduct) 1976-1980
• Curtis Seals/ Christian D’orbit “The Scandalizer/ Drive Me Crazy” (Windian) 1981
• Loose Heart - Alone (Danger) 1976
• Electric Eels “Jaguar Ride/ Splittery Splat” (Hozac) 1975
• Algo Salvaje Vol. 1 (Munster) 1960s
• The Exit - The Exit EP (Permanent) 1979
• Liquid Diamonds - “Aw Maw/ Long Ago” (Hozac) 1973
• Taang Box Set (Get On Down) 1984-1988

Live

• The Len Bright Combo - Memphis, TN
• Jerry Lewis - Las Vegas, NV
• Icky Boyfriends - Oakland, CA and San Francisco, CA
• Life Stinks - Twice in 24 hours! - Memphis, TN
• Gizmos - Oakland, CA and San Francisco, CA

Cia Cia La Pirata

Songs that entertained me quite well in 2014...in no particular order whatsoever!

• Amen Dunes - “Sixteen” - Love (Sacred Bones)
• Bang Data - “Volar” - Mucho Poco (Rockolito)
• Karol Conka - “Boa Noite” - Batuk Freak (Mr. Bongo)
• The Rifffs - “Start the Revolution” - Start the Revolution (S/R)
• Dirtwire - “Bed Spring” - S/T (Beats Antique)
• Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars - “Chaimra” - Libation (Cumbancha)
• Bossacucanova - “Balança (Não Pode Parar)”, Adam Popowitz Mix - Six Degrees of Brazil Volume 2 (Six Degrees)
• Metá Metá - “Orunmila” - MetaL MetaL (Mais Um Discos)
• Bear Lincoln - “Sasquatch” - Bare Lincoln (S/R)
• Alex Carlin Band - “Are You Better Than My Girlfriend?” - Are You Better Than My Girlfriend? (S/R)
• Koo Koo Kanga Roo - “Fanny Pack” - Whoopty Whoop (Fun Fun/Asian Man)
• The Thrashers - “I Won the Dance Contest” - Sounds All Around: Live Sessions from CJSW 90.9 (CJSW)
• Skimmed - “The Stripper” - Summer Lovers (S/R)
• 11th Street Kids - “My Bed Don’t Fit You” - single (Target)
• Spider Heart - “Love and War” - Dirt (S/R)
• Coma Serfs - “Under the Tongue” -  PDX Pop Now! 2014 (PDX Pop Now)
• The Phenomenauts - “Broken Robot Jerk” - Escape From Velocity (Silver Sprocket)
• The Gregors - “When I Say” - Gregors Can’t Be Choosers (S/R)
• The Fur Coats - “Desperate” -  PDX Pop Now! 2014 (PDX Pop Now)
• DakhaBrakha - “Karpatskyi Rep” - Light (Duduk)
• Toco - “Rainha” - Memoria (Schema)
• Arto Lindsay - “Simply Are” - The Encyclopedia of Arto (Northern Spy)
• M+A - “When” - single (Monotreme)
• Sisyphus - “Lion’s Share” - Asthmatic Kitty Spring 2014 Sampler (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Asteroids Galaxy Tour - “Navigator” - Bring Us Together (Hot Bus)
• Craft Spells - “Nausea” - Nausea (Captured Tracks)
• Ava Luna - “Crown” - Electric Balloon (Western Vinyl)
• Astronauts, Etc. - “Odessa”  - Non*Market Comp 1 (Non*Market)
• Sit Kitty Sit - “O Fortune” - Everlasting Fire (S/R)
• Allysen Callery - “In Your Hollow” - Mumblin’ Sue (75 Or Less)
• Moot Davis - “Food Stamps” - Goin’ In Hot (Crow Town)
• Trivalve - “Big Blue” - The Leona Sessions (S/R)
• Mystic Braves - “Born Without a Heart” - Desert Island (S/R)
• Orquesta Pacifico Tropical - “Rio Frio” - PDX Pop Now! 2014 (PDX Pop Now)
• The Souljazz Orchestra - “One Life To Live” - Inner Fire (Strut)
• Alika - “Jengibre” - Mi Palabra Mi Alma (S/R)
• Nickel Creek - “Hayloft” - A Dotted Line (Nonesuch)
• Sibille Attar - “Alcoholics” - Sleepy Head (S/R)

All-around Best Releases - 2014

• Sit Kitty Sit - Everlasting Fire (S/R)
• The Gregors - Gregors Can’t Be Choosers (S/R)
• Bang Data - Mucho Poco (Rockolito)
• Toco - Memoria (Schema)
• Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Bring Us Together (Hot Bus)
• Los Nuggetz: Volume Uno (Rockbeat)

Citizen Zain

Favorite Releases of 2014 (In Alphabetical Order)

• 20syl - Motifs (On And On Music)
• Blonde Redhead - Barragán (Kobalt)
• Captain Planet - Esperanto Slang (Bastard Jazz)
• Herb Alpert - In The Mood (Shout! Factory)
• Ibibio Sound Machine - S/T (Soundway)
• Khun Narin - Electric Phin Band (Innovative Leisure)
• Paul White - Shaker Notes (R&S)
• Tinariwen - Emmaar (Anit-)
• Tommy Guerrero - No Man's Land (Too Good)
• v/a - Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes  (Harvest)
• William Onyeabor - What?! (Luaka Bop)

Favorite Electronic, Dance and DJ Music in 2014 (In Alphabetical Order)

• Aphex Twin - Syro (Warp)
• Bonobo - Flash Light EP (Ninja Tune)
• Booka Shade - Love Drug EP (Blaufield)
• Boundary - Still Life (Boundary)
• Caribou - Our Love (Merge)
• Flying Lotus - You’re Dead!  (Warp)
• Jack Beats - Beatbox EP (OWSLA)
• Machine Drum - Vapor City Archives (Ninja Tune)
• Nick Monaco - Mating Call (Soul Clap)
• Octo Octa -  Between Two Selves (100% Silk)
• Plastikman - EX (Mute)
• Simian Mobile Disco - Whorl (Anit-)
• The Knife - Shaken-Up Versions (Mute)
• Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (Self Released)
• Trentemøller - Lost Reworks (In My Room)
• v/a - SubSoul, Vol. 2: Deep House, Garage & Bass Music (SubSoul)

Comma

Favorite Albums Of 2014

1. Future Islands – Singles (4AD)
2. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
3. Shabazz Palaces – Lese Majesty (Sub Pop)
4. White Lung – Deep Fantasy (Domino)
5. Marissa Nadler – July (Sacred Bones)
6. OOIOO – Gamel (Thrill Jockey)
7. Makthaverskan – II (Run for Cover)
8. Swans – To Be Kind (Young God)
9. Flying Lotus – You're Dead! (Warp)
10. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream (Secretly Canadian)
11. D’Angelo – Black Messiah (RCA)
12. Stone Jack Jones – Ancestor (Western Vinyl)
13. Takako Minekawa and Dustin Wong – Savage Imagination (Thrill Jockey)
14. Ishraqiyun – Perichoresis (Web of Mimicry)
15. Strand of Oaks – HEAL (Dead Oceans)
16. Carla Bozulich – Boy (Constellation)
17. Priests – Bodies and Control and Money and Power (Don Giovanni)
18. Joan as Police Woman – The Classic (PIAS)
19. Caribou – Our Love (Merge)
20. Alvvays – S/T (Polyvinyl)
21. Burnt Palms – The Girl You Knew (WWNBB)
22. Perfect Pussy - Say Yes to Love (Captured Tracks)
23. Current 93 – I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell (Spheres)
24. The Haden Triplets – S/T (Third Man)
25. Cibo Matto – Hotel Valentine (Chimera Music)
26. Curtis Harding – Soul Power (Burger)
27. Scott Walker and Sunn O))) – Soused (4AD)
28. Luluc – Passerby (Sub Pop)
29. A Winged Victory for the Sullen – ATOMOS (Kranky/Erased Tapes)
30. Freeman – S/T (Partisan)

Cuppa Joe

Ten Best (in alphabetical order)

• Tony Allen - Film of Life (Harmonia Mundi)
• The Baseball Project - 3rd (Yep Roc)
• D'Angelo And The Vanguard - Black Messiah (RCA)
• The Ghost Wolves - Man, Woman, Beast (Plowboy)
• Grouper - Ruins (Kranky)
• OU - Pisces Crisis (S/R)
• Spoon - 'They Want My Soul' (Loma Vista)
• Swans - To Be Kind (Young God)
• Tune-Yards - Nikki Nack (4AD)
• Jack White - Lazaretto (Third Man)

Best Reissues

• Songs: Ohia - Didnít It Rain (Secretly Candaian)
• The Brothers & Sisters - Dylan's Gospel (Light In The Attic)
• Mike Cooper - Trout Steel (Paradise of Bachelors)

Best Box Set

• Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes Complete (Legacy)

DangerVenture

Top 10 Debut LPs

• Alvvays - S/T (Polyvinyl)
• Pup - S/T (Side One Dummy)
• Sylvan Esso - S/T (Partisan)
• Foxing - The Albatross (Triple Crown)
• Jungle - S/T (XL)
• Adult Jazz - Gist Is (Spare Thought)
• Los Angeles Police Department - S/T (Forged Artifacts)
• MØ - No Mythologies To Follow (Sony)
• Benjamin Booker - S/T (ATO)
• Glass Animals - Zaba (Wolf Tone)

Top 5 Debut EPs

• Small Wonder - Wendy (Father/Daughter)
• Courtney Bartnett - The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas (Mom+Pop)
• Sun Club - Dad Claps At The Mom Prom (Goodnight)
• Joywave - How Do You Feel? (Cultco)
• Erik Hassle - Somebody's Party (Record Company)

Top 10 Local Releases

• Cocktails - Adult Life (Father/Daughter)
• City Tribe - Undertow (S/R)
• Painted Palms - Forever (Polyvinyl)
• Cathedrals - S/T (Neon Gold)
• Doncat - Don Gato (S/R)
• The Soft White Sixties - GET RIGHT. (S/R)
• Doe Eye - TELEVISION (S/R)
• Everyone Is Dirty - Dying Is Fun (Tricycle)
• Grow & Twine - Wind Fool (S/R)
• Travis Hayes - Young Daze (S/R)

5 Amazing Local Shows (Not including festival sets) out of a grand total of 120

• We Were Promised Jetpacks - Bimbos 2/22, 11/4
• John Moreland - Night Light 3/25, 11/14
• MØ - Rickshaw Stop 5/3
• Typhoon - Academy of Sciences 8/7, 8/8
• Laura Jane Grace - City Winery Napa 12/27

DJ Autumn

Top 20 Artists to Discover

• Green Seed
• Mo
• Benjamin Booker
• Rival Sons
• The Oh Sees
• The Raveonettes
• Curtis Harding
• Klaus Yohan Grobe
• The Liminanas
• Emma Donavon and the Putbacks
• Perrera Elsewhere
• Burial
• Gangstagrass
• Glass Animals
• The DHDFDís
• The Swans
• FKA Twigs
• Wu Tang
• Quantic
• Freeman

DJ Masquatch

Top 15 Records of 2014

• At The Gates - At War With Reality (Century Media)
• Devin Townsend Project - Z2 (Inside Out Music)
• Chumped - Teenage Retirement (Anchorless)
• Youth Code - A Place To Stand (Dais)
• Pup - S/T (Side One Dummy)
• Iron Reagan - The Tyranny of Will (Relapse)
• Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown (Epitaph)
• Gates - Bloom and Breath (Pure Noise Records)
• Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire (Avalanche Recordings)
• This Will Destroy You - Another Language (Suicide Squeeze)
• White Lung - Deep Fantasy (Suicide Squeeze)
• Beach Slang - Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street (Tiny Engines)
• Fucked Up - Glass Boys (Matador)
• Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble Music)
• Trap Them - Blissfucker (Prosthetic)

E. Lit

Top 10 Music Album List 2014

• Nocando - Jimmy the Burnout (Hellfyre Club)
• Bike for Three! - So Much Forever (Fake Four Inc.)
• K. Raydio x Psymun - LucidDreamingSkylines (self-released)
• Solillaquists of Sound - The 4th Wall (self-released)
• Taylor McFerrin - Early Riser (Brainfeeder)
• Toki Wright & Big Cats - Pangaea (Soul Tools)
• Mike Mictlan - Hella Frreal (Doomtree)
• Rob Sonic - Alice in Thunderdome (OK-47)
• Goldini Bagwell - Secondhand Smoke (The Extended Cut) (Heaven Noise)
• Z-Man & Elon - The Opening Act (Gurp City)

F*Bomb

2014 Favorites

• Cold Beat - Over Me (Crime on the Moon)
• Ex Hex - Rips (Merge)
• Hearts Revolution - Ride or Die (S/R)
• Nots - We Are Nots (Goner)
• Spoon - They Want My Soul (Loma Vista)
• Kelis - Food (Ninjatune)
• History of Apple Pie - Come Undone (Marshall Teller)
• Caribou - Our Love (Merge)
• September Girls - Veneer (Kanine)
• Coathangers - Suck my Shirt (Suicide Squeeze)
• Bleeding Rainbow - Interrupt (Kanine)
• Perfect Pussy - Say Yes to Love (Captured Tracks)
• Chastity Belt - Evil (Help Yourself)
• National Wake - Walk in Africa 1978-1981 (Light in the Attic)
• New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers (Matador)
• Punk 45 Vol 3: Sick on You! One Way Spit! After the Love & Before the Revolutions (Soul Jazz)
• Dark Beach - Scream Queen (Unicorn Power/Dark Beach)
• Deerhoof - La Isla Bonita (Polyvinyl)
• Burnt Palms - The Girl You Know (We were never boring)
• Swans - To be kind (Young God)
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Give the People What they Want (Daptone)
• Kids on a Crime Spree - We're so good (S/R)
• Useless Eaters - Bleeding Moon (Castle Face)
• Curtis Harding - Keep on Shining 7" (Burger)
• Bob Mould - Beauty & Ruin (Merge)
• Ibibio Sound Machine - Let's Dance (Soundway)
• Jessica Pratt - S/T (Birth)
• Childbirth - It's A Girl! EP (Help Yourself)
• Burnt Palms - The Girl You Knew (WWNBB)
   

Fernando

Favorite LPs of 2014

1. Burnt Palms - The Girl You Knew (WWNBB)
2. Habibi - S/T (Burger)
3. Flowers - Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do (Kanine)
4. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
5. Makthaverskan - II (Luxury / Run For Cover)
6. The Coathangers - Suck My Shirt (Suicide Squeeze)
7. Tyrannosaurus Dead - Flying Ant Day (Odd Box)
8. Bleeding Rainbow - Interrupt (Kanine)
9. Virginia Wing - Measure of Joy (Fire Records)
10. Butter The Children - True Crime (S/R)
11. Ace Bushy Striptease - Slurpt (Odd Box)
12. Tacocat - NVM (Hardly Art)
13. Eternal Summers - The Drop Beneath (Kanine)
14. Puzzled - S/T (S/R)
15. Literature - Chorus (Slumberland)
16. September Girls - Cursing The Sea (Fortuna Pop!)
17. Hospitality - Trouble (Merge)
18. Las Robertas - Days Unmade (Art Fag)
19. Cayetana - Nervous Like Me (Tiny Engines)
20. Nots - We Are Nots (Goner)
21. Gold-Bears - Dalliance (Slumberland)
22. Space Daze - Line Up on the Solstice (Beautiful Strange)
23. Trick Mammoth - Floristry (Fishrider)
24. The Proper Ornaments - Wooden Head (Slumberland)
25. Fear of Men - Loom (Kanine)
26. Cold Beat - Over Me (Crime On The Moon)
27. Alvvays - S/T (Polyvinyl)
28. Tripping The Light Fantastic - ...Is Tripping The Light Fantastic (Jigsaw)
29. The Hobbes Fanclub - Up At Lagrange (Shelflife)
30. Allo Darlin' - We Come From The Same Place (Slumberland)
31. La Sera - Hour of the Dawn (Hardly Art)
32. Street Eaters - Blood::Muscles::Bones (Nervous Intent)
33. Naomi Punk - Television Man (Captured Tracks)
34. Tweens - S/T (Frenchkiss)
35. Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams (Arts & Crafts)
36. Beach Day - Native Echoes (Kanine)
37. Monster Treasure - S/T (Harlot)
38. Perfect Pussy - Say Yes To Love (Captured Tracks)
39. The Luxembourg Signal - S/T (Shelflife)
40. Alpaca Sports - Sealed With A Kiss (Luxury)

Favorite EPs & Singles of 2014

1. Crabapple - Is It You? (S/R)
2. Nice Try - Convined (Kingfisher Bluez)
3. Fazerdaze - S/T (S/R)
4. Childbirth - It's A Girl! (Help Yourself)
5. School '94 - Like You (Luxury)
6. Dark Beach - Scream Queen (Dark Beach / Unicorn Power)
7. Veronica Falls - Nobody There / I Need You Around (Beachyhead)
8. Nice Legs - Lullaby Land (S/R)
9. Pinky Promise - S/T (S/R)
10. Horrible/Adorable - Amy Understands (S/R)
11. My Light Shines For You - Dias De Lluvia EP (S/R)
12. The Hundredth Anniversary - Wreckers (Odd Box)
13. Tuff Love - Junk EP (Lost Map)
14. Tashaki Miyaki - Cool Runnings (S/R)
15. Marge - Not Bad (Ranch Records)
16. Wild Balbina - Sisters Before Misters (Elefant)
17. The Smittens - Love Record Breaker (Fika)
18. Crystal Stilts - Delirium Tremendous (Sacred Bones)
19. September Girls - Veneer (Kanine)
20. Persian Rugs - This Is OK For Now (S/R)
21. Tony Molina - Dissed and Dismissed (Slumberland)
22. Gingerlys - Jumprope (Shelflife)
23. Lost Tapes - Poetry Dates (Cloudberry)
24. Lost Pets - Richard Loves Doris (S/R)
25. Big Deal - Sakura EP (Mute)

Film Close-Ups

Best 20 Fiction Films in alphabetical order

• Boyhood
• Dance of Reality
• The Double
• Enemy
• Frank
• Ida
• Joe
• Lilting
• Low Down
• The Lunchbox
• Mr. Turner
• Obvious Child
• The One I Love
• Only Lovers Left Alive
• The Rover
• Snowpiercer
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
• Under The Skin
• A Walk Among The Tombstones
• The Zero Theorem

Best 10 Non-Fiction Films in alphabetical order

• Actress
• Alive Inside
• Citizenfour
• Happy Valley
• Ivory Tower
• Jodorowsky's Dune
• The New Black
• The Overnighters
• Virunga
• Visitors

Hailstorm

Favorite Albums of 2014

• Future Islands - Singles (4AD)
• Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso (Partisan)
• Tweens - S/T (Frenchkiss)
• Ballet School - The Dew Lasts an Hour (Bella Union)
• Beverly - Careers (Kanine)
• Makthaverskan - II (Run For Cover)
• A Sunny Day in Glasgow -  Sea When Absent (Lefse)
• Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else (Carpark/Mom & Pop)
• Priests - Bodies and Control and Money and Power (Don Giovanni)
• Alvvays - S/T (Polyvinyl)
• Girlpool - S/T (Wichita)
• White Lung - Deep Fantasy (Domino)
• Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
• St. Vincent - S/T (Loma Vista)
• Say Hi - Endless Wonder (Barsuk)
• Painted Palms - Forever (Polyvinyl)
• together PANGEA - Badillac (Harvest)
• Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal (What's Your Rupture?/Mom & Pop)
• Lyla Foy - Mirrors the Sky (Sub Pop)
• Karen O - Crush Songs (Cult)

Home Alone

Best Records 2014

• Ambarchi/O’Malley/Dunn - Shade Themes from Kairos (Drag City)
• Amen Dunes - Love (Sacred Bones)
• Bedhead - 1992-1998 Box (Numero Group)
• Mike Cooper - Trout Steel (Paradise of Bachelors)
• Richard Dawson - Nothing Important (Weird World)
• Morgan Delt - S/T (Trouble in Mind)
• Grouper - Ruins (Kranky)
• Khun Narin - Electric Phin Band (Innovative Leisure)
• Nazoranai - The Most Painful Time Happens Only Once Has It Arrived Already? (Ideologic Organ)
• Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven (Warp)
• Wendy Rene - After Laughter Comes Tears (Light in the Attic)
• Dylan Shearer - Garagearray (Castle Face)
• Space Lady - Greatest Hits (Night School)
• I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age Music In America, 1950-1990 (Light in the Attic)
• Native North America vol 1: Aboriginal Folk, Rock and Country 1966-1985 (Light in the Attic)

Hurricane Lorraine

2014 Records That Were Always On Repeat

• Woolen Men - Quick Trips (Loglady)
• Landlines - Log Out, Tune Up, Drop Dead (S/R)
• Cold Beat - Over Me (Crime On The Moon)
• #1s - The Number Ones (Static Shock)
• Useless Eaters - Bleeding Moon (Castle Face)
• Man - TV On (HoZac)
• Sonic Chicken 4 - S/T (Bachelor)
• OBN IIIs - Live In San Francisco (Castle Face)
• Nots - We Are Nots (Goner)
• Sonic Avenues - Mistakes (Dirtnap)
• Makthaverskan - II (Run For Cover)
• Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society - Get A Job, Get A Car, Get A Bed, Get Drunk! Underground Punk and Post-Punk In The UK 1977-81 (Soul Jazz)
• Silent Era - S/T (S/R)
• Sheer Mag - What You Want (Wilsuns)

Shows, Shows, Shows

• Total Trash Halloween Bash - Leo's, October 31st
• Burger Boogaloo Fest - Mosswood Park, July 5th and 6th
• California - Hemlock Tavern, May 8th
• Landlines - The Knockout, October 11th
• Peanut Butter Wolf - Leo's, November 21st

Kendra K

Top 7" Releases of 2014

• Garahm Day and the Forefathers - Love Me Lies (State Records)
• Los Disco Duro - Te Lo Creo (Discos Mas)
• Hard Left - Safety (S/R)
• Terry Malts - Insides EP (Slumberland)
• Bad Daddies - You Ain't Right (Negative Fun)
• Male Gaze - Cliffs of Madness (Mt. St. Mtn.)
• Pop Rivets - 1st Generation Punk (Damaged Goods)
• Replica - Beast EP (Prank)
• Nots - Fix (Goner)
• Games - Little Elise (Hozac)

Kennybear

Fave Tunes of 2014 (in no particular order)

• White Lung - "I Believe You" - Deep Fantasy (Domino)
• Ty Segall - "It's Over" - Manipulator (Drag City)
• Slow Club - "The Queen's Nose" - Complete Surrender (Wichita)
• The History of Apple Pie - "Don't You Wanna Be Mine?" - Feel Something (Marshall Teller)
• Curtis Harding - "Surf" - Soul Power (Burger)
• Bob Mould - "Hey Mr. Grey" - Beauty and Ruin (Merge)
• Beverly - "You Can't Get It Right" - Careers (Kanine)
• Piers Faccini and Vincent Segal - "Cammina Cammina" - Songs of Time Lost (Six Degrees)
• Deerhoof - "Exit Only" - La Isla Bonita (Polyvinyl)
• Gemma Ray - "The Right Thing Did Me Wrong" - Milk For Your Motors (Bronze Rat)

Know Your Conjurer

Favorite Albums of 2014

• Amen Dunes - Love (Sacred Bones)
• OOIOO - Gamel (Thrill Jockey)
• Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
• White Fence - For The Recently Found Innocent (Drag City)
• Moebius / Neumeier / Engler - Another Other Places (Bureau B)
• Torn Hawk - Let's Cry And Do Pushups At The Same Time (Mexican Summer)
• Tonstartssbandht - Overseas (Arbitus)
• Sylvie Simmons - Sylvie (Light In The Attic)
• Mica Levi - Under The Skin [Original Sound Track] (Rough Trade)
• St. Vincent - S/T (Republic)
• Shintaro Sakamoto - Let's Dance Raw (Zelone)
• Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Soused (4AD)
• Real Estate - Atlas (Domino)
• Wadada Leo Smith/George Lewis/John Zorn - Sonic Rivers (Tzadik)
• The Growlers - Chinese Fountain (Everloving)

Favorite Re-Issue

• The Velvet Underground - S/T 45th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Polydor)

Favorite Retrospectives

• Max Richter - Retrospective (Deutsche Grammophon)
• William Onyeabor - Box Set (Luaka Bop)

Leftfield Lance

Favorite 7"s

• Ausmuteants - Felix Tried to Kill Himself (Goodbye Boozy)
• Flesh World - A Line in Wet Grass (Iron Lung)
• The Intended - Huguenot (All Gone)
• King Tears Mortuary - Asleep at the Wheel of Fortune (Vacant Valley)
• Life Stinks - Portraits (Total Punk)
• Mystery Date - You and Your Sister (Pinata)
• Pang - Young Professionals (Melters)
• Primetime - S/T (La Vida Es Un Mus)
• Terry Malts - Insides (Slumberland)
• Sheer Mag - What You Want (Wilsuns)
• The Suburban Homes - Suburban Home (Market Square)
• Synthetic ID  - Escapement (Crime on the Moon)
• Video - Cult of Video (No Good)
• VeLO - Tight Time (Close Up)

Favorite LPs

• Cold Beat - Over Me (Crime on the Moon)
• Good Throb - Fuck Off (White Denim)
• Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal (What’s Your Rupture?)
• Watery Love - Decorative Feeding (In the Red)
• Hank Wood  & the Hammerheads - Stay Home (Toxic State)

Luna

Top Picks of 2014

Best ALBUMS 2014 – in alpha order

• Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra - Pulsion (Ubiquity)
• Aphex Twin - Syro  (Warp)
• Aries Project - English Ghosts(Invisible Hands)
• Atash - Everything Is Music (S/R)
• Battlehooch - Hot Lungs(Chuur)
• Cornelius Boots - Mountain Hermit’s Secret Wisdom (Zeroth Law)
• Botanist - VI: Flora (The Flenser)
• Brownout - Brown Sabbath (Ubiquity)
• Budos Band (The) - Burnt Offering (Daptone)
• Vashti Bunyan - Heartleap (DiCristina)  
• Roseanne Cash - The River & The Thread (Blue Note)
• Chicago Jazz Philharmonic - Sketches Of Spain: Revisited (3Sixteen)
• Hollie Cook - Twice (Mr. Bongo)
• Daydream Machine - Twin Idols (Picture In My Ear)
• Toumani & Sidiki Diabate - Toumani & Sidiki (World Circuit)
• Kyle Bobby Dunn - Kyle Bobby Dunn & the Infinite Sadness (Students of Decay)
• Dogon Lights (The) - S/T (S/R)
• Emma Donovan & The Putbadks - Dawn (HopeStreet)
• Dr. John - Ske-Dat-De-Dat… The Spirit of Satch (Proper)
• EGONE - All The Suns of The Earth (Sunrise Ocean Bender)
• Elephant Stone - The Three Poisons (Hidden Pony)
• Lawrence English & Stephen Vitiello - Fable (Dragon’s Eye)
• Ghost Wolves (The) - Man, Woman, Beast (Plowboy)
• Goat - Commune (Sub Pop)
• Tommy Guerrero - No Mans Land (Too Good)
• Inutili - Music to Watch the Clouds On a Sunny Day (Aagoo)
• Krautrock Classics - Krautrock Classics (Dublab)
• La Sucursal de la Cumbia - Cumbia a Domicilio (Intolerancia)
• Les Big Byrd - They Worshipped Cats (A Recordings)
• Lewis & Clarke - Triumvirate (La Societe Expéditionnaire)
• LoCura - Dale de Comer (S/R)
• Los Straightjackets  - Deke Dickerson Sings the Great Instrumental Hits (Yep Rock)
• Luminescence - Luminescence     (Navona)
• Moon Hooch - This is Cave Music (Hornblow Recordings)
• Nawa  - Ancient Sufi Invocations and Forgotten Songs from Aleppo (Lost Origin Sound Series)  
• Bill Nelson - After The Satellite Sings (Esoteric)
• OOIOO - Gamel (Thrill Jockey)
• Arun Ramamurthy Trio - Jazz Carnatica (S/R)
• Gemma Ray - Milk for Your Motors (Bronze Rat)
• Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather (Felte)
• Tinariwen - Emmaar (Anti-)
• Via Tania & the Tomorrow Music Orchestra - S/T (Narooma)
• Mia Doi Todd - Floresta (City Zen)
• Tuatara - Underworld (Sunyata)
• Viento Callejero - S/T (S/R)
• Scott Walker + Sun O))) - Soused(S/R)
• Way Jose - Stay In The Light (S/R)
• White Hills - Glitter Glamour Atrocity (Thrill Jockey)
• Wildest Dreams - S/T (Smalltown Supersound)
• Girma Yifrashewa - Love & Peace (Unseen Worlds)

Best SONGS 2014 (not on my best albums) – in alpha order

• Accolade - “Hymn to the Moon Goddess” - Legends (S/R)
• Accolade - “Journey” - Legends (S/R)
• Accolade - “Lady of Shalott” - Legends (S/R)
• Alpine Decline - “Mid-Level Functionary in a Criminal Syndicate”  - Go Big Shadow City (Genjing)   
• And you Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - “Lost in the Grand Scheme” - IX (Superball)
• And you Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - “Sound of the Silk”  - IX (Superball)  
• Greg Ashley  - “Medication #7” - Another Generation of Slaves (Trouble In Mind)
• Asteroids Galaxy Tour - “Navigator” - Bring Us Together (Hot Bus/Rough Trade)
• Band of Skulls - “Heaven’s Key” - Himalayan (Electric Blue )
• Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash  - “Poor Man’s Son” - New Old Story (Rndm)
• Bobby “Blue” Bland - “Ain’t No Sunshine” - Take Me To The River: Soundtrack (Stax)
• Blonde Redhead - “Cat on a Tin Roof” - Barragan (Kobalt)
• Blonde Redhead - “No More Honey” - Barragan (Kobalt)
• Benjamin Booker - “Kids Never Growing Older” -  S/T (Ato)
• Brothers & Sisters (The) - “All Along The Watchtower” - Dylan’s Gospel (Light In The Attic)
• Jackson Browne - “Which Side?” - Standing In The Breach (Inside Recordings)
• Melaena Cadiz - “Needles River” - Deep Below Heaven (Wild Kindness)
• Deadmau5 - “Monday” - While (1<2)  (Astralwerks)
• Deadmau5 - “Phantoms Can’t Hang” - While (1<2) (Astralwerks)
• Dirt Wire - “Bed Spring” - S/T (S/R)
• Dream Police - “Hypnotized” - Hypnotized (Sacred Bones)
• Dream Police - “Iris” - Hypnotized (Sacred Bones)
• Drums (The) - “Bell Laboratories” - Encyclopedia (Minor)
• Dubmarine - “Beat In Control” - Laser Sound Beam (Sugarrush)
• Dubmarine - “Let’s Go” - Laser Sound Beam (Sugarrush)
• Dubmarine - “Pass It On” - Laser Sound Beam (Sugarrush)
• Ensemble Mik Nawooj - “First Song” - S/T (S/R)
• Ensemble Mik Nawooj - “Hope Springs Eternal” - S/T (S/R)
• Erasure - Sacred” - The Violet Flame (Mute)
• Fred Frith & John Butcher - “Colour of an Eye Half Seen” - The Natural Order (Northern Spy)
• Ben Frost - “Sola Fide” - Aurora (Mute)
• Valery Gore - “Hummingbird In Reverse” - Idols in the Dark Heart (S/R)
• Jessica Hernandez - “Over” - Secret Evil (Instant)
• Lia Ices  - “Creature” - Ices (Jagjaguwar)
• Kimbra - “Goldmine” - The Golden Echo (Warner Bros.)
• King Tuff - “Black Moon Spell” - Black Moon Spell (Sub Pop)
• King Tuff - “Rainbow’s Run” - Black Moon Spell (Sub Pop)
• King Tuff - “Staircase of Diamonds” - Black Moon Spell (Sub Pop)
• Late Road Lunatics - “Lunatic Dub” - Like A Dog In The Playground (S/R)         
• Lolawolf - “Take A Hint” - Calm Down (Innit)
• Luluc - “Star” - Passerby (Sub Pop)
• Luluc - “Tangled Heart” - Passerby (Sub Pop)
• Luxembourg Signal - “First Light” - S/T (Shelflife)
• Meta Meta - “Man Feriman” - Metal Metal (Mais Um Discos)
• Moniquea - “If I Let You Take My Heart” - Yes No Maybe (MoFunk)
• PC Worship - “Odd” - Social Rust (Northern Sky)
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - “Shadow People” - Hypnotic Eye (Reprise)
• Caroline Rose - “Shepherd” - I Will Not Be Afraid (Little Hi!)
• Micah Blue Smaldone - “Heavy Bottle” - The Ring Of The Rise (Immune)
• Sorceress - “Te Kano” - Dose (Wonderwheel)
• Useless Eaters - “Bleeding Moon” - Bleeding Moon (Castle Face)
• Wampire - “Wizard Staff” - Bazaar (Polyvinyl)
• Wand - “Fire On The Mountain I-II-III” - Ganglion Reef (God?)
• Watermelon Sugar - “UFO” - S/T (Swoon)
• Wytches (The) - “Wide At Midnight” - The Annabel Dream Reader (Partisan)
• Zammuto - “Sinker” - Anchor (Temporary Residence)

Mantis

Best Shows of 2014

• Frankie Rose - Rickshaw Stop, February 4th
• Perfect Pussy - The Vera Project, March 24th
• Keith Sweat - Saban Theatre, July 12th
• The Muffs - Amoeba Hollywood, July 29th
• The Julie Ruin - The Fillmore, November 1st
• Chicano Batman - The New Parish, November 16th
• Angel Olsen - Great American Music Hall, December 1st

Matsu

Faves from 2014

1. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
2. Elephant - Sky Swimming (Memphis Industries)
3. Emma Ruth Rundle - Some Heavy Ocean (Sargent House)
4. Alvvays - Alvvays (Polyvinyl)
5. Tycho - Awake (Ghostly International)
6. The Coathangers - Suck My Shirt (Suicide Squeeze)
7. Badbadnotgood - III (Innovative Leisure)
8. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos (Kranky)
9. Hospitality - Trouble (Merge)
10. Saintseneca - Dark Arc (Anti)
11. Gemma Ray - Milk For Your Motors (Bronze Rat)
12. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything (Constellation)
13. Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens - Cold World (Daptone)
14. Trust - Joyland (Arts & Crafts)
15. Wye Oak - Shriek (Merge)
16. The Yev - Wooing House (S/R)
17. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Make My Head Sing... (ATO)
18. Damaged Bug - Hubba Bubba (Castle Face)
19. Alice Boman - EP II (Control Group)
20. This Will Destroy You - Another Language (Suicide Squeeze)

Microtone

Best 12.5 albums that came through KALX in 2014 (ordered by release date)

• Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything (Constellation)
• Elise Melinand - Gray Hoodie (n5MD)
• Hauschka - Abandoned City (Temporary Residence)
• Man Forever with So Percussion - Ryonen (Thrill Jockey)
• Wye Oak - Shriek (Merge)
• Yann Tiersen - Infinity (Mute)
• Meridian Brothers - Salvadora Robot (Soundway)
• Luluc - Passerby (Sub Pop)
• Call Super - Suzi Ecto (Houndstooth)
• My Brightest Diamond - This Is My Hand (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Goat - Commune (Sub Pop)
• Malfinia Ensemblo - Varsovia (Kvitnu)
• Tony Allen - Film of Life (Jazz Village)

Mixtress 9

Pretty Kawaii Funky Fresh Best Of 2014 List

Albums

• Babymetal- S/T (BMD Fox Records)
• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu -Pikapika Fantajin (Unborde/Warner Music Japan)
• Tokyo Girls Style- Killing Me Softly (Avex Trax)
• E-Girls- Colorful Pop (Rhythm Zone)
• Basement Jaxx -Junto (Atlantic Jaxx)
• Thomas Blondet – Futureworld (Rhythm & Culture)
• Cibo Matto- Hotel Valentine (Chimera)
• Tuneyards – Nikki Nack (4AD)
• Ok Go- Hungry Ghosts (BMG)
• The Raveonettes- Pe-Ahi (Beat Dies)
• Caribou-Our Love (Merge)
• FKA Twigs – LP1 (Young Turks)
• Ikebe Shakedown – Stone By Stone (Ubiquity)
• Vamps Et Vampire: The Songs Of Serge Gainsbourg (Ace)
• TV On The Radio -Seeds (Harvest)
• Tres Chic (Ace)
• Aphex Twin- Syro (Warp)
• Got A Girl -I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now (Bulk Recordings)

Singles

• “Jump Up Chisana Yuki” - S/T - Sakura Gakuin (Universal Music Japan)
• “Kokoro No Placard” - S/T – AKB48 (King Records)
• “Kibouteki Refrain” - AKB48 (King Records)
• “Hana Wa Odore Ya Irohaniho”- S/T - Team Hanayamata
• “Diamond Only”- Colorful Pop – E-Girls (Rhythm Zone)
• 'On The Regular”- S/T – Shamir (XL Recordings)

Live Shows

• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – The Regency SF, February 2014
• Yoshiki – Davies Symphony Hall, April 2014
• Nine Inch Nails/Soundgarden – Shoreline Amphitheater, August 2014

Essential Mixes

• Green Velvet – July 2014
• Caribou – October 2014 (Voted Essential Mix Of The Year)

Rubberband Girl

Albums That Soothed My Soul in 2014

• Copeland - Because I'm Worth It (S/R)
• Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence (Interscope)
• Hugo Hans - Beginners (Banquet Man)
• Helado Negro - Double Youth (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Kan Wakan - Moving On (Verve)
• Kelis - Food (Ninja Tune)
• Lykke Li - I Never Learn (LL)
• Moniquea - Yes No Maybe (Mo Funk)
• Sorceress - Dose (Wonderwheel)
• Tycho - Awake (Ghostly International)
• The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream (Secretly Canadian)

Sida

Best of 2014...The Year When Underground Finally Died

In No Particular Order Best Albums of 2014

• Plague Vendor - Free To Eat (Epitaph)
• Liars - Mess (Mute)
• Dean Blunt - Black Metal (Rough Trade)
• Ariel Pink - Pom Pom (4AD)
• Marissa Nadler - July (Sacred Bones Records)
• Alvarius B. - Sorban Palid (Poon Village)

Best Re-Issues of 2014

• Peter Jefferies - Electricity (Superior Viaduct)
• Alice Coltrane - A Monastic Trio (Superior Viaduct)

Best Show of 2014

• Alvarius B. - The White Horse Inn

Sparkle Motion

Notable Music

Notable Classical/Electronic

• alt-J-This Is All Yours (Infectious)
• Aphex Twin-Syro (WARP)
• Ben Frost-Aurora (Mute)
• Bo Ningen-III (Stolen Recordings)
• Call Super-Suzi Ecto (Houndstooth)
• Daniel Lanois -Flesh and Machine (Anti)
• Danish String Quartet  -Woodworks (Dacapo Records)
• David Greilsammer-Scarlatti & Cage: Sonatas (Sony Classical)
• East India Youth-Total Strife Forever (Stolen Recordings)
• FaltyDL-In the Wild (Ninja Tune)
• Gazelle Twin- Unflesh (Last Gang)
• Hauschka-Abandoned City (Temporary Residence)
• James Blackshaw-Fantômas : Le Faux Magistrat (Tompkins Square)
• John Luther Adams-Become Ocean (Cantaloupe)
• Kassem Mosse-Workshop 19 (workshop) 
• Leon Vynehall-Music For The Uninvited (3024) 
• Plaid-Reachy Prints(Warp)
• Simian Mobile Disco- Whorl (Anti)
• Steve Reich-Reich: Radio Rewrite (Nonesuch)
• Thom Yorke-Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (S/R)
• Tycho-Awake (Ghostly Intl)

Notable Country/Folk/Americana

• Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn-Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn (New Rounder)
• Black Prairie- Fortune (Sugar Hill)
• Carrie Elkin & Danny Schmidt-For Keeps (Red House)
• Castanets-Decimation Blues (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Chad VanGaalen-Shrink Dust (Subpop)
• Christopher Denny-If The Roses Don't Kill Us (Partisan)
• Corb Lund-Counterfeit Blues (New West)
• Diane Cluck-Boneset(Important)
• Dolly Parton-Blue Smoke (Sony Masterworks)
• Emma Ruth Rundle-Some Heavy Ocean (Sargent)
• Front Country-Sake Of The Sound (S/R)
• Gangastagrass-Broken Hearts And Stolen Money (Rench Audio)
• Haunt The House-Rural Introspection Study Group (S/R)
• Hurray for the Riff Raff-Small Town Heroes (ATO)
• Jack Clement-For Once And For All (I.R.S. Records)
• Jennifer Castle-Pink City (No quarter)
• Jennifer Nettles-That Girl (Mercury)
• Jim Lauderdale-I'm a Song (Sky Crunch)
• Laura Cantrell-No Way There From Here (Thrift shop)
• Luther Dickinson-Rock 'n Roll Blues (New West)
• Piers Faccini & Vincent Segal-Songs of Time Lost (Six Degrees)
• Robert Ellis-The Lights From the Chemical Plant (New West)
• Rodney Crowell-Tarpaper Sky (New West)
• Rosanne Cash-The River and the Thread (Blue Note)
• Sam Amidon-Lily-O (Nonesuch)
• Scott H. Biram-Nothin' But Blood (Bloodshot)
• Shovels & Rope-Swimmin' Time (Dualtone)
• Sturgill Simpson-Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (Loose Music)
• The Haden Triplets-The Haden Triplets (Third Man)
• The John Steel Singers-Everything's a Thread (Dew Process)
• Willie Watson-Folk Singer Vol. 1 (Acony)

Notable Jazz

• Ambrose Akinmusire-The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier To Paint (Blue Note)
• Andrew Scott Potter- Blues for Mr. Andrew Scott Potter (Bon Ritmo)
• Ani DiFranco- Allergic to Water (Righteous Babe)
• Arto Lindsay- Encyclopedia Of Arto  (ZE Records)
• Arun Ramamurthy Trio-Jazz Carnatica (S/R)
• Badbadnotgood-III (Innovative Leisure)
• Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band-Landmarks (Blue Note)
• Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band-Intensity Ghost (No Quarter)
• Danilo Perez- Panama 500 (Mack Avenue)
• Dr. John-Ske-Dat-De-Dat…The Spirit Of Satch (Concord)
• Farmers By Nature-Love And Ghosts (AUM Fidelity)
• Fred Hersch Trio-Floating (Palmetto)
• Hayden Pedigo-Five Steps (Debacle)
• Jason Roebke Octet-High/Red/Center (Delmark)
• Jenny Scheinman-The Littlest Prisoner (Sony Masterworks)
• Julian Lage & Nels Cline-ROOM (Mack Avenue)
• Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden-Last Dance (ECM)
• Klaxon Mutant Allstars-Robot Invasion (S/R)
• Neneh Cherry-Blank Project  (Smallsound Supersound)
• Paul Giallorenzo's GitGo-Force Majeure (Delmark)
• Sax Ruins-Blimmguass (Ipecac)
• Scott Arnold- 45 (S/R)
• Sun Ra And His Myth-Science Arkestra-Marshall Allen presents Sun Ra and His Arkestra: In the Orbit of Ra (Strut)
• Taylor McFerrin-Early Riser (Brainfeeder)
• The Dogon Lights-S/T (S/R)
• The Equity & Social Justice Quartet -The Whisper of Flowers (Edgetone)
• The Nels Cline Singers-Macroscope  (Mack Avenue)
• The Souljazz Orchestra-Inner Fire  (Strut Records)
• The Tiptons Sax Quartet-Tiny Lower Case (S/R)
• Thievery Corporation-Saudade (ESL Music)
• Zara McFarlane-If You Knew Her (Brownswood)

Notable Soundtracks

• Andrew Hewitt-The Double  (Milan)
• Antonio Sanchez-Birdman (Milan)
• Johann Johannsson-Theory of Everything (Backlot)
• Mica Levi-Under The Skin (Milan)
• Yann Tiersen- Infinity (Mute)

Favorite Covers

• Robyn Hitchcock –“The Ghost in You”-The Man Upstairs (Yep Roc)
• Todd Terje (with Brian Ferry)-“Johnny and Mary”-It’s Album Time (Olsen Records)
• Joseph Arthur -“Men of Good Fortune”-Lou (Vanguard)

Notable Compilations

• Native North America, Vol. 1: Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985 (Light in the Attic)
• Catch Action: The Sophisticated Boogie Funk Of Sheridan House Records (Sheridan House)
• Skanish Sound: Jamaican influenced music from Spain 1964-1972 (Forced Exposure)
• Various Artists: Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell (Yep Roc)
• Krautrock Classics: a tribute to German Cosmic Music 60s and 70s (Dublab & the Goethe-Institute LA)

Terra Incognita

2014 Musical Odyssey

Best Albums Of 2014

• The Black Angels - Clear Lake Forest (Blue Horizon)
• Allah Las – Worship The Sun (Innovative Leisure)
• Hawkwind -  The Flicknife Years (Cherry Red)
• Ty Segall - Manipulator (Drag City)
• Thee Oh Sees - Drop (Castle Face 33)
• Swans - To be kind (Young God)
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Give the People What They Want (Daptone)
• Dan Melchior Und Das Menace - Hunger (Castle Face)
• FKA Twigs - LP1 (Young Turks)
• Nightmares On Wax -  N.O.W. Is The Time (Warp)
• Boris - Noise (Sargent House)
• Dr. John  - SKE-DAT-DE-DAT The Spirit Of Satch (Concord)
• Billie Joe + Norah  - Foreverly (Reprise)
• Wooden Shjips - Back to Land (Thrill Jockey)
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Live from KCRW (Bad Seed)
• Nick Waterhouse - Holly (Innovative Leisure)
• Beck  - Morning Phase (Capitol)
• Bart Davenport - Physical World (Lovemonk)
• Warm Soda - Young Reckless Hearts (Castle Face)
• Kryzysztof Komeda - Dance of the Vampires (Series Aphonos)
• Meridian Brothers - Salvadora Robot (Soundway)
• Dolly Parton - Blue Smoke (Dolly Records)
• Budos Band - Burnt Offering (Daptone)
• Big Freedia - Just Be Free (Queen Diva)
• White Fence - For the Recently Found Innocent (Drag City)

Best Compilations Of 2014

• Vamps Et Vampire (Ace)
• Krautrock Classics: A Tribute to German Cosmic Music (Dublab)
• Captain Beefheart - Sun, Zoom, Spark : 1970 to 1972 (Rhino)
• Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society - Get A Job, Get A Car, Get A Bed, Get Drunk! Underground Punk and Post-Punk In The UK 1977-81 (Soul Jazz)
• Classic African American Songsters (Smithsonian Folkways)
• Los Nuggetz: Volume Uno (RockBeat)
• Haiti Direct (Strut)
• The Sound of Siam 2: Molam & Luk Thung 1970-1982 (Sound Way)
• Psychedelic States: Maryland in the 60s (Gear Fab)
• Catch Action: The Sophisticated Boogie Funk Of Sheridan House Records (Luv N' Haight)

Best Live Shows Of 2014

• All Star Funk Band at the New Parish, Oakland, 3/4
• Neutral Milk Hotel at the Fox, Oakland, 4/11
• Willie Nelson at the Greek Theater, Berkeley, 4/12
• Kermit Ruffins at the New Parish, Oakland, 7/25
• Meshell Ndegeocello at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, 9/20
• Lumerians and White Manna at the New Parish, Oakland, 10/24
• Rebirth Brass Band and Kermit Ruffins at Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans, 10/30
• Quintron and Miss Pussycat at One-Eyed Jacks, New Orleans, 10/31
• Rebirth Brass Band at the New Parish, Oakland, 11/7
• Funky Meters at the New Parish, Oakland, 12/18

The Butcher of Bakersfield

Best of Electricity

Albums

1. Aphex Twin - Syro (Warp)
2. Caustic Window - Caustic Window LP (Rephlex)
3. A Winged Victory For The Sullen - Atomos (Kranky)
4. Octo Octa - Between Two Selves (100% Silk)
5. Fah - We Were Cool Ones (Occult Research) [released on 12/31/2014!]
6. Pye Corner Audio - Black Mill Tapes Volume 4:Dystopian Vectors (Further Records)
7. CN - Nu (WeMe)
8. Pye Corner Audio/Not Waving - Intercepts (Ecstatic)
9. Plaid - Reachy Prints (Warp)

Singles/EPs

1. EOD - Volume 3 (S/R)
2. Octo Octa - Cause I Love You (100% Silk)
3. Pye Corner Audio - The Black Mist EP (Front & Follow)
4. Retape - Signals On The Double (030303)

Tumble Weed

Best of 2014 Vinyl Re-issues (in random order):

• Roland Barker - Shredder Orpheus OST (Traction TV)
• Tom Dissevelt - Fantasy in Orbit (Sonitron)
• Psyche - Re-membering Dwayne (Dark Entries)
• Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia (Worthy)
• Yays and Nays - S/T (Groovie)
• Francis Bebey - Psychedelic Sanza 1982-1984 (Born Bad)
• Ennio Morricone - Lizard in a Woman's Skin OST (Death Waltz)
• Stelvio Cipriani - Concorde Affair '79 OST (Vombis)
• Severed Heads - Since the Accident (Medical)
• Tom Ellard - 80's Cheesecake (Dark Entries)
• Harry Manfredini - Friday the 13th OST - (Waxwork)
• Dreamies - Auralgraphic Entertainment (Out-Sider)
• The Group - The Feed-back (Schema)
• White Noise - Electric Storm (Island)
• Altres - Archives (Dark Entries)
• Chuck Cirino - Chopping Mall OST (Waxwork)
• Blue Phantom - Distortions (Spider)
• Sandro Brugnolini - Underground (Sonor)
• Akira Ifukube - Godzilla OST (Death Waltz)
• Null and Void - Happiness and Contempt (Medical)
• Rick Ulfik - Street Trash OST (Lunaris)
• The Braen's Machine - Underground - (Schema)
• Wallter Rizzati - 1990: The Bronx Warriors OST (Death Waltz)
• Tinariwen - The Radio Tisdas Sessions (Modern Classics)
• Iko - '83 (Medical)
• The Actor - Exploded View (Mannequin)
• Philip Glass - Candyman OST (One Way Static)
• Simon Jones - Melanie and Me OST (Strawberry Rain)
• Fabio Frizzi - A Cat in the Brain OST (Mondo)
• Yury Morozov - Cherry Garden of Jimi Hendrix (Shadoks)

Best of 2014 (not a re-issue)

• Pye Corner Audio - Black Mill Tapes Vol.1-4 (Type)

Women Hold Up Half The Sky

Lynn’s TOP PICKS OF 2014

ALBUMS 2014 – in alpha order

    1.    Accolade - Legends (S/R)
    2.    Vashti Bunyan - Heartleap (DiCristina)  
    3.    Melaena Cadiz - Deep Below Heaven (Wild Kindness)
    4.    Roseanne Cash - The River & The Thread (Blue Note)
    5.    Hollie Cook - Twice (Mr. Bongo)
    6.    Emma Donovan & The Putbadks - Dawn (HopeStreet)
    7.    Ghost Wolves, The - Man, Woman, Beast (Plowboy)
    8.    Goat - Commune (Sub Pop)
    9.    LoCura - Dale de Comer (S/R)
    10.    Luluc - Passerby (Sub Pop)
    11.    Meta Meta - Metal Metal (Mais Um Discos)
    12.    OOIOO - Gamel (Thrill Jockey)
    13.    Gemma Ray - Milk for Your Motors (Bronze Rat)
    14.    Via Tania & the Tomorrow Music Orchestra - S/T (Narooma)
    15.    Mia Doi Todd - Floresta (City Zen)  

SONGS 2014 (not on my best albums) – in alpha order

    1.    Asteroids Galaxy Tour - “Navigator” - Bring Us Together (Hot Bus/Rough Trade)
    2.    Blonde Redhead - “Cat on a Tin Roof” - Barragan (Kobalt)
    3.    Blonde Redhead - “No More Honey” - Barragan (Kobalt)
    4.    Brothers & Sisters (The) - “All Along The Watchtower” - Dylan’s Gospel (Light In The Attic)
    5.    Dubmarine - “Beat In Control” - Laser Sound Beam (Sugarrush)
    6.    Dubmarine - “Let’s Go” - Laser Sound Beam (Sugarrush)
    7.    Dubmarine - “Pass It On” - Laser Sound Beam (Sugarrush)
    8.    Valery Gore - “Hummingbird In Reverse” - Idols in the Dark Heart (S/R)
    9.    Jessica Hernandez - “Over” - Secret Evil (Instant)
    10.    Lia Ices  - “Creature” - Ices (Jagjaguwar)
    11.    Kimbra - “Goldmine” - The Golden Echo (Warner Bros.)
    12.    Lolawolf - “Take A Hint” - Calm Down (Innit)
    13.    Moniquea - “If I Let You Take My Heart” - Yes No Maybe (MoFunk)
    14.    Caroline Rose - “Shepherd” - I Will Not Be Afraid (Little Hi!)
    15.    Sorceress - “Te Kano” - Dose (Wonderwheel)