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)

• 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 3×7″ (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

• 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)

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)

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)

• 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)