Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

i've heard the angus maclise, nazoranai, and fushitsusha -- all recommended if you like that sort of thing.

Pretty much all the Superior Viaduct reissues, particularly Alice Coltrane, Crime, Peter Jefferies, Flesheaters and Mirror/Stalker

that peter jefferies album is a fantastic NZ underground classic with with a strong eno and cale vibe. this song is all-time imo, and you might know this one from the cat power cover version

at least 60% of these are reissues btw afaict

pretty rich of them to be listing bootlegs that they were essentially the only vendor for

i've heard + liked Orphan Fairytale - My Favourite Fairytale

the Fourth World Magazine Vol 2 - Pinhead in Fantasia is Spencer Clark under his Monopoly Child Star Searchers moniker, from (his label?) Pacific City Sound Visions

There is so much music in the world :)

Textura Top 40
http://www.textura.org/reviews/2104top10s.htm

01. Julia Wolfe: Steel Hammer (Cantaloupe Music)
02. Maria Schneider Featuring Dawn Upshaw: Winter Morning Walks (Artistshare)
03. Lenzman: Looking At The Stars (Metalheadz)
04. Brooklyn Rider: The Brooklyn Rider Almanac (Mercury Classics)
05. CYNE: All My Angles Are Right (Hometapes)
06. Vicky Chow: Tristan Perich: Surface Image (New Amsterdam Records)
07. David Lang: Love Fail (Cantaloupe Music)
08. yMusic: Balance Problems (New Amsterdam Records)
09. Maya Beiser: Uncovered (Innova Records)
10. Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites (Tum Records)
11. Michael Nyman: Symphony No 11: Hillsborough Memorial (Mn Records)
12. Christopher Tignor: Thunder Lay Down In The Heart (Western Vinyl)
13. Michael Robinson: Lucknow Shimmer / Hummingbird Canyon (Azure Miles Records)
14. Alexander Turnquist: Flying Fantasy (Western Vinyl)
15. Jane Ira Bloom: Sixteen Sunsets (Outline)
16. Marvin Ayres: Ultraradian Rhythms (Wall Of Waves / Market Square)
17. Brock Van Wey: Home (Echospace Detroit)
18. Octet Ensemble: Scatter My Ashes (Belarca Records)
19. Hammock: Oblivion Hymns (Hammock Music)
20. Emilia Martensson: Ana (Babel)
21. Stein Urheim: Stein Urheim (Hubro)
22. Death Blues: Ensemble ( Rhythmplex )
23. Ken Thomson: Thaw (Cantaloupe Music)
24. Bruno Sanfilippo: ClarOscuro (Ad21)
25. Mary Halvorson: Reverse Blue (Relative Pitch Records)
26. Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble: Intergalactic Beings (FPE Records)
27. 36: Dream Tempest (3six Recordings)
28. Maxwell August Croy And Sean Mccann: I (Students Of Decay)
29. Robert Hood: M-Print: 20 Years Of M-Plant Music (M-Plant)
30. Ken Thomson And Slow/Fast: Settle (NCM East Records)
31. Dday One: Dialogue With Life (The Content (L)Abel)
32. Mark Lomax Trio: Isis And Osiris (Inarhyme Records)
33. P.J. Philipson: Peaks (Little Cracked Rabbit)
34. Ian William Craig: A Turn Of Breath (Recital)
35. Mark Templeton + Kyle Armstrong: Extensions (Graphical)
36. Grouper: Ruins (Kranky)
37. Neil Leonard: For Kounellis (Gasp Records)
38. Girma Yifrashewa: Love And Peace (Unseen Worlds)
39. Carl Hultgren: Tomorrow (Blue Flea)
40. David Pritchard: Among The Missing (Morphic Resonance)

― millmeister, Tuesday, December 2, 2014 12:07 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can someone give me their favorite album from this list for me to check out that isn't Hammock or Grouper (both favorites)?

My fave on that list is the girma yifrashewa

I went through the entire Textura list (or as much of it was on Spotify). My favorites, roughly in order:

Ian William Craig: A Turn of Breath
Vicky Chow: Tristan Perich, Surface Image
Death Blues: Ensemble
36: Dream Tempest
Marvin Ayers: Ultradian Rhythms

That said, my tastes run more toward ambient/electronic. There are a lot of modern composers on here who had some good stuff--pieces I'd like to see in a theater setting but not anything I'd listen to on my home stereo.

pfunkboy recommended that ian william craig thing to me

maybe i have just downloaded too many albums recently but the prospect of downloading an album with such an anonymous title by someone with the most anonymous anglo name has not been enough, in and of itself

maybe am i just downloading albums in order to have an interesting looking set of directories rather than because of their intrinsic merits

The Ian William Craig album has shown up on a few lists besides Textura. Most notably I think it rated highly on Ben Ratliff's list for the New York Times (if memory serves. It's all voice and tape loops, or at least I think that's it. I've only listened a few times but of all the new-to-me albums I've held onto for further investigation due to these lists, this one is probably highest on my list.

this from the boomkat list is interesting

http://vimeo.com/105840481

the Wadada Leo Smith one is worth checking out, based on my limited investigation

That julia wolfe album is spectacular, highly recommended

The Stein Urheim album is gorgeous - one of my most played CDs of the year.

Extensive best of album covers list: http://www.redefinemag.com/2014/album-covers-of-the-year-2014-interviews/

pretty rich of them to be listing bootlegs that they were essentially the only vendor for

This is Classic Keenan. "The underground is dead, now buy this grey-market repro of a long-lost Eastern European noise classik for £80 (+£15 shipping, natch) from my shoppe - I'm the only vendor and I raved it in The Wire, guv."

man, i found a really good bit of dk ridiculousness the other day, lemme find it...

ahhh...

I am allergic to ordinariness and I can’t understand people who don’t let art and music affect them to the point that their very existence is permanently re-formatted. Otherwise what’s the point? But I find I don’t have much in common with many music writers or authors in general. I like to look good, I like to keep in good shape, I like to fight, I box every week, I’ve been boxing for years, I like to look after myself, I love beautiful women and stylish men, I like good food and good beer, I like fine things, I like to smell good. I find that people involved in underground or alternative culture – on the whole - are simply buying into yet another orthodoxy or way of being where there are certain standards and rules of behaviour and political suppositions and interests and looks, even. I am not into that at all and can’t relate to it. That is why I am most attracted to unique people, to one-offs, to extraordinary lives. That’s what I most want to capture in my profiles, the personality of the artists, the way they live their lives as a total artwork, voracious artists like Peter Brotzmann and Derek Bailey. But I also find extraordinary people in all walks of life, which is why I also like to move in fighting circles and drinking circles and fashion circles and wilderness circles and magickal circles and astronomy circles. Anything that isn’t ordinary and that might attract extraordinary people. Otherwise I need to get the hell away from it.

His wikipedia page is hilarious.

https://www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&q=david+keenan

that photo is of a different David Keenan, right?

i dunno, looks like a fine smelling man to me

and yes, that wiki page is definitely very thorough

I am allergic to ordinariness and I canI have a large penis’t let art and music affect them to the point that their very existence is permanently re-formatted. Otherwise what’s the point? But I find I don’t have much in common with many music writers or authors in general. I like to lI have a large penisep in good shape, I like tI have a large penisht, I box every week, I’ve been boxing for years, I like to look after myself, I love beautiful women and stylish men, I like good food and good beer, I likI have a large penise to smell good. I find that I have a large penisinvolved in underground or alternative culture – on the I have a large penisng into yet another orthodoxy or way of being where there are certain standards and rules of behaviour and politI have a large peniss and interests and looks, even. I am not into that at all and can’t relate to it. That is why I amI have a large penisacted to unique people, to one-offs, to extraordinary lives. That’s what I most want to capture I have a large penise personality of the artists, the way they live their lives as a total artwork, voracious artists like Peter Brotzmann and Derek Bailey. But I also find extraordinary people in all walks of life, which is why I also like to move in fighting circles and drinking circles and fashion circles and wilderness circleI have a large penis Anything that isn’t ordinary and that might attract extraordinary people. Otherwise I need to get the hell away from it.

otm. bullshit machismo mixed with the self-regarding swagger of someone who really knows their way round the cheese counter at sainsbury's

anyhow... best discovery for me so far off the boomkat lists is the arne deforce & mika vainio album 'hephaestus', deforce being a cellist with a background in feldman and xenakis etc. there are a couple of broiling noise workouts, but also some subtler stuff they explore more brooding atmospheres and the whole thing has the most horrible toxic sheen to it, it's just great stuff

biggest disappointment is EVOL's 'Rave Synthesis Approximations of György Ligeti's Continuum, Part III', whose title promises much but... can anyone listen to more than three minutes of this?

yeah that deforce/vainio album is awesome

can anyone listen to more than three minutes of this?

― Ottbot jr (NickB), Sunday, 21 December 2014 22:47 (6 minutes ago)

sure

its better than 'acid in the style of david tudor'

it has a bit of a HPSCHD sort of ambience about it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_hTxJpWITw

but that has a much deeper texture, the evol track is like the pc music rewrite

györgy liQT if you will

ban NickB

that may or may not be so, just because it is not unlistenable doesn't mean it is of any great value; evol is one of the least interesting mego artists

some of the more minor late ligeti is his own pc music

talking of mego, i still have to hear that one ambarchi record

are you doing a noisy list this year whiney?

ambarchi's quixotism is definitely worth hearing

are you doing a noisy list this year whiney?

― Ottbot jr (NickB), Sunday, December 21, 2014 6:16 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yah almost done, prolly posting between Christmas and New Years!

oh good man!

was just looking at the blurb for 'quixotism' and this credit is the best:

Thomas Brinkmann - computable drums with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem (Parts 1-5)

haven't got a clue wtf it means but i'm in

nick what do you think of russell haswell's recent music

PSYCH INSIGHT: 20 ESSENTIAL PSYCH ALBUMS OF 2014
http://backseatmafia.com/2014/12/04/psych-insight-20-essential-psych-albums-of-2014/

Second Bardo by Cult of Dom Kellar (Cardinal Fuzz)
Forest Of Lost Children by Kikagaku Moyo (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)
Sky Is Hell Black by Has A Shadow (Captcha Records)
Outside The Circle by Anthroprophh (Rocket Recordings)
Asteroid #4 by Asteroid #4 (Bad Vibrations)
Away From The Water by Lola Colt (Fuzz Club)
Season Sun by Gulp (Sonic Cathedral)
Mammatus Clouds by Kikagaku Moyo (Cardinal Fuzz/ Captcha Records)
The Hum by Hookworms (Weird World)
Transmissions From Planet Telos Vol. 3 by Lumerians (Cardinal Fuzz)
Commune by Goat (Rocket Recordings)
Guru Overload by Eternal Tapestry (Oaken Palace Records)
No Curtains by Dahga Bloom (Captcha Records)
High Evolutionary by Dead Sea Apes (Cardinal Fuzz)
Strange Wave Galore by Radar Men From The Moon (Fuzz Club)
Ostro by Lay Llamas (Rocket Recordings)
They Worshipped Cats by Les Big Byrd (A Records)
Thru Me Again by LA Hell Gang (Mexican Summer)
Come Down Safari by White Manna (Captcha Records)
Far Out by Black Bombaim (Cardinal Fuzz)

i'm not understanding the critical love for the latest miranda lambert - it's no crazy ex-girlfriend imho, is this just an album-after impact from pistol annies? (hard to imagine tbh)

Noisey: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/noisey-staff-top-25-albums-of-2014--10-to-1

25. RUN THE JEWELS – RUN THE JEWELS 2
24. SHARON VAN ETTEN – ARE WE THERE
23. D’ANGELO AND THE VANGUARD – BLACK MESSIAH
22. WHITE LUNG – DEEP FANTASY
21. TAYLOR SWIFT – 1989
20. YG – MY KRAZY LIFE
19. MORBUS CHRON – SWEVEN
18. MORTUARY DRAPE – SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE
17. WILD BEASTS – PRESENT TENSE
16. UNITED NATIONS – THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
15. PUP – PUP
14. ANDY STOTT – FAITH IN STRANGERS
13. BLUT AUS NORD – MEMORIA VETUSTA III: SATURNIAN POETRY
12. ANGEL OLSEN – BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS
11. TOTAL CONTROL – TYPICAL SYSTEM
10. SYLVAN ESSO – SYLVAN ESSO
9. ILOVEMAKONNEN – ILOVEMAKONNEN EP
8. SAM HUNT – MONTEVALLO
7. DEJ LOAF – SELL SOLE
6. THE MENZINGERS – RENTED WORLD
5. INTERPOL – EL PINTOR
4. GROUPER – RUINS
3. ICEAGE – PLOWING INTO THE FIELD OF LOVE
2. AGAINST ME! – TRANSGENDER DYSPHORIA BLUES
1. RICH GANG – THA TOUR PART 1

Yet more Rhapsody.

Top 25 Jazz Albums of 2014
1) Trio 3, Wiring (feat. Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman & Andrew Cyrille)
2) Harold Mabern, Right on Time
3) Kris Davis, Waiting for You to Grow
4) Roscoe Mitchell, Conversations 2
5) Jason Moran, ALL RISE: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller
6) Miguel Zenón, Identities Are Changeable
7) Sean Jones Quartet, Im•pro•vise Never Before Seen
8) Arturo O'Farrill, The Offense of the Drum
9) Charlie Haden, Charlie Haden - Jim Hall
10) Jeff Ballard, Time's Tales
11) Wadada Leo Smith, Red Hill
12) Craig Handy, Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith
13) Matthew Shipp, I've Been To Many Places
14) Jon Irabagon, It Takes All Kinds
15) Farmers by Nature (Gerald Cleaver, William Parker, Craig Taborn), Love and Ghosts
16) Ambrose Akinmusire, The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
17) Paquito D'Rivera, Jazz Meets the Classics
18) Oliver Lake Organ Quartet, What I Heard
19) São Paulo Underground, Pharoah & the Underground - Spiral Mercury
20) Branford Marsalis, In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral
21) Brad Mehldau, Mehliana: Taming the Dragon
22) Danilo Perez, Panama 500
23) Bernie Worrell, Phantom Sound Clash Cut-Up Method: Two
24) Darius Jones, The Darkseid Recital
25) Melissa Aldana, Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio

Top 25 Latin Albums of 2014
1) No Te Va Gustar, El Tiempo Otra Vez Avanza
2) Vetusta Morla, La Deriva
3) Calle 13, MultiViral
4) Vicentico, Último Acto
5) J Balvin, La Familia B Sides
6) Paco de Lucía, Canción Andaluza
7) Chancha Via Circuito, Amansara
8) Various Artists, Havana Cultura Mix: The Soundclash
9) Helado Negro, Double Youth
10) Andres Calamaro, Bohemio
11) Joan Manuel Serrat, Antología Desordenada
12) Los Tigres del Norte, Realidades
13) Enrique Iglesias, Sex and Love
14) Ana Tijoux, Vengo
15) Sonzeira, Brasil Bam Bam Bam
16) Ricardo Arjona, Viaje
17) Ismael Miranda, Son 45
18) Arturo O'Farrill, The Offense of the Drum
19) Lila Downs, Soledad Pastorutti, Nina Pastori, Raíz
20) Carlos Vives, Más + Corazón Profundo
21) Gaby Moreno, Posada
22) Marta Gómez, Coloreando
23) Farruko, Farruko Presents Los Menores
24) Jorge Drexler, Bailar en la Cueva
25) Various Artists, Cantinflas: Música Original de la Película

Top 20 R&B Albums of 2014
1) FKA Twigs, LP1
2) D'Angelo, Black Messiah
3) Trey Songz, Trigga
4) Tinashe, Aquarius
5) August Alsina, Testimony
6) Prince, Art Official Age
7) Mary J Blige, The London Sessions
8) Fatima, Yellow Memories
9) Mali Music, Mali Is…
10) Anderson Paak, Venice
11) K Michelle, Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?
12) Pharrell Williams, G I R L
13) Toni Braxton & Babyface, Love Marriage & Divorce
14) Kem, Promise to Love
15) Sebastian Mikael, Speechless
16) Electric Wire Hustle, Love Can Prevail
17) Kelis, Food
18) George Tandy, Jr., The Foundation
19) Jesse Boykins III, Love Apparatus
20) Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Give the People What They Want

Top 25 Christian/Gospel Albums of 2014
1) Ellie Holcomb, As Sure as the Sun
2) Amy Grant, In Motion: The Remixes
3) MercyMe, Welcome to the New
4) Francesca Battistelli, If We're Honest
5) Jamie Grace, Ready to Fly
6) Casting Crowns, Thrive
7) Danny Gokey, Hope in Front of Me
8) Crowder, Neon Steeple
9) Switchfoot, Fading West
10) Steve Taylor & the Perfect Foil, Goliath
11) Colton Dixon, Anchor
12) For King & Country, Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong
13) Needtobreathe, Rivers in the Wasteland
14) Rhett Walker Band, Here's to the Ones
15) Chris Tomlin, Love Ran Red
16) Elevation Worship, Only King Forever
17) Passion, Passion: Take It All
18) Hillsong Worship, No Other Name
19) Kari Jobe, Majestic
20) Michael W. Smith, Sovereign
21) Jesus Culture, Unstoppable Love
22) Anthony Evans, Real Life/Real Worship
23) Fred Hammond, I Will Trust
24) Tedashii, Below Paradise
25) Lecrae, Anomaly

Baltimore City Paper's top ten:
http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-top-10-nonlocal-albums-20141215,0,6654824.photogallery

1. YG, "My Krazy Life" (Def Jam)
2. Spoon, "They Want My Soul" (Loma Vista)
3. Swans, "To Be Kind" (Mute/ Young God)
4. Warpaint, "Warpaint" (Rough Trade)
5. Run the Jewels, "Run The Jewels 2" (Mass Appeal)
6. Tink, "Winter's Diary 2: Forever Yours" (self-released)
7. Arca, "Xen" (Mute)
8. Priests, "Bodies and Control and Money and Power" (Don Giovanni/Sister Polygon)
9. FKA twigs, "LP1" (Young Turks)
10. Sturgill Simpson, "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music" (High Top Mountain Records)

we also do a bunch of other lists

top ten reissues: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-top-10-album-reissues-gallery-20141215,0,1514216.photogallery

top ten local albums: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-top-10-local-albums-20141215,0,2514505.photogallery

top ten local singles: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-top-10-local-singles-20141215,0,1844220.photogallery

top ten in Baltimore club music: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-bpm-top-10-in-club-20141215,0,7978067.story

top ten in Baltimore hip hop: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-rap-sheet-top-10-in-hiphop-20141215,0,3758535.story

top ten in country: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-strum-und-twang-top-10-in-country-20141215,0,5362356.story

top ten in heavy music: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-bangers-and-thrash-top-10-in-heavy-music-20141215,0,290534.story

top ten in jazz and blues: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-blue-notes-top-10-in-jazz-and-blues-20141215,0,5701453.story

top ten in avant garde: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-booed-music-top-10-in-avantgarde-20141215,0,4583960.story

top ten in indie music: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-map-ref-39-n-76-w-dec-10-top-10-in-indie-music-20141215,0,7753207.story

top ten in classical: http://www.citypaper.com/special/topten/bcp-debussy-riot-top-10-in-classical-20141215,0,5699231.story

dang, I really need to catch up on BMOP

The Obelisk Presents: The Top 30 of 2014
http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2014/12/22/the-obelisk-presents-the-top-30-of-2014/