Some albums are totally worthy of this list, but just couldn't fit, due to space. These include: Tame Impala Lonerism, Deerhunter Halcyon Digest, M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, Disclosure Settle, Death Grips The Money Store, A Place to Bury Strangers Onwards to the Wall EP, Crystal Castles (III), and EMA The Future's Void
With that settled, let us begin our look back at the best of the last five years in music...
25. Beach House
Bloom
It is rare for a wash of synths to sound so utterly beautiful, but Baltimore-based Beach House found a way to express their love of electronics without sounding like either Radio Dept. or Gesaffelstein. Bloom is the duo's masterpiece, showcasing Victoria Legrand's raspy vocals and Alex Scally's brilliant production skills. Imagine the happiest wake you could possibly attend.
"Myth"
24. Grimes
Visions
Claire Boucher, the woman behind Grimes, is not a friend of traditionalists. She sings in a falsetto meant for bubblegum pop, but produces electronic music that's both brooding and enlightening. How she is able to combine the two so well is something akin to sorcery, but we are all the better for her efforts. Equally good for partying or staring into the abyss, Visions isn't so much revolutionary as it is purely ingenious.
"Genesis"
23. Feist
Metals
Leslie Feist is the only singer/composer I know of that makes music so heartfelt and warm that you want to hug a physical copy as you listen. The public goodwill Feist built up with 2008's The Reminder, was not ill-spent here. The production is even softer, giving Feist's voice--and her backing pianos and guitars--a fuzzy, almost plush sound, like sliding into your most comfortable pair of pajamas. Sometimes she will sing of loves lost and darker times, but it's as if she's just getting through the scary part of the hero's journey; every good bedtime story has one. This is folk for the faint of heart, but it's just as good for those brave enough to forge onward.
"Graveyard"
22. James Blake
Overgrown
Never before has an album's artwork so accurately depicted the musical contents held within. James Blake's second full-length release is one filled to the brim with dead, wintry sounds that make you long to sit by the fire...even if you already are. The vocals are, of course, gorgeous, with layer upon layer of looped lyrics creating a dizzying kaleidoscope of words too beautiful to imagine. Blake's performance is melodramatic and strangely affecting, the mix of soul singing and electronic music one he has perfected and made into a science.
"Retrograde"
21. Queens of the Stone Age
...Like Clockwork
After a six-year hiatus, Josh Homme and company returned in the most brilliant, ass-kicking fashion possible. QOTSA's sixth album is a tour de force, an homage to everything rock-and-roll means: drugs, sex, crappy hangers-on, being clinically dead...wait, what? Certainly, Queens of the Stone Age haven't gone all "the Cure" on us, have they? No, no one is here to make that claim. Their music is still loud, brash, and in your face. The melodies still rock harder than anyone else's in the business. But, instead of mindless jabbering, Homme sings/yells/croons lyrics that have weight, giving the entire album a much deeper meaning, and a much heavier feel. Hopefully, his real life isn't quite this Aronofsky-esque, but in the telling, ...Like Clockwork makes for QOTSA's best effort since Songs for the Deaf.
"I Sat By the Ocean"
20. Ty Segall Band
Slaughterhouse
Creating perhaps the noisiest surfer punk in history, Ty Segall created his eponymous Ty Segall Band specifically for this one album. It's not entirely different from his usual, "solo" work, but it's strange and loud enough it needs to stand on it's own. And does it ever. Slaughterhouse lives up to its name, assaulting your ear drums and carving them up with catchy tunes played at an incredibly high volume for such a lo-fi sound. But the quality of the music itself cannot be forgotten here. Obviously the tone and volume are what get the hype, but each song is crafted to perfection, to play perfectly with that crunch and optimize the listening experience at every turn.
"I Bought My Eyes"
19. Danny Brown
Old
To start: there is not a better club/party song than "Dip." That is a fact, don't look it up. Danny Brown made perhaps the best hip-hop album that mashes electronica and rap in the history of that sub-genre. Old is nothing short of amazing party music for it's entire length. While it's lyrics often drop into the drug culture that so plagues lesser verses, Brown is able to make each line sound more original than the last, both with his creative wordplay and his ever-changing delivery. And after 18 straight songs of build up, with nary a "skit" in sight, Old culminates in one of the most inspiring-yet-heartbraking anthems ever, "Float On." Don't worry, Danny, you will see the future of music, and it will be influenced by you.
"Dip"
18. Cloud Nothings
Attack On Memory
Calling forth the hazy memories of both Nirvana and Slint, Cloud Nothings use their brief, seven-song Attack On Memory to posit that emo and grunge are not that disparate in their goals or means. Their theory is supported by a straining singer, harsh guitar distortions, and complex drum patterns mixed very far to the back. Some of their sounds become experimental, but never so much as to draw you away from the core rock. The lyrics can become Taking-Back-Sunday-sentimental, but never enough to make you queasy. Always the perfect mix of In Utero and Transatlanticism, Cloud Nothings work to make you enjoy every moment, even you you have to put in your share of work too.
"Wasted Days"
17. Bat for Lashes
The Haunted Man
When Natasha Khan, the utter genius behind Bat for Lashes, announced that her third full-length album would be "stripped down," quite a few were worried a slimmer production and a lack of big-orchestra pieces that made Two Suns so brilliant would harshly detract from her usual ornate presentation. Such was not the case. On The Haunted Man, Khan is so good at her minimalist approach that it heightens every appearance of a string instrument to a transcendental experience, every choral arrangement a message from God. Contrast these with truly bombastic drum-machine showcases like "Oh Yeah" and "Marilyn" and you get Khan's most moving work to date. After building a career on making you cry alone in your room, Bat for Lashes has the same effect here, but this time they are tears of joy.
"Marilyn"
16. Twin Shadow
Forget
On his debut as Twin Shadow, producer/singer-songwriter George Lewis, Jr. creates a space that feels totally original, even if his influences are supremely evident. A dance album that calls back more Brian Eno than Eurythmics, Forget is filled with melodramatic pieces meant to evoke emotion over rhythm. That's not to say there aren't dance-floor movers, with songs like "At My Heels" and the fantastic "Slow," which is anything but. The emotive tone of these songs is accentuated by Lewis' powerful voice and the overall flow of a masterfully produced album. Forget is a work of art at its core, and every spin will showcase its gorgeous palette of sound.
"Slow"
Light Up Gold
Parquet Courts more recent work may be straying into full-on punk, but on their wide-release debut, they really bring the Iggy Pop references, with doses of Adam Ant and Gang of Four thrown in for balance. The never-ending upbeat guitar rock is exactly what we needed to kick off 2013 in the most rocking way possible, and frontman Adam Savage's monotonous glee (if there is such a thing) can be heard throughout, making sure you get up and move. I'm not quite sure what the ultimate goal of Light Up Gold was, but if it was to make you happy while spouting nonsense and playing a sludge-drip guitar with less zeal than a "Cinnamon Girl" solo...mission accomplished.
"Stoned and Starving"
14. Caribou
Swim
So you say you want inventiveness in your dance music. Well, look no further than Dan Snaith, or more specifically, his recording project Caribou (he has many). His third album under that moniker, Swim, is a fantastic example of what can happen if you try to make an electronic album with acoustic instruments, or, at least live drums and percussion. This is the dance album Beck would make, or failing that, one that could be made with only the equipment available to a high school marching band. But don't mistake that as a slight, quite the opposite in fact. On Swim, Caribou is able to make engaging beats even more so through the use of intricately placed bells, chimes, live snares, and an almost insane mastery of Rhodes and Wurlitzer pianos. Swim is so mesmerizing you won't just listen to it all in one sitting, you'll listen to it five times in one sitting.
"Odessa"
13. Sleigh Bells
Treats
Before Sleigh Bells rode the hard, steep rail to oblivion (their new music is terrible, is what I'm going for here), they had the most brilliant debut album in the history of the "Loudness War" since the Jesus & Mary Chain's Psychocandy. Treats is an all-out assault on your hearing, and you will be thoroughly destroyed by the ridiculous beats, crazy-yet-simplistic guitar clashes, and Alexis Krauss' cheer squad chanting. Certainly, the mix volume has a lot to do with its near-constant distortion, but the production of such a ridiculously loud album cannot be ignored, not that you would be able to. Sleigh Bells are on a mission to beat you up with music, and though they may have strayed from that in recent years, Treats is the perfect example of song as a weapon.
"Infinity Guitars"
12. Chromatics
Kill for Love
Since we're still in the throws of winter's death grip, it is perfectly normal to talk about Chromatics as the composers of the score for our lives. Perhaps it's the use of their music in film soundtracks, but if you listen to Kill for Love while driving, you will think you are in a movie--probably a thriller or noir. This album is the sound of icicles hanging off street lights, the playlist to snowfall. With their woozy synths, staccato guitar picking, and absinthe-soaked vocals, Chromatics make dance into something more than a mind-numbing pop song with a fantastic beat; they create entire worlds out of glass and candy.
"Lady"
11. Robyn
Body Talk
Robyn has been producing quality Swedish dance-pop for as long as I've been interested in contemporary music, which is to say, she's been making it since before I knew she existed. But to make dance-pop is not the same as transcending it. If nothing else, single "Dancing On My Own" is good enough make it on this list by itself. But that's just the album opener, which is then followed by hit after hit, each song catchier and poppier than the last. Never repetitive, never boring, always fun, Body Talk is the album you put on repeat at a party...and just let it go. Even its slower, more melodramatic moments are spectacular examples of everything the combination of a beautiful singing voice and electronic beats can accomplish.
"Dancing On My Own"
10. Kanye West
Yeezus
If you want to talk about trend-setting, convention-bucking musicianship, look no further than Kanye West. Right after wowing literally every music critic with his dense, thought-provoking My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he turned around and hired Daft Punk and Gesaffelstein to produce an album so utterly drenched in industrial electronics people thought it was a joke. No, it's no joke, it's just mind-blowingly revolutionary. Okay, so maybe he was later to the party than say Death Grips, or that Saul Williams album produced by Trent Reznor, but how many #1 hits did those have? West, through sheer force of will, sold 1.5 million tangible copies of an album many thought was "ugly" and "unfinished" in an age where physical media is less than passé. And there's not even any album art on the damn thing. Now, that's not to say sales make the album, it just goes to prove Kanye is the hip-hop David Bowie.
"Black Skinhead"
"Send It Up"
9. Perfume Genius
Too Bright
By expanding his sonic palette, Mike Hadreas, a.k.a. Perfume Genius, has actually allowed us into a more intimate space. While his earlier albums were sparse, piano experiments, they came off as pretentious, or worse, a cheap knock-off of predecessors Antony & The Johnsons. But by adding a drum machine and a few synthesizers, Perfume Genius created a personal closeness, one that lets his voice soar high above the clouds and murk of earthly machinery. Of course, those piano ballads are still there, but when they're mixed in with more electronic pieces, their emotional weight is increased ten-fold. Honest, compassionate, and dynamic, Hadreas turns Too Bright into a direct confrontation of all the ugly stereotypes, and reclaims them as a personal triumph. "No family is safe, when I sashay" indeed.
"Queen"
"My Body"
8. Swans
The Seer
"Along the shore the cloud waves break, the twin suns sink behind the lake, the shadows lengthen in Carcosa. Strange is the night where black stars rise, and strange moons circle through the skies, but stranger still is lost Carcosa. Songs that the Hyades shall sing, where flap the tatters of the King, must die unheard in dim Carcosa. Song of my soul, my voice is dead, die thou, unsung, as tears unshed shall dry and die in lost Carcosa." Swans' The Seer is one of the most dense, most complex albums ever created. The songs are long, experimental journeys through the depths of the human psyche. They are delivered with perfect instrumentation and musicianship, with even the 32-minute title track nailing every note like an expertly directed cliff-hanger. The Seer is a work of genius...supernatural genius. Signing off: ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
"Mother of the World"
"A Piece of the Sky"
7. Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
After two previous tries at making the greatest indie-rock album of the new millennium, Arcade Fire finally got it with their junior effort, The Suburbs. Not too brash, not too sedated, not too experimental, and not too mainstream, but just right. The Suburbs plays off so many musical emotions--nostalgia, political commentary, memory, hope, and loss of innocence--it's impossible not to be completely engrossed by it. But there's more to Arcade Fire's magnum opus than just a tall-tale about urban sprawl and the lost days of youth, there's also tremendous songwriting. There is not a single miss here, with every line adding to the overall narrative until the musical Ulysses is complete. You won't just listen to The Suburbs again and again, you will reminisce.
"Rococo"
"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
6. Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels 2
Hardcore rap was, at one time, considered dead, as were rap duos/groups. All we could find, for years, were light hip-hop partiers who were more interested in sales than sound, men and women who boiled their roots, sound, and lyrics down to inoffensive, easily consumable pieces. That is much of the reason why Run the Jewels--the rap duo of Killer Mike and El-P--are such an amazing breath of fresh air. Their beats land with more crunch and force than anything in the industry, and their rhymes are weapons-grade destructive. But here's the real kicker...it could still easily be in the club. Much how Kanye proved industrial can make great hip-hop, Run the Jewels has shown hardcore can make you move. Songs like "Blockbuster Night Pt. 1" and "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" could just as easily be heard at a head-banging metal concert as it could be on a dance floor. The spectacular production allows Run the Jewels 2 to live in multiple sonic worlds at the same time, appealing to all, selling out to none.
"Blockbuster Night Pt. 1"
"Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)"
5. St. Vincent
St. Vincent
It would seem, at this point, that St. Vincent has completely dropped all pretense of the "manic pixie dream girl" facade she once used to make music. In her place is a woman who rocks. As her sound has evolved, the albums have as well, losing all the fluff and leaving only the barest bones of what is necessary to make an amazing record. You won't find harp-like guitar plucking or dense string arrangements here, but you will discover an entirely different sound, one with heavy kicks and unnerving effects. The lack of pleasant-sounding breaks between the heavier songs are gone, which makes for a tightly coiled package of sound that has an even better emotional payout than all those ballads. Annie Clark has boiled the music of St. Vincent down to a science, and like the album art may suggest, she truly has become the god-queen of rock and roll.
"Digital Witness"
"Regret"
4. Janelle Monáe
The ArchAndroid
Not often is someone brilliant enough to take a subject as esoteric as Metropolis and turn it into an R&B opera. But Janelle Monáe is brilliant, and she did just that. Certainly, the message may be obscured by science-fiction dystopia, and sure, maybe all the references to Fritz Lang's 1927 silent masterpiece can be lost among the soul beats and gorgeous ballads, but none of those things cloud our ability to hear Monáe's smart lyrics and bouncing rhythms that move throughout these two "suites" in her long-running musical epic. Where singles "Cold War" and "Tightrope" showcase this singer-songwriter's ability to hit a groove and make you dance, slower love songs like "Neon Valley Street" will have you longing to be a part of this superbly painted universe. Monáe is an expert at being able to create art that is as immersive as it is dynamic, and The ArchAndroid is nothing short of her greatest work.
"Tightrope"
"Neon Valley Street"
3. Kendrick Lamar
good kid, m.A.A.d. city
When the term "gangsta rap" gets pinned to an album, I'll admit, I have a hard time bringing myself to listen. But if ever there was a record worth the effort, it is, by a wide margin, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Kendrick Lamar's first non-mixtape release. Firstly, the beats that back Lamar's lyrics are not like anything else in rap. Others in the industry famously complained that you couldn't remix or dance to anything from the semi-biographical work, but more came out saying it was true brilliance. Secondly, and more importantly, are Lamar's lyrics--a long, perfectly-delivered string of rhymes that tell a heartbreaking story of teenage love, lost innocence, gangland killings, poverty, and the need to rise above your surroundings while still holding on to your roots. Is it possible to leave the past behind but not lose your self? Many points of good kid, m.A.A.d. city are tearjerking reminders that sometimes, when you try to escape, you forget the people that mattered. This is an admonition.
"Backseat Freestyle"
"Swimming Pools (Drank)"
2. Deafheaven
Sunbather
Sometimes, an album is released that defies categorization. And, sometimes, people become utterly obsessed with making sure every note of the music held within fits the definition of whatever label was so recklessly slapped on by the record company. Is Sunbather black metal? Sure, there's the typical screamed vocals and wash of speed guitars. But the real question is: when the music is this great, who cares? As in, who cares what you call it? Deafheaven have achieved nothing short of perfection with their second album, using that wall of aggressive guitar sound to prop up more upbeat chords and tempos. The screaming, while still grating to anything less than a veteran ear, is filled with lyrics far more meaningful and heartfelt than the usual odes to Norse gods. No, Sunbather is not black metal, because by the time you reach the end of its 59 minutes, you aren't angry, and you aren't depressed. By the end of Sunbather, you are exculpated...you are free.
"Dream House"
"Sunbather"
1. LCD Soundsystem
This Is Happening
It makes me sad to be writing this, knowing that we will never hear new LCD music again, but if you want to make an album your band's swan song, goddamn is this the blueprint you follow. Every song is expertly crafted by veteran producer/singer/songwriter James Murphy. Five years on, the messages in "All I Want" and "I Can Change" are just as pressing and important as they were at the start of the decade. Whether or not LCD went into the music business to change the landscape is unknown; that they did is a certainty beyond a reasonable doubt. There is not a single down moment, nor even the tiniest spot where Murphy and company are not on their game, bringing you the very best in dance-punk, or just the very best in general. This Is Happening is a perfect album, the likes of which has not been heard before or since. So put this one on your phone, or your iPod, or your CD player, or your record player, or your tape deck, or your laser disk, and go dance yourself clean.
"Dance Yrself Clean"
"All I Want"
"I Can Change"
Edit: 1/26 11:15 - Links in article body were revised to open in a new window.
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See this year's other lists... Top 20 Songs of 2014 Top 10 Albums of 2014 Top 10 Movies of the Decade (So Far)
