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Our 15 Favorite Albums of the Year (So Far)

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As Shea pointed out, 2014 has been somewhat lukewarm in terms of music releases that are really capturing our attention and keep us listening over and over. Here’s hoping the second half of the year is more fruitful! For now, below are a few albums (in no particular order) that have been in our headphones the first half of 2014.

1. Future Islands, Singles (4AD)

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If Singles is Future Islands selling out, then I wish more bands would sell out. While they didn’t completely revamp their dour sound, Singles has a more peaceful and pop oriented feel to it, both musically and lyrically. The band is still well ahead of their peers on poetic storytelling, though, and Sam Herring’s voice is as elusively captivating as it has ever been. It’s not often that a band can change their sound so much and take it in stride as easily as Future Islands have on this album. A high point for them creatively. – J.O.

2. Fear of Men, Loom (Kanine)

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Fear of Men’s Early Fragments really captured our hearts last year. With Loom, there is even more to love, from the interesting guitar work on “America”, to Jessica Weiss’s lyricism, Loom is poised to be in rotation for the rest of year (and beyond). – A.M.

3. Sun Kil Moon, Benji (Caldo Verde)

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Epic used to mean something. In the literary sense it was a long-winded tale, usually an origin story. Benji is the musical equivalent. One of the most personal and inner focused releases in recent memory, Mark Kozelek takes an honest and often times brutal and heartbreaking look at the moments that shaped his life while dealing with his middle aged apprehensions. It’s uneven and overlong, but often times beautiful and gripping. A nearly perfect album simply based on how it interacts with the listener and the artist himself. – J.O. 

4. Marissa Nadler, July (Sacred Bones)

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Don’t let the album title fool you, this isn’t really a summer album. What July is, though, is Marissa Nadler creating a ghostly world that you can turn to when you’ve got a bit of that summertime sadness, especially on “Nothing In My Heart.” – A.M. 

5. EMA, The Future’s Void (Matador)

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EMA’s love (or hate) letter to the internet continues her forward thinking look at pop music. It’s style ranged from bleached blonde pop to crushing synth, and anything in between. It included one of the most devastating songs of the internet era (“3Jane”) as well as multiple references to William Gibson’s seminal work Neuromancer. At least for this writer, that makes it excellent in itself. – J.O.

6. St. Vincent, St. Vincent (Loma Vista/Republic)

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Annie Clark refuses to fit whatever mold you want to shove her in. Which, considering tracks like “Prince Johnny”, “Digital Witness”, and “Bring Me Your Loves”, is totally fine by me. – A.M.

7. Cloud Nothings, Here and Nowhere Else (Carpark)

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Cloud Nothings built off the new sound they cultivated on Attack on Memory with Here and Nowhere Else. It’s quality was similarly excellent, but what sets their latest apart is the confidence and comfort they feel with their new sound. It allows them to create a dark tone on Here and Nowhere Else with an unexpected level of depth. A major step forward for a band that is still incredibly young somehow. – J.O. 

8. Priests, Bodies and Control and Money and Power (Don Giovanni)

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Hey guys, you know all those so-called punk bands that have been popping up in recent years? Priests have their cake and eat it too, addressing the issues that most other punk bands (and youth of today) are too afraid, too lazy, or too brainwashed to really go further into than just being a Twitter activist. I’m not ranting. I’m telling it like it is, and so are Priests. – A.M.

9. Trust, Joyland (Arts & Crafts)

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Robert Alfons decided that sometimes it’s easier to just embrace joy (and eels) and Joyland was all the more better for it. It’s an album filled with upbeat but somehow still brooding synth, and giddy vocals. It makes for quite a listen for someone expecting witch house. But it’s nice to see a stagnant genre have new life breathed into it by one of its best curators trying something new. – J.O. 

10. Phantogram, Voices (Republic)

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This was kind of a left field hit for me. Though I’d seen Phantogram live a few months before the release of Voices, I thought of them of nothing more than a “fun” band. With Voices, I found an album I could relate to (see: “Black Out Days”, “Celebrating Nothing”) while dancing around my room. That doesn’t happen very often. – A.M.

11. Nothing, Guilty of Everything (Relapse)

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Guilty of Everything isn’t shy about its influence. It’s shoegaze foundation bubbles up throughout. But these Philly based rockers push plenty of punk influence into the blender as well. It makes for quite a mix, and Nothing manage to stick both the aesthetic and the music. They jump from fast paced, oftentimes edgy movements into dreamy landscapes, then back again with ease, making it seem simple. It’s not, and it’s a testament to the band and the album. – J.O.

12. Sharon Van Etten, Are We There (Jagjaguwar)

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This isn’t the sound of a heart breaking. It’s the sound of a heart adjusting and growing and just plain getting over it. The follow-up to the more mellow, subdued Tramp is loud and beautiful and everything I didn’t know I needed to hear. – A.M.

13. Amen Dunes, Love (Sacred Bones)

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Though Love may not sound like one of the most profound punk statements of the year, it is. Damon McMahon crafts images of outcast loners (“Lonely Richard”, “Lilac In Hand”) that are barely discernable through his warbled vocals. They are definitely appreciated though, and the album closer is deeply romantic, which is fitting considering the title. – A.M. 

14. Mac DeMarco, Salad Days (Captured Tracks)

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Mad DeMarco is never going to make a super ambitious world beating record. But he’s always good for a laid back, enjoyable listen. Salad Days continues his trend of forming jangly and catchy pop tracks. It’s inoffensive and nondescript at times, but he sells his slacker songwriting so well that it’s immediately relatable and easily remembered. Salad Days isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it’s consistency and overall good vibes are much needed in the current rock landscape. – J.O.

15. Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)

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Angel Olsen continues to grow as an artist, and Burn Your Fire For No Witness proved that she has talent to burn. It’s folk and country influence shine through on her malleable vocals, which see her jumping from country warble to delicate folk all the way to confident rocker. The fact that she can even put together a somewhat cohesive album with all these moving parts is even more impressive. It’s an album filled with questioning, with no answers given, which sort of feels like Olsen’s possible career trajectory right now. The sky is the limit. – J.O. 

By Alex Martinez and Justin Owlett.



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