lichter's 100 favorite albums of 2014

lichter

1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts

December 22 2014 06:59 GMT

So. I ended up listening to 250+ albums and ~2.7k songs this year. What in the fuck. That actually breaks a record for me for most new music listened to in one year. I don't think the year was particularly great, but for some reason I listened to a lot of new stuff. Probably because TL stressed me out and I needed new music to motivate me, I dunno.

So, my top 100 favorite albums of the year. I'll probably change my mind about some of these.

The Gloaming - "The Gloaming"
The War on Drugs - "Lost in the Dream"
Brontide - "Artery"
Musk Ox - "Woodfall"
Toumani & Sidiki Diabate - "Toumani & Sidiki"
Tinariwen - "Emmaar"
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Fear of Men - "Loom"
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Kishi Bashi - "Lighght"
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Luluc - "Passerby"
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Francois and the Atlas Mountains - "Piano Ombre - Massimo Paladino"
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Slow Magic - "How to Run Away"
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Sleepmakeswaves - "Love of Cartography"
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Wang Wen - "Eight Horses"
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Sevendeaths - "Concrete Misery"
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Remember Remember - "Forgetting the Present"
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Grouper - "Ruins"
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TOPS - "Picture You Staring"
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36 - "Dream Tempest"
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Wye Oak - "Shriek"
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Disemballerina - "Undertaker"
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Spoon - "They Want My Soul"
Future Island - "Singles"
Hauschka - "Abandoned City"
Hildur Gudnaddotir - "Saman"
Yuki Murata - "Gift"
Blackhoods - "Sunk"
Gates - "Bloom and Breathe"
Stardeath and White Dwarfs - "Wastoid"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Days of Abandon"
Brooklyn Rider - "The Brooklyn Rider Almanac"
Carl Hultgren - "Tomorrow"
Stefan Wesolowski - "Liebstod"
Lantlos - "Melting Sun"
BADBADNOTGOOD - "III"
Christopher Tignor - "Thunder Lay Down in the Heart"
Temples - "Sun Structures"
Chapelier Fou - "Deltas"
Alexander Turnquist - "Alexander Turnquist"
Animals as Leaders - "The Joy of Motion"
Rumour Cubes - "Appearances of Collections"
Tycho - "Awake"
White Lung - "Deep Fantasy"
Slow Club - "Complete Surrender"
Pulse Emitter - "Equinox"
Anathema - "Distant Satellites"
Sharon Van Etten - "Are We There"
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - "Atomos"
Wander - "Mourning"
Mimicking Birds - "Eons"
Bruno Bavota - "The Secret of the Sea"
Beware of Safety - "Lotusville"
Pan & Me - "Ocean Noise"
Tuomas Holopainen - "The Life and Times of Scrooge"
Audrey Fall - "Mitau"
Samaris - "Silkidangar"
Gazpatcho - "Demon"
Her Name is Calla - "Navigator"
Ex Hex - "Rips"
Ben Howard - "I Forget Where We Are"
yMusic - "Balance Problems"
Wild Beasts - "Present Tense"
Equals - "Tracts"
Fennesz - "Becs"
Mono - "The Last Dawn / Rays of Darkness"
French for Rabbits - "Spirits"
Lee Field and the Expressions - "Emma Jean"
Hotelier - "Home, Like Noplace There Is"
Sleeping Bear - "Sleeping Bear"
Swans - "To be Kind"
Fatima Al Qadiri - "Asiatisch"
Tony Molina - "Dissed and Dismissed"
Antlers - "Familiars"
Owen Pallett - "In Conflict"
Show Me a Dinosaur - "Dust"
Kemialliset Ystävät - "Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa"
The Horrors - "Luminous"
Weary Eyes - "WWGBBYW"
She Keeps Bees - "Eight Houses"
Esben and the With - "A New Nature"
The Faint - "Doom Abuse"
Solstafir - "Otta"
Ceclia::eyes - "Disappearance"
This Patch of Sky - "This Patch of Sky"
Lawrence English - "Wilderness of Mirrors"
Lydia Ainsworth - "Right From Real"
Arc Iris - "Arc Iris"
Moonlit Sailor - "We Come Frome Exploding Stars"
Nothing - "Guilty of Everything"
Saor - "Aura"
Woven Hand - "Refractory Obdurate"
Villagers of Ioannina City - "Riza"
Emma Ruth Rundle - "Some Heavy Ocean"
S. Carey - "Range of Light"
Asgeir - "In the Silence"
Strand of Oaks - "Heal"
James Vincent McMorrow -" Post Tropical"
Hundred Waters - "The Moon Rang Like a Bell"
Sun Araw - "Belomancie"
Phantogram - "Voices"
Piers Faccini & Vincent Segal - "Songs of Time Lost"

Honorable mentions for albums I liked but don't know where to put:

Run the Jewels - "RTJ2"
Real Estate - "Atlas"
Leonard Cohen - "Popular Problems"
Andy Stott - "Faith in Strangers"
Maya Beiser - "Uncovered"
Aso Ai - "Lone"
The Men - "Tomorrow's Hits"

I might add more links to music if I feel like it. I guess if you're curious which of these you'd like, just ask!

herMan

Japan2054 Posts

December 22 2014 07:58 GMT

That's pretty impressive. My sin is to just stick with a certain playlist and not explore new music. Then one day I just wake up and find out a couple of new songs. Repeat.

I noticed you have some Finnish stuff there as well like Tuomas Holopainen and Kemialliset Ystävät. I'd guess that you listen to some metal and have explored the more known artists/bands already?

lichter

1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts

December 22 2014 08:10 GMT

I used to be a big metal head maybe.. 12 years ago, but not recently. I lost my appreciation for death and black metal vocals some time ago, which explains why albums by Behemoth, Sunn O))) & Ulver, Hoth, Agalloch, Junius, IQ, Merkabah, IQ, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Yob, Pallbearer, etc didn't make the cut.

Karis Vas Ryaar

United States4396 Posts

December 22 2014 08:20 GMT

How the heck do you have time to listen to 100 different albums?

On December 22 2014 17:10 lichter wrote:
I used to be a big metal head maybe.. 12 years ago, but not recently. I lost my appreciation for death and black metal vocals some time ago, which explains why albums by Behemoth, Sunn O))) & Ulver, Hoth, Agalloch, Junius, IQ, Merkabah, IQ, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Yob, Pallbearer, etc didn't make the cut.

The ulver sunn0 split has black metal vocals? I listened to it brefly/skimmed it and didn't catch any black metal vocals. also check out widek. really cool instrumental rock band. not sure if it's anything you're interested in but I like em

personally my two favorite albums of the year are probably Falconer's Black moon rising and Magnum's escape from the shadow garden. I also realized I didn't know like 95 percent of the albums on this list lol. cool that you put this together though

munch

Mute City2363 Posts

December 22 2014 08:55 GMT

Well this is going to take a while to get through. Lovely to see Complete Surrender on there,been playing non stop for me

REDBLUEGREEN

Germany1904 Posts

December 22 2014 10:19 GMT

Wow out of your top 100 I only know 2 artists :D

On my list Tycho's Awake would be higher, although it is not as great as Dive. Still the best artist to listen to when stoned imo

Solstafir...I used to really like them...then I saw them live...worst live band ever T_T I still listen to the occasional track but....UGHHH

aike

United States1629 Posts

December 22 2014 11:08 GMT

Nice to see Animals as Leaders and Samaris make the cut ;D I would probably have LUN by Destiny Potato, Little Histories by Cloudkicker, and Pulse by Sithu Aye.... oh and probably Clear by Periphery, While (1 is less than 2) by Deadmau5. I know I've probably listened to hundreds of new songs this year... but I can't off the top recall what they all are so I'll just leave it at those albums for me

Chexx

Korea (South)11232 Posts

December 22 2014 12:27 GMT

how can you remember it all too? And also this

lichter

1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts

December 22 2014 13:08 GMT

I made a draft list over the whole year while listening to everything at least 5 times, then I re-listened to everything over the past 2 months.

Glowsphere

United States170 Posts

December 22 2014 18:05 GMT

#10

Thanks for this... all I do is listen to stuff I already like, so this is a good opportunity to expand my horizons.

Skynx

Turkey7150 Posts

December 22 2014 20:54 GMT

#11

:O where is all the electronic music?

SetGuitarsToKill

Canada28396 Posts

December 23 2014 00:00 GMT

#12

Huh, I thought I kind of knew music, but I've can't say I've even heard of 20 of those band. I feel like such a pleb

lichter

1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts

December 23 2014 01:35 GMT

#13

On December 23 2014 05:54 Skynx wrote:
:O where is all the electronic music?

Well there's Slow Magic at least. I'm not super into EDM/IDM/D&B/etc like Lenzman's "Looking at the Stars". I'm more into the ambient side of eletronic music. That's why I named the blog favorite albums instead of best.

dravernor

Netherlands6188 Posts

December 23 2014 06:23 GMT

#14

I think I might propose to you.

Emerson_H

United States460 Posts

December 23 2014 11:13 GMT

#15

great stuff m8

I applaud your dedication

boxerfred

Germany8360 Posts

December 23 2014 12:07 GMT

#16

Try some Heaven Shall Burn.

jakethesnake

Canada4948 Posts

December 23 2014 15:23 GMT

#17

Wow, fantastic list. I've got some listening to do and some exploring to do over Christmas. Thanks!

And I can't recommend The War on Drugs - "Lost in the Dream" highly enough. That album is so amazing from start to finish.

MoonfireSpam

United Kingdom1153 Posts

December 23 2014 15:34 GMT

#18

Some awesome music in here. Where do you discover this stuff?

Olli

Austria24422 Posts

December 23 2014 17:43 GMT

#19

0/5, no lichter shoutout

lichter

1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts

December 23 2014 18:17 GMT

#20

On December 24 2014 02:43 DarkLordOlli wrote:
0/5, no lichter shoutout

lichter's 100 favorite albums of 2014

title shoutout best shoutout noob

Noro

Canada991 Posts

December 23 2014 19:37 GMT

#21

I'm impressed. I honestly couldn't name a single album that came out this year.

JieXian

Malaysia4677 Posts

December 23 2014 20:46 GMT

#22

nice! I will check them out slowly

I listened to a lot of new music but I haven't listen to many albums that came out in 2014. However the ones I like were :
deadmau5 - while (1<2) (prog house)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALAkF14LLsQ

emilie simon - paris j'ai pris perpète (good pop)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFm5C68qai8

pitingo - tangos (flamenco)
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Flying Lotus - Never Catch Me ft. Kendrick Lamar (experimental hiphop?)
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Hiromi uehara - Alive (jazz)
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I notice you listen to a wide variety of music, please pm me if you have skype

EsportsJohn

United States4883 Posts

December 23 2014 21:53 GMT

#23

On December 24 2014 04:37 Noro wrote:
I'm impressed. I honestly couldn't name a single album that came out this year.

That Taylor Swift album.

Glowsphere

United States170 Posts

December 25 2014 04:30 GMT

#24

Enjoying some of these... I'm curious how you find new music? I don't even know where to look.

ninazerg

United States7291 Posts

December 25 2014 04:48 GMT

#25

No NinaZerg shout-out, but I will give 48 hours to rectify this before I rate.

I've never heard any of these songs though. Where do you kids find this stuff?

adwodon

United Kingdom592 Posts

December 25 2014 08:12 GMT

#26

CLPPNG was probably my favourite album of the year, followed by RTJ2.

Tycho, tUnE-yArDs, BBNG and FKA Twigs were up there.

I've not really been on top of music this year though, but I did buy a sweet pair of Phillips Fidelio X1s and a TIDAL subscription recently so hopefully I'll get back on it more next year!

Blargh

United States2103 Posts

January 19 2015 02:49 GMT

#27

After getting referred here from that Naniwa thread...

You are missing ... Trail of Dead's IX album, which was totally top 100 for the year, despite being inferior to most of their other stuff. You also are missing Have A Nice Life's new album, The Unnatural World, which was also inferior to their other album (Deathconsciousness), but still easily a top 100. Trophy Scar's Holy Vacants album was quite good, too. Another obvious absence is APHEX TWIN'S album. I mean, how can you go through 2014 without hearing it!! Lastly, St. Vincent's self-titled album, was good, despite being worse than her other stuff (imo). I am relieved to see Freddie Gibbs/Madlib's Pinata album not here though, as that was totally overrated. And I actually like Madlib.
Also, Hauschka and Grouper should tooootally be higher. White Lung, too.

I personally found The War On Drugs album to be worse than their two previous albums, but most people seem to disagree.

You still get points for listening to so much stuff, though!!

KristofferAG

Norway25712 Posts

February 02 2015 14:32 GMT

#28

wow there's so much missing here it's almost like we have different tastes in music.

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