26 Dec 2014

The Active Listener's Top Ten Albums of 2014 - Editor's Picks

Just a quick post in the middle of my Antipodean Summer break to say hi all and share my top ten albums of the year list. Pardon the sparseness and lack of visual stimuli on this post, but I'm on my phone in the wilderness so this is as pretty as it's gonna get.

Here's my ten favourite releases of the year in alphabetical rather than preferential order. Links lead to reviews and/or purchasing/listening opportunities. Any Amazon purchases made via these links will earn us a little commission, so do us a favour and go nuts.

Without further ado, my albums of the year are:

Dead Horse One "Without Love We Perish"
Recommended if you like: Ride

Gulp "Season Sun"
Recommend if you like: Broadcast, Stereolab

Octopus Syng "Reverberating Garden # 7"
Recommended if you like: Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd

Paperhead "Africa Avenue"
Recommended if you like: The Beatles, Pink Floyd

Ty Segall "Manipulator"
Recommended if you like: Love, T-Rex

The Unseen "Mary"
Recommended if you like: Giallo/horror soundtracks

Various Artists "A Day in My Mind's Mind Vol 4"
Recommended if you like: Rubble/Nuggets compilations

The War on Drugs "Lost In The Dream"
Recommended if you like: Bruce Springsteen, Kurt Vile

Jane Weaver "The Silver Globe"
Recommended if you like: Broadcast, McCartney II

White Fence "For The Recently Found Innocent"
Recommended if you like: The Who, The Kinks, Ty Segall

Hit us with your top tens in the comments.

3 comments:

  1. Fantastic list, Nathan! I was bummed out earlier when you said that you weren't posting a list this year. I will definitely check out the ones that I haven't heard.

    Here are mine, in no particular order, except The Church LP is easily at the very top for me!

    The Church "Further/Deeper"
    Swans "To Be Kind"
    Current 93 "I am the Last of All the Field That Fell"
    Damien Jurado "Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son"
    Scott Walker + Sunn O))) "Soused"
    Ty Segall "Manipulator"
    Violet Woods "s/t"
    Sky Picnic "Her Dawn Wardrobe"
    Carsick Cars "3"
    Hedgehog "Phantom Pop Star"

    As me again tomorrow and any of these others could perhaps work their way into a top ten spot:

    Alpine Decline "Go Big Shadow City"
    Harp and a Monkey "All Life is Here"
    Fresh & Onlys "House of Spirits"
    So There "The Hidden Claw"
    Mark & The Clouds "Blue Skies Opening"

    ReplyDelete
  2. This site is giving me a lot to explore, thanks! I've listened to approximately squat from 2014 so I can't come up with a top 10. Here's 5:

    The Church "Further/Deeper"
    Hiromi (The Trio Project) "Alive"
    Shintaro Sakamoto "Let's Dance Raw"
    Swans "To Be Kind"
    Freeman "Freeman" (kind of an honorable mention 'cause I don't feel compelled to listen to it much, but it's good)

    A few nice singles:

    New Bravado "Sol Similar"
    Polaris "Great Big Happy Green Moonface"
    Tears for Fears "Ready Boy & Girls?"

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  3. that white fence is very very good.

    ReplyDelete