2014 in music.

The Wonder Years' The Greatest Generation won 2013. Gross. Let's see who wins 2014.

Billboard chart-topping albums of 2014:
Beyonce - Beyonce (cont. from 2013)
Soundtrack - Frozen (cont. from 2013)
Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes
Various Artists - Now! 49
Eric Church - The Outsiders
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
Rick Ross - Mastermind
Various Artists - Now! 50
The Black Keys - Turn Blue
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Miranda Lambert - Platinum
Jack White - Lazaretto
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
Ed Sheeran - x
Trey Songz - Trigga
Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear
Weird Al - Mandatory Fun
5 Seconds of Summer - 5 Seconds of Summer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
Various Artists - Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack
Wiz Khalifa - Blacc Hollywood
Ariana Grande - My Everything
Maroon 5 - V
Lecrae - Anomaly
Barbra Streisand - Partners
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga - Cheek to Cheek
Blake Shelton - Bringing Back the Sunshine
Jason Aldean - Old Boots, New Dirt
Florida Georgia Line - Anything Goes
Slipknot - The Grey Chapter
Taylor Swift - 1989
One Direction - Four
J. Cole - 2014 Forest Drive

Billboard chart-topping singles of 2014:
Eminem - The Monster (cont. from 2013)
Pitbull - Timber (cont. from 2013)
Katy Perry - Dark Horse (cont. from 2013)
Pharrell - Happy (cont. from 2013)
John Legend - All of Me (cont. from 2013)
Iggy Azalea - Fancy
Magic - Rude (cont. from 2013)
Taylor Swift - Shake it Off
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
Taylor Swift - Blank Space

What are your top three albums for 2014? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:
1. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
2. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
3. Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again


What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm

 

remainder of the top 20 for this crazy good year:
4. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
5. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lose
6. Taylor Swift - 1989
7. Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were
8. Spoon - They Want My Soul
9. Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
10. LVL Up - Hoodwink'd
11. Iceage - Plowing into the Field of Love
12. Warpaint - Warpaint
13. Future Islands - Singles
14. Anderson Paak - Venice
15. Behemoth - The Satanist
16. The Hotelier - Home Like Noplace Is There
17. Jack White - Lazaretto
18. D'Angelo - Black Messiah
19. Alvvays - Alvvays
20. Xerxes - Collision Blonde

honorable mentions:
Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Alcest - Shelter
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
The Antlers - Familiars
Beck - Morning Phase
Blake Mills - Heigh Ho
Bob Mould - Beauty & Ruin
Cayetana - Nervous Like Me
Circa Survive - Descensus
Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Conor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain
Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans
Flying Lotus - You’re Dead!
Frameworks - Loom
Future - Honest
Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers
James Vincent McMorrow - Post Tropical
Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
Julian Casablancas - Tyranny
La Dispute - Rooms of the House
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
Mastodon - Once More ‘Round the Sun
Mogwai - Rave Tapes
Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You
Run the Jewels - 2
S. Carey - Range of Light
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Wig Out at Jagbags
Strand of Oaks - HEAL
Thom Yorke - Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes
Thou - Heathen
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
Tombs - Savage Gold
TV on the Radio - Seeds
Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestite
Wye Oak - Shriek
YG - My Krazy Life

stuff to check out:
Animals as Leaders - The Joy of Motion
At the Gates - At War with Reality
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow
Caribou - Our Love
Common - Nobody’s Smiling
Eric Church - The Outsiders
FKA Twins - LP1
Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien
The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
Johnny Marr - Playland
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Miranda Lambert - Platinum
Opeth - Pale Communion
Perfume Genius - Too Bright
Real Estate - Atlas
Rick Ross - Mastermind
Slipknot - The Grey Chapter
Thurston Moore - The Best Day
Todd Terje - It’s Album Time
Tokyo Police Club - Forcefield
Ty Segall - Manipulator

 

Not quite sure what to do with this year, for a variety of reasons. Will have to think about it.

 

1. Transit - Joyride
2. The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
3. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness - S/T

 

1. Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You
2. Copeland - Ixora
3. Mo - No Mythologies to Follow

Against Me - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Trophy Scars - Holy Vacants
Charli XCX - Sucker
Zola Jesus - Taiga
St. Vincent - s/t
My Brightest Diamond - This is My Hand
Flying Lotus - You're Dead
The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality
Sage Francis - Copper Gone
Run the Jewels - RTJ2
Foxes - Glorious
Maybeshewill - Fair Youth
Jenny Lewis - The Voyager

 

Oh c'mon, we all know you're just scared to put Hebrews at number 1.

 

fuck i forgot

 

1. The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace is There
2. Copeland - Ixora
3. Babymetal - Babymetal

4. Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien
5. Say Anything - Hebrews
6. Charlie Simpson - Long Road Home
7. La Dispute - Rooms of the House
8. Coldplay - Ghost Stories
9. Taylor Swift - 1989
10. Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties - We Don't Have Each Other
11. I Can Make a Mess - Growing In
12. Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown
13. Chad Perrone - Kaleidoscope
14. Imogen Heap - Sparks
15. Epica - The Quantum Enigma
16. The Birthday Massacre - Superstition
17. White Sea - In Cold Blood
18. Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
19. McBusted - McBusted
20. Have Mercy - A Place of Our Own

Not the strongest year but still some albums I really love.

 

this year FUCKING RULED and birthed the best album of all time.

1. joyce manor - never hungover again
2. the antlers - familiars
3. la dispute - rooms of the house

4. every time i die - from parts unknown
5. prawn - kingfisher
6. frameworks - loom
7. brave bird - t-minus grand gesture
8. run the jewels - run the jewels 2
9. tigers jaw - charmer
10.vince staples - hell can wait
11. ratking - so it goes
12. code orange - i am king
13. lvl up - hoodwink'd

 

1. Bleachers - Strange Desire

• I really love this album. I think it is the most complete solo Antonoff work and almost completely devoid of the trappings that people find themselves annoyed by now. The lyrics really spoke to me at the time, the melodies are strong, and the production is pristine. Even the Yoko Ono feature works for me, tbh.

2. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues

• This album opened me up to a conversation wider than those that were happening in my corner of the world. Quite simply, it helped make me a better person. It helps that the songs are equal parts catchy and heart-wrenching.

3. The Menzingers - Rented World

• I probably should have given this spot to something else, but I really love how paranoid this album sounds. I know it's technically their 4th record, but it really plays like a sophomore album. Pushing sounds in heavier directions, completely whiffing on a few tracks, and just generally unsure of itself in a good way.

Honorable Mentions
The Lawrence Arms - Metropole

• My favorite Larry Arms album, mostly because I was so late to the party. Even at a young age, I found the musings on growing older to be pretty profound.

Bad Suns - Language and Perspective

• Energy, hooks, and grooves abound on this incredibly assured debut.

Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness - Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness

• Actually the first album by Andrew McMahon I had ever heard. Didn't get into Jack's Mannequin until later in life. This album is pretty killer though.

Hostage Calm - Die On Stage

• Very underrated power pop album by a hardcore band. I love the melodies here.

Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In the End

• Weezer is back!!! Honestly such a breath of fresh air when this album came out.

Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien

• Took me a while to come around on this one, but I think it's a super solid and underrated album.

Taylor Swift - 1989

• My favorite T Swift album by a pretty good margin.

Jukebox the Ghost - Jukebox the Ghost

• Probably their weakest album, they lean fully into the pop sound to mixed results.

Chevelle - La Gargola

• My favorite Chevelle album has probably the least amount of filler since their earlier albums. "Ouija Board" is a ripper.

Yellowcard - Lift A Sail

• The most divisive YC album? Still pretty good though.

Anberlin - Lowborn

• A fitting swan song until later this year.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Mandatory Fun

• My man Al coming in and getting his first #1 album over 30 years into his career. Helps that it's one of his better albums as well!

Others
Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is…

• Really loved this album when it came out, haven't revisited since... 2016 maybe?

Bayside - Cult

• One of the most paint-by-numbers Bayside albums, and that's saying something.

Augustana - Life Imitating Life

• Pretty good album that actually introduced me to Augustana, though I understand now this is a much different sound than their earlier work.

Say Anything - Hebrews

• Loved this album so much when it came out because it felt like a return to form. I think it sounds like shit now but is still the last gasp of Max as a competent songwriter. Looking back at that song with him and Keith Buckley now is an interesting exercise.

Foxy Shazam - Gonzo

• What a fucking disappointment this album was and continues to be.

Fireworks - Oh, Common Life

• Interesting band here. Not sure why I like them, but as someone whose biggest anxiety is their parents dying, this album hit for sure.

American Authors - Oh, What a Life

• A bit of a disappointment after the excellent EP (which is included on here), this album found the band starting to develop the trappings that have turned them into completely unlistenable dreck.

MAGIC! - Don't Kill the Magic

• There's better stuff on here than "Rude" would have you believe, but I definitely am not recommending it.

Pharrell Williams - G I R L

• Also some great stuff on here beyond "Happy." A lot of these songs you've probably heard in commercials/grocery stores without knowing what they even are.

Rx Bandits - Gemini, Her Majesty

• Awesome band makes another awesome album.

The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt

• Not as bad as everyone says! About half great songs, half filler.

Tune-Yards - Nikki Nack

• The last good Tune-Yards album for this listener. But what an album. Love the melodies and experimentation.

Neon Trees - Pop Psychology

• A little too straightforward of a pop album.

PUP - PUP

• Where it all began! And pretty much just as good as all of their albums.

New Found Glory - Resurrection

• I understand the idea of making an album as a new four-piece to draw a line in the sand, but did it have to sound this bad?

Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways

• Loved the doc and saw the band twice on this tour, but can't in good conscience call it anything than one of their worst.

Charli XCX - Sucker

• This is where I jumped on the XCX train and I'm glad I did! Lots of good songs here.

 

1. Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You
2. The Hotelier - Home Like Noplace Is There
3. The Menzingers - Rented World

Remaining top 10:
4. Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness - Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness
5. La Dispute - Rooms of the House
6. Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
7. Seahaven - Reverie Lagoon: Music for Escapism Only
8. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
9. Bleachers - Strange Desire
10. Strand of Oaks - HEAL

 

1. The Hotelier - Home...
2. Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again
3. Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE

 

1. Against Me - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
2. The Hotelier - Home Like Noplace is There
3. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2

4. Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) - You Will Eventually Be Forgotten
5. Taylor Swift - 1989
6. Tigers Jaw - Charmer
7. Modern Baseball - You're Gonna Miss It All
8. Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste
9. Code Orange - I am King
10. YG - My Krazy Life

TDB is the most impactful album I have ever heard and also was the catalyst for the exploration of my own identity.

 

1. Lana Del Rey: Ultraviolence
2. Bleachers: Strange Desire
3. Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues

4. Modern Baseball: You're Gonna Miss It All (incredibly painful to not include in the top 3)
5. Mitski: Bury Me at Makeout Creek
6. Say Anything: Hebrews
7. Porter Robinson: Worlds
8. Taylor Swift: 1989
9. J Cole: 2014 Forest Hills Drive
10. Chiodos: Devil

Others I like:
Run the Jewels: RTJ2
Joyce Manor: Never Hungover Again
Weezer: Everything Will Be Alright In the End
Charli XCX: Sucker
Ariana Grande: My Everything
Sia: 1000 Forms of Fear
Jenny Lewis: The Voyager
Tove Lo: Queen of the Clouds
Alvvays: Alvvays
Perfume Genius: Too Bright
Odesza: In Return
Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault
Manchester Orchestra: Cope
Pup: Pup (idk if this should be 2013 or 2014)
Miranda Lambert: Platinum
Little Big Town: Pain Killer
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties: We Don't Have Each Other
The Menzingers: Rented World
The Front Bottoms: Rose
Anderson .Paak: Venice
Vince Staples: Hell Can Wait
Yellowcard: Lift a Sail
Taking Back Sunday: Happiness Is

 

My favourite album from 2014 is actually Gigi Masin's Talk To The Sea but it's a compilation record, even though the majority of it was unreleased material. It's really well thought out and put together; I always consider it its own album. I can't actually think of a compilation record I like better.

Anyway:

1. Bing & Ruth – Tomorrow Was The Golden Age
2. Nmesh - Dream Sequins
3. Marmozets – The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets

The Bing & Ruth album is a bunch of semi-ambient, broadly piano compositions, beautifully put together, that go beyond being mere background music. I find it amazingly melancholy; the use of a tape delay gives the recording part of its washy, dream-like effect and the other instrumentation creates a more textured feel that helps elevate it above being a regular, neo-classical piano album. Gorgeous record.

Dream Sequins is one of the best hypnagogic albums I've ever heard - the most perfect encapsulation of the surreal nature of dreaming, with warm synth sounds and these crazy, odd samples that drop in out of nowhere and then disappear, like your brain piecing together a dream from a mix of feelings and memories that apparently make no sense.

The Marmozets record is an irresistible, addictive, onslaught of a rock record, too bright and hooky to ignore, with tight, math-rocky passages but an immense pop sensibility. The vocal performance from Becca is absolutely staggering.

Honourable Mentions:

• Gigi Masin - Talk To The Sea
• The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There
• HTRK - Psychic 9-5 Club
• R.Seiliog - In Hz
• ††† (Crosses) - Crosses
  
• Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Piano Nights
• Mono/Poly - Golden Skies

 

1. The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace is There
2. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
3. La Dispute - Rooms of the House

4. Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You
5. Circa Survive - Descensus
6. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
7. St. Vincent - St. Vincent
8. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
9. Manchester Orchestra - COPE
10. Copeland - Ixora
11. S Carey - Range of Light

those first two are all-timers for me, after that its a big drop off but still some solid albums

 

1. Spoon - They Want My Soul
2. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
3. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
--------------------------------------
4. Beck - Morning Phase
5. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
6. 311 - Stereolithic
7. The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
8. Switchfoot - Fading West
9. Real Estate - Atlas
10. Young The Giant - Mind Over Matter
11. Jack White - Lazaretto
12. Coldplay - Ghost Stories
13. The Black Keys - Turn Blue
14. Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
15. Minus The Bear - Lost Loves
16. Crosses - Crosses
17. Ray LaMontagne - Supernova
18. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
19. Vacationer - Relief
20. Royal Blood - Royal Blood
21. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
22. The Hotelier - Home, Like NoPlace Is There
23. Pianos Become The Teeth - Keep You
24. Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End
25. Phantogram - Voices
26. Foster The People - Supermodel
27. Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown
28. Bleachers - Strange Desire
29. Dierks Bentley - Riser
30. TV On The Radio - Seeds

Honorable Mention:
The Afghan Whigs - Do To The Beast
alt-J - This Is All Yours
American Authors - Oh, What A Life
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Andrew McMachon in the Wilderness
Bad Suns - Language & Perspective
Band of Skulls - Himalayan
Bear Hands - Distraction
Bear In Heaven - Time Is Over One Day Old
Bob Mould - Beauty & Ruin
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow
Braid - No Coast
Broken Bells - After The Disco
The Chain Gang Of 1974 - Daydream Forever
Chevelle - La Gargola
Cold War Kids - Hold My Home
Colony House - When I Was Younger
Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World
Delta Spirit - Into The Wide
Dirty Heads - Sound Of Change
Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans
Eric Church - The Outsiders
Fireworks - Oh, Common Life
Foxing - The Albatross
Foxygen - ...And Star Power
Future Islands - Singles
Gardens & Villa - Dunes
The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
G. Love & Special Sauce - Sugar
The Griswolds - Be Impressive
Interpol - El Pintor
John Butler Trio - Flesh & Blood
Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again
Jungle - Jungle
The Kooks - Listen
The Lees of Memory - Sisyphus Says
Linkin Park - The Hunting Party
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Manchester Orchestra - Cope
The Men - Tomorrow's Hits
The Menzingers - Rented World
Mimicking Birds - Eons
Modern Baseball - You're Gonna Miss It All
Painted Palms - Forever
Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
Rebelution - Count Me In
Restorations - LP3
Rise Against - The Black Market
The Rosebuds - Sand + Silence
Ryan Adams - 1984 EP
Sir Sly - You Haunt Me
The Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy
Somos - Temple Of Plenty
Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather
Strand Of Oaks - HEAL
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Switchfoot - The Edge of the Earth EP
Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is
Temples - Sun Structures
Tokyo Police Club - Forcefield
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
Tune-Yards - Nikki Nack
Twin Peaks - Wild Onion
Tycho - Awake
White Laces - Trance
Wild Cub - Youth
Wye Oak - Shriek
You Blew It! - Keep Doing What You're Doing
Yuck - Southern Skies EP

Checking Out in Full First Time (Artist's 2014 Album):
'68
Alvvays
Anberlin
Anderson.Paak
The Antlers
Augustana
Bayside
Ben Howard
Bing & Ruth
Bruce Springsteen
Circa Survive
Code Orange
Copeland
Eels
empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate)
Finch
Fucked Up
Fu Manchu
Gang of Youths
Gerard Way
Guided By Voices
I Am The Avalanche
Jukebox The Ghost
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
La Dispute
LVL UP
Marmozets
Moose Blood
Neon Trees
New Found Glory
Nothing
O.A.R.
OK Go
Old '97s
Prawn
PUP
Rancid
Real Friends
Run The Jewels
Say Anything
Seahaven
Sturgill Simpson
Taylor Swift
Thom Yorke
Tigers Jaw
Tove Lo
Transit
Yellowcard

 

Had a hard time remembering albums from this year initially, but theres some true gems:

1. Nothing - Guilty of Everything
2. Circa Survive - Descensus
3. Seahaven - Reverie Lagoon: Music for Escapism Only
   ____________________________________________________
4. The War On Drugs - Lost In A Dream
   
5. The Menzingers - Rented World
6. Mick Jenkins - The Water (S)
7. The Hotelier - Home Like Noplace Is There
8. Prawn - Kingfisher
9. Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is...
10. Mac Demarco - Salad Days
11. Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo
12. Manchester Orchestra - COPE
13. Pup - Pup
14. Such Gold - The New Sidewalk
15. Run The Jewels - RTJ2

 

A year I am not fond of.

1. Mac Miller - Faces
2. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - I'm In Your Mind Fuzz
3. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream


ALSO
The Hotelier - Home, Like NoPlace There Is
Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties - We Don't Have Each Other
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2
Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again
Copeland - Ixora
Modern Baseball - You're Gonna Miss It All
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong - Psychology
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Oddments
Future - Monster
PUP - PUP
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown
Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is
The Menzingers - Rented World
Aphex Twin - Syro
Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Caribou - Our Love
Spoon - They Want My Soul
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
The Black Keys - Turn Blue
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
Manchester Orchestra - Hope
Bayside - Cult
J. Cole - 2014 Forrest Hills Drive
Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo
Mac Demarco - Salad Days

 

1. Copeland - Ixora
2. Needtobreathe - Rivers in the Wasteland
3. Anberlin - Lowborn
4. Lakes - Fire Ahead
5. Mike Mains and the Branches - Calm Down Everything is Fine
6. The Hotelier - Home Like Noplace is There

 

1. Against Me - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
2. Coldplay - Ghost Stories
3. Taylor Swift - 1989

4. Beck - Morning Phase
5. Vacationer - Relief
6. Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
7. Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
8. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
9. Banks - Goddess
10. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager

11. Ingrid Michaelson - Lights Out
12. Angels & Airwaves - The Dream Walker
13. I Can Make a Mess - Growing In
14. Charli XCX - Sucker
15. Childish Gambino - Kauai
16. Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear
17. Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is
18. St. Vincent - St. Vincent
19. Mac Miller - Faces
20. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - S/T

 

1. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
2. Bleachers - Strange Desire
3. Lykke Li - I Never Learn
4. Antemasque - Antemasque
5. Taylor Swift - 1989
6. I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business - Growing In
7. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
8. Rx Bandits - Gemini, Her Majesty
9. Copeland - Ixora
10. Kishi Bashi - Lighght
11. Nickel Creek - A Dotted Line
12. Circa Survive - Descendus
13. Lights - Little Machines
14. Charli XCX - Sucker
15. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
16. Priscilla Ahn - This Is Where We Are
17. Sleeper Agent - About Last Night
18. Sir Sly - You Haunt Me
19. Stars - No One Is Lost
20. Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End

 

This isn’t a year I feel is super deep, but the amount I love the albums at the top of my list is incredibly high.

1. Alvvays - Alvvays

I love this album so much. I don’t think there’s an album I listened to more post college. It is in the top 2 records of this niche of guitar indie albums of the 2010s.

2. Bleachers - Strange Desire

I didn’t get bleachers at all until 2017 or 18. Did not give a shit about this record at the time. That said, I think it’s borderline perfect.

3. Taylor Swift - 1989

Red piqued my interest when it came out (and I can understand why some people think it’s better) but 1989 made me an actual fan.

4. Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE

It feels criminal to have this as an honorable mention. A masterpiece in its own right and is most assuredly the technically best album on this list. But I’ve listened to it the least of the three by far.

hm: never hungover again

Catalina fight song is about as good as 2 minutes have been recorded

the Mac and real estate albums are dece but have nothing on their respective previous records

 

1. The Hotelier - Home Like NoPlace Is There
2. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
3. Taylor Swift - 1989

 

Weird year for me, I must not have been keeping up with recent releases this year. Doesn’t even feel fair to make up a top three so…

1. Prawn - Kingfisher (One of my all time favorites)

Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties - We Don't Have Each Other
Architects - Lost Forever // Lost Together
Code Orange - I Am King
Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again
Linkin Park - The Hunting Party
Restorations - LP3
Mark Lanegan - Phantom Radio
Say Anything - Hebrews
Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
Taylor Swift - 1989