2014 Picks

Been bit of a slow year so far compared to 2013... "Agusa - Högtid" for sure. "Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun" for sure.

I haven't gotten into that many new prog albums this year. Been discovering a lot of non-prog experimental bands instead, running the gamut from "indie" to "avant garde". But the new Swans album will be hard to beat this year.

I imagine there will eventually be many prog albums from this year that I'll enjoy, I'm just in no real hurry to check them all out. It's a pity that the year-end polls only give you less than a year to listen to and rate all that stuff.

Edited by HolyMoly - July 26 2014 at 14:59

Sagichim wrote: So far this year I bought...0 new albums  All the albums I got are older albums.

honestly i thought that 2014 would be a dry year, but it was surprising for myself  to even form a top ten. there are some good ones out there. i really recommend Eloy's Reincarnation Live on Stage and Vanden Plas's Chronicles. Awesome stuff, and of course that IQ album is a given.


Edited by progbethyname - July 26 2014 at 14:47

Wow, thanks John!

Perfect Beings    Perfect Beings
Dream The Electric Sleep    Heretics
Amos, Tori    Unrepentant Geraldines
Eno - Hyde    Someday World
Djam Karet    Regenerator 3017
Ian Anderson    Homo Erraticus
Tibbetts, Steve    Natural Causes
Curved Air    North Star
Way, Darryl    Children Of The Cosmos
Anubis    Hitchiking To Byzantium
Umphrey's McGee    Similar Skin

On the way, the new Swans and Knifeworld and another Eno Hyde

St.Vincent - s/t - Not her greatest but still a 10/10 from me. Annie has incredible talent, as a songwriter, singer, guitarist, and she's beyond easy on the eyes. Very sterile, cold, and electronic, but simultaneously animalistic, demented, but also angelic. She's got one of the best track records of any recording artist I know. Low 10/10

Death Grips - Niggas on the Moon - To be fair it's half of a yet-to-be-completely-released double album, but way too good not to mention. Sadly this may be their last LP, as they recently announced their disbandment, but there's always hope (especially with all their past PR). Each of their albums has a distinct (and very tasty) flavor, and this one is broken, weird, bizzare, and glitchy as all f**k. Love it! Lyrically it's MC Ride's most cryptic; not as heavy as the drug-crazed-schizo-satanic stuff you might hear on "Lil Boy" or "Get Got", but still just as interesting. High 9/10

Mac Demarco - Salad Days - 30 minutes of bliss. Mac writes some of the most beautiful melodies, and some great lyrics to boot. Stylistically it's pretty similar to his last album "2"; mellow, calm, and loving, and fairly stoner-esque (though he says he prefers tobacco). Despite it's similarity to it's predecessor, it's definitely an improvement, both by his better, more memorable songs, and a bit more varied instrumentation; some more keys, some more acoustic ballads, etc. Mid 9/10

Royal Blood - Out of the Black EP - Four gritty, heavy, catchy garage-rock bangers. Nothing too fancy but kicks ass. Low 9/10

Nicky Jasaszewski - BIO-111 - The fifth release on my label I Thought You Were A Marxist Records. I feel kind of weird putting it here since it's my work; I produced it, but all I really did was add some reverb and mix it into stereo. Some great tracks; relaxing and minimalistic, but also interesting because of it's mix of melodic and dissonant tones. Low 9/10

Michael Summers - Nightscapes and Dreamares - Some cool experimental electronic tracks Low 9/10

The Polar Syntax Project - A Name That Makes the Heart Swell - Another one on my label. Great one hour drone. Enough progression to stay interesting but still very nice to listen to passively. Low 9/10

Junk - Car EP - Great, catchy songs. Nice and noisy. High 8/10

Swans - To Be Kind - Really strong work. Long, dissonant, dark, and haunting. Repetitive mantras repeated over and over. Great stuff. High 8/10
 
They Might Be Giants - First Album Live - One of my favorite albums ever, played live almost 30 years later. Not as great as the original but still strong as sh*t. High 8/10


Edited by smartpatrol - July 26 2014 at 15:53

I should do a bit of a list too although these are the only albums I've bought so far!,

IQ: The Road of Bones
Asia: Gravitas
Cirrus Bay: the first three albums (but oddly, not their 2014 one yet)

And in the near future,
Yes: Heaven And Earth
Saga: Sagacity
Druckfarben: Second Sound

And I finally picked up Martin Orford's "Classical Music and Popular Songs" although that's hardly a new record.

Ken



Edited by january4mn - July 26 2014 at 10:09

Only one title makes my list this year.  Yes - Heaven and Earth.  

The only one that stood out for me thus far is Phoenix Again - Look Out and Distorted Harmony's sophomore is not bad either... still to check IQ (heard samples of), Opeth, Enchant, Threshold to come


Edited by aapatsos - July 25 2014 at 18:07

Swans' To Be Kind is so amazing it reaches almost a degree of spiritual enjoyment for me. Blasting "Bring the Sun" is oddly therapeutic and every other song just digs into my nerves. A masterpiece. 

Edited by Horizons - July 25 2014 at 17:50