2014 Picks

I'll take you up on your challenge, David:

Of the 101 albums currently charting on PA's Top albums of 2014 list, I have heard 56, rated/reviewed 36 and given 5 stars to three (3):

---No tengas miedo by KANT FREUD KAFKA because it is truly an exemplary work of intelligently crafted symphonic prog with amazing flow and cohesion, great instrumental performances and contributions throughout, all inspired by a modern Pandora/Persephone-Demeter myth the story of which the music is synchronized. 

---City of the Sun by SEVEN IMPALE because they have produced an amazingly deep and memorable album of multi-layered hard rocking jazz which takes the music of VDGG and DISCIPLINE farther than their 'grandfathers' (Peter Hammill & co.) and 'fathers' (Matthew Parmenter & co.) did.

---Behind the Sun by MOTORPSYCHO because they have produced an album of amazing confidence and clarity of purpose in which exemplary vocal stylings, guitar play, active drumming, melodic and harmonic mastery, composition, enthusiasm and maturity are on full display in nearly every minute of every song (which cannot be said of many 1970s Genesis albums). 

I also gave 5 star ratings to several albums which PA has not (yet) included or which have fallen below the arbitrary cutoff rating number necessary to stay on the "Top" list, including: 

ELECTRIC ORANGE's Volume 10, 

ANTOINE FAFARD's Ad Perpetuum, 

PINGVINORKESTERN's Push, 

UT GRET's Ancestor's Tale, and 

HOMÍNIDO's Estirpe Lítica. 

Of these eight (8) albums I have to admit that three or four of them I'd give 9/10 or 4.5 star ratings were they used here on PA, but I choose to err on the side of my enthusiasm out of respect and admiration for the talented, hard-working musicians who receive their inspiration from and choose to work within the 'world' of prog.

1)To Be Kind - Swans

2) City of The Sun - Seven Impale

3) A Glimpse of Possible Endings - Necromonkey

4) Half The City - St. Paul and The Broken Bones

5) Themes - Superdensecrushloadfactor

6) Perfect Beings - Perfect Beings

7) Coffins on Io - Kayo Dot

8) Trevor Something Does Not Exist - Trevor Something

9) Carrion Skies - Fen

10) Ultrasounds - Trout Cake

11) III - Deep Space Destructors

12) L'enigma della Vita - Logos

13) The Physical World - Death From Above 1979

14) Heliotians - Deluge Grander

15) Random Cosmic Violence - Usnea

16) Regenerator 3017 - Djam Karet

17) Hogtid - Agusa

18) I See You - Gong

19) Kindly Bent To Free Us - Cynic

20) Corvus Stone II - Corvus Stone

21) Miserable - Bongripper

22) King Nine - Blueneck

23) Walking on a Flashlight Beam - Lunatic Soul

24) Musik, Die Schwer Zu Twerk - Electric Wurms

25) Behind The Sun - Motorpsycho

26) Phosphorescent Dreams - Univers Zero

27) Envision - smallman

28) Ultraviolence - Lana Del Ray

29) Sweven - Morbus Chron

30) The People In Your Neighbourhood - Led Bib

31) Once More 'Round The Sun - Mastodon

32) The Endless River - Pink Floyd

33) Syro - Aphex Twin

34) Street Lights Fail - Nucleus Torn

35) GreyField - GreyField

36) Anechoic Horizon - Broughton's Rules

37) Belighted - iamthemorning

38) Z2 - Devin Townshend

39) Casualties of Cool - Devin Townshend

40) Hitchhiking to Byzantium - Anubis

41) We Die For Truth - Sleep Maps

42) Leviathan - Annot Rhul

43) Dances of The Drastic Navels - Daal

44) Chapter IV/The Murmur of Silence - Light Coorporation

45) Ukiyoe - Mondi Fluttuanti - Nichelodeon/InSonar

46) Replacements - Hibernal

47) Similarity - Eyot

48) Invisible Scope - In Morpheus' Arms

49) Supermodel - Foster The People

50) Made In Belgium II - Aranis

51) Heretics - Dream The Electric Sleep

52) The Road of Bones - IQ

53) Future Man - Solterra

54) Royal Blood - Royal Blood

55) Terrestrials - Sunn O))) & Ulver

56) 10^9 - Legendary Pink Dots

57) The Court of Miracles Vol. 1 - Orchestre Celesti

58) Light Damage - Light Damage

59) Describing The Paradox Vol. 1 - Kathaarsys

60) Distained and Untwined - Fotgjengeren

61) Demon - Gazpacho

62) LP1 - FKA twigs

63) Synthetic Love - Trevor Something

64) Journeys - Timecop1983

65) Autocatalytica - Autocatalytica

66) Turn Blue - The Black Keys

67) Lazaretto - Jack White

68) Superdensecrushloadfiller - Superdensecrushloadfactor

69) Pale Communion - Opeth

70) A New Day - Narrow Pass

71) 2014 - Zoundworks

72) Outside The Universe - Widek

73) Indie Cindy - Pixies

74) Demo Sheet - Gravity Eater

Late Mentions:

Music For Pogonologists - Oresund Space Collective

Vol. 10 - Electric Orange

Lizards Exist - Lizards Exist

It was a great year all around prog, metal, and indie. I'm very happy. 

Interesting, uhm speaking of 4 or 5 star reviews, Guldbamsen have you considered the fact that some P.A. Collabs only review albums that they really like and are up their alley in terms of music choice? The fact is this is an amateur site with people who actually have a great insight in many different genres of prog. Dismissing wonderful funny most insightful and articulate reviews by a collab especially (the love of a band by a newcomer fan also should not be disregarded btw) is the best thing about this site. I have no problem with low scoring reviews, in fact Gerinsky gave a 2 star rating review to my dearest favorite band in 2012, his review I cannot fault it because he clearly showed that he heard the whole album (hated it btw) this is doesn't matter but the fact he made an effort to listen, this was so clear he described the whole album, no running away from that. I love him qa lot and respect him so much as a reviewer even if our moozik taste is so far apart.

This said, you speak of collabs giving bands high ratings, I rather point out that some your collabs (not all and my buddy Gereinsky is brilliant example of a fab reviewer grrr bad taste in moozik tho' ; hihihi)  who really score bands low, the only thing they seem to mention is the band name, the rest redundant and could be related to any other band, no description as to why, all very general, lacking insight or articulate skills. Obviously some have not done their homework because what they say has nothing related to that band, i.e. one review even the only track they mentioned the name of the song title was wrong. Our tastes are very diverse and this is a good thing too, however instead of critiquing high scores by enthusiastic reviewers who one can clearly read/understand and feel how much they enjoyed an album, one should also pay attention to those who write negative and say nothing that a new listener/prospect may relate to..   

 

So a bad CD gets an extra .5 (+) of "sucks," right?