Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
What has 2014 brought us musically? Maybe we can say it was “the year of the …?”
Looking back at the last couple of weeks and plowing through my weekly posts and favorite albums, I have culled together my year-end list which I’m affectionately calling “the polar vortex of Idelic Hits.” The only thing I can tell you about this list is that it’s way fucking cooler than Rolling Stone’s list.
I guess more than anything, 2014 might be the year of the question. Will we see the end of the CD and MP3? Was it the year that pop ate itself? Is rock ‘n’ roll for old people? Where did rap music go? Is there such a thing as a record collection?
I do know a few things did happen—and many of them were “happenings.” Festivals were essential in 2014 and if you didn’t attend a number of different kinds both great and small, then you likely missed what really went on. But looking up and down my list, I really see more of my own taste buds than what went down in 2014. I guess each of us had our own year musically. Is this where streaming is taking us? Likely not.
So, here are my Top 25. Some are heroes, some are just songs, some are breaths of fresh air—or comfort food.
First Aid Kit for making warm folk music in the forest
War On Drugs for solid, indie consistency
St Vincent for being that steely ice princess
Damien Jurado with Richard Swift for making my mornings grand
Lana Del Rey for singing about being a 20 year old in Brooklyn
Interpol for fucking off the ancient ways
Nicole Atkins for fighting hard to sing her ass off
Ray LaMontagne for making a cool and psychedelic record
Jack White for going blue
The Garden for being young, fresh, and fun
Drowners for a great song about hair
Perfume Genius for one of the best albums of the year
Cold War Kids for an incredibly soulful fifth album
Ultimate Painting for singing brilliantly about Central Park
Gap Dream for a cool, electro-punk album “sans EDM”
Ariel Pink for returning to form on Pom Pom
Weezer for being smart, intriguing, and rocking
Against Me for a brave fucking rock ‘n’ roll show and album
Temples for making a great album of crafted psych
Beck for making an exquisite folk album and tireless search
TV On The Radio for an electro soul sound for the ages
King Tuff for rock ‘n’ roll madness as his game
Phantogram for an incredibly produced single
Ty Segall for giving us Manipulator, this year’s coolest album
Future Islands for combining song and performance—2014’s Idelic Hit!
The Idelic Hit of the Year:
Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)
