Top 30 Albums of 2014

Happy New Year from Cool Music Central! 2015 is going to bring changes for this blog as we enter our eighth year on Blogger and I feel that a renewal is long overdue. More details on this subject coming soon...  

For our first post of the New Year though, we are focusing on the best music that 2014 had to offer: the 30 albums we've enjoyed the most over the past 12 months, a carefully selected shortlist of excellent works chosen from a plethora of fine propositions we have had last year, most of which you can check out by going through our 2014 New Releases posts.

The top of our 2014 album list rightfully belongs to Swans and the thirteenth chapter in a truly unique body of work that started three decades ago and continues to evolve, taking rock music to uncharted territories.

"To Be Kind" explores further the vast, creative universe of noise that Michael Gira’s crew entered with "The Seer" in 2012, but this time the balance between order and chaos, rhythm and noise, light and darkness is more effective than ever, creating an astonishing sonic experience that will richly reward those who dare to follow them on their journey.

The fourth, self-titled album by St. Vincent has undoubtedly taken Annie Clark’s music to the next level. Her sound is constantly progressing, absorbing new influences which she uses to shape her own unique style. Clarks's economic guitar playing never tries to steal the show, yet never seizes to offer subtle surprises and throw curve balls that catch you off-guard. The melodies are as strong as ever throughout the record while anxious synth-funk lines keep erupting here and there, keeping you on your toes. Best album cover of the year as well!

"Manipulator", the seventh solo effort in Ty Segall’s impressively prolific career, is his best one yet. Segall really took his time in making this one (14 months for an album is an unusually long period for someone with his work ethic) and the end result is truly exceptional: 17 tracks of non-stop garage rock brilliance, not encountered since the heyday of The White Stripes a decade ago. The timeless quality of "Manipulator" already gives to this record the aura of a 21st century rock classic, the crowning achievement so far in Ty Segall’s rapidly increasing body of work.

Here’s the complete list of our Top 30 Albums of the Year:

Top 30 Albums of 2014

1.   To be kind - SWANS

2.   St. Vincent - ST. VINCENT

3.   Manipulator - TY SEGALL

4.   Nikki nack - TUNE-YARDS

5.   Warpaint - WARPAINT

6.   Sun structures - TEMPLES

7.   They want my soul - SPOON

8.   Do to the beast - THE AFGHAN WHIGS

9.   Sunbathing animal - PARQUET COURTS

10.   Rips - EX HEX

11.   Too true - DUM DUM GIRLS
12.   The best day - THURSTON MOORE
13.   Benji - SUN KIL MOON
14.   Commune - GOAT
15.   Divide and exit - SLEAFORD MODS
16.   Mess - LIARS
17.   Dude incredible - SHELLAC
18.   With light and with love - WOODS
19.   Brill bruisers - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
20.   Lazaretto - JACK WHITE
21.   Are we there - SHARON VAN ETTEN
22.   Lost in the dream - THE WAR ON DRUGS
23.   Under color of official right - PROTOMARTYR
24.   Here and nowhere else - CLOUD NOTHINGS
25.   Elpintor - INTERPOL
26.   Phantom radio - MARK LANEGAN BAND
27.   Burn your fire for no witness - ANGEL OLSEN
28.   Atlas - REAL ESTATE
29.   Seeds - TV ON THE RADIO
30.   Run The Jewels 2 - RUN THE JEWELS

Click here for the second part of our Albums of the Year list, from number 31 to 60.

You can also check out our Top 50 Singles of 2014 here and stream all of them here.

Listen to our Albums of the Year playlist on Spotify:

Top Albums of 2014, part 1: 31 - 60

Only a few hours are left on the clock for 2014 and the party is about to begin here at Cool Music Central HQ! The soundtrack, of course, is the countdown of all our favorite albums of the year, starting with White Lung's mini LP "Deep Fantasy" at number 60 and continuing all the way up to the number 1.

As usual, we are keeping the presentation of our Top 30 Albums of the Year for the special first post of the New Year. For the farewell of 2014 we are unveiling today the second half of our list, up to number 31 where you'll find EMA's "The Future's Void".

Fifty more worthwhile albums we've listened to so far this year are also mentioned at the end of the list, bringing the total number to 110! And I'm sure there's quite a few more to be discovered as we go through all the other end-of-the-year lists out there. Not bad at all for 2014 as far as music is concerned.

Time to get this party started: here are the 30 albums that bring our countdown from number 60 to number 31:

Top Albums of 2014: 31 - 60

31. The future's void - EMA

32. Plowing into the field of love - ICEAGE

33. Grassed inn - BLANK REALM

34. The hum - HOOKWORMS

35. Held in splendor - QUILT

36. Worship the sun - ALLAH-LAS

37. Tomorrow's hits - THE MEN

38. Beauty & ruin - BOB MOULD

39. The physical world - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979

40. IX - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD

41. Revelation - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE

42. Wig out at Jagbags - STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS

43. We come from the same place - ALLO DARLIN'

44. At best cuckold - AVI BUFFALO

45. Lese majesty - SHABAZZ PALACES

46. Pe'ahi - THE RAVEONETTES

47. Wild crush - ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT

48. World peace is none of your business - MORRISSEY

49. Days of abandon - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART

50. Hour of the dawn - LA SERA

51. Initiation - HAUNTED HEARTS

52. Alvvays - ALVVAYS

53. Trouble - HOSPITALITY

54. July - MARISSA NADLER

55. Darlings - KEVIN DREW

56. Indie Cindy - PIXIES

57. Diploid love - BRODY DALLE

58. …And star power - FOXYGEN

59. Motivational jumpsuit - GUIDED BY VOICES

60. Deep fantasy - WHITE LUNG

More good stuff we've listened to this year:

Barragan - BLONDE REDHEAD, Love letters - METRONOMY, Taiga - ZOLA JESUS, After the disco - BROKEN BELLS, Turn blue - THE BLACK KEYS, Teeth dreams - THE HOLD STEADY, The voyager - JENNY LEWIS, Upside down mountain - CONOR OBERST, Psychic 9 - 5 club - HTRK, Luminous - THE HORRORS, Cheatahs - CHEATAHS, Cursing the sea - SEPTEMBER GIRLS, Clear Lake Forest - THE BLACK ANGELS, The Other I - 2:54, Distractions - A VICTIM OF SOCIETY, Marginalia - BABY GURU, Native echoes - BEACH DAY, Morning phase - BECK, Underneath the rainbow - BLACK LIPS, Our love - CARIBOU, A new nature - ESBEN AND THE WITCH, Do what you want to, it's what you should do - FLOWERS, You're dead! - FLYING LOTUS, Brothers and sisters of the eternal son - DAMIEN JURADO, Everyday robots - DAMON ALBARN, Artificial sweeteners - FUJIYA & MIYAGI, Honeyblood - HONEYBLOOD, Heartstrings - HOWLING BELLS, Tyranny - JULIAN CASABLANCAS + THE VOIDZ, I never learn - LYKKE LI, Wooden aquarium - MAZES, Secret science - MECHANIMAL, Rave tapes - MOGWAI, My Drunken Haze - MY DRUNKEN HAZE, Cosmic logic - PEAKING LIGHTS, Carnival of souls - PERE UBU, Bestial burden - PHARMAKON, Royal Blood - ROYAL BLOOD, Words to the blind - SAVAGES AND BO NINGEN, Suck my shirt - THE COATHANGERS, Encyclopedia - THE DRUMS, Feel something - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE, Close to the glass - THE NOTWIST, Drop - THEE OH SEES, Ultimate Painting - ULTIMATE PAINTING, Present tense - WILD BEASTS, Refractory obdurate - WOVENHAND, Shriek - WYE OAK, Angel guts red classroom - XIU XIU, March - FÜR IMMER

The future may be void but 2015 is just around the corner: pop the champagne and prepare for our 2014 Top 30 list in the next few days...

EMA - So Blonde

Listening Habits 10-11.14

The end of November brings us to the start of the festive period for music lovers everywhere: the time to share your favorite music with the world by making "Best of" lists! CMC will, of course, honor this tradition as well, but (sticking to our own habits) we will wait until the actual end of the year before we finalize our ever evolving annual list.

In the meantime, we bring you a Top 15 of our favorite albums for October and November 2014 featuring some strong candidates for the annual Top 50:

At the top of this list we have the seventh and, in our opinion, best solo album by Ty Segall. The extremely prolific musician took his time in the making of "Manipulator" (14 months is quite a long period for his usual standards) and the results are truly outstanding: 17 tracks clocking close to an hour of non-stop garage rock brilliance, not encountered since the heyday of The White Stripes a decade ago. It’s just three months since the release of this album, but "Manipulator" already sounds like a classic to our ears: the crowning achievement so far in Ty Segall’s impressive, ever increasing body of work.

Mary Timony has been among my favorite musicians ever since I first noticed her work with Helium in the early '90s. I still remember being blown away by "The American Jean", an early single I discovered in the Rough Trade Shops compilation "Unnecessary Niceness" sometime in the summer of 1993. Twenty-one years and many excellent albums later, Timony is delivering the goods once again with her fearsomely rocking new outfit Ex Hex and their awesome debut LP with the self-explanatory title "Rips". Lock up your sons, Ex Hex are casting some pretty irresistible spells out there!

In our Top 5 you will also find Thurston Moore’s latest solo effort channeling his Sonic Youth self with the help of his old band mate Steve Shelley, My Bloody Valentine’s bass player Deb Googe and Nought / Chrome Hoof guitarist James Sedwards, Shellac’s return after seven years with "Dude Incredible", their best album since the early '00s, and Goat with "Commune", the Swedish collective’s imaginative second effort, going deeper into our collective, primitive subconscious.

Here are all the autumn 2014 additions to CMC’s record collection:

Top 15 Albums

1.   Manipulator - TY SEGALL
2.   Rips - EX HEX
3.   The Best Day - THURSTON MOORE
4.   Dude Incredible - SHELLAC
5.   Commune - GOAT
6.   Brill Bruisers - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
7.   The Hum - HOOKWORMS
8.   Plowing Into The Field Of Love - ICEAGE
9.   IX - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
10. The Physical World - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
11. At Best Cuckold - AVI BUFFALO
12. …And Star Power - FOXYGEN
13. Barragán - BLONDE REDHEAD
14. Taiga - ZOLA JESUS
15. Strange Weather EP - ANNA CALVI

Top 15 Tracks

1.   Feel - TY SEGALL
2.   Waterfall - EX HEX
3.   Hide From The Sun - GOAT
4.   Dude Incredible - SHELLAC
5.   The Best Day - THURSTON MOORE
6.   War On The East Coast - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
7.   So What - AVI BUFFALO
8.   On Leaving - HOOKWORMS
9.   Trainwreck 1979 - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
10. The Lord's Favorite - ICEAGE
11. Ghost Rider - ANNA CALVI
12. How Can You Really - FOXYGEN
13. Hunger - ZOLA JESUS
14. Dripping - BLONDE REDHEAD
15. The Dragonfly Queen - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD

Have a listen to our October - November Top 15 here:

Listening Habits 08-09.14

It's certainly no small feat: 8 albums into an 18-year recording career, Spoon remain at the top of their game and deliver once again one of the best rock records of the year.

The ten tracks (9 originals and one cover) on "They Want My Soul" create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, complementing each other and making for a pleasurable listening experience from start to finish that will have you hitting the repeat button again and again.

Our August - September top albums list also includes Interpol's "Elpintor", their first album as a trio, which several reviews have hailed as a return to form. Personally, I don't think they have ever lost it, but if you have a record as awesome as "Turn On The Bright Lights" for your debut, you should prepare for the fact that people's expectations for your band will tend to be rather unrealistic. Thankfully Interpol don't seem to mind and get on with the business of making fine records, with "Elpintor" certainly not far from that early career high mark.

Our Top 5 is rounded up by the melodic California garage-pop of "Worship The Sun", Allah-Lahs' sophomore effort, the grunge-punk aggression of Canada's White Lung who have justly seen their profile rise with the explosive "Deep Fantasy", their third LP, and the experimental, laid-back hip hop sounds of Shabazz Palaces's "Lesse Majesty". 

Here's the complete Top 15 Albums list for August - September 2014:

Top 15 Albums

1.   They Want My Soul - SPOON
2.   Elpintor - INTERPOL
3.   Worship The Sun - ALLAH-LAS
4.   Deep Fantasy - WHITE LUNG
5.   Lese Majesty - SHABAZZ PALACES
6.   Pe'ahi - THE RAVEONETTES
7.   Initiation - HAUNTED HEARTS
8.   Hour Of The Dawn - LA SERA
9.   Beauty & Ruin - BOB MOULD
10. Revelation - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
11. Luminous - THE HORRORS
12. World Peace Is None Of Your Business - MORRISSEY
13.  The Voyager - JENNY LEWIS
14. Upside Down Mountain - CONOR OBERST
15. Clear Lake Forest - THE BLACK ANGELS

Top 15 Tracks

1.   Food For Clouds - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
2.   Do You - SPOON
3.   All The Rage Back Home - INTERPOL
4.   Drown With The Monster - WHITE LUNG
5.   501-415 - ALLAH-LAS
6.   Killer In The Streets - THE RAVEONETTES
7.   Johnny Jupiter - HAUNTED HEARTS
8.   Losing To The Dark (mp3 via Stereogum) - LA SERA
9.   I Don't Know You Anymore - BOB MOULD
10. Kiss Me A Lot - MORRISSEY
11. Head Underwater - JENNY LEWIS
12. Hundreds Of Ways - CONOR OBERST
13. Hot And Cold - EX HEX
14. I See You - THE HORRORS
15. They Come In Gold - SHABAZZ PALACES

Spoon - Do You

Listen to our latest favorites on Spotify:

Listening Habits 05-07.14: The Summer Collection

With our summer vacation finally in sight, it's time to collect our favorite albums and tracks of the last couple of months and start packing!

Swans' thirteenth studio album "To Be Kind" is at the top of our album list, an epic two-hour listening experience that manages to take the band's sound even further, in their most satisfying release since their reformation four years ago.

Another, more recent, reformation has also delivered the goods and yielded one of our Top 3 albums of this summer. The Afghan Whigs started their reunion with some mind-blowing shows a couple of years ago, and now, with "Do To The Beast", they have proven they still have that special chemistry that gave us some of the best rock records of the '90s.

Parquet Courts are still quite a new band but their sound is channeling some of our favorite memories from the '80s and '90s. "Sunbathing Animal" brings together the influences of The Fall, Pavement, the Ramones and many others, but the blend they're creating has their own signature and proves to be quite addictive. Give it some time and you won't be able to shake it off.

Our Top 5 also includes the eccentric rhymes of Sleaford Mods in their punk-hop opus "Divide And Exit" as well as the third and perhaps the best full-length by Tune-Yards, "Nikki Nack", another unique patchwork where Merrill Garbus brings together exotic sounds and rhythms to create refreshingly original, soulful songs, unlike anything else you're going to hear in 2014.

And that's not all... check out below our 20 favorite records for the first half of the summer as well as a playlist with some of the best tunes from them. Enjoy the sound waves:

Top 20 Albums

1.   To Be Kind - SWANS
2.   Nikki Nack - TUNE-YARDS
3.   Do To The Beast - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
4.   Sunbathing Animal - PARQUET COURTS
5.   Divide And Exit - SLEAFORD MODS
6.   With Light And With Love - WOODS
7.   Mess - LIARS
8.   Lazaretto - JACK WHITE
9.   Are We There - SHARON VAN ETTEN
10. Lost In The Dream - THE WAR ON DRUGS
11. Held In Splendor - QUILT
12. Days Of Abandon - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
13. Wild Crush - ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT
14. Indie Cindy - PIXIES
15. Darlings - KEVIN DREW
16. Diploid Love - BRODY DALLE
17. Turn Blue - THE BLACK KEYS
18. Teeth Dreams - THE HOLD STEADY
19. Love Letters - METRONOMY
20. Psychic 9 - 5 Club - HTRK

Top 20 Tracks

1.   The Lottery - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
2.   Screen Shot - SWANS
3.   With Light And With Love - WOODS
4.   Sunbathing Animal - PARQUET COURTS
5.   Water Fountain - TUNE-YARDS
6.   Pro Anti Anti - LIARS
7.   Tied Up In Nottz - SLEAFORD MODS
8.   Lazaretto - JACK WHITE
9.   We Are Floating - ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT
10. Taking Chances - SHARON VAN ETTEN
11. Under The Pressure - THE WAR ON DRUGS
12. I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You - THE HOLD STEADY
13. Don’t Mess With Me - BRODY DALLE
14. Indie Cindy - PIXIES
15. Fever - THE BLACK KEYS
16. I’m Aquarius - METRONOMY
17. Eurydice - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
18. Good Sex - KEVIN DREW
19. Tired & Buttered - QUILT
20. Blue Sunshine - HTRK

Bonus track: Here's the latest Afghan Whigs video for another "Do To The Beast" highlight, the super funky "Metamoros":

The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 4

Last but not least... The final ten albums in the list of our 40 favorite records of 2014 so far, featuring Temples, The Afghan Whigs, The Black Keys, The Hold Steady, The Men, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The War On Drugs, Tune-Yards and Warpaint. Have a listen below and also check out our Top 20 Tracks of the last six months - just a small sample of a quite long list:

The A-Z of the first half of 2014 (pt.4):

• TEMPLES - Sun Structure 

• THE AFGHAN WHIGS - Do To The Beast

• THE BLACK KEYS - Turn Blue

• THE HOLD STEADY - Teeth Dreams

• THE MEN - Tomorrow's Hits

• THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART - Days Of Abandon

• THE WAR ON DRUGS - Lost In The Dream

• TUNE-YARDS - Nikki Nack

• WARPAINT - Warpaint

• WOODS - With Light And With Love

Here's the rest of our Top 40:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Top 20 Tracks (January - June 2014) 

 

• Disco//Very - WARPAINT
• Satellites - EMA
• Digital Witness - ST. VINCENT
• Rimbaud Eyes - DUM DUM GIRLS
• Mesmerise - TEMPLES
• Ben's My Friend - SUN KIL MOON
• Talking Backwards - REAL ESTATE
• Water Fountain - TUNE-YARDS
• Taking Chances - SHARON VAN ETTEN
• Hi-Five - ANGEL OLSEN
• Lariat - STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS
• We Are Floating - ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT
• Sunbathing Animal - PARQUET COURTS
• Tied Up In Nottz - SLEAFORD MODS
• Pro Anti Anti- LIARS
• Scum, Rise! - PROTOMARTYR
• Falling Down The Stairs - BLANK REALM
• I'm Not Part Of Me - CLOUD NOTHINGS
• Don't Mess With Me - BRODY DALLE
• Algiers - THE AFGHAN WHIGS

The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 3

The third installment of our presentation of the 40 records that impressed us the most in the first half of the year continues with the following ten fine albums by Protomartyr, Quilt, Real Estate, September Girls, Sharon Van Etten, Sleaford Mods, St. Vincent, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Sun Kil Moon and Swans. Have a listen below:

The A-Z of the first half of 2014 (pt.3):

• PROTOMARTYR - Under Color Of Official Right

• QUILT - Held In Splendor

• REAL ESTATE - Atlas

• SEPTEMBER GIRLS - Cursing The Sea

• SHARON VAN ETTEN - Are We There

• SLEAFORD MODS - Divide And Exit

• ST. VINCENT - St. Vincent

• STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - Wig Out At Jagbags

• SUN KIL MOON - Benji

• SWANS - To Be Kind

Previously on The A-Z of the first half of 2014:
Part 1
Part 2

The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 2

Our A to Z of the 40 best album we've listened to in the first half of the year continues: sample tracks from Hospitality, HTRK, Jack White, Kevin Drew, La Sera, Liars, Marissa Nadler, Metronomy, Parquet Courts and Pixies below and make sure to check out their albums in full.

The A-Z of the first half of 2014 (pt.2):

• HOSPITALITY - Trouble

• HTRK - Psychic 9-5 Club

• JACK WHITE - Lazaretto

• KEVIN DREW - Darlings

• LA SERA - Hour of the Dawn

• LIARS - Mess

• MARISSA NADLER - July

• METRONOMY - Love Letters

• PARQUET COURTS - Sunbathing Animal

• PIXIES - Indie Cindy

Go to Part 1 of our A-Z of the first half of 2014.

The Best Albums of 2014 so far - Part 1

It ain't over 'till the ref whistles for full time, as you know very well if you're gripped by World Cup fever, but having reached the half-time of 2014, this is a good time to catch our breath and have another listen to these 40 albums that, in our opinion, have stood out in the music game so far.

Who's going to be the most valuable player of the year? Could it be one of our current Top 40 picks, or is it possible that the best is yet to come? We'll find out in December, meanwhile, here are the first ten albums in our 2014 half-time list, presented in alphabetical order:

The A-Z of the first half of 2014:

• ANGEL OLSEN - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

• ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT - Wild Crush

• BLANK REALM - Grassed Inn

• BRODY DALLE - Diploid Love

• BROKEN BELLS - After The Disco

• CHEATAHS - Cheatahs

• CLOUD NOTHINGS - Here And Nowhere Else

• DUM DUM GIRLS - Too True

• EMA - The Future's Void

• GUIDED BY VOICES - Motivational Jumpsuit

Listening Habits 03-04.14

Hope you all had a great time during the Easter and Record Store Day weekend. After a brief spring break, we’re back to the business of celebrating our favorite music by bringing you the lists of the albums and songs we’ve enjoyed the most during March and April 2014 in the latest installment of Listening Habits.

The top of our album list belongs to St. Vincent’s excellent self-titled LP, her fourth and best effort so far. Annie Clark continues to evolve and shape her individual sound, inventing a unique voice that transcends her influences. Her economic guitar playing never tries to steal the show, yet never seizes to offer subtle surprises and throw curve balls that catch you off-guard. The melodies are as strong as ever throughout the record while anxious synth-funk lines keep erupting here and there, keeping you on your toes. "St. Vincent" takes Annie Clark’s music to another level, one that very few will reach this year!

Of course Annie Clark was also in the news this month when she performed "Lithium" with the surviving members of Nirvana at the band’s induction ceremony to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was certainly a great idea to pay tribute to Kurt Cobain and what Nirvana stood for by having female singers to perform with them and I’m certainly jealous of the handful of people who got to see the band performing afterwards at a small club with some fine guests. Maybe they should do this again, but next time for more people, perhaps at a festival? Just a thought…

One of the bands that follow in the footsteps of Nirvana and all the other great '80s and '90s indie rockers is Cloud Nothings. Dylan Baldi’s group keeps the guitar rock fires burning with "Here and Nowhere Else", two years on after the amazing "Attack on Memory". Their furious sound doesn’t draw outside the lines of indie-rock’s past, but their passion and conviction is certainly impressive and their songs can hold their own next to those of their heroes.

The same can be said for Protomartyr who with their sophomore album "Under Color Of Official Right" do not reinvent the post-punk genre but offer plenty of evidence that this sound remains just as vital in the second decade of the 21st century as it was about 35 years ago. 

Real Estate also know the value of the underground musical treasures of the '80s but keep digging deeper, going all the way back to the '60s to find melodic inspiration. "Atlas" is another sure-fire hit for those who crave gentle indie-rock with a dreamer’s heart.

The Top 5 of our Spring 2014 album collection is completed with the highly anticipated return of EMA, a.k.a Erika M. Anderson, with her second solo album "The Future's Void". Not as raw sounding as her 2011 astonishing debut "Past Life Martyred Saints", but still an intense listening experience that draws inspiration from cyber-punk. The opening "Satellites" is an overpowering digital assault to the senses, without a doubt one of the finest tracks of the year, a song that opens up intriguing possibilities that EMA needs to explore further in the future.

Here are our 20 favorite albums and tracks for March - April 2014:

Top 20 Albums

1.   St. Vincent - ST. VINCENT
2.   Here And Nowhere Else - CLOUD NOTHINGS
3.   Under Color Of Official Right - PROTOMARTYR
4.   Atlas - REAL ESTATE
5.   The Future's Void - EMA
6.   Burn Your Fire For No Witness - ANGEL OLSEN
7.   Grassed Inn - BLANK REALM
8.   Tomorrow's Hits - THE MEN
9.   Motivational Jumpsuit - GUIDED BY VOICES
10. July - MARISSA NADLER
11. Big Inner: Outer Face Edition - MATTHEW E. WHITE
12. After The Disco - BROKEN BELLS
13. Old - DANNY BROWN
14. Corsicana Lemonade - WHITE DENIM
15. Drenge - DRENGE
16. Marginalia - BABY GURU
17. Once Part Of A Whole Ship - EGG HELL
18. March - FÜR IMMER
19. Zebratronic - POSTCODE
20. Punk 45. Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young. Underground Punk In The United States Of America, Vol.1 1973-1980 - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Satellites - EMA
2.   Disco//Very - WARPAINT
3.   Digital Witness - ST. VINCENT
4.   Pattern Walks - CLOUD NOTHINGS
5.   Scum, Rise! - PROTOMARTYR
6.   Talking Backwards - REAL ESTATE
7.   Falling Down The Stairs - BLANK REALM
8.   Hi-Five - ANGEL OLSEN
9.   Dead City Emily- MARISSA NADLER
10. The Littlest League Possible - GUIDED BY VOICES
11. Big Love - MATTHEW E. WHITE
12. 25 Bucks feat. PURITY RING - DANNY BROWN
13. After The Disco - BROKEN BELLS
14. At Night In Dreams - WHITE DENIM
15. Pearly Gates - THE MEN
16. Face Like A Skull - DRENGE
17. Especially When - BABY GURU
18. Concrete - WITCHING WAVES
19. Losing The Battle - POSTCODE
20. Wrapped In Plastic - FÜR IMMER

EMA - Satellites

Have a listen to our favorite tracks on Soundcloud:

Listening Habits 01-02.14

Our first list of favorite albums for 2014 just before the end of February shows that the New Year has had quite a good start with at least four excellent LPs that I’m sure are going to be included in many "Best of the Year" lists 10 months from now.

Warpaint’s self-titled sophomore work was everything we were expecting from this band and more. The four girls took their time in making this album (it’s been more than two years since their debut, "The Fool") and experimented with their sound, writing the songs all together for the first time and letting in new influences.

This new approach has worked wonderfully well and with the help of producers Flood and Nigel Godrich, Warpaint have created an album that takes them to the next level. The impeccable rhythm section provides the grooves that will lure you in their world, the ghostly guitar lines and ethereal vocal melodies will make sure that you’ll never want to leave - a simply enchanting experience from start to finish!

Newcomers Temples, from Kettering, UK, have submerged themselves in '60s psychedelia and with "Sun Structures" have given us a great debut, filled with melodic psych-pop that may not reinvent the genre but offers many memorable songs that will brighten your day. A very promising start, indeed!

Dee Dee Penny, meanwhile, the leader of Dum Dum Girls, has done it again. "Too True", her band’s third record, is another excellent work that brings to the foreground '80s gothic rock and '90s indie pop influences. The roots of the Dum Dum Girls sound remain in '60s and '70s garage and punk, but these new elements along with the hi-fi production values bring out a bigger and brighter sound that testify to Dee Dee’s intention to keep evolving as a songwriter.

Mark Kozelek’s status as a great singer-songwriter is well established through his numerous albums with Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and his solo work.

His latest release, "Benji", the sixth Sun Kil Moon LP which features contributions by Steve Shelley, Jen Wood, Will Oldham, and Owen Ashworth, is undoubtedly one of the best in his 25 years in the game, a record that captivates with the narrative strength of its confessional stories and the simple yet powerful acoustic arrangements. Even if you’ve never heard any of Kozelek’s previous records, make sure you lend an ear to "Benji" and start by listening either "Ben's My Friend" or "Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes", two of its many highlights.

Top 15 Albums

1.   Warpaint - WARPAINT
2.   Sun Structures - TEMPLES
3.   Too True - DUM DUM GIRLS
4.   Benji - SUN KIL MOON
5.   Wig Out At Jagbags - STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS
6.   Trouble - HOSPITALITY
7.   Cheatahs - CHEATAHS
8.   Cursing The Sea - SEPTEMBER GIRLS
9.   Weird Sister - JOANNA GRUESOME
10. Matangi - M.I.A.
11. Cupid Deluxe - BLOOD ORANGE
12. Real Hair EP - SPEEDY ORTIZ
13. Tally All The Things That You Broke EP - PARQUET COURTS
14. The Remainderer EP - THE FALL
15. Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture 13 - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top 15 Tracks

1.   Love Is To Die - WARPAINT
2.   Rimbaud Eyes - DUM DUM GIRLS
3.   Birth In Reverse - ST. VINCENT
4.   Ben's My Friend - SUN KIL MOON
5.   I Miss Your Bones - HOSPITALITY
6.   Shelter Song - TEMPLES
7.   Get Tight - CHEATAHS
8.   Lariat - STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS
9.   American Horror - SPEEDY ORTIZ
10. Sugarcrush - JOANNA GRUESOME
11. He’s Seeing Paths - PARQUET COURTS
12. Sexodus ft. The Weeknd - M.I.A.
13. You’re Not Good Enough - BLOOD ORANGE
14. Heartbeats - SEPTEMBER GIRLS
15. Will You Be My Mom? - CHILDBIRTH (mp3 via KEXP blog)

Warpaint - Love is to Die (Yours Truly Session)