Wednesday 31 December 2014

Music Chart - 2014 Review

So after a brief hiatus, here is the final chart of 2014... Some new entries of note are:

It's Nearly Tomorrow by Craig Armstrong - more beautiful and elegant instrumentals from a true genius, mixed with tracks featuring some distracting - if equally elegant - guest vocalists.
Fall Together Again by Andy Burrows - continuing to prove there is life after Razorlight, Burrows delivers wonderful songwriting yet again.
I Forget Where We Were by Ben Howard - a darker, more introspective collection of personal songs and intensity then Howard's début.
Super Critical by The Ting Tings - the band that completely refuse to conform take on the likes of Chic and guitar-funk disco with another party album.
In The Seams by Saint Saviour - the best songs Saint Saviour has put her name to; heartfelt, beautiful and vocals to die for.
Storytone by Neil Young - if you remove the 'big band' versions, this is a stripped-down open-hearted album of quite wonderful songs - that said, the filled-out numbers occasionally hit the mark.
The Endless River by Pink Floyd - the band's swansong featuring outtakes and material from the late Richard Wright; a fitting end to a huge legacy.
Sonic Highways by Foo Fighters - the best album from Dave Grohl and the boys for many years - this is a full-on and committed guitar-fest.
Monuments To An Elegy by The Smashing Pumpkins - a brave attempt to do something different which often works thanks to Billy Corgan's sharp lyrics and listless delivery; not the band they once were but now a different animal.

The final top ten features amazing bands and great singer-songwriters. The War On Drugs were never to be beaten.

  1. Lost In The Dream by The War On Drugs
  2. Augustines by Augustines 
  3. Syro by Aphex Twin
  4. Rave Tapes by Mogwai
  5. Morning Phase by Beck 
  6. Gach Sgeul (Every Story) by Julie Fowlis
  7. Somewhere Under Wonderland by Counting Crows
  8. Forgetting The Present by Remember Remember 
  9. Built For Storms by Nigel Stonier
  10. In The Seams by Saint Saviour
  11. While 1 is less than 2 by Deadmau5 
  12. The Fire Inside by Luke Sital-Singh
  13. Sonic Highways by Foo Fighters
  14. It's Nearly Tomorrow by Craig Armstrong
  15. Royal Blood by Royal Blood
  16. My Favourite Faded Fantasy by Damien Rice 
  17. Beauty & Ruin by Bob Mould 
  18. Super Critical by The Ting Tings
  19. Smoke Fairies by Smoke Fairies 
  20. The Gloaming by The Gloaming
  21. Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Pentacles by Suzanne Vega
  22. Ryan Adams by Ryan Adams
  23. You Chose These Woes by Model Village
  24. Beautiful Desolation by Paul Thomas Saunders
  25. Fall Together Again by Andy Burrows
  26. Storytone by Neil Young
  27. This Is All Yours by Alt-J
  28. Alarms In The Heart by Dry The River 
  29. I Forget Where We Were by Ben Howard
  30. Popular Problems by Leonard Cohen
  31. Owl John by Owl John
  32. Mandatory Fun by Weird Al Yankovic
  33. 48:13 by Kasabian 
  34. The Endless River by Pink Floyd
  35. Indie Cindy by The Pixies 
  36. Ghost Stories by Coldplay
  37. Running With Scissors by Janet Devlin 
  38. Bones + Longing by Gemma Hayes
  39. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
  40. The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett by Eels
  41. Pe'ahi by The Raveonettes 
  42. A New Nature by Esben And The Witch
  43. Grinning Streak by Barenaked Ladies 
  44. Phantom Radio by Mark Lanegan Band
  45. Upside Down Mountain by Conor Oberst 
  46. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
  47. Burn Your Fire For No Witness by Angel Olsen
  48. The Take Off And Landing of Everything by Elbow
  49. Lazaretto by Jack White 
  50. Get Hurt by The Gaslight Anthem
  51. Word Of Mouth by Seth Lakeman 
  52. So Long, See You Tomorrow by Bombay Bicycle Club 
  53. Nobody Wants To Be Here & Nobody Wants To Leave by The Twilight Sad
  54. 1984 by Ryan Adams 
  55. Playland by Johnny Marr
  56. Heartstrings by Howling Bells
  57. We Come From The Same Place by Allo Darlin'
  58. El Pintor by Interpol
  59. Honeyblood by Honeyblood
  60. Futurology by Manic Street Preachers
  61. IX by Corrosion Of Conformity 
  62. Pale Communion by Opeth
  63. Into The Lime by New Mendicants 
  64. The Day's War by Lonely The Brave
  65. 9 Dead Alive by Rodrigo y Gabriela 
  66. Monuments To An Elegy by The Smashing Pumpkins
  67. A Letter Home By Neil Young
  68. In The Silence by Asgeir
  69. Held In Splendor by Quilt
  70. Blood by Pulled Apart By Horses
  71. Wilderness of Mirrors by Lawrence English
  72. Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey
  73. Salad Days by Mac Demarco
  74. Blood Red Shoes by Blood Red Shoes 
  75. Alvvays by Alvvays
  76. Supernova by Ray LaMontagne
  77. Echoes by Emily Smith 
  78. Everyday Robots by Damon Albarn
  79. Atlas by Real Estate
  80. Croz by David Crosby
  81. Benji by Sun Kil Moon 
  82. St. Vincent by St. Vincent
  83. Cursing The Sea by September Girls
  84. Wildewoman by Lucius
  85. Luminous by The Horrors
  86. High Hopes by Bruce Springsteen
  87. Songs About This And That by Karin Krog & John Surman
  88. Waking Lines by Patterns
  89. Unrepentant Geraldines by Tori Amos 
  90. Complete Surrender by Slow Club
  91. The Future's Void by EMA
  92. Here And Nowhere Else by Cloud Nothings
  93. Wig Out At Jagbags by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
  94. Total Strife Forever by East India Youth
  95. Too Much Information by Maximo Park
  96. Warpaint by Warpaint
  97. Are We There by Sharon Van Etten
  98. To Be Kind by Swans
  99. Eagulls by Eagulls 
  100. Education, Education, Education & War by Kaiser Chiefs
  101. The Crystal Method by The Crystal Method
  102. Kid Face by Samantha Crain
  103. None The Wiser by The Rifles
  104. Oh My Sexy Lord by Marijuana Deathsquads