50/14 - You've Done A Number On My Heart

I don't know man, compared to the amazing 2013, the year of 2014 has been a bit of a disappointment music-wise. But it did manage to scrape together 10 albums + 10 songs worth listing:

TOP 10 ALBUMS of 2014

Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels II

The best album of the year. No competition.

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

The coolest of the year.

Sharon van Etten - Are We There

My big new favourite (/crush) of the year.

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Soused

The best late-night-in-the-studio album of the year

Kent - Tigerdrottningen

Not their best album, but some of the lyrics that really hit home this year.

Sun Kil Moon - Benji

Difficult for casual listening. But something really happens when you settle down and listen to it from beginning to end.

Swans - To Be Kind

Another one that might not be for every day, but has the potential to really knock you off your feet when you give in to it.

TV on the Radio - Seeds

Reassuring craftmanship of the year.

Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste

A few brilliant highlights and a surprisingly satisfying eclecticism.

Todd Terje - It's Album Time

A guarantor for smiles and happy feet.










Big disclaimer: Due to no good soundsystem during the latter part of the year I have not yet listened to Aphex Twin - Syro. Obviously I'd expect that to otherwise be high on the list.

TOP 10 TUNES of 2014

Run The Jewels ft. Zach De La Rocha - Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)

It's like everything El-P and Mike do best for 3 relentless minutes, AND THEN, as a big tasty cherry on top, from out of the wilderness Zach De La Rocha returns and completely slays the track with Miles Davis-references and Philip K. Dick puns.

The only thing that close faster than the caskets be the factories!

St. Vincent - Digital Witness

There is no more awe-inspiring person on the planet right now. And this track wins out over Birth In Reverse by the irresistible Annie Clark delivery of "yah" and the year's styliest video.

Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You)

Instant classic. One of those songs that seems like it should have been written decades ago, because it's so simple, so to the core and so very, very effective.

Sharon van Etten - Your Love Is Killing Me

During 8 minutes or so, this summer in Slottskogen, Sharon's voice seemed like the only voice in the world. At times it still does.

Sbtrkt ft. Ezra Koenig - NEW DORP. NEW YORK

Did I want to dance this year? Did I listen to this track this year? The two questions converge.

Kendrick Lamar - i

This year's best jazz-bassline, smuggled in the year's most upbeat hip hop-track.

TV on the Radio - Careful You

Everything at once.

Ubre Blanca - Escape From Terminal Island

The best drumbeat drop of the year. Courtesy of Glasgow of course.

Nils Frahm - Unter – Tristana – Ambre

The moment when Tristana moves into Ambre at 8:15 was and remains the most beautiful transition in music 2014.

Wu-Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow

Not an easy year to stay positive about the world in, but when the clan managed to turn anger into energy I felt positively embarrassed about lapsing into hopelessness.


Did you think I was gonna end on a cheesy upbeat note? NAH. This is the future:

49/14 - Our Locust Fingers Clicking Neverending In Our Laps

I fell ill. I've lost a week. Dammit. Well, only 10 more days and then I can start over with high aims for a complete Top 5 2015. Here's last week's:

Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels

You know you're in for an awesome concert when the DJ spins this intro. I don't know many hip hop track where every single line falls with such perfection as here.

Panda Bear - Boys Latin

This is glorious.

Alexander 'Skip' Spence - Weighted Down (The Prison Song)

This has been playing in the studio for a few weeks. Love how isolated and beyond caring Skip sounds.

J. Tillman - Singing Ax

This is what I listened to when I had fever, to try and steer my fever dreams in a rural, comforting direction. But..

I can't recall a single memory from our universal past

Leonard Cohen - The Partisan (live)

One of few missteps Leonard has taken in his career is letting his band draw out his songs with tedious masturbatory instrumental solos on his latest tours, but all that can be forgiven when something as powerful as this comes along in the setlist.

48/14 - The World Is Getting More Iller Than Ever

Term over! And the soundtrack to the final week's late nights in the studio was:

Battles - Dominican Fade

Clap, clap, clap, clap. This album will forever be in the shade of its amazing predecessor, but there are some gems to discover on revisiting it.

Aesop Rock ft. Mr Lif - 11:35

Love it when rap's most dexterous linguist suddenly goes old-school storytelling hip hop.

Billy was a coke-fiend, Maggie was a COP

Wu-Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow

Like Calum said: Didn't think they had it in them these days. But I'm listening to this track every day and it just gets better and better. The video too:

Billie Holiday - I Loves You Porgy

I want to be your Porgy, Billie! I want someone to drawl out the syllable of man like that when they speak of me.

Bob Dylan - Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie

I know it sounds a bit teenagey to say that one of my favourite poems is by Bob Dylan. But just gonna say: This gets me, right in the chest area, every time. Sometimes it seems to say almost everything.

Who am I helping, what am I breaking
What am I giving, what am I taking
But you try with your whole soul best
Never to think these thoughts and never to let
Them kind of thoughts gain ground
Or make yer heart pound
But then again you know why they're around
Just waiting for a chance to slip and drop down