as i looked back at my favorite music releases from 2014, i realized it would be way too hard to trim down to a simple top-10 list like i've done with my previous yearly picks. there was just way too much good music, including, very happily enough, a lot of great ambient and experimentally-inclined stuff, to try and limit myself. so this time around, i've made three lists covering more than 60 total releases, and i'm keeping words to a minimum. first, a group of albums i loved and listened to more than anything else. then, a set of "honorable mentions" or whatever - great albums i discovered (and remembered) throughout the year, along with a few key reissues. lastly, another long list of some of my favorite EPs. also, i've included links to free full online streams (bandcamp and soundcloud) when i could find them.
i'm sure i've missed something, but for now this will do. in no particular order (and with discogs links for more info), my absolute favorites:
anjou - anjou
kranky (discogs)
vladislav delay - visa
ripatti (discogs) (free stream)
pan sonic - oksastus (live in ukraine)
kvitnu (discogs)
peder mannerfelt - lines describing circles
digitalis (discogs) (free stream)
HTRK - psychic 9-5 club
ghostly international (discogs)
abdulla rashim - unanimity
northern electronics (discogs) (free stream)
eric holm - andøya
subtext (discogs)
kassem mosse - workshop 19
workshop (discogs)
... and in alphabetical order, here's more great albums, including a few reissues, that are definitely worth a trip or two (or more).
alan backdrop - eria | ekar (free stream)
alessandro cortini - sonno | hospital productions
ambarchi/o'malley/dunn - shade themes from kairos | drag city
angel - terra null. | editions mego
black rain - dark pool | blackest ever black (free stream)
cloudface - untitled | opal tapes (free stream)
deru - 1979 | friends of friends (free stream)
dj sprinkles - midtown 120 blues | comatonse [reissue]
donato dozzy & nuel - the aquaplano sessions | spectrum spools [reissue]
donato dozzy & nuel - the aquaplano sessions | spectrum spools [reissue]
efdemin - decay | dial
function : vatican shadow - games have rules | hospital productions
grouper - ruins | kranky
hands - the soul is quick | ecstatic (free stream)
hands - the soul is quick | ecstatic (free stream)
imaginary softwoods - the path of spectrolite | archives intérieures [reissue] (free stream)
jo johnson - weaving | further records (free stream)
jonas reinhardt - ganymede | constellation tatsu (free stream)
kettenkarussell - easy listening | giegling
lawrence - a day in the life | mule musiq
lawrence english - wilderness of mirrors | room40
lawrence english - wilderness of mirrors | room40
lee gamble - KOCH | pan
lucy - churches schools and guns | stroboscopic artefacts
millie & andrea - drop the vowels | modern love (free stream)
murcof & eric truffaz - being human being | mundo recordings
NHK'Koyxeи - dance classics vol. III | pan [december '13 release but whatever]
patricia - body issues | black opal (free stream)
perc - the power & the glory | perc trax (free stream)
sons of magdalene - move to pain | audraglint (free stream)
scuba death - nitrogen narcosis | further records (free stream)
talker - hari/LP | downwards
ulwhednar - 1520 | northern electronics (free stream)
various - collection | field records [compilation]
various - collection | field records [compilation]
... lastly, a stack of very nice EPs that proved to be keepers, including lots of techno records. alphabetical order, again:
arkadelphia - new sun | NORD
bookworms - compact visual nature | NORD
broken english club - jealous god 04 | jealous god
casual violence - expression unrelated | plector
conforce - depth over distance | delsin
dasha rush - timid ocean drawings | deep sound channel
dscrd - panopticon | DEMENT3D
dscrd - panopticon | DEMENT3D
donato dozzy - dimensions | mental groove [reissue]
donato dozzy - terzo giorno | stroboscopic artefacts
drøp - vasundhara | arboretum
earthen sea - mirage | lovers rock
erika - hexagon cloud RMXD 2.0 | interdimensional transmissions
ESHU - chlore | ESHU records
grey branches - lower bounds | inner surface music
J&L - ramayana chant | ESHU records
juho kahilainen - dyson sphere | M_REC LTD
juho kahilainen - dyson sphere | M_REC LTD
ko-ta - festimask | tikita [reissue]
ligovskoï - dilip EP and remixes | DEMENT3D
max_m & fabrizio lapiana - 1002 | M_REC LTD
orphx - sacrifice | sonic groove
outer space - phantom center | editions mego
phil moffa - elevation / ENO-UGH | most excellent unltd
PMH - entrance | finitude music
samuel kerridge - deficit of wonder | blueprint
sigha - the purification loops | avian
skarn - revolver | avian
stanislav tolkachev - right angle | semantica
surgeon - fixed action pattern | token
T.E.W. - eighteen | electronique.it
yuka - episodes of yesterday | silent season
various (stephanie sykes, fjäder) - luna tactus | fullpanda
various (etapp kyle, mod21, artefakt) - prologue portefuille 3 | prologue
voices from the lake - velo di maya | the bunker new york
wata igarashi - junctions | midgar
.... and that's that. lots of great music, i say!
if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! smilecoldanatomy will continue to be slow-moving for the time being, so feel free to follow me on twitter. i post fairly often there, including about music and art and science things.
end: 2014, begin: 2015