![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23So, 2014 wasn’t that exciting of a year for me in music and most of my Top 20 albums are here because I spent time with them, not because I am definitely calling these masterpieces. In fact, in any other year, most of these wouldn’t make the cut. But it’s tradition, so it has to be a Best Of and it has to be 20. How bad was it? It was bad. Bad enough that “Indie Cindy” makes the list? No, not that bad, but not much better.
In any case, this may take me a while to finish, so here's part 1 to start the weekend.
Marc Almond – The Dancing Marquis (SFE)- I think I could make a case for Almond being one of the most underappreciated figures in pop music. H’s considered an 80s artist, but his last 20 years are filled with 4 and 5 star albums like Heart On Snow, Variete, and the Soft Cell reunion disc. He had an accident which drove him to near retirement, and even then is as prolific as anyone, and has also made some interesting moves. His other 2014 release is a prog rock opera around Jack-the-Ripper era London. “TDM” is a collection of his last two EPs. While there’s nothing on here that would get mention in the Almond career retrospective writeup, this is a pretty enjoyable record. There’s a lesson to be learned here for a few of his contemporaries like the Mozzer. For starters, he collaborated with some people who seem to really get him- Tony Visconti, Carl Barat, Jarvis Cocker. The songs fit well into his catalogue, touching on where has been and where he is now as an icon. The Cocker penned “Worship Me Now” is the perfect statement for Almond in 2014, meanwhile would fit easily on Nonstop Erotic Cabaret, the Soft Cell debut LP. “Tasmanian Tiger” sounds like it is a lost Bolan song, but is not.
Camper Van Beethoven – El Camino Real (429 Records) – The CVB reunion has been sort of an up and down affair (but mostly up). This album isn’t wildly different than last year’s “La Costa Perdida” though I find this album more consistent and more satisfying. Lowrey has been pretty prolific in the last few years and his modus operandi seems to be writing as many California themed songs as he can. I should for point of reference state that “Key Lime Pie” is possibly my favorite record ever. ECR doesn’t quite match up to KLP. Lowrey’s lyrics aren’t quite as clever and complete, but this record at least sounds like it was made by the band that made KLP, and for that it is on the list. Also of note, the new Cracker record, which has two band lineups and 2 sides- “Berkeley” which is supposed to be a tribute to East Bay punk (which it doesn’t quite hit the mark on and doesn’t really resemble, but still isn’t bad) and “Bakersfield” which is more in the territory you would expect and is a pretty good listen.
Johnny Cash- Out Among the Stars (Columbia/Sony Legacy)- You wondered what mor they could dig out of the archives, but I really enjoyed this ‘lost’ album. It would probably not go over well with the fans of the “Folsom Prison”/”Ring of Fire”/American Recordings rock star Cash meme, but for true fans, I think it would be appreciated. There are moments here that are cornball, but pure Cash, like a song about driving off Stone Mountain, and I should spoil the joke of “If I told you who it was” but I can’t. Also, I suspect that the re-recording done by Marty Stuart and others brings some gravatis to songs like “She Used to Love me a Lot” and the June Carter duet “Don’t you think it’s come our time” that wouldn’t have been there if it was released as planned in the early 80s. To me, it doesn’t feel like a real album (There’s a Waylon live duet, the June Carter song, etc) but it feels like a very cool compilation of Cash’s lost work and I enjoyed it a lot.
Cloud Nothings –Here and Nowhere Else(Carpark/Mom+Pop)- 2012’s Attack on Memory was my introduction to this Cleveland ‘band’, and I was hooked. It is music that is on the pop side of pop-punk (or the punk side of punk-pop) in the tradition of those great 90s melodic bands like Nirvana and Jawbreaker. H&NE is more of the same. It’s a great beginning-to-end listen, and while I realize it’s not “Highway 61 Revisited”, it’s just a great listen and one of my favorite albums of the year. For some reason I get a real Westberg-ian vibe off this record and am not sure if it was always there (on “Memory”) and I am just now noticing it, or what, but just a great sound.
Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems (Columbia)Another shortlister for ‘Album of 2014’. If Cohen never recorded a note before 1990, he would still be a legend. The albums in this third (fourth?) phase of his career have all been pretty good. This album (to me) is the best of those. All of those albums had memorable songs, but this feels like the most consistent of the bunch. I guess you can’t talk ‘overproduction’ with Cohen, but it feels like this is a Leonard-focused album, where maybe “Dear Heather” it didn’t feel that way, with the backup singers playing a bigger role. “Almost Like the Blues” is an instant classic. “Did I ever love you” shows a clear lineage back to the author of “Bird on a Wire”. I know there are bigger Cohen fans out there than me, but albums like this get me going. Mythmaking indie critics will tell you that this album wouldn’t have existed had Cohen’s pension not been grabbed, but I don’t fully buy that. I think he’s still got a lot to still give, and I hope (and expect) this isn’t the last we hear.
Cold Cave – Full Cold Moon (Heartworm) –Cold Cave came out of that 2009 wave of n-th generation Joy Division bands like White Lies. She Wants Revenge was another band that was active mining the realm of dark wave, goth, industrial and 80s new wave. Bands like The Killers, Interpol and The Editors were headlining. Their 2011 album “Loves Comes Close” (my introduction) was a bit of a disappointment to me. Showing promise, but not great. Band leader Wes Eisold had the same reaction ,which is why Full Cold Moon (essentially the 2013 music released in one compilation) is a 360, and is much much better. It’s a well-trodden road, but it’s some of the best genre work in a long time. They have made some controversial and interesting moves in the last couple of years (partnership with Boyd Rice tops the list) but have really put themselves in an interesting place.
Luke Haines- New York in the 70s (Cherry Red)- Luke pretty much makes music for himself. I don’t know that anyone would have the chutzpah to try an album like this (I thought aloud) or tougher yet, pull it off (This was before U2 announced their new album was a tribute to roots). There are many indie bands who would name an album “9 ½ Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 70s and Early 80s”, but only Haines, y’know would write an album of said tunes. NY70s isn’t perfect. It seems to miss Haines’s cleverest lyrics. Tunes are little more than repetition of “Alan Vega says” or “Lou Reed, Lou Reed” or “Jim Carroll”, but Haines does capture the moment. There are songs that sounds like Suicide or “Transformer”. It’s one of Haines most accessible albums in years, and though there’s not much more to it than that, it is a welcome edition to his catalogue.
In any case, this may take me a while to finish, so here's part 1 to start the weekend.
Marc Almond – The Dancing Marquis (SFE)- I think I could make a case for Almond being one of the most underappreciated figures in pop music. H’s considered an 80s artist, but his last 20 years are filled with 4 and 5 star albums like Heart On Snow, Variete, and the Soft Cell reunion disc. He had an accident which drove him to near retirement, and even then is as prolific as anyone, and has also made some interesting moves. His other 2014 release is a prog rock opera around Jack-the-Ripper era London. “TDM” is a collection of his last two EPs. While there’s nothing on here that would get mention in the Almond career retrospective writeup, this is a pretty enjoyable record. There’s a lesson to be learned here for a few of his contemporaries like the Mozzer. For starters, he collaborated with some people who seem to really get him- Tony Visconti, Carl Barat, Jarvis Cocker. The songs fit well into his catalogue, touching on where has been and where he is now as an icon. The Cocker penned “Worship Me Now” is the perfect statement for Almond in 2014, meanwhile would fit easily on Nonstop Erotic Cabaret, the Soft Cell debut LP. “Tasmanian Tiger” sounds like it is a lost Bolan song, but is not.
Camper Van Beethoven – El Camino Real (429 Records) – The CVB reunion has been sort of an up and down affair (but mostly up). This album isn’t wildly different than last year’s “La Costa Perdida” though I find this album more consistent and more satisfying. Lowrey has been pretty prolific in the last few years and his modus operandi seems to be writing as many California themed songs as he can. I should for point of reference state that “Key Lime Pie” is possibly my favorite record ever. ECR doesn’t quite match up to KLP. Lowrey’s lyrics aren’t quite as clever and complete, but this record at least sounds like it was made by the band that made KLP, and for that it is on the list. Also of note, the new Cracker record, which has two band lineups and 2 sides- “Berkeley” which is supposed to be a tribute to East Bay punk (which it doesn’t quite hit the mark on and doesn’t really resemble, but still isn’t bad) and “Bakersfield” which is more in the territory you would expect and is a pretty good listen.
Johnny Cash- Out Among the Stars (Columbia/Sony Legacy)- You wondered what mor they could dig out of the archives, but I really enjoyed this ‘lost’ album. It would probably not go over well with the fans of the “Folsom Prison”/”Ring of Fire”/American Recordings rock star Cash meme, but for true fans, I think it would be appreciated. There are moments here that are cornball, but pure Cash, like a song about driving off Stone Mountain, and I should spoil the joke of “If I told you who it was” but I can’t. Also, I suspect that the re-recording done by Marty Stuart and others brings some gravatis to songs like “She Used to Love me a Lot” and the June Carter duet “Don’t you think it’s come our time” that wouldn’t have been there if it was released as planned in the early 80s. To me, it doesn’t feel like a real album (There’s a Waylon live duet, the June Carter song, etc) but it feels like a very cool compilation of Cash’s lost work and I enjoyed it a lot.
Cloud Nothings –Here and Nowhere Else(Carpark/Mom+Pop)- 2012’s Attack on Memory was my introduction to this Cleveland ‘band’, and I was hooked. It is music that is on the pop side of pop-punk (or the punk side of punk-pop) in the tradition of those great 90s melodic bands like Nirvana and Jawbreaker. H&NE is more of the same. It’s a great beginning-to-end listen, and while I realize it’s not “Highway 61 Revisited”, it’s just a great listen and one of my favorite albums of the year. For some reason I get a real Westberg-ian vibe off this record and am not sure if it was always there (on “Memory”) and I am just now noticing it, or what, but just a great sound.
Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems (Columbia)Another shortlister for ‘Album of 2014’. If Cohen never recorded a note before 1990, he would still be a legend. The albums in this third (fourth?) phase of his career have all been pretty good. This album (to me) is the best of those. All of those albums had memorable songs, but this feels like the most consistent of the bunch. I guess you can’t talk ‘overproduction’ with Cohen, but it feels like this is a Leonard-focused album, where maybe “Dear Heather” it didn’t feel that way, with the backup singers playing a bigger role. “Almost Like the Blues” is an instant classic. “Did I ever love you” shows a clear lineage back to the author of “Bird on a Wire”. I know there are bigger Cohen fans out there than me, but albums like this get me going. Mythmaking indie critics will tell you that this album wouldn’t have existed had Cohen’s pension not been grabbed, but I don’t fully buy that. I think he’s still got a lot to still give, and I hope (and expect) this isn’t the last we hear.
Cold Cave – Full Cold Moon (Heartworm) –Cold Cave came out of that 2009 wave of n-th generation Joy Division bands like White Lies. She Wants Revenge was another band that was active mining the realm of dark wave, goth, industrial and 80s new wave. Bands like The Killers, Interpol and The Editors were headlining. Their 2011 album “Loves Comes Close” (my introduction) was a bit of a disappointment to me. Showing promise, but not great. Band leader Wes Eisold had the same reaction ,which is why Full Cold Moon (essentially the 2013 music released in one compilation) is a 360, and is much much better. It’s a well-trodden road, but it’s some of the best genre work in a long time. They have made some controversial and interesting moves in the last couple of years (partnership with Boyd Rice tops the list) but have really put themselves in an interesting place.
Luke Haines- New York in the 70s (Cherry Red)- Luke pretty much makes music for himself. I don’t know that anyone would have the chutzpah to try an album like this (I thought aloud) or tougher yet, pull it off (This was before U2 announced their new album was a tribute to roots). There are many indie bands who would name an album “9 ½ Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 70s and Early 80s”, but only Haines, y’know would write an album of said tunes. NY70s isn’t perfect. It seems to miss Haines’s cleverest lyrics. Tunes are little more than repetition of “Alan Vega says” or “Lou Reed, Lou Reed” or “Jim Carroll”, but Haines does capture the moment. There are songs that sounds like Suicide or “Transformer”. It’s one of Haines most accessible albums in years, and though there’s not much more to it than that, it is a welcome edition to his catalogue.
