2014 Year In Review

I have a big issue with ranking music or bands because I respect them all.  Instead, I just pick my favorites. I have been noticeably quiet over here as my time has been focused on contributing to a great blog based out of Canada called The Revue. I hope you will follow them and add to your blog lists as I feel we do a good job focusing on really good up and coming bands that don't get a ton of recognition.

It has been fun collectively sharing music from like minded people that really want to focus on the really good but not so well known bands. The Revue will actually have a list coming out over the next few weeks highlighting our favorites.

I still had to make my own list because I'm sometimes a control freak and because our Revue list was built collectively and we luckily have a wide range of tastes and favorites.

I will still randomly post a few things here during festivals or lists of the like, but unless I somehow end up getting paid to blog one day full time - I am not able to maintain both blogs with working full time and raising two kiddos.

I am listing my favorite 50 artists/albums that I went back to quite a bit in 2014. To save time and a super long post, the band name link goes to my favorite track from each album.

If you happen to dig this list, I have also added a Spotify Playlist. I hope you enjoy and maybe discover a few new bands you aren't currently familiar with, which is my sole reason for starting this blog in the first place.

Alvvays - Alvvays
The Antlers - Familiars
Band of Skulls - Himalayan
Beck - Morning Phase
Benjamin Booker - Benjamin Booker
BRONCHO - Just Enough Hip to Be Woman
The Cape Race - Home, Truths
Conor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain
Coves - Soft Friday
The Crookes - Soapbox
Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Dream Boat - The Rose Explodes
Eagulls - Eagulls
Future Islands - Singles
Glass Animals - ZABA
Hospitality - Trouble
Jeremy Messersmith - Heart Murmurs
The Kooks - Listen
Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Meatbodies - Meatbodies
The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
Ought - More Than Any Other Day
Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
Perfume Genius - Too Bright
PHOX- PHOX
Real Estate - Atlas
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Slothrust - Of Course You Do
Snowmine - Dialects
Sondre Lerche - Please
Spanish Gold - South of Nowhere
SPEAK - Pedals
Spoon - They Want My Soul
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Strand of Oaks - HEAL
Sun Kil Moon - Benji
Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
Temples - Sun Structures
Thumpers - Galore
Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams
Todd Terje - It's Album Time
Tom Vek - Luck
The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave
The War on Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Warpaint - Warpaint
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Unravelling
Wildcat! Wildcat! - No Moon at All
Wunder Wunder - Everything Infinite
Wye Oak - Shriek

What about your list? This list was very hard to compile because I really could keep going on and on but these were albums and songs that spoke to me that I kept going back to.

I also have to say live performances had a big influence with this list as well. Of this list I saw Band Of Skulls, The Crookes, Eagulls, Jeremy Messersmith, Ought, Royal Blood, Snowmine, SPEAK, Temples, Thumpers and We Were Promised Jetpacks live this year which totally helped solidify my decisions.