Top 10 for 2014.
/10 - Lily Allen/Sheezus -Lily’s third album now distributed through Parlophone/Warner (not Capitol, sniff) is all swagger, Brit snark and the other things that I’ve come to love her for. Most of the album was done with longtime collaborator Greg Kurstin from the Bird and the Bee, however the 2 standout tracks from the album weren’t. The title track produced by DJ Dahi and “Hard Out Here” which was one of the year’s best singles for me.
9 - Blue Six/Signs+Wonders - Jay Denes aka Blue Six is back!!!!! Co-founder of arguably one of the best labels of the last decade or so (Naked Music), hits us with another collection of downtempo and deep house tracks that are groovy and sexy. I didn’t realize how much I missed Naked Music until I played this album. Welcome back.
8 - Prince/Art Official Age
Third Eye Girl/Plectrum Electrum - I didn’t think that these albums deserved to be treated as separate entities, because they truly weren’t. Lyrically, they leave a little to be desired but musically both releases are really solid. AOA is more polished and the TEG album feels more raw, which i’m sure is by design. Overall it sounds like he had a blast making both of these and it comes through.
7 - The Ting Tings/Super Critical - Now this one was a surprise for me. I dug their debut album mostly behind the infectious rock of “That’s Not My Name”. Their second effort felt “eh” to me, which is why I was not expecting much out of this release. I was extremely and pleasantly surprised to find a collection of funky 80’s sounding tracks that sound retro without sounding like they’re trying too hard.
6 - Little Dragon/Nabuma Rubberband - Yukimi and the boys are back, and once again I have no complaints. None. Little Dragon needs no explanation. Moving along...
5 - FKA Twigs/LP1 - I love me some Spotify. Mostly because it saves me a shit ton of money while allowing me to listen to a shit ton of music. Mostly this album caught my ear because I haven’t heard a “new” trip-hop album in awhile, and it took me a couple of listens to really appreciate it. Between this and the next album on the list, I’m starting to have some hope that this extended pop period that music seems to have been stuck in is maybe starting to wane.
4 - Banks/Goddess - Once again, thanks to Spotify for recommending an artist to me that I knew nothing about and ended up loving. Imagine that Kate Bush, Aaliyah and Fiona Apple had a baby who listened to nothing but Tricky. Now go listen to Banks’ debut album. You’re welcome.
3 - Michael Jackson/Xscape - Okay, I agonized over placing this album at this spot for a couple of reasons. Mostly because I try and keep my top 10 to new releases, and I wasn’t sure if this album qualified. I decided based on the production and the fact that none of these songs had been released previously, that it did. With that being said, LA Reid deserves a ton of credit (and probably a Grammy) for spearheading this release by pulling unused tracks out of the vault and pairing them with producers that felt they had something to add to the track. The result was one of the biggest releases of the year and a stark reminder that Michael Jackson was one of the most unique talents to come along ever.
2 - Kimbra/The Golden Echo - I’m going to keep preaching about Kimbra until the world catches on, the same way I did about Amy. Her sophomore release picks up where her debut album left off and also stretches out in new directions. It’s an amazing release from front to back but the standout tracks for me are “90’s Music” which is a funky ode to just that, and “Miracle” which was probably my second favorite single of the year. Once again, this would have been my #1 for the year if it weren’t for.........
1 - D’Angelo & The Vanguard/Black Messiah - Hell, the WORLD was not expecting this. After working his 2 previous releases, it became a running joke for the rest of my tenure at EMI as to when the “next D’Angelo” album was going to drop. So suffice it to say, expectations were HIGH. Holee shit. During the first listen I found myself critiquing the album a little too much and literally had to have a conversation with myself about just listening and experiencing what I was hearing. And I missed D’Angelo. We all did. FUCKING EPIC. I could break this thing down note for note and lyrically and point out all of the moments of brilliance on this, but i’m not. It’s fucking D’Angelo and he’s back. Nuff said.