#eoty list

[chorusfm]

Dan Campbell Loves Drake

Head over to BrooklynVegan to read about Dan Campbell's (The Wonder Years, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties) 10 favorite albums of 2015. Read More →

[jwballing-blog]

Jackson's 2014 EOTY Wrap-up Recap of the Year

Happy 2015 everyone! 2014 was an interesting ride that left me woozy with a little whiplash (not far off from my first rollercoaster experience), so I apologize for being a little late with this EOTY wrap-up post. A lot of work is stirring around my hemisphere right now and I’m stoked to get it all condensed and shared with the ether that is our modern world. Enough about that, here’s this:

Midway through the year I was incredibly fortunate enough to begin working with Mind Equals Blown as one of their staff writers. I have worked on a dozen articles for the site and cannot explain how excited I am to be apart of such a great group of people.

Below you will find links to my personal top 10 records of the year, the cumulative top 10 list from the staff at Mind Equals Blown, as well as the 2014 MEBBIE Award List and an art clickgrid with links to stream each record mentioned. For those who prefer the tl;dr route, a simplified list follows the link dump, along with my re-ranked top 10 records of 2013. Thank you for being apart of the writing process of a 20 year old music nerd. Much love.

Personal Top 10 of 2014

MEB Top 10 of 2014

2014 MEBBIE Award List

Best of 2014 Art Clickgrid

Top 10 of 2014:

10. Seahaven - Reverie Lagoon: Music for Escapism Only 9. La Dispute - Rooms of the House 8. Gang of Thieves - Thunderfunk 7. The Hotelier - Home, Like Noplace Is There 6. Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You 5. Modern Baseball - You’re Gonna Miss it All 4. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways 3. Hostage Calm - Die On Stage 2. Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown 1. Circa Survive - Descensus

Re-ranked Top 10 of 2013:

1. (1) The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation 2. (3) I the Mighty - Satori 3. (4) letlive. - The Blackest Beautiful 4. (12) Have Mercy - The Earth Pushed Back 5. (8) Defeater - Letters Home 6. (2) Balance and Composure - The Things We Think We're Missing  7. (6) The Story So Far - What You Don't See 8. (-) Modern Baseball - Sports 9. (10) Turnover - Magnolia 10. (9) State Champs - The Finer Things

Drop outs: (5) Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt, (7) Citizen - Youth

<3

[lifeinanewyorkminute-blog]

2014 EOTY List

Just a few days late.. oops

2014 is finally coming to an end. What an eventful 2014 it has been for me-- from seeing my hockey team get into the Playoffs (and get bounced in round 1) to seeing Kings of Leon in concert (finally). The biggest event of it all though was finally getting a dream of mine to come true-- moving to New York City. Pretty much one of the best things that happened in 2014/in my life.

So without further adieu here is my EOTY.

Albums (In no particular order):

1.Ed Sheeran "X"

2.Christina Perri "Head or Heart"

3. Taylor Swift "1989"

4. Sam Smith "In the Lonely Hour"

5. Anberlin "Lowborn"

Disappointments:

Maroon 5 "V"

Album sad to say I own aka Guilty Pleasure album of the year:

5 Seconds of Summer "5 Seconds of Summer"

[modernshortstories]

Best Songs of 2014

  Oh, the power of “writing it down.” Before making my EOTY list, I wouldn’t have thought this year to be an exceptional year in music. But now that it’s completed, I’m all excited about making music myself in 2015. Here are my top 9 favorite songs, in no order!

There are 24 more songs on the playlist, too. Death to rounded numbers. Oh and, they might not all be from this year, so GET OFF MY BACK. Also, please note that I used a bulleted list to keep things organized.

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year!

  MODERN SHORT STORIES BEST SONGS OF 2014

St. Vincent – “Prince Johnny”

Cloud Nothings – “Now Hear In”

Sondre Lerche – “Bad Law”

Badboxes – “Palmtree”

Copeland – “Ordinary”

The Kooks – “Around Town”

Prince of Spain – “Rising Sun”

I Am The Avalanche – “Where Were You”

Modern Baseball – “Your Graduation”

  Best Songs of 2014 was originally published on Modern Short Stories

[sunlight-through-a-straw]

[taborbrown]

Favorite Movies of 2014

10. Enemy 09. Blue Ruin 08. The Raid 2 07. The Lego Movie 06. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 05. Edge of Tomorrow 04. Interstellar 03. Snowpiercer 02. Guardians of the Galaxy 01. Gone Girl

[radiofreeblog]

[thesebranches-blog-blog]

TOP OF 2013

so it took us till the last day for this, but here we go- if you care. 

these branches top of 2013!

NICK:

1. The National- Trouble Will Find Me

from the artwork and prints of the boxset. the production, the sound changes song to song, the lyrics...everything in this release is just perfect to me. i was shocked to see it NOT in more top lists, and equally surprised to see it be AP.net's #1.

2. Deafheaven- Sunbather

this was my #1 for a while. i know a lot of people say its hipster crap, but, its unbelievably well crafted, passionate, obviously doing a lot for a lot of people with the numbers and attention they are getting... and seeing them live, assured them a top spot.

3. Cloakroom- Infinity

grown ups and lion of the north were bands i loved. hearing this change in direction, which is sludgey yet melodic- is fantastic. artwork also simple, but was great.

4. Paint it Black- Invisible

these guys can just come back and bring it harder then anyone. seeing them live and getting the limited edition 7 inch was a show highlight of the year. "little fists" about yemen's daughter is precious and heartfelt. anthemic. 

5. The Appleseed Cast- Illumination Ritual 

another band that proves they can come back after what seems like forever and deliver an amazing album. if you couldnt tell, art is big to me. this is stunning- caught my eye before i even knew it was them...then their is the new songs...

6. Survival- Self Titled

former screamo band "the birthday boyz" return with some prog'ed out, technical amazingness. polyrhythmic and grooving. was constantly being played this year. musicians be weary. 

7. Tidal Arms- Self Titled

a late comer but genuinely great album. love the "diy" of them recording themselves, the process and the songs/progression they have moved to. from the second i heard a song i knew it would be in my top ten.

8. Pelican- Forever Becoming

one of my favorite bands of all time. new guitarist, same fantastic song writing, but they keep it fresh. heavy heavy heavy. love the artwork. seeing them live at the church in philly was a stand out moment. crushing yet refined instrumentals.

9. Kayo Dot- Hubardo

after not hearing much from them in a while, this one blew me away. blackened jazz avant rock fusion. yeah, if you don't know- you should find out. toby driver is an amazing artist.

10. Dream Decay- NV NV NV

saw these guys earlier in the year and they killed it. iron lung records does no wrong in my eyes. have an almost "young widows" thing going on, but a bit noisier. snagged the test press limited edition when they toured, glad i did.

11. Iron Chic- The Constant One

my favorite "pop punk" band out there return with this gem. took me a while to get into it but they stepped up technicality, melody and concepts from their last album. had me hooked and still do.

12. Yellow Eyes- Hammer of Night

one of my favorite "real black metal" releases of the year. very original, heavy, creative, pushing boundaries of the genre.

13. Heiress- Early Frost

honestly not even sure how to describe this one. botch-esque riffs, gets heavy and ambient and dark. extremely original. was on my backburner but definitely a top pick. deathwish inc. obviously knows the keepers.

14. Locrian- Return to Annihilation

not for everyone, as it isnt your classic "heavy" or "blackened ambient" type album- but the textures these guys create in this more "conventional" song structured album was groundbreaking for them and the genre

15. Nervous- Self Titled

ex loma prieta doing some grungey/punky stuff making the bay area proud. bought it on vinyl the second i heard a tune, don't regret it at all.

16. Iron Lung- White Glove Test

as i mentioned previously, this band and their label do no wrong in my eyes. the 2 lp's being played at same time is amazing. the art is some of my favorite of the year. live, they absolutely crushed.

17. Capsule- [A]

one of my favorite heavy modern bands. why didn't this move up higher? its only a few songs! i need another LP

18. Oathbreaker- Eros|Anteros

took a while to grow on me but one of the more brutal albums released this year. creative, converge-esque, European and holding their own. artwork is also incredible.

19. Celeste- Animals

heavy. heavy...heavy. late comer in 2013 but...insert sludge here.

20. Russian Circles- Memorial

from reading and seeing production values to hearing the final product- these guys will always create something awesome. took some definite steps since their last album. truly epic, memorable (pun intended) song writing.

JUST OUTSIDE MY TOP 20 BUT STILL AWESOME:

BeastMilk- Climax

Vaura- the Missing

Mutoid Man- Helium Head

Pharmakon- Abandon

Masks of Canaan- s/t

Hope Drone- s/t

Bryan will have his list in soon.

I combined lists of ep & lp this year because the "gap" in them is becoming so close it is hard to judge. a grindcore band can put out a 12 song 6 minute "LP" but another band can make a 1 song 8 minute single. good releases are good releases, period.

hope you check out some artists i listed if you don't know of them...2014 will be amazing for music- we are even dropping our own new LP and oh yeah, remember we released an album this year ;)

www.thesebranches.bandcamp.com

happy new year

-nick