23. Angel Olsen

23. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

This is Angel's second full length album and the first with a full band. She is from St. Louis, Missouri and has done backup for several bands in the past, including Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. This album is pure genius. The styles range from grunge, punk, blues, shoegaze and rock and are all complemented by her forlorn, smoky vocals. My goal in the next month is to get this on vinyl with the deluxe edition she just released, which has five more tracks on it.

High & Wild from A.O. on Vimeo.

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24. Jenny Lewis

24. Jenny Lewis - Voyager

Jenny Lewis is an amazing songwriter. Her solo career began while she was in the band, Rilo Kiley, with Rabbit Fur Coat, an album in which she collaborated with The Watson Twins. It is a pretty folk album, with a little electronic influence involved. Then, Rilo Kiley put out Under The Blacklight a year later. It was to be their last album. In addition, it got beat up by the critics. It's interesting going back and listening to that album after listening to her new album, Voyager. I now know her and Pierre's solo work really well and Under the Blacklight sounds disjointed, like two different people writing for the same album, which, now, looking back, I think is the case. The Voyager has a lot of hallmarks of that previous album. It sounds like where Rilo Kiley was going sonically and several of the songs on this album certainly lend themselves to this argument. Ryan Adams helped produce this album and Beck helped a little as well. She just got off tour opening for Ryan Adams and that was pretty great. She sings backing vocals in The Postal Service, Bright Eyes and M. Ward's stuff. I had the good fortune of seeing her play with both M. Ward and Conor Oberst a few years back.





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25. Bahamas

25. Bahamas - Bahamas Is Afie

A musician friend of mine introduced me to Bahamas and it's one of the best things I've heard all year. Afie Jurvansen is a Canadian born and bred singer/songwriter. This is his third album and I'm incredibly disappointed I am just now finding out about him. I'm currently trying to get him to come play on the radio show next month. He has a concert at The Kessler in Dallas and my girlfriend was completely awesome and got me tickets to see this. I really think this should be in my top ten, but I'll leave it here for now at the bottom of the 25 and strongly encourage checking this out.





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26. Beck

26. Beck - Morning Phase

You had to know this was going to make the list, right? Beck is an incredible musician and this album is beautiful. This is his twelfth album and is considered to be Sea Change Part Two. It's dark and melancholy, just like Sea Change and many of the musicians who recorded on Sea Change also recorded on this album as well. It's certainly the best album he's done since Guero, but Guero was in such a different vein than either Sea Change or Mutations, I have a difficult time placing them in the same category. Needless to say, if you somehow missed listening to this, this year, stop what you're doing right now, sit back and enjoy.





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27. Augustines

27. Augustines - Augustines

I discussed in an earlier post the import of an eponymous album, and I think this is no exception. Previously named 'We Are Augustines', I prefer the shortened moniker. While their previous album was excellent, I feel this album really makes a mark for them as a solid band. All the stars have aligned for them with this album and it is an amazing listen from beginning to end. They're a really great band to see live and I highly encourage seeking out a live show of their. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, the band consists of Billy McCarthy: guitar, Eric Sanderson: man of all instruments and Rob Allen on drums. Augustines have risen from the ashes of the band Pela. The name comes from McCarthy and Sanderson both being Leo's.





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28. Stars

28. Stars - No One Is Lost

It is no surprise to see this Canadian band on my list. They have been a favorite of mine for at least ten years. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan craft their usual dancy, melancholy pop songs. They are no strangers to the Top 50 appearing both here and here. This particular album has an amazing disco vibe running throughout, which apparently is a thing now.





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29. Little Dragon

29. Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband

Yakami Nagano is the brains behind Little Dragon. They have seen the Top 50 before back in 2010 here. This album was created in their home of Gothenberg, Sweden and finds them collaborating some with the Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra. A beautiful tapestry of electronic work, this, their fourth album, finds the influence of 90's era Janet Jackson with some slow R&B beats. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards).





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30. Phantogram

30. Phantogram - Voices

I dare not say this is Phantogram's best album, because they are both so good, but once this was plugged in, it was difficult to stop listening. Phantogram are Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter and were previously known as Charlie Everywhere. They currently reside in Greenwich, New York. This album really has a lot of punch to it and I think they do a great job of putting forth their sound.





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31. tUnE-yArDs

31. tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack

Merrill Garbus is the inspiration behind the highly stylized tUnE-yArDs, who have been featured in the Top 10 of 2011 here. She makes her music by layering her sounds and rhythms one on top of the other with amazing precision. Saw her open for Arcade Fire earlier this year and really want to see these guys in a small venue. Truly remarkable music.





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32. Doug Seegers

32. Doug Seegers - Going Down To The River

This has to be one of the coolest music stories ever. Doug Seegers made his way playing music in New York and Austin, got married and started to raise two children, but fell on hard times and ended up homeless in Nashville. He worked some blue collar jobs, but couldn't keep a house, struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction. He sobered up, an act which he attributes to God, and was busking at the shelter in Nashville, when a Swedish record label trying to find an undiscovered musician on the streets of Nashville came across him. He became a huge hit in Sweden and Norway and just released an album here to much acclaim. I typically don't like country, but two alt-country artists made the list this year. I heard him in an interview on NPR and was blown away by the honesty of his songs. His background, of course, touches my heart as I am an advocate for ending homelessness. The first track on the album is about his girlfriend while he was homeless who died on the streets. He burst into tears talking about her on the radio. The second song on the album is what brought him his fame, which is featured below. Emmylou Harris joins him on 'She'.





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33. Childhood

33. Childhood - Lacuna

Saw a friend recommend this one day as I was driving down the road, switched over to Spotify and a love affair with this album began. Based out of South London, Childhood consists of Ben Romans-Hopcraft, Leo Dobsen, Daniel Salamons, Jonny Williams. A fuzzed-out, shoegaze album with plenty of synths and kicks. Since I have a penchant for shoegaze, this has been my breakout album of the year and I hope I get to see these guys next Spring. Click on the website link below and get a free download.





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34. Tinariwen

34. Tinariwen - Emmaar

Tinariwen's name means 'deserts' and they are from Mali, West Africa. They have been a group since 1979 and their last few albums have been spectacular. The founder of the group, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, witnessed his father executed at the age of four. He built his own guitar and started learning music. Much like Fela Kuti, Bob Marley and Mulatu Astatke, Tinariwen is the music of revolution and freedom. The group were all trained as soldiers under Qaddafi and again under the Tuareg Resistance movement, where they all met. They wrote songs about the trials of the Tuareg people and distributed their music freely throughout the Sahara.





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35. Elbow

35. Elbow - The Take-off and Landing of Everything

Elbow is one of my favorite bands ever, so it is no surprise that they made this list. They made the Top 10 in 2011 here. This particular album escaped me at the beginning of the year, but multiple listens have placed it as one of the stellar albums of 2014. I find Take-off to be a much more cerebral album than album's past and that automatically makes me like it more.





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36. Fanfarlo

36. Fanfarlo - Let's Go Extinct

So, this is London based Fanfarlo's third album and the third time they have made the Top 50. Their debut made the Top 10 in 2009 here and their sophomore album made it here. This album is much more developed than the previous two, I believe. Current lineup includes Cathy Lucas on violin, keys, mandolin, glockenspiel, vocals, and musical saw; Justin Finch on bass and vocals; Leon Beckenham on trumpet, keyboards, glockenspiel, melodica, and vocals; Simon Balthazar on vocals, guitar, keyboards, mandolin, saxophone, and clarinet; and Valentina Magaletti on drums and percussion. This album follows an EP that they described as part space opera and part space opera about science fiction. An animated, psychedelic video to boot.

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37. The Belle Brigade

37. The Belle Brigade - Just Because

I wrote about these guys briefly here for their 2011 debut. I am absolutely in love with this brother/sister duo. I've had the chance to see them live and meet them in 2012 and will do so as much as humanly possible in the future. Lyrically, musically, Barbara and Ethan produce something akin to magic. This album moves them out of the folk category and more into the indie rock genre and it's a good move indeed. Please do yourself a favor and buy this album and see these two live. You can thank me later.






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