15. Fujiya & Miyagi

15. Fujiya & Miyagi - Artificial Sweeteners

These guys hail from Brighton England and this is their fifth studio album. The band consists of Steve Lewis, David Best, Matt Hainsby, and Lee Adams. Their name is derived from a type of record player and, of course, Mr. Miyagi from the movie, The Karate Kid. An electronic based band with an excellent groove. They cite their influence as Krautrock and the band, Can. These guys are always one of my go to electronic vibe bands.




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16. London Grammar

16. London Grammar - If You Wait

London Grammar is based out of Nottingham, but Hannah Reid (vocalist) and Dan Rothman (guitarist) met while attending school in London. In fact, they started playing when Rothman saw Reid's avatar holding a guitar on Facebook and messaged her to play with him. It sounds creepy, I know, but an album and EP later and they are making big waves. They've been a three piece since 2009 (Dominic Major (keyboard, drums) filling out the roster) and started the usual way by playing small clubs and such. However, with a voice like Hannah's, they have catapulted to chart topping singles in just a few years. The breadth and depth of these songs reminds me of a cross between Daughter and Florence and the Machine.





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17. Warpaint

17. Warpaint - Warpaint

Another great example of an eponymous album title. This is Warpaint's second album and it came out of collaborative songwriting from this Los Angeles based all girl quartet. Warpaint is Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Theresa Wayman (guitar, vocals) and Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass, backing vocals). Stella Mozgawa (drums) joined the band in 2009. Emily and Theresa were childhood friends who had some songs already worked up and Jenny and her sister, Shannyn (who is no longer with the band) had some songs they had already worked up which became their first album The Fool. On this album, they started from the ground up writing as a cohesive unit, which is why they feel this is a true representation of their identity. It's a new direction for them, but this prog based, shoegaze album is perfect in every way.





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18. The Rural Alberta Advantage

18. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Mended With Gold

This is the third time this band has hit the Top 20. That's everything they've produced, previous entries were both here, and here. I don't know what else I can say about these Canadian natives. These guys have forever imprinted themselves on my ears and I just think what they do gets more and more amazing.

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19. Wild Beasts

19. Wild Beasts - Present Tense

Wild Beasts made the Top 50 back in 2011 here. I love these guys. Dark, indie pop laced with a dance vibe. They hail from England and while they make it to the big festivals here, I wish they'd hit our little town. Until then, pick up this album, pick up all their albums, they are a fun listen and I love having them on the juke here at the house.





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20. alt-J

20. alt-J - This Is All Yours

This band got so many accolades for this album this year, and they were well deserved. alt-J are out of Leeds, England and consist of Gwil Sainsbury :guitar/bass, Joe Newman:guitar/lead vocals, Gus Unger-Hamilton:keyboards/vocals and Thom Green:drums. This is their Sophomore album and their debut made a big splash as well, but this album is really fantastic. Because they were in school when the band started and couldn't use bass drums or bass guitar to keep the noise down, they have a very unique sound.





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21. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

21. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Wig Out At JagBags

This band formed out of the ashes of notorious band, Pavement. Stephen Malkmus was, of course, the lead singer of Pavement. The Jicks are Joanna Bolme, Mike Clark, Jake Morris. This is their sixth album and while you can certainly hear old Pavement in there, the 60's psychedelia is what attracted me to this album. There are several Grateful Dead references in the album and I think a couple songs certainly bear this influence. This is a really fun album to listen to and may be my favorite of theirs. They are based out of Portland, Oregon.






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22. Kishi Bashi

22. Kishi Bashi - Lighght

Kishi Bashi is Kaoru Ishibashi, born in Seattle, Washington and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a touring member of Of Montreal and Regina Spektor. In addition, he formed the band, Jupiter One, which explains why I like that band so much. We, here in OKC, had the good fortune to see him at the Bricktown Music Hall earlier this year and he put on a stellar show. He plays a lot of layered tunes, much like Andrew Bird and tUnE-YaRdS. He is an incredibly accomplished violinist and songwriter. From delicate, sweet melodies to rousing anthems, this album has it all.





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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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