ANDY's top-10 albums of 2014

10. Goddess - BANKS

After putting out two EPs in 2013, BANKS released her debut full-length album Goddess in 2014 and quickly established herself as a frontrunner of the surging minimalist pop movement. Collaborating with a handful of producers including Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Sohn, BANKS manages to craft a seductive and intense body of work that bleeds emotion. She is vixen-like on some tracks with her voice wailing like a siren, lustful and tortured. On others, she shows a more vulnerable dimension, switching to a softer, more cautious tone.

Goddess is a prime of example of how opposites attract with the polished production often juxtaposed by the rawness and emotion in BANKS’ voice. But perhaps it is this juxtaposition that manages to capture interest throughout the 14-track (18 for deluxe) affair.

I am really enjoying the experimental path pop music is heading towards at the moment and I put my faith in BANKS whose quiet passion is leading the uprising and breathing fire into the revolution.

9. Lost In The Dream - The War on Drugs

Deeply moving and atmospheric, The War On Drugs’ third album is nothing short of impressive. Combining foggy instrumentals with Adam Granduciel’s mournful vocals, Lost In The Dream creates a tingling sensation that persists throughout the album.

Granduciel is incredibly creative with his direction of the band’s sound, the most notable example being the opening of the first track “Under the Pressure,” which sounds eerily like a kettle as it starts to heat up on a stove.

Admittedly, Lost In The Dream is an album that requires the listener to be in a specific mental state. While the single “Red Eyes” has gotten its fair share of radio play in recent months, the album as a whole is definitely not meant for sunny Friday afternoons as you leave your last class. Rather, it demands a kind of focus that can be found when writing an essay at 3 a.m. or walking a great distance on a drizzly day.

8. This is All Yours - Alt-J

This is All Yours is a delicious mix of the catchy riffs, and soothing melodies that define Alt-J’s unique sound. The British stalwarts’ lyrics are both poetic and vague, and at times Joe Newman’s vocals are almost entirely unintelligible. The catch here is that discovering the meaning behind Newman’s lyrics as the album progresses is as enjoyable as it is challenging.

“Warm Foothills” is a sweetly charming addition to the album. Its gorgeous harmonies paired with a light-hearted guitar riff and the beautiful imagery that’s offered by the lyrics is a sure-fire recipe for an amazing song. It’s impossible not to feel moved, especially when the voices croon out “I tie my life to your balloon and let it go.”

Alt-J’s sophomore effort is full of equally compelling songs, and is one to seek out for those who are keen on experiencing something a little bit different from their usual fare.

7. I Never Learn - Lykke Li

Lykke Li’s latest album, I Never Learn is another thematic step forward for the Swedish songstress that highlights the unavoidability of her favourite topic, heartbreak.

Having explored the immediate pain of a breakup in Youth Novels and charted the effects of ever-clinging despair in follow-up Wounded Rhymes, Li seems to embrace her fate with aptly titled I Never Learn. While riddled with the same mournful darkness as her previous albums, I Never Learn has a more powerful underlying cohesion that results in greater depth than her previous efforts.

“Just Like a Dream” is a standout that put listeners in a somber trance with its consistent deep vocals and powerful drumbeat throughout. The loneliness found in the rest of the tracks will be relatable to anyone who has endured having their heart broken.

The emotions in I Never Learn are devastating when considering how they consume Li, but leave you wanting to delve deeper into both her mind and music.

6. I Forgot Where We Were - Ben Howard

2014 brought about the resurrection of Ben Howard’s electric licks and transcendent timbre with the release of his sophomore album I Forget Where We Were. Howard’s mellow tone was one that was dearly missed by his nucleus of fans, a following that has grown exponentially since his first venture into the Indie scene. The album features tracks marked by simplicity, yet is intricately layered with eclectic sounds, electric echoes, and an overall permeation of his soulful, burning voice.

The shift from acoustic to electric guitar comes as a surprise, but only works to complement his electrically charged wails. His tracks may build and crash in the background but his whispery voice carries every track from its burgeoning start to the final chord. Among all other galvanic album releases this year, Ben Howard’s second album is a refreshing alcove of soothing tracks that will make you — if even for a second — forget where you are.

5. LP1 - FKA Twigs

Born Tahliah Barnett, FKA Twigs owns an aesthetic that is eerie and unconventional. From her album covers to her music videos, her works emulate a distortion of beauty that adds to her eccentric persona and allure. In LP1, crystalline beats puncture through flesh and bone, though her breathy voice never fails to linger and heal these wounds. The album is filled with punchy beats and crafty synthetic hooks. Her lyrics, though not cathartic, are intimate and relatable.

A standout track is “Pendulum.” It emulates the vibe that defines the rest of the album; beautifully tragic. Twigs manages to convey a desperation that so many of us are familiar with in a way that doesn’t make her a damsel in distress. This song is her autopsy, and though she lays disassembled on the track, you still can’t figure her out.

FKA Twigs manages to merge a cavalcade of electronic beats and orchestral instruments with her tantalizingly warped vocals. She is clandestine and provocative, and every whimper or lustful sigh that fills the occasional silence in LP1 further imposes the mystique behind this extraterrestrial seductress.

4. What is This Heart? - How To Dress Well

Some go to church on Sundays, I listen to What is This Heart?. The emotional expansiveness of Tom Krell’s third record under the How To Dress Well moniker renders it every bit as cathartic as religious gatherings are supposed to be.

While Krell suggests, “ there’s no design, no god,” on opener “2 Years On (Shame Dream),” the message he sends with the remainder of his album is not morose, but rather uplifting. Krell abhors easy cynicism, and this deeply earnest effort serves to counteract it.

The tall falsetto-voiced singer grapples with existential issues deftly, perhaps aided by the work he has done on his dissertation on nihilism and German philosophy. Although the subject matter is lofty, Krell’s honeyed vocals and the immersive production all bring one back down to earth to engage with his demons in an experience that won’t fail to induce tears. Far from depressing, the record combines a whirl of emotions into a rehabilitative sonic experience. If you embrace What is this Heart?, it’ll return the favour.

3. Run The Jewels 2 - Run the Jewels

Through brilliant production, back-and-forth chemistry between Killer Mike and El-P, and willingness to be completely unapologetic in its lyrics, the second collaboration between the duo never feels stale or bloated underneath its middle finger to almost everyone and everything. Run The Jewels 2 is not for the light-hearted or easily offended. Hooks like “Lie, cheat, steal, kill, win, win, (everybody doing it)” set up the duo to aggressively persecute any critics in their way while providing transitions into serious topics such as police brutality, racism, drug usage, war, death, and government hypocrisy.

What makes the album particularly amazing is the ability to balance all of this. Every song could easily be a single on its own due to the ability to stand separated from album context, and the sheer quality of every track from top to bottom. Each feels completely unique from the last. Each invites you to rage and to build up feelings of rebellion against whatever may be holding you down. Good luck finding anything else quite like RTJ2, but look out for the cat-inspired (seriously) remix Meow The Jewels.

2. Alvvays - Alvvays

When I first heard Alvvays I didn’t think much of it. Their track “Adult Diversion” had been posted on a music blog I followed, and while I liked the song, I never followed up on it. Months later multiple friends of mine started telling me I had to listen to this band that “was like Best Coast, but with better lyrics.” While I could see the similarities, after endless loopings of “Archie, Marry Me,” “Next of Kin,” and “The Agency Group” I quickly realized Alvvays was so much more.

It’s hard to pin down just what it is that makes the Canadian indie-pop’s self-titled debut so compelling. Maybe it’s Molly Rankin’s ethereal voice, or the perfect balance of the “less is more” production philosophy, or even Alec O’Hanley’s expert use of dissonance in his guitar playing. What is clear is that each listen of Alvvays builds on the dreamy summer soundscape that I’ve come to love. Proof that Canada makes music to be proud of; Alvvays doesn’t disappoint.

1. St. Vincent - St. Vincent

Annie Clark, better known as the effervescent St. Vincent, has always been somewhat of an anomaly. From her butterfly wing-wearing days touring with Sufjan Stevens to her latest self-titled album, she has never played by the rules, but it’s always worked for her.

St. Vincent is jarring, mismatched, often dark, but always sounds exactly as it should. Without trying too hard, St. Vincent has fashioned herself as an art-pop icon by refusing to be anyone but herself. In a world where the weirdos are rarely celebrated, St. Vincent has delivered the best album of the year, a pop-rock-electronic album that allows for both introspection and intense dance sessions guaranteed to up your self-esteem and overall mood. From the ethereal aura of “Prince Johnny” to the retro simplicity of “Huey Newton,” Clark manages to produce her best album to date that somehow captures the essence of the past and the future effortlessly.