Last year was full of unexpected comebacks in the music scene — Daft Punk, Boards of Canada and My Bloody Valentine all put out new material for the first time in years — and it resulted in one of the best years in some time. Here are my personal favorites:
Honorable Mentions: Bonobo – The North Borders, Gold Panda – Half of Where You Live, Mayer Hawthorne – Where Does This Door Go
10) !!! – Thr!!!er
9) Moderat – II
8) Kanye West – Yeezus
7) Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
6) Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
5) The Field – Cupid’s Head
4) Arcade Fire – Reflektor
3) Disclosure – Settle
2) The National – Trouble Will Find Me
1) Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
Individual tracks from each album:
!!! – “Slyd”
Moderat – “Versions”
Kanye West – “Blood on the Leaves”
Boards of Canada – “Jacquard Causeway”
Fuck Buttons – “Brainfreeze”
The Field – “Cupid’s Head”
Arcade Fire – “Here Comes the Night Time”
Disclosure – “White Noise”
The National – “Don’t Swallow the Cap”
Daft Punk – “Lose Yourself to Dance”
For once, I actually agree with the Grammys. How about you? What are your favorite albums from last year?
I like the Daft Punk album, but it’s sort of hit-and-miss for me with each song. I didn’t put together a list because I’m still catching up with a lot from 2013. I like Reflektor more than The Suburbs and think it’s pretty strong, especially the first half. The National’s new album is also very good, and Yo La Tengo’s Fade would definitely be up there too.
I really need to listen to Yo La Tengo’s latest album. I love “Ohm” but haven’t checked out the rest. Great to hear you are a fan of Reflektor. I’m surprised at some of the backlash that one has been getting lately. I might give it the edge over The Suburbs as well.
Love the top 2! I really do! Nice list!
Thanks man!
JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound’s ‘Howl’, Janelle Monae’s ‘The Electric Lady’, Dark Rooms’ ‘Dark Rooms’, Lorde’s ‘Royals’ were the ones I listened to the most.
Nice! I need to give that JC Brooks album another listen. I loved Want More.
I haven’t listened to Want More as much. I think their newer album has a snappier sound. I almost got to see them in Schaumburg last October, but I had to move back before I could go. Ended up giving the tickets away. 😦
Ahh, hopefully they do a larger tour and make it your way soon. I saw them play on New Year’s Eve a few years ago, and they put on a hell of a show.
Great list, but I’d have to throw in some Daughter and Bastille.
Ah, I missed out on both of those. I’ll have to check them out.
I expected to see The National on there 🙂 The more I listen to Random Access Memories, the more I regret not having it as my no 1(it was my no 2 album). A modern classic for sure.
Disclosure album, I love the track Help Me Lose My Mind [feat. London Grammar]
Interestingly, I’ve never heard of your no 5 and no 10 choices.
Haha yep, it seemed like it was always going to come down to Daft Punk and The National for me. I love that Disclosure track, too. Such a great album.
I didn’t listen to much new music last year but The National album is excellent!
Glad to hear you’re a fan!
I don’t really keep up with contemporary music, as I mostly listen to classical radio or soundtrack. I think the only newish artists I really like are Bruno Mars and Lana Del Rey, ahah. Oh I quite Daft Punk music from what I heard in the TRON Legacy soundtrack 😀
Oh yeah, the TRON Legacy soundtrack is quite good. To be honest, it was the only thing I liked about the movie. 😀 Daft Punk’s new album is completely different though. It’s basically a throwback to the disco and funk days of the 70s. It works better than I could have imagined.
This will be funny – I pretty much despise “The Wolf of Wall Street” (at what I was able to sit through) and I loved “Upstream Color”. Those movies are funny things, aren’t they? 😉
That’s what makes ’em so great. One man’s trash is another man’s gold (or something like that). 🙂
You’re exactly right. If it wasn’t for different opinions and different insights I probably wouldn’t be interested in blogging at all!
Great list! I have most of these. Nice to see Arcade Fire up there. Daft Punk especially! I just listened to Tron Legacy the other night. That score just rules 🙂
Thanks man. That Tron Legacy soundtrack is good stuff! Almost makes up for the movie 😀