Introduction to This Year's Top 10 Albums

As I mentioned last year, it gets harder for me to find albums that I want to listen to.  This year, I ended up buying about 25 new albums.  I stream more than I used to (and I pay for my streaming), but I find I really want to support the artists that make the albums that I really enjoy.  All the albums on the list are albums that I purchased.

Here are the honorable mentions for this year:

Robert Plant - Lullaby and ... The Ceaseless Roar - He should retire, but he keeps finding new guys to go out on the road and make new music with.  I liked this album, but I think I enjoyed the Led Zeppelin covers from Glastonbury that I saw on Palladia more.

Taylor Swift - 1989 - This was purchased as a gift for my children, therefore, it qualifies.  I have to listen to a lot of this genre.  It is the radio station of choice when my kids are in the car. (They are 21 and 17, are they really kids"?) I'm not wild about this album and I don't listen to it if I don't have to. That said, she is the best, by far, in this genre.  She is highly skilled and her songs really reach 15 to 23 year old girls/women.

Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer - This is from 2011.  I just heard it this year.  I was  listening to Iggy Pop's BBC6 show and he played the first track from the album.  I loved it and this became my go to album for my summer vacation. She makes fresh music from a very world weary point of view. I can't recommend this enough.

Thompson - Family - Teddy Thompson gathered his family and made an album.  He didn't get everyone in the room at the same time, but, he did put together a really interesting collection of songs by the extremely talented members of his family.

2014 Playlist

As I mentioned in last year's post, I am starting to listen to music mostly in playlists.  The change from last year to this year is the influence of listening to BBC6 in the morning from 5 AM to 7 AM weekdays (I have a difficult time falling back to sleep in the morning) and from 6 AM to 10 AM on Sundays.  For a great portion of the last year this was the domain of Guy Garvey, then Iggy Pop.  It has been great radio and has really expanded what I have been listening to.

Here are the links to the Rdio and Spotify playlists.

Rdio - 2014 Playlist
Spotify - 2014 Playlist


Here is the list.  As always, it is in the order I like to listen to it, not the order of my favorite songs.

Name - Artist - Album

Happy - Pharrell Williams - Happy (from Despicable Me 2)
Who Needs You - The Orwells - Disgraceland
Spinners - The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
Possessed - Eagulls - Eagulls
I Don't Know You Anymore - Bob Mould - Beauty & Ruin
New York Morning - Elbow - The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
Skeleton Dance - Teleman - Breakfast
Call Me - St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Half the City
Left My Woman - The Wild Feathers - The Wild Feathers
Rainbow - Robert Plant - Lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar
Long White Line - Sturgill SImpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
Really Wanna See You - Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
Lighthouse - Diane Birch - Speak A Little Louder
She's Not Me - Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
Hold Back The River - James Bay - Hold Back The River
Mr Tembo - Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
Istanbul - Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business
See A Girl - Andy Burrows - Fall Together Again
Seasons (Waiting On You) - Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You)
Red Eyes - The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Stay With Me - Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour
Tough Love - Jessie Ware - Tough Love
Uptight Downtown - La Roux - Trouble In Paradise
The Man - Aloe Blacc - Lift Your Spirit
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Special

Don't put this on your list.  

One of my great pleasures of the last year was the week the Foo Fighters were on Letterman promoting Sonic Highways.  Each of the shows was great.  This was my favorite.  War Pigs performed with Zac Brown.

War Pigs - Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters Live on Letterman