Helms Alee
Sleepwalking Sailors
Sargent House (2014)
Sleepwalking Sailors is just too good, promptly inserting itself at the top of my list for album of the year (for now, and yes, I keep a running list all year long because I am a weirdo); and Helms Alee continues to impress me with every new release not just in the fact that with a few exceptions, there music … Read more
Hiss Tracts
Shortwave Nights
Constellation (2014)
It’s not so surprising that 2014’s Shortwave Nights, the debut album from Canadian duo Hiss Tracts, sounds similar not only to Godspeed You! Black Emperor music of the late ‘90s but also the two Set Fire to Flames albums: band member David Bryant collaborated on both those aforementioned groups while fellow Tracts member Kevin Doria made a name for himself … Read more
Hotel Books
I'm Almost Happy Here, But I Never Feel At Home
In Vogue (2014)
Hotel Books' I'm Almost Happy Here But I Never Feel At Home is well-versed prose that at times can be a bit repetitive. Each verse has elements that are thought provoking and heartfelt which helps carry the album to make up for the repetition. The tone sets in almost immediately with the opening song, “Lose One Friend,” and quickly gets … Read more
Hurry
EVERYTHING/NOTHING
Independent (2014)
Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Hurry started out as the solo project of guitarist/songwriter Matt Scottoline before expanding to its current three-piece form, and it’s quite obviously Scottoline’s fuzzed-out vocals and guitar that are front and center in any of the songs on the group’s 2014 album Everything/Nothing. The album features ten songs that update established pop song formulas from years … Read more
Iceage
Plowing into the Field of Love
Matador (2014)
If Danish punk band Iceage’s debut New Brigade gave us just that, then it looks like their third album Plowing into the Field of Love gives us another brigade. Indeed, if it weren’t for Elias Rønnenfelt’s distinct baritone vocals (think Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers or Ian Curtis of Joy Division), we probably wouldn’t recognize Plowing as another Iceage … Read more
In The Whale
Nate & Eric
Self Released (2014)
In The Whale's Nate & Eric promises a look at the seedier side of Colorado. Combining two EPs written by the duo, Nate & Eric is a brazen, unfiltered balls-to-the-wall rock record. On "Robert Johnson", a song about the eponymous jazz musician who purportedly made a deal with the devil, clattering feedback and wailing guitars are matched with cries of … Read more
Indian
From All Purity
Relapse (2014)
There's a song on Indian's From All Purity titled "Directional" and given the Chicago-based band's implementation of new ideas such as fuzzed out guitars and meat cleaver sludged riffs, it'd be easy to make a joke about the group going in new directions. However, the phrase "new direction" implies a sort of willingness. From All Purity, the group's fifth full-length … Read more
Inter Arma
The Cavern
Relapse (2014)
With their sophomore album, Sky Burial, Inter Arma released one of the best metal albums of the past year. Their style of playing brought to mind the earlier days of Mastodon and Baroness, but Inter Arma was not merely borrowing ideas from the two great acts. The vibe that Sky Burial had was much darker and bleaker than any of … Read more
Iron Hand
Injected Fear
Safety Meeting (2014)
Here’s some D-beaten hardcore out of New Haven, Connecticut. Seven songs that average two and a half minutes, which is the goddamn perfect length for this type of thing. Much like fellow CT statesmen Oiltanker, Iron Hand dives deep into the Scandinavian and Portland “epic crust” end of the pool; at least in their instrumentation. The vocals lend it a … Read more
Jimi Goodwin
Odludek
Heavenly Recordings (2014)
After a career spanning more than ten years and 4 critically acclaimed albums as the frontman of Manchester 3-piece Doves, Jimi Goodwin has been waiting quite a while before indulging in his first solo release. Taking direction from mix tapes that used to circulate between Goodwin and his friends, Odludek is a fiery and unpredictable album that embraces the eclectic … Read more
John Frusciante
Enclosure
Record Collection (2014)
Though he’s primarily known for being the former, on-again, off-again guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Frusciante has long pursued a solo career that’s been full of peaks and valleys. After releasing a pair of somewhat fascinating, but difficult-to-listen-to albums in the 1990s, Frusciante hit his stride as a solo artist in the early 2000s, at one point releasing … Read more
John, The Void
Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)
Proving that Italians can do the doomy, post-metal thing just as well as anyone else, mysterious and methodical five-piece group John, the Void’s 2014 self-titled EP (which actually runs a bit longer than what I might typically expect from an extended play) features six tracks ranging from two minute ambient pieces to sprawling, nine-minute epics. Throughout this very atmospheric but … Read more
Jon McKiel
Jon McKiel
Independent (2014)
An old, black-and-white photo depicts five dilapidated homes slowly crumbling away on an island in the middle of a vast, dismal ocean; the sea's endlessness and archaicness adds a sense of sentimentality to the picture. With such a glum album cover, it’s a dazzling surprise once the effervescent, action-packed “New Tracy (I Will Learn To See)” - opening song on … Read more
Joyce Manor
Never Hungover Again
Epitaph (2014)
This one took a while to stand out, which I didn’t expect given the accolades Joyce Manor has been ringing up with their three releases. Never Hungover Again is my first listen to the band and I can’t say I understand the hype. While they do their style well, it doesn’t jump ahead of the pack, with the predominant power … Read more
Kayo Dot
Coffins On Io
Flenser (2014)
Just last year, Kayo Dot were releasing one of their most ambitious and challenging albums, Hubardo. The US based band, led by mastermind singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Toby Driver, has made a career out of their crazy mold of different musical genres. Hubardo was the perfect example of the Kayo Dot vision, encompassing in its two disks elements of avant-garde metal, post-metal and … Read more
Keith Emerson and Greg Lake
Live at Manticore Hall
Manticore Records (2014)
After forming in 1970, the members of progressive rock group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (i.e. keyboardist extraordinaire Keith Emerson, guitarist/bassist/vocalist Greg Lake, and drummer Carl Palmer, all highly experienced and extremely technically proficient players) crafted some incredibly influential music and perhaps were the only popular music group that performed classical music and classically-influenced pieces as part of their normal repertoire. … Read more
Kill Matilda
#Punk#Zombie#RocknRoll
Independent (2014)
Blood, decay, and darkness, that’s what I think of when I listen to Kill Matilda’s re-release EP #Punk#Zombie#RocknRoll which derived from their 2011 full length album I Want Revenge. This album grips my mind and twists my emotions! I imagine myself in a dank basement with thirty of the coolest people I know, crammed in, with can’s of PBR, and … Read more
La Dispute
Rooms Of The House
Better Living (2014)
La Dispute’s 2011 post-hardcore masterpiece Wildlife was not only the highlight release of that year, but one of the finest records that I myself have humbly observed. Personal accolades aside, this opinion is one shared by many others, and not without due reason. Wildlife represented at the time of it's release not only an extended display of unbridled emotionality, but … Read more
