This year is only halfway over, but there has been no shortage of great music released this year. Here are six of our staffers’ picks for their favorite albums of 2014 so far.
Todd Terje — It’s Album Time
Norwegian producer Todd Terje’s aptly named debut comes after a decade in the music industry as a remixer, producer, and songwriter for other artists. His older, club-oriented tracks fit comfortably next to his more esoteric new material, which explores traditionally “cheesy” genres like bossa nova, big band and salsa with love (and with respect for their compositional richness) rather than irony. The result is less of a bid for Terje as the next world-ruling DJ as the next Quincy Jones or Henry Mancini.
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
Beyoncé’s self-titled fifth album offers the most refreshing balance between love and sexuality that we’ve heard on a pop album. While so much pop music depicts love as either glorified lust or a chaste precursor to marriage, Beyoncé approaches it as something that gives rise to and gives meaning to sexuality. The sexy songs (“Drunk In Love,” “Rocket”) are what elevate this album to such heights, but it wouldn’t work if that was all the album was — which is what makes “Blue,” her ode to her young daughter, so devastating.
Moodymann — Moodymann
Detroit techno legend Kenny Dixon Jr.’s 11th studio album is a love letter to his hometown that doesn’t back down from addressing the problems that the city has faced recently, as well as throughout its past. It’s elegiac at times, but it’s also one of the most fun albums of Moodymann’s career. Packed with dancefloor jams and a few fun remixes (including an inexplicable rework of Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die”), Moodymann is an emotionally charged work still capable of driving a party.
Mac DeMarco — Salad Days
Compulsively listenable and brimming with personality, the Canadian singer-songwriter’s third album finds him broadening his sound while leaving room to grow. His songs are as snarky-sweet as the best early Beatles songs, but their meandering structure makes them seem more the product of a stoned auteur’s unfiltered mind than anything else. Though DeMarco could create a “serious” masterpiece, that’s not the way he works — and given how well his lackadaisical personality fits his music, it’s likely for the best.
Kemialliset Ystävät — Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa
Though Jan Anderzen has been a part of an insular Finnish psychedelic rock scene for nearly two decades, his latest work under the Kemialliset Ystävät (Chemical Friends) moniker draws from the digitized psychedelia of Americans Animal Collective and Black Dice. The result is as dizzyingly effective as often as it is straight-up dizzying, unleashing a Pandora’s box of unearthly sounds and gnomish chants on the listener. However, when these disparate noises congeal into globs of melody, it’s all the more satisfying.
—Daniel Bromfield
Young the Giant — Mind Over Matter
Did you see Young the Giant at the McDonald Theater in March? Chances are that’s the last time you’ll see these guys in a venue that small — their second full LP, Mind Over Matter is sure to nab these guys some killer gigs. Pay particular attention to “It’s About Time,” “Crystallized” and “Eros.” Don’t be surprised if you suddenly find these tunes in the background of your next favorite indie flick or playing as somebody semi-famous walks across the stage to present at MTV’s Video Music Awards in the fall.
Bleachers — Strange Desire
Thank god Jack Antonoff is still making music. Although fun. is taking a break after the two-year promotion period that followed the release of Some Nights, the band’s guitarist is defining this wonderful side project that’s reminiscent of the kind of jams he would break out with his old band, Steel Train. Antonoff is definitely in an experimental phase and you couldn’t ask for more — the best Steel Train albums are the ones that the band bucked all its traditional conventions and tried something new. Make sure to check out “I Wanna Get Better” and “Rollercoaster.”
Rodrigo Y Gabriela — Nine Dead Alive
I used to be able to study and listen to music at the same time. Nowadays it’s more a distraction than anything else when I’m trying to get anything done. Rodrigo Y Gabriela are the rare exception to that rule and their latest outing, Nine Dead Alive, is rife with the riffs and mind-boggling picking that you’ve come to expect from these two. Their last proper album, 11:11, released five years ago, so it’s nice to see these two pump out some new jams. You don’t want to miss “The Soundmaker” and “Misty Moses.”
—Eder Campuzano
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The Menzingers — Rented World
The Menzingers have managed to tighten up their musicianship even more so than their critical darling On the Impossible Past by making Rented World an even catchier album without sacrificing their unique Pennsylvania punk sound. The singing from the soul and screaming from the heart by frontmen Greg Barnett and Tom May accompanied by poignant guitar riffs and the best drumming from Joe Godino, thus far makes Rented World the band’s most approachable and passionate album to date.
Say Anything — Hebrews
Say Anything has made their hardest rock album yet, and they did it without any guitars. This sounds hard to do, but frontman Max Bemis was up to the task and he doubled down on his super-personal lyrics and accompanied it with synthesizers and violins that were used in a way that you’ve never heard before. It also helps to have 14 guest vocalists on the album who range from Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull to Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge. Don’t let the guest vocalists fool you, though; this is a Say Anything through and through. It’s thoughtful, personal, angry and uncomfortable. It’s the best Say Anything record yet.
Foster the People — Supermodel
Supermodel doesn’t boast any catchy hits like “Pumped up Kicks,” and the album is better because of it. Instead, you get an inspiring record that sings about the concepts of absolute truths and becoming the person you would be proud to become. The album has fun with its signature pop sound, but it always knows when to come back down with stripped down songs that resonate just as strong. Never boring and always colorful, Supermodel shows that Foster the People is more than just a one hit wonder.
—Craig Garcia
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Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks — Wig Out At Jagbags
Malkmus’ greatest talent may be his ability to appeal to both indie rock lovers who lined up to buy Pavement albums and those who illegally downloaded them. His witty lyrics are full of internal rhymes and clever references, which include everything from Sun City Girls to Eminem. 48-year-old Malkmus can write what Ezra Koenig can’t, “We lived on Tennyson and venison and the Grateful Dead/ It was Mudhoney Summer, Torch of Mystics, Double Bummer.” Full of rock songs that are tightly composed while also not giving a shit, this album evokes a misplaced nostalgia for a high school reunion that I have yet to experience.
Temples — Sun Structures
Sun Structures leads their debut album with a Beatles-esque string guitar riff in their first track “Shelter Song,” a catchy, psychedelic dreamlike anthem to bridge winter and spring. The British band uses their predecessors well (they cite The Beatles, The Stones and the Byrds among influences) bringing an indie neo-psychedelic rock for people who missed the ‘60s. It’s not original, and I don’t think it’s trying to be. Best moments include the two-minute harp break in the Hair-esque “Keep In The Dark” and the 6:30 truly trippy “Sand Dance.”
Angel Olsen — Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Olsen’s first track “Unfucktheworld” both fuels and cures a heartbreak, “I quit my dreaming the moment that I found you/ I started dancing just to be around you,” but as the album progresses Olsen proves herself as a “not just a pretty voice,” but a psychedelic-pop poet who likes soft vibrato and driving fuzz guitar. This dreamy, intimate album showcases the genuine honesty and pure vocal talent that will undoubtedly make her an indie folk rock force, able to evoke both Fleetwood Mac and Wilco.
St. Vincent — St. Vincent
The first time I saw St. Vincent, she jumped off a Sasquatch side stage into a crowd, her black leather boots ferociously kicking the sky as she finished her song with electric energy, giving even less of a shit than Kathleen Hanna. Annie Clark uses St. Vincent to further prove herself as a member of the group of truly great artists who are hard to take at first (Animal Collective anyone?). Her controlled vocals move from operatic to psychedelic pop vocals and her songs, which seeping in true originality, indicate she knows something that few artists know today. Part dance party, part creative introspection, Clark created an album that causes your mind to double take.
Parquet Courts — Sunbathing Animal
Parquet Courts is a band that doesn’t rely on ambient beats and producer tricks, a rare feat for 2014. With a punky driving electric guitar leading the way, lead singer Andrew Savage’s cleverly crafted lyrics sometimes become inaudible with feeling, such as, “The title hum of fondness like a spike-wave oscillator/ The rabid UV grin that beckons me into approaching,” in the title track. Their scarily-smart lyrics (referencing everything from Stalin to Lady MacBeth) and ability to create a more daring, emotional, balls-out album than their successful Light Up Gold, all while being completely original creates an utterly gripping 49 minutes.
—Sophia June
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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — Wig Out at Jagbags
Post-Pavement Malkmus is a game of hit or bunt. His albums are either good enough to remain on your iPhone or exist only to satisfy the collector’s dilemma. Besides the obvious killer title, Jagbags is Malkmus & Jicks at some of their poppy best. “Lariat” has the might to dance along Pavement’s with “Gold Soundz” Plus, I’ve caught myself wandering around Allen Hall humming along to the lyrics, “We grew up listening to the music of the best decade ever / Talking about the A-D-Ds.”
Real Estate — Atlas
These psych/surf rockers make every one of their songs sound the same — luckily for us the song they keep repeating rules. For their third album, the New Jersey gang kept the styles and vibes close to their previous Days, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It’s always a shame when a band tries to evolve prematurely and loses what made them great (I’m looking at you Killers, Interpol and the Head and the Heart). Real Estate doesn’t try anything fancy on Atlas because they don’t need to.
Tycho — Awake
The chillwave scene came crashing down and from the surf arose Toro y Moi’s Anything in Return and Washed Out’s Paracosm. Tycho’s Awake is another example of the stone-cold chillers making beauty and delight out of a dying genre. If you’re not sold after hearing the first three tracks, then you’re probably my granddad. I don’t know if the sunrise or sunset is a better atmosphere, but as long as you’re with a pair of headphones Awake will do its job.
—Silas Valentino
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Protomartyr — Under Color of Official Right
Come August 5, this spot will probably be occupied by Spoon’s They Want My Soul,but for now the second LP from Detroit’s Protomartyr is the rabbit in this race. Under Color is 35 minutes of pissed off post-punk gold. There’s a terrible building energy in each song that threatens to boil over at any second. Led by lead singer Joe Casey’s crusty vocals that sound like the National’s Matt Berninger taken off his Prozac, Protomartyr spares no one with vocals that denounce “alt-weekly types,’’ “vegan fascists,” “upper class slummers,” or “terrible bartenders.” Half of Eugene would wilt under Protomartyr’s gaze and that’s why this album is awesome.
Mac DeMarco — Salad Days
DeMarco seems to be popping up everywhere these days —and righteously so. With his second solo LP, DeMarco shows he’s not a one trick pony: it’s lush, infectiously catchy lo-fi indie rock. Led by standouts “Chamber of Reflection” and “Brother” and pretty much every other song, Salad Days should show us that among the synths and crappy Foster the People-like rip-offs that now populate the carcass of alternative radio, there are still a few indie-rock artists who can give us some hope.
Real Estate — Atlas
It’s not as catchy as Days was, but Atlas is a portrait of a band honing their craft and establishing themselves as a powerhouse lo-fi surf rock group with some staying power (unlike many of their peers). Led by standout tracks “Crime” and “Talking Backwards,” Atlas sounds like it was meticulously fussed over, with subtle melodic shifts and perfectly timed harmonies. It may all blend together, but that just turns the whole album into a hazy, introspective joyful listening experience.
Parquet Courts — Sunbathing Animal
This album has only been out for a couple of weeks, but the Courts aren’t wasting any time. It’s got all the snark and driving guitars of their debut, but now they sound — gasp — a little more mature. You probably won’t ever find the Parquet Courts on the radio with a hit single, but they don’t care and neither should you. These guys are on the path to becoming modern indie rock icons.
The War on Drugs — Lost in the Dream
Kurt Vile be damned, his old band is still showing him up. This album is led by powerhouse tracks “Eyes to the Wind” and “Red Eyes” (they like eyes apparently). The album evokes Tom Petty or Bob Seger, which sounds like ambient dream pop. Lost in the Dream isn’t the most accessible album of all time, with most songs breaking the five minute threshold, but if you let yourself dive in you will probably get tangled up in some beautiful dream.
— Samuel Wendel