2014 IN MUSIC

Wow, I haven't done this in a while, but somehow amidst a crazy past several days of work, I managed to catch up with a lot of new music. Unlike some recent years, there were a lot of records and tracks that really stuck with me. And as usual, many of my favorite and most listened-to records of the year came out of Nashville. My ten favorites:

1. Ponychase - Parade of Youth

2. Fauna Flora - s/t

3. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers

4. Jasmin Kaset - Quiet Machine

5. Cornpone - s/t

6. Todd Terje - It’s Album Time
7. Beck - Morning Phase
8. Eno / Hyde - High Life
9. Mia Dyson - Idyllwild
10. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye

And a bunch of others that I dug: Spoon - They Want My Soul, Phox - s/t. The Advisory Circle - From Out Here, Lykke Li - I Never Learn, The Paperhead - Africa Avenue, Caribou - Our Love, Erlend Oye - Legao, Sharon van Etten - Are We There, Stone Jack Jones - Ancestor, Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream, Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness, and D'Angelo - Black Messiah.

Favorite album covers go to Caribou, The Advisory Circle, Spoon, Jasmin Kaset, Petty, The Paperhead, and D'Angelo. I also had the chance to design quite a few covers this year for some of my favorite artists and peers, which was great.

For rdio users -- and if you're not one, you should sign up and try their beautiful and user-friendly interface-- I made this playlist of favorite tracks from the year right here. I'll paste the tracklist below.

1. Jasmin Kaset - You Can Never Go Home Again

2. Cornpone - Dance and Forget

3. Ponychase - Parade of Youth

4. Fauna Flora - As the Story Goes

5. Norm - Moving On

6. Beck - Heart is a Drum

7. Lewis - I Thought the World of You

8. Mica Levi - Love

9. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers

10. William Tyler - Whole New Dude

11. yMusic - Balance Problems

12. Arca - Family Violence

13. The War on Drugs - Under the Pressure

14. Phox - Satyr and the Faun

15. Todd Terje - Oh Joy

16. Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys

17. Mia Dyson - When We're Older

18. Sharon Van Etten - Afraid of Nothing

19. Skyline Motel - Not About You

20. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - All You Can Carry

21. Ryan Adams - Gimme Something Good

21. Spoon - Inside Out

22. Bradford Cox - Doctor October

23. Zero - Simple Science

24. Caribou - Silver

25. Sia - Chandelier

26. How I Became the Bomb - Ulay Oh

27. The Advisory Circle - Escape Lane

28. Dntel - Fringes of Focus (Instrumental)

29. The Notwist - Kong

30. Eno - Hyde - Lilac

31. Flying Lotus - You're Dead

32. The Paperhead - None Other Than

33. Sturgill Simpson - It Ain't All Flowers

34. Daniel Lanois - Iceland

35. Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather

36. D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Til It's Done (Tutu)

37. Emily King - Distance

38. Erlend Oye - Rainman

39. Angel Olsen - White Fire

40. Lykke Li - No Rest for the Wicked

41. St. Vincent - Severed Crossed Fingers

42. Aphex Twin - aisatsana [102]

43. Grouper - Holding

Whew! Enjoy!