Music - Part 348 - 2014 Festive 50

This year seemed to be filled with more surprises and incredible releases than I can remember for a long time.  Artists I had never heard of before coming along with knockout albums which made everlasting impressions. 

As ever, picking any shortlist was an onerous task, but after much mulling a Festive 50 was finally completed.  It could quite easily have been 60 or 70, but I had to stop somewhere.

Once more, Thrill Jockey Records have astounding me and probably become my favourite label.  Four of their albums feature here, and whilst the list below is in no particular order The Skull Defekts were always a contender for my best album of 2014 from day one.

Clicking on the album titles will take you to my review of the album.  Enjoy.

1.       The Skull Defekts – Dances In Dreams Of The Known Unknown 

2.       Ian Dury – The Studio Albums Collection

3.       Real World 25

4.       The Extraordinary Nat ‘King’ Cole

5.       Dirtmusic – Lion City

6.       Ralphs Life

7.       Martyn Bennett – Grit

8.       Sontag Shogun – Tale

9.       The Woodentops – Granular Tales

10.   Tackhead – For The Love Of Money

11.   FM3 – Ting Shuo

12.   Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions 1

13.   Mechanimal – Secret Science

14.   Talisman – I-Surrection (Oldwah Deconstruction) 

15.   The Muffs – Whoop Dee Doo

16.   How To Swim – Niagarama

17.   OOIOO - Gamel

18.   The Wind Up Birds – Poor Music

19.   Hanggai – Baifang

20.   Helen McCookerybook – Anarchy Skiffle 

21.   Silhouettes – Ever Moving Happiness Machines

22.   mylittlebrother – If We Never Came Down

23.   Damn Vandals – Rocket Out Of London

24.   The Ree-Vahs – Geordieland

25.   Ashley Reaks – Compassion Fatigue (1-8)

26.   Dubblestandart - In Dub

27.   La  Chiva Gantiva – Vivo

28.   Aziza Brahim – Soutak

29.   Tim Held – Alb(L)um

30.   Ceiling Demons – Dual Sides

31.   Peaking Lights – Cosmic Logic

32.   Les Bonbons – Les Bonbons

33.   Rachael Dadd – We Resonate

34.   CHLLNGR – Form Of Release

35.   Holy Sons – The Fact Facer

    

36.   Arms And Sleepers – Swim Team

37.   Perc Trax – Slowly Exploding

38.  Suzi Quatro – The Girl From Detroit City

39.  Wooden Arms – Tide

40.  Inspiral Carpets – Inspiral Carpets

41. Fofoulah – Fofoulah

42. Boris Blank – Electrified

43. White Hills – Glitter Glamour Atrocity

44. Paul McLinden – Head Happy

45. Finding Fela Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

46. Morton Valence – Left

47. Cabaret Voltaire – #7885 (Electropunk to Technopop 1978-1985)

48. Andy Bell – Torsten The Bareback Saint

49. BirdEatsBaby – The Bullet Within

50. Marc Almond – Ten Plagues

Same place, same time next year?

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