I love reading favorite releases lists, more so from people on forums than by the critics. Unlike most 2014 critics' lists, I didn't place Taylor Swift, the Swans or FKA Twigs in my top 50 though I like those albums.

Kelis and Phonograph are a virtual tie for me. Steve Dawson released my favorite song of the year- "Ezra Pound and the Big Wood River". Just re-played Jenny Lewis' album and I should rank it higher but oh well. And Ty Segall should be further up the list, too, as for me he's the artist of the year. But I tinkered with my list enough and I'm not going to change it again- maybe.

I still have to get my From the Vaults and Surf album lists together. Forgot to compile a favorite song list- maybe next year.

1 Kelis ~ Food
2 Phonograph ~ Phonograph Vol 1
3 Räjäyttäjät ~ Awopbopaloopop Alopbam RÄJÄ!
4 Sinkane ~ Mean Love
5 Steve Dawson ~ Funeral Bonsai Wedding
6 Zammuto ~ Anchor
7 Joe Sullivan ~ Schlock Star
8 Graham Day and the Forefathers ~ Good Things
9 Sabina ~ Toujours
10 Atlantic Thrills ~ Atlantic Thrills

11 The Delines ~ Colfax
12 Lucinda Williams ~ Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
13 Fumaca Preta ~ Fumaca Preta
14 Stanley Brinks and The Wave Pictures ~ Gin
15 Got A Girl ~ I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now
16 Somi ~ The Lagos Music Salon
17 Ty Segall ~ Manipulator
18 Orlando Julius with The Heliocentrics ~ Jaiyede Afro
19 Gemma Ray ~ Milk For Your Motors
20 White Hills ~ Glitter Glamour Atrocity

21 Lee Fields ~ Emma Jean
22 Thee Oh Sees ~ Drop
23 Parkay Quarts ~ Conent Nausea
24 Bahamas ~ Bahamas Is Afie
25 Off ~ Wasted Years
26 Phil Ajjarapu ~ Sing Along Until You Feel Better
27 The Rails ~ Fair Warning
28 Ray Lugo & The Boogaloo Destroyers ~ Que Chevere
29 Nick Pride & The Pimptones ~ Rejuiced Phat Shake
30 The Howlin' Brothers ~ Trouble

31 Sunday Wilde ~ He Digs Me
32 Lee Gamble ~ Koch
33 Groovy Uncle ~ Persuaded
34 Andy Stott ~ Faith In Strangers
35 Julie Fowlis ~ Gach Sgeul - Every Story
36 Millie & Andrea ~ Drop the Vowels
37 Todd Terje ~ It's Album Time
38 Link Quartet & Miss Modus ~ Hotel Constellation
39 Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell ~ Check Em Before You Wreck Em
40 Glowfriends ~ Gather Us Together

41 Old 97's ~ Most Messed Up
42 Sturgill Simpson ~ Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
43 Jenny Lewis ~ The Voyager
44 The Muffs ~ Whoop Dee Doo
45 Christopher Denny ~ If the Roses Don't Kill Us
46 Caroline Peyton ~ Homeseeker's Paradise
47 King Tuff ~ Black Moon Spell
48 Clark ~ Clark
49 Outrageous Cherry ~ The Digital Age
50 Phantom Family Halo ~ Raven Town Witch

I always have trouble remembering which releases came out in which year. A handful that immediately came to mind for 2014:

The Galileo 7 - False Memory Lane
Graham Day And The Forefathers - Good Things
The Len Price 3 - Nobody Knows
Groovy Uncle - Persuaded
The 45s - singles/EPs*
The Whereabouts - singles/EPs*
The Cradles - singles/EPs*

* Liked a lot but don't own. Release CDs, please!

best:

*CSNY - live '74 - never ever thought i'd see it, worth the wait, i could listen to the song 'on the beach' for hours. too bad they just can't get along.
*lucinda williams - down where the spirit meet the bone - she gets better and better and better and.....
*pink floyd - endless river - not bad, not bad at all
*tom petty - hypnotic eye - coupled with 'mojo' a nice last 2 albums for sure
*jackson browne - standing in the breach - another great one form an unheralded master of his trade.
*david crosby - croz - who would have thought crosby would be writing the best stuff of the 4 of them in 2014?



worst

*robert plant - lullaby and...... - what a travesty. sad to see a great one fall so far. noise and more noise, he thinks he is being artsy-farsy with all the exotic instruments and all they do is add to the mess. and then add the fact that it sounds like shit!
*counting crows - another great band getting worse with each subsequent album. and it sounds like shit too!
*neil young - a letter home - just garbage, absolute garbage. can something sound worse than shit?
*sting - the last ship - remember when sting was a rock star? does sting remember?

biggest disappointment:

*mccartney - for pulling the 'memory almost full' stunt once again with "new". i will never ever buy another mccartney album when it comes out. shame on him, how much money is enough? even though i knew he was going to do it, i was hoping deep down that he wouldn't.
* yes - their last 2 albums - forging on without jon anderson....give it up guys. call trevor rabin and ask him if you can join the producers

albums that didn't come out:

*bruce cockburn - its been over 3 years, it's time.
*allman brothers - i really thought we would get one last studio album.
*rolling stones - wanted an album, got 2 songs, oh well it's better than nothing i guess
*the producers - one more....please.
*CSN - the covers album they have been working on for what seems like 10 years.

I think Lawrence meant new releases only. (Did you?)

weren't all of mine released in '14?

i am getting old though

None of my favorites of the year are in Lawrence's top 50

Ghost Of A Sabertooth Tiger - Midnight Sun
Dave Davies - Rippin' Up Time
Marianne Faithfull - Give My Love To London
John Hiatt - Terms Of My Surrender

I'll have to look later and see what else I bought.

You started with CSNY 1974.

ah, but it was a new release!

even though we had to wait 40 years for it

If we're including Vaults then I'll have a lot more to add ....

Excellent list! I usually start a best-of list at the beginning of each year so I don't forget. Guess I'm obsessive-compulsive that way.


New releases or from the vaults or even anything you've heard for the first time is more than okay. I'm more new releases than anything else, guess that's obvious by now.


Ghost & Hiatt are elsewhere on my full list. So many great releases it's easy for many to get over-shadowed.

Here's my top 20 list for the year; it's a mix of new and vault. Thanks for starting the thread! Jeff

Tom Petty— Hypnotic Eye --- best since Wildflowers
The Hold Steady— Teeth Dreams
Sun Kil Moon— Benji
Spoon— They Want My Soul
St. Vincent— Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn NY 8-9-14 (Bootleg) -- easily found online. WHAT A SHOW!
The Black Keys— Turn Blue
Joe Henry— Invisible Hour
Tweedy— Sukierae
Sloan— Commonwealth
Jack White— Live From Bonnaroo 2014 -- Third Man Vault Release #22; just got it. SO good.

Chuck Prophet— Night Surfer SF buddy keeps making great records
Ryan Adams— 1984 EP The hardcore punk EP-- takes me back to my childhood
Bob Dylan— The Bootleg Series, Vol. 11: The Complete Basement Tapes FINALLY!
Ryan Adams— Ryan Adams
Bob Mould— Beauty & Ruin
Wilco— Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 Really well put together.
D’Angelo— Black Messiah Might climb higher after I get to hear it more
Foo Fighters— Sonic Highways
Bo Ningen— III -- best concert I saw in 2014. Completely insane.
The Welcome Matt— POPJUNKFLUFF&HYPE SF local band who makes great records every time.

This was a great year for music. Just off the top of my head (I'm sure I'll forget some):

Chuck Prophet-Night Surfer
Cat Stevens-Tell 'Em I'm Gone
Allman Brothers-Fillmore Box
Tom Petty-Hypnotic Eye
Lucinda Williams-Where The Spirit Meets The Bone
Anders Osborne-Three shows via livedownloads.com
CSNY-1974 Box

I could/should add Muck and the Mires and the Wicked Whispers to my top 50.

Ryan Adams and Chuck Prophet are a couple albums I need to listen to again. I hope I haven't misplaced them, somewhere!

And that D'angelo album is very good- darn these late December releases!

I forgot the Wilco rarities box--another highlight.

My favorite various artist comps of the year-

Amsterdam Beatclub: The Best Place to Go Go
Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society
Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles
Rockin' Legends Pay Tribute to Jack White
Punk 45: Vol.3: Proto-Punk 1970-7
Spiritual Jazz 5
A Hot Day in Harlem
No Seattle – Forgotten Sounds Of The Northwest Grunge Era 1986 to 1997
Monster Skies
While No One Was Looking-Toasting 20 Yeas of Bloodshot Records
Science Fiction Park Bundesrepublik – German Home Recording Tape Music Of The 1980s
Native North America Vol.1
Cold Waves of Color
Power Pop from the Garage-Australian Power Pop '74-'86
Calypso Craze 1956=57 And Beyond
The Other Side Of Bakersfield Vol. 1 & 2
International Pop Overthrow Vol.7

Favorite single artist From the Vaults reissues & comps-

Lone Justice ~ The Vaught Tapes 1983
Crazy Horse ~ Scratchy- The Complete Reprise Recordings
Dream Syndicate ~ The Day Before Wine And Roses
Uncle Tupelo ~ No Depression (Legacy Edition)
Lucinda Williams ~ Lucinda Williams
Selda Bagcan ~ Selda
The Finders ~ Finders Keepers
Survival ~ Simmer Down
The Axemen ~ Derry Legend
Ronnie Lane ~ Ooh La La An Island Harvest
Dictators ~ Faster…Louder Best 1975-2001
Bevis Frond ~ High In A Flat
Owen Maercks ~ Teenage Sex Therapist
Scruffy The Cat ~ The Good Goodbye 1984-1990
Pugwash ~ Rose in a Garden of Weeds: A Preamble Through the History of Pugwash
Green Pajamas ~ Happy Halloween
Bob Dylan ~ The Basement Tapes Raw
Andre de Saint-Obin ~ Sound on Sound
Wings ~ Venus and Mars
David Bowie ~ Nothing Has Changed
Jethro Tull ~ War Child
Suzi Quatro ~ The Girl from Detroit City
Wilco ~ Alpha Mike Foxtrot

I've got to find time to do this; someday I'll learn to note year of purchase on my lists.

Here's my Top 20:

Tom Petty - Hypnotic Eye

+ these re-issues

Yes - Re-Issues
Gentle Giant Re-Issue
Jethro Tull - Passion Play re-issue

Rolling Stones: LA Forum and Hampton Coliseum

It still amazes me that I was able to buy a mini-sleeve version of "Yesterday...And Today" by the Beatles in a mini-sleeve--with the original butcher cover--at my local Walmart.

I forgot about the Beatles "US Releases".

Best vault release..................

The Velvet Underground (3rd album) deluxe box