This isn't a best of 2014 list. I didn't hear 20 amazing new albums this year. This is a top 20 of the best albums I heard for the first time in 2014. Lot's of new-to-me discoveries. Lot's of jazz.
20. Mind Over Midi - Components (2011)
New Berlin School meets minimal dub-electronica. Klaus Schulze meets Doyeq. Beatless, drifting, dense and textured, Components is the perfect album for cold, stormy day in doors.
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19. Porya Hatami - Land (2012)
Porya Hatami is an Iranian performer specializing in environmental-based ambient compositions. Think Brian Eno's On Land, with which this album shares a similar title. Environmental Ambient music strives to create a place, sometimes mundane and natural, other times surreal and otherworldly. Hatami's album is all about a very real nature, and he perfectly captures the ebb and flow of the tide with tracks like "Sea," and brittle chill of the air in tracks like "Winter." I'm so glad I discovered this artist this year. I've been listening to his stuff since last February, and it never fails to impress me.
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18. Nik Bartsch's Ronin - Llyria (2010)
Nik Bartsch is a Swedish jazz pianist. The Ronin are his band. Together, they perform minimalist groove jazz with complex time signatures in compositions that are simultaneously head-bopping and hypnotic.
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Really nice track from Porya Hatami. Checking out his bandcamp now. And there's a definite Reich influence on that Nik Bartsch piece. Wonky time signatures just make me anxious, but I'll definitely be passing it on to my brother-in-law.
Reich's influence will be heard in many of my discoveries this year, and lots of stuff coming that is similar to the Nik Bartsch album.Quoting Idioteque Stalker (view post)
17. Jan Bang - Narrative from the Subtropics (2013)
Given it's Ballardian title and cover image, you could make a very educated guess as to what this music sounds like without ever hearing a single snippet. It's ultra modern, metropolitan, claustrophobic, somewhat cold and off putting, and mechanical, and yet it it still contains a very human heart. Bang is an electronic composer who works with a lot of the nu-jazz crew coming out of Germany and Norway, and his name will be associated with at least a few more albums on my list this year.
16. The Swans - To Be Kind (2014)
A big, bloated, epic mess of a rock album, and as dark and foreboding as it is, it is also strangely uplifting and sincere. Out of all the albums on the list, To Be Kind is THE MOST. It's also the album I've listened to the least number of times, simply because it's almost TOO MUCH. There aren't many times in my life when this kind of music makes a lot of sense, but I can't hold that against it. I love this latest era of The Swans, and this is a masterpiece.
1. Arve Henriksen - Place of Worship (2013)
Arguably the best trumpet player in the world, or at least the most unique, Arve Henrikesen's (yes, another Norwegian) Places of Worship isn't just the most beautiful album I heard last year, it's also one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard. And Henriksen is more than just a trumpet player. He's a composer of unparalleled skill, and on this album he takes the listener on a deeply emotional and spiritual journey into the very heart and soul of humanity. This is a grand artistic statement of which there are very few equals.
2. Eivind Aarset - Dream Logic (2012)
Eivind Aarset is a Norwegian guitarist who has appeared on probably 6 or so albums on this list. On Dream Logic, Aarset plays guitar, bass, and a variety of electronic things, and is joined by Jan Bang, also on electronics, and Audun Klieve on drums. This is ambient nu-jazz at its most ambient. It's an album of textures and atmosphere, of subtlety and nuance.
Ooooooh. That Henricksen piece is a quiet wonder. Interesting how little there is to it on some level. Very spare, very gentle. I'd looked into his stuff a couple weeks back. Will have to do more...
The Mathias Eick song likewise is intriguing.
Did your searching these out come about because of the Eberhard Weber stuff from a few years ago?
Last edited by dreamdead; 02-04-2015 at 06:56 PM.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
A lot of them yeah.
I also spent a lot of time checking out the music from ECM albums because I liked the art/covers.
Arve Henriksen is one I've listened to for a few years.
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