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Best Music of 2014

2014 was not the best year for music. Two weeks ago I had no idea how this list would look. Up until mid-December there was not a great album released in 2014 (In 2013 there were at least five). There were several very good ones released throughout the year. But as I set about making my top albums list, I found myself unable to call anything the best of the year. I even thought about making a top 20 in-no-order list. Fortunately, something happened in mid-December that made everything clear; that threw the state of music in 2014 into sharp relief. The rest of my top 10 fell neatly into place, so here goes.

10 Years Later - Side 1 of Hot Fuss

Meet someone born between 1987 and 1991, and chances are The Killers 2004 debut Hot Fuss holds some kind of emotional significance for them. That group was in middle school and high school when Hot Fuss was released 10 years ago in June 2004.  (I would argue that those of us in the class of 2008 have the largest claim to Hot Fuss inspired emotional resonance, since we were preparing to enter ninth grade - deep in the throes of puberty and mid-2000's emo.)

The Killers - Hot Fuss - June 15, 2004

However, talking about Hot Fuss isn't really talking about Hot Fuss. We're really only talking about side 1 of Hot Fuss, those magical first five tracks that swept in, grabbed hold of our hearts, and refused to let go until we admitted that, yeah, sometimes we like to feel things. (It should here be noted that I'm referring to side 1 as the natural first half of the album, tracks 1-5. LP versions of Hot Fuss include "Andy You're a Star" on side 1, but the less said about that disaster the better.)

20 Best Albums - 2013

2013 was a strange year in music. Hardcore/heavy/screamo music made a surprising comeback; several established artists released, to much hype and gimmickry, bloated, self-indulgent bore-fests; indie rock was strong at the top, but otherwise very uninspiring; hip hop said, "let's get weird" to the whole affair. It was summarily difficult to get a good read on what I liked and didn't like this year, much less narrow it down and order it 20-1. But try I must, and list I shall. Onward and upward or whatever.

(By the way, if you missed my Best Moments of 2013 post, read it here.)

11 Best Moments in Music - 2013

I'm working on my 2013 Best Albums list, but I want to try something a little different this year, too. I want to highlight my favorite moments from music this year. We've all said, "I love in that song when...", right? That's what I'm looking at here. It could be a whole song or a drum fill, a killer bridge or a simple guitar line.  I'm looking for the moments that left me speechless, saying "wow" and half-speed scrubbing back 30 seconds to hear it again. It's no surprise then that many of these come from albums in my top 20. Consider this a preview.

The Gospel and Guns

This post isn't my normal fare, but I need to write some things down on this subject.  Forgive me for posting so glaringly off-topic.

Since Newtown I've had guns on my mind and on my heart.  I've shaken my head in disgust at the NRA and followed the Brady Campaign on Twitter (@bradybuzz). I've started Facebook fights and prayed about it.  I genuinely think less of one of my former Facebook friends because of his opinion, as wrong as that is.  Nobody is going to change their mind, unfortunately, and that's sad.  

I'm not going to write anything about policy in this post.  I won't write about background checks or assault weapons bans or high capacity magazines.  That conversation is going on all around the country.  

I want to talk about the Gospel.

Top albums of 2012.

I did not post in 2012. I apologize. I had a lot on my plate, ok? I graduated. I started my career. I changed cities. I bought a flannel shirt. Get off me.  

Oddly enough, this year I had more blog-worthy material than ever, as I went to Coachella and Bonnaroo. And went to a bunch of shows. That just screams "Recap!!!", but it wasn't to be. Maybe I had better things to do. Maybe I forgot I had a blog. Who knows.

Anyway, this year I listened to more music than ever. Sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day combined with a subscription to Rdio (highly recommend!!) had a lot to do with that. Here are the 21 best albums of 2012.

Best Albums of 2011

It's that time of year again, folks. Time to objectively evaluate a completely subjective topic, music. I'm talkin' Albums of the Year lists. I'm sure that Dan, Daniel, Eric, Tyler, Mason, Blaine, Justin, and others will say they are making a Top Albums list, but rest assured they will all fail just like last year, leaving only mine, the originator, progenitor, OG, and granddaddy of all Top Album lists.

Smack talk aside, let's get down to the methodology. Simply put, there isn't one. Last year's track-by-track, whole album, sum, divide by tracks+1 nonsense was time consuming and ultimately fruitless. I still would have ordered the albums the same, except The Suburbs would have been higher. Sorry, Winny-pooh.

So this year I'm just going to give you my favorite albums, 20-1. Here we go.

SXSW Recap!

My whole body hurts. A week of little sleep, lots of walking, the occasional open bar, and most importantly GREAT MUSIC has culminated in SXSunday. Exhausted and still putting this International Trade paper off, here's a recap of my SXSW.

Top Albums of 2010

It's that time of year again. The Top Albums of 2010. I'll list of 20-11 then write a little something for 10-1.

First a little background. This year my roommate decided to join me in doing album lists, but this year we would have a rating system. It goes a little something like this:

∑(track 1+...+track N + (N*album)/(2*N).

Or more simply, rank each song and add them up. Rate the album as a whole, taking into account flow, theme, length, etc, then multiply by the number of songs. Add that to the song rankings then divide by twice the number of songs. That way the album rating counts for half of the total rating and individual songs account for half. It's been pretty accurate. Onto the list, with each albums rating next to it.

Playlist I can't get enough of

This playlist has been playing on repeat on the iPod for the past month. It's a genius playlist generated by iTunes based of "F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." by The Fall of Troy. A few songs it put in I didn't like so I trimmed it down to 22 songs. Go.

What Eric Johnson has been waiting for

After a long hiatus filled with finals, skiing, and Christmas, I'm back like Jordan for some END OF 2009 Lists. Let's start with the Best Albums of 2009.

Esoteric Radiohead Moment/The Stars look good

First off, let us begin with a qualifier. I am a huge Radiohead fan. The first section of this post may not make sense to you if you are not a Radiohead fan. Which means it will make sense to Dan and probably not many of the other three people that read this :P. Now let's get to it.

The Importance of a Good Closer: Thoughts on Blind Pilot and Mariano Rivera

Thursday night I attended a concert at the Parish on 6th St. The band I saw is called Blind Pilot, an Indie/Folk/Pop group that specializes in incredibly crafted music, brilliant textures, introspective lyrics, and emotional expression to create their distinct sound. The core of the band is the duo of the guitarist/lead singer and the drummer, but they tour as a 6 person ensemble featuring a female vocalist, trumpet/Fender Rhodes player, upright bass player, and (my personal favorite) a vibraphone player. The trumpet and vibraphone are a brilliant touch to the shimmering textures the band makes. The band's only album 3 Rounds And A Sound provided most of the songs on the setlist, including the hauntingly beautiful "Oviedo", "3 Rounds and A Sound" and "Two Towns From Me". The best song of the evening was the pre-encore finale, an off album piece entited "We Are The Tide", which brings me to the point of this post.

Bowling/Tool

Bowling is one of those special activities that all college students must do.  Bowling is the quintessential social activity for young people.  It's too bad that bowling has lost significance in American culture.  Bowling alleys used to be the place to be every Friday night.  What happened to Bowling?  Let's bring bowling back.