My favourite 2014 albums

I always enjoy compiling my favourite music from a year gone by.  Whenever I read top album lists in my favourite music magazines, blogs, and newspapers, I always feel appalled on how much music I miss out in a year, but man, the older I get, the harder it is to keep up with all of the things I'm interested in, on top of having a job.  

My favourite albums aren't all necessarily "the best" (not that you can really compile music into a list based on merit; it's so subjective), but they are the albums that made up the soundtrack of my life during the year.

In 2014, there were really great new albums put out by Beck, Jenny Lewis, The New Pornographers, Andrew MacMahon in the Wilderness, and Damien Rice that are definitely worth a listen in my opinion.  Also, I just recently bought the album by Canadian band Alvvays, and it's excellent.  (It made a lot of top ten lists that I read at the end of the year.) But since I'm just getting into right now (in 2015), I can't fit it into my list.  But you should check it out!  The song Archie Will You Marry Me? is a definite earworm.

And now onto my list..

10) 1989 - Taylor Swift  I think almost everyone came out in 2014 as a Swift fan because of this super fun pop effort.  When someone besmirches you, Shake It Off, is the perfect song.  I unabashedly enjoy this entire album and feel no shame for including this pop gem on my top ten list.

9) Strange Desire - Bleachers This side project by Fun's Jack Antonoff was an excellent soundtrack to the summer of 2014.  Wild Heart and Rollercoaster are the standout songs for me, and I also love the guest appearances by Grimes and Yoko Ono.  If you like electronic pop with an indie flair, check out Bleachers.

8) Little Machines - LIGHTS Again in the electronic pop veins, Canada's LIGHTS puts out yet another strong album (I was a fan of her previous album Siberia).  I also got to see her live at the Danforth Music Hall, and she's definitely can put on a great live show that showcases her songs.

7) St. Vincent - St. Vincent I love this album.  Even though it came out early in the year, I rediscovered it December and had it on heavy repeat.  Usually when I'm listening to this album, all I can think is that St. Vincent kicks ass.

6) LP - Twin Forks Twin Forks is the newest band of Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba.  Not only did I see them three times, I had this LP on heavy repeat throughout the year.  I have it on vinyl, which is beneficial because this album has a sides A & B with vastly different feels.  Side A consists of fun, bluegrassy sing-alongs, whereas the songs on side B are a bit darker and more brooding.

5) Commonwealth - Sloan Sloan is going strong after being together for more than twenty years.  Commonwealth is a creatively interesting album; each of the four sides of this album features songs by each of the members of Sloan.  Side A are Jay Ferguson songs, Side B are Chris Murphy songs, Side C are Patrick Pentland songs, and Side D is one very long (18 minutes) Andrew Scott song.  I'm definitely a fan of Jay's songs the most; Side A is pure perfection.  I'm a fan of sides B & C too, and I even have a spot in my heart for the sprawling insanity of Side D because it features a throwback to one of my all-time favourite Sloan songs, Delivering Maybes.  

4) We Loved Her Dearly - Lowell I saw Lowell briefly at Field Trip this year, and liked her performance, and I was pleasantly surprised at how strong this album is.  Some songs are pure pop gems, like Cloud 69 and Summertime, whereas Words are the Wars and I Killed Sara V. are heartbreaking and beautiful.  Lowell is a young artist on Arts & Crafts, and I can't wait to hear what she releases next.

3) Second Sight - Hey Rosetta! Newfoundland's Hey Rosetta! always impresses with me with their albums, and their latest is no exception.  It's one of those albums you can just throw on, and each song stands out in its own right.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them play these songs live when I see them open for Stars twice in February.

2) No One is Lost - Stars According to my LastFM statistics, Stars is the band that I listen to the most by far.  Why? Because every two years they release a pop noir masterpiece.  The cover of their latest album has the name emblazoned in neon lights with an image of a roller-coaster, and many of the songs have a deliberate disco feel to them.  Album opener From the Night, and the title track are both fun and heartbreaking at the same time.  Stars are one of those bands that keep putting out great music album after album.

1) Darlings - Kevin Drew This album is hands down my #1 album of 2014 because I listened to it so consistently month after month.  For me, 2014 will be forever linked with songs like Body Butter, Bullshit Ballad, You Gotta Feel It and You In Your Were.  When it comes to the Broken Social Scene catalogue, I've always gravitated towards Kevin Drew's sweeping dramatic vocals, and obviously this album showcases his songwriting and musicianship.  I'm just sad that I wasn't able to catch him play this album live, and my fingers are crossed that maybe he'll do some local 2015 shows.

What were your favourite albums of the year?