[meruizh]

It's already the 8th month of the year, lots of albums have been released, but is it just me or this year lacks of quality compared to others.

For me the difference is abysmal.

Sun Kil Moon and Swans released great albums, that could be on top on any year's list.. but man that's about it.

You can argue some honorable mentions for St Vincent, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Damon Albarn, Cloud Nothing, Mø, Jungle or Plastikman.

The rest just feels bland or just terrible; Coldplay, Warpaint, The Black Keys, Pixies, Parquet Courts, Broken Bells, Elbow, Real Estate, How To Dress Well, etc etc.

I may be judging this year to soon, or maybe I haven't listen to enough albums, but I just feel this year is kind of empty, it lacks of the "amazingness" other years had.
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"Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"

[Goodsir]

Tbh I feel like this is the best year in the '10s yet, but maybe that's just me.

[NowhereMan]

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Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey

This is the only album of this year that has made the cut for me so far.

[alelsupreme]

I'd say this year has had more good than bad so far. Nothing I've heard has blown my mind or anything, but MO, Mac Demarco, Sharon Van Etten, First Aid Kit and Conan have all released brilliant albums so far.

Anyhow, I feel that the best stuff is still to come (such as new Kanye! :D)
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Romanelli wrote:

We're all fucked, lads.

[Hayden]

There's a really nice line-up in the fall. Hoping that the AOTY is still coming up to be honest.

But on the whole, I kind of agree. Even though my chart for this year has 100 album on it, I wouldn't have a problem taking at least 60 of them off if better albums came out. Like, they're still all pretty good, but just not great.

I think 2014 is the weakest year of the 10's so far, but it's still only so far. This might also be because of this crazy dry spell in the middle of this year... Summer is one of the best times to release music in my opinion and artists just aren't shelling anything out.. It's very strange considering the moderately strong releases in the first two winter months this year.

The top 5 on my chart are still stellar albums though, some are ever the best of the decade. It's just after that I find that quality has a very sharp drop.
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Doubles & Conch

[rock socket]

[zdwyatt]

In any given year, there are maybe ten albums I like, five that I really like, and one or two that I love and play to death. For me, this year has been unusually good for albums in the "like" category. I'm sitting at around 30 albums that make the grade. It's been lighter on the top end, but these are all getting played constantly:



The more I play Pinata, the more it's looking like album of the year.

[Skinny]

It's just you. I've heard great albums this year from The Fun Years, Ricky Eat Acid, Conan, Bong, Angel Olsen, Marissa Nadler, Julie Byrne, Chronik, Building Instrument, Stein Urheim, Chester Watson, Chicano Batman, Christina Vantzou, Tara Jane O'Neil, Sisyphus, Valentin Stip, Young Thug & Bloody Jay, YG, Tink, Teebs, Open Mike Eagle, Takuya Kuroda, Fire! Orchestra, Kassem Mosse, Francis Harris, Actress, Thug Entrancer, Future Islands, Willie The Kid & Bronze Nazareth, Toumani & Sidiki Diabate, Stephen O'Malley + Oren Ambarchi + Randall Dunn, Blue Sky Black Death, The Roots, Seun Kuti, Shackleton, Sevendeaths, Sharon Van Etten, Mac DeMarco, Shrapnel, Frankie Cosmos, Fatima, Fatima al Qadiri, Wen, Guardian Alien, Ghost Bath, Juçara Marçal, FKA Twigs, Kevin Gates, Isaiah Rashad, Lil Herb, Aki Takase La Planete, M. Mucci, Millie & Andrea, Ambrose Akinmusire, Papir, Neneh Cherry, Perfect Pussy, Moodymann, Mo Kolours, Radiator Hospital, Posse, Richard Ginns, Deadbeat & Paul St. Hilaire, etcetera etcetera.

I find that people who think there isn't enough good new music coming out tend not to listen to enough new music.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[ShaneSpear]

Todd Terje's album is one of the first "love at first listen" albums I've had this decade.

I've also enjoyed the albums from Owen Pallett, Beck, and Mac DeMarco too.

I think 2014 has been pretty ok.

[benpaco]

meruizh! You and I seem to have somewhat similar tastes, so here are some albums you might enjoy more than what you've heard so far:

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Strange Desire by Bleachers

Don't write it off for it's poppy single "I Wanna Get Better", it works a lot better in context. The album around it is pretty incredible too, actually, the closing track having a very National vibe to it in a very good way.

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Range Of Light by S. Carey

It's got a Talk Talk meets Antlers meets Bon Iver sound.

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Ether by Phil Beaudreau

It kind of does a bit of everything but seems up your alley.

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Owl John by Owl John

You would really enjoy this one I think. Got some Jose Gonzales stuff going on to it.

Anyhow, I think this is a year in music. Every year we panic that it's a down year, and I don't think we'll really be able to tell unless we have some distance from this. Will it go down as the best ever? Nah, this hasn't exactly been a 1979. But I think it'll be remembered as a fine year, and that we can't really know until its just being remembered.
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. . . 2016 . . . 2015 . . .

"While I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to Earth" - Frightened Rabbit