Generic End of Year "Best Of" List

Fat Whites: worth it

Winter tends to be quite rubbish in most aspects of life: it gets cold, people start complaining all the time about how cold it is and you end up doing the same, thus contributing to the never-ending cycle of whiny weather-bullcrap. However in the world of music journalism, winter is the time when end of year lists get published, which is always fun. Voting for the NME awards opened today, so I'm going to take that as an invitation for the beginning of the end of year lists. Like much of music journalism as a concept, the end of year list actually makes no sense. It's an attempt to find an absolute answer to a totally subjective question. Obviously not everyone's going to agree on a single "best album of 2014", it's missing the point to think otherwise. That being said, it is quite fun to think about what you liked and more importantly why you liked it. Without further ado, here is what I think:

Best Breakthrough Act
Sleaford Mods
In 2014, the state of this country was most accurately represented in the Sleaford Mods album Divide and Exit. Sleaford Mods are not new. Jason Williamson has been spitting out his poetic, angry rants over Andrew Fearn's minimalistic beats since their first release Wank in 2012. Sleaford Mods are also not young. Both Williamson and Fearn are in their 40s, with Williamson only recently leaving his day job as a benefits officer. Despite these factors, Sleaford Mods managed to put out the most thought-provoking, witty, exciting British release this year. They evoke the sounds of true legends such as Mike Skinner, John Cooper Clarke and Mark E Smith but manage to build on this rather than bow down to it. I personally see it as a bit unfair to make those comparisons, the point of Sleaford Mods is not that they're reviving these characters. They're ripping open a much-needed new arsehole in British music.

Most Criminally Overlooked Release
Winter by Vancouver Sleep Clinic
Vancouver Sleep Clinic is the project of Australian musician Tim Bettinson, who is yet another 17 year old who is more impressive than me. He makes some really really chilled out electronic music with him singing some of the best falsetto I've ever heard over the top. I made this discovery at 12am on the Sunday of Green Man festival, standing groggily in the Far Out tent. Seeing Slint the night before was really intense and I was prepared just to spend the day waiting for Neutral Milk Hotel later, but I ended up wandering into Vancouver Sleep Clinic's set. It turned out to be the perfect way to start the day. Bettinson played a powerful set that bathed my ears in comfort. He covered Hold On, We're Coming Home by Drake and made it a thing of beauty. Winter is the EP that he released this year and it's essentially one of the most chilled out 23 minutes I've had in a while. I honestly can't wait to see what this guy does next.

Most Interesting Music
FKA Twigs
The latest in the line of cool-as-fuck female figures electronica started by Grimes, Twigs put out some of the most original and interesting music this year in LP1. Whilst often described as R&B,  I have to agree with her disagreement to that label. Like she does, I suspect it's a label that she's earned for being mixed race. It's much more interesting than merely R&B. The rhythms of some tracks make you think Massive Attack, other tracks have the time and space of The xx. However, these comparisons shouldn't detract from the originality of FKA Twigs. The music is genuinely like falling through a trap door into another universe which you had no idea existed
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: St Vincent, East India Youth

Best Grooves
Piñata by Madlib and Freddie Gibbs
No question about this one- Madlib is the undisputed king of hip hop production. This album has some of the most satisfying songs to listen to whilst walking down the street. It's impossible to fall into a gentle swagger whilst listening to Scarface. The production is jazzy, interesting and compliments Freddie Gibbs to perfection. Piñata is one of the best albums of the year and definitely has the best grooves.

Best Debut
Annabel Dream Reader by The Wytches
Plenty to choose from this year, from FKA Twigs to Jungle to Kate Tempest to East India Youth to everything else. That being said, it's the psych-tinged, horror-punk, slow grunge stylings of the Wytches which has ended up catching my ears the most. The riffs are huge but not dumb. The singer has a powerful scream but isn't clichéd. Overall, it's a very compelling listen. The songs are intense but full of space. You could mosh to them or you could get stoned to them. It's your choice. Their early afternoon set at Reading was very well attended, considering their relatively low-buzz, new-band status. It'll be worth watching what they do next.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: FKA Twigs, Kate Tempest, Jungle, East India Youth, Temples

Best Live Performance (that I saw...obviously)
Neutral Milk Hotel - Green Man Festival
This year I've seen over 80 acts perform so I'm going to go ahead and say I've got decent authority to make a call on this one. I managed to see a lot of incredible music this year, which I feel really lucky to have done so. However when choosing a favourite, it gets hard looking any further than Neutral Milk Hotel. Seeing songs like King of Carrot Flowers Parts 1,2 &3, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and Holland, 1945 performed live was a genuinely magical experience, one that I'll never forget. Their set took me on a journey with emotional ups and downs, swelling and ebbing in intensity with one constant: Jeff Mangum sang with so much passion it was like he was going to blow his brains out at the end of the set. Ever since that performance I've seemed to listen to the whole of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea every day. It's now pretty well lodged as one of my absolute all-time favourites. It's one of the few things in life where in my opinion, hyperbole is impossible.

After they finished, we watched the Green Man burn down, the fireworks light up the sky and then sat around the campfire until sunrise. I met and talked to anyone and everyone, and they turned out to be pretty cool. It's a magical night that I won't forget very soon and will forever be associated with Neutral Milk Hotel.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: The Brian Jonestown Massacre (v.amazing), Mac Demarco, Fat White Family, Snarky Puppy, The Libertines

Best Album
Salad Days by Mac Demarco
I can't get enough of this album. At any point this year I've thought my Mac Demarco obsession has grown to an unsustainable level, I've found another youtube video where he does something really fucking weird or just put on Passing Out Pieces again and the love has lived on. Salad Days is a brilliantly complete album. It has a theme: being jaded. It's got a sound: twangy guitars with some eerie synths. Boy oh boy does it have a personality. It's filled with tunes with Passing Out Pieces, Let Her Go and Chamber of Reflection being three of the best songs to come out this year. The guitar solo on Goodbye Weekend is a work of genius, carved from the side of the mountain of brilliance that is Mac Demarco. From a completely personal point of view, nothing else this year has come close to being better than this. It's an album that creates and operates in its own world and the more you listen to it, the more you want to be a part of that world.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Are We There by Sharon Van Etten, Burn Your Fire For No Witness by Angel Olsen, Piñata by Madlib and Freddie Gibbs,  Divide and Exit by Sleaford Mods, Overseas by Tonstartssbandht

Best Song
Passing Out Pieces by Mac Demarco
Genius, pure genius. That clav synth, that bass line, those brilliant lyrics. That WEIRD video.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Every Time the Sun Comes Up by Sharon Van Etten, I Am Mark E Smith by Fat White Family, The Beigeness by Kate Tempest

The Year Belongs To...
Jizz Jazz
When I say jizz jazz, I refer to the gang that surrounds Mac Demarco. One of the best things about Mac Demarco is his band. All of them have their own music which this year has been having a decent amount of success. All of it is brilliant. As well as Mac releasing Salad Days, Tonstartssbandht (roommates and now partially part of Mac's band) released Overseas.  Homeshake (Peter Sagar, Mac's old guitarist) put out In the Shower. Walter TV (Mac's part-time other project but mainly his bass player and drummer's band) rereleased Appetite on vinyl for the first time. All of it is great music, but it's their aesthetic that's the best bit. They just have the most fun and it really comes through in the music as well as on stage. 2014 truly belonged to the jizz jazzers.

Walter TV