BEST MUSIC: 2014, with Music Players!

T E M P L E S

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ALL THE
REAL MUSIC!

Swipe away all those trendy-indie
'Best Music' lists that taste like envelopes!

These jams will displace your cabeza
and unloose your caboose!

Shortcut to Music Players:
• BEST ALBUMS: 2014
• COOL SONGS: 2014
• BEST REISSUES: 2014

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B E S T
N E W
A L B U M S :
2 0 1 4

BEST ALBUMS 2016
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• The Shakers, "A Whole Lotta Shakers"
MerseyBeat.
Perfect early-'60s jangle pop made now.

(See also: The Beatles, The Spongetones, The Kaisers)

• Temples, "Sun Structures"
Psyche Pop.
1967 was so lush that its sonic possibilities are still expanding in new acts.

(See also: Flaming Lips, Jacco Gardner, Claypool Lennon Delirium)

• The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, "Midnight Sun"
French Baroque Pop.
Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl take up where Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin left off.

(See also: Jacques Dutronc, La Femme, French Boutik)

• Cibo Matto, "Hotel Valentine"
Indie Eclectic.
Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda return, blenderizing every style into smart pop you can dance to.

(See also: Beastie Boys, Super Junky Monkey, eX-Girl)

• Tackhead, "For the Love of Money"
Timeless Funk.
The Rap/Industrial pioneers return with an album of classic cover songs.

(See also: The Pop Group, Adrian Sherwood, Living Colour)

• Pixies, "Indie Cindy"
Alt-Rock redux.
The return album for the hargingers of Alternative Rock.

(See also: Sonic Youth, Breeders, Nirvana)

• Thee Oh Sees, "Drop"
Prog Psyche.
In the sense of progressively mercurial with sliquid chops.

(See also: Primus, Ty Segall, Meatbodies)

• Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, "Give the People What They Want"
Classic Soul.
Real Soul for right now.

(See also: Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, Durand Jones And The Indications)

• Stephen Rennicks, "Frank" (soundtrack)
Experimental Rock.
Michael Fassbender and The Soronprfbs tearing it all up to collage something new.

(See also: Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom)

• The Love Me Nots, "Sucker"
Garage Rock.
Gutpunch guitarz, screaching farfisa, and righteous yowl.

(See also: Thee Headcoatees, Motobunny, The Darts [U.S.])

• Karl Hector And The Malcouns, "Unstraight Ahead"
German AfroBeat.
A slippery combo zoomeranging through German Prog, Psyche, and African Funk.

(See also: Fela, Antibalas, Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra)

• The New Pornographers, "Brill Bruisers"
Pop 2.0.
If catchy Pop were math, this smart band is doing calculus with it.

(See also: Sloan, Spoon, Neko Case, A.J. Newman)

• Calibro 35, "Sogni Di Gloria" (soundtrack)
Italian Soundtrack.
The band who sounds like '60s-'70s Cinecitta soundtracks makes an actual soundtrack.

(See also: Ennio Morricone, Danniele Luppi, Guess What)

• Kandle, "In Flames"
TripHop 2.0.
Kandle Osborne makes cinematic moodscapes, both seductive and eerie.

(See also: John Barry, Portishead, Unloved)

• St. Vincent, "St. Vincent"
Indie Rock.
Annie Clark keeps reinventing what you can do with modern approaches to alternative songcraft.

(See also: Anne Peacock, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Angel Olsen)

• Lee Fields and The Expressions, "Emma Jean"
Classic Soul.
That perfect sound from the early-'70s, fresh as oxygen.

(See also: Bobby "Blue" Bland, O.V. Wright, Bobby King and Terry Evans)

• La Sera, "Hour of the Dawn"
Lofi Power Pop.
This time, Katy Goodman's (Vivian Girls) side-project radiates with slashing fuzz and glowing harmonies.

(See also: Tacocat, Las Robertas, Bleached)

• Morgan Delt, "Morgan Delt"
Psychedelicatessen.
Sharp tunes, mindwarp atmospherics, and a timeless odyssey.

(See also: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Fay Hallam, Caleb Landry Jones)

• Dum Dum Girls, "Too True"
Lofi Pop.
The lofi garage seems more shiny, cleaner, and hooky this time around.

(See also: The Jesus And Mary Chain, Transvision Vamp, The Raveonettes)

• Rival Sons, "Great Western Valkyrie"
Classic Rock.
Huge blues-rock riffs with Viking vocals and Paul Bunyan stomp.

(See also: Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Wolfmother)

• Kae Tempest, "Everybody Down"
HipHop Next.
The smartest Rap album yet made, telling a cycle of intricate short stories that quietly become a mosaic novel told out of sequence. No one has done that before, and few could match.

(See also: Flannery O'Connor, Jack Kerouac, Nikki Giovanni)

• Curtis Harding, "Soul Power"
Psyche Soul.
Gritty as Pickett, smooth as Cooke, varied as Whitfield, fearless as Sly.

(See also: The Temptations, The Black Lips, Black Pumas)

• The Black Keys, "Turn Blue"
Psyche Soul.
Relaxing sidelong off of the Blues swagger, our duo go on a blissful and soulful holiday.

(See also: Pink Floyd, The Undisputed Truth, The Shelters)

• Vashti Bunyan, "Heartleap"
Ethereal Folk.
Vashti made a classic folk album (1970), returned timeless with another in 2005, and now bows out with this lovely song cycle.

(See also: Linda Perhacs, Sandy Denny, Weyes Blood)

• Liam Bailey, "Definitely Now"
Soulful cornucopia.
A sandy singer from Engand at home in any style, always passionate and moving.

(See also: Roy Harper, Paul Weller, Michael Kiwanuka)

• Beverly, "Careers"
Noisy Pop.
Frankie Rose and Drew Citron go sidebar with a solo outing, with guitar hooks and upbeat drums.

(See also: Vivian Girls, The She's, September Girls)

• Wilko Johnson And Roger Daltrey, "Going Back Home"
Maximum R'n'B.
Wilko Johnson (Dr. Feelgood) and Roger Daltrey (you know Who) go back to R'n'B basics and kick the paint right off the walls.

(See also: The Animals, The Pretty Things, The Bluesbreakers)

• Ibibio Sound Machine, "Ibibio Sound Machine"
World Electro.
Sounds like the best AfroBeat TechnoFunk Electroclash band from the '80s that should have existed, and now does.

(See also: The Lijadu Sisters, William Onyeabor, Fantasma)

• Danielia Cotton, "The Real Book"
Blues Rock.
Danielia is one of the toughest Blues guitarists and soulful singers around, and this collection of cover versions expands her breadth.

(See also: Shemekia Copeland, Samantha Fish, Thornetta Davis)

• Jim Noir, "Finnish Line"
Beat Pop.
Canny popsmith goes full late-Beatles in his latest exploration.

(See also: The Moons, Diamond Hands, Sitcom Neighbor)

• The Absolude, "The Silence Between Two Steps"
Mod / Garage.
Japanese quartet turns this go-go club inside out.

(See also: The Jikens, The Midnight TV Programs, Bigmama Shockin' 3)

• Lake Street Drive, "Bad Self Portraits"
New Soul.
Catchy songs, acerbic wit, brassy vocals, and grab-bag grooves sound like a 1973 band recorded a bit too smoothly in 1979.

(See also: Bonnie Raitt, Leon Bridges, Mayer Hawthorne)

• Goat, "Commune"
WorldBeat Psyche.
A mysterious Swedish collective, churning out psychedelic epics with all the percussive rhythms on the planet at once.

(See also: the drummers of Burundi, Can, Kikagaku Moyo)

• Linda Perhacs, "The Soul Of All Natural Things"
Angel Folk.
Like Vashti Bunyan, Linda released a classic Folk album in 1970 that everyone missed. A growing cult following across time has brought her back, with more angelic harmonies.

(See also: early Joni Mitchell, Julianna Barwick, Weyes Blood)

• Young Fathers, "Dead"
Indie Word.
Scottish trio go beyond Alt-Rap to vistas of electronica, abrasion, and ambient.

(See also: Chocolate Genius, Kae Tempest)

• Noura Mint Seymali, "Tzenni"
Desert Blues.
An actual Mauritanian griot, the singer soars in shifting tones over quick-step rhythms.

(See also: Oumou Sangaré, Tinariwen, Les Amazones d'Afrique)

• St. Paul And The Broken Bones, "Half The City"
New Soul.
The Alabama army brashly flexes their Muscle Shoals, with smokey vocals, blast horns, and bounding grooves.

(See also: JC Brooks And The Uptown Sound, Nathaniel Rateliff And The Night Sweats, Kyle Lacy)

• The Grits, "Make A Sound"
Garage-y Soul.
Hickory-smoked funkiness with strung snarl and touches of TripHop electronics.

(See also: Morcheeba, Ikebe Showdown, Seratones)

• Cambodian Space Project, "Whiskey Cambodia"
Cambodia Psyche.
Produced by famed psyche-soul guitarist Dennis Coffey, these party-stompers exude groove from a whole new angle.

(See also: Ros Sereysothea, Dengue Fever)

• Kelis, "Food"
Are And Be.
As chameleonic as Janelle Monae without the press, the chef graduate concocts refreshment out of traditional ingredients.

(See also: The Neptunes, TV On The Radio)

• Lana Del Rey, "Ultraviolence"
TripPop.
No one-hit wonder, Lana emerges as a fully-rounded songwriter of moody melodies and arch wit.

(See also: Tori Amos, Portishead, Fionna Apple)

• Elephant Stone, "Three Poisons"
India Psyche.
Rishi Dhir (The High Dials) spliffs psychedelia with it natural ancestor, Indian classical, to waft on tripscapes.

(See also: George Harrison, Ananda Shankar, Mien)

• Deerhoof, "La Isla Bonita"
Algebraic Pop.
Like candy wrapped up in a tesseract box, more happy melodies refracted into new dimensions by every style that's ever happened.

(See also: Captain Beefheart, Guerilla Toss, White Denim)

• The Bots, "Pink Palms"
Alt Rock.
The young Lei brothers branch out, going beyond garage thrash-outs into Indie territory.

(See also: Bad Brains, Yeah Yeah Yeahs)


• Beck, "Morning Phase"
Indie Folk.
After an absence, Beck makes a spiritual bookend to his "Sea Change" (2001). This time the introspective Folk is mellower, warmer, quietly more optimistic.

(See also: Nick Drake, Serge Gainsbourg, Julie Byrne)

• Flying Lotus, "You're Dead"
Abstract HipHop.
If Coltrane was 'sheets of sound', mixmaster Steven Ellison torrents sheets of noize. Complex maelstroms of dub, avant jazz, EDM, and hiphop, this time with special guests like Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington.

(See also: Gettovetts, Nephlim Modulation Systems, Thundercat)

• Quilt, "Held In Splendor"
Psyche Pop.
The trio finds themselves, advancing their dreamy folk with fresh dynamics and varied range.

(See also: The Mamas And The Papas, Daughters Of Albion, Melody's Echo Chamber)

• Weyes Blood, "The Innocents"
Choral Folk.
Natalie Mering is unique, creating new beauty. She builds Folk foundations into stately madrigals, soaring on ambient waves.

(See also: "Songs To Aging Children Come", "Both Sides Now", "Orinoco Flow")

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C O O L
S O N G S :
2 0 1 4

All the REAL MUSIC
beyond the box!

Nevermind Gloss Pop, Stepford Idols, Karaoke Choruses ("woh-oo-oh"), Ego Brats, Emo Prats, Plinky Folk, Brittle Bombast, Vegas Country, Smug Thug, Mope Noodling, De-mixed Throb, and Robot-o-Tune schlock! >

Here's the
D R E A M
J U K E B O X !
Party out with more bounce to the ounce
than a bounce house!

COOL SONGS 2014
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.
This jukebox is sequenced into groups of sound, instead of randomly.
All the songs elasticize their genres.
Get your groove on in this sonic order.:
Rockabilly! Surf! Beat! Garage!

Psyche! Classic Rock! Glam! Alt-Roots!

Blues! Soul! Funk! World!

Africanarama! Riot Grrrl! Alt-Rock! Electro!

Alt-Rap! Cinematic! Cover Songs!

The She's; Tinariwen;
Flying Lotus; 'Frank'

12 hours of mind-spasmic, elastic-ass music, featuring the following fine folks in this exact order!:

• Rockabilly! • Pike Cavalero, JW Jones, Dex Romweber Duo, Imelda May, Lee Bains III And The Glory Fires, Black Lips, The Coathangers.

• Surf / Girl Group! • Beverly, The She's, Allah-Las, The Concussions, The Terrorsaurs, and Bell And Sebastian

• Beat / Garage! • The Beat Rats, Blaire Alise And The Bombshells, The Shakers, The Muffs, The Absolude, Nikki Lane, La Sera, The Fleshtones, Miss Chain And The Broken Heels, The Love Me Nots, MotoBunny, Las Aspiradoras, King Tuff, Reigning Sound, and Suzi Chunk + Groovy Uncle.

• Beatlesque / Psyche! • Quilt, Angel Olsen, The Proper Ornaments, Marianne Faithfull, Linus Of Hollywood, New Electric Ride, Temples, Hangabouts, Doug Tuttle, Morgan Delt, Jim Noir, Paul McCartney, The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger, Doug Gillard, The Soronprfbs feat. Michael Fassbender, Foxygen, FREEMAN, Tame Impala, Gruff Rhys, Triggerfinger, Meatbodies, The Flaming Lips, Elephant Stone, Blues Pills, and Ex Hex.

• Classic Rock / Glam! • Rival Sons, Liam Bailey, Sallie Ford, Lenny Kravitz, Thee Oh Sees, Electric Wurms, Burning Palms, Electric Wizard, Gong, The Oath, The Socks, The Budos Band, Decoders, and Goat.

• Alt-Roots! • The Secret Sisters, Father John Misty, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, Weyes Blood, Beck, Lana Del Rey, Moses Sumney, Jesca Hoop, Neil Young, Lanie Lane, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Hozier, and Sharon Van Etten.

• Blues! • The Preatures, She Keeps Bees, Gary Clark Jr, Andrea Schroeder, Jack White, Thorbjørn Risager, Vintage Trouble, Benjamin Booker, The Holmes Brothers, Bobby Rush, Jarekus Singleton, Lucky Peterson, The Claudettes, and Naomi Shelton And The Gospel Queens.

• Soul! • Eden Brent, Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, D'Angelo, The Black Keys, Lee Fields And The Expressions, Metronomy, Avery*Sunshine, St. Paul And The Broken Bones, Lake Street Dive, Aloe Blacc, Flearoy, Wilko Johnson, Curtis Harding, and Janiva Magness.

• Funk! • Ava Luna, Analog Son, The Getup, Shawn Lee, The New Mastersounds, Cibo Matto, The Ting Tings, Big Ol' Dirty Bucket, Earphunk, Kung Fu, The Grits, Rock Candy Funk Party, Frank Deruytter, Freekbass, Elizabeth Shepherd, Mingo FishtrapKelis, Damaged Bug, and Joan As Police Woman.

• World! • Hollie Cook, Toumani Diabaté, Glenn Tilbrook, Olga Bell, Noura Mint Seymali, The Cambodian Space Project, and Toulouse Engelhardt.

• Africanarama! • Tony Allen, Sinéad O'Connor with Seun Kuti, Seun Kuti, Eno • Hyde, Ibibio Sound Machine, Karl Hector And The Malcouns, Tune-Yards, Wildbirds And Peacedrums, Kasai Allstars, Tinariwen, and Goat.

• Riot Grrrl! • The Reprobettes, Girlpool, Shonen Knife, Slutever, Bleached, Arum Rae, The Love Me Nots, Sleater-Kinney, Ex Hex, and The Pack a.d.

• Alt-Rock! • Pixies, Majestico, Deerhoof, Band Of Skulls, Dum Dum Girls, The New Pornographers, The Bots, St. Vincent, Liam Finn, The Julie Ruin.

• Electro! • Damien Jurado, OOIOO, Moon Duo, Cold Specks, and Damaged Bug.

• Alt-Rap! • Kae Tempest, THEESatisfaction, Sleaford Mods, Prince, Young Fathers, Courtney Barnett, and Flying Lotus.

• Cinematic! • The Soundcarriers, Shawn Lee, Jakob Skøtt, Timber Timbre, Groovy Uncle, Caro Emerald, Kandle, Cold Specks, Little May, Calibro 35, Sabina, Whitehorse, La Sera, and Bear McCreary.

• Cover Songs! • List = Original By / Cover Artist
Songs are sequenced in the chronological order of the Originals.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins / Annie Lennox • The Chantays / Bill Frisell • Chuck Berry / The Shakers • Jimmy Hughes / JD McPherson • The Beatles / The Cactus Blossoms • The Beatles / Bob Dylan • Bob Dylan / Kočani Orkestar • The Beatles / The Flaming Lips, ft. Miley Cyrus + Moby • Gene Clark / Miriam • Linda Lyndell / Jessica Mauboy • The Small Faces / La La Brooks • The Rolling Stones / Danielia Cotton • Black Sabbath / Brownout • "Willie Wonka" / Primus • John Lennon / Orenda Fink • The O'Jays / Tackhead • The Spinners / Devon Allman • Paul McCartney + Wings / Rapper's Delight • Bootsy's Rubber Band / Funkadelic • The Rolling Stones / The Mighty Mocambos, with Afrika Bambaataa, Charlie Funk, and Deejay Snoop • Suicide / Anna Calvi • Tears For Fears / Lucius • Peter Gabriel / The Brand New Heavies • Ty Segall / Nick Waterhouse

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B E S T
R E I S S U E S :
2 0 1 4

Quality is timeless.

"Many have forgotten what we came here for
Never knew or had a clue so you're on the floor
Just growin', not knowin' about your past
Now you're lookin' pretty stupid while you're shakin' your ass!"
-Public Enemy (1986)


BEST REISSUES 2014
by Tym Stevens
This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• 1960s •

• Phil Phillips, "Sea Of Love: The Collection" (late '50s-early '60s)
He sued his shady publishers, and his album went unreleased... until now.

• Bob Dylan and The Band, "The Basement Tapes: The Bootlet Series, Vol. 11" (1967)
An offical expansion of the famed sessions, which changed his career, ignited theirs, and shifted everyone from Psyche to Roots.

• Barbara Lynn, "Here Is Barbara Lynn" (1968)
Texas Blues guitarist and Soul singer's classic album.

• George Harrison, "The Apple Years 1968-75" box set
The albums from the first half of George's solo years, with added tracks.

• Various Artists, "I'm Just Like You: Sly's Stone Flower 1969-1970"
The great Funk singles Sly produced for acts like Little Sister, Joe Hicks, and 6ix.

• 1970s •

• Led Zeppelin, "Led Zeppelin I", "Led Zeppelin II", "Led Zeppelin III", "Led Zeppelin IV", "Houses of the Holy" (1969-1973)
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove!
New remasters of the albums, supplemented with alternate versions of each album composed of unused takes.

• Donny Hathaway, "Never My Love: The Anthology" (1970s)
The soulful piana man getting props.

• Victor Brady, "Brown Rain" (1970)
An Acid Rock album of various styles, centered around a steel drummer.

• Miles Davis, , "Miles at the Fillmore: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 3" (1970)
The big bang of Fusion, live and mutating.

• Lee Moses, , "Free And Easy" (1971)
Unsung Soul man gets some spotlight.

• Various Artists, "SOUL JAZZ Records Presents: New Orleans Funk 3" (1970s)
With its syncopated rhythms and rollicking spirit, New Orleans Funk is vital and unique.

• Elton John, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973)
One of Rock's most essential and successful double-albums.

• Wings, "Venus and Mars" (1975), "At the Speed of Sound" (1976)
New remasters of McCartney's band. The unsung "Venus and Mars" finds him crossing "Abbey Road" with Prog Rock verve.

• Various Artists, "PUNK ON 45: Sick On You! One Way Spit! After the Love and Before the Revolution, Vol. 3: Proto-Punk 1969-76"
Another volume proving Punk was a direct child of all the trash rock movements before it.

• Various Artists, "Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1" (soundtrack)
The smart and fun film got much of its bounce from this canny soundtrack of '70s classics.

• Various Artists, "Angola Soundtrack: The Unique Sounds of Luanda 1968-1976"
African rock bands, who lasted longer here while movements in sister nations succumbed to oppression.

• Wire, "Document and Eyewitness" (1979, 1980)
A reissue of the rare 'fourth' album, a live recording in which the band played exclusive songs that didn't get captured in the studio.

• 1980s •

• Grace Jones, "Nightclubbing (1980)
THE Grace Jones record, with covers of Bill Withers, Iggy Pop, Sting, and Marianne Faithfull.

• Cybotron, "Enter" (1983)
Original School Electro, with cut-up beats and vocoders galore.

• Plasticland, "Plasticland" (1986)
Garage Psyche from subversive punks parallel to the Paisley Underground.

• Public Enemy, "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988), "Fear of a Black Planet" (1990)
The apex of the best Rap band of all time.

• Pixies, "Doolittle 25: B Sides, Peel Sessions, and Demos" (1989)
A deluxe remastering and expansion of the essential Pixies album.

• 1990s, 2000s •

• Soundgarden, "Superunknown" (1994), "Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path" (1990s)
The essential album, plus a new 3-disc retrospective of rarities, live, and unreleased songs.

• The Jayhawks, "Rainy Day Music" (2003)
Americana Rock at its finest, with sterling melodies and stirring harmonies.


© Tym Stevens

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"A splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

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See also:


· BEST MOVIES + TV: 2023
• BEST MUSIC: 2023
• BEST COMICS: 2023

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2022
• BEST MUSIC: 2022
• BEST COMICS: 2022

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2021
• BEST MUSIC: 2021
• BEST COMICS: 2021

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2020
• BEST MUSIC: 2020
• BEST COMICS: 2020

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2019
• BEST MUSIC: 2019
• BEST COMICS: 2019

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2018
• BEST MUSIC: 2018
• BEST COMICS: 2018

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2017
• BEST MUSIC: 2017
• BEST COMICS: 2017

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2016
• BEST MUSIC: 2016
• BEST COMICS: 2016

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2015
• BEST MUSIC: 2015
• BEST COMICS: 2015

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2014
• BEST COMICS: 2014

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2013
• BEST MUSIC: 2013
• BEST COMICS: 2013

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2012
• BEST MUSIC: 2012
• BEST COMICS: 2012

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2011
• BEST MUSIC: 2011
• BEST COMICS: 2011

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2000-2010
• BEST MUSIC: 2000-2010
• BEST COMICS: 2000-2010


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