World’s End Girlfriend ~ Last Waltz (Virgin Babylon)
God? Light? The prayers rise to the heavens. As the end of the world approaches, the frenzied orchestra plays its heart out: the soprano strains her voice, the violinist snaps her strings, the drummer breaks his sticks, all in vain. This is the end of kingdoms and kings, of strivings and searchings, crumpled up like a child’s paper doll, thrown in the fire, turned to ash, then blown away.
Disasterpeace – Hillsong Worship – Holly Herndon – Ian William Craig The Frozen Vaults – Matana Roberts – Michael Price – Olga Wojciechowska – Pat Collins & Tadhg O’Sullivan
2014 was a pretty rough year for the world. While good music might ordinarily offer a diversion from the bad and the ugly, occasionally a year comes dangerously close to getting its ass kicked. Seasoned as we are after 28 years of committing POOP to paper and post, we persevere and continue (in the face of beheadings, ebola, Boehner’s new band of blowhards, “I can’t breathe,” and climate calamity) to cling to both bad alliterations and silly year-end lists. Or do we? This year only 26 self-important pontificators got their cool cards punched (2 fewer than last year).
Gazelle Twin ~ Unflesh (Anti Ghost Moon Ray/Last Gang)
Something bad happened to Elizabeth Bernholz between 2011’s The Entire City and 2014’s Unflesh. The details are foggy, but hints can be gleaned from interviews and the way the artist performs hunched over with her face obscured by a hoodie (and replaced on the album cover by a slab of meat). The suffering has made her an astonishing artist; she’s channeled her pain into genius.
Favorite Things 2013 Albums Buy New or Used via Amazon Public Service Broadcasting ~ Inform Educate Entertain (Self-Released). Talent and popularity don’t always go hand in hand, but Inform Educate Entertain is the exception: a guilty pleasure packed with hit singles. PSB plundered public archives to find samples, placing all topics on equal ground: television, exploration, fashion, color, war. A combination of dance beats, ambient washes and post-rock flavors, this potpourri of British culture created enough goodwill to stretch around the world. Buy New or Used via Amazon Human Pyramids ~ Planet Shhh! (Oxide Tones). Planet Shhh! sounds like a…