Frownland

I wrote an article about this that's coming out on next Wednesday. I wanted it to be a lot longer but I went over the word limit. Some editing to be done but this is the jist. Here tis:

Creating a “best of” albums list is always difficult, since the sheer amount of releases in any given year means that it’s nearly impossible to listen to all of them. Inherently, the list is always changing. While this list may be premature since the year is not up yet and there are still plenty of potential albums of the year to be released, I feel that 2014 is such a great year for music that I could make five of these lists and still have more albums to choose from to make five more. So without further ado, the best albums of 2014 (so far).

5. Run the Jewels – “Run the Jewels 2”


“Run the Jewels 2” is the follow up to hip hop duo Killer Mike and El-P's self-titled debut. The album starts off with a ranting Killer Mike before the music, replete with trumpets, distorted synths, and guitars comes in on the track “Jeopardy.” After setting the tone for the album with the gritty and almost cartoonish levels of grandiose, “RTJ 2” shows us that lyrically, this album is top notch, rife with witty trash talking throughout the album but also lending itself to social, religious and political themes. For example, on the track “Close Your Eyes (And Count to ****)” Killer Mike discusses de facto segregation and the prison industry by saying “Conditions create a villain/the villain is given vision/The vision becomes a vow to seek vengeance on all the vicious/Liars and politicians, profiteers of the prisons/The forehead engravers and slavers of men and women.” However, El-P's rhymes far exceeds that of Killer Mike, with his lyrics containing serious depth without sacrificing fun and flow (see: Aesop Rock) or sounding contrived (see: Jonwayne), not to mention that it still sounds like he's having a lot of fun with Mike on the album. The album also has an eclectic array of features, including singer Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182 and Gangsta Boo of Three 6 Mafia. There's a lot of variety on the album, with slower tracks, more uppity faster tracks, stoned and grimy beats, lyrics that dwell on political corruption and others that point their focus in a more lewd direction. With the track "Love Again," RTJ also answers the question we've been asking for years: Can there be a socially conscious song with the hook "dick in her mouth all day"? The answer: a resounding yes and a pistol in your face. Each and every track on this album is an absolute banger and has molded a place for RTJ in the underground hip hop scene as being the cream of the crop both musically and lyrically.

4. Marc Ribot Trio – “Live at the Village Vanguard”


Guitarist Marc Ribot is best known for his work with artists such as Tom Waits and Elvis Costello, but his ideal atmosphere is in the avant-garde jazz sphere. On this album he teams up with bassist Henry Grimes—who had been absent from the jazz scene for several years, making this performance one of his firsts in many years—and drummer Chad Taylor in this live performance at the infamous jazz club. The album consists of new takes on jazz standards such as “Dearly Beloved” and “Sun Ship” by John Coltrane as well as “Bells” by Albert Ayler, among others. Ribot is a very precise player with a style that rings as his own, even in the various side projects that he's been involved in, and this album is of no exception. Often times when great artists such as Grimes or Taylor work with phenomenal guitarists such as Ribot, it can be hard to bring anything exciting to the table without being swept under it or making it seem like they are simply being competitive. Grimes and Taylor swipe away at both of those obstacles and contribute wonderfully to the record, from Grimes' Charlie Haden-esque intro on “Dearly Beloved” and Taylor's outstanding solo partway through the same track. The group takes well-known standards like “Old Man River” and runs with them, crafting their own singular song through free improvisation and overwhelming musicianship.

3. Swans – “To Be Kind”


After first establishing themselves as one of the most hard-hitting second generation no wave groups in the early 80s, Swans reformed in 2010 to establish themselves as gods of another, more ambiguous genre: post-rock. The group's 13th album, “To Be Kind,” is a two-hour monolith made up of hypnotic grooves, drones, and passages of out-there ideas. Opening up with track “Screen Shot”'s repetitive bassline akin to Tool, Swans forms a passage into a whirlwind of mind-bending songs that demand your attention for the length of the lengthy album. “A Little God In My Hands” shows us Swans' funkier side while still keeping us entrapped in the psychedelic rhythms and disturbing lyrics. The highlight of the album is “Bring the Sun/Toussaint L'Ouverture,” a 30 minute journey through the sound of Swans that centres around a droney riff without losing edge and becoming dull. This is one of the best albums in Swans' impressive discography, and it is a glimmer of hope for what the band may release in upcoming years.

2. John Zorn – “The Alchemist”


John Zorn is possibly the most prolific artist of our time, having added thirteen albums to his 500 plus album discography in this year alone. Needless to say, it was difficult to pick one album from Zorn’s 2014 releases with albums like “Valentine’s Day” and “Fragmentations, Prayers, and Interjections” being potential contenders. Zorn attempts several genres, from classical to hardcore jazz to klezmer to noise rock and beyond. This album is one of Zorn’s classical excursions and quite frankly, one of his best. The title track and opener is a 20 minute string quartet followed by a twelve minute choral piece called “Earthspirit.” “The Alchemist” is a brilliant classical piece that sounds something like Schoenberg straight out of a mental institution, with complicated structure and approach to tonality. There are several haunting passages that break up the chaotic nature of the piece. It’s extraordinarily difficult for a track to live up to a song like “The Alchemist,” and while “Earthspirit” certainly does not match “The Alchemist” on all levels, it is anything but disappointing. This album is another testament to the genius of John Zorn as he is now widely regarded in both classical and jazz circles.

1. White Suns – “Totem”


Lastly, we have “Totem” from noise rock group White Suns. Visceral, gritty and at times terrifying, the album shows us an often unexplored side of noise rock. Most noise rock groups hold a heavy dedication to structure, whereas White Suns introduces improvisations to disconcerting frameworks to add even more to the chaos.
“Improvisation gets me away from the muscle memory that can leech a song of any excitement in the present,” guitarist and vocalist Kevin Barry said.
“Totem” confronts the listener with walls of noise created with discordant guitar, powerhouse drumming and harsh electronics. In between the claustrophobic and breathtakingly in-your-face tracks like “Priest in the Laboratory” or “Clairvoyant”, there are also more meditative yet still unsettling tracks such as “Prostrate” that add another dimension to “Totem.” The highlight of this album is its distinctiveness, as it explores new territories in the true avant-garde fashion. With its confrontational explosions of noise and more dark ambient undersides, “Totem” is a noise rock gem as it meshes both genres in a way that few bands have been able to accomplish.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.