Music Banter - View Single Post - Anteater's 30 (ish) Favorite Albums Of 2014

Anteater · 12-16-2014, 10:30 PM

25. He Is Legend - Heavy Fruit

Put On A Playlist With: Mastodon, Baroness

The weird Southern deep-fried cousin of those modern sludge met00l bands you've probably dabbled in. In this case though, being a little off the beaten path is a huge plus: this album is a couple notches above Mastodon's latest opus in terms of creativity, and you won't find a catchier song than 'Be Easy' anytime soon either. Extra kudos all around too for the hallucinogenic quality that hangs over Heavy Fruit like a glorious fog bank from out of the glades.

24. Ole Børud - Stepping Up

Put On A Playlist With: Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Justin Timberlake circa 20/20 Experience

One of the best kept secrets in modern music, Ole Børud is better known as the lead guitarist and a key songwriter in progressive death metal band Extol. On his own time though, he's a top class singer/songwriter on par with the aforementioned Stevie Wonder tonally with a music style sitting somewhere between classic early 80's Westcoast AOR and the smoother side of contemporary R&B. This third album is a minor masterpiece, and one that could have been in my top 10 without too much trouble.

23. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds In Country Music

Put On A Playlist With: Waylon Jennings, early Brooks & Dunn, 70's psychedelia

A great present to send to your hipster friends who think they're too good for Country: its trippy, interesting and never overstays its welcome on any one song. Some people have made the case that Sturgill is the best guy in the genre today, trying to progress the "Nashville sound" forward one record at a time. Based on this particular outing...they just might be right on the money.

22. Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden

Put On A Playlist With: Candlemass, Intronaut, Secrets Of The Sky

These guys are (arguably) the face of modern doom metal, and in the case of this album that status is indubitably deserved. People slobbered all over 2012's Sorrow And Extinction, but Foundations Of Burden exceeds it in ways both subtle and significant. The hooks are bigger and more confident, the overall pacing is better, and the production has just enough space to let the whole thing snarl and sigh in all the right places.

21. Paul Hardcastle - Jazzmasters VII

Put On A Playlist With: The better stuff you've heard on The Weather Channel

The U.K. based Paul Hardcastle is one of those go-getters who started off as a pioneer of sorts with synth technology in 80's EDM but later got a little too comfortable in his own skin once he established a "signature" sound in the early 90's.

That being said, nobody quite sounds like him in the smooth jazz world even now: he incorporates a wider range of instruments (like flute) and other textures, and isn't afraid of doing longer songs or more ambient material either. I'll close out of this by saying you'll either dig the night driving smooveness of Jazzmasters VII or feel complete indifference toward it. I just happen to lean toward the former.