Top 9 albums of the year

Well, it's that time of the year again, time for us to reflect on the great music that graced us in 2014. It's been a damn good year. Lots of amazing records to pour over. These are my top 10.

10. Copkiller- Alien Soccer

Another excellent  release from a label that only puts out excellent releases, Rainbow Bridge. Industrial pop meets avant-garde meets everything else. It could only have been produced in the 21st century by Justin Marc Lloyd, a person that I believe is looking toward the 22nd. An album in a league of its own. 

Buy here.

9. Waves Crashing Piano Chords- Young Mouth/ It wasn't even worth my back seat. 

A three minute blast of negativity from New York's only juggalo noise act. It's amazing that this album, recorded only with feedback and screamed vocals, manages to be 100 times more powerful than other albums made with twice the budget. 

buy it here

8. Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties- We Don't Have Each Other

This is the debut solo album of Wonder Years frontman Dan "Soupy" Cambell. I'm not exactly a fan of the Wonder Years, but I've always respected Soupy as a lyricist. This album really lets them shine through, telling a story of divorce, loss, and parenthood through the eyes of New Yorker Aaron West. The music is infinitely more restrained than the Wonder Years, closer to Bruce Springsteen than New Found Glory. An emotionally brutal effort and a job well done. 

buy here

7. Young and In The Way- When Life Comes To Death

A damn site better than Watain. All of the black metal showmanship with a thousand times more chaos. 

buy here

6. 

Compiled by Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, this is a compilation of spoken word and tape experiments from beat legend William S. Burroughs. If you want to hear the absolute genesis of post-modern art, this is what you want. 

buy here

5. Full of Hell/Merzbow

Less of a collaboration and more of a testament towards the Full of Hell Lads ability to use Merzbow's raw noise to craft great songs, this album is quality, from music to packaging. High Fells, in particular, is an amazing track. 

Buy here

4. Wolves In The Throne Room- Celestite

The first purely ambient excursion for the Washington black metallers, Celestite is surprisingly deep and fully formed. It is just as vital as any of their metal records, and one of the best dark ambient albums in a long while.

buy it here

read my interview with Wolves In The Throne Room here

3. Pharmakon- Bestial Burden

Margaret Chardiet, frontperson of noise juggernaut Pharmakon, will not let anything or anyone keep her down. Just as she was about to embark on her first European tour, she ended up severely ill. Undergoing major surgery, she was bedridden for nearly three weeks. As a result, this record is very much informed by the idea of health and body, of interconnecting systems and biology. It's skin-crawling, powerful stuff. 

Buy it here

Iceage- Plowing into the Field of Love

Iceage, with their third album, have made the best rock album of the last ten years. This is, without a doubt, the most complete and effective piece of sound art I've heard this year, a brilliant mix of post punk, noiserock, hardcore, and even country. Elias Bender Ronnenfelt is the best white singer I've heard recently. He's got something to say. You should listen.

Buy it here