These are the albums I listened to most in 2014. Therefore, they are the best. You can see Steph Mangan’s favorite albums of 2014 here, and Julie Kramer’s here.
| 12. The Black Keys ‘Turn Blue’ |
While it’s not the band’s best effort to date (that honor goes to 2003’s ‘Thickfreakness’), it’s certainly one of the better rock albums to be released this year.
| 11. Wye Oak ‘Shriek’ |
In tweaking their core sound a bit, the Maryland duo ended up releasing one of their tightest albums yet.
| 10. Beck ‘Morning Phase’ |
All of the emotion of Beck’s seminal ‘Sea Change,’ but with a little less weight.
| 9. The War On Drugs ‘Lost In The Dream’ |
The band should’ve received twice as much press for this album as they did for their “feud” with Mark Kozalek
| 8. The Hold Steady ‘Teeth Dreams’ |
A shakeup to their lineup led to one of their most rock-solid, front-to-back releases to date.
| 7. Tigers Jaw ‘Charmer’ |
Losing three-fifths of their band didn’t stop Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins. They regrouped as a two-piece, recruited some friends to tour, and continued making amazing music.
| 6. Mogwai ‘Rave Tapes’ |
The Scottish indie legends continue their streak of top-notch albums that immerse you in sound and never disappoint.
| 5. Spoon ‘They Want My Soul’ |
The Austin, TX indie legends continue their stream of top-notch albums that hammer you with sound and never disappoint.
| 4. Alt-J ‘This Is All Yours’ |
It’s all good, but “Every Other Freckle,” “Hunger Of The Pine,” and “Warm Foothills” are the stand-out tracks.
| 3. Braid ‘No Coast’ |
This essential emo band released their first full-length album in 15 years–spending over a decade of that time broken up–and made it sound like they weren’t away for a day.
| 2. Elbow ‘The Takeoff And Landing Of Everything’ |
Thoughtful, melodic, sweeping, moving…I could list a dozen more adjectives and still not capture the sonic scope of Elbow’s work here.
| 1. Bombay Bicycle Club ‘So Long, See You Tomorow’ |
It’s not often we agree here at RadioBDC, but this year we all had this album on our top lists in some way, shape or form. I say it’s #1.