Top 10 Favourite albums released in 2014

[Ovalteeny]

Here we go with my Top 10 for this year :-

 

 

1. Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison - Our Year 2. Mike Farris - Shine for All the People 3. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music 4. Nickel Creek - A Dotted Line 5. Lake Street Dive - Bad Self Portraits 6. Old Crow Medicine Show - Remedy 7. Rodney Crowell - Tarpaper Sky 8. Jason Eady - Daylight And Dark 9. Jesse Winchester - A Reasonable Amount of Trouble 10. Paul Thorn - Too Blessed to Be Stressed

 

 

[Symptoms]

Thank goodness there's nothing from the Cramlington Budgie Strangler.

 

Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey's Going Back Home gets my vote ... turn the volume up to eleven.  Raw stuff.

[Ovalteeny]

Wilko's a top man + Daltry's a unique performer

Edited December 13, 2014 by Ovalteeny

[Ovalteeny]

Okay, lets see if anyone is interested in what my Top 10 sounds /looks like. I'll start to paste one link link per day, starting off with Kelly & Bruce, who have both had long solo careers, but they have been married for quite a few years and this album is their 2nd. joint effort in 2 years :-    

[Maggie/915]

Not sure we have bought that many CDs that were released this year.

[Ovalteeny]

These days Maggie/915 you don't necessarily have to buy albums. There are so many digital alternatives.

[Brett]

Elbow - The Take Off and Landing of Everything

 

Alt-J - This Is All Yours

 

Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow

 

War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

[mercuryg]

Sadly, for a music lover, I couldn't name an album released this year, so thanks for the lists,  I shall delve into them.

[Maggie/915]

Thanks Ovaltenny but I prefer the hard copy.

I would still like the cover to be the size of the old LP.

Then I do not need to argue with any digital company about the rights to music I have bought.

The only track I have bought was one New Years Eve when I wanted Antony Hegarty singing Leonard Cohen 'If it be your will'.

The album was not available to buy.

I do have a problem with storage..

Our Christmas CD / Playlist is a mixture.

This years releases include :-

Elvis Costello from the Basement Tapes The River

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters with Tearing the Walls Down

Paulo Nutini These Streets

And George Ezra Budapest .

However the oldies include The Who , Joni, Runrig , Stones and Dylan.

Our Grandkids complain about any Dylan track.

Tweeter and the Monkey Man is timeless.

A track of Alan Hull called United States of Mind is great.

[Brett]

ooooh thanks for reminding me about the Robert Plant one.

 

Seen them on Jools Holland the other week and forgot to mental note it.

[Ovalteeny]

My number one was Texas Country but my number 2 is anything but country, check out Mike Farris, a voice that's a bit Al Green, a bit Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave fame), the sort of Gospel that made Ray Charles / Aretha Franklin & Sam Cooke famous back in the 1950's

 

[Maggie/915]

Interesting listening Ovalteeny .

Always good to listen to music you have not heard before.

Guess you are a fan of the Sage Americana Festival.

[Ovalteeny]

Maggie/915, yes we try and go to the Sage's Americana Weekend, which is usually very good, with a mixture of established artists and newer, up and coming ones. We missed this year, for various reasons, but previously we've seen some terrific acts, not all from USA either, some pretty good English Scottish & Irish musicians. We try and support the Sage throughout the year. We've already got tickets for early February for the "Transatliantic Sessions" live Tour the again in April for 3 terrific American ladies, Sarah Jaroz, Sarah Watkins & Aoife O'Donovan, on the stage together. Any one of them is capable of being the next Allison Krauss, so catching them together is a bit special.

[Ovalteeny]

Number 3 in my Top 10 is another country album.

New, modern, rocking, country from a man who has released 2 albums in 2 years and set Nashville talking ; Sturgill Simpson

 

http://youtu.be/_70HJMikcBo

[Ovalteeny]

Brett, I like Elbow, but that's the first I'd heard/watched Alt-J, I like that too, helluva video, do you think he really got hit by proper arrows ?

[Ovalteeny]

Number 4 in my Top 10 od 2014, the reformation of Nickel Creek, check them out on this little 20 minute live Radio Show :-

 

[Ovalteeny]

Number 5 in this years Top 10 are Lake Street Dive, a quartet from NE USA, they are not country, in fact it's hard to pigeon hole their music, other than it's bliddy good, this is the title track from this years album, Rachel Price, is lead singer and she's not half bad....

 

Edited December 19, 2014 by Ovalteeny

[Maggie/915]

Right found it.

Obviously not worth Hacking.

Today we have bought two vinyl LPs

The new Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin 1

Windows in the Central Arcade is doing well.

Pink Floyd LP was £28 .

[Ovalteeny]

Number 6 in my Top 10 albums of this year are from a proper Country Band. If you like you music, from a fast, frentetic, Red Neck angle, then Old Crow Medicine Show are the boys for you :-

 

[Ovalteeny]

Number 7 is my Top 10 of 2014 is Rodney Crowell's "Tarpaper Sky".

He's been in the business for years and years (in various guises and bands as well as solo, plus written some cracking songs), but this solo album effort is by far his best in years.

The video is my favourite track from the album :-

 

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ovalteeny

[Ovalteeny]

Number 8 in this years Top 10 is un-ashamedly Country from the prolific, excellent Jason Eady, 

 

Check out a live version of OK Whiskey

[Ovalteeny]

Number 9 in this years Top 10 was Jesse Winchester's "A reasonable amount of trouble". Sadly he died just a month or two before it's release. It's an excellent album, but there are no videos of him singing any of the songs, so I have posted a superb version of "Sham a Ling ding dong" from an old Elvis Costello Show. It's compelling and watch it all the way through to see the reaction of Neko Case (on his left) and then hear what Elvis has to say, at the end. Pure magic.

 

Edited December 23, 2014 by Ovalteeny

[Ovalteeny]

"Too Blessed to be Stressed" is the name of the album at number 10 in my Top 10 of 2014. If you've never heard of Paul Thorn, then say hello to the 2nd. most famous man from Tupelo, Mississippi. I've followed him for the past 7 years, since seeing him on a Cruise Ship.

He's the son of a Preacher Man and before becoming an accomplished and prolific singer/songwriter he was a Professional Boxer, good enough to fight Roberto Duran, no less. 

He can be profound, he can be irreverent, he can be very southern/red neck, but most of all he has humility and a very, very sharp sense of humour. He's not country, he's not blues, he's not folk, he's not rock, the fact is he's all those genres. Check out various videos on YouTube.

This song and the accompanying video reveals a little about a fascinating man :-

 

[Ovalteeny]

My work here (for 2014) is now done.

[Brett]

Thanks for sharing Ovalteeny.